The Last Flame

Chapter 6

Empty.

The car that everyone rode in had finally hit empty. It was about the third car they had that they drove till it was running on fumes. And the cars weren't the only things running on fumes.

The group had been on the road for about two or three weeks now, they had yet to hit Washington yet, or any shelter for that matter.

Everyone was quiet for the most part, occasionally passing words only to let everyone know they were going to scavenge, other than that it was only silence with a small group of growling Walkers behind them.

Bell walked next to Abraham, Lady right next to her-the dog rarely left her side after the loss of Beth. Bell watched as Daryl and Carol walked off from the group to go scavenge. She watched as he turned in her direction and looked at her, but he quickly averted his eyes when he realized she was already looking at him.

Bell cast her eyes back to in front of her, not sure if she should be hurt by his avoiding her. Not that she had much room to talk, she too avoided the man.

Her brother seemed to watch the whole ordeal and spoke up. "So, that your boyfriend or what?"

Bell was silent for a moment.

Ever since the kiss at the church they hadn't had a chance to talk and with the death of Beth, Bob, and Tyreese still fresh, it certainly didn't seem appropriate to talk about it. She knew she still cared deeply for him and she had a feeling it was probably mutual, probably.

Bell just simply shrugged.

"Well he sure seems to like ya, I catch him looking at you every five minutes." Abraham replied to his sister.

She shrugged. "Hardly seems the time to be discussing our romantic relationship, Abe."

He just nodded. "So you like him then?"

Bell just sighed. "Abe, can we not? I don't really wanna talk about it right now." She looked to her brother and saw him give a nod and go silent. She felt bad for shooting him down, it was clear he was trying to cheer her up, so she turned the subject to him. "What about you and Rosita?"

He looked to his sister. "What about her?"

Bell scoffed. "Y'all are a 'thing', am I right?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "She's a good woman. Met her on my travels from Texas with Eugene. Along with some others, but she stuck out to me among them all..."

Bell saw how her brother trailed off, clearly thinking about his late wife. She could tell he felt slightly guilty.

She placed a hand on his arm. "It's okay to find someone else Abe, she would want you to be happy. Rosita seems great, from what I know about her. You did good." She was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Do you love her?"

Abraham just took a deep breath and slowly nodded. "Yeah...I think so, it's hard to say that after Ellen, but I certainly care for Miss Espinoza. Theirs no doubting that part."

Bell gave her brother a soft smile and nodded. She knew her brother too well, she knew he didn't love Rosita like he had Ellen. She remembered when he first met his late wife, how he would talk about her to Bell. She didn't doubt the man loved Rosita, but she didn't think he loved her in the same way.

She refrained from speaking these thoughts out loud, however, as long as someone was bringing her brother happiness and as long as he was treating Rosita right she had no reason to shatter the small bubble they shared.

As the day went on, Bell ended up behind Maggie and Father Gabriel. Bell eyed the man carefully as he begun to speak to Maggie.

Rick had told Bell of what Gabriel had done at his church. How he refused to let his flock in and how it resulted in their death.