𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 ↠ 𝘤.𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

50: Them

Seventeen days. Seventeen days ago, Beth died. Maggie has been.. different, nonetheless. She's been distant from everyone, even Glenn.

They've been on the road, trying to get to Noah's neighborhood, only hoping it was still standing. The place had walls, with guards, it was actually a safe place. There was no evidence that it remained that way, though.

The firetruck broke down a couple of days ago, so the group was split into a couple of cars. "Alright, we're here. We'll radio in in twenty minutes." Rick spoke over the radio.

"Copy that." Carol responded. Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Tyreese, and Noah went to the neighborhood, while everyone else stayed back. Carol and Daryl went into the nearby woods, hoping to find something to eat.

"You awake?" Jack asked Elle, who was laying down in the back of the van. She slept a lot lately, she was rarely awake. Even before the end of the world, she always used sleeping as a coping mechanism. When she would get in a fight with her parents, or if she had a bad day at school, whatever it was, she would take a nap and feel fine the next day.

"Unfortunately." Elle mumbled, turning over to face her brother.

"What are you thinking about?" Jack added, laying down next to her. She sighed, pausing before giving an answer.

"A lot," she shifted to lay comfortably, laying her head on her arm. "Beth, Cody, everyone we've lost." Jack stayed quiet. Elle let out a small cough. "I wonder if Ryder got out."

"It might be better if he didn't.. you know?" Elle nodded. It would be better. This world was cruel, taking the lives of the innocent, leaving the horrible ones to make everyone's lives miserable. So maybe, not having to deal with it at all was for the best. "Wanna go out, see if we can find anything?" He offered. With a nod, they both climbed out of the van and started looking around for anything useful.

❀❀❀

Everyone watched as Sasha shoveled dirt into the new grave. The grave of her brother, Tyreese.

The plan to stay at Noah's neighborhood was anything but a success. The place had been overrun, not by walkers, but by people. Rick said they had found a bunch of people with all their limbs cut off.

Noah's family was dead, so was Tyreese. He was bit on the arm by one of Noah's younger brothers, Michonne and Rick had removed the arm, but Tyreese bled out.

Sasha was more mad, than upset. She had lost her boyfriend, now her brother, she had nobody left. Yeah, she had the group, but her blood family, she didn't. Everyone took turns shoveling some dirt into the grave.

After Tyreese's grave was topped with his favorite black beanie, the group was back on the road. But their cars were out of gas, so they had to walk.

It was unbelievably hot, everyone's skin covered in a glistening layer of sweat. If someone had one too many layers on, they were too exhausted to take any of them off.

Elle stopped walking for a minute and leaned over, putting her hands on her knees. "You alright?" Someone asked, coming up next to her. She looked up to see Carl.

"Yeah-yeah. My legs hurt." She answered, faking a small smile. Carl dug around in the small bag he carried, and pulled out a water bottle that must've been only a third full. "No, no. We need to save it, for when we need it." Elle refused to take the water.

"You need it." He insisted. She rolled her eyes.

"You're not gonna walk away until I drink some, are you?" Carl shook his head, giving her a small smile, while holding the water bottle out. She took the bottle from him, unscrewing the cap. She looked him dead in the eyes as she took the tiniest sip, before screwing the cap back on. "You didn't say how much."