fourty two.

I immediately recognized my surroundings when I woke. I sat up startled in the bedroom of my childhood home, everything still in place like I remembered it. I was so jittery, I fell out of bed when I trying to escape from under the covers. I rushed over to my mirror. My hand flew to my mouth at what I saw: I was clean, no wounds on my body. Everything, the scar on my cheek, had disappeared. The sound of feet thundering down the hallway made me brace myself against the vanity for the worst. The door flew open and Penny ran through.

"Aften," she squealed, throwing her arms around my waist. She held me tightly while I stood there frozen in disbelief. "I didn't think you'd wake up."

"W-what," I stuttered.

"You fell and hit your head," Penny told me. I started to get a weird feeling in my stomach, a realization... déjà vu. I lightly pushed her away from me and pulled back my curtains. I almost fell back on my bed from shock. Everything was normal, a few cars even driving by the house.

"The biters," I whispered. " They, they were everywhere."

"What are biters? They sound scary." Her voice was so soft, so innocent.

"Aften," a familiar calming voice called out. I turned around to face my door.

"Mom?" I felt tears flood my eyes. She rushed over to me, smothering me in her arms.

"Oh, my sweet baby girl," she cried, kissing my forehead. "Thank god you're okay." She pulled back and looked at me, her hands cupping both sides of my face. "You look so beautiful, so healthy." A door slammed shut. She seemed to flinch at the noise but continued to hold me close.

"Sweetheart, you home," my dad asked aloud, his voice booming throughout the house. A chill ran down my spine at the sound of his voice. This can't be happening again.

"In here," she called back, my dad's heavy footsteps creeping closer to my room. When he appeared in the doorway, Penny ran towards him happily.

"Hi, pumpkin," he smiled, picking her up. His eyes flickered over to me. His smile faded.

"Honey, Aften's awake," my mom grinned.

"I see," he muttered.

"Phillip, give your daughter a hug," my mom hissed at him. I gazed up at my mom, my eyes wide with fear. "It's alright, Aften, go ahead," she encouraged me with another smile. My eyes flickered back to my dad. He had a blank expression on his face. I was scared he was going to choke me out like he did last time. I awkwardly took a step towards him, almost barely touching him. He gave me a few pats on the back, looking at me in disgust.

A bright light from outside suddenly illuminated the house. It burned my eyes.

"Aften, that's for you," my mom whispered, almost in tears again as she motioned for me to go outside. I followed her direction without question, walking over to the front door to see what it was. I reached out to turn the doorknob, but it slowly opened by itself. A light breeze blew my hair back as I stepped down the stairs. I made my way down our driveway, shielding my eyes as the light got brighter.

"Touch it, Aften," a voice demanded from behind me. I craned my neck to see my family standing on the porch, Penny the one who had spoken to me. "It's scary at first, but everything's okay after!" I nodded at her then turned back to face the light. I could trust her, right? She was my baby sister, she'd never lie to me. I took a deep breath before I started to reach towards it. A chill ran through my body, shocking me like lightning. I stopped, putting my hand down.

"I can't," I muttered, turning back around to face my family. "I won't do it," I declared. My dad swiftly pulled a gun out of his pocket, firing it at me. The bullet sunk into my forehead, blood flying everywhere as I plummeted back into darkness.

I landed in a body of water, slowly sinking to the bottom. I flailed around as I lost my breath while I sank down farther and farther, struggling to swim back to the surface. I battled the water, kicking and propelling myself upwards. I could feel the heat of the sun beating down on me the harder I pushed, the sound of my heart thundering in my ears. I finally broke through the surface and opened my eyes, gasping for breath. Everyone jumped, their eyes landing on me with surprise from my sudden outburst. I continued to breathe heavily, feeing my forehead for a bullet hole. My eyes fell on Daryl and I threw my arms around his neck. He gently pressed his lips to my cheek.

"Jesus," he whispered, his hands on my back. Rick stopped furiously sawing at a piece of wood on the wall to stop and stare at me, nodding then going back to sawing. "I thought you were gone," Daryl mumbled in my ear, tucking my hair behind it.

"I-I'm good," I managed to croak out, my throat and body sore. "I feel like I got hit by a bus, but I'm good for now."

"I gotta get ready, okay," he notified me sweetly. I had no idea what he was referring to but I nodded before he planted a kiss on my forehead. He stood up and stepped over to the slit in the wall, gazing outside. One of the new girls pulled a switchblade out of her boot and handed it over to me.

"Have this," she insisted. "You need it more than I do." I took it from her, twirling it around in my fingers. "I'm Tara by the way," she said, introducing herself.

"Thanks. I'm Aften," I smiled at her. 

Everyone in the train car was sweating, slaving away as they made their weapons out of any materials they could find. In the silence, I finally noticed all the hollering going on outside.

"There's four of them pricks headin' our way," Daryl notified us, slowly backing away from the peephole. Everyone scrambled to their feet including me, Tara helping me up.

"Y'all know what to do: go for their eyes first then their throats," Rick instructed us. Everyone took a defensive stance, ready to fight.

"Put your backs to the walls on either ends of the car, now," a guy shouted at us from outside. A small door above us opened, sunlight flooding the train car. Everyone gazed up at the ceiling to see what was happening. What looked like a can of spray paint fell into the car, landing in the middle of the group. I stared at it, a confused look plastered across my face.

"Move," the red-haired guy suddenly commanded causing everyone to run for cover. Daryl rushed over to me and covered my body with his. An explosion of smoke filled the car and our lungs, the sound of coughing filling my ears. I heard the door slide open, people stepping inside. I felt myself becoming loopy from the abundant smoke, fear shocking me once I realized I wasn't gonna be able to defend myself again. Daryl's body was ripped away from mine. I wanted to get up and take him back but I found myself stuck. The door quickly thundered shut, leaving everyone that was left laying on the ground in smoke.