TAINTED YOUTH. 03x04 + orginal.
013    gone girl.

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HALLIE, ONCE AGAIN FOUND HERSELF LEANT AGAINST the cold metal bars as she watched rick pace back and forth. roman had joined maggie and daryl on the run, and rick had been back merely ten minutes. his pacing stopped and he turned to look at hallie, "stand up" rick stated.

lee held out his hand and pulled the girl to her feet. he was worried, after hershel had checked over the baby — lee begged his father to check out hallie. hershel did to ease his sons worry but he knew what they were. panic attacks.

"it was you, wasn't it?" rick spat, he couldn't help to laugh in disbelief but also irony.

hallie's eyebrows were drawn together, "what are you talking about rick?" hallie scoffed.

rick pointed his finger at the girl accusingly, "you did this to get back at me, for killing shane, huh?"

"do not talk about my dad." hallie spat.

abby stood up straighter, folding her arms against her chest — "that ain't fair."

"you killed my wife, so i could feel what you felt! you killed lori, over your dad being a sociopath!" rick yelled, stalking closer to the girl.

hallie rippled back, shock overcoming her features.

a low exhale could be heard as lee quickly came between the two. he placed his hands on ricks chest and pushed him back away from hallie.

"don't you fucking dare." lee warned, he could feel ricks breath on his face but he didn't care.  "you know hallie loved lori! do not blame this on her" lee snarled.

hallie shook her head in disbelief. "you know damn well id never hurt lori or carl" she felt tears brim in her eyes but refused to let them fall.

rick shook his head, "do i? i thought your daddy wouldn't, but look where that ended up, where he ended up."

hallies face turned cold, slowly she walked towards rick although lee was still pushing the man backwards.

"don't speak ill of the dead."

rick raised his eyebrow, "you know i'm right, he pushed, and pushed and pushed. he was crazy, and after all you're his daughter.."

hallies teeth clenched in anger, 'knife' it whispered.. there it was, the voice that seemed to haunt her existence.

"what you gon' do then, rick? you gonna put me down like you did to my dad? you gonna give me the curtesy of a quick
death? maybe a bullet, or you gonna draw it out?" hallie asked with toxins dripping from her words like a poison.

rick went to speak, "hallie didn't kill mom, and i was the one to put her down."

carls words echoed throughout the silent air, like a bullet hit him — rick recoiled.

"there's your truth." hallie spat, turning around on her heel and into the cell.

"what the fuck" abby growled, "that kids already been through enough."

"wait till roman finds out" beth whispered, looking down at the baby girl with a softness that only a woman could have.

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hallie shoved whatever she could into the small backpack. a few clothing pieces, ammo, matches, water and food. clawing the picture of her father and her off the wall she gently folded it and placed it into the small pocket in the front of the bag.

"where you goin'?" beth asked softly, looking between the bag and hallie.

"i need out, just for a few days and i'll be back... try find some ammo and more food. shit for the baby too" hallie explained.

beth looked at the girl, "what rick said wasn't fair..." she spoke softly.

hallie nodded as she zipped the backpack shut. bending down, hallie used her hand to feel under the bed before pulling out a marker.

she came to a stand in front of beth and gently grasped her hand. pulling the lid off the marker with her teeth, hallie began drawing.

"if i'm not back by seven sundown's follow the stars, i'll carve them every few trees" hallie stated, pulling the marker from beth's hand a star rested on her skin.

beth smiled softly at the drawing, "you shouldn't go out there alone..."

hallie smiled at the girl softly as she swung her bag over her shoulder. "i'll be okay" hallie nodded.

turning to walk out of the cell, hallie paused and turned to beth, "please don't tell anyone, atleast not till they notice i'm gone. i can't have anyone stop me" hallie pleaded, watching as beth's eyes glistened and reluctantly nodded.

"see you in a week" beth called softly, but hallie was already gone.

sighing beth sat on the edge of hallies bed, looking at her hand and tracing the star with her finger.

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"where's hallie?" roman asked when he walked into the cell block. he had a rag thrown carelessly over his shoulder that was stained with sweat, blood and grime.

beth nervously started tracing the star on the back of her hand as everyone turned to survey the room, noticing the girl was nowhere in sight.

abby's eyebrows furrowed before she spoke up — "no one's seen her since..."

"since what?" roman quizzed. his eyes darted around the room, awaiting an answer. "hello? am i talking to a wall here, since what?" his tone was frustrated yet no one dared to speak.

glenn coughed slightly before clearing his throat, "hallie and rick got — into it. she walked off after, no one's seen her since" glenn explained briefly.

"that's the light way to put it" lee spoke up, his fists clenched in anger as he pushed himself off the wall, "rick blamed hallie for lori's death, hallie snapped."

roman's eyes darkened, "where is he? and where the fuck is hallie" the boy yelled, anger flowing through his body like molten lava, burning everything he touched.

abby placed a firm hand against his chest, "he just lost his wife, now it's no excuse— but he doesn't need some teenage mutant ninja turtle wannabe in his face" abby stated, pushing him back slightly before regaining her stance in front of the cell door.

beth nervously stood, watching as daryl fed the newborn quietly in the corner. "i spoke to her, before she left —" beth began but was cut off by gasps and yells throughout the room.

"what do you mean before she left!?" lee questioned loudly, his hand came to run across his face.

"let the damn girl finish!"

beth looked around the room of worried survivors, "she said, she was going on a run... try find supplies and stuff for the baby and to worry if she wasn't back by 'seven sundowns', she told me how to find her but i can't risk y'all tryna' find her. she said she needed an escape, she's helping us and herself doing this" beth rambled, a sweat breaking out on her forehead from the stares and mumbled questions.

roman spoke up, "where did she say she'd be?" he asked.

daryl let out a sigh, "did you fools not listen to her? she said hallie would be back, and she needs to be alone." he scolded, before returning to look at the baby. "we'll worry when we have to, right now — we gotta' focus on her" he pointed to the newborn.

the room fell silent at daryl's words, they all knew hallie could hold her own when it came to walkers. it was the living they were worried about, or if she'd come back.

"poor girls nameless, huh, ain't that right little ass kicker." the baby seemed to relax more into daryl at his words. "you like that, sweetheart? huh, little ass kicker?"

the group sat silently, watching dotingly at the child. she was a beacon of light in a world filled with darkness. a reason to keep going.

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hallie wiped her forhead as she pulled the knife away from the tree. a star was carved into it, the seventh of that day. night was looming as the sun had fallen below the horizon and the sky began to fill with stars.

turning, hallie shuffled into the small cabin she had found and then cleared earlier that hour. the girl had found guns, cans, maps and hazmat suits. the corpse that had been sitting in front of a dead computer seemed to be wearing a gas mask and the girl assumed he was a doomsday follower of sorts.

she dragged his body out earlier that day and opened all windows, which thankfully helped rid the house of the smell of decaying flesh.

hallies back hit the small sofa, her gun laid on the floor beside her and her knife was tucked seamlessly under the pillow her head was resting on.

her hand rolled backwards as it felt around the small table that was behind her, grasping what felt like a small book she pulled it towards her. it wasn't a book, although a note book.

pulling the cover opened she flicked through the pages before stopping midway through it. her eyes darted towards the messily scrambled words and she began to read.

— DAY 74

dear reader! if you're reading this i'm most likely dead, from what? i'm not sure, could be old age, a disease — maybe the dead got to me or i gave up.

the CDC is down, i know it — or else those things wouldn't still be up and moving, dancing around us like it's some cowboy barn in texas.

foods running low, only 200 cans or so left, not a lot — my water pump is okay though, a few of the dead got into it had to clean the thing ( don't wanna risk infection! ) .

have seen zero survivors since day 12, the dancing dead are up and moving though all times of the day. a few tried to get in but i hid and they fucked right off.

the dog ran off too, kinda miss it — was nice to have some sort of company, especially nowadays..

any who i got nothing more to shite on about, till tomorrow!

hallie paused, turning the page and there were no more entries. her eyes casted towards the door, where just past it that man's corpse laid.

she wondered why, how such a man could seem so lively in simple words on paper and the next day just be — gone.

her sorrows were washed away as her eyes scanned over the words again, '200 cans left..'

two hundred cans would feed the group for months, if not the rest of the year.

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The sun felt as if it was burning through Hallie's skin as she trudged through the forest. She had come across a few walkers, some were easy to take down — others weren't. She had carved four stars, so far.

Soon enough, Hallie had exited the forest and was weaving through a town. Corpses littered the streets and cars seemed to be left to rot. Vines had begun to travel up through houses, some through doors or windows that had been left open in the rushed panic.

One house stood out to hallie. It was blue, with white trim and a pale yellow door. The grass was unruly as it had grown over the side walk, and the flowers in their bed had wilted from the Georgia sun.

Hallie gripped her knife, using her foot to push open the door. The house was clean, organised — besides the dust that had settled long ago. She trailed through the downstairs; checking each nook for survivors and walkers alike.

Climbing the stairs, she repeated the cycle. Although, she stopped as she came to the last room. The walls were pink and chipped stickers littered every surface in it. The bed was unmade, duvet and blankets messily thrown about. The desk was littered with ripped papers, but one caught Hallie's eye.

'DEAR FUTURE ME...' it read.

1: is Taco Bell still around?

Hallie let out an involuntary chuckle, "nope, sorry kid."

2: are we happy?

"Nope, again.."

3: are we like totes coo-coo or what?

Hallie pondered on the question, "well I'd like to say I'm sane but I'm talking to some paper right now..."

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She hadn't spent very long in that house. A day or two at most, it seemed time slipped through her fingers more quickly than she thought was possible and her sanity was diminishing.

Carving a star into the door she walked through the town. Hallie thought she was alone. Yet a door slamming caught her attention.

"Must've been the wind" she muttered, keeping her eyes trained on her feet as she attempted to balance on the curb.

Looking up, she was surprised to see a man standing in front of her decked out in a military uniform with his hands up in surrender. Hallie attempted to yell but his hand clasped over her mouth and pushed her behind a house.

He used his free hand to pull down his face mask, and raised his finger to his lip.
"Listen kid, you need to get out of here. Run, and don't look back — got it?" He instructed swiftly, looking over his shoulders at every word.

Hallie's head recoiled as her eyebrows drew together. "Who the fuck are you?" She spat.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm the person Tryna' save your life" he retorted.

"Okay macho man, so who am I running from? You?" She asked.

"There's men out here — searching these houses who wouldn't mind a young woman to bring home.. voluntarily or not."

Hallies eyes widened. "Got it, mister" she nodded, readjusting her bag and the knife that was slid up her sleeve.

She looked through both ends of the lane. One end lead to more houses — the other; the woods.

Turning back to look at him, "thanks —" she paused, realising he never said his name.

"Jackson" he nodded.

"Thanks jackson, I'm Hallie."

"Nice meeting ya' kid. Now run."

Hallie listened. For once in her life she listened, no less to a man she didn't know. Her legs worked faster than her mind and her lungs began burning almost immediately at the speed she was moving.

She heard yells behind her, one in particular.

"WE HAVE AN ESCAPEE!"

The voice was low, gravelly. Sounded like he smoked a twenty four pack a day before and after the world ended. Hallie used her arms to push against the air that seemed to be pulling her back. She looked ahead, attempting to see through the trees but she never once looked at the ground.

Her foot caught a loose root. She felt her ankle roll and her body hit the ground and tumbled. Her gun flew from its holster and her knife was dug into the ground.

She could hear the footsteps growing louder yet the ringing in her ears seemed to lee her down.

Hallie felt the muzzle first — creeping up from her hip and over her chest before it reached her jaw. "Aren't you pretty" he smirked, his yellow and cracked teeth on full display.

Away from like of target. Wrist. Joint. Shoot.

Her fathers words rang in her head but it seemed she was paralysed. His fingers danced between her hair, moving to her collar bone.

Pushing her knee up, it hit his crotch. The man groaned, loosing his footing slightly — giving Hallie the split second she needed to push the gun away from her.

Hitting his wrist, his fingers slipped from the weapon but he still had slight grip. Her palm swung into his inner elbow and he dropped the gun. Hallie pushed herself off the ground and crawled towards the weapon.

The man yelled in frustration, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her towards him. Cocking the gun, Hallie turned onto her back and pulled the trigger. Blood soon stained his button up, and the man fell to the ground with a crash.

Letting out a shaky breath, Hallie stood from the ground and stumbled backwards.

She had just killed someone. A human being.

She kept walking backwards, keeping her eyes on the man although her vision had become blurry.

She stumbled once again, this time she felt a hard surface hit her back and a cloth was placed against her mouth and nose.

It smelled and tasted sweet. She kicked and attempted the scream as she clawed at the hand against her face but her vision became spotted and a dull ache formed in her head.

Hallie felt her legs weaken, and finally the darkness consumed her as she fell at the persons feet.

"Shame about Bob, she's feisty though."

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RIN SPEAKS.

well anywhoo

The drama begins. New oc. New trauma. New kill list.

It goes on.

Anyways long time no see, how are we??!

Comment pls I'm dying 🫡