Sonder • TWD

° Awake °

Night had well and truly fallen as the car containing Rex, Glenn and T-Dog pulled up to the farmhouse. The distant chirp of cicadas reached Rex's ears as her shoes hit the gravel pathway upon exiting the car, quietly slamming the door behind her.

"So, do we ring the bell?" Glenn questioned as they made their way towards the porch, the warm glow from the house illuminating their figures. Rex looked down at her bloodstained hands, the light glistening off the red staining her skin, seeping into the cracks and moulds of her body. "I mean, it looks like people live here." the man continued, anxiously shifting his feet as the trio stopped just before the porch steps. "We're past this kind of stuff, aren't we? Having to be considerate." T-Dog piped up, still slightly shivering from his infection despite the drugs that Daryl had generously provided.

"Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?" a voice from their left made them all jump. Rex turned her head to see a young woman, with short brown hair and the coolest boots she had ever seen, perched on top of the porch raining, fiddling with a blade of grass between her fingers. She gave Rex a small smile upon noticing the young girl staring, making Rex bow her head, her cheeks flushing a bright pink.

"Uh, hi." Glenn greeted the woman, giving her a small wave. "Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything." he continued, upon receiving no response from the woman in regards to his former greeting. "I'm Maggie. Maggie Greene." the woman introduced herself, hopping down from the porch to shake each of their hands individually. Rex opted out of the handshake, not wanting to taint her hands with a dead girl's blood, Maggie seemed to understand, giving her a warm smile before sticking her hands in her back pockets. "Y'all wanna head on inside and get cleaned up? Bathroom's down the hall and to the right." Maggie instructed, nodding in the direction of the front door. "Oh and you," she gestured in T-Dog's direction, "Patricia's inside, she'll fix up that arm of yours no problem." Maggie smiled. "Thanks." T-Dog replied, relief flooding his face as he made his way past the woman.

Rex hesitated for a moment as the others headed into the house, shifting her weight as the wood creaked under her feet. If she didn't go in, she wouldn't know how Hunter was, which meant she wouldn't have to receive potentially devastating news. It was simply easier to stay outside, she realised, staying in a sort of limbo situation seemed better. Taking a few steps back, she resorted to sitting down on the steps, her back to the house and knees pulled to her chest. Maggie peeked her head back out the door, noticing they had lost a member of the group, and spotted the young girl huddled up a few feet away. "Don't wanna come inside?" she asked, closing the door behind her as she made her way over to Rex, assuming a similar position next to her. "I don't know." Rex whispered, picking at her fingers anxiously. "That's OK, we can stay out here for a bit." Maggie spoke, her voice was comforting to Rex, her southern drawl hitting the girl's ear in a soothing way. It reminded her a lot of her second grade teacher, a lovely woman who always wore long flowery dresses and loved to read them stories at the end of the day. She was probably dead now, her dress covered in dirt, guts and blood as she wandered the world aimlessly, driven by her thirst for human flesh. Rex shook the thought from her mind, blinking away the visions of her possibly deceased teacher, though pushing away one though caused others to reappear. Memories of Sophia slowly drifted into her mind, infecting it like mould, seeping into all the good things in her subconscious.

"You OK?" Maggie's question snapped Rex out of her thoughts, she turned her head and was met with the woman's concerned gaze. "Ya drifted off there for a second." Maggie explained, surveying the girl's face, her eyes laced with worry. "I'm fine." Rex replied, averting her eyes and setting her head back on her knees, staring out into the darkness that lay just outside the range of the porch light. "I know I'm just a stranger, but you can talk to me, if you want." the woman placed a gentle hand on Rex's shoulder. "Y'know, according to my sister, Bethy, I'm wiser than I look." the woman joked, causing a light giggle to tumble from the girl's lips, though it seemed unnatural, almost forced.