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ODETTE WASN'T SURE HOW MANY DAYS had passed since she had found the small house for her and Rigby to stay in while their bodies recuperated and she mapped out where to begin looking for Ozzy and Gia.

But she did know they were beginning to run low on the canned food she had found in the pantry of the home's kitchen. It was growing painfully obvious to the brunette that they couldn't stay in this small safe haven for too much longer.

Night had fallen hours ago yet the brunette refused to sleep. Sleep was a luxury she could no longer afford in this new world.

A soft sigh escaped the brunette's chapped lips as she stared out into the darkness of the night with her doe like blue eyes. It was an eerily quiet night — not even the crickets were singing their melodies. Quiet nights had once been a warm welcome to Odette, but ever since the dead started roaming the earth and making meals out of those still living, Odette grew to despise the quiet. It gave her an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, as though it was the calm before the inevitable shit storm came to rain down on her.

Odette's mind wandered away as she stared up at the starry nighttime sky. It marveled her how she had managed to survive in this cold new world for as long as she had. Of course, Ozzy was the main factor on how she had stayed alive in this apocalyptic world. It was as if Ozzy was built for this type of world. It was as though something clicked inside of him when the world went to shit and he just knew what to do to survive.

Odette on the other hand had to be be taught, and while she had always been a quick learner it took her far longer to learn how to turn off her emotions than it did to use a knife. Killing the undead was necessary. Ozzy had showed her that and she had seen that for herself, but killing in the beginning had physically pained her to do so. They were people —— or at least they were once.

Now killing walkers had become like a second nature to the brunette. She now longer saw a person. She saw a hungry monster that wanted to rip her flesh apart. She no longer wonder who they used to be or what their life was like before they turned into a rotting corpse. It was no good to her or Rigby if she thought those things, it only would distract her and she couldn't afford to be distracted anymore.

Running a hand through her tangled hair, Odette took one last look at the dark sky, praying to whoever was still willing to listen that her brother and niece were safe wherever they were. Praying that they would all be reunited soon, because this world was cruel and cold, but Odette really fucking hoped it wouldn't be that cruel to take away Ozzy and Gia away from her and Rigby —— forever.

✞

VOICES. UNKNOWN VOICES WAS THE FIRST THING THAT STARTLED ODETTE FROM HER SLEEP.

The brunette quietly and softly moved Rigby's sleeping body out of her arms as she pressed her ear against the closet door, straining to hear the mumbled voices that floated around the small home.

Odette held her breath as a soft 'fuck' escaped her lips. She had once again let her naivety control her actions. By making the stupid decision to stay longer than necessary in the small home she had put her daughter in danger.

When this new world had began people weren't the same as they once were. They were cold, mean, harsh, and they took what they wanted and did whatever they needed to for their own survival with no regard for anyone else. Sometimes it felt like there was very little difference between the walkers and the humans.

"Mommy?" Rigby's small voice questioned. The young girl rubbed the sleep from her tired blue eyes, staring at her mother with confusion.

Odette quickly whipped her head around at the sound of Rigby's voice, shaking her head she put a finger up to her chapped lips. They needed to be completely silent right now until whoever was in the house left. You couldn't trust people in this new world, and you especially couldn't trust a group of people.

"It's okay, baby." Odette whispered softly as she gave the small brunette a reassuring smile. "We just have to be really quiet. Okay?"

Rigby nodded at her mom's words. This new world was still scary to her, though her Uncle Ozzy had taught her how to be brave —— how to be brave for herself and how to be brave for her mom, but she was still scared of walkers. Scared that one day her mom would be turned into one of them, but sometimes the living scared Rigby more than the dead did.

The brunette woman gave one last reassuring smile to her daughter before placing her ear back against the closet door, a pair of heavy footsteps entered the bedroom causing Odette to hold her breath.

"Don't take all fuckin' day!" A voice shouted out from inside the bedroom.

The heavy footsteps made their way around the room, the old wooden floor creaking loudly with each step the unknown person took. Odette slowly backed away from the door, grabbing her knife from inside her boot before turning towards Rigby and motioning with her head for the small girl to hide herself away (as much as she could) in the furthest corner of the closet.

Odette was preparing herself for a fight.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer to the closet and she knew it was only a matter of time until whoever was inside the bedroom slide the door open, and the safe haven she had made for Rigby and herself for these however many days would be shattered.

"Well, shit! What do we have here?"

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A/N -
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