walk-with-the-deadd - Tumblr blog

walk-with-the-deadd · 2 years

Text

Lydia fought to keep her cool, unwilling to be afraid of this man she’d known for as long as she could remember. She could not, would not allow fear to keep ruling her life. It kept her alive but was she really living when all her life consisted of was walking with the dead and silence with the living? The pack could hardly even be called a pack. They stayed together out of nothing but necessity, there was no loyalty or kindness keeping them together. With the exception of Beta, Lydia was sure that quite a few of the Whisperers would love to see Alpha dead. They were just to afraid to say so and even more afraid to try it.

“Do not make me repeat myself,” She did her best imitation of the snarl she’d seen him use so many times before, her heart hammering loudly in her chest. A part of her wondered if he could hear it before dismissing the thought. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder at the group hiding behind her, grimacing at the looks on their faces. She tried to look as apologetic as possible, hoping they wouldn’t turn on her for accidentally putting them within Beta’s path.

Taking a deep breath, Lydia anchored her feet to the group, squaring her shoulders. She was small compared to Beta but she tried to make herself look bigger anyways, a tactic she’d seen her mother use against the weaker ones in the Pack. “I do have a reason to be here,” She said just as one of the group stepped up, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m staying. You can tell Alpha that she doesn’t have to worry about me anymore.”Lydia bit her lip, forcing herself to nervously meet Beta’s eyes.

She was proud of herself. Beta was a hard person to speak up to.

She didn’t understand why they were making this such a big deal. It was a rule, they weren’t supposed to go back for anyone. Alpha always said that just because Lydia was her daughter didn’t mean she got any special treatment. There were no children in the apocalypse. Only the dead or the living, the strong or the weak.

Despite her own words, the thought of Alpha wanting her back had her hesitating. It was pointless though. Nothing would change. It could be said that she wanted her back but her actions wouldn’t prove it. It was just words. Lydia didn’t want to go back to an empty life. She wanted to learn, to live, to explore.

She wanted to protect this group.

walk-with-the-deadd:

Lydia was trying very hard not to regret her decision to help the group. It had been the right thing to do and she hoped that if she were ever in the same situation someone else would jump in to help her as well. Still, as the guardians grew closer, no longer fooled by the scent of death that clung to her skin due to her disguise, she couldn’t help but wish she’d made the smart decision. The decision that would have pleased her alpha and not a man long dead. The crippling fear that she used to associate with the mere mention of them had long since faded but she was no fool and she had not forgotten what they were capable of. Careful to leave herself with just enough distance from the reaching hands, Lydia lunged forward, her foot connecting solidly with one of the guardian’s knees. Its body falls, and she wastes no time, her knife sinking deeply into the top of its head. The action was repeated a few more times but the herd of walkers closing in on her didn’t seem to be waning. If anything, it was thickening as more and more were drawn from their hiding places in the old shopping center.

Lydia glanced frantically around the area, her eyes wide and pleasing as she searched for anyone from the group she’d tried to save. If karma truly did exist, she needed it now. It seemed that luck was in her favor because her eyes locked with those of the man she’d spoken to before leading the herd away. She sighed in relief, her back straightening in newfound determination. As long as she wasn’t alone, she could hope. She could keep fighting. She held up her fists, her knife clutched tightly in one hand as she waited for the first guardian to reach her. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she realized that something had caught their attention and she followed their gaze, her mouth dropping at the sight of Beta.

She didn’t know what to think or feel about him being there. There was the smallest tinge of hope at the thought that maybe Alpha had been worried about her or had missed her and had demanded that Beta go searching. She felt her lips twitch, the smallest hint of a smile on her face. Maybe her mama really did care.

It was this thought that had her stumbling towards Beta as he killed the last guardian, prepared to ask him if Alpha had indeed ordered him to find her. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way, the giant instead turning towards her new friend with his knife raised as if to take him down as easily and thoughtlessly as he had the dead. Lydia felt her heart drop, dread and frustration so strong that it made her dizzy. If Beta killed him, it would be all her fault. She was the one who had left the pack, she was the one who’d wondered around on her own for weeks, and she was the one who’d forced herself between them and a hoard of guardians. She’d only been trying to help but perhaps if she’d left them alone, they would have had a chance. With Beta, she knew there would be none.

Lydia looked at the giant, her heart in her throat. She was terrified of him. He was brutal and though he had never made any move to cause her harm, Lydia knew that one word from her mother would be all that it took to change that. She’d seen him do horrible things to the people who challenged him. He was their Beta. Her Beta. She wasn’t supposed to disobey him. She knew, however, that if she didn’t make a move now, she’d lose her chance forever. She’d never be able to build up the courage to stand up for herself again and all of this would have been for nothing if she didn’t at least try and protect this stranger who she had helped and who had helped her in return.

She pushed herself in between her pack’s leader and his prey, staring up at him with a defiant expression on her face despite the fear that threatened to make her knees buckle beneath her weight. Her resolve weakened that much more when he growled at her, his hazel eyes narrowing as he demanded her obedience. Lydia swallowed deeply, taking a deep breath to calm herself as she shook her head. “No. I won’t just stand here and let you kill him. He didn’t do anything to you,” She hoped more than anything that he couldn’t hear the waver in her voice.

They were corned by something far worse than the dead. They were now cornered by Beta. His gaze stared out at the group that stood behind Lydia, it almost seemed as if they had suddenly regret the decision of helping her, though he guessed it was mostly out of fear of his appearance. She was standing between him and the living, a protective gesture that stirred a newfound confusion within him. After all this time, he had never imagined that she would willingly put herself into this position. He and Alpha taught her better than that. He had taught her better than that. The living were dangerous and he thought that she understood that.

The grip around the handle of his knives tightened as his lips pulled back in a grimace. He could see the fear in her eyes, her stature. She was weaker than the rest of the Pack, that much he knew, merely an apprentice at best, he had never anticipated that she would do something like this. It not only put her life at risk, but it endangered her position in the Pack. He thought that he had taught her better than this.

“Do not make me repeat myself,” Beta snarled out to the girl.

At this rate, he would ponder telling Alpha of Lydia’s subtle betrayal. A point had been made for many years: do not be inconvenienced by the living. Stay away from them. Only if the Pack deems it so, should they approach. Of all people, he thought that Lydia would understand that, and it appeared that he was wrong. He supposed that rebellion was bound to happen, especially for a girl her age. Trouble had been in bound for many moons, though he never imagined it would be this.

“You have no reason to be here. Step away and we leave. Now,” the enforcer continued. “Alpha will not be pleased if you stay. She wants you back.”

He was willing to spare the group if that meant Lydia came with him. However, he would have to hunt them down later, for they had already seen too much. They could join them— as guardians. This was not mercy, far from it even. It was tolerance at the very least, and had it not been Lydia he would have killed every last one of them. She was just a child, still had much to learn.

He would have to ensure that this did not happen again. Alpha would not be pleased with either of them if he returned empty handed, yet with the word that Lydia was alive. Lydia would not come back on her own, it was up to him to ensure that she did.

#Child of the end #Lydia #rp

6 notes · View notes

walk-with-the-deadd · 3 years

Photo

If a mother can’t quiet the child, the dead will. Natural selection.

#I wanna get inside of her head and find out what makes her tick #The fascination I feel for this character has me by the scruff of my collar #{{ The Alpha }}

55 notes · View notes

walk-with-the-deadd · 3 years

Photo

#lmao #{{ crack }}

152 notes · View notes

walk-with-the-deadd · 3 years

Text

walk-with-the-deadd:

In some ways, it wasn’t hard to live amongst the dead. She could understand them. She knew exactly what they were and what they wanted from her. There was no pretending when the guardians were around, there was no nothing. Only silence. It could have even been considered peaceful when she could look past the constant groans, the sorrowful cries of the rotting bodies that had once been people. Some a part of their group, even. Other times, however, she felt suffocated. Almost as if she was truly one of them, her soul trapped inside a body that wasn’t quite living yet not quite dead. It was during these times that the urge to run grew too strong to ignore.

It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to go off on her own. She was still so young, and there were so many that had died being just as foolish as she was. She had an advantage that they did not though, having been taught how to survive by the one her mother called Beta. Alpha would call her reckless. She would say that Lydia didn’t have what it took to survive in the world, that she was far too blind to what she’d have to do to keep herself alive. She would threaten to leave her behind. Lydia hated the threats the most. Maybe that’s what had made her run. Either way, she’d slipped away from the pack at the first opening. She hadn’t really planned to stay gone for long. She’d just wanted to prove to herself that she could take care of herself, that she wasn’t a lost cause. She was doing a good job of it too, though she was growing tired of being alone. The thought of returning to the whisperers had occurred to her more than once, their company being better than no company at all. It was too bad she had ran into the group when she did.

She had tried to ignore them. She’d tried to move past, pretend like she truly was one of the dead, like she didn’t notice them struggling. She could hear her mother’s voice in her head, whispering to her about how the weak don’t survive no more, how the world wouldn’t stand for it. Then, she’d heard her father, his kind voice egging her on, letting her know that it was okay to care, that he would have cared. That had been enough for her to make her decision. She didn’t remember much of her father, but she remembered his warmth. She remembered how safe she would feel when he’d wrap his arms around her. The memories of the ghost that had once meant the world to her spurred her into action and she gripped at her knife, her knuckles whitening as she joined the group, fighting alongside them in a way that the whisperer’s would never even consider. They’d sooner listen to each other die than fight side by side against the guardians.

It quickly became clear that there were too many to fight off all at once and Lydia decided that since she was the only one with experience in controlling a hoard, it should be her to lead them away. She let the group know her plan, not bothering to listen to their objections. She didn’t care what they had to say about it. She’d jumped in with the objective to protect them, and protect them is what she would do. It wasn’t like they could stop her anyways, not now that she already had a group of the guardians breaking away from the hoard to walk after her, their synchronized groans causing her skin to break out in goosebumps.

She hadn’t expected anyone to look for her, not from this new group or her old pack.

Walking closely to the walls, blades brandished in either hand, he moved closer. He could hear voices of the living, that alone left him on edge. That was until the voices were muted by the song of the dead. This place was not as vacant as it seemed. With no concern about the dead— if Lydia was here, she knew her way around them— he moved even closer, now rounding a corner to the other hall, which opened up into a larger area, in time to see the group now locked in combat with a sizable herd of guardians. However, the numbers had been thinned as he approached. They were outnumbered, that much he could tell. But they were fairing far too well to have been doing this alone. Lowering his daggers, his shoulders slouched and head turned, mimicking the staggering dead as he slipped away from the walls and closed the distance between himself and the others.

The giant loomed over them, dead and living. As he made his approach, it was almost impossible to miss him. If Beta wanted to remain unseen, then he would have, though these matters called for a different approach. Upon inching closer, he noticed a familiar figure among the group. It was almost as if the guardians were being led. There was no doubt in his mind about who it was; the shirt, the knife, and the mask. It was Lydia.

Unfortunately, it seemed her disguise had failed her. Not her fault, but the fault of the living inevitably. Had it not been for them, then the guardians could have easily been led away. This left him with no other choice but to fell the dead. It was not something he wanted to do, the guardians were sacred after all, but Lydia was far more sacred than them. Alpha would be pleased to have her back. He would be relieved when he knew she was finally safe. A light snarl twitched at his lips as he straightened his posture, blades raising.

The dead were unsuspecting of him, focused mostly on the living and Lydia. That was so until he begun to drive the blades into their skulls, kicking others aside to take down others before moving onto the ones that collapsed. He had singlehandedly shredded through small masses of guardians like this before, some of those times had been in the earlier days of the Pack. He noticed how some of the living dared to join him, taking down the last of the guardians until the only ones standing was them, him and Lydia.

He turned after killing the last guardian. Face to face with a stranger, his head slanted to the side. The brute moved around, blade raising as he prepared to kill him too. That was so until Lydia had come between him; he stopped. The snarl pulling at his lips was more apparent for only a brief moment before his features fell eerily still and vacant of any discernible emotion.

“Move,” Beta growled out to the girl, hazel eyes narrowing on her. “Do not make me say it again.”

#{{ replies }}#{ child of the end }

6 notes · View notes

walk-with-the-deadd · 3 years

Photo

I risked everything for you. You’re my bug. I was only doing the hard things mothers have to do to protect their young. I know what you’ve done. I’ve had to live with it every day of my life. But I don’t want these people to hurt you.

#{{ child of the end }}#~ visual ~

61 notes · View notes

walk-with-the-deadd · 3 years

Photo

LYDIA of The Walking Dead

#Lydia #{ child of the end }

176 notes · View notes

walk-with-the-deadd · 3 years

Text

She hadn’t expected anyone to look for her, not from this new group or her old pack.

guardian of death // lydia & beta. closed plotted starter for @imbleedin-out

Beta had been the first to notice when the girl had vanished. She did not linger by Alpha’s side or huddle by the trees as he normally did, those places were now vacant of her presence. Initially he had decided to remain quiet about this discovery, perhaps she had simply decided to dwell elsewhere among their group. The Pack had grown into a formidable size over the past few moons, sometimes it was difficult to tell one between another. But he knew Lydia. He could recognize her among a sea of dead, and now she was nowhere to be found. He could wait no longer.

Upon informing Alpha of his observation he was promptly dismissed. It wouldn’t have been the first time Lydia had disappeared, she always came back one way or another, though it bothered the goliath how uninterested Lydia’s own mother was in her safety.

The brute insisted he would search for Lydia, that he would bring her back to the group. Alpha was not resistant to the notion, however she expressed her doubtfulness in the effort. That was not enough to skew Beta of the newfound goal to find Lydia. That evening he set out on his lonesome in search of the girl. It had already been two moons, if she had left tracks they would be faded, so he had to trust his intuition as he tracked her down.

He thought about where the most likely place would be; somewhere hidden. Safe. So, he wandered to the area that was once a shopping center many years ago, now overgron by nature and decayed over many years. It was a few miles from the forest, but not far. Close enough for Lydia to potentionally be. The goliath truged along grass-covered asphalt, peering into each window until he came to the entrance.

Beta entered and he sensed an immediate shift in the air. Something wasn’t right and he certainly was not alone. He sucked in a deep breath, a hand trailing behind the drapes of his coat to retrieve one of his daggers. The tower walked with a lumbering prowl, all was silent until he heard a commotion nearby; some shelves knocked down and muffled voices. Beta almost immediately turned to rush in that direction.

It was an unwise decision but Lydia was at stake, and he was willing to that that risk for her. So he ran until he was close enough to hear, but enough to remain unseen. Now both blades were drawn as he peered down the hall, seeing a few people almost crowded around the entrance to a room. Was Lydia there..? He questioned internally.

#{ replies }

6 notes · View notes