Malevolent. The Walking Dead

[ 040 ] if i ever were to lose you

040: if i ever were to lose you

TWO MONTHS PRIOR.

"Why can't you just tell me where we're going?" Joey whined, stuffing her bag with snacks, first aid supplies, and the little extra ammo that they had to spare. Bill physically zipped his lips, "locking" them and throwing away the key.

"Because it's a surprise, why would I want to ruin the surprise?"

Joey rolled her eyes, slinging her backpack over her shoulders. "You know, when you zip your lips, you're supposed to stay quiet." She adjusted the two loose braids that hung over her shoulders, the same reused hairbands growing thinner as she wore them nearly every day. Sometimes, she'd ask Bill to look for more when they went out on runs. Joey was about ninety percent sure he didn't even know what hair bands looked like, or where to even look for them. Carol would give her some when she asked for them, but Joey was never one to ask for anything. Her and Carol had an awkward but understanding relationship.

"OK, well, I don't care, so." Bill grunted, checking the magazine of his gun and stuffing it in the back of his pants. Joey noticed he was getting particularly more sassy the more time they spent together. They had been together for a few years now, and Joey would just consider them to be one in the same.

"Can't you just tell me where you're taking me?" They moved out of the house after making sure that they had everything they needed, and Bill shook his head. "Nope." He didn't say anything else. Joey looked around the semi-empty streets, silently looking around for Finn, as if she could pry anything out of him (or if he would even know anything) but he was nowhere to be found. Joey didn't enjoy surprises. Especially since there were too many surprises nowadays. Everything and everyone was unpredictable. It was over dramatic to equate that to petty things, like day trips with Bill, but being able to know where they are—and further, tell people where they are—might save them the trouble of dying.

"Does anyone know we're leaving?" Joey asked, as Bill forged ahead of her towards the gates. "Of course." Joey knew Bill well enough to know he was probably lying. Maybe Finn knew—or Carol. Definitely not Rick, or Carl, or anyone else, because they might try and stop them. When they approached the gates, Daryl was on watch, and looked down at them with narrowed eyes. "Where are y'all off to?" he yelled down, the red hot sun beaming on them, Joey having to raise her hand to block it.

"Uh—just a quick run." Bill lied, and Joey nearly sighed out loud, but bit her tongue. Daryl shook her head. "No one's scheduled for a run today." He gruffed, tilting his head to the side. Bill shrugged. "Dunno what to tell you. We won't be gone for long. Joey needs to get some...feminine things, y'know." Joey scrunched up her face, turning red and punched him in the arm. Daryl suddenly got embarrassed and just waved for them to open the gates. Joey shook her head while following Bill. "You dickhead." she grunted, and he lowly chuckled.

"I think Daryl might've shit his pants or something." He joked, and Joey laughed. She didn't think it was very funny, using her period as some way to get them out of the gates and to simultaneously embarrass her, but she supposed that was what Bill and Finn were there for. To embarrass her. "You're the worst." She replied, and Bill turned around swiftly, walking backwards, as if to analyze her demeanor to make sure she didn't mean it. Joey squinted her eyes in the sun and they kept walking and walking until they got far enough away from Alexandria that Bill could hop into one of the cars they had stationed, freshly full of gas, in case things went south like they did a few months prior.

"Don't you think we shouldn't be using one of these? They're like—getaway cars in case things go bad back there." Joey nodded in the direction of Alexandria, but Bill shrugged as if it was no big deal, and rummaged at the space between the car and the tire, looking for the keys. "One car for a few hours won't hurt us."