Unbreakable threads

Chapter One hundred and Six : Rick and Alyssa snap.

Rick turned and, without another word, ran back toward the house. Alyssa watched him go, the tension between them still thick in the air. There was no turning back now. They had started something that couldn't just be walked away from.

Alyssa's feet moved quickly, almost instinctively, as she followed Rick into the house. The door swung open behind them, and the moment she stepped inside, she saw Jessie standing near the hallway, her back to them. The weight of the situation hit her all at once, and before she could stop herself, Alyssa's hands grabbed Jessie by the shoulders, spinning her around with a force that startled both of them.

Jessie froze under her touch, her eyes wide with confusion and shock. Alyssa's breath came in short bursts, her heart pounding in her chest. This wasn't just about what Pete was doing, or what they needed to do to stop him. This was about survival. This was about something deeper.

Alyssa's voice cracked through the air, more intense and full of emotion than she had ever let on before.

"Jessie, if you don't fight, you die," she said, her words heavy with the weight of experience—of survival, of loss, of things she had seen that no one should ever have to.

The raw emotion in her voice, the urgency, made it clear this was not just a fight for Jessie's safety; it was something far more personal.

Rick stood still for a moment, his face flickering with something unreadable as he watched Alyssa, but he said nothing. This wasn't about his authority anymore. This was about something from Alyssa's past, something buried deep within her, that had come to the surface in the heat of the moment. He knew that look in her eyes—he had seen it in the reflection of his own gaze during the darkest days on the road. This wasn't just her stepping into a role of protector. This was her battling something inside herself.

Alyssa's grip on Jessie's shoulders tightened as she forced her to meet her gaze, her voice lowering, but still charged with that unshakable urgency.
"I've seen it, Jessie. I've seen what happens when you don't fight. And I'm not gonna watch it happen to you."

Rick's breath caught as he finally realized the depth of the situation—This wasn't just about Pete or the community. It was about something much darker that had shaped the woman standing before him.

Alyssa took a slow, shaky breath, her voice softening just slightly, but still filled with that same relentless energy. "You have to fight. For yourself. For your kids. For everyone who's still alive."

Rick stood frozen at the edge of the room, his mind racing, his chest tightening. The way Alyssa spoke, the depth of emotion in her voice—it was like she wasn't just talking to Jessie anymore. She was speaking from a place that Rick hadn't yet fully understood, a place that was buried deep within her.

He hadn't once properly asked her what life was like with Alice Foley. He hadn't asked her what her childhood had been like, what she had gone through. He hadn't been there for her, hadn't been able to protect her, and now, standing in front of him, Alyssa was showing a side of herself he had never fully known. Had she witnessed this kind of violence growing up? Had his daughter.. helped her mother?

"My mom... she had me young," Alyssa started, her voice thick with the weight of the past.

" She had a few boyfriends. One she had when I was 5. He... hit her. A lot. I had to watch sometimes. It took her a year to get away from him. Jessie. A year. If she hadn't..." Alyssa trailed off, the rest of the sentence hanging in the air, unspoken but understood.

Rick felt the sharp jolt of tension in his chest. He hadn't been there for his daughter, hadn't been able to protect her from the things that happened in her life. He hadn't even known she existed, but The pain of it cut through him now, sharper than ever. The knowledge that Alyssa had lived through something like this—had seen her mother endure that kind of violence—struck him like a blow. And the fact that Alice had to go through it alone, without the support she should have had... it hit Rick in a way he wasn't prepared for.