FLASHBACK: VA - Small Town (Day 19)

[DarkSideCookie]

Virginia - Small Town

A small town in northeastern Virginia, United States.

[Kristi Lynne]

---

DAY 19

---

The one-stoplight town was as good a place as any to stop and get their bearings. They had taken out any walkers that awoke upon their arrival and were satisfied that no more would be coming right away. Nora had spread a map out on the hood of the truck as she consulted with Negan. He may have been allowed to drive Rusty once as they departed his and Lucille's home in haste, but she wasn't ready to hand over all control yet.

"Fort Belvoir is the nearest military installation," she said, pointing to a spot on the map. "Maybe we get lucky and they're supplied with food and housing. We know I-95 is gonna' be impassable, but if we stick to the back roads we should be able to get there. People probably headed into DC thinking they'd get answers. Traffic around the Beltway was bad before the apocalypse. We'd be askin' for trouble if we go north of Springfield."

[DarkSideCookie]

They were hitting the road now for already a couple of days, during Negan had finally come to peace with himself and above all, with the decisions he had made. Because each one of them had led him to where they were today. Maybe not in fucking Eden yet, but on the goddamn road to it. And also maybe not the Eden in the vintage sense, but in their own. His own. One door had closed, another had opened up. And so had his attitude as for how to look at the pile of shit around them.

Negan was paying only half attention, almost playfully tapped Lucille on the ground right next to his feet, while Nora tried to involve him in the navigation job. Not that he wouldn't appreciate taking over as much control as he could get, or actually as he could help himself to get, but right now he wanted something else; not sure yet what that was, but something else. Some relaxation maybe.

"Now, this sounds reasonable and considered.", Negan eventually stated slowly speaking, at least finally giving her attention at all. "But Ye-esh!", he added with a grin and a leaning of his body. "Have you thrown a look around yet?" With these words, Negan spread his arms. "This might be Silent Hill, but with ice-cream parlors, a surely not too overcrowded cinema and wow, a record shop even! So, who's in for some silent-blind movie with imaginary music and maybe a real dose of deliquescenced ice cream?"

And then all of a sudden Negan knew what that something else was that he needed right now. Fun.

[Ariel]

Ingrid had always wanted nothing more than to see the world. Days filled with working and the tedious duties of life, she longed to put it all behind her to venture outward to discover what life might have in store for her outside of her repetitive bubble. Former life behind her, she had been hitting the road for weeks with Negan and Nora. Ingrid had finally got her wish, though if  she would have known that it would have all turned out in a deadly apocalypse then perhaps she would have been more careful with her wishful thinking.

Both feet hitting the dusty floor of the road they had stopped on, Ingrid was the last to exit the vehicle. Negan and Nora had grouped at the front of the truck to discuss the next move, however Ingrid wasn’t exactly so inclined to join in at that moment. Feelings of emotion had arisen within Ingrid, sending her into a bit of a spiraling funk. Exhausted, frustrated, sad. Missing her siblings, her family. Ingrid tried her very best to keep strong around Negan and Nora, though the repression was taking it’s toll. The past couple of days, Ingrid couldn’t help but wonder if her parents and Enid had made it to a safe haven. Perhaps they were close. Though, peering around at the ghost town that stood before them, it was clear that any sign of civilization around these parts were a lost cause.

”So, who’s in for some silent-blind movie with imaginary music and maybe a real dose of deliquescenced ice cream?”

Eyes glued to the landscape of the town, Ingrid wandered slowly to the front of the truck. Negan’s words brought her away from her current thought process and into the present moment where Negan clearly wanted to cut loose from the zombie apocalypse for a while. Ingrid totally got that, though she couldn’t bring herself to a place where she could just forget about it all. She needed to clear her head.

“You both go ahead - I’m gonna look around, see if I can loot that pharmacy at the end of the strip there,” Ingrid spoke swiftly with a nod in their direction. Her fingers found their way to her bow that had been resting on her shoulder and as Ingrid began to load it with an arrow, she headed down the path leaving Negan and Nora behind her.

[Kristi Lynne]

”So, who’s in for some silent-blind movie with imaginary music and maybe a real dose of deliquescenced ice cream?”

“You both go ahead - I’m gonna look around, see if I can loot that pharmacy at the end of the strip there.”

"Okay, watch your back," Nora advised, knowing she didn't really need to. Ingrid knew well enough to keep her head on a swivel, especially in a place like this that would take a while to clear. She folded the map up again and tossed it into the truck. "Pretty sure the power's been off for a while," she remarked to Negan, as she passed him and proceeded down the sidewalk. "Damn shame, though. I really coulda' used a movie and an ice cream sundae. You buyin'?" 

Nora threw a smirk over her shoulder at him, but her musing was cut short by a loud slam against the storefront glass. On the other side, a walker lunged and grasped at them. Her hand immediately went to the knife on her hip, though it didn't really occur to her to feel scared or threatened. She shuddered to think she was getting used to seeing them. The door to the place looked secure and it didn't seem like he'd be getting out soon. So she kept walking.

[DarkSideCookie]

Negan silently watched Ingrid heading down the path. It seemed that nowadays all of them were able to handle a few walkers on their way, so he didn't worry too much. Also, she was smart and tough, and certainly not unmindful.

"Pretty sure the power's been off for a while,", it was Nora's voice that drew his attention away from the lessening shape of Ingrid in the distance. "Damn shame, though. I really coulda' used a movie and an ice cream sundae. You buyin'?"

Negan wasn't even deterred by the sudden slam against the storefront glass. That walker was locked inside, so there was no need for them to waste their time and energy to put it down. One might think it was almost terrifying how quick you were able to change your point of view when a zombie apocalypse had brought everything you loved to naught. But not Negan. In fact, he even seemed like getting taken up in it more and more. He kept walking right beside Nora, a grin starting to spread over his face.

"Ahh, feels like one of these relaxing Sunday openings where you got nothing else to do than milling around, checking out some new records and stuff.", Negan stated with a smile, while he casually continued their walk along the storefronts. It couldn't be said if his smiling was real or simply covered his frustration about what this place along with all other places had become. Maybe it was both. "You like music?", Negan suddenly asked as he stopped his steps at the front of a vacant record shop. "I mean, who doesn't anyway.", he suddenly added without waiting for an answer, proceeding on the assumption that she would follow him inside.

[Kristi Lynne]

"You like music? I mean, who doesn't anyway."


"Of course I like music. I was a cop, not a nun," Nora replied, following him into the record store. She instinctively scanned the space and looked for an exit, listened for any sounds of other occupants. "I just think it would be a better use of our time to be scouting this place for actual supplies." She leaned over the cashier's counter to make sure there were no surprises lurking, then jumped up on it. She flipped through one of the magazines lying there while Negan was looking through records. God, how long had it been since she actually sat down and read something, anything. 

[DarkSideCookie]

"Of course I like music. I was a cop, not a nun,"

Negan's lips raised to a mischievous grin once more, though he wasn't reacting to that statement this time. Instead, was he heading right towards the range of records.

"I just think it would be a better use of our time to be scouting this place for actual supplies."

Of course, was he aware of the danger that could lurk everywhere, but judging by the silence around them and the small shop size, it wouldn't be more than just a few dead seeking after their flesh. So, right now he was going to get himself the relaxation he deserved. They deserved.

"So, what type of music made your cop hips wiggle?", Negan suddenly asked with a mix of amusement and true interest, as he looked through the records, not paying any attention to Nora's acting of precaution. "Pop, Rock, Jazz? No, I bet you were a Country broad. Riding the rodeo and drinking every man under the table with only the best vintage whiskey." Negan chuckled quietly, as he finally turned around to give Nora a provoking look.

[Kristi Lynne]

"So, what type of music made your cop hips wiggle? Pop, Rock, Jazz? No, I bet you were a Country broad. Riding the rodeo and drinking every man under the table with only the best vintage whiskey."

"Eh, you're half right," she answered. "Country, yes. But I don't touch whiskey. Not since my friend Sharon's graduation party when we broke into her dad's liquor cabinet and drank half a bottle. I spent the rest of the night puking and thinking I was gonna' die. Since then, I just stick to beer."

Nora hopped down off the counter and began to peruse a nearby bin of records. "I remember when it was such a big deal to buy an album. There was no place in town so you'd have to go to the mall in the next county, and Dad would make such a fuss about it." She held up a record of some 80s band that she vaguely remembered being played at a high school dance, dust almost obscuring the brightly colored artwork. But there would be no more shopping trips with her father, no more awkward slow dances under a disco ball, no more music really.

"Anyway, you can't go wrong with the classics -- Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Otis Redding, Etta James, Wham," she declared with a wry grin, holding up a copy of a George Michael hit for him to see.

[DarkSideCookie]

Negan had to chuckle once more when Nora explained her aversion to whiskey in a very detailed way. That did sound like a memory which he might kill for to could have experienced as a viewer. So, cops weren't born stuffy, that's good news.

"I remember when it was such a big deal to buy an album. There was no place in town so you'd have to go to the mall in the next county, and Dad would make such a fuss about it."

"Or you'd simply go where you want, and there would be no one around to make a fuss about anything at all.", Negan interposed with half another chuckle and half seriousness; seriousness that wasn't accompanied by any sign of sorrow though. This had been simply a matter of fact. Yes, that would have been his teenage period. Foster parents who not even had the guts to confront their own boy in care just could go hang in his opinion.

But instead of lingering in his own thoughts, Negan drew his attention back to Nora. For a moment he really wanted to learn about what she was thinking right now. Was that the tiny hint of a real smile seen on her face, while she seemed to reminisce another lovely memory between Papi and little Nora? But even if it was, it was disappearing as fast as it had come. The real smile at least.

"Anyway, you can't go wrong with the classics -- Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Otis Redding, Etta James, Wham,"

"Oho - somebody here has a fucking divine taste of music.", Negan stated with delight, as he wandered over towards her, ending up though with a doubtful look towards the copy she was holding up right that moment. With a slow movement of his hand, he took that slip of the pen out of hers and put it aside. Then he turned back to Nora with a slight grin on his lips, until he suddenly started whistling a song he just had read on one of the records right next to her.

[Kristi Lynne]

"Or you'd simply go where you want, and there would be no one around to make a fuss about anything at all."

She looked away from the albums for a moment to steal a glance at him, gauging his sincerity. A lack of parents, or having ones that were there but didn't care, would go a long way toward explaining the fierce independence and perpetual chip on his shoulder. But she had a feeling reading him would never be as easy as that.

"Oho - somebody here has a fucking divine taste of music."

Nora met his enthusiastic outburst with a short laugh. "That sounded almost like a compliment. Are you sure you're feeling okay? You might have a fever." But in truth, it was her who was began to feel heated as he closed the distance between them. That unreadable grin forming dimples in his tanned and slightly bearded cheeks, and creases beside his intense green eyes. She quickly recognized the tune he was whistling as an old Johnny and June duet. Picking up the tune, she sang softly and uncertainly at first...

Go away from my window, leave at your own chosen speed
I'm not the one you want, babe, I'm not the one you need
You say you're lookin' for someone who's never weak but always strong
To protect you and defend you whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door

But it ain't me, babe
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe

Her voice a little stronger at the chorus, she took Negan's free hand in her own and twirled herself out of the corner into which he had backed her. Even though she still felt completely in his grip as she punctuated the last lyric with a wicked grin of her own.

[DarkSideCookie]

When suddenly Nora was joining in his whistling with vocals, very lovely vocals at that, Negan's eyes widened in surprise for a moment. He didn't allow his own surprise to end their little session before it really had started though. Instead, did he join her vocals at the second verse, while casually placing Lucille aside to finally get a grip of Nora literally by using her sudden physical contact, originally meant to free herself, to force her into a dance interlude as the cherry on the cake. Maybe a dance not too closely, but closer than they ever had been before to each other. And Negan would lie if he said he wouldn't sense kind of a sexual tension between them indeed.

"Go lightly from the ledge, babe
Go lightly on the ground
I'm not the one you want, babe
I'll only let you down
You say you're lookin' for someone
Who'll promise never to part
Someone to close his eyes for you
Someone to close his heart
Someone to die for you and more"

His deep, almost scratchy, voice accompanied each of his actual skilled looking steps, a slight grin around his lips all the while. Of course did the message of the song not slip his attention, which was, in fact, amusing him even more.

[Kristi Lynne]

And just as quickly, Nora's evasive maneuver had been turned against her and she found herself more fully in Negan's embrace. She listened as he continued the song in his deep, self-assured voice. She couldn't remember the last time she'd danced with anyone, including her late husband, and somehow it felt safe. She let her hand remain held in his, her other hand on his shoulder, as he placed his hand on her back and pressed her against him. She joined in singing on the next chorus...

"Someone to die for you and more
But it ain't me, babe
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe..."

Nora continued to smile up at him, a genuine smile, clearly aware of the ridiculousness of this situation but not really caring. What was normal anymore? And in moments like this, his late wife Lucille's devotion to him made sense. That he could so easily make you forget about the cruel and dangerous world outside this little record shop. "So you sing, you dance," she observed. "The world just keeps spinning for you."

[DarkSideCookie]

This was just about fun. Something that seemed to have gone missing at some point during the latest episode of his life, of all their lives. Maybe reasonable; but then again, why it had to? Wasn't it more important than ever to keep yourself cheered up in shitty times like these?

Negan's grin was growing just a little more at Nora's joining to make this a duet, but most of all at that sudden genuine smile of hers, this time totally designed for him.

"It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe...", Negan was just repeating the last line of the chorus with an elongated babe when Nora finally spoke up again.

"So you sing, you dance,""The world just keeps spinning for you."

The provoking grin on his lips somewhat lowered into something that could be called a genuine smile as well, mixed with a delusion of grandeur. "Not just for me, but for us who won't puss out."

Nora was still in his grip and Negan's eyes still glued to the smile on her lips. Actually to her lips in general. And although Negan wouldn't allow himself to sense this, there was something more about them than just fun that was starting to develop right this moment. Something he would want to stay gone missing for the rest of this new world order life though.

There even was a moment when this something more was about to gain the upper hand and Negan actually about to approach Nora just a little more when suddenly the new world order itself kept him from doing so.

"Get down!", he suddenly commanded towards her, while one of his hands already let off from her and instead reached out to Lucille. It didn't take him more than one single hit to cast the obviously freshly awakened dead, which seemed to have been able to near them without attracting both their usual great attention, down. This time though there was not the slightest sign of joy on his features, like it had started to appear lately whenever he bashed one of these walking dead; this time there was only silent anger instead. Anger about having completely let his guard down and with that not only have risked his own but also Nora's life.

Negan eventually lowered the bat in his hand. "You okay?", he asked with an almost farouche sounding tone, not directly looking at her even.

[Ariel]

Ingrid plucked one prescription bottle after another off of the shelf behind the front counter, reading them carefully. She stashed the ones deemed for possible use for down the road in her backpack as her eyes made a routine of checking the entrance every now and then out of defense. The pharmacy was a post apocalyptic gold mine for survival supplies. As Ingrid made her final loot round around the drugstore, she made a mental checklist of necessities. First aid kits? Check. Allergy and flu medication? Check. Pain killers? Definite check. Ingrid wasn’t shy to help herself to a couple of the looted pain killers already, hoping to seek some sort of ease for her aches.  For the first time in a while, Ingrid felt that something was actually going right in her favour.

Stepping back out into the little ghost town , Ingrid peered up and down the strip as she began to scout out the next place to loot resources. All was quiet in the abandoned town, until a rustling wind picked up suddenly, disturbing the dry leaves and dust at Ingrid’s feet. Brushing against Ingrid’s cheek, the wind forced her head in the direction in which it was blowing and her sight fell upon a wooded area at the shop’s end. Ingrid wasn’t sure if it was an instinctive feeling or the painkillers talking, but she decided to take a much needed work break and picked her feet up towards the park.

Arrows flew into a couple of rotting scalps as Ingrid cleared the park of the slight infestation, courtesy of the roaming dead. Standing in one place, Ingrid gazed around at the small setup. Surrounded by trees was a small grass field with a  swingset, monkey bars and teeter totter in the center. “Hey Ingrid, wanna play rocketship?, “Yay, rocketship! That’s my favourite game!”  The playground was empty, all except for the ghosts of Ingrid’s past that began to take shape and play. Grazing her hand along the moss collected teeter totter, she slowly made her way to the swingset. “Higher Lucy, push me higher! I wanna fly just like a real rocketship!” Tears in Ingrid’s eyes began to escape as she sat in the seat of the swing. “Lucy, will you be my sister forever?”, “As long as you promise to take care of me when we’re old and wrinkly,” Giggles from her childhood filled the air as she mourned for what will never be again. “Lucy...” Was all that Ingrid could utter before her hands fell into her face as she sobbed.

“Ingrid!”

Ingrid’s cries came to a sudden halt as her head whipped upwards. Completely frozen in terror at the female voice that called her name, Ingrid sat completely still as if to hear for the voice again. And then the wind picked up once more.

“Help!”

Jolting out of the swing, Ingrid heard the voice again but this time it was screaming. Ingrid gripped her bow and arrow in hand as she began to run towards what she thought that she was actually hearing, not even thinking that she was about to run into the woods. Ingrid wasn’t sure how long she was in the woods for, but she didn’t care. Someone was in trouble, and Ingrid wasn’t about to let anyone else die. Not if she could help it. Ingrid was frantic as she ran through bushes, moving branches away with her hands. Her arm became badly cut by a thorned bush as blood streaked down her bicep, but Ingrid was too busy to notice. Finally, she stopped from exhaustion as she looked all around her. “HEY!” Ingrid called out with everything she had. The woods grew silent, and she wondered if her efforts had become a lost cause. In the near distance, Ingrid’s eye caught sight of a road. Hopeless in what to do, Ingrid began to exit the woods as she moved towards the concrete path. As her feet touched to the lined pavement, the sight before Ingrid made her gasp with complete and utter shock. She was not prepared for the revelations she was about to unravel.

[Kristi Lynne]

"Get down!"

The emotionally charged moment between them was there, and then just as quickly it was gone as he flung her aside to grab Lucille and take a swing at the walker that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Nora heard the awful sound of it snarling before the bat connected with its rotting head and it slumped motionless to the floor. After that, the only sound was their labored breathing. 

"You okay?"

Negan spoke again, rousing her from the state of semi-shock. "Yeah, yeah, I'm...I'm good," Nora answered. Confused? Disappointed? Angry at herself for being so distracted by his closeness and the thought of his kiss that she'd almost gotten herself killed? She decided to simply settle on 'good.'

She collected herself while keeping an eye on the dispatched walker, now hyper vigilant of any more movement. "We should catch up with Ingrid," Nora proclaimed as she hastened to the shop door. And hopefully never speak of this again, she added inwardly, knowing that would be too much to ask. Now that he knew he could play this game and sometimes even win.

She remembered Ingrid mentioning the pharmacy but when she stepped inside to look around, she saw no sign of the girl. "She's not in there," she advised Negan. "Which way would she go?"

[DarkSideCookie]

"Yeah, yeah, I'm...I'm good,"

Negan gave a slight nod at that, his features relaxing again. He was glad that Nora wasn't hurt, as anything else would have been his fault. Next time he'd make sure they were taking a private lesson. There was one little moment in which he actually wondered about that sudden sentiment. Well, just fun. So why not repeating sooner or later?

"We should catch up with Ingrid,"

Later more likely, Negan guessed inwardly, a playful grin on his lips as he watched her back heading towards the shop door. A blazing flame was dwelling within this woman, one that most probably no man had fanned before. The grin on his lips widened at that before he decided this challenge would have to wait in line until they found his sister-in-law and fought their way out of here. ~

There were a lot of things to miss nowadays, but music might be one of the biggest deals, at least for Negan. To him, music was so much more than just lyrics and a melody. Between these two bases, there was something he used to call the hidden nuances, which ranged from the barely audible fine-tuning of the guitar to the noise you hear when placing a record on the phonograph. To experience a song meant not to just listen to it but to feel it. And even if Negan wouldn't admit that to himself, that was what had happened between Nora and him only moments ago as well. Feeling the nuances between.

"She's not in there,""Which way would she go?", Nora asked him once they had stepped inside the pharmacy Ingrid had mentioned before.

"She's no stupid, so probably wouldn't walk around dangerous areas all on her own.", Negan stated as he pointed in the direction of a park, visible from out of the pharmacy's window. "But then again, who's really acting rationally today anyway?" At that addition, his lips raised to a provoking grin again, while his body leaned a little closer towards her from the side.

[Kristi Lynne]

"She's not stupid, so probably wouldn't walk around dangerous areas all on her own. But then again, who's really acting rationally today anyway?"


"I'm totally rational," Nora countered, committed to standing her ground as he insisted on invading her personal space. "That--That was temporary insanity," she continued, pointing back up the street toward the record shop. "And it won't happen again." 

She turned away, avoiding what was surely a defiant smirk on Negan's face, and proceeded toward the park. It was evident by the arrows in the fallen walkers that Ingrid had been here. Taking a closer look at the surrounding trees, she could tell that some low-hanging limbs and dried leaves on the ground had been recently disturbed. She followed what she hoped was a trail until she saw something that made her stop. Crimson droplets along a thorned branch that carried onto the ground below.

"This blood is fresh," Nora remarked to Negan. "She's gotta' be close. Maybe it's not even hers." Not sure if that statement was an attempt to convince herself that what had been a pleasant afternoon of small-town scavenging might have suddenly gone south.

[DarkSideCookie]

"I'm totally rational,""That--That was temporary insanity,""And it won't happen again."

Oh, she shouldn't have said so, as this statement was inciting him just a little more to actually make it happen again. Insanity or not, for a moment she had lain nicely in his hands. But for now, the only reaction she got was a toneless chuckle; over-confident and knowing though.

Negan followed her steps towards the park, not sure if they really would find their third companion there. But it didn't take long until he spotted the arrows in some fallen walkers too. So, maybe she was stupid enough to take a walk in the park all on her own, but at least she was fucking able to be her own guard.

"This blood is fresh,", Nora eventually made him look up again. "She's gotta' be close. Maybe it's not even hers."

Negan was just about to open his mouth and release yet another cop joke when a shape at some distance made him hold it back all of a sudden. A shape of someone standing there like frozen, a left car right next to it. Negan didn't have to walk closer to know it was Ingrid. Without any word towards Nora, he did though.

Eventually, Negan had joined Ingrid at the lined pavement, still saying nothing, as his eyes looked past her towards the car. He had a guess...

[Ariel]

Ingrid thought that her worst fears had been faced. She thought she had seen it all by now. And yet, she couldn’t be more wrong than now. Ingrid felt Negan’s sudden presance appear by her side, yet she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight. The very car that she had last seen her parents and Enid in, driving away to a better place was right before them on the open road. The car appeared to have been abandoned, yet where were it’s occupants?

“I’ve been standing here, thinking that I should go check to see if anyone’s in there. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m terrified of the truth.” Ingrid finally uttered words, and she couldn’t be any more truthful to how she felt. Completely frozen where she stood, trembling with upmost fright. The smiles and embraces from her parents and Enid upon their departure, to think that those moments could be final made Ingrid sick to her stomach. But she knew that waiting would do no good. Ingrid had to know. She had to face her final fear. But just as she began to walk towards the vehicle, rustles and undead moaning coming from a nearby thick of bushes interrupted her attempt. As the undead appeared into the open road, Ingrid’s heart sank as her burning question had answered right before her. 

“No...it can’t be...” Ingrid regretfully uttered as the dead walked towards them with griping fingers and limp limbs. Walking dead that Ingrid recognized from a distance away. Her parents.

[Kristi Lynne]

Feeling relieved that they had found Ingrid safe, she hung back as Negan walked ahead. Choosing to give them space if this were some sort of family thing. But it had to be something serious to have stopped Ingrid in her tracks. The look of fear and sorrow on the girl's face was not what she expected to see. 

“No...it can’t be...”

The fact that Ingrid would hesitate as walkers approached meant there must be something more to this situation. Like there was a recognition of some kind, of who these people were before. Nora couldn't bring herself to end Grant but she could save someone else from that pain.

"Hey," she said, gently placing a hand on Ingrid's shoulder. Noticing the many cuts and scratches that had bloodied her arm on the way through the woods. She'd been searching desperately for something and it seemed she had found it. "Go on back to the truck. We can deal with this," she suggested, looking to Negan for agreement.

[DarkSideCookie]

Negan felt like there were no words needed; for both of them. And if they had been closer to each other in the past, he probably would have enfolded her in his arms right now, for no other reason than to let her know that someone was still there; that some family still has left. Anyways, Negan didn't, as he knew he was that kind of family she had never asked for. And so instead his eyes kept sight on the car in front of them.

“I’ve been standing here, thinking that I should go check to see if anyone’s in there. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m terrified of the truth.”

Negan said nothing in return, the adamant expression not vanishing from his features. When Ingrid began to walk towards the vehicle, the quiet moaning coming from a nearby bush made her stop all of a sudden. Automatically Negan made a step forward as well when this time it wasn't only a guess but a recognition of a man and a woman he once had met... alive.

“No...it can’t be...”

"Hey," It was Nora's voice that brought Negan back from his memory of this one meeting he had shared with these guys. With Lucille's parents. "Go on back to the truck. We can deal with this,"

His eyes met with Nora's for a moment of both of them saying nothing, before he gave her a slight nod of agreement. "Head back, Ingrid.", Negan stated to the side without looking at her though, as he already had the bat in his hand prepared. Prepared to do what had to be done. And this time it shouldn't be Ingrid who had to do.

[Ariel]

Ingrid had become paralysed as she was completely gutted by the tragic sight before her eyes. It felt as if every nerve in her body exploded like a bomb, and Ingrid was slowly sinking. Any hope she had for her family's safety and survival burst into flames right before her, and in the back of her mind she felt that she always knew that it was going to come to this. She just had never accepted that fact until now.

"Hey," "Go on back to the truck. We can deal with this,"

Ingrid had officially sunk into a fuzzed abyss, and her brain felt completely immersed in water. She could feel Nora and Negan there with her, but yet they felt so distant. Their voices surrounded her, yet they were muffled. Ingrid had lost any sort of awareness in the present moment, she was just simply there. Floating through the water, foreseeing the same fate for herself. It was inevitable. Avoidable. 

"Head back, Ingrid.",

Ingrid looked up at Negan. The waves in her ears were still crashing loudly, yet she knew what Negan was about to do. What needed to be done. Ingrid knew that she would never be able to put down another family member again, and she felt Negan knew this too. For if she had to do it one last time, she would never be the same again. Tears streaming down her face, Ingrid nodded wordlessly as she turned around and removed herself from the situation.

Walking down the path from which she came, Ingrid suddenly began gasping for air. She had finally emerged from the depths of her shock only to realize what was happening in the distance behind her. As Ingrid's legs began to give away, she shakily made her way downward. Grabbing onto a nearby tree trunk, Ingrid realized she wasn't even going to make it halfway back to the truck. As she held onto the tree for her life, Ingrid began to quietly sob. She sobbed in mourning for her dead parents. Ingrid also sobbed in relief that they didn't have to continue in this sick and evil world. But she did.

[Kristi Lynne]

Nora was glad that Negan was in agreement, but it still hurt to have Ingrid walk away. They had all lost someone, that was nothing new, but every time another ounce of hope was lost and your heart started to harden. "Ingrid recognized the car," she concluded. "I take it those are her parents, your in-laws. Used to be, anyhow." She looked from Negan to the male and female walker that were slowly approaching, and back again, well aware there was no love lost between him and Lucille's family. There might even be something cathartic in ending their undead suffering.

The hood raised on the vehicle meant that it had probably broken down here and was of no use, but it looked as if the contents had been undisturbed. "We should check the car for supplies," Nora suggested. "We need 'em more than they do. Mother-in-law's yours." She didn't wait for a cue or permission, just unsheathed her knife and approached the male zombie. As it snarled and grasped, she tried to remind herself that this thing wasn't Ingrid's father anymore. She clasped its shoulder with one hand and plunged the blade into its skull with the other. Once it had gone still and fallen to the ground, she carried on walking to the car to check if the doors were unlocked. 

[DarkSideCookie]

"Ingrid recognized the car,""I take it those are her parents, your in-laws. Used to be, anyhow."

"Let's just get this done.", Negan fobbed her off without even turning his head into her direction. He simply wanted to get rid of the dead parents and at the same time not so dead parents of Ingrid and his former wife. Not that there would be any love lost between the three of them, but with this last thing done, she and himself finally would be able to keep their focus ahead instead of behind. Mostly Ingrid though, as he had found his peace with this chapter of his life already.

"We should check the car for supplies,""We need 'em more than they do. Mother-in-law's yours."

At that Negan's head yet turned to the side, the ghost of a grin playing around his lips. "Was that a little sense of humor?" He shook his head in a teasing manner while Nora was already knocking down the father-in-law. And with no more diversion and above all no hesitation, Negan took a big swing with Lucille to take care of the wifey instead.

"This might have made me become out of favor with Daddy.", he stated with an inappropriate grin before turning his head towards the other corpse to his feet. "But then again, there's a high chance he hasn't seen." Negan's head leaned back in a toneless chuckle, while Nora carried on walking towards the car to check its doors.

[Kristi Lynne]

"Was that a little sense of humor ... This might have made me become out of favor with Daddy. But then again, there's a high chance he hasn't seen."

"Pretty sure you weren't high on their Christmas Card list anyway," Nora shot back. She found the rear passenger door to be unlocked and pulled it open to find a collection of suitcases and backpacks. Seemed like their preparedness for a long journey that was suddenly shortened, was turning out to be their good fortune. Some of the clothing looked like it might have belonged to a teenage girl, and Nora was reminded of Ingrid's younger sister Enid. If she wasn't here among the dead, maybe she got away. 

"And if I didn't have a healthy sense of humor, do you think I could have stood being around you for this long?" Nora offered, moving to the rear of the SUV and pulling the hatchback open. She couldn't help but smile in relief at the treasure trove of bottled water and boxes of protein bars, cookies, and chips. "God bless the parents of kids who love junk food," she proclaimed, mostly to herself. Slicing open the plastic around the water bottles, she grabbed one for herself and then tossed one to Negan.

[DarkSideCookie]

"Pretty sure you weren't high on their Christmas Card list anyway,"

One single tone of chuckling left his lips before he kneeled down next to daddy to wipe Lucille clean with the help of his Sunday best. As Nora had already taken on the task to search through the car, Negan took his time. He was just going to let daddy's corpse be when suddenly something peeping out of his shirt pocket drew his attention back to it.

"And if I didn't have a healthy sense of humor, do you think I could have stood being around you for this long?"

"You sure you mean healthy and not morbid?", Negan answered back while flipping open daddy's wallet in his hands. It hadn't been the money nor anything else of asset but a collection of photos, one more notable than the others, that had awakened his interest. For a little moment, a smile was flashing over his facial features. Lucille, probably just having begun her studies, at least being around the age when they had first met, was smiling right back at him. It was no more hurtful, at least not as much as just recently, but he still felt a little stab scratching at a scar.

He was just going to have a look at the other photos, one showing a familiar yet unknown face of a young girl, when something got tossed in his direction all of a sudden. Negan flipped the wallet shut to grab the bottle that was close to hitting him.

"We pick up Ingrid and then hit the road again.", he suddenly stated, after having downed the content in no more than three gulps and casually tossed the empty bottle some meters away. A place where you just had to watch your parents longing for your flesh wouldn't be helpful as for Ingrid's progression of leaving the past behind. But it's what she had to do after all. They all had to.

[Kristi Lynne]

"You sure you mean healthy and not morbid? ... We pick up Ingrid and then hit the road again."

"Eh, morbid's probably more accurate," Nora answered after giving it some thought. "Kinda' have to be to last in law enforcement. Also helps when the world goes to shit." She gathered what bags and supplies she was comfortable carrying, counting on Negan to transport some of the luggage as well, and started back toward the woods in the direction they had originally come from.  

[DarkSideCookie]

"Eh, morbid's probably more accurate,""Kinda' have to be to last in law enforcement. Also helps when the world goes to shit."

"Someone's speaking my language.", Negan quipped at her before adding: "Morbid humor is the best sense of humor." It had spared him from a lot of false cognates. Well, that was something being in the past as well. Nowadays you don't need friends but allies. People that share your iron will to survive no matter what. And yet, he wouldn't be honest to himself if he said that his two allies hadn't grown friends to him long since.

Without being asked Negan gathered the remains of the luggage, following Nora back towards the woods and turning his back on another part of his past without looking back a single time.

When they had reached the end of the path from where they had come from, Negan stopped all of a sudden. "So, where is she?" His voice was sounding calm, but inwardly he was a little worried.

[Ariel]

As the tears ran dry, so did Ingrid's throat as it became raw from the heavy sobs that had drowned her uncontrollably. Weak and exhausted, Ingrid could cry no more. Not for her family, Lucille. Nor for her old life which was nothing more now than a season of memories, and the eternal winter had unwelcomely arrived. Ingrid slowly turned herself around began to slide down to on the ground to allow the tree trunk to support her back. Catch some rest, then head to the truck, were the words that went through Ingrid's mind as survival would forever remain on the life for as long as she was alive. Although the family she grew up with was forever gone, she knew that she still had Nora and Negan. Ingrid would fight for them, until the very end.

As her hand slid down the trunk of the tree, her fingertips grazed a knot in the tree. Usually, Ingrid wouldn't think much of it as most trees had holes and imperfections. However, Ingrid swore she had felt something unusual in the tree, something that wouldn't typically belong. Her complexion grew slightly puzzled as her curiosity got the best of her. Ingrid managed to bring herself to standing as she crouched at the knot. She reached her hand into the hole in the tree momentarily before pulling it back out again. What the hell...? In Ingrid's had was a piece of lined paper, folded neatly four times over. Things got left behind in the apocalypse, sure, but folded notes in trees was not of the ordinary in Ingrid's new world. Unfolding the note casually, Ingrid was not prepared for the discovery of the contents within the little piece of paper.

J.S.S....

Staring at the piece of paper, Ingrid was completely beside herself. Just Survive Somehow. No one else would know this special motto, except for her own family. Words that her father lived by through their last trying times together, that he wished for his children to carry forward into their own lives of despair. But, it couldn't have been. From the sight of the events that had folded out, her parents didn't manage to make it past the road alive...Oh my god...Ingrid had been so overwhelmed by the unfortunate circumstances that had unfolded all at once that she had forgotten about her youngest, beloved sister. Enid. The last of the siblings who had left with her parents for a chance at survival. She hadn't appeared back when they were at the car...and this note was proof she had made it into the forest. Ingrid drew in a gasp as she wanted to cry tears of utter joy, but she also didn't want to get her hopes up. She couldn't face that kind of disappointment again. But she couldn't help but to feel hope again.

"ENID!" Ingrid yelled as she peered around the forest, the forest returning nothing back but the eerie whispers of the wind through the trees. She attempted to walk, yet her legs still would not allow it as they sent her back down to the ground, "ENID!!...Enid...," Ingrid was adamant on the possibility that her sister could still be alive. Extending her bloodied arms in front of her, Ingrid began to crawl back in the direction of the town with the energy that she still had left, "...Don't worry Enid, I'm coming."