𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 | 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯 ¹

𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏

Chapter Nineteen,
Darkness Around Me

Amidst the trees.

Death.

Darkness.

Though it was still daytime, the light seemed to fade before her eyes as the darkness enveloped everything. Everything appeared in shades of black.

Her heart raced, faster than the speed of light. Her mind set ablaze, neurons raging. Back to the start. Trapped in a memory lane filled with people who once created her best memories.

Now they were the memories.

She had nowhere to go. No one to turn to. No place for hope.

As she delved deeper into the woods armed with nothing but a knife, her mind began to cool down. She was in significant trouble, too overwhelmed to consider the consequences beforehand.

A walker attacking her snapped her back to reality, triggering her survival instincts, just as they always did.

She was a survivor.

Fall, dust off, and stand up again. Resilience has been ingrained in her since childhood.

"Successful people never give up."

Countless reminders echoed in her mind. Yet, perhaps it was no longer about success but survival.

The walker, once someone like her, like Sophia, faced her wrath, once fueled by fear.

Blood splattered everywhere, covering her face, blonde strands, skin, and clothes. She didn't care.

The same fury met another walker as she stabbed relentlessly. In her mind, she was exterminating her fears—the darkness, the vulnerability.

Her heart urged her to stop, but her weary mind was too angry to listen.

Back at the farm, everyone's minds were too weary to notice her absence. "We've been out," Shane said. "We've been combing these woods looking for her, and she was in there all along? You knew?"

"Leave us alone," Maggie said.

"Hey, Shane, just stop, man," Rick spoke, trying to pull Shane away.

"Get your hands off me," Shane shouted.

"I--" Hershel stuttered, at a loss for words.

"You knew and you kept it from us," Shane told him.

"I didn't know."

"That's bullshit. I think y'all knew."

"We didn't know!" Maggie shouted.

"Why was she there?!" Shane shouted back.

"Your--Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed," Hershel said, finally coming up with an explanation.

"You expect me to believe that? Do I look like an idiot?" Shane shouted.

"Shane, hey hey hey," Rick tried to calm his friend down.

"I don't care what you believe!" Hershel shouted.

"Everybody just calm down," Rick said.

"Get him off my land!" Hershel raged.

"Please, no," Rick begged the old man.

"Let me tell you something," Shane said, approaching Hershel.

"Hey. Don't touch him! Haven't you done enough?" Maggie shouted at him.