OUTLIVE.
❝The dead were never the enemy.
It was the living. ❞
THE WALKING DEAD.
DARYL DIXON.
BOOK TWO of the LANCASTER SAGA.
[ SEASONS 4 - 6 ]
*****
*I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I simply write to write. Astrid, any addi...
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[ iii. the same side ]
june 19th, 2012
➸➸➸
THE PUTRID STENCH OF burning flesh assaulted Astrid Lancaster's senses later that afternoon, and she fought to suppress a rising wave of nausea. In an empty courtyard outside Cell Block A, she stood flanked by Rick, Daryl, and Tyreese, their gazes locked on two charred remains. These were not mere corpses. They were blackened husks— their hair and clothing consumed by the flames. The identity of these unfortunate souls was obliterated, lost in the inferno.
An anxious lump formed in Astrid's throat as she turned to Tyreese, who choked back tears. "Who were they?" She asked.
It took a painfully long moment for Tyreese to find his voice. "K-Karen and David," He finally revealed, and Astrid's gasp was as much a cry of anguish as it was a response. Karen had been Tyreese's beloved partner, and Astrid, too, had shared a deep friendship with the woman. How could this have happened? Karen and David had been isolated in quarantine, alone within the prison walls. Who could do such an unimaginable thing?
Rick, his disbelief mirroring Astrid's, broke the silence. "You found them like this?" He questioned.
Tyreese turned toward them, his eyes haunted. "I came to see Karen," He recounted with agonizing slowness. "And I saw the blood on the floor." His trembling finger pointed to a trail of crimson that wove a nightmarish path from Karen and David's inner quarters to this very courtyard. "Then I smelled them," He added, his voice barely more than a mournful whisper.
Astrid's eyes were drawn to a pair of red gasoline tanks nestled in a shadowy corner of the small courtyard. She turned back to the burnt bodies. "There's still smoke coming off of them," She observed. "This happened recently."
Daryl, his thoughts etched on his furrowed brow, chewed on his thumbnail. "She's right." He nodded. "Must've happened an hour or so ago."
Tyreese's rage simmered. It was clear he cared not for the precise timing of their demise but rather the malevolent force responsible for their suffering. "Somebody dragged them out here and set them on fire," He bristled. "They killed them and set them on fire!" The silence that followed was heavy, pregnant with despair and fury, until Tyreese turned his piercing gaze towards Rick, invading the man's personal space. With Daryl and Astrid closely shadowing him, they braced for any impending confrontation. "You're a cop," Tyreese said, cold and stern. "You find out who did this, and you bring them to me. You understand? You bring them to me!"
"Tyreese," Astrid cautioned, her hands hovering over him.
Daryl moved forward to grasp the man's muscled arm, attempting to mediate. "We'll find out who—" He began, but Tyreese's explosive anger disrupted his words, shaking off the touch.
