𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐂 | 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗

𝑵𝑬𝑼𝑹𝑶𝑻𝑰𝑪

𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘚𝘐𝘟

☼


The church was a quaint little thing, in the midst of a grove of trees, it's white wood paneling sticking out like a sore thumb among the greens and browns. The Pastor led them there with no problem, and little hesitation, occasionally forgetting his genuine fear of Rick and Daryl enough to speak a few sentences of terribly bad humor. Delaney was slow in her pace, though her eyes were open and observant as they moved, constantly seeking out bodies in the woods that no one else noticed.

By the time they reached the church, she had made her way over to Daryl to take back her rifle, holding out her hand silently for it, growing slightly annoyed when he took a moment to consider not giving it to her. Thankfully he did end up handing it over, and the familiar weight of it settled into her hands as Rick took the keys off of the Pastor, Gabriel, to look inside the church. It was common protocol now a days - check everything. 

A few entered the church, looking, searching for possible secrets that might lay in wait, meanwhile many of them remained outside. Delaney was one of those people, lowering herself to sit on the steps of the church with a tired sigh. "Feelin' okay?" Maggie questioned her, with somewhat probing eyes. 

In all honesty, Maggie was looking at Delaney to simply look. She hadn't had much of a chance to see her with her cleaner features, and now that they had passed by the stream, she could see Delaney much better. Her eyes were certainly grey, not blue - intelligent and calculating, but not mean. They were framed by thick dark lashes, the kind Maggie would have killed for before all of this. She had somewhat tanned skin, though currently it had taken on a sickly pallor. Sweat was sticking her hair to her neck, and Maggie thought that it might have even had a bit of a curl to it. There was scars too, small and white, old. They were everywhere she looked, her jaw, her eyebrow, and vertical on her cupids bow. 

They made her wonder, curiously but hesitantly, to know how she got them. Maggie saw those scars, those marks that were on her arms too and worried about them - worried about her. She couldn't stop the gripping want to know everything about this girl, everything. 

"Been better." Delaney roughed out, hating the increasing heat of the day. "I'm sweatin' like a bitch - " Maggie's eyes widened slightly before she broke into a smile, shaking her head half amused by the colourful language, furthermore when Delaney spotted Carl and Judith outside too. The younger Dixon grimaced visibly at the sight of the children, turning her gaze off to the side before anyone noticed. 

"We'll find you somethin' to eat soon..." Maggie promised, "Get you back on your feet." The promise felt loaded, a real, actual promise - so much so Delaney half expected Maggie to hold out her pinky. Snorting at the stupidity of her thought, Delaney lent her head against the railing beside the steps and waited for confirmation that the Church was indeed clear. The entire time, Maggie kept a somewhat close eye on her, making sure there was no obvious signs of passing out or vomiting showing, but for the most part, Delaney felt stable. Sitting down had done some wonders for her energy, and being able to rest the brunt of the weight of the rifle onto the steps also helped a lot. 

The Church was like any other. It wasn't anything special, nothing much to look at for a person like her. It had it's cold and hard pews, it's religious texts, it's symbols and paintings and statues. It was a normal Church, which is perhaps why it seemed to give Delaney the creeps so much. It was odd to see something as pristine as this, as untouched, and it unsettled her. What had Gabriel done to keep it this way - had no one tried to stay there.