Everything Happens At Nightfall - TWD Rewrite Chapter Eleven
[TWD REWRITE-MASTERLIST]
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Summary: The whisperers’ threat was huge. They wanted to convey a message of fear by putting the survirvors’ friends and family on pikes, out in the open for the crows to come and eat. Self-served buffet. Anna had lost a friend in the process but she had her father to take care of her and she even had someone to take care of, a new face in Alexandria. But she was going to have to face her own demons, maybe not so alone then she thought...
Words: 5k
Warnings: spoilers TWD season 10 (episode 4 specifically and spoilers regarding an event in season 9 episode 15), mention of deaths, traumas, some joy despite all, physical traumas from an accident (c.f last chapter white-out), lots of blood, violence, cursing, brief mention of some of Anna’s traumas (non explicit mention of what could look like ptsd from SA - not graphic, detailed or whatever, shouldn’t be triggering)
5 months later (or so)
The whisperers. They killed some of them. Enid. Henry, the Kingdom’s leaders kid. She hadn’t seen either of them in a while but it felt weird thinking they were dead. Anna never really cared about this new threat before because she was all safe and protected in Alexandria and she had not left its compound for months. To be honest, the blizzard incident had left her mind and body rather traumatized even though she never said it and she wasn’t ready to go out again just now. She needed some time but she didn’t know whether or not she would be granted it. In this world, the future was more unpredictable then ever and no god, no one, could protect one from what could happen, no matter how hard they tried. This was everyone’s number one fear, having no control on what was yet to happen. But for now, she wasn’t affected by their actions and she tried to live without worrying, for once. In truth, she was just burying them deep to forget about them but they would come to her suddenly and with no warning but she knew that. It wasn't such a big deal because, even Michonne tried to help her live what could be labelled as a normal life, including her at dinner time with Judith and Rick Jr. They were really sweet and their laughters brought a little joy in this apocalyptic shithole of a world. The adults that used to hate her because of who she was, were now sharing bits of their everyday life with her and she appreciated being included very very much, and she was really thankful. The last family meals she had shared were so long ago that they were only vague memories now. A memory that she would cherish the most was the time when she was having dinner with Michonne, Judith, the little Rick and Daryl was at the house and joined them. The laughters, the smiles and the light and cheerful atmosphere would forever be on her mind.
After doing some camp chores, Anna breathed out and sat on the steps of Michonne's house, where she still resided as well, in a room between her two children's. She held her left wrist in her hand, her fingers were shaking. She clenched her fist to stop it as long as she could. Since the blizzard, Anna had experienced tremors in her limbs, mostly her hands, when she released tension after an effort or when she was inactive for too long. What she went through had caused nerve damage to her body and it had sometimes random impulsive reaction. It was a bit like the russian roulette and she was still trying to figure out how to deal with it. Sometimes, when she would get hurt, the pain response would be worse or lesser than what it should have been, like, if she bit her lip, it would feel more painful than it is because the nerves couldn't process what happened correctly, ever since she got stuck in the storm. But the good thing was that it didn't weaken her so much. From where the young woman was, she could observe Aaron teaching some survirvors, late teenagers and adult alike, to fight. Anna never went there because she didn't need a lesson. She had had to learn what he taught them first hand. She had lived long enough to learn how to overpower, hurt or kill someone, on her own. As she stared at her clenched fist, she looked up and saw Lydia, passing nearby those who were training. Three of them had turned to her and were talking to her. Anna frowned as she stood up and walked quickly towards them. Her sprain had healed since she got it when she fell, and she wasn't limping at all anymore. Lydia was about to leave but saw Anna and simply moved out of her way.
“Since you listen to Aaron’s combat lessons so carefully, show me what you learned, come on.” She opened her arms in a defying way, staring at the stupid teenagers, young adults or whatever the shit they were.
“Anna…” Lydia mumbled behind her, her head tucked into her shoulders, eyes on the ground. Aaron silently watched from where he was. The most unfortunate part of the story was that he hadn't told them anything but, Lydia was in the same situation as Anna when Negan was still the big bad guy in the center of everyone's attention and, if she hadn't been strong, she would never have been able to ignore those kinds of people and what they might say. The problem was that Lydia had just arrived here, she had no one. She walked closer to the three of them, casually clasping her hands in front of her with a defiant look on her face. Anna showed that she took them for idiots, with her little mocking smile.
“So, which one goes first ? Come on, don’t be shy.” A blond boy came up to her with a frown.
“Who the fuck do you think you are ? You think you’re better than us ?”
“Oh, no. No, no, no.” She shook her head, biting her inner cheek. “I don’t think, I am sure of it, dickhead.”
He rushed at her and Anna immediately succeeded in blocking his movements, putting his arms behind his back and pinning him to the ground with her knee on his lower back. She let go of his arms when she saw one of his friends approach and Anna just had to grab his arms, turning him aside forcibly and kicking behind his knee to make him fall to the ground. Anna looked at the woman behind them, she glanced at the two boys on the ground who were slowly getting up as Anna advanced towards her, she who was also one of those who attacked Lydia a moment before. The woman took a few steps towards her and raised her arms to attack. Anna grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards her, crossing her arms on her chest, pinned against hers. She brought up her calves at the back of her knees and as she was about to let her fall on the grass, she heard someone move behind her and it didn’t take her long to understand that the boys or at least one of them was on their feet. She let go off the woman and kicked behind her, sending the boy back to the ground.
“I restrained myself from actually giving you the beating of your life and I can assure you, you don't want me to. Because you’d all be dead.” She threatened before walking back to Lydia. She put a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder, about to leave with her but the voice of one of the boys reached her ears while she had her back to them.
“You think you're better than everyone else, Ma'am Savior, but you're like your father and he's just a fucking scum bag and a loser who deserves to be where he is.” She instantly turned around and when she walked back to them, funnily enough, everyone was quiet.
“Which one of you said that ?” No one answered. “You’re either deaf or completely dumb. I’ll ask this one more time. Which one of you said that ?” She knew which one had spoken but she wanted to confront them before going physical. Anna turned to the blond guy and smacked him in the jaw with her fist. He grunted as he fell down, holding his face with his hands. Aaron shouted to Anna. He ordered the two friends of the boy to take him to the infirmary before approaching Negan’s daughter.
“What’s gotten into you, Anna ?” He asked, grabbing her arm with his good hand but she pulled away from him.
“Next time this happens, don’t stand there saying nothing. These jerks would have gotten half of their face burned if they were at the Sanctuary and dared to talk this way.” She spat out, putting her hand on Lydia’s back and walking away with her to take her somewhere quieter.
“Why did you do this? You got yourself into trouble because of me.”
“I've always had trouble. This was nothing.” Anna replied, slightly smiling at Lydia to reassure her. She went to sit on the grass among white sheets that were hung on wires to air dry. Anna stood nearby, watching her. “When I arrived, I had Alexandria late leader, Rick Grimes to help me fit in and to avoid this kind of situation and yet, you see that there are stil people that hate me. But I got myself another strong ally. My fist. I'm telling you, I've got a hell of a punch.” Anna paused, laughing softly, as she looked at the teenager, she saw her smiling with an amused look as well. “I've been through a lot and I can't stand this kind of people anymore. I no longer tolerate them. And you, Lydia, you arrive in an even more delicate period than me when I was in your place, you don't have a Rick. I remember when I saw you for the first time, several months ago. I didn't know your name or your story, but I know now and you're not a bad person. You'll find your place, eventually, even if it means I have to send people to the infirmary.”
“Why did you say they would have gotten their faces burned ?” She inquired.
“Where I used to live, uh, the Sanctuary, for such a behavior they would have been severily punished. Especially if they were going after me.”
“Why ?”
“Being the leader's daughter was quite a protection back then.” She answered, turning around. She was about to walk away when she heard her father’s voice. He had been allowed to walk in the camp during the day to do chores and stuff but had to go back to his cell every night and was followed around by someone.
“You looking for a job, kid ?” He asked Lydia with a smirk as he pushed a wheelbarrow in which he carried laundry.
“Just trying to clear my head.” She shurgged, speaking in a low voice.
“Hey, dad.” Anna spoke over the teenager softly. He looked up at her upon hearing her voice. She knew he knew she was already there when he arrived but he pretended not to be aware of it until now because she figured he had probably accidently eavesdropped them and didn't want to come in at the wrong moment and have them think he listened on purpose. He sighed silently, letting go of the wheelbarrow’s handles and walking over to Lydia, keeping his smile up on his face.
“It’s your third visit in a week. You keep it up, you're gonna find some socks with your name on ‘em.” He joked, trying to lighten the girl’s mood.
“Gage and his friends started again today.”
“Again ? Jesus. All right, kid, look obviously you're having a day, but, you know, what happened to rolling with it ?”
“I’m not just gonna smile and take it.” She retorted, glancing up at him.
“Didn’t say that. And, I certainly advise you now not to go for it, fists up, like Anna.”
“Why does she, then ?” Negan giggled slightly at the question and breathed out.
“You don't put out a fucking forest fire just by blowing on it, do you?” Anna let out a laugh because of the metaphor. “And, I also didn’t say run and hide. I mean, shit.”
“You said to kill ‘em with kindness. Well, it was Anna who nearly killed one of them, and without much said kindness.”
“I know…” He smiled, thinking of his daughter rearranging this little prick's face but resumed a more serious face quickly. “And, well, I did say that. But look, they trying to get a reaction outta you. They wanna see you upset. Don’t give that to ‘em. Screw ‘em.”
“Let’s go.” Daryl bursted through the hunged sheets and stood in front of Lydia, looking down at her. He didn’t hate Anna anymore and viewed her as a member of the community, at least she liked to believe so, but now he had someone else to despise and the current situation with Lydia looked a little bit too similar to her own, when Rick had just brought her here for the first time.
“I’m good.”
“Now.” He looked at Anna. “And you, go see Gabriel.”
“Come on, Daryl. Cut her some slack, she’s just trying to fit in.” Anna sighed, letting her hands fall to her side in exasperation.
“It's not by hanging out with you that she's gonna get there. And Anna, I told you to go see Gabriel. It's an order.” She rolled her eyes and frowned while Daryl walked away with Lydia. She felt her father stood up and look at her and foresaw what he was about to say.
“Whether I go right now or not, I will have problems.” Anna's relaxed left hand began to shake until she closed it and held her fist in her right hand. Her father gently stroke her shoulder before getting back to doing his laundry chore and she eventually walked away, ready to get scolded at by the priest.
He did lecture her pretty bad, asking her not to play vigilantes. She was pissed but at least he didn’t punish her for the incident and simply send her on her way with a warning. She was supposed to go see this boy whose name was apparently Gage and apologize but she was obviously not going to do that. Gabriel knew she wasn’t a serious threat and that she just wanted to teach a lesson to some idiots but he told her that if it happened again and someone got sent to the infirmary, she would spend her evenings and nights in the cell with her father instead of in a comfortable bed in Michonne’s house, and she would see her edged knife taken from her. That same evening, Anna went out for a walk to take her mind off things since she couldn't sleep. His hands weren't shaking, thankfully. As she walked, she saw figures moving silently in the dark, near the laundry hanging in the camp. She squinted and ducked to move unseen, grabbing a piece of wood from the floor. Something was wrong. She could feel it. Firmly holding her weapon of fortune until she heard someone hush and whisper for a few seconds and the voices got louder. She frowned and heard the muffled sounds of blows and suddenly, Lydia’s voice rose. She rushed through the sheets and got there within the instant. Gage and another brunette boy were pinning her down. Her body froze. She was paralyzed an instant but when she was punched in the somach by the blond woman, she grunted, falling to her knees, letting go of the stick. She coughed and felt the girl grabbed her hair and pull her away, kicking in her ribs. She widened her mouth and clenched her teeth so hard she though she was going to break them. She had to get up. She wasn’t going to let that bitch beat her up like a dog.
She was hearing Lydia struggling against the two boys and crying and Anna straightened up. She grabbed the woman, who thought she had the upper hand, by surprise and caught her fist in her hand. She kicked her in the abdomen, sending her to the ground while she took the stick. The woman went back at her but she had a weapon and she hit her side. The stick wasn’t so strong so it broke in two but she got hurt anyways. Anna grabbed the handle of her knife and someone jumped at her, pinning her down, pressing his knees against her throat. She coughed, having trouble to breathe. Her arms were stuck beneath her body but she tried harder and slipped her knife out of its sheath at her belt and waved her arm up in the air. The man yelled and fell to the side. She got on her knees, urging for air, breathing loudly and harshly, her hand on her neck. She looked around. Lydia was crying, curled up at her father’s feet. He glanced at his daughter with concern in his eyes as he crouched down, putting a comforting hand on Lydia’s back. Anna sat on the grass, still catching her breath.
“We were just trying to scare her.” Gage explained, staring at the tall man.
“Yo, Negan !” Another survivor of Alexandria, holding a pointy spear in his hand, arrived suddenly. “The hell is going on back here ?”
“Holy shit, Margo.” The brunette young man that was with them rushed to their friend’s side. “Margo !” She was her back against the wall, head bent on the side, blood all over. She was dead. The bitch got what she deserved. Anna got on her feet as her father stood up, staring at the woman’s corpse. He cursed soflty, sighing. Anna understood that he had caused her death, but it wasn’t on purpose given his tone.
In no time, people had gathered around them, mumbling in concert. Negan and Anna had been pushed aside and Daryl was the one crouched near Lydia. The poor girl was still shocked by what happened earlier, curled up on the grass.
“You, freak.” Gage spat out at Lydia's face. His friend took him by the shoulder and spoke up.
“It was Negan. Negan killed her ! And his fucking kid almost slit my throat !”
“Oh, get over it princess, I just cut your arm! You tried to choke me with your knee !” Anna yelled back, giving him a death stare. Her father held her by the arm to keep her from going at them and kept her by his side. Lydia was crying out that it wasn’t Negan’s fault and to leave him and Anna alone but no one listened obviously. The both of them were their scapegoats as of right now. They were the parias so they got blamed for the incident, when it should have been the other way around. The two boys assaulted Lydia and the woman tried to go after Anna when she came. They were at fault here, but nobody seemed to care.
“Now, get them out of here !” Daryl urged. A couple of survivors, including the one holding the spear, led them to the basement with the cell and locked the both of them up. As they walked away, Anna could still hear Lydia crying out that they did nothing wrong and Daryl tried his best to calm her down. Negan sat down on the bed and Anna joined him, wrapping her arms around her legs, her head resting on the cold wall.
“Oh, fuck this…” Anna breathed out, closing her eyes, swallowing harshly.
“Are you okay ?”
“I guess. I’m gonna have a nasty bruise on my neck but, you know… at least one of them’s dead, so…” Keeping her head on the wall, she rolled it to the side and looked at her father and shrugged. “I froze.” He stayed silent as she slipped in his arms, curled up on the bed. He listened, not knowing what she was talking about just yet. “I heard noises and I went to check and I saw them, attacking Lydia and– and I froze. I couldn’t move but this Margo, she took advantage of it because I was weak, at her mercy. I fought her back, then her dickhead of a friend, not Gage, the other one, he tried to crush my neck with his fucking knee.”
“I know.” He said softly, staring ahead of him as she talked. “When I arrived, I saw you choking for air. But you made it, apple pie.”
“I thought I was strong.”
“It’s not only about being strong, Anna. You’re so much more. You’re like your mom and I, you’re fierce, and you’re not easily fooled. When people do wrong by you or someone you’re close to, you feel the need to teach them a lesson but, you’ve been through a lot too. You have your share of traumas.”
“You’re back.” She breathed out. He looked down at her, frowning slightly, curious. “A few years ago, you would have told that we can't be weak, at any cost or we die. The Negan from the Savior would have said something like that, I think. But now, when I hear you, I hear my dad. And I’ve been waiting so much…” He stroke her hair, sighing.
“Let’s go to sleep. Take the bed.” She straightened up as he left the mattress and sat down on the floor. She knew that if she tried to tell him to sleep on the bed in her place, he would ask her to stop and go to sleep so she just looked at him and lied down.
“I love you, dad.”
“Love you too, baby.” And on those words, she rolled on her side, facing the wall and closed her eyes. When she was just falling asleep, she heard the door open and what sounded like Daryl’s voice talking to her father. She was just drowsing and too deep into it to move around and listen or say something so she just let herself slumbered after this eventful evening. She was exhausted.
Opening her eyes slowly, Anna stretched out her arms and yawned. She straightened up and as she turned her head, rubbing her eyes, she stopped moving and stared at the empty cell. Her dad wasn’t there. She slipped her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, frowning. She was looking around her, lost, not understanding why he wasn't there, where he had gone. She noticed the cell’s door wasn’t locked and she went to open it and rushed outside the basement, running to the street. She didn’t understand what was going on. Turning on her left, she saw Gabriel walking toward the house, his hands on his hips, lost in his thoughts, concerned.
“Gabriel !” Anna sprinted to him and he stopped suddenly when he saw her appear in front of him. He frowned, staring at her and instantly, seeing her outside, he glanced at the basement and understood the reason for the panick in her eyes. “He’s gone. Someone let him out.”
“Stay here.” He said as he walked at a quick pace to the cell and she watched him from the street, sighing. She felt a void in her stomach draining her energy and she sat down on the front steps of a house and stayed there for dozens of minutes, staring into space. She felt abandoned. She did not understand how and why his father would have left her side overnight. She felt like she needed to be angry because she was just so sad but something told her that he didn’t do it for no reason. Someone let him out, as she said. Someone let him out for a reason that served them and he had to go. He would never have left his daughter behind after just starting to renforce their bond. The morning past and she walked across Alexandria. Daryl was near the gate, on his motorbyke and looked at her walking over to him. Siddicq turned his head as well as he rode his horse, wondering why she was coming to them.
“You’re going to Hilltop ?”
“Yeah, why ?”
“I, uh… I want to go there. My father’s missing and I just want to go somewhere else…”
“All right. Let’s go.” He stared at her and motioned her to get on the bike and she did so, wrapping her arms around him to stay in place. The ride was made in silence, punctuated by the deafening hum of the motorbike. After a while, they arrived at Hilltop. They got let in and Daryl parked the bike in the entrance of the camp, letting Anna get down. A woman greeted Daryl from afar, smiling at him. Anna glanced at Daryl without question as he walked towards Ezekiel. The young blond woman heard them say that they had looked for Negan but found nothing for now. She looked away and sighed. Anna circled the camp, looking for Alden. He would be surprised, for sure. He certainly didn't expect to see her again after half a year. He was working at the Hilltop small forge and didn't notice her right away as she stood there, a few feet in front of him, focused on what he was doing. When he looked up, he stared at her for a few seconds, not really realizing it was her, until she turned her head to him and their eyes met.
“Anna ?” She walked over to him and they hugged as a greeting. It was one of the warmest greetings Anna ever had. She took a couple steps back and they faced each other. “How are you ? I haven’t seen you in months. What are you doing here ?”
“Do you remember what we promised each other ?” She asked, softly. Anna paused as he thought about it and nodded.
“Something’s wrong ?”
“My dad went missing last night. Someone let him out and they found no trace of him. But, that’s only one of the reasons why I came here to see you. I heard about Enid, and all those people the whisperers killed and, uh… I’m really sorry I didn’t come earlier.”
“It’s all right.” He cut her off, looking at her. “You’re here now.”
“Yeah, but… she was my friend, too. You two were kind of my only friends, and now that my father is god knows where doing god knows what, I was kinda lost. I didn’t really know what to do but I just needed a friend’s support.” He listened to her without saying much before running his hand through his hair. He gave her a friendly, compassionate look, which she returned.
“I get the feeling. I think the main thing that drove us apart was how much you’re attached to him, which I never really understood because I just viewed him as a brute, to be honest. No offense. But, I get it now and if you need me, I’ll be there for you, no problem.” She smiled, greatful as he continued. “I’ve got some work to finish so if you want to lend me a hand, I won’t say no.”
“Of course, boss.” She said, playfully, trying to cheer the both of them up. Anna couldn’t really help at the forge as she had no skills in the field but she was useful in helping them prune the trunk of a tree that had fallen on one of their walls. The sleeves of her leather jacket tied around her waist, she cut the branches of the tree with a saw. From time to time, she exchanged a look with Alden, who was nearby, busy at the forge with an older man whose name Anna did not know yet. He seemed to be like a kind of mentor for the young man. At the end of the day, Alden showed Anna his trailer. For the short time she was going to stay here, he would take care of where she slept. He vouched for her, within the Hilltop. Some people still had preconceptions about the young woman and Maggie wouldn't be particularly happy to see her wandering around quietly here.
“You can sleep on the bed, I’ll take the couch.” She nodded while he searched for stuff in the room, probably food, opening and closing cupboards. This was probably his rations that he stored in there, which sounded obvious now that she thought about it. He took a couple glasses and a bottle of alcohol and put them all on a table. She looked through the window. Night had fallen outside. The sky would have been completely pitch black if it was not for the stars’ lights. He poured them the drinks and Anna grabbed her glass and took a sip, seated on the bed. She saw his eyes look down at the small scars on her arm. They were healed and looked like thin white curled lines and since her skin tone was light as well it faded into it expect if you purposely stared at it. They were deep but not so big. He took a sip of his drink. “It’s crazy.”
“Yeah, it sure as hell is.” She nodded, drinking. “I feel like it’s so useles that I can survive this, I mean, I can’t help ‘cause we don’t have the equipment to do whatever needs to be done.”
“You’ve always been above everyone else. High and mighty Anna.” He joked.
“The mighty feels rather useless to be honest. I still feel bad about it…”
“About what ?” He inquired.
“I still feel like I could have done something different, like, I could have done something to help Carl. I could have saved him.” She heard him breathe out, heavily.
“We all feel bad about something, eventually.” They both nodded at his remark and kept talking about everything and anything for hours. After a while, they had gotten drunk enough to dance together around the room, laughing. A drop of her drink had landed on the floor and at some point, she stepped on it and slipped over the couch, grabbing Alden’s arm for some support but dragging him in her fall instead. Their faces got dangerously close and they stared into each other’s eyes in silence, without moving, as if they were paralyzed, feeling each other’s breath licking their skins. Holding onto the couch so as not to crush her as he was on top of her, he never took his eyes off her and slowly brought his face closer, brushing the tip of her nose before pressing his lips against hers. The sweet taste of his lips was mixed with the bitterness of the alcohol he drank. She had never lived something like this, not even close. She didn’t know how she was feeling about it right now because she was too immersed in the moment to think about anything else than him, his lips, his kiss and his touch.
“Hilltop falling is actually really upsetting. Many of the shows beloved characters are buried there. I was hoping when Maggie comes back we'd get to see her visit Glenn, Jesus and Enid’s grave. Now, who really knows what will happen with that.”
Gregory, you ain't in charge. If you won't "let" the hilltop people go home, then they can just move into Alexandria. Not like you have any control anymore anyways.
