HEART FOR BRAINS • the walking dead

043: church in the wild

As he lay his head down, Rio realized he now hadn't slept in two days. The boy stared up at the open sky, trying to see if he could make out any of the constellations. He only remembered one or two from the posters in his science class. Rio wasn't even sure where to look for them, he just kept looking. The boy was trying to distract himself from the fact that sleep wasn't about to come again, despite how exhausted he was.

He wished he could go to sleep like everyone else. Well not everyone, he knew some people were faking. Everytime he closed his eyes he saw something that made him want to open them back up. Whether it be Jesse or the governor or the claimers or now terminus. There was too much stuck in his head and it refused to leave.

Rio froze as he kept thinking and Daryl placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. He knew it was him. The man was sitting right beside him, looking down wearily as Rio lay on the floor. He wasn't mentioning how red his eyes were. Rio had asked him earlier and he'd just shrugged in response. The boy didn't pry.

"Are you on watch?" Rio asked, turning onto his side.

The man nodded in return. 'Me. Sasha. Rosita.' He spelt out.

"Are you going to sleep soon?"

'Probably. Lots of walking to do tomorrow. You?'

"I'll try."

He shuffled closer to the man and he just wrapped an arm over his shoulder.

"You don't have to wait up."

"I'm not. I just can't sleep."

"That's becoming a problem."

Rio just hummed back an acknowledgement, not facing him. The boy watched as the last of the fire was going out a few feet away.

"Why can't you sleep?" Daryl asked, the boy didn't hear him at first so he repeated it after he turned to face him.

"Why do you think so?"

"Nightmares?"

"I can't stay asleep long enough to get nightmares." The boy murmured. "Well, I guess they are nightmares. Very short ones. The second I close my eyes I just... I remember all the bad."

"Aren't you tired?"

Rio nodded and then fiddled with the sling tied around his neck. "But it's easier not to sleep. Nicer."

There was a moment where nobody said anything before Rio let out a shaky breath.

"And my arm hurts. I've been trying not to complain but—."

"You can complain. It's gonna hurt."

"And I can't get a cast for it. Is it just gonna be like it forever?"

"Surely not."

There was a beat.

"I mean I can manage."

"I know you can."

"I'm not useless because I can only use one arm." Rio curled up closer to the man as he complained.

"Everyone knows that after what you did." Daryl half scoffed. "Besides, no one ever thought you were useless, we just wanted you to be careful so you don't hurt yourself again."

"I didn't actually do it."

"I know," The man agreed. Another beat. "Are you ready to talk about it?"

"Don't think so. Don't... don't even want to think about it either." He frowned, leaning against the man's side in an attempt at sleep.

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