Work Text:
The Bridge
A Walking Dead Fan Fiction
“Tell me the story again about the angel, Mama.”
“Shh, you’ll wake your brother. Did you say your prayers?”
“Yes I did. Please mama can I hear the story?”
“Mija, mi Corazón, it’s passed your bedtime. Go to sleep.”
“One story, por favor?”
“Iy Dio mio. Ok, one story and then you sleep.”
A tired mother and her 9 year old daughter are in a community, resting comfortably in their apartment. They had been here much of their daughter’s life, lucky to find this place not long after she was born, not long after they almost lost it all to walkers on a bridge. Things hadn’t always been easy in the community but they knew they had it better than most. Somehow they had survived this long.
The sun had set a couple of hours ago but still, the child wouldn’t sleep. She always wanted a story before bed but the mother, Guadalupe was tired. A nurse, she spent long hours in the community’s small hospital. The child named Itzel spent much of her time in the community’s school or learning special skills such as self-defense, hunting and weaponry, never seem to tire. She was like her father that way. He, working a night shift as a guard, wasn’t there to help wrangle their daughter into bed and make her go to sleep. Itzel’s little brother, 5 year old Ignacio was fast asleep in a bed across the room.
“Mama, what did the angel look like again?”
“Much like a man, a very strong man but he wasn’t just a man. He couldn’t have been. He took out more than a dozen of those monsters by himself and this angel, he made it look easy. No man could ever do that. This angel, he was followed by a demon, but remember the bible mi amor, demons are fallen angels. They called each other brother.”
Itzel grabbed the cross around her neck and held it. “Start from the beginning por favor.”
“Ok, but then you close your eyes.” Guadalupe ran her fingers gently through her daughter’s hair, massaging her scalp, knowing it would make her eyes heavy.
Itzel nodded.
“You were barely a week old. A week and two days. We had been trying to find safety long before you were born. When the end times came, we tried to stay in our home.”
“Who all lived at home?”
“Me, your Papa, your Uncle and my mother, your grandmother.”
“Uncle Ricardo.”
“Si, Si mi amor. Your Uncle Ricardo, who should be back from hunting any day now.”
“Your grandmother was very sick already and when everything happened, there were no doctors to help, only me with my nurses training. I did what I could but in the end, she suffered. She died. But when she died, she became one of those monsters. She could stand again, walk again. She was hungry. We woke up and she was standing over your Uncle, she tried to bite him. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know how to put them down yet, we tried to stop her but couldn’t. We got her tied up to a chair and we grabbed what we could from our home and left. We travelled a long time.”
“Where was I?”
“You were there too. You were growing in my belly. You were strong. I could feel your kicking every day and every night. I knew you would survive. We found food and shelter where we could. Some places we could stay longer before the monsters took over. We met other people who took us in once. They were good people. They shared what they had but soon, a fire started in the woods near their home and we lost it all. We even lost them.”
“Were you scared mama?”
“Sometimes, but I knew God would protect us. So I prayed for God to deliver us from evil and he did.”
“And that’s why we pray every night. For God to protect us?”
“Si mi amor, si.”
“And then I was born?”
“Ah yes, there had been a storm. It stormed badly for two days. We found an old barn and stayed in it. That was when I felt my first contractions. I knew it was time for you to come. Your papa, he wanted
to find a safer place where I could have you but there was no where else to go. The weather was too dangerous. The wind blew the rain in every direction. Tree’s fell. My contractions were strong. I was in labor for over two days but then you came, my beautiful, healthy baby girl. You came just as the storm ended. When it was safe, your papa carried you outside that morning to show you the big bright world. The storm was gone and there was a huge rainbow across the sky. God’s promise. When your Papa told me what he saw, I knew we would be ok.”
“Did I see the rainbow mama?”
“I don’t know, maybe you did. Maybe you didn’t but it was there. Just two days, when I felt well enough, we traveled again.”
“And that’s when you came to the bridge?”
“Yes. It was slow going because your Papa and your uncle had to stop and move branches out of the road sometimes. Then when we got to a bridge. We started to cross. There was one monster and some things in the way. Your Papa and your uncle got out of the car and onto the bridge to move some things out of the way and kill the monster. It was going ok until they began dragging a big piece of metal out of the way. The noise the twisted metal made as it dragged across the ground was loud. The monsters must have heard it from the forest nearby. Soon many of them were coming out of the trees right towards us. Your papa had a gun and started shooting at them to put them down. It worked until the sound of the gun brought more of them. It also made you cry and I did my best to calm you but all of the horrible sounds kept getting closer and louder. Soon we were surrounded. Your Papa and Uncle did best to fight them off but they kept coming. I thought for sure we wouldn’t escape. So I prayed. You cried and I prayed and that’s when he appeared. The angel. Down below on the river he appeared.”
“The angel and the demon.” Itzel added, her voice sounding sleepy.
“Si, the angel and the demon but most importantly, the angel. The angel ran to help us. He moved as if he was gliding, his magnificent weapon drawn. He shot the monsters with arrows. One by one, he took them down. The demon was on his back taunting him the whole time, telling him to stop but the angel didn’t listen. The angel mentioned you Itzel, he said he had heard you crying. He continued to fire his weapon with more skill and grace then any human could. Your Papa, he dropped the gun and I screamed. The monsters were surrounding us in the car, trying to get to me, to you from all sides. The back of the car was open and a monster began to crawl in. I prayed, I watched out the window as a monster grabbed at your papa’s leg and tried to bite him. The angel, he ran to your papa and your uncle, he gave them back the gun they dropped. He never stopped taking down the monsters. Soon, your papa, your uncle, they fought side by side with the angel.
“And the demon?”
“Yes, the demon. He taunted and tried to tell the angel he was foolish but the angel knew better. Soon the angel even persuaded the demon to join in the fight against those monsters. Believe me when I tell you, he practically floated when he moved. From side side the angel went, killing every monster in sight with his magnificent weapon.”
“Wow.” Itzel commented, her eyes going wide.
"A monster, inside the car started to reach for me, for you. It grabbed my shoulder and I screamed. I prayed louder. The angel came to pull the monster out of the back of our car and ended it.
“When all of the monsters were put down, I could breath again. I thanked God for answering our prayers. Just when I thought it would be ok, the demon came at you and I. He began searching the car for what he could steal. I was afraid he was after your soul. You had not yet been baptized. I knew your soul was vulnerable. I was scared and began to cry again, you were screaming but I still prayed. I prayed for God to deliver us from evil, to protect you and he did. The angel walked right up to where we were and looked at you, at me, at your papa. He had blue eyes. much like the sky. He checked to see that we were ok. The angel watched the demon, giving him a chance to make a good decision. The demon did not stop. That's when the angel pointed his weapon at the demon, his own brother. He threatened him and told him to leave us alone. The demon didn’t want to back down but the angel held him in place. I thought the great Heaven’s would open up and a great battle would begin. The demon stopped what he was doing. He began to back away, the power of the angel much stronger than the his. Good will always prevail over evil mi amor. You must always trust God and pray The angel told us to run, to leave the place. Your uncle and Papa got in the car while he protected us, granting us passage off the bridge. We escaped, thanks to him.”
“Then what happened?”
“We drove away until we could no longer see them behind us. We drove for a week until we found safety.”
“The Commonwealth.” Itzel said proudly.
“Si, the Commonwealth.
“And you never saw the angel again?
“No mi amor but maybe one day we will. Maybe one day you will again. He is your guardian angel now. I believe he is always with you.”
Itzel smiled warmly.
“You, mi amor were heard by angels and one came from the Heavens to your aide. That’s how we know you are blessed. You will do great things in this world Itzel. Many great things because you were heard by angels. Now go to sleep.” Guadalupe kissed her daughter on the cheek and tucked her in.
“Yes mama.” She said with a yawn.
“Goodnight mama. Goodnight angel.” She said with a soft smile as her heavy eyes closed.
That night she dreamed of the angel but he didn’t have wings, not like the angels she had seen in pictures. He had them on the back of a black leather vest and he was out in the world protecting many other people who needed him.
~ The End ~