my tears ricochet

Chapter Fifty Seven

They pushed the bus as far they could and eventually the road turned into a hollowed out stretch of loneliness, asphalt a black ribbon through nowhere. The problem with traveling with the numbers that they had was that they couldn't just split into a car or two and travel that way. Their bodies needed extra space, they carried more food to benefit the group.

The bus had been a luxury that chewed up as many miles as Abraham could coax from the gas tank before it sputtered to a stop. "Well, fuck," the man spat, smacking his hand off the dashboard. "So much for loyalty, you prick."

Ivy twisted, looking at Rick's face. He was sitting at the back of the bus, as far away from Abraham as he could manage, and his stare was glacial. "Guess we're walking," he decided, passing Judith to Carl. "You know where we are?"

"Yeah, middle of no where."

Rosita rolled her eyes and wisely stayed silent, hefting her bag up by the strap. As they offloaded the bus Abraham pulled it away, however, taking the weight on his own shoulder. "I've got it," he assured her lightly. "Keep yourself from falling behind, got it?"

Daryl had been quiet the entire journey in the bus, not even reacting when Beth started micromanaging the music at the front through the speakers. But his stress seemed to have alleviated despite their situation and he nudged her towards Beth gently. "You sure?" Ivy offered, lingering.

He scanned the woods surrounded the lonely road and kept his face neutral. "You both keep where I can see you. Don't go wandering off."

It would be difficult to take off. The group seemed to naturally regulate itself so the adults lightly pushed the younger members into the centre, taking up positions to spread the strength out easily. Ivy took advantage of the offer and shifted towards Beth, allowing herself to be neatly framed by Maggie and Glenn.

Her shoulder ached but walking felt nice after two days of being crammed into the bus. The loss of Oscar weighed heavy on everyone, even their new additions. Abraham had helped Tyreese dig the grave back at the church and Gabriel had cobbled up a loose sermon for the man, gathering everyone in tight with the aftermath of their feelings.

They all got to live. Oscar just couldn't be there for it.

Ivy took that grief and bottled it tight to her chest, a scar identical to the ones she carried for other people. Feeling that ache was a luxury she couldn't afford. Her heart wouldn't cope; if she started to hurt she would never stop and Ivy had just started feeling human again. Like she was something other than blood and old hurts, a scream replaying again and again.

So she forced herself to feel numb. She tried to take advantage of the few moments they had without the violence; Glenn ducking into the ditch to pluck of a rogue orange flower for Maggie, Michonne pulling out a comic from nowhere to give Carl. Daryl came up on her heels and lightly tugged her braid to ply her with pain killers, not moving from her side until she had obediently swallowed both.

Bob and Sasha were laughing, voices bright as they bantered somewhere on the other side of Maggie, comparably to the sun above.

.

"We gotta stop for a minute," Daryl called. "You're losing people."

Abraham snapped around and Rick slowly ground himself to a halt. "We're no where close to where we gotta be. We can push it for a few more miles."

Rick hadn't been thrilled about bowing to Abraham's mission but he had suddenly taken to it with a forceful stride, pulling their group across the miles with pause.

"You're gonna want 'em to stop. They're tired."

The afternoon sun had been burning high and it made the hike longer. One lucky find of a near gutted car had revealed a suitcase packed, plucking out a ball cap that went to Beth. Her skin had started to burn first. Gabriel was shuffling beneath the weight of his priest garment, almost fading from heat exhaustion.