𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙨 ♔ 𝙙.𝙙𝙞𝙭𝙤𝙣

58

WALKING BETWEEN MICHONNE and Carol, Aria stares down at the grass as she walks. She's exhausted, neither her or Daryl had gotten any sleep the night before and she's surprised she's even walking. "So, you and Daryl, have y'all — you know." Aria turns towards Michonne, her eyes wide and her cheeks turning pink.

"Does it matter?" Aria hisses, her voice quiet as she glances around at the group, Carol chuckling lightly beside her. Fiddling with the hem of her shirt, Aria shakes her head, her eyes lowering to the ground. "No. We haven't. I think we both are too awkward for that."

A small smile makes its way on Carol's face and she laughs softly. "Makes y'all perfect because y'all won't force each other to do anything the other doesn't want to do." Aria nods, her eyes raising to look at Daryl's back. "He's — amazing." Aria whispers, eyes softening. He's perfect, perfect for her and that's what's amazing. "You're in love." Aria nods slowly, a small chuckle escaping her peachy lips. She's in love and that can be dangerous.

"Help!" A distant voice yells out of desperation and Aria furrows her eyebrows, confusion on her face. "Dad, come on — come on!" Carl pleads before running off towards the voice. The group quickly follows behind him, the pleads becoming louder and more clearer. Carl fires his gun, one walker falling to the ground as the rest turn towards the ground, hunger in their lifeless eyes. Advancing forward, Aria shoves a walker against the big boulder before plunging her big knife into its brain, it's body falling limp under her. Once all the walkers are down, Rick looks up towards the shaken man, motioning for him to get down. "Come on down."

"You okay?" The man shakes his head before throwing up all over the green grass, a look of disgust crossing Aria's face. She was never good at handling things with barf and all that, it made her sick. "Sorry." He whispers, wiping his lips with the sleeve of his black shirt. "Uh — yes. Thank you." The man says, looking around at the group, a nervous look on his face. Glancing up at Michonne, Aria slides her knife back into her holster, her arms crossing over her chest. "I'm Gabriel."

Rick sighs lowly, his eyes wandering over Gabriel's body cautiously. "Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick asks, shifting all his weight onto one leg. Gabriel chuckles nervously, looking back towards Michonne and Aria. "Do I look like I would have any weapons?" He asks, his arms held out as he looks down at his body. "We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like." Abraham speaks up from the back of the group, his eyes narrowed at the stranger. "I have no weapons of any kind. The word of God is the only protection I need." Gabriel says bravely and Aria frowns, her eyes lowering to the ground. Her faith in God is running thin but she's trying. "It sure didn't look like it." Daryl scoffs, leaning onto the big boulder.

Gabriel opens and closes his mouth a few times before finding the right sentence to say, "I called for help. Help came." He tells the group, looking around at them as his body trembles; most likely from the lack of nutrition. "Do you have — have any food? Whatever I — whatever I had left, it just hit the ground." He asks and Aria purses her lips, pulling the acorns out of her backpack pocket. "We've got some pecans." Carl says, holding his hand out. Aria gently puts her palm out, showcasing the browning acorns.

"And — um, acorns." Aria whispers, her eyes lowering to the ground shyly as Gabriel takes the acorns from her hand before grabbing the pecan. "Thank you." Her hand falls back next to her back and she raises her eyes back up towards the guy. Judith lets out a small coo and Gabriel looks over towards the baby, his eyes slightly softening. "That's a beautiful child." Rick blankly stares at the man, no emotion on his face whatsoever. Aria kinda feels bad for Gabriel, she would feel so awkward in his shoes, she wouldn't know what to say. "Do you have a camp?"

Rick shakes his head, his hand settling on his hip. "No. Do you?" He asks, raising his eyebrows as he moves a little closer towards Gabriel. "I have a church." Aria sighs, rubbing a hand over her face. Living in a church? She's gonna feel guilty, she has sinned so much; it's not even funny. "Hold your hands above your head?" Rick rolls his eyes and Gabriel slowly raises his arms, Rick beginning to pat him down. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Not any—actually." Gabriel chuckles and Rick pushes him around, patting down his back. "How many people have you killed?" Gabriel freezes for a second before turning his head. "None." He tells them and Rick stands straight up, his eyes meeting Gabriel's. "Why?" Gabriel fully turns around, eyes squinted slightly. "The Lord abhors violence." Aria inwardly scoffs, her eyes subtly rolling. If he abhors violence, he wouldn't have let the world go to shit. "What have you done? We've all done something."

Aria narrows her eyes as she studies Gabriel. He's cracking; he has done something, he just doesn't want to say what. "I'm a sinner. I sin almost everyday. But those sins—i confess them to God, not strangers." He has a valid point, Aria wouldn't go around telling strangers what she had done. Hell—it took her forever to tell Daryl about her scars and she didn't exactly tell him about them, he found out on his own.

"You said you have a church?"

♚ ♛

Aria trails behind Carol and Daryl, two jugs of water in her hands. She's straining herself trying to think of a plan to get Beth back. One has formed in her head; but it's risky, too risky. She could die doing it but if that means getting Beth back, so be it. Beth has a sister still alive, Aria only has a boyfriend and two good friends who'll move on easily. Raising her arm, Aria uses her wrist to move back a piece of hair that has fallen into her eyes.

She's sure she looks like shit, but who doesn't? Almost everyone's hair is tangled and greasy. They're bodies covered in dirt and blood, it's what they're used to now. Aria already knows she has acne scattered around her face. She has always struggled with that problem and it was surely an insecurity of hers. Which makes her wonder why Daryl would even like her? Maybe he thinks she's the last woman on Earth he has chance with, but that's not true, Daryl could have anyone. Her insecurities are sending waves of doubt through her mind. Everything bad anyone has called her is echoing through pher brain and it's internally killing her.

Not only does she have to worry about the walkers and foreign groups; she has to worry about the demon in her mind telling her that's she not pretty enough, strong enough or good enough to beat this world.

♚ ♛

Aria emerges from the woods, her eyes darting around as she looks for Daryl and Carol. One second, she was following behind the two and now, they've disappeared. It's dark and it's getting cold, but Aria doesn't want to leave the two out here. Sighing lowly, she walks along the black top, her converse tapping lightly against the road. It's probably a bad idea to be in the middle of the road at night but Aria's too nervous to go back in the dark woods, she had a bad feeling, as if someone was stalking her. It made her scared.

Wiping some sweat off her forehead, Aria softly hums a song to herself, boredom overcoming her. She should've stayed in the church instead of leaving. To be quite honest; she thought they were going hunting and wanted to join in. But they both left at different times, which confused Aria a lot. Hearing a sound behind her, Aria swivels her head around.

Pain pulses through her body as she falls to the ground, her forehead smacking against it. Turning on to her back, her vision fades in and out, two people appearing above her.

A U T H O R
aria has all my love.