MINUTES AND HOURS blended together as the group of people stalked down the road, ignoring the blinding and blistering heat from the sun above them. Frankie lost track of how long they walked, she no longer saw the backend gray clouds of smoke that had risen from Terminus. There was a relief when they were out of sight, knowing that they were decently far away from the harm that Terminus had to offer.
Occasional conversations were falling into the air, surrounding the small group. But the words never lasted long, fizzling out as energy began depleting. Walking in the humid Georgia air can only suck so much energy from them. There were moments when they all traveled off into the woods to catch a break. Every time that happened, Frankie ached to stay rooted on the ground, but they were off before she could even fight for just a few more minutes.
Everything in her body ached, her feet, legs, back. Nothing was giving her any semblance of peace. Even when she tried to escape just for a moment, just to put off her headphones as she walked. People around her had a problem with it, saying it was putting her safety at risk. Frankie rolled her eyes every time it happened, tucking her walkman back into her bag.
When moments like that happened, Carl found himself intervening and giving Frankie a distraction. She appreciated the attempts from the young boy, it gave her time to think about nothing and everything all at once. Their conversations were stupid and meaningless, but those meant the most to Frankie. Telling stories about their childhoods or what was left of them, gave them a chance to forget about the endless roads ahead. They knew people were listening to their conversations, it was clear by the occasional smiles that lightly lifted on their features.
Frankie was relieved when the sun began to set and Rick called it quits. Frankie was able to truly relax, and let her bones finally have a break. The warm air began to fizzle into a nippy night breeze. Frankie couldn't help but further envelop herself in the jacket Charlie gave her. She was forever grateful for the act, knowing without it, she would've probably gotten hypothermia or something along the lines of that. She liked having it more than she'd like to admit, the earthy familiar scent of Charlie gave her a relief she couldn't quite understand.
The fire sizzling in front of her also helped significantly, other people surrounded it as well, talking softly amongst themselves. Even when there was tension about when their next meal was, people still found themselves connecting instead of fighting. Frankie enjoyed sitting back against the tree behind her and just experiencing it all. It had been quite a long time since she had been around this many people and it honestly felt like a breath of fresh air. She felt like she belonged to something, even if she didn't know how long it was going to last.
