Malevolent. The Walking Dead

[ 005 ] satisfying numbness

005: satisfying numbness

The normally humid air of fall had turned chillier as they teetered on winter, and Joey had to scavenge some (very dirty, very picked over) clothes from stores when they passed through town. She caught herself having nightmares again, something that had seemed to drift away over the past few months, but they crept up on her suddenly after the day at the warehouse. Something about the adrenaline and morose of losing Bill seemed to trigger a catapult of anger, restlessness and paranoia. She wasn't entirely sure if he felt the same way ━ she also wasn't sure if there was any word to describe it. Loneliness, perhaps, and a craving to have some sort of stability. Missing the family she lost so long ago, it seemed. Reveling in the hurt was one way to cope that seemed to do more bad than good, and Joey was waiting on one more bad day to break the straw on the camel's back.

The sun seemed to hide behind a mask of clouds. More often than she was used to. The nature of Utah was a stark contrast to ━ normally ━ sun washed California. She could let her hair down and watch it blow in the wind, push it out of her face. The rain would make their feet trek guck and mud across the pavement of the streets and leave footprints in the woods. Everything was beginning to blur, and Joey often wondered if Bill actually knew where he was going, or if the map in his hands was a simple pray and grasp on time. Maybe a bit of both.

"Where even are we?" she questioned, the sound of water making her interest pique. Also, the thought of being able to drink water after a solid two hours without it was salivating.

Bill cleared his throat, finger running across the areas on the map. "Near . . . Moab. If we keep followin' this river, it should lead us to Denver," he nodded, folding up the map and stuffing it into his back pocket. Joey blew air out of her mouth and climbed up on the rocks that resided near the edge of the river.

"Can you at least try and not die before we get there?" he pleaded, partly joking and partly serious. Joey rolled her eyes and pushed her arms out to the sides, balancing as she jumped between rocks. She wavered slightly when she would balance on one foot, and Bill nearly almost held out an arm just in case. She pretended to slip up just to see what he would do, and he lunged forward to grab her by the forearm and pull her down to the grass. "Hey!" she frowned, punching him in the arm, to which he retreated.

"Stop acting like a fucking idiot,"

"Stop acting like a fucking idiot," Joey imitated, scrunching up her face. Bill wasn't amused. "I'm so thirsty," she groaned, begrudgingly dragging her limbs along in the mud. The water sloshing nearby seemed to pique her thirst and also make her suddenly have to pee despite having little to no fluids in her body. Joey pinched the skin atop her hand and watched as it slowly went back to its original form. She was dehydrated. Although, it wasn't exactly a surprising revelation.

"We can stop once the sun goes down and get some water to boil," Bill offered, looking up at the trees and the other parts of nature that seemed to flourish despite everyone else deteriorating. It was disheartening but he couldn't help but see the beauty in the pain. Most of the time, it was the opposite, but seeing how nature was able to persevere without humans and their consistent plaguing of the earth was, inherently, satisfying.

"How about, when we get to Denver, you teach me how to swim?" Joey proposed, throwing a bit of a skip in her step to catch up to him. He looked back at her and shrugged. "Dunno. I don't like you very much," he kid, earning a hard jab in the side from her elbow. He grunted sarcastically and dramatically held his side. "Very funny. You better watch yourself old man, see what happens . . ."

Bill chuckled under his breath, readjusting the rifle on his back that they had picked up making their way through Cedar City. Joey had been prying him to use it for days now, but he always seemed to have some sort of excuse for her not to go near it. Usually within good reason, but for Joey, it wasn't good enough. "When can I shoot one of those things?" she questioned, reaching for it, but he quickly whipped around and walked backwards. "Nuh ━ uh. No way,"