𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒, the walking dead

7.

[ 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 ]

❝ 𝖨𝖳'𝖲 𝖠 𝖡𝖠𝖣 𝖨𝖣𝖤𝖠 ,
𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖨'𝖬 𝖠𝖫𝖫 𝖠𝖡𝖮𝖴𝖳 𝖨𝖳 . ❞

Six weeks ago, the Prison had defeated the Governor and took in a huge portion of Woodbury's survivors. The cement walls had been slowly transformed into a community— a thriving one, at that.

Everyone pulls their weight, especially now that there was a large population of children in the picture. He'd taken to babysitting and helping with the kids as he naturally gravitated towards his cousin. When he wasn't helping with that, he was often hanging out with the Hawthorne siblings or gardening with Rick and Carl. His uncle had turned a new leaf in pacifism and encouraged his son(s) to do the same.

Zoe and Alfie were the quickest friends he'd ever made. Although sharing a last name, they were completely unrelated to Michonne (who he had grown very close with in the passing weeks). It was often that the three teenagers would spend nights with Maggie, Beth, and Glenn in the guard tower, laughing and playing rounds of go fish and war with a rotting deck of cards. Life was starting to feel normal, day by day.

Ross was also relieved in the happiness those around him were finding, especially Carl. He'd made friends with two boys named Patrick and Leo..? Ross can't ever remember the name of the second boy. The latter was Carl's age and they fit together quite well, but Patrick was a bit older and Carl insists thinks he has a very awkward crush on Ross. It made him laugh every time he passed by the younger, shrugging it off as harmless.

One new face in the prison particularly stuck out to him. He was the only other teenager around, and he didn't show up with the rest of Woodbury. Daryl had found him on a run, riding around alone with a box of cassette's and claiming to be searching for his younger brother. Always adorning a muscle tee or worn-out tee shirt, his face was not familiar to many yet as he spent most of his time alone. Ross had barely been able to wiggle his name out of him when he was overly intrigued by his shaggy blond hair. Bowie was now a friend mostly to Ross, hiding away in his cell for the couple of weeks he'd been there so far.

One morning, Ross had taken over for Carol manning the food while she wished Daryl good luck on a big run before she went to read the kids a story in the library. He was turning over sticks of meat and handing them out when he saw Bowie out and about.

"Hey! Bowie!" He calls and waves him over.

The other smiles softly, walking towards the stand with his hands in his pockets. "Hi, Ross. I decided to explore a little today."

"Yeah, you're not as slick as you think you are. What brings you to the land of the living?" The brunet asks, handing him something to eat.

He takes a bite and shrugs. "Dunno. Got kind of bored of my walkman."

Ross shakes his head with a laugh. "I Genuinely can't believe you even have that thing." He wasn't kidding— Whenever he sees the bright-orange headphones attached to the cassette player he thinks it's even more ridiculous than the last time he saw it.

"But if you're feeling extra adventurous today, you should come with me and the Hawthorne's to the guard tower tonight," He continues, "We hang out in the empty one sometimes, but Glenn found a bottle of wine on a run so.." Open-ended, his eyes urge a reply from Bowie's own wide-struck set.