Casualties ? Daryl Dixon (Firecracker sequel)

"I was with a group when they found me. They killed the rest, the one with the crossbow he's the one who caught me. I tried to fight it but I couldn't. I overheard them saying something about bringing me here to trade. What they did to me, even the kid hit me and I just I had to go along with it and that's why I'm so grateful," Arden wiped a tear from her eye, stifling a sob and looked across at Mary who had her hands folded pristinely on the metal table, "You saved me from them. You saved me." Arden dropped her head, holding her hands up to her face while her shoulders trembled with sobs.

Her cries filled the small space, a room she was led to off of a long hallway. The walls were a pale cream, large windows bringing in natural light since there were no lamps or overhead fluorescents. A painting depicting a serene tomato garden hung on the wall opposite of Arden and when they entered the room Mary claimed to have painted it. Now Mary removed her faded burnt orange shawl and placed it over Arden. "Now, now," she cooed, patting Arden's back a few times before going back to her seat. "I knew it." Mary smiled, her fingers lightly tapping on the table.

"Knew what?" Arden used her wrist to wipe her nose and looked at Mary with tear stained eyes.

Mary sighed and reached across the table, her palms up and hesitantly Arden placed her hands on top of Mary's, the shawl nearly sliding off of Arden's shoulders. "You were one of us." Mary gently squeezed Arden's hands. "Come, let me show you something."

Silently, Arden followed Mary outside of the building they had been in. She tied the shawl in front of her, keeping it secured over her shoulders but trying to ignore the musk radiating from the fabric. As they walked Arden could once again she felt the gaze of those they passed. None of them spoke to her; they only stared before finally nodding or looking away. They seemed to see it too, the same thing Mary claimed to see when she instructed Gareth to give her a few moments with this stranger. The gunfire had been raging when Mary led Arden into that room, but now as they walked back outside it was eerily quiet. The smell of cooked meat wafted through the air, but Mary had yet to offer any to Arden. Instead they strolled past the patio area, walked between buildings weaving their way through Terminus until arriving at a rusted metal door. The pair stopped, glancing over at each other until Mary nodded her head towards the entrance to the concrete building. With two steps Arden stood almost flush to the door, her fingers grazing the rusted metal feeling the jagged edges where pieces had fallen away. One push, using all of her body weight and the door creaked open, the noise startling the birds that had been perched atop the building.

The first thing Arden noticed when she stepped inside the concrete room were the candles, all lit and illuminating the otherwise dark room. To her right was a three tier shelf, candles taking up every inch. Next to that stood a metal pole, two lanterns hanging from it. Across the room were more lanterns and a small table housing candles of all different colors and sizes. On the floor were even more candles, some in glass containers others barren and dripping wax onto the concrete floor. The room smelled of perfumated smoke and reminded Arden of Bath and Body Works, those candles her mother loved and for the first time in a while Arden felt the pain of missing someone. She missed her mom, and dad, and Matt and weekend drives into Denver and winter ski trips and waffle Sundays.

Arden placed her palms on her temples, her fingers lost in her hair and gently scratching her scalp. She exhaled slowly and concentrated on the concrete floor, illuminated by candle light and covered with names. Names, more than Arden cared to read were written in white on the floor. First and last names reaching from the door to the other side of the room and Arden knew she was standing in some sort of shrine. She looked up and silently read the writing covering the four walls. Only a few words but they were painted in black all capital letters reading Never Trust. Never Again. We First, Always.