𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 | Daryl Dixon

67 | WOLF ATTACK

The streets seemed so quiet, creating an odd sense of loneliness as she wandered through them. Despite the breeze, the air still carried the humid warmth of the Virginian springtime. The sky remained a flawless blue, unmarred by clouds  A beautiful sight she scarcely admired as her boots patted across the asphalt, her eyes locked onto her destination – the stone building at the top of the street.

It was early that morning when Rick took the crew out to the cliffside quarry to go over the plan to move the herd, which would start at first light tomorrow. It left few of Tori's own group in the town with the rest of the Alexandrians, and she had been trying to ignore the niggling at the back of her mind since watching them all leave, that little voice telling her to be afraid for them, to worry about them.

She had things to distract herself, and whilst she'd normally be grateful for something to take her mind off of her nerves, this wasn't the kind of task she could appreciate.

The chapel in the town wasn't big enough to carry that stoney echo so many churches do. It wasn't cold, it didn't have a great history written in plaques on the walls. It was simple, small, with only ten benches either side of the aisle. Each was lined with paper-thin cushions made of red faux velvet. 

The room's silence seemed to envelop the man seated in the front row. Jake sat with his hands folded in his lap, head bowed, his lips moving in silent conversation, producing at most a faint whisper. 

Tori kept her footsteps featherlight as she walked down the aisle toward her former foster brother, keeping quiet as she took a seat next to him. She looked up, and the sunlight cast a glow through the stained-glass windows, a kaleidoscope of colours reflecting around the room.

"I'm fine, you know," Jake's voice was dull, exhausted as he turned his head, barely meeting the eyes of his friend. "I'm fine."

Tori nodded, her lips pressed into a tight line. "I know you are."

Jake sighed softly, finally lifting his head, and leaning back against the uncomfortable bench, the wood creaking like door hinges as he moved. He rubbed his hands over his face, wiping his tired eyes with his thumbs for what felt like the hundredth time since he sat down. A small chuckle shook his chest, the heartbreak evident in his tone as he mumbled, "Shit's getting a little crazy around here, ain't it? All seems to be happening at once."

"That's how things are these days, wherever you go," the brunette replied. "Out there, in here – it's all the same old story."

"You know, when we got those walls finished, we really thought we'd made it," Jake uttered, shaking his head as he bit back a scoff at the sound of his own words, thinking himself stupid. "We thought that if the dead couldn't get to us, we were safe. We made it safe. And we were fine, right up until..."

He trailed off, the inside of his cheek caught between his teeth, biting back the rest of his sentence. The sudden shift didn't go unnoticed by the woman beside him, who furrowed her eyebrows.

"Until what?"

The man turned to look at her, regretting his thoughts before he'd even said them. The last few days, the loss of his adoptive brother and father, was all starting to pile on top of him, weighing him down as if he were trapped under rubble. But he couldn't lie to her.

Honestly, he wasn't sure there was anyone in the world that could lie this woman.

"It's just, since you guys arrived, so much has happened," he whispered, hating himself when he watched Tori's face morph to shame. "Your friend, Rick – I know he didn't mean to go off the rails like he did, but..."

"Jake, being out there for two days would be enough to make anyone go off the rails," Tori frowned, coming to her people's defence without hesitation. "Never mind the best part of two years. I know he scared people, but you all needed to hear what he said."