ᗯᕼEᑎ TᕼE ᗪEᗩᗪ ᑕOᗰE ᗩᒪIᐯE [ ᴅᴀʀʏʟ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ]

- 9 -

  I had gotten close to Glenn after a short time talking together. We were situated inside the house as the Asian male talked about the events that took place before their group arrived at Alexandria. They had lost a lot of people, and made many sacrifices. They had faced many different groups who threatened their homes and their people, and in tern had killed many because of it. I briefly spoke of my life before the world ended. As it turns out, the two of us had both taken up a job as pizza delivery drivers before the fall. Additionally, I spoke of my travels, where I was from, and how I ended up here in DC. Although, truthfully there wasn't too many interesting details to be told. I had found out that they had recently had a herd of the undead come though Alexandria, damaging a lot of the land. Fortunately, they made it through that crazy ordeal, and were rebuilding quite quickly from what I could tell. (Hence were this story behind in the walking dead time line)

"Hey" Glenn spoke after taking a minute to get himself a drink.

"I heard from Daryl that you had picked up some art supplies you wanted to hand out to the kids" he said, and I nodded shyly.

"Would you like to come with me, and hand them out yourself" he asked. Without hesitation, I nodded in agreement.

.• *Time Skip* •.

Glenn and I we're currently handing out the art supplies to all who had kids. Glenn was my guid, making sure I didn't miss anyone. He would explain to each of the parents who we interacted with that we had a gift for their children in which they would call their children over so I could give them them the coloring books and a pack of crayons each. I would bend down to the height of the kids no older than 5 as I watched their faces light up in excitement at receiving the gifts. Once everyone had given their thanks, and the kids were content, Glenn and I would walk off to find the next person.

"Is that all" Glenn asked.

"Actually I have one more" I said as I started to lead the way this time. We walked back to the house where we saw Daryl and Rick preparing to go on a run tomorrow as we entered through the front door.

"Hey" I spoke quietly, alerting the male of my presence. Rick turned around to face us.

"Um. . . I wanted to give this to you for Judith"I said, holding out two coloring books and a 64 pack of crayons. He gave me a warm smile at the thoughtful gift, and took them gratefully.

"Thank you Y/n, I appreciate it" he said, and I nodded.

"Just thought it would be nice. . " I smiled as I looked down. Just then, Daryl walked back into the room. He caught my eye as he walked by, and I excused myself from Rick allowing Glenn to start up a conversation with the male.

"Hey" I said as I slowly walked into Daryl's room. He turned to me, and I took that as my que to speak.

"I. . . I want to go on the run with you two tomorrow"

"No" Daryl said immediately in his deep, raspy voice. With the males quick rejection I thought I would simply leave it at that, but I decided to try my luck asking as I wasn't too fond of the idea of staying here all day. After all, I still wasn't quite use to everything here.

"Why not?" I asked quietly.

"Because" was all Daryl said in return. I could tell he didn't want to explain his reasoning any further, so I stoped there. Slowly, I walked over to the bed where Daryl had placed himself. He was laying down with his arms resting behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. I sat down beside him and pulled out one of the sketch books i brought back along with a pencil. I curled myself up as my back rested against the wall, and began sketching a landscape that was edged into my brain.

It was a beautiful lake surrounded by tall oak trees. Within the center of the lake was a small island where a large weeping willow tree grew. It's roots engulfed the island, poking out of the dirt and tunneling back in. It's branched hung out over the water as the leaves brushed the surface. It casted a large shadows over the area it took up. I had stayed there for a few months, making a living off of the land, and taking advantage of the wildlife that frequently visited. I probably would have stayed there much longer. . . if it wasn't for the people who decided to burn it down.

.• ____ •.

I stayed up late into the night sketching the landscape. I had found I was quite skilled at drawing from memory, so I was happy with how accurate the piece turned out. The trees were heavily detailed, the reflection in the water, every detail was carefully drawn. It was just as I remembered.

With the sketch now finished, I put it to the side, neglecting to shut it for fear It would smug. I got up and went to my bag, grabbing a large dark grey long sleeve which I had also found in the cabin. It would be perfect to sleep in. Since Daryl was asleep—or so I assumed—I slid off my jacket and band tee before replacing them with the long sleeve. Slowly, I slid into bed, making sure not to impede on Daryl's space.

What I hadn't realized was the male beside had been awake the whole time, and was simply waiting for me to turn in for the night before he did so himself.

___________________
Chapter 9: End