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          WITH A FIRM GRIP ON her knife, Aria walks through the woods alongside Carl, both sets of eyes glued onto a walker impaled with a stick

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WITH A FIRM GRIP ON her knife, Aria walks through the woods alongside Carl, both sets of eyes glued onto a walker impaled with a stick. The walker reaches out towards a plastic bag flailing in the wind, curious groans leaving it's decayed mouth. Aria bites her bottom lip harshly as she watches a man walk towards the walker, stabbing it in it's head and before she can grab Carl to push them behind a tree, the teenager calls out.

"Hey!" The word leaves his lips, his voice calm yet hesitant. Having no choice but to raise her hands in surrender, Aria does so, discreetly sending Carl a glare. "It was my dad. They were warning shots above your head," He adds and she immediately catches on, this as the mystery guy.

Aria studies the man, noticing his tense muscles and the weary look in his eyes but she doesn't sense a dangerous vibe from him but nowadays, people can easily hide behind masks. "I'm Carl — this is Aria, we aren't going to hurt you," Finally decoding to follow in his lead, Aria sends the man a reassuring smile, her blue eyes softening however, the grip on her knife doesn't loosen.

If he tries to mess with the kid, she won't hesitate to throw her knife at him. "S — Saddiq," The man stutters out and Aria sighs softly, her tongue rolling over her dry lips.

"Are you hungry or thirsty? We have food and water," Aria finally speaks up, motioning towards the clear bag in Carl's grip. She admires the young boy, it's kinda crazy. Saddiq looks between the two, his dark eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Why?" He questions and Aria begins to ask herself the same thing. After everything they've been through, why do they still try to play friendly with others? Why do they still try in general? The answer is clear, deep down both Carl and Aria know there is still good people, there is still some humanity left in the world. Before this Negan mess, Aria wouldn't hesitate to welcome somebody in with open arms but now, she struggles but there is still a part of her that still believes.

"I guess, you were talking about something your mom said about helping people. And my mom told me that you got to do what's right. It's hard to know what that is sometimes, but sometimes it's not," Carl takes a step forward and tosses the clear bag towards Saddiq.

"I think everybody knows deep down there is still some good left in people, not everyone has gone insane. We can tell you haven't." The duo watch with sad eyes as Saddiq crumbles to the ground, unscrewing the lid to the water bottle and downing the liquid, droplets falling down his jaw and neck. His brown eyes scan over the two, panting.

"Thanks."

——————————

As the trio make their way through the trees, Aria keeps her eyes settled on the ground, fiddling around with her fingers. "Aria?" Carl quietly asks causing the said girl to hum softly, motioning for him to continue with what he was saying. "Do you think dad will ever find it in himself to forgive Negan?" At the mention of his name, Aria gulps, her jaw clenching.

"Will any of us be able to? He has inflicted so much pain on us, Carl. . I truly don't know if we'll ever be able to move past this," She honestly tells him, looking up at him with her bright blue eyes that have lost it's innocence. With her eyes, she has witnessed two people get their heads bashed into the ground. With her eyes, she has witnessed Negan tear people down over and over again. Will she ever be able to look that man in the eye and call him an ally? Probably not.

"You haven't?"

"How am I supposed to?" She asks, voice breaking. The usually hopeful girl has been replaced with somebody who is looking for vengeance, somebody who is finding it hard to believe in humanity.

"Even when the others didn't believe in people, you did. You have fought for what you believe in, you spoke up for your morals, Aria. You're allowing this world to change those, you're allowing it to creep into your skin and build you down. Aria, I learned to stand up for what I believe in because of you. I learned to defy my dad just to stick to my morals. Why are you allowing Negan to change those morals? That's all he wants. He just wants you to see him like everybody else sees him. . You're letting him win. We're just as bad as him if we don't forgive him," Carl tells her, his eyes looking down at her in worry. He doesn't see the girl that she used to be.

This world has finally broken her and he's scared she's only going to crumble more.

Just as she goes to reply, the sound of growling distracts her and she looks to where a small group of walkers are feasting on an animal. The three crouch down and Carl looks towards the two, pulling his knife out. "Okay, for your mom." Saddiq glances over at Aria and she nods in agreement, following Carl's movements. The three make their way towards the walkers and whenever they hear them, the small group abandon its food, setting their sights upon their prey.

As a walker stumbles straight towards Aria, she pushes it back against the tree trunk and pierces her blade through its temple, the monster falling limply to the ground. A body stumbles into hers and she grunts, her hands raising to push the growling walker away from her. Her eyes dart over towards the other two boys, heart speeding up whenever she sees them struggling as well. Aria tears her arm back and stabs the walker before rushing over to help Saddiq. As he's slamming a walker into a tree, she grabs a hold of one that is about to take a chunk out of his arm and she throws it on the ground before stomping its head.

Not having time to worry about anything else, the youngest Harrison rushes over to her best friends child, pulling the walker off of him. A gunshot goes off and Aria kills the last one, resting her palms against her knees, heaved breaths leaving her lips. Unable to contain it, bile rises up inside of her and she is throwing up the rest of the food she had from the night before. Her motherly instincts kick in and she wipes her lips with the sleeve of her flannel, turning towards the two boys.

"Are you both alright?" Her eyes narrow whenever she sees all the blood covering Carl's clothes and a small whimper moves past her lips. "Please tell me that's animal blood," She mutters, eyes full of worry. Carl glances down at his clothes for a second before nodding.

"It is." Little did she know, that was a lie that left his mouth.

A U T H O R
as much as i hate to say it, this book will be coming to an end soon. do you guys have any theories on how you think it's going to end?

𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙨 ♔ 𝙙.𝙙𝙞𝙭𝙤𝙣Where stories live. Discover now