[ chapter eight - welcoming ]
season six, episode seven

"FIVE," Charlotte counted every lurker she found on a different path, knowing if she were to find the same amount with similar lurkers, she had gone in a circle. Her plan wasn't the best, but as a sixteen year old girl on her own during the apocalypse, she didn't have a very good education system. Being alone was hard for her, but sometimes she used it as an advantage. Anytime there was a lot of the dead, she didn't have to worry about checking to see if everyone else was okay. The sixteen year old just ran through and hoped she wouldn't trip.

Life had never been easy for her. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer when the poor girl was only two, the older woman dying a year later. Charlotte's mother was the first to call her 'Lottie', making it a known name. She didn't have many memories of her mother, she was only three when they shared their last hug.

Lottie's father was a good man, for a while at least. His wife had made him promise to keep their daughter safe and that's exactly what he planned to do. Unfortunately, an old habit became a new friend.

Lottie was six when her father began drinking. At first it was every now and then buying a bottle every other week when soon eight year old her got into the habit of not inviting friends around, worried it would either smell or he'd be walking around the house getting angry at anything in his path. The man would never hurt his daughter, sober or not, he would keep his promise. But soon he realised keeping his promise was not being with his daughter and Lottie was sent to live with her aunt and cousins.

Her aunt's husband had killed himself after his brother died, leaving the woman with the worst two children on the planet. The eldest was ten, a year older than Lottie whilst the other one thrived in being the youngest at six years old. Lottie was shocked at how bratty they were, her aunt giving them everything at anytime.

Her friends would joke about how she was Harry Potter, considering she had gone so far alone in a dead infested world with only a switch blade was pretty similar to surviving a noseless, middle-aged man.

She had never experienced abuse in her own opinion, just neglect. Lottie's aunt wasn't the most wealthy person, she was given a set of rules very different form her cousins. It wouldn't matter if she disobeyed them, none of the family really noticed her. The girl never really cared, it made her feel guilty how she didn't have much of a reaction when the lurkers took over her last living family.

The brunette didn't think she'd make it far, once the last lurker was stabbed to the ground after the horrific murder of the Frawley family she expected to die next. She had walked for months, finding houses with food as she used her knife on any animal she could find. Lottie had gotten used to ignoring the taste after she had to eat a snake, something she'd never forget but never dare to speak of.

Killing lurkers had never been a problem, most of the time she'd avoid them, otherwise her knife would come in handy. The girl had come across a group once, not of the nicest people. It was the one time she ever had to use it—luckily her few actions scared the rest of.

Lottie didn't know why she kept going. At first it was for her family, not just the living ones but the dead. Now they were all dead. She hadn't found a community or camp in months, the young girl decided her luck had ran out.

Lottie couldn't see anymore lurkers from where she knelt, deciding to take her chance and move through. The trees became further apart as she continued, soon realising she was reaching the road. Suddenly, the familiar growls roamed through the air as the sounds of footsteps quickened. As Lottie turned around she was met face to face with a lurker, trying to grab her knife in time to stab it.

She cursed herself for not having held it earlier, instead she had placed it in her pocket once she counted what seemed to be the last dead one. Before Lottie's knife could meet the lurkers head, it pushed her to the ground during both of their struggles. It's teeth clawed at her face as the drool paraded down its mouth. Her arms were bare as all she wore was an old t-shirt she found and dirty ripped jeans, anything else she owned was burnt down or too ripped to be called clothes.

The brunette closed her eyes, close to giving into the chomps before she felt the lurker go limp, falling on top of her. Lottie slowly opened her eyes as she pushed it off, wiping her torso before looking up and seeing a young brunette - around her own age.

She wore three layers, a shirt, a flannel and a hoodie. On her back was a bag that held green balloons atop of it. The young girl gripped her bloodied knife as Lottie stayed on the floor, using her elbows to make it that she wasn't completely lying on the floor. Her skin scraped against the floor as the grass hadn't fully grown and her short top wasn't helping her position much.

A second later, an Asian man appeared behind her, not looking so good himself as his clothes were worn out, blood stuck to his neck and face. Lottie might've mistaken him for a lurker if it wasn't for his voice.

"Enid, put down the knife." He ordered as he held his hand out, the girl reluctantly placing her knife back into her pocket. The man walked over to Lottie holding out his hand to let her get up. She didn't take her glaring eyes away as she connected her hand with his, immediately pulling away once her feet had met the floor.

"We're not going to hurt you, not if you don't hurt us." The man told her as Enid's angry glare never left either of them, the girl having crossed her arms over her chest. Lottie didn't speak as she sceptically examined both of them. They had been outside for a while, definitely not as long as Lottie, but from what it seemed they were experienced. Enid took down the lurker atop of Lottie pretty easily, and snuck up on her and the dead with no noise.

"I'm Glenn. We're not gonna hurt you, okay?" Glenn gestured to himself when he spoke his name, trying to sound as calm as possible to the teenage girl in front of him. "I just wanna ask a few questions."

Enid's attention had now turned to around them, trying to make sure no walkers wandered their way, Glenn trying to make sure the volume in his words wasn't to loud, either. Lottie nodded as she quickly bent down to pick up her knife, the girl tried to hold it in the lease threatening manner to the - hopefully - kind man.

"What's your name?" Glenn asked first, hoping to get to know the teenager on a first name basis before considering bringing her back to the place his pregnant wife and family were staying. Lottie stared at him, not willing to tell the two strangers her name, even if they told her everything about themselves.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Glenn questioned, ignoring the last fail. Lottie thought about it, she had been alone a while but mainly avoided the lurkers instead of walking through them.

"Maybe over thirty?" She hadn't spoken a proper sentence in a while, her voice cracking slightly from the lack of water. Also, the apocalypse had started at the start of her teenage years, leaving puberty to infect her as much as a lurker bite would.

"How many people?" Glenn asked the girl as his eyes almost invisibly checked the knife in her hand, hoping she wouldn't suddenly turn on them.

"Three." Lottie replied bluntly. Most people's first kill in this world would probably be something they regretted, wished they could take back. But Lottie's wasn't one of those people, she did what she had to do. She did what was right.

"Why?" Glenn asked his final question. Lottie sucked in a breath, contemplating wether she told the full story or give him a quick explanation.

"They deserved it." The brunette had chosen the second option, Glenn nodding along as he had known many people who deserved it. He was sure he would come to know many people who deserved it.

"We have a community, actually we were heading back there right now. If you give us your name you could come along," Glenn announced as Lottie bit her lip. She didn't think they were lying, as much as Enid didn't seem happy with the offer they both seemed like okay people.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Lottie asked, her eyes switching between both of them. Neither particularly looked clean, but they did say they were only just heading back.

"You just do. We're good people, let us prove that, please." Glenn pleaded, his voice becoming desperate as they were losing more time. Lottie could hear the desperation in the man's voice, she saw the annoyed look on the girl's face, they obviously needed to head back. And Charlotte Frawley was going with them.

✵~✵

THE TRIO HADN'T BEEN WALKING FOR LONG, probably around eight minutes. They had been walking in pure silence, not entire awkwardly — at least not for the two Alexandria residents. Lottie kept her eyes on the ground as she thought of what to say to the two, she still hadn't given her name nor anything about her apart from her kill count. Glenn had offered her a half finished water bottle, although the plastic was pure filth she hadn't drunk anything in almost two days so lottie instantly had a few sips.

"Charlotte," the brunette announced as Enid and Glenn came to a stop, staring at her confused on why she had suddenly spoke. "My name's Charlotte, you can call me Lottie though. From your question earlier? Thought that if you were gonna take me to this community," Lottie did air quotes as she said community, "you might as well know my name."

Glenn smiled at her, happy with the gesture as Enid's face was king of shocked, relaxing soon as they began to join the silence again, the only noises being their footsteps and the light walker snarls.

Lottie grew confused as she noticed the snarls, if you had a secure place with children you'd want to keep the people eating creatures away. Glenn and Enid also seemed confused as Glenn sped up slightly, the two teenagers behind him joining as Lottie's eyes set on the herd surrounding the large walls.

Inside were houses, normal houses. They had curtains and looked well taken care of, the only problem was the walkers outside.

"Gee, welcoming." Lottie spoke sarcastically as she turned to face Glenn, Enid stood in the middle of the two. Lottie knew her words probably weren't the best as she saw the fear on both the people beside her's faces. She was a little surprised that Enid looked upset, the girl was rather reluctant to follow them before.

Lottie flinched as green balloons came her way, ducking a little before she watched Enid begin to walk off.

"Stop!" Glenn called as they both watched the girl try to walk away, Glenn then following after her. "I said stop."

Lottie caught up to the two, standing awkwardly beside them as she noticed the tears in both of their eyes. She couldn't help but feel bad, they had homes, families, now they thought they had nothing.

"What's the point?" Enid argued. "The world is trying to die. We're supposed to just let it."

Lottie understood what she meant, Enid had probably lost a lot too. She didn't know exactly why either of them were out here but if Glenn was so sure in staying and Enid on leaving, it meant one had people, and Enid didn't. Lottie didn't have anyone either, she felt like she never had anyone.

"No," Glenn spoke, causing the two teens to look at him. "You're wrong. We're not supposed to let the world die. And i'm sure as hell not gonna let either of you die." Lottie was a little shocked by his words, they had only just met not to long ago.

"I'm sure your wife will forgive you," Enid said, her tears almost overflowing as Lottie kept watching both of them, she didn't feel like she could say anything. She couldn't have lost something she just found, it was best if the girl walked away, pretended it never happened and yet something was telling her to stay. Telling her it was wrong to leave the man and the kid.

"It's not for her anymore." Glenn announced. "Look the walls are still up, the houses are still up. We'll find out the rest. Okay? All three of us."

Glenn spoke calmly, causing Lottie's heart to hurt a little. It was the smallest gesture and yet it was the biggest for her, she hadn't had human contact in ages, she had never felt actual love apart the love she felt for her deceased mother and sober father. Yet, Glenn's voice was filled with it as he talked to a stranger and a kid who wanted to give up. Both the girls nodded as they decided to make their way into Alexandria.

✵~✵

author notes-
meet lottie!! i love how i've got her planned out and i just wanna say a few things. 1. she is sixteen so she's Enid's age meaning that the person i put her with in the future it age appropriate bc the show said so *wink wink*. 2. the person i put her with is not carl.

sorry if there's any typos, i didn't really check this chapter very well. (there's probably still many typos)

Anyways,
Byee </3