HEART FOR BRAINS • the walking dead

045: flipped

Rio took notice of the sword that was now slung on Michonne's shoulder. He watched as she made an attempt to clean the church, carrying the bodies out at least. Maggie and Glenn helped her. They'd tried to get Rio to go to sleep but he insisted on staying up.

He watched them for a while before heading over to the second office. Rio was about to go back inside the one they'd hidden in but he didn't feel like staying with Sasha, Tyreese and Bob. Rio couldn't understand how he did it, staying alive while knowing he was dying. Rio hoped that when he died it was quick, he wouldn't have to think about it.

The next morning came around too quickly and it was only when Abraham began packing that Rio realized he had to leave. After a small breakfast, they'd all crammed into the small room that Bob lay in. Maggie was at the man's bedside now, whispering goodbyes. He didn't have long.

The woman leant down to plant a kiss upon Bob's hand. That was it. They were leaving him. Rick stayed behind as they all followed one another out the room.

Sasha ended up beside him.

"Are you okay?" Rio asked her, not sure whether speaking up was the right choice as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay." The woman replied, looking slightly taken aback and her voice wavering. Maggie walked over, steering Sasha away from the room until Rick came back out.

Rio pulled out the paper that had been shoved in his pocket and placed it into the bin.. He then walked over to Gabriel, who was sitting at the end of one of the pews. "Do you have any paper?" He asked

"Pardon?"

"Uh, paper. A notepad." Rio said, mimicking writing. "Do you have one I can borrow please?"

"It isn't borrowing if you don't give it back." Gabriel joked. He walked over to his drawer and pulled one out anyway. A small a5 one.

Gabriel grabbed a pen from his drawer and scribble something neatly on the first line.

'You can keep it'

The boy signed thank you to him with a small smile before walking away. He flipped through the pages, finding that it was empty before stuffing the notepad in the pocket of his jacket.

Rio walked outside, sitting at the back of the church, occasionally catching sight of Abraham as he walked back and forth the van. The man was gathering food and supplies and every now and then he'd give the boy a short nod.

After getting bored, Rio pulled out the paper, flipping the cover and grabbing the pen too. He held it in his right hand, and tried to keep inside the lines. He wrote his name or what was supposed to be his name. It was bad but it was unreadable.

The boy made sure Maggie wasn't around before slipping his arm out of his sling and trying to move it. She kept telling him not to. He flexed his fingers and then tried to bend his hand down.

"What are you doing?" A voice came from behind him. Rio jumped, bending his wrist more than he would've wanted to anyway. He swore to himself before putting the sling back on.

"That bad, huh?" Abraham asked.

"Yeah. Guess I've been downplaying it."

"That's for sure." The man said, sitting down on the steps next to him. "What'd you do?"

"I was running away and I tripped."

"A kid like you broke your arm from a little trip?"

Rio didn't question what he meant by a kid like him. He could probably guess. "Well, some guy pushed me and he was like... three times my size."