Future Ghosts • TWD

28. The Shed.

A day had passed and Rosie decided she ought to check on Randall to see if he was awake. She wanted to meet him and ask him questions. She hoped he was nice. They hadn't had any new additions to their group since they got to the farm. A new person was exciting.

Rosie made her way to the shed, checking behind herself every so often to make sure that no one was following. When she got to the shed, she went to the same wall she'd been next to last time she came. Peaking through the opening, she could see that Randall was awake. He held a pained expression on his face.

"Hey," Rosie whispered.

Randall's head snapped up. "Who- who's there?" he asked nervously. He had a southern accent, similar to Maggie's, but not as strong.

"One sec," Rosie said. She went around to the other side of the shed so that the wall she was leaning against was the same wall Randall was leaning against from the other side. She couldn't see him anymore, but she could hear him better, being closer. "I'm Rosie," she said.

"I'm Randall," Randall replied, leaning his head to the side so he could hear her voice better. "How... how old are you?" he asked.

"Nine. How old are you?" Rosie replied. She leaned her back up against the wall, absentmindedly picking at the grass beneath her.

"I'm twenty. It's nice to meet you, Rosie," Randall said.

His breathing was heavy, like he was constantly out of breath. Rosie guessed it was because his leg was hurting. "What happened to your leg?"

"I hurt it real bad. Fell on a fence post. But you're- you're people, they fixed me up. Did you ever get hurt like that?" Randall asked, trying to get to know more about the girl. The more he knew about her, the easier it would be to convince her to let him go.

"I got stabbed in the leg when I jumped out of a tree a little bit ago. Still got the stitches in. I don't know when they're s'posed to come out, though," Rosie said, looking down at her own leg. It hadn't been hurting nearly as much as it used to. It sometimes stung if she bumped it on something, though. "I sprained my ankle real bad once, too."

"Oh, yeah? How?"

"I was slidin' inta home plate, but it was before I was any good at slidin'," Rosie said, remembering how much her ankle hurt in that moment. Coach Smith had come out and helped her get back to the dugout. When she sat down on the bench, he had her move her ankle, and every time she did it, it hurt so bad. She tried hard not to cry, but it hurt too much. Coach Smith didn't yell at her for it, though. He just sat down on the bench next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You played baseball?" Randall asked, his eyebrows raised. "I played baseball, too. For my high school. I sucked, though. What position did you play?"

"I was a catcher. What about you?"

"I played left field, but I was usually on the bench," Randall replied. He talked very fast and Rosie thought it was because he was excited to have someone to talk to. "Hey, you should come in here. So I can- so I can meet you."

"Ok," Rosie said, shrugging to herself as she stood up. She looked around the shed again, hoping to find a way in. Much to her luck, there was a window type of opening in the back of the shed. It was up high, though, so she had to climb on top of a wheel barrow to get up to it. When she got inside, she climbed down a ladder and sat on the ground across from Randall.

"I- I like your cowboy boots. They're real cool. Where'd you get them?" Randall asked as he stared at Rosie, putting on a friendly smile.

"They were my big brother's boots. They're a little too big for me, but they're the only ones I got," Rosie replied, shrugging.