:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

you were young when everything begun - yet old enough to realise something awfully wrong was happening all around you, when almost every single adult ran away in panic, leaving you and the other kids alone in the middle of nowhere, in a place called ericson's boarding school for troubled youth. in a hope of fixing your bad attitude and saving you from witnessing your parents' harsh divorce, their best idea was to send you into a boarding school at the age of twelve. but deep down you always knew the true that left your heart aching in pure agony and betrayal. they wanted to get rid of you, even though if it would be just for a few years.

both of your parents were busy with work most of the time and if not, they'd use their free time as an excuse for needing to rest, which caused you to not get much love and affection growing up.

and your older sister? she was a whole different topic you could ramble about for hours on end. the two of you shared the same mother, but had different fathers. you've met your sister's biological father before a couple of times and you couldn't help, but feel enmity towards him, because they happened to be a little too alike, your sister and him. it felt rather strange, calling someone your sibling, when you barely knew them, but even so, there was a few nice memories. a few.

throughout your life, you felt lost and ignored - like you didn't belong anywhere, despite your desperate attempts to fit in. it didn't take too long, before you came up with an idea, how to get at least a little bit of attention, you were aching for. after breaking school rules over and over again, you were sent into the principal's office, before they called both of your parents in for your repetitive bad behaviour. it felt strangely comforting to see your mum and dad sitting next to each other in the office, speaking about you, even if it was about all the terrible things you've done. your plan worked. you got the attention you craved for and now you wished for more, so as one would do, you continued causing problems.

but because your parents never saw your true intentions behind your unpleasant actions, they send you into boarding school for troubled youth, right after announcing their divorce. tears threating to fall, you harshly bit your lower lip, before running to your room - hiding underneath the covers, as you've spent the entire night uncontrollably sobbing, silently begging for everything to simply stop.

with such a so-called lifestyle, a lot of bad habits came with it. you obviously did not adore any of them, but you couldn't stop, no matter how hard you tried. not when you felt like all those bad things and pain were deserved. "maybe everything's my fault for just not being good enough." you couldn't help, but wonder every single night before drifting off.

the place was less worse than you expected. you weren't as bored as you usually were back home, many people gave you attention and you even made a bunch of friends. the first day you arrived at the boarding school, twins approached you with assuring smiles and introduced themselves as minerva and sophie. later on, they introduced you to the rest of their friends and for the first time in your life, you felt welcomed and not ignored. but it didn't last very long, because soon after, the outbreak started and changed everything.

your life, once again fell apart. you could no longer peacefully fall asleep every night, now with the fear of one of the monsters breaking in and killing you or your friends. you couldn't afford to be a naïve child, but instead a living person, desperately fighting for survival.

it's been four years since humans begun eating each other and turning into monsters, as you witnessed countless things nobody ever should. grief, violence, death and many other. you painfully watched almost everyone leave or die and couldn't help but wonder, how long it will take, before everyone you cared about is gone. before you are gone. the fear only grew bigger and you weren't sure how much of it you could possibly take.

the fear is also one of the reasons why you're stuffing your backpack with the most important stuff you needed for survival. the sun was far gone, as the bright stars were splattered across the sky, while the full moon and fire lit around the front yard were the only sources of light.

opening the door of your room followed by a small creaking sound, you peaked your head outside, making sure no one was out in the hallways and to your luck, nobody was. making your way towards the front yard of the school, you nervously played with your fingers, while edging closer to the large front gate.

"therissa! hey!" you called out to the younger girl, who was currently on watch, earning her attention. "what's up, y/n?" furrowing her brows, therissa looked down at you, patiently waiting for an answer. "you're wanted in the office." you simply explained, confusing the girl even more. "it's the middle of the night and i'm on a look-out duty. is it that important?" suppressing a sigh, therissa slowly got down from the watch tower by the front gate. "mhm, but don't worry. i'll wait here until you come back." you had no other choice than lie for your plan to work.

after the short girl entered the main building and left your sight, you took the chance and quickly left through the front gate, making sure no one saw you leave. taking a deep yet shaky breath in, you shared one last look at the school you've spent the past almost five years at. you could already feel the guilt building up inside you, but you chose to ignore it, as you slowly disappeared into the depth of the dark forest, leaving the school with the thought of never returning. as far away as you got from the place, the relentlessly forlorn feeling wouldn't go away, no matter how much you prayed for it to.

( FOUR YEARS LATER )

the noon sun was hiding behind many grey clouds, as the breezy wind irregularly moved around the tree branches. the remained kids of the ericson's boarding school were already busy with their duties, as everyone got their own work to do. aasim, louis and violet's schedule for the cloudy day was to go out in the forest and check all the traps, silently hoping for something good to surprise them.

impatiently standing by the front gate, violet crossed her arms over her chest, as she continued to wait for the two missing people. "let me guess- louis is again 'who-knows-where'." walking towards violet and the front gate with a bow in his hand, aasim let out a long sigh. "nothing new." muttering underneath her breath, the blonde was about to open the gate and leave, not caring if her friend was present or not, but before she was able to, a voice called out to both violet and aasim, startling them.

"you guys weren't planning on leaving without me, right?" chuckling, louis ran towards the duo, finally joining them. "wouldn't even think of it." violet rolled her eyes sarcastically, already walking out of the gate with the two boys following close after her. "maybe next time try being on time." aasim added, wearing a slightly annoyed expression, causing louis let out a quiet breath. the group continued to walk through the forest in silence, watching out for any walkers, as they gripped each of their selected weapons.

"you guys go west, i'll check the east traps." explaining, violet send a small nod towards the two boys, who did the same as a sign of understanding. carefully glancing around, violet made sure there were no dangerous walkers lurking nearby, before she started to check and fix the traps if needed. "fucking shit." kneeling down, violet muttered under her breath, when she noticed nothing has been caught in the trap. too busy with making sure the trap was even set up correctly, the walkers crawling closer went unnoticed by the blonde. soon the grunts and groans rang inside violet's ears, as she gripped her meat clever tighter - her knuckles turning pale in response. just when the walker was about to reach out for her, violet swung her arm high in the air, before killing the walker with a heavy grunt.

luck appeared not to be on her side that day, as the meat clever got stuck in the head of now dead walker, making violet struggle with getting it out, which gave the other walker enough time to sneak up behind her. letting out a startled yelp, violet quickly turned around, pushing the walker as far away as possible using her bare hands, while the walker tried to get her no matter what. with a rapid heartbeat, violet attempted to grab the meat clever once more, after it fell on the ground earlier, but failed. without a weapon, her only choice was to run away, but before she could even attempt to do so, the walker got closer again, almost grabbing the blonde by her shoulders.

even if she wouldn't admit it out loud, violet was scared and didn't know what to do, as she continued prying off the walker, who kept edging to bite her - barring its rotten teeth at her. a grunt escaped her slightly chapped lips, when she begun to loose her strength. just as she was about to push the walker to the side, a katana went right through the walker's face, ending not too far away from violet's cheek, splattering a few drops of dark blood onto her shocked face.

the walker's body went limp and the blonde used all of her remaining strength to shove it aside. with wide, yet confused eyes, violet looked up to see who got rid of the walker - excepting either louis or aasim, causing her heart skip a beat at the surprising sight. "no 'thank you'?" wind carried the awfully familiar voice in violet's ears, as she continued to stare at the person in front of her, who simply pulled down the bandanna off their face, exposing their scarred face..

©anm3mi