#we’ll yell from over the fence

[sleepydrabbles]

“A Rush of Blood To The Head” by Coldplay is just the current state of the American Youth and you probably won’t change my mind for a few years because every time Chris Martin sings “So I’m gonna buy a gun and start a war/ if you can tell me something worth fighting for” I feel like my soul sings along

[gh0stsp1d3r]

Maybanks sister

Part 2, chapter 1- stuck on a boat with my crazy ex boyfriend

Previous chapter , series masterlist

Summary: Rafes gone insane without you, and when he sees you on the boat? He loses his shit. After hanging out with the pogues for a while now, you figure out they’re not as bad as people make them out to be.

It had been weeks since you’ve last talked to Rafe. He had tried multiple times to contact you, on multiple numbers and phones. But it was no use.

You were sleeping when JJ had spam called you before Ricky woke you up.

“What?” You grumbled out. He threw your phone at you.

“He keeps calling you. Tried to answer but then it went to voicemail.”

“Shit.” You mumbled as you picked up your phone, looking at the texts and calls.

“WE NEED YOU”

He had even dropped a pin on his location. Him and his friends had grown used to you now, tolerating you. He tried to defend you as much as he could against them all.

You furrowed your eyebrows when you opened up a voicemail.

“Don’t park close to it. Rafes here. You can sneak in from the back.” He was whispering.

You sighed, parking your car and carefully hopping the fence, coming up behind the 4.

“What are you guys doing now?”

“They captured Sarah. Don’t know where they’re taking her, but it can’t be good.”

“What? Why did they…”

“We’ll catch you up in a little but right now…”

“We have to get on that boat.” Kiara said.

“What? Are you guys crazy?” You said, a little too loud. Jj put a hand over your mouth. “Do you even have a plan?” You whisper yelled when he took his hand back.

“Course we do. First, we have to get past the goon squad…”

“Alright. C’mon.”

But Pope wasn’t moving. “Pope what are you doing?” John B asked.

“I have an idea. Just trust me.”

“No, hey, stop running! We gotta go dude.”

“Trust me man. Go. I’ll meet up with you guys. Go.”

Pope left, you threw your arms up in defeat.

“Oh he’s asking to get killed.” You mumbled when he started firing his fun, a loud and large explosion happening as he ran. They were all distracted as he ran back to you all.

“Look. That containers going on the ship. We can get in that way. Are you with me?” He told John B.

“You’re a genius. Let’s go.” All of you ran for it, running into the shipping container.

“We can’t get out once we get it. It’s a trap-“ you spoke, Jj nodding in agreement.

“You guys don’t have to come.”

“Nothing to lose?” Jj looked to Kiara and you.

You groaned while Kiara said nothing to lose and you were now the only person outside the metal container.

“I have a job to lose. But I’m not letting some fucking kids go on a death mission alone.” You complained as Jj helped you in with a smile on his face.

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

“Sorry bout that, princess.” Rafe said with a smirk on his face as he grabbed you from behind, a hand covering your mouth so you couldn’t scream.

“Told you you’d never get rid of me, didn’t I?” He said in a teasing voice. His grip on your was hard.

“Let go of her!” Jj shouted at Rafe, who looked up at the noise now. He wasn’t leaving this boat without you. You screamed as you trashed against Rafe’s arm and hold, he held you tightly, a knife now held against your neck.

Jj and Kiara had managed to kick him off of you and run for it, knowing that he would win. Taking one last glance at him on the floor, you ran with them.

Then, while the three of you ran, you ran into a man.

“Of course, there’s more of you.” He pulled out a machete.

“Get down on your knees.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“But me a drink first, dude.” You mumbled as he swung his machete at you, ducking.

“Go, go, go!” You shouted at them, the man tried to swing it at Kiara but Jj was quick to react, hitting him with a door and knocking him onto the floor.

“Where’s John B?” Jj asked.

“John B!”

The man got up, continuing to swing it at JJ, who hit his head when he fell to the floor. You shouted as you ran at him, trying to choke him before he could attack Kiara.

But he elbowed you, and knocked you into the water.

JJ shouted your name, so loud that everyone on the boat could probably hear. Including Rafe, who turned at the sound of your name, and who from afar, could see a body falling into the water.

Without hesitation he jumped in when he saw you face down, unconsciously floating. Kiara followed him, the both of them grabbing you and turning you around so you could breathe.

He cried out your name, carrying your body flush to his own. When you didn’t breathe, he panicked and tears fell down his face, Kiara watching and also calling your name, desperately.

“Stay with me, y/n. Please. Please.” He whispered.

“Where are JJ, kie, and y/n?” John B asked.

“Last time I saw them they were on the other side of the ship!” Cleo said, and they quickly drove over to the sound of Kiara’s and JJs voice.

“Shit.” They spoke when they came closer to your unconscious body, quickly stopping by and helping them put you into the boat.

Jj sobbed, a hand running over his face as he got in the boat next to you, looking down at you.

Rafe turned around, seeing you all leave.

“Give me that gun. Give me it.” He panted, when he had it he stared out at the boat as its engine gave out, spluttering.

“No, no, no.” JJ mumbled, looking at Rafe who held the gun to them. They turned to the engine and tried to get it on.

But then Rafe saw you. He whispered your name quietly, seeing your brother sobbing next to your unconscious body, his mind went to the worst possible thing.

You were dead, he thought. And it was all his fault.

He put the gun down, breathing heavily, his eyes fixed on you.

Finally, the engine started back up and they were back to running. Tears filled his eyes as he watched the boat leave, running a hand through his hair.

“Y/n, please! Please wake up.” JJ continued.

“You gotta wake up.” John B mumbled.

You spit out some water, coughing and opening your eyes, putting a hand to your head.

“What the fuck happened?” You mumbled to yourself when JJ pulled you in for a hug, you struggling to sit up.

He had a hand on your back, helping you sit up now. You stared at him and the rest of them.

“Hi.” He said with a small laugh, wiping away the tears he had on his face.

“That’s the first time I think I’ve seen you cry for me.” You told him, a small smile playing on your face.

He laughed and rolled his eyes, just happy you were back.

“Always looking for attention, huh?” He teased you.

“Whatever it takes, right?”

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

“How is he?”

“He’s stable. He’s sleeping. We have half power but will make the next port in three hours. I’ll have a doctor waiting.”

“Thank you.” Rose said.

“Can I see him?” Rafe asked.

“Yeah, sure yeah.”

“Wait right here, I’ll be right back.” Rose told Wheezie.

“Let me… let me talk to him.” Rafe told Rose, opening the door and shutting it.

“Hey, dad.”

“Hey.”

“You’re gonna be okay, it’s all gonna be good, all right? We did it. All this it is over. It all worked out. I got the cross. We got the gold. We got everything.”

But he didn’t have everything. He lost you in the process.

“We’re done. I got everything.” Rafe said with a small smile.

Ward shook his head. Rafe’s smile faltered.

Rafe knew what he meant, looking down. “We’ll find her. I’ll bring her back for this family. I promise. For our family, dad. It’ll be just like you wanted. But listen, while you’re down, I’m gonna step up.”

Ward nodded at his words.

“I’m gonna… I’m gonna be a better man.” He took Wards hands in his, Rafes voice getting shaky.

“Just like you.”

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

You helped John B, Pope and JJ pull the boat onto shore.

“Y/n, you alright there?” John B asked as you held your head, the spot where it had been bleeding before.

“Yeah. Just a little dizzy.” You shrugged it off.

“Okay, anyone know where we’re at?” JJ asked, you sitting down next to him.

“Deserted beach. Unknown island.”

“Alright, I’ll take that as a no.”

“Hey, I would rather be on this deserted beach that stuck on a boat my crazy ass ex boyfriend.” You said with a scoff.

“This is the lowest we can go.” Pope said, they all turned to him now. “We literally have nothing else to lose. The cross, gone.”

“The gold, gone.”

“Seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we got beat up, I’d say we’re at a dollar fifty.”

“That’s more than I got on me.”

“That somehow doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But I mean… we… we’ve had some good stuff happen, right?”

“Name something.” Pope said.

“Um… the boiler room.”

They all looked at him confused.

“What? If the boiler didn’t explode, I wouldn’t have gotten away from Rafe. I couldn’t have gotten the zodiac and gotten us out of here.”

“Well, because of the boiler room he held a gun to my temple and a knife to my throat. So… I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing.”

“You know what? Guys, this is it. This is the pogue life. We are in the Carribean. It’s our own little slice of paradise.”

“Yeah, a slice of paradise without a shower or bathroom, sure.” You mumbled.

“With my best friends, with my family, and with… y/n, I guess.”

You rolled your eyes at him, throwing some sand at him.

“Kidding. I wouldn’t wanna do it with anyone else.” He looked at Sarah.

“Look, and while you guys were complaining about every little thing…”

“Jj?”

“Hmm?”

“I was looking at those burly lefts.”

A smile spread across JJs face.

“There’s some slabs out there.”

“Just a few. Kie, you see that? I know you wanna get out there.”

“No boards.” She said.

“Well, we can bodysurf till we make some boards.”

“Lame.”

“Agreed with Kiara.” You pointed at her.

“Pope? Come on, man.”

“They do look pretty tasty.”

“Oh yes they do.”

“There’s nobody around. We could squat here for a bit.” Pope stood up.

“Kind of belongs to us now, huh?”

“You got a point.”

“Six way split?”

“Poguelandia.” JJ cut in, mocking a posh accent. “I claim thee poguelandia.” He leaned against a tree. “I like the ring of it. I’m gonna make a flag, it’s gonna have a chicken on it. With a coconut bra, smoking a J… in crocs.”

“I could use a J.” You sighed.

“Can we vote on this?”

“Let’s get to work. Let’s start working on provisions. Set up shop.”

JJ came over to you, “what do you say, sis?”

“I say this is by far the most stupid idea you’ve ever had, J.”

He tilted his head. “Welcome back to the pogue life.” He helped you stand up.

———

Tag list:

@cassie0sstuff

@rafesgiirl

@fals3-g0d

@tiaamberxx

@callsignwidow

[thealtoduck]

Being a waterbender living in the Earth Kingdom and meeting Team Avatar…

Sokka x Male Waterbender!Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: While stocking up on supplies in a small village, team avatar finds a waterbender in an unlikely place…

——

Sokka’s pov:

Appa landed deep in the forest and Aang, Katara and Sokka started setting up camp for the night. Katara prepared their dinner as Aang and Sokka set up the tent and fed Appa and Momo.

”We’ll need to go to that village and stock up on more food we’re almost out, there’s barely enough for the three of us” Katara told the other two. ”There was a farm on the outskirts of town, I could go see if they have anything we could take” Sokka suggested.

”Sokka, you can’t just steal food, it’s for the towns people” Aang told him. ”Oh please, you saw how big the fields were, what’s a couple of vegetables? There will be plenty left, plus we need this food to get to the Northern Water Tribe so you can learn waterbending to save the world, I’m sure they’d want us to have their food” Sokka said standing up.

”I’ll be back soon” he said grabbing a small basket, walking in the direction of the farm. Once he reached it he stumbled over the fence on to the fields. Using a dagger to cut free a couple of vegetables and put them in the basket.

All of a sudden out of nowhere a blast of water knocked Sokka to the the ground making him drop the food basket. ”Katara?!” Sokka yelled but when he looked up he didn’t see Katara.

He was met with a pretty boy his own age with y/h/c hair and y/c/s skin, in a set of light jade green robes, that had water lilies embroided on them. He looked mad.

”What are you doing?” he asked in a dangerous tone. ”I-I-” Sokka tried but his voice got caught in his throat, he didn’t know what was more shocking that he found a waterbender in the northern parts of the Earth Kingdom or that he found him really attractive.

The boys face turned from stern annoyance, to a studying look as he looked Sokka up and down. ”Are-Are you from the Water Tribe?” the boy asked curiously. ”Yes” Sokka answered. ”Wow… I’ve never met anyone apart from mom from the Water Tribe…” the boy uttered.

”Are you from the North or South?” he asked. ”Southern Water Tribe” he answered more relaxed now that the look on you face wasn’t dripping with venom. Sokka then found some more courage to say ”Look, I’m sorry for stealing your crops, me, my sister and my friend are traveling and we’re almost completely out of food, if you want I can pay you for all this”.

The boy considered for a moment and then said ”Come with me, grab the basket”. Sokka did as told and followed the boy as he led him towards the farmer’s house, the two stopped outside and said ”Wait here”. As he went inside.

A few minutes later the boy came back out and put something in Sokka’s basket. A loaf of bread, some herbs, and a bottle of fruit juice. ”There you go, should make a nice meal” the boy said.

Sokka got confused but the boy spoke up again saying ”You know, me and my family like to house travelers when they pass through and it’s gonna get cold tonight, so if you need a place to sleep tonight just knock, okay?”.

Sokka was stunned, a couple of minutes ago he had just tried to steal from this family and now he was being offered a place to spend the night. ”Thank you” he found himself saying warmly. ”No worries” the boy said turning back towards the house.

”I’m Sokka” Sokka blurted not wanting the interaction to end just yet. The boy turned to him with a smile. ”I’m Y/n, hope to see you later, Sokka” he said and rentered the house.

”Wow” Sokka uttered quietly turning around making his way back to Katara and Aang. As they cooked the food they’d been given he explained eagerly to them about the boy. ”Are you sure he’s a waterbender and that he didn’t just throw a bucket of water at you?” Katare asked skeptical that there’d be a waterbender in this town.

”Yeah, he said his Mother was from the Water Tribe” Sokka insisted. Aang wrapped himself in a blanket. ”Maybe we should take him up on the offer, it’s starting to get chilly out here” Aang recommeded. Sokka agreed eagerly and Katara seemed curious about the idea of meeting another water bender.

Your pov:

There was a knock on the door and you went to open, being met with Sokka followed by another boy, a girl and a lemur. ”Glad you could make it, come in my mom just made some tea” you said and were introduced to Aang and Katara. And of course the lemur Momo.

You helped them get Appa in to the barn and they joined you inside. You sat down around the table as your mother served tea to you and your guests. ”Y/n? Sokka told us your a water bender, is that true?” Katara asked.

”Yeah, I am” you said showing her by lifting the tea out of your cup, before putting it back in. ”I’m not that good though, I don’t get much practice since the fire nation is always snooping around” you explained.

”Good enough to knock Sokka of his feet” Aang commented. ”It was a suprise attack!” Sokka defended himself making you, Aang and Katara laugh.

You conversed with the three for well over an hour, they had so many stories, Aang being the Avatar, how he met Sokka and Katara, them running from the Fire Nation multiple times. They’d had quite the long journey.

Your Father and Aang ended up in the barn as Aang wanted to see the farm animals, your Mother and Katara sat and discussed the Water Tribe. Leaving only you and Sokka…

”Would you like to see where you’ll be staying?” you asked him. ”Yeah, sure” he said. You led him to the guest room and told him ”This is the guest room, hope you’ll find it comfortable, if you need anything my room is right across”.

”If you don’t mind, I think I’m gonna get ready for bed” you said yawning and turned to your room but Sokka grabbed your hand and you turned back around. ”Thank you, for doing so much for us, it means a lot” Sokka said with a grateful smile.

”Anything for our fellow Water Tribe folk and the Avatar, Of course” you told him. You then said ”Goodnight” and opened the door to your room. ”Goodnight” Sokka said as you then disappeared in to your room.

He wanted to find a way to repay your kindness.

Next morning when you woke up you helped your mother in the kitchen with the breakfast. When you brought out the servings of food to the others you saw your father was eagerly conversing with Sokka.

Your father then spoke up and asked ”Y/n? Could you please show Aang and Katara around the village?”. ”Don’t you need me around the farm?” you questioned. Your father shook his head and said ”No, Sokka offered to do your work for today so you’d be able to take the day off and relax”.

”Oh! Well then I’d be honored to show you the village” you said with a smile and a small bow.

Once breakfast was finished you waited for Aang and Katara so you could leave for the village. You saw Sokka prepare for the days work at the farm.

”Thank you for taking over my work” you told him gratefully. ”It’s the least i could do after everything you and your family has done for us” Sokka said. You smiled as you looked in to Sokka’s eyes, it was like it only now dawned on you how handsome he was.

”You’re so pretty” Sokka uttered, catching you off guard making you think you’d heard him wrong. ”What?” you questioned. ”I-I mean… your robes are so pretty, you know, such a nice color and what are those? Water lilies? So nicely detailed” Sokka blabbed gesturing to the embroidered flowers on the bottom of your robes.

”Uhm… Thanks” you said still a bit stunned at the interaction.

Soon Katara and Aang arrived and you made your way to the village. You showed them around the different market stands, as they filled their baskets with food and supplies for their travels.

You even bought some treats that you snacked on in the middle of the town square, watching people at work and as they greeted they interacted with each other.

But soon the peace was broken as Fire Nation soldiers entered the village, Aang and Katara were quick to grab you and pull you in to an alley between two houses.

The leader of the Fire Nation soldiers moved to the front ”Where is the Avatar?! We’ve gotten word that last time he was spotted he was heading in the direction of this village”. The crowd stood silent.

”Well then if you don’t want to talk, then maybe we’ll have to show you what happens when you hold the truth from the Fire Nation” the leader said and his soldiers surrounded one of the market stands.

You could see Aang and Katara readying themselves for battle but you held up your hand to them and said ”Don’t”. Before you could explain the Fire Nation soldiers set the market stand a blaze.

Katara and Aang started running out of the alley but you grabbed them and pulled them both back. ”Don’t! We need to get you two back to the farm”.

”But they’ll destroy your village” Aang pleaded. ”No, they’re only trying to scare information out of us, they don’t know you were actually here” you told them and they gave you a questioning look.

”They’ll only want to destroy us if they knew you guys were here and we’ve been hiding it from them, but if they think you were never here then they’ll leave us alone” you explained.

You turned back to look at the leader of the soldiers as he told the crowd ”Tonight, after the assigned curfew we’ll search your houses and if we find a single sign the Avatar was here your village will suffer the wrath of the Fire Nation”. He then turned his back and he and his soldiers left the village.

You turned to Katara and Aang and said ”Go back to the farm, get Sokka and hide in the barn, we’ll have to figure out a way to smuggle you out without the Fire Nation seeing you” you said.

You then walked out to the village square and water bended some of the water out of a fountain to help put out the market stand.

When you got back to the farm you went in to the barn where the Avatar and his friends were waiting as instructed. ”Were everybody in village, alright?” Aang asked. ”Yes, they’re fine just a bit shaken” you told him.

”But we need to figure out how to get you guys out of here before the Fire Nation comes back” you stated. There was a moment of silence before Sokka said ”I have a plan”.

His plan was that when it turned dark he and the others would sneak deep in to forest with Appa, before taking off so that you and your family would not be found out with hiding them from the Fire Nation.

”Can I do anything to help?” you asked them. Sokka looked at you with a grateful smile and said ”You’ve already done more than enough for us, you should make sure to stay inside so you’re not seen, to keep you safe” he explained.

”Alright. It’s been really nice meeting you all. Good luck on your journey. I hope I’ll see you again sometime” you said giving them a polite bow, you then left them and made your way back to the house.

As the sun started to set you grew more and more worried the trio, what if they were caught by the Fire Nation, what would happen to them…

Once it was finally dark outside your heart was pounding all through dinner with your parents. You couldn’t take it anymore and as soon as you finished your dinner you went back to your room.

Only to almost scream when you opened the door, finding Sokka climbing through your window. ”Sokka?! What are you doing here?” you panicked. ”Don’t worry, we’re just about to leave, I just quickly wanted to stop by and talk to you” he said.

”About what?” you asked. ”I just needed to thank you again for what you’ve done for us and I wish I had more time to get to know you better cause you seem great” Sokka confessed taking your hand in his. You smiled.

”I wish we had more time too” you said making Sokka smile brightly too. ”Well then, why don’t you come with us, you can learn Waterbending with Aang and Katara up in the Northern Water Tribe too?” Sokka suggested impulsively.

”Sokka, I can’t, I’m needed here with my family and my village, at least for now” you told him, he looked down disappointment.

You then decided on impulse ”But I tell you what, when you guys are done up in the Northern Water Tribe and start traveling the Earth Kingdom, I’d love to join you guys, if you’ll have me”. Sokka frown then turned in to a small smile and he said ”It’s a deal”.

”You should get going now, the Fire Nation will be here soon” you told him. ”Right” Sokka remembered and turned back to climb out of your window. ”Oh and Sokka, one last thing” you said making him turn around. ”Yeah?” he asked and was answered as you placed a kiss on his cheek.

”Stay safe” you added. ”You too” he said planting a kiss on your cheek. He then climbed out of the window and ran off towards Aang and Katara who were trying to stealthily lead Appa in to the woods, hard as it might be. ”How’d it go?” Aang asked. To which Sokka could only reply ”He’s amazing”.

[siriuslysmoking]

What's Pickin' Good Lookin'?

Fictober Masterlist

Day 1 of Fictober: Going to the Pumpkin Patch with Percy

"There are goats here!" Percy had never been to a pumpkin patch before; living in the city, he had never seen a real farm. "Can we go see the goats?"

"Yes, Percy, but first I'm starving, and I require a donut."

"But, goats..." He dramatically gestured toward the animals, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Perseus, you didn’t feed me before we left!" you exclaimed, crossing your arms with a playful smirk.

Percy pouted for a moment, torn between his desire to explore the goats and his concern for your well-being. "Fine! But can we hurry? I promise we can see the goats right after the donuts."

You both headed to the snack stand, the sweet aroma of cinnamon and sugar filling the air. Percy grabbed two warm apple cider donuts, handing one to you, and you took a big bite, savoring the flavor.

"This was a good call," you said, mouth full.

Percy grinned, his eyes sparkling. "Now, can we go see the goats?"

As you walked over to the pen, Percy’s excitement was contagious. The goats were adorable, their little horns and playful antics making him laugh. He leaned over the fence, trying to get their attention. “Hey there, little guys!”

One particularly bold goat approached, nibbling at the hem of Percy’s jacket. “Whoa! I think he likes me!” Percy exclaimed, bending down to pet it.

You joined him, gently scratching the goat behind its ears.

"Alright, I'm ready to pick the ugliest pumpkin there is!" Percy Grabs your hand and pulls you toward the field, it's pretty late in the season so you two have to avoid the rotting pumpkins and head toward the ones at the far end that havent been looked at yet.

"I found the perfect one!" Percy yells, jogging over to it in the distance, you slowly follow him. He goes to pick up the pumpkin and the outside of the pumpkin lifts but all the insides somehow stay on the ground.

You laughs at him as he look defeated.

Percy stared at the hollow pumpkin shell, eyes wide with disbelief. “What just happened? Did the pumpkin just... dissolve?”

You laughed, glancing at the guts spread out on the ground. “Looks like you discovered a new way to pick pumpkins—no lifting required!”

His expression shifted from shock to amusement, and he grinned. “I guess that’s one way to make a mess!”

Shaking your head, you nudged him playfully. “Let’s find a pumpkin that’s a little more cooperative.”

You both set off again, navigating through the rows of pumpkins. The sun was beginning to set, casting a warm glow over the patch. Percy’s excitement bubbled back as he spotted a beautiful, vibrant pumpkin nestled among some leaves.

“There! That one looks perfect!” he exclaimed, rushing over.

You followed, and Percy knelt down to inspect it closely. “No guts on the ground this time, right?” He lifted the pumpkin carefully, a look of triumph on his face.

“Now that’s more like it!” you cheered, clapping your hands.

As you walked back, Percy suddenly turned serious. “Do you think the empty pumpkin will haunt us?”

You laughed. “Only if we carve its ghost face into our new pumpkin!”

He laughed, his earlier disappointment forgotten. “Deal! We’ll give it a proper send-off.”

Percy has the ne pumpkin under his arm and he raised his eyebrows and says, "What's pickin' good lookin'?"

You notice how her trails off at the end, "You thought that would rhyme, huh?"

"Yeah I did." he lowers his head in disappointment.

With your new pumpkin in tow and a plan for a spooky carving session ahead, you both headed toward the exit, the crisp autumn air filled with laughter and the promise of more adventures to come.

Taglist: @champomiel @nockstormbringer @strawbeffys

[papipedroo]

Sunlight and Lemons

Sunlight and Lemons (Joel Miller x reader 🍋)

Rated: Fluff | Age Gap (Joel is 40 & reader is 23)

Summary: Your father’s Bill and Frank welcome two new guests and one catches your eyes.

The three of you were eating breakfast.

Bill’s famous bacon, eggs, and buttered toast… With extra bacon?

You could tell something was up with the way Frank was bouncing excitedly as he spoke and the way Bill’s lips curled even deeper into a frown.

“Something is going on and I would like to know what it is.” You finally said, eyeing the two men.

Frank cut is conversation about the ripe tomatoes quickly as he began to fidget with his silverwear.

“You set up it up so you tell her.” Bill motioned to Frank with an unamused tone.

“Well sweetie… I decided we’re going to make some friends so I invited guests over this afternoon for a celebratory garden party.” Frank’s eyes lit up the more he talked about what he has planned for today.

“We’re having… Guests?” You muttered confusingly.

They never invite guests. It was practically the number one rule in every given apocalypse… A rule the Bill broke twice and Frank once, but still. It was a real. Don’t let people in and you remain safe.

You looked between the two, not sure who to settle your gaze on until you finally settled on Frank. The one who easily spilt everything.

“Who exactly? Are they dangerous.” You asked.

“Oh no.” Frank waved off your worries immediately.

“That we know of.” Bill muttered.

Frank gave him a look before smiling at you, “The woman I have been speaking with is very kind and she’s bringing a friend of hers, a man.”

You nodded slowly still unsure of the whole ordeal, “I see.”

“We’ll be doing trades with them often.” Frank continued, “So after breakfast, get dressed and I will love some help preparing the table outside while Bill will be preparing lunch a little later.”

Bill’s eyebrows raised as he took a bite of bacon, “I am?”

“You are.” Frank assured.

And that was that.

The three of you were having a garden party with complete strangers. Should be fun…

What was Frank thinking? That was the only thought you had as you got ready.

You couldn’t even be upset with him at that moment. He was the one who found you hobbling to the fence after your terrifying escape from raiders… He was the one who yelled at you to stop… He was the one who opened the gate… Who patched me up… Bill was the one who gave you clothes… And made you food… Gave me what little medicine they had…

You remember that day clearly. You were 17 then and now 7 years later, here you were adopted by two of the most kindest people you knew. You couldn’t have asked for anything more in this world, apocalyptic or not.

You decided to slip on your best dress, a white summer dress with yellow daises embroidered on it. Frank and you had picked it out at the boutique the day after they told you that you could officially stay with them.

You also slid on your favorite worn out yellow sneakers. Even after a few years they were still good. Before you left your room, you hid a small knife that Bill gave you, under your dress. You knew that you couldn’t be too trusting as Bill would say. You left your room after that and headed downstairs to find the front door wide open and Frank dragging out a table.

“Frank!” You called out to him with a laugh, “You were supposed to wait for me.” You said as you quickly rushed outside to help him.

“Sorry, I’m just a bit nervous.” He scratched the back of his head, “It’s been a while since we’ve had guests.”

You gave him a soft smile at seeing him so nervous, “It’s okay Frank, just make sure you let me help you.”

Bill was already in the kitchen cooking lunch by the time the both of you headed back inside.

“It smells wonderful Bill!” Frank leaned over to give him a quick peck on the lips before washing his hands.

Bill had a blush that only Frank could bring out as he muttered, “It’s nothing.”

“More than nothing, I’m starving.” You said reaching over to sneak a bite when suddenly Frank’s light tap on your hand had you pulling back.

“Don’t even think about it sweetie.” He scolded lightly before grabbing the lemonade pitcher out from the bottom cabinet, “They should be here soon. Can you be a dear and fetch me some lemons so we can make some lemonade for our guests?”

You nodded your head, “Sure.” You proceeded to grab a small basket on the counter, “But I expect to be having a feast when I get back.” You gave your stomach two pats to make your point clear.

This had both men chuckling. Bill shook his head while Frank shushed you out the door.

“Of course. Of course. Now go get some lemons.” Frank laughed.

You walked out towards the back where the garden was. It a short distance, but you took my time finding the lemon tree so to nerves.

What if they were mean? Or violent? Or they lied and now a group of raiders were going to show up and kill us?

Plenty of unwanted thoughts filtered through your mind, but one raised above all the others. Just please don’t let my dad’s get hurt.

You had finally made it to the tree when Frank pulled out the driveway.

They must be here. You thought before turning your focus back to the tree. There were only three lemons that you were able to reach, standing on your tippy toes.

“That’s not going to be enough.” You muttered to myself.

Most of them were higher up just begging to be ripped off of the branch. You huffed as you set the basket down and looked around for the small wooden bucket.

“Where did Frank… Ah there it is.” You smiled triumphantly.

It was tipped over on the ground, hidden behind the tree and blending in with the soil. You bent down to grab it and placed it face down on the ground. You were feeling proud of yourself as you stood up on top the bucket to reach a few more lemons.

All seemed to be going well until the last lemon you needed was just a little out of your reach. Instead of just moving the bucket though, you decided that you would just teeter on the edge and grab the last lemon that you needed… Until you did grab it, but ended up teetering on the edge.

“Whoa!” You cried out at the unsteady bucket.

You tried to balance yourself and almost succeeded until the bucket wobbled once again. At that you expected your fate and was ready to feel the hard ground beneath you when suddenly…

You didn’t fall… Not really. Gravity seemed to be on your side or at least two arms were as the held you.

You took a breath of relief looking up and expecting to see Bill.

“Thank-” Your gratitude was cut short as you stared wide eyed at a man you have never seen before.

Is he just my imagination or did a Prince really just sweep me off my feet…

“You’re welcome.” He stated gruffly as he gently set me on my feet.

“You…” Your voice trailed off as you stared up at him, his face calm as he waited for an answer.

My word was he some kind of handsome dressed in sunlight.

You cleared my throat and quickly straightened out your dress. You tried your best to calm your nerves and the growing blush on your cheeks, “You must be the guest Frank invited.”

“I must be.” He answered shortly.

I can see he has Bill’s wonderful conversation skills.

“Well.” You nodded as you shyly looked away, “Thank you…”

“Joel. Joel Miller.” He introduced himself.

“Thank you Joel for saving me.” You replied before introducing yourself as well.

“Beautiful name.” He complimented, a small smile appearing on his face as he watched your cheeks grow even redder.

“Thank… Thank you.” You couldn’t look away from his eyes.

It seemed as if his big brown eyes stared into your soul as his tan skin looked like honey against the sun.

He nodded his head, “Anytime darling.”

You picked up the basket of lemons, “These were for you anyways so I suppose you saved your drink as well.” You laughed lightly.

“Lemonade?” He implied as you began walking towards the house with him following in suit.

“Plum juice actually.” You stated seriously as you tried your best at a the poker face Bill has been trying to teach you.

However, the grimace on his face made you laugh, “I’m joking. It’s lemonade.” You said, easing his worry.

“Real funny sweetheart.” The curl of his lip didn’t make him seem cocky or bullheaded. He looked amused, a spark shining in his coffee eyes, “You need anymore help?” He asked as his gaze softened.

That look left you a blubbery mess, “Oh no. That was all thank you. I better go and find a glass-no a pitcher to put the lemons in. Of course not just lemons! But the lemonade you make from lemons? Yeah… Anyways! Yes! Um.. Yes.” You quickly took a few steps back before rushing inside.

You don’t think your flushed cheeks will ever return to normal again as you heard his honey silk chuckle at your reaction. You placed one of your hands over your chest to at least try and attempt to calm your racing heart.

Oh boy… Just what did I get myself into? But his eyes and how warm his hands were when he…

What was I doing? Right. Lemonade.

[huffelpuff210]

Taken Care of Part 4 Dark Steve Rogers x Dark Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warning: Dark Themes, manipulation, controlling behavior, isolation, trapping, Non Con, baby trapping, forced pregnancy,forced relationship, forced Marriage

You sat in the back of the car as buildings whipped by it almost seemed like everything was just a dream or nightmare, you just wished if this was some sort of dream you would soon wake up, 

Steve and Bucky described in detail about what was going to happen, you were going to move in with them to the new home they had just got finished getting built, 

They wouldn’t tell you exactly where it was or what it looked like they wanted to surprise you, They said they would come back for your things later to just pack the necessary things and so you did, 

You don’t know why they decided to do this to you but you just couldn’t wrap your head around it, 

“You can sleep if you want doll it’s going to be a long drive.” Bucky says looking back at you from the passenger seat, 

“I’m not very tired..” You mumbled 

“When was the last time you have gotten a decent amount of sleep?” Steve asked you looking at you in the rear view mirror. 

You just shrugged to be honest you couldn’t remember. 

“Sweetheart you need to take care of yourself.” Steve says 

“Especially when you get pregnant.” Bucky chimes in 

You look down, you just could believe this was happening, They explained everything that was going to happen in the weeks to come, 

After getting settled in your new home you are to plan your wedding to them, they have already found someone who will do it, Marry the three of you together, 

It was going to be a huge event, according to Steve, Everyone was going to be there, To celebrate the union, 

You were to pick out your dress, flowers, and they were going to take care of the rest, You were terrified why was this happening? 

Then you three were going to go on a honeymoon they didn’t tell you were that it was a surprise, but they explained you three were going to be gone for a few weeks there, 

You just knew in order to survive this you were going to have to play along at least until they let their guard down and you could figure out a way to escape. 

It took about an hour until Steve pulled down a lane there was nothing but trees, nothing around, the dirt lane seemed to go on for miles, until he pulled up in front of a house, it was beautiful a two story home, white with windows and window shutters. It just reminded you of the picket fence kind of home, 

“This is it.” Steve said putting the car in park,

“This is going to be our home away from the tower.” Bucky says getting out of the car, 

You get out of the car, 

“But I can still work right?” You asked 

“Oh no kitten you never have to work again.” Bucky says kissing the side of your head, 

“Call us old school, But no girl of ours is going to be working.” Steve says walking towards you 

“All you have to worry about is taking care of the house, yourself and the kids when the time comes.” Steve says brushing some hair out of your face, 

“K-Kids, Steve I don’t think I can-” You begin becoming flustered 

“Yes, you can and will, We will not abandon you like that loser.” Bucky says 

“Or stress you out we will take care of you.” Steve says 

“Steve I can’t I’m still-” You begin, 

“We know you are still upset about your loss but you are with us now, Things are going to be different.” Bucky says gripping your chin.

“B-But.” You began, 

“In fact lets start right now.” Steve says hauling you up over his shoulder, you yell hitting his back, 

“S-Stop, I don’t want this! I’m not ready for this!” You yell trying to reason with them, 

“You are doll and you will be. You just need a little push.” Bucky says as he’s walking behind Steve. 

“Sorry for not giving you the grand tour but we’ll get to that later.” Steve says 

“But first let break in the new Calvin King bed we got just for the three of us.” Bucky says chuckling 

Steve chuckles along with him, 

Steve opens the door, to the bedroom, tossing you on the bed, 

“Now doll strip or I can do it for you.” Steve says taking off his shirt, 

You look up at him with glassy eyes, knowing there was no saying no to Steve, and there was no returning from this moment, you were trapped and you knew it, there was no place to run, or hide, they would chase you down in a second, 

“We’re waiting kitten.” Bucky says breaking you our of your thoughts. 

You shakily pull your shirt off above your head tossing it to the floor, 

“That’s our good girl.” Steve says gripping your chin.

[cultofdixon]

The differences in power

Negan Smith • She/Her Pronouns • The little lady is the one with all the power and when the group found out, maybe that will be their window • ANGST/SFW • TW: Major character death(s) / Canon Violence / Anxiety / Injuries • Re-Writing Canon

Requested by: Anon

“Listen here Dwight. You don’t do what I fucking say and I promise yea I will bash her fucking skull in with my—-“ Negan stopped his threat and dropped Dwight back onto his feet as he anxious stated to step back. “Y/N. What are you doing here?”

“Oh me?” Y/N smiles making herself known in the hall they were in, as she gave Dwight a glare resulting in him running off.

“See now how am I supposed to beat him into submission if you are always around”

“Do you not want me around? I could go…” Y/N pouts turning around to walk off but Negan quickly took her hand spinning her back resulting in that devilish smirk of hers. “What, baby?”

“You…God, you” Negan folds and couldn’t be mad at his woman for interrupting the heated conversation earlier as he brought his lips against hers.

When news about the outpost came through the Sanctuary, Laura quickly went to the big man’s room knowing she would find Y/N there as she gave her a confused look until her shoulders slumped giving her an idea of what she wanted.

“Do you have any fucking idea how many good soldiers I lost because we didn’t put down that son of a bitch from the Hilltop?! AND YOURE TELLING ME THE RAT BASTARD GREGORY SURVIVED HIS PUNISHMENT” Negan snaps in Simon’s face as he kept his cool on the matter even if what happened wasn’t his fault. The big man had to yell at somebody. “Get that one bitch in here that informed—-“

“She’s dead sir. We don’t have intel on who exactly she came in contact with. But from what we do know…with what Gregory told, it’s exactly who you’re thinking of”

“Simon. I swear to FUCKING GOD. If you don’t get me definite results on these fuckers. I will hang you on the fence out—“ Negan pulled away from being in Simon’s face when he spotted Y/N peak her head through the door with a soft knock.

“Sorry if you’re busy with your boyfriend I can—-“

“You better get that sweet ass of yours over here, darling.” Negan smirks pushing Simon aside as Y/N brought herself up to her man wrapping her arms around his neck.

As Simon slipped away from the two to meet Laura in the hallway, he gave her a thankful expression.

“Load up the car. Gotta check in with a few hidden eyes”

“Think Negan will find out?”

“Hell no, his woman will keep him busy. Besides, we’ll look good with the information we’ll receive” Simon smirks heading off as Laura rolled her eyes before following the man.

A couple days passed and Y/N found herself waiting in the loading docks of the Sanctuary after being told by one of Negan’s men he expects her there. She thought that was a little confusing but when she saw cars pulling up, her spirits lifted like usual knowing Negan has come home.

But it was hectic.

“Get the prisoner in the goddamn cell. Simon, you gotta keep your eyes on Hilltop. I ain’t fucking letting that community get the better of me with this new one in our roaster. And I swear to fucking god if Alexandria pulls something in two weeks I’m killing—-“ Negan stops himself when he stopped abruptly in front of Y/N. “Hey baby” he instantly shifts his mood, leaning down to kiss her cheek as the confusion writes itself on her face.

The sound of the men struggling to contain the prisoner caught Y/N’s attention as she let Negan continue to kiss her cheek down to her shoulder while her eyes glued on the scene.

Then there was this anxious realization when Y/N locked eyes with the man they were dragging in. Hell, he even tried to stop to get a good look at her.

“What is it, baby?”

“Nothing, baby. Just thinking”

“Now that can be dangerous” Negan laughs lightly, bringing his lips to hers as she hums against his lips keeping her arms around him when they parted.

Once night consumes the day, Y/N made her way down the hall in her pajamas as she surprisingly slipped out of her and Negan’s room without him stirring. She knew where everything was in the Sanctuary she’s been there long enough.

Dwight caught a glimpse of her in the corner of his eye when he was watching the prisoner from the other side of the closed door.

“What are you doing awake?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Is that the prisoner in there?”

“Yup. To make it more difficult for Alexandria to want to attack us” Dwight rolls his eyes bringing his attention back to the book in hand. “Don’t report me to big man but I really don’t know how you could even love him for what he does”

“I…I don’t exactly know what he does” Y/N frowns crossing her arms leaning against the wall Dwight was propped up against. His full attention on her. “I guess it’s blind ignorance. But I also didn’t fall in love with him for what he does as a leader”

Dwight couldn’t get mad at that, but for some small reason…he’s worried for her. Worried of her finding out.

Even with the small incidents she has seen.

“Dwight. Is your prisoner’s name Daryl?”

“What? You hear that in passing or something?”

The silence she gave only brought more confusion to Dwight with a bit of curiosity. Y/N shrugs it off and leaves the man to continue his watch of a closed, locked door.

________

“She hasn’t turned up”

“We can’t wait here forever, son. Unless we want the walkers to find us” Hershel informed Daryl as he kept his attention glued to the darkness of the forest waiting for someone to turn up.

“Daryl. We gotta go. Find somewhere for the night” Rick grabbed his shoulder only for him to dramatically yank his body away from him. “She’s gone for all we know. There’s nothin’ we can do”

Daryl held on for a little while longer until Carol pulled him away from the banks of the freeway.

Meanwhile an injured Y/N had collapsed in the woods after hours of walking endlessly in the wrong direction. She thought it was the end for her as she laid in the dirt letting the weakness take over.

Then she was suddenly lifted from the ground who knows how much later since the collapse. She felt safe enough to lean into the unknown man.

“I’ve gotcha darling”

________

Y/N found herself appearing in that hallway every other hour of the next couple days and it draws some suspicion from Dwight that he even brought it up to Negan.

“Are you implying my girl is a mole?” Negan questions with a threatening undertone in his voice as he inches closer to the shorter man pinning him against the nearest wall.

“N-Negan I’m just. Making assumptions here” Dwight laughs nervously. “Don’t listen to me”

“Are you sure? You’re assumin’ my girl knows the people in this little community that I plan to fucking destroy—-“

“Babe” Y/N interprets watching Negan scramble a bit letting go of Dwight as he gave her a terrified look. Resulting in her giving him a “beat it” expression which he did instantly while her man stayed. “What were you doing?”

“Dwight got it in his head that you might be a mole for this new community…but he also hasn’t been a Savior as long as you have”

“You know he’s wrong right?”

“I do. I’ll always believe you over anybody else…” He trailed and that drew her to cross her arms expressing annoyance. “But…I have to ask darling”

“What?”

“Do you know…who Rick Grimes is?”

Are you going to hurt me like you hurt them if I said yes? Y/N thought as she gave a soft nod watching his shoulders tense with the new information but when he instantly cracked to watching her cower. Made him feel like a monster.

Funny…isn’t it?

“…I would never hurt you”

“I…I know…” Y/N frowns still avoiding his gaze. “Negan, you have to tell me what you do to these people…I need to hear it from you and not from the violence hungry soldiers or the innocent”

What she did know, was the reason to want control. The loss of his wife Lucille. She understood why he couldn’t trust anyone. She knew about the killing…just not to the extent that it was. What he does to these people psychologically was…heartbreaking.

He learned who she knew before he found her. She had a group back in Atlanta…that held up in a quarry. Her best friend was the one they took hostage and the one who saved her from the city was the man he killed.

They left her, is what Negan would think for Y/N to side with his actions. But she doesn’t. She has her own anger towards the things that have happened to her…but she would never kill a man to make things right.

“It’s okay to hate me after learning about everything”

Y/N remained silent as the two were now sat on their bed in their shared room.

“I won’t give you anything to cause more harm”

“I know”

“I hate you for killing people…innocent or not”

“I know…”

“But I hate myself for loving you and only wanting to stay in the moment from when you saved me” Y/N felt the tears roll off her cheeks as he tried to wipe away her tears but she retracted at first before suddenly bringing herself into his arms latching onto him.

The top Savior, the boss, the man fears by many…fell apart in her embrace holding onto her for dear life as if she’d disappear if he let go.

When the morning came, Negan sat alone in the conference room having arrived before everybody else he asked to join him on this trip to Alexandria a couple days before the deadline. To his surprise, Y/N entered the room dressed for a run as she gave him a stern look.

“They will recognize you”

“I know”

“…I don’t…I can’t have you getting hurt”

“I won’t…if I do, I know what you would do”

“I won’t punish with you present”

“I wish you didn’t at all.” And with that she left to check on those preparing the vehicles.

When the debrief ended and everyone was loading into the vehicles…Negan approached his waiting for Y/N to join him as she watched Dwight drag Daryl into the truck.

“Darling?”

“He won’t give you anything.”

“What?”

“He won’t give you what you want. Daryl is stubborn. He won’t…he doesn’t turn his back on his people” Y/N felt the old sting she felt that night, Negan didn’t even have to say what he wanted to know that she’s feeling all she felt that night. “Abusing him won’t give you anything unless you brought the dead back to life”

Negan bites his lip anxiously before stopping Dwight from shutting the doors to the truck and giving Y/N a look. She instantly took that chance to climb in with the hunter as Dwight gave the boss man a concerned expression but his immediately went dark.

“Don’t ask questions unless you want to meet your maker, Dwight.” He snapped, walking away from the truck to get into his car to lead the group.

The second the doors shut, Y/N sat close to the door while Daryl hugged the wall by the drivers.

He’s dead. Has to be.

This is a goddamn ghost in front of him.

“You ain’t real”

Y/N didn’t say anything and watched the man she knew to have a hard exterior just fall apart.

“You ain’t real. You died. You died that night at the barn fire. You never turned up. You ain’t real!” Daryl shouted at her but she kept a level head while the driver groans in annoyance.

“You didn’t look for me. None of you did”

“Please—-If this is some sick joke!” Daryl snapped once more, this time when they halted Y/N punched the man in the arm.

“ITS REAL” Y/N snapped back. “I never died. You never looked for me. You all left me behind”

“And now what? You’re a Savior. One of the enemy? I’ve seen yea. Didn’t believe it. Caught glimpses enough to just think you’re not real. But every time I saw you, you were with him.” Daryl frowns avoiding her eyes when he scoffs along with the next part. “What, the dick game that good?”

“If you’re going to piss me off, I’m not going to help you” Y/N whispered in anger as the last part confused Daryl.

“What? Now?!”

“No, I just need you to listen carefully”

With hesitation, he did. Before more could be discussed, they were at Alexandria and everyone unloaded. Y/N stuck in the back out of Negan’s way but when the Saviors separated to raid the community…that’s when she locked eyes with an old familiar pair.

“What’s gotten into you, Mr. Grimes?” Negan smirks turning around and his expression fell watching Y/N get closer to make sure she’s not seeing a ghost.

But Rick was. He was rethinking who died at the lineup, maybe he died and this was his hell.

Being faced with who he left behind

“What are you taking from them?” Y/N questions Negan while keeping eye contact with the deer in headlights.

“Everything. 90% of everything”

“No”

A few Saviors turned their heads toward Negan for an immediate lash out. None of them seeing how whipped the man is before until then…

“What would you suggest then?”

Y/N, being the person she’s always been, wouldn’t let them suffer because of past actions. She told Negan to let them keep their beds and 75% of their pantry goods. She knows he would argue about the weaponry, she’s heard how he was in other communities. So targeting stuff he wouldn’t like to argue with her about, he will do for her instantly.

As Negan went to check on what they were taking back to the Sanctuary, Rick took note on the power Y/N has over the man that killed their family. But he couldn’t help himself the second he was alone with her.

“He killed Glenn at the lineup” Rick blurted out watching her tense. “You’re with a man that killed your best friend and you’re okay with that? You know what you could do to stop hi—-“

“The fuck are you telling her?” The Savior Arat got up in Rick’s face when he was only telling Y/N.

“The truth of what you monsters have done” Rick stated pushing her back and before Arat could get up and personal again, Y/N stepped in between them.

“Don’t.”

“Or what? You’ll have Negan kill me?” Arat hissed, not liking the fact that Y/N stood her ground. “He’d do anything you ask of him princess. We are here to show who’s boss…and that’s not you”

“You lay a finger on anybody and I’ll rip it off”

That only brought a smirk out of Arat as she pulls herself away to continue the job. Y/N turned to Rick giving him a saddened look but there was something else about it that intrigued him.

“Y/N—-“

“Keep your head down Rick Grimes. Or others will be watching it roll” Y/N frowns stepping away and toward Negan’s car to stay in for the remainder of the visit.

The drive back was quiet and more than Arat was made about Y/N’s decision. They still took from the community, Y/N knew she couldn’t completely skew his decision into not taking anything. She needed to be not so suspicious. But that didn’t matter.

Y/N stood outside the conference room eavesdropping on Negan yelling at several saviors that have told Y/N what he has done to the communities. If they had kept their mouths shut and to themselves, nothing would’ve reached her ears.

She pushed the door open to listen to the once yelling man, stop and turn into a softness only she heard and those who witnessed his change around her.

“Let’s go, tomorrow will be different” Simon assures Negan as he walks past Y/N with the others following after him.

Negan waited for her to approach him at the table bringing herself to slot between his legs as he was sat on the table. Y/N rests her hands on his thighs feeling his forehead rest against hers.

“I’m sorry for yellin’”

“Why are you apologizing? It wasn’t—-“

“I know you were eavesdropping, darling. I was mad about the stunt you pulled…hell I’m more mad at myself for letting you”

“Negan…”

“Yikes…First name. Guess I’m in the dog ho—-“

“Would you hurt me if I went against your rule here?”

The man instantly pulled away and carefully took a hold of her face with both his hands as his expression fell.

“I would never hurt you. My empire could fall because of you and I’d never lay a finger” Negan frowns, wanting to know what’s going on inside that beautiful mind of hers that is hidden behind the sad look on her external features. “I love you, Y/N. Don’t ever think that I’d hurt you ever”

Y/N didn’t say those three words back as all she did was bring her lips against his. Enjoying the peacefulness it brought, for it might be the last…

“Let’s go to bed, love”

“Mm…okay, darling”

As the night progressed, Y/N managed to slip out of his grasp leaving their room but not before grabbing his keys.

She managed to get to the prison cells without being noticed as all she needed to do was get Dwight away from the cell in mind. It would’ve only been difficult if Y/N didn’t know Sherry. She helped her distract her partner in order to get to Daryl’s cell.

But yet another obstacle stepped in her way.

“What do you think you’re doing”

“Get out of my way Arat”

“Or what?”

Y/N stared her down and went to walk passed, she didn’t get far until Arat grabbed a fist full of her hair to pull her back. Little did she know that Y/N’s instinct was to grab her arm and throw her body over her person. With the right formation, it’s down without struggle. The self defense classes from before the world ended still came in handy.

The thud of Arat hitting the concrete was only going to alert people so Y/N went fast with unlocking the door to Daryl’s cell and dragging him out of the facility.

Daryl didn’t have to get far to know Y/N hesitated. He turned toward her, being tossed a set of keys for one of the bikes.

“Come with me”

“I can’t.”

“Y/N…he’s a monster. He’s killed—-“

“I know—-“

“And you’re okay with that?” Daryl frowns wanting to know why she’s doing this. Why she’s hesitating and staying with a man that’s hurt many…”Y/N. Please. You can help us take—-“

“And I will. But not in the way you all want…you want him dead. I want him alive. For before this whole empire…he was just Negan Smith. Not a scary savior that takes so much from others because the world took everything from him.” Y/N frowns knowing Daryl wouldn’t get it, she doesn’t give him much credit. “I will help you take him down…take the Saviors down…but you won’t see either of us at the end of it”

“Y/N…”

“Go, Daryl. Before they realize what I’ve done”

“…I waited for you. I waited for you at the highway that night” Daryl frowns feeling the tears burn and threaten to fall. “Rick made us leave…I didn’t want to”

“Daryl…go back to your family before this was all for nothing”

The hesitation ached at him as he kept looking back every step of getting out of there. Daryl wanted to scream at her and take her but she’s always been a smart person…so he left for the Hilltop. Knowing Alexandria would be their first target for his disappearance.

As Y/N quietly made it back inside, she noticed their bedroom door open and the light on. She peered inside finding an annoyed Arat and Simon talking to Negan who instantly dismissed them. Arat of course purposely bumping into Y/N on the way out as Simon gave her a more sympathetic look.

Once it was the two of them and the door shut, Negan instantly pulled Y/N into his embrace asking her in whispers if she was okay. If she was hurt in any way. The confusion struck her as she brought her arms around him resting her head against his chest.

“Negan…”

Negan held her tightly feeling her shift to bring her gaze to look up when he parted enough to look her in the eye.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

“Yes…” Y/N frowns bringing her hands to rest on his face, her thumbs gently wiping away his tears. “But, Negan…you can come with me…leave it all behind.”

“But I—“

“You don’t have to decide now. You will know where to find me”

“Y/N…”

Please…

[specialagentlokitty]

Derek Hale x reader - always beside you

One hand holding the edge of the rooftop you were on, the other outstretched you looked around the corner as the beta werewolf came running around.

“Derek!”

His gaze snapped up, and he changed his direction, jumping in the trash can, he pushed himself and grabbed your hand, letting you fling him up with all his strength.

Once he was up, you pulled yourself up and stood up, holding your hand out to him with a small grin.

“How’d you find me?”

“You have a… particular scent.” You shrugged.

Your yellow eyes burned into his blue ones as you waited for him to take your hand.

Finally he did, and you gripped it tightly as you looked back at the ledge where the hunters were trying to get up then back at Derek.

“Come on!”

You tugged him and started running.

Derek ran just behind you, letting you drag him wherever it was you were leading him to.

You jumped from building to building, laughing loudly as you did, you could hear the hunters crying out to get you both, and the normal humans confused and yelling for someone to call the police.

“We’re running out of rooftops (Y/N)!” Derek yelled.

“I know, it’s why I’m going to do this!”

On the last rooftop, you braced your feet, and swung him around, making him run even faster as you flung him over the huge gap.

Derek landed with a thud and a groan in the other side and rolled a few times before he stopped.

He sat up and looked at you in worry.

“Come on!” He called.

You shook your head.

“Go find Scott! I’ll be cool!”

Derek watched as you climbed down from the building, landing in the busy street you grinned as you started to weave in and out of people, barely touching them as you made your way between them all.

The hunters seemed to forget about him as they started to chase you, and Derek ran alongside you on the rooftops as he glanced down to make sure you were okay.

When he was sure you’d be okay by yourself, he ran off to go find Scott.

You grinned and you jumped over someone crouched down, and carried on running.

“Just stop! We don’t want you! We want to ask you something!” A Hunter yelled.

Spinning around, you jogged backwards, on the edge of the road as you avoided people.

“Oh? What’s that?!” You called back.

“Stop running and we’ll tell you!”

You have a crooked grin and winked at the man chasing you.

“Not a chance Chris Argent!”

“(Y/N)!” He yelled.

You spun around and kept on running, straight towards the familiar police car parked in a lot to the right of you.

While you knew Derek helped train with the argents, you didn’t bother, you just loved annoying the poor hunters and causing trouble.

Jumping over the fence of the lot, you ran towards the car and skidded to a halt in front of it, claws scraping across the ground as you looked up.

The sheriff and Stiles both jumped out.

“What have you done now?” Stiles laughed.

You grinned a little bit and watched and Alison and Chris jumped the fence as well, jogging over towards you all.

“Seriously (Y/N), again?”

You grinned at the sheriff.

“Sorry dad.”

You stood up straight and put your claws away, letting your eyes turn back to normal as you stuffed your hands in your pockets and leant back against the car.

Chris and Alison finally reached the pair of you.

“Really?” Alison laughed lightly.

“We were training with Derek, how’d you even find us?” Chris asked.

“Scott asked me to find him so he could talk to Derek alone, you guys really need a new training spot though, honestly.”

They chuckled and shook their heads at you.

Your dad placed his hand on your shoulder and looked up, and you copied him, looking at the full moon.

“Stop ruining their training.” He said sternly.

“But dad that’s no fun!” You whined.

Stilinski pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed heavily at you.

He pushed you towards the back of the car and with a small laugh you climbed in and sat in the back with your brother.

“So why does Scott want Derek?” He asked.

You shrugged a little bit.

“Didn’t ask, I heard a chance for be an inconvenience for all three of them, so I took it!” You beamed proudly.

Stiles laughed a little, and playfully punched his shoulder.

“So what’s it like being a werewolf? Having fun?”

“So much fun, I know Scott feels bad for biting me, but he didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Hey what if I put a camera on you during the next full moon? I want to see what exactly it is you get up to.”

You hummed as you thought about this before finally shrugging and agreeing to the idea.

You knew stiles wanted to be a werewolf, he wanted the same life as all his friends, but at the same time he didn’t want it.

So you were happy to do this for him so he could experience it as accurately as possible.

Your dad climbed into the car and you turned around to face you.

“You are on house arrest for the rest of the night.”

“Dad!” You huffed.

“No, you’re on house arrest, and you’re going to leave the argents alone.” He scolded.

You grumbled and crossed your arms as you leant back in your seat.

“Big bad werewolf getting grounded.” Stiles snickered.

Your dad started to drive you all back home.

You were grumbling, and turned your attention back to the full moon outside.

The itch inside wouldn’t leave, and you knew it would always be there, even if you did have full control there was a side of you that just wanted to run free.

As you guys got back home, you got out from the car and stood staring at the full moon.

Stiles stood next to you, and your dad watched from where he was stood by the front door.

“What are you listening to?” Stiles whispered.

“Malia and Derek.”

“Again?!” Stilinski shouted.

He stormed into the house while you and Derek were quick to follow behind him, trying to beat him upstairs.

He found both in Stiles’ room, and scowled at them.

“I told you two to stop breaking in.”

“Stiles left his window open.” Malia smiled sweetly.

“Stiles!”

“Sorry dad!”

You laughed and shook your head as you made your way to your room and sat on your bed.

Your dad came in and sat down next to you, giving a small sign as he took your hand in his.

“I know you want to be out there kiddo, but it’s safer for you to stay inside during the full moons, I know the argents won’t hurt you, but we know there’s others out there.”

“I know dad, but that’s why I was with Scott.”

“He may be your alpha, but I know you don’t listen to him at the best of times.”

You grinned a little and shrugged.

“I never was good at listening.”

“No, no you weren’t. Stay stay inside for the rest of the night, okay? I’ve got to go back to work, but I know someone who can keep you from doing something reckless.”

He pointed to the door and Derek was leaning there, arms crossed as he gave you a small smile.

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t make her grand escape again.”

You watched as your dad got up, walking over he clasped a hand on Derek’s shoulder and whispered a thanks before he left.

Derek walked over to you and sat down, pulling you into his lap as you smiled softly.

Derek kissed the top of your head and turned you both so you were facing the window.

Looking up, your yellow eyes met his blue ones and you raised your hands, trailing your fingers along his face as you hummed a little bit.

“What?” He asked.

“Nothing, you’re just cute.”

Leaning up, you gently kissed him before you pulled away, resting your head on him.

“Hey guys we’re going to sit on the roof, coming?” Stiles asked.

You looked up at Derek and he nodded, so you all went up to the roof.

Soon enough Scott and Kira had come to join you four, then Alison, Chris, Issac, and Peter and Lydia.

You all just sat on the roof of the house, on the little perch that was built up there for you when you were turned.

Your back rested against Derek’s chest, and he had his arms wrapped around you while you all just gazed at the night sky, nothing but peace all around.

Derek rested his chin on your shoulder, and you lightly nuzzled your head against him.

This was your pack.

Your family.

When Stilinski came back, he found Malissa stood at his front door and he frowned a little.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I was looking for Scott, and he said (Y/N) was on house arrest.”

Stilinski chuckled and let her in, gesturing for her to follow him.

“I know exactly where they are.”

He lead her to the attic, then to the other side where a small set of doors were laying open.

Peaking their heads in, they found all of you asleep, and they just smiled and climbed up as well, Malissa went to sit next to Scott while Stilinski sat between you and Derek and stiles and Malia.

“Dad…” you mumbled.

You reached out and lightly gripped his hand, giving a small yawn as you looked at him.

“Morning sleepy, who’s hungry?”

There was a chorus of happy sounds at the mention of food and slowly you all made your way back down the stairs.

The sheriff never thought he’d be involved in a world like this, let alone his own child being a werewolf, but as he looked around at the whole pack laughing and joking he couldn’t help but smile.

He looked over at you stood with Derek, the older werewolves arms wrapped around you while you tried to hit his uncle.

Your dad knew you were well protected, that you both were. With the whole pack behind you, and the Hales beside you, and you beside Stiles, nothing could go wrong

[solarpunkani]

The Lost Doll - A Short Story

To say that Arrden was in trouble didn’t even begin to describe his situation right now. He was screwed, utterly screwed, in deep doo doo. Deep.

He’d lost track of his little sister’s favorite doll again, a third strike on his record for being responsible. Not only that, but he’d lost it out in the city--where he and his sister weren’t even supposed to be in the first place! There was no way he would be able to explain himself to Mom and Dad without getting himself in trouble!

So there was only one solution. He’d have to go back out there and hunt it down, before either of them noticed it was gone.

“Arry! I want my dolly back!” his sister whined, but Arrden quietly shushed her.

“If you stay quiet, I’ll go get it and bring you some sweets!” he said.

Daisy hummed, her lip poking out into a powerful pout as she crossed her arms. “...gimme good sweets. From Junebugs!”

“Junebugs?!” what was he supposed to barter to get some of Junebugs’ candied fruit?! He was already pushing it just going out again, let alone bringing something to trade! “I can’t get anything from Junebugs, how about Missy Anne’s?”

Daisy responded by tilting her head back and yelling. “Daddyyy!”

“Okay, okay, okay! I’ll get you something from Junebugs, just don’t tell Dad yet!”

Daisy harrumphed, but nodded. At that same moment, their Dad came rushing up the stairs. “What’s going on up here, is everything alright?”

“I want uppies!!” Daisy beamed, reaching up with her little arms. Their dad laughed and reached down to pick her up, holding her close to his chest with a squeeze that made her giggle. While he was distracted, Arrden hurried downstairs to grab his bag and his skateboard.

“Hey, Arrden! Where’re you going?” his father called out.

Arrden froze in his tracks. Shit. “Uh! I wanted to go hang out at the library, maybe get more books!” That wasn’t entirely a lie--he did have to go to the library to check if they’d left the doll there during their earlier visit. And he did want to check out a book too.

“Alright, but can you get me some eggs from the Ferns on your way back? We’ll need them for breakfast tomorrow, bring her a few cuttings from the garden!”

Score! If he could take a few extra flower cuttings, he might be able to trade something for some Junebugs! “Okay, Dad! I won’t be too long, promise!”

Before his dad could ask any more questions, Arrden slipped out of the front door and hurried into the garden, picking the trimmers and two glass jars from the gardening table to set to work. Calendulas, rudbeckias, zinnias, and a few stems of milkweeds all found their way into the jar, which he placed into his tote as he slung it over his shoulder. He hopped over the fence, onto his skateboard, and was cruising out towards the rest of the town in a matter of moments. 

Gliding through the town on his board, he took a moment to appreciate it all--it was home, so he was used to it, but it really was so pretty. In school they’d been studying how things were just a few decades ago--an era he remembered faintly, but had no real fond memories for. He was younger than Daisy is now when their town started being remade into what it was, solar panels on every rooftop, gardens big and small bursting out of every crevice one could fit dirt into. Stained glass adorned practically every building, murals of suns and moons and plants and animals on any blank wall that wasn’t already overgrown with vining flowers. Maybe it was because he was old enough to ride around on a skateboard by himself, but things felt… smaller, than they did before. On bad days, it could be stifling, but on good days it was cozy. Most days were good days.

It didn’t take too long to get to the market plaza. He didn’t even have to look up to know he’d arrived, the light changing to pinks and oranges and yellows as he passed under the mess of fabric tarps overhanging the entire square. There were quite a few stands out today, some offering little baubles made of recycled plastic, or carved wooden statues of deer and bears and foxes, and the instrument maker was even offering a new guitar or two. Ooh, he’d have to save up for that. If he could prove himself responsible enough to maintain a spinning wheel, his friend Azzy had a few sheep, and they were always willing to give him wool to spin into yarn. Or better--if he could keep bees, to make honey and beeswax, that made for good trades.

Being responsible enough was the one thing he probably wasn’t today, since he’d lost his sister’s doll. 

Technically, Daisy had lost the doll, but it was still Arrden’s fault because he’d taken her out of the house while Dad was away at book club earlier. Oh, they’d explored the town together, gone everywhere Arrden knew she enjoyed, to cheer her up. She’d been stuck inside for days now--battling a nasty ear infection--but now that she was feeling better, she’d been begging to be let outside. Their parents said to wait just a few more days, to make sure she’d truly beaten it. Unfortunately, Arrden was weak to Daisy’s puppy dog eyes, and had whisked her away to explore all their favorite stomping grounds, getting her back home just before their dad got home. And apparently she’d dropped the doll somewhere on their adventures, and now here he was.

He stopped by the seed stand--Daisy always loved looking at the mystifying colors of Mister Peters’ glass gem corn, or reaching into the big bags of beans and letting them run through her little fingers. They’d definitely stopped here today--after all, Mister Peters’ son Kendall was working the stand, and he and Arrden had always been buddies.

“Hey, man!” Kendall beamed, reaching over the desk to tousle Arrden’s afro. Arrden mock-whined and nudged the taller boy off of him, rolling his eyes before sending him a grin. “You back again already? Did your Ma tell you to pick up more flower seeds? We're almost out of Liatris for the season.”

“Nah, it’s Ma’s working season. She doesn’t get back home till just before sunset. Did you see my sister’s doll anywhere around here? She lost it while we were out,” Arrden asked.

Kendall tutted at him, bead-adorned dreads swishing back and forth as he shook his head. “C’mon, man, you’re never gonna get those hives if you keep losing your sister’s stuff.”

“It’s not my fault she keeps dropping it! If she cares about it so much, you’d think she’d keep track of it better!”

“Yeah, and if you cared about getting those hives and that spinning wheel, you wouldn’t keep riskin’ it by taking her out with it.”

“Like she goes anywhere without it!”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Kendall arched a brow at him. 

Arrden sighed. “I know, I know. But Daisy was so sad! I couldn’t not take her with me!” 

“Well, let’s just hope you get that doll back. Oh! Mrs. Fern wants me and Dad to plant a garden near her chicken coops next week, Dad said I can invite any friends I want. Next Saturday, nine AM, her place?”

“...won’t the chickens just eat all the seeds again, like they did last year?” 

“Oh, of course they’re going to, but Mrs. Fern’s gonna make us a big apple pie for all our hard work, and I know you want in on it.”

“You should’ve lead with the apple pie, man, I’m in! But I’ve gotta get going, text me about it later?”

“You know it! Good luck on finding that doll!”

Arrden left him with a final wave, hopping back onto his skateboard and wheeling off further into the market place.

Unfortunately, no other stands had his sister’s lost doll. He tried every other one they’d gone to--the bead and jewelry stand, the stand for the Watters’ farm selling baby chicks and a lamb, the one for the new artist that had moved to town a few months back--no such luck. 

The next best bet was the big, round, blue and yellow tent at the end of the marketplace. It was where Luna sang songs to entertain kids while their parents browsed the wares at the market in peace. It was never really Arrden’s thing growing up--he preferred poking his nose into his parents’ business, seeing what they were getting and running around making trouble for himself. But his sister loved the tent and ol’ Luna, and would beg to stop there even when it was just the two of them. So he ducked inside to check the seats.

Fortunately, Luna wasn’t performing right now. Instead, there was a younger girl, just tuning up the guitar in anticipation for the next batch of kids. She looked up with a bright smile as he stepped in. “Hello, there! Anything I can help you with?”

Arrden froze. That was not Old Lady Luna. That was Pretty Girl Sasi, the girl who sat in front of him in class. He definitely didn’t have a crush on her! Absolutely not, no matter how much his friends insisted he turned red as a tomato around her, he did not have a crush on her! She was just. Really pretty! And he didn’t know how to handle that!

“O-Oh, Sasi! I--I wasn’t expecting--I thought--Old Lady Luna--” he stammered, feeling his neck get hot.

“Luna’s my aunt, I’m helping her for the weekend in exchange for more guitar lessons.” Sasi said, standing to her feet and brushing long, silky black hair over her shoulder. “I’m sure she’d love to teach more people, if you wanted to do lessons together sometime?”

Honestly, Arrden had never had much interest in learning guitar, but now he was half-tempted to trade the flowers in his bag for that pretty new guitar at the instrument seller’s stand. “Oh! Uh--I--maybe! I’ll see if I can--ah--” his brain went numb for a second, and Sasi sent him an amused look as he briefly opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Wasn’t he here for something? Right! “Have you seen my sister’s doll? I--my sister was here earlier, and she lost her doll, and I dunno if it might’ve been here or… y’know. Y’know?”

Sasi giggled, making her way over to a basket tucked away to the side. “Well, I dunno what her doll looks like specifically, but my aunt always puts stuff kids leave behind in this basket. Wanna check?”

Arrden nodded and got to his knees, sorting through the basket a moment. There were a handful of dolls there--some little brown bears or orange foxes, others moreso resembling people, but none of them were Daisy’s little flower doll. He had to wonder if there were tons of brothers ripping and running around town trying to find their little siblings’ dolls today, or if these had been left for months and years with no owner. It made him a bit sad, and for a moment he missed his own little childhood doll, even though Black Cat still sat safely on a shelf in his room.

As he stood back up, Sasi frowned. “It’s not there? I hope you find it.”

“I hope so too. I’ve got a few more places to check, though, so fingers crossed!” Arden sighed, adjusting the strap of the bag on his shoulder. Sasi grinned, bangles clinking as she held up her own hands with their fingers crossed, prompting him to do the same. “Oh! My friend Kendall’s dad is planting flowers at Mrs. Ferns’ chicken coop next Saturday at nine, you’ll probably wanna ask him to be sure, but I think it’d be cool if you came! We’ll get apple pie after, too!”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude…” 

“I don’t think you’d be intruding! I mean--I’ll text Kendall and ask if you can come, but I doubt he’d say no!”

Sasi awkwardly rubbed her arm, her shoe nudging a divot into the soft dirt under them. “I’ve never really gardened before… I don’t think I’ve planted a seed since I was little, none of my family’s ever been good at it…”

“Oh! Between me and Kendall, you’ll be a pro in no time!”

“Then… maybe I’ll try it. Oh, I think my mom wanted to ask your dad to plant some moonflower seedlings by our gazebo… unless you wanted to come and do it sometime? We could trade numbers and figure out a time…”

Butterflies danced in Arrden’s stomach as he whipped his phone out of his pocket. “Y-Yeah, sure, let’s trade numbers--” unfortunately, he whipped it out so fast the phone flew out of his hand and plopped into the dirt by Sasi’s feet. The girl laughed a bit, bending down to get it and offer it back to him, and he smiled sheepishly. “Th-Thanks, Sasi…”

In just a few moments, the two had exchanged numbers and sent the customary ‘hey this is Arrden’ or ‘Hi this is Sasi’ texts, well on their way to expanding their friendship. Sasi even watched him leave from the opening of the tent, waving him goodbye as he skated away.

Arrden found himself humming a love song all the way to the pet store.

Right, he and Daisy had come here for cat food! After all, Arrden’s crime today hadn’t been leaving the house, but leaving the house with Daisy. He’d stopped to grab food and a new toy for their housecat, Shadow. Daisy had wanted to come along to see the adoptable puppies the Lees had raised, all ready to herd sheep on some other farmer’s land. Even though they didn’t have a farm, the puppies were still little fluffy bundles that Daisy just couldn’t resist playing with. However, he did send a few pics to Azzy, and had received some heart eye emojis in response. Who knows? Next time he went to their place, they might have a new bundle of joy bouncing around the fields. 

When he saw the puppies playing tug of war, his heart sank, but he instantly relaxed when he realized they were playing with a bundle of rope and not a little doll. Arrden doublechecked the rest of their outdoor pen, and even tried to peek into their dog house, before he decided ‘no way it's in there’ and instead made his way inside.

The shelves were well stocked with a variety of foods for a variety of animals, and all kinds of toys. There were even a few birds on display inside--he paused a moment to look at the fluffy-looking pigeons, and gently pat a couple of peachicks through the gaps in their cage. Tanks, leashes, training manuals, and treats were also available--a vast array of homemade cookies and biscuits with all kinds of berries and faux icing. ‘Human made, dog approved,’ the sign above them said. He’d been dared to eat one, a few years back, and truth be told he understood why the dogs liked them. Personally? Arrden wasn’t a fan.

He perused the entire store in search of his sister’s doll, double and triple checking the toy shelves to make sure he hadn’t missed it. God forbid, someone had traded for it thinking it was one of Mx. Miller’s handmade toys and already tossed it to the hounds. He tried to put that thought out of his mind.

After making one final loop around the store, Arrden approached the desk, where Mx. Miller was working on sewing up another pet toy out of scraps of old clothes and hand spun fabric. Right, a lot of people would donate their old and worn clothes to the shop so they could find new life as a beloved toy. At least, when they didn’t donate them to a teen hoping to learn embroidery or make new patches for their jacket. In that sense, Arrden and Mx. Miller were staunch competitors in the last life of beloved fabric market, if his patch-adorned vest had anything to say. 

“Hey, there! Can I help you with anything?” Mx. Miller asked as they looked up from their work. 

“Hi, uhm… my sister lost her doll earlier today, and I was wondering if you saw it by any chance? It’s about this big--” Arrden cupped his hand a little over a foot above the top of the counter. “--and looks like a white and yellow daisy, with green arms and legs.” 

Mx. Miller scrunched their nose--they must’ve seen all kinds of toys over the course of the day--and eventually shook their head. “I don’t remember seeing a doll like that. But if anyone brings one like that in, I’ll keep it in lost and found, alright?”

Arrden nodded quietly. “Okay! Thank you, Mx. Miller.” Arrden made his way out of the store, pausing a moment to ruffle one of the puppies’ heads a bit as it poked its head over the baby cage before he hopped back onto his skateboard and made his way off. 

No luck at the market, no luck at the music tent, no luck at the pet shop… his last hopes were the library, Mrs. Kitterling’s jewelry shop, or just… out in the street somewhere, stepped upon and dirty. Or worse. Someone had seen it and taken it, and Arrden was thoroughly screwed. 

He couldn’t lose hope. He’d stop by the library, cross his fingers, hope to any power there was that he found it alright. 

He felt the path change under the wheels of his board as he turned onto the Aster Town Library’s walkway. It was still old cobblestone, with a few cushiony low-growing groundcovers poking between the tracks. Comfy for shoes--or those who preferred to walk barefoot, like Sasi’s family--but not so great for itty bitty skateboard wheels, so he hopped off the board and tucked it under his arm and walked the rest of the way. To either side of the cobblestone path, there were gardens--to his left, an expansive meadow of wildflowers, almost like the garden at home, and to his right was a small pond with an array of koi and all kinds of other fish, their scales glittering like tiny drops of sunlight under the water’s surface. Dotted across both landscapes were benches, for people to enjoy a drink and a book while taking in the perfumed scent of flowers, or listening to the gentle trickle of the pond’s small waterfall. He checked all the outside benches, but deep down he knew Daisy’s doll wouldn’t be out here. These sitting spots were great and all, but Daisy spent most of her time in other spaces. 

Arden entered the library and placed his skateboard on the designated skateboard shelf by the door, which already had a couple of other tenants taking up slots. They were all a similar color to his, but he knew he’d be able to grab the right one--his was custom painted with a big yellow sunflower, spinning wheels and bees along the edges, and a couple of stickers in the blank spaces. He’d done everything but paint his name on the bottom of the board to mark it as his. Plus, everyone else had their boards painted--one had a bright big zinnia flower, with suns and moons both on the horizon, while another had a ferocious looking bear painted on with a wolf howling at the moon.

“Back again already?” Arrden turned to see one of the librarians, Mx. Kingsley, waving at him from the front desk. “You already returned your books, if that’s what you’re here for.”

“It’s not! Well, I do want more books, but--my sister lost her crochet doll, and I’m retracing my steps to try and find it. Did anyone turn it in?”

Mx. Kingsley shook their head, frowning a bit. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t remember any dolls being turned in today. I’ll go check the Lost and Found, why don’t you go ahead and look around while you get your books?” 

“Sounds like a plan. Thank you, Mx. Kingsley!” Arrden beamed, before heading off deeper into the library.

The library had always been one of his favorite places. When he wasn’t helping his parents with the garden, or hanging out with his friends after school, you could probably find Arrden tucked away somewhere on library grounds. He knew this place like the back of his hand--if he ever applied to volunteer here, no doubt he’d be let in, but he wanted to have a little bit more freedom before leashing himself to a formal volunteer position. Nevertheless, he was here all the time, and his sister Daisy was also becoming fond of the place. As Arrden perused the shelves, selecting a few books on beekeeping and wool spinning as well as a few novels, he took a moment to enjoy the pure library vibes. Small potted herbs grew on the shelves, bundles of mint to be snacked on, while posters for new books and fliers for town events adorned walls and bulletin boards all across the space. Every book in here was well-loved, the smell of old books mingling with the herbs and making everything just… heavenly. There were plenty of bright, sunny windows--some clear, most brightly colored stained glass works of trees and flowers sprouting out of open books--all with plenty of cushioned benches and rocking chairs and bean bags sprawled out underneath them. A few of the study rooms had been borrowed, a couple of kids studying in one, while the other had a handful of adults using the chalkboard to talk about something-or-another. Even still, Arrden knew his sister’s doll wouldn’t be in any of these places.

Instead, he stepped out the side door, and directly into the warm and cozy greenhouse area. A mix of colorful panels greeted him with spots of light on the ground, casting everything into an almost magical light. There were two large tables that were perfect for studying and craft sessions, potted herbs and even a few fruit trees along the sides of the walls, but best of all--a big, comfy chair, tucked into a corner with its own shelf of books nearby. This was his favorite spot in the library--and his sister’s too. Arrden was half-tempted to just sink into the big chair, curl up with one of his books, and let the hours pass as he lost himself among the pages of a story. The library was open through the night, but he’d never been allowed to stay past eight, because apparently fourteen was still too young to be out on his own late at night.

But no, he was here for a reason. So instead of settling into the chair, he checked the cushions to make sure the doll hadn’t been lost in the depth of it, but came up with nothing but a healthy dose of lint-fingers. Daisy’s doll wasn’t sitting on any of the tables or shelves either, nor was it on the floor. This was the only room Daisy ever liked to hang out in, so the odds of it being anywhere else were… slim.

As he made his way back to the front desk, he passed a shelf of books and a title stuck out to him--something about playing guitar for beginners. Well… it wouldn’t be so bad to do a bit of reading, would it? He took the book and tucked it under his arm with the others. 

“Find the books you’re looking for?” Mx. Miller asked as Arrden arrived to the desk.

“I did! Did you find my sister’s doll?”

The look on Mx. Miller’s face told him everything he needed to know, but even still they shook their head with a soft sigh. “There aren’t any dolls in the lost and found, kiddo. I hope you find it!”

Arrden sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I hope so too.” He placed his books on the counter, and Mx. Miller began scanning them out of the system. 

“More books on beekeeping and spinning? I’d think you’d be one of the resident experts by now!” they said with a soft laugh.

“I just wanna make sure I know all I can! I still gotta get my parents to let me have the gear and all.”

“Oh, I remember when I was trying to start with my crafts. It took ages to convince my parents I could run a spinning wheel without hurting myself, but one day one of my friends let me try spinning with the wheel she had at her place. When I came back with a nice bundle of finished yarn I’d spun myself, and less bandages than they expected, my parents let me go get my own wheel the next day.”

Arrden hummed. “Maybe… but I dunno anyone with a wheel who’d let me borrow it.”

Mx. Miller arched an eyebrow, gesturing with their eyes towards the craft room in the back. “You know, I just dropped one of my older wheels into the tool space for borrow. How about the next time you come around, you put your skills to the test? I’ve got some hemp I’ve already combed out but I never ended up doing anything with it, I’m more than happy to let you learn spinning with it!”

“You’re for real?” Arrden beamed. “I’d love to! Oh, maybe I can come right after school Tuesday?”

“I’ll be sure to bring it in, then!” Mx. Miller slid the books across the counter back to Arrden. “You keep on reading until then, alright? I can’t help you with the bees, after all.”

“Okay! Oh, did you want anything for--I mean, I can maybe bring you some of my mom’s flowers, or--”

“Oh, no, no! We don’t have to trade for it! I just love helping young learners, you know? Now get going! You’ve still gotta find that doll!”

Arrden gasped and shoved the books into his tote. “Right! Thank you again, Mx. Miller!” at that, he rushed out of the door, grabbing his board and hopping onto it as he made his way down the path. He made his way to the last possible place the doll could be--Mrs. Kitterlings’ place.

On his way there, though, he found himself stopping, hopping off his skateboard a moment to look at a garden. It was a small pollinator garden, the likes of dozens around town--but this one was special to him. Not because of the big beautiful mural of butterflies and bees stopping to drink on a giant Asclepias syriaca on the brick wall overlooking it all--though common milkweed was one of his favorites for growing and trading. But because he remembered, ever so faintly, helping to start this place.

This garden--the East Avenue Pollinator Pod Garden--was one of the first Pollinator Pods to be planted in the town, about eight years ago now. He was a little kid then, and didn’t see the bigger picture--how this pod was the cornerstone that would help transform this town into the community he knew it as today. No, Arrden was just one of dozens of grubby little six year olds who were excited to get to play with dirt without getting into trouble for it that day. The adults had been working on clearing out the empty lot for ages by that point, transforming the place from some old tire-and-junk filled lot into safe, empty ground ready for planting. Not that Arrden was around to appreciate it when that work had started. He remembered following his mom around with a little plastic trowel, carefully digging where she instructed so she could help him gently place tiny little seedlings into the holes he made, or helping to scatter coreopsis, rudbeckia, and liatris seeds around while he played tag with Azzy and Kendall. His dad helped him try and properly pronounce the names, though there was still awhile where Asclepias were ‘Sleepies’ and rudbeckias were ‘Rudy-Becky’s’. And he remembered coming down with his dad every week during his mom’s working season to help water the plants and watch the life slowly fill into a place that had been so empty and barren for so long. He remembered coming to celebrate while his mom’s work group added a paved walkway, and a fountain, and a bench dedicated to a Mrs. Lianne Kitterling--the mayor at the time who had started the initiative to green up their spaces and their lives in the tiny town of Charlesville (a few years later, they’d rename the town Aster, and adopt the sunflower as their symbol). After this garden, so many more changes came--more solar panels and wind turbines floating high above the city, gardens spreading around every corner of the city, initiatives to clean the forest that bordered their town’s northern side and restore the prairie that used to be to its south. New people moved in, entranced by the changes taking place--like Sasi’s family, and his mom’s best friend Miss Dianne--and helping to shape the town into the colorful place it is now. 

It was honestly hard to remember what things were like before, but maybe that was because he was so little when the changes started happening. In second grade, they changed the school year--only four days a week, and about four hours for each day, instead of the five days and six hours that had apparently been standard for decades before. He couldn’t imagine how he’d manage school and his friends and hobbies if he was spending five days in school, let alone six hours each day! His Dad said before he was born, the town switched to seasonal work--everyone could choose to either work from January to June, or July to December, at any job. Before that, everyone worked practically every day of the year, which Arrden could scarcely imagine now. Maybe all the changes hadn’t started with this garden after all, but in Arrden’s mind, watching the garden grow was the first time he realized things were changing and growing--just like the caterpillars who called the garden home. The city was in its cocoon, shifting and changing, and even now his mother said its wings were only just now unfurling. 

“Hey, Arrden!” 

Arrden was snapped out of his thoughts by the familiar voice calling his name, and turned in time to see his friend Azzy--and their friend, Flare--riding up on their own boards. Azzy pulled to a--somewhat clumsy--stop and hopped off their board to come join him. “What’s up? Looking at the old garden?”

“I don’t think it's that old, Az. But, uh, guess I got lost in thought seeing it.”

“I feel you, man.” they took off their helmet, long blonde hair cascading to past their shoulders. “I was just here last week, getting a few volunteer hours in filling the empty gaps with more seedlings. Felt like I got rocketed back to the past for a moment. Crazy how well everything grew in, I coulda sworn we accidentally trampled half those seedlings but now look at it all!”

“You trampled the seedlings. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the adults came in a few days later to replace the ones you stepped on, but who knows.”

“Azzy and I were heading to the skate park,” Flare said, stepping over. “You want in?” 

“Ooh! Yeah, you should totally come hang! There’s even gonna be a band performing later tonight!” Azzy beamed, green eyes alight with excitement.

Arrden sighed. “I wish, but I still have that 8 o'clock curfew. And I lost my sister’s doll. I’ve gotta find it before my parents find out, or else I’m never getting that spinning wheel!”

“You lost Daisy’s daisy?! Aw, you’re in for it, man!”

He groaned. “I know!! If it’s not in Mrs. Kitterling’s place, I’m done for! I dunno where else it could be!”

“Fingers crossed for you, then! Oh, wait, Flare, you wanted to stop in Kitterlings’ too, right?”

Flare nodded. “My mom wants more decorations for her locs, and I might get some for when she twists my hair soon” she groaned. “I’m gonna miss the puffs, but having to wash and dry it all every week is driving me crazy!!”

“Aw, I don’t find it so bad! When it's my hair care day, I just plop on the couch with some snacks and turn on some good movies!”

“I wish it were that simple, my mom expects me to do so much to it! I might end up liking the twists better, who knows until I get them in? I think some bee charms’ll help!”

“Oh, you like bees?”

“Her dad’s the head of the beekeeper’s guild in town! He has, like, twenty hives!” Azzy beamed.

“Yeah, he’s been teaching me how to manage hives since I was ten! I have two hives of my own, too!”

“Ooh! I’ve been wanting to learn beekeeping for the longest while, but I haven’t gotten any hands-on experience yet!” Arrden said “I’ve checked out just about every book on beekeeping the library has, but my parents still don’t think I’m ready for a hive…”

“Why not join the guild, maybe apprentice for one of the beekeepers? I know my dad loves teaching hands-on!”

Arrden blinked dumbly. “I can join the guild if I don’t have any hives yet?”

“Dude! Yeah?! How are you supposed to take care of a real hive if you’ve never been near one before! Look--” Flare dug her phone out of her overall pocket. “We’ve gotta trade numbers, I’ll get you hooked up with Dad and maybe you can come over when he’s teaching Sasi Friday after school.”

“Sasi’s learning beekeeping?!”

“Yeah, I dunno, she didn’t catch me as the type but she told me last week that someone sparked her interest in it.”

“Oooh, wonder who that could’ve been?” Azzy laughed, nudging Arrden in the ribs. Arrden briefly remembered his last interaction with Sasi when Azzy was nearby, how they’d nudged him into talking about his interests and he wound up infodumping about bees all lunch period instead of eating. He’d thought he’d totally embarrassed himself! Was she actually interested in it now?

“Uh! Well! L-Let’s trade numbers, then!” Arrden handed Flare his phone, and Flare handed hers to him. They plugged in each others numbers and sent introductory texts and then handed back the phones. “So, you guys are going into Kitterlings?”

“Yeah, c’mon!”

Mrs. Kitterlings’ shop wasn’t very far--in fact, it was just a door away from the wall the pollinator pod was up against. The awning over the door and windows were a bit faded with age, the gold paint spelling out Kitterlings’ Jewelry chipping off the brick surface they were painted onto. Well loved, his mother had always said, the building’s well loved.

Well loved it was, indeed, with a lot of the ladies in town. Mrs. Kitterling was one of the only jewelers in town, but she made lots of items--asides from necklaces and bracelets, she also made earrings, rings, loc decorations, hearing aid jewelry, and more. This was on top of her supposedly growing some of the best roses and daffodils for barter. Or maybe the ladies liked her so much because she used to be the mayor, and had relinquished her position to instead let decisions be made by a panel of citizens a few years back? After she’d retired from politics, she’d opened the shop and almost immediately was the talk of the town all over again. 

Either way, Arrden wasn’t much of a jewelry guy--he found it got in the way most of the time. But he had been here earlier to get a new bracelet for his sister, with a little daisy charm made out of recycled metal. So the odds of him having lost the doll here were fairly high.

Flare almost immediately got distracted by the loc decorations on display, little burlap baggies full of gold and silver ones on the shelf underneath, but Azzy accompanied him to the front desk. Mrs. Kitterling was talking to another woman--Mrs. Deere, one of the kindergarten teachers--about placing an order for a custom pair of earrings. Today, Mrs. Kitterling was wearing hearing aid jewelry that made her ears look like butterfly wings, adorned with a mix of wire and recycled glass gems. 

Once Mrs. Deere had finished placing her order, Mrs. Kitterling turned to the two teens with a smile. “Ah, young Arrden and Azzy! A pleasure seeing you here again, how can I help you?”

“Hi, Mrs. Kitterling. I, uh, lost my sister’s doll, did you see it by any chance?” Arrden asked.

“It’s, uhm, real important!” Azzy added, trying to back him up. Arrden appreciated the effort, Az.

Mrs. Kitterling hummed, adjusting her glasses. “Why, what does the doll look like?”

“It’s got a green body, and a big daisy flower for the head! Right, Arrden?” Azzy turned to Arrden, who nodded quietly.

“About… eight inches big, I think. Something like that.” Azzy procured their sketchbook from their bag, and Arrden nodded again. “About that big!”

“I think I did see a doll like that! I bet it's in the lost and found box, give me just one moment!” Mrs. Kitterling smiled before wheeling herself to the back room.

Arrden beamed, bouncing up and down a bit with Azzy. “She has it, she has it! Maybe I can get that spinning wheel after all!”

“Then we can team up and start making a buncha yarn! And you can learn how to spin hemp and stuff too!” they said.

“Your sister’s gonna be pretty damn happy too, right?” Flare said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! That doll’s practically her best friend, she’s gonna be stoked!” Arrden gasped suddenly. “Shit! I still have to stop by the Ferns’ place to get eggs for my dad! And I promised Daisy I’d get her some Junebugs!”

“You’re going to Junebugs?!” Azzy gaped. “Hope you brought something good to trade!”

“...I’ve got some flowers?” Arrden opened his tote a bit to show the collection of cut flowers he’d brought. They were just a smidge wilted from spending the past hour or so traveling around town, but still fine to trade, right?

“That might be enough for some of a batch, but I dunno…” Azzy reached over and pat him on the back. “Fingers crossed for you, man.”

“Oh, god, you don’t think it’ll be enough? I dunno what I’m gonna do…”

Azzy hummed, tapping their chin. “I think they like raising insects. Any of those milkweeds got eggs on em?”

“Probably a couple, the monarchs have been going crazy in the garden lately.” Arden took out the milkweed stems and peered closely at the leaves. “I swear, it’d be harder to keep them away than to attract them… oh! When’d this guy get here?”

“Ooh, yeah, I see a caterpillar too! Right there!” Azzy said, pointing to a completely different leaf from the one Arrden was looking at. They then spotted the rather large caterpillar Arrden was staring at. “Oh! Guess you’ve got two! You might be good, then!”

“Oh, thank god.”

It was about then that Mrs. Kitterling wheeled her way back out to the front desk, smiling brightly as she set a little doll on the counter. “Little Daisy was still wearing a little necklace, too! Did you still want that, little Arrden?”

Arden huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. “No thank you, ma’am. Thanks for keeping Little Daisy safe!” It all made sense now--Daisy would always try and let her doll partake in activities, so she was probably taking necklaces off the shelves and putting them on the doll while Arrden handled the trade for the bracelet. Then she’d gotten so excited about putting her new bracelet on, she’d probably left the doll up on the counter. Then they had to hurry home to make it back before Dad finished with book club, and they’d forgotten it entirely… well, at least he had it back now! Just a few more errands, and he could bring it back before Daisy got impatient and told on him.

“Of course, of course! Was there anything else you needed?”

“Uhm,” Flare cut in. “I was actually wanting to trade for these bee decorations, if they’re available?”

“Oh, of course, Flare, dear! What did you have in mind?”

“I’ve gotta run a few more errands, but I’ll see you guys in school?” Arrden said, already backing up towards the door.

“Oh, definitely! See you!” Azzy beamed, waving goodbye as Arrden made his way out.

Truth be told, Arden was a bit fidgety the entire ride to the Ferns’ place. He was so relieved to have found the doll, but so anxious to let it out of his sight again, so he held it tight in his grip most of the way there. At least, until he decided he didn’t want to risk dropping it, so he’d put it in his tote bag to keep it safe. But with all the flowers and jars and books in his bag at this point, the doll kinda half-hung out of it, and so he’d get paranoid that it’d fall out so then he’d clutch it tight in his hand again… what was usually a maybe twenty minute ride from Mrs. Kitterlings to the Ferns’ stretched to about thirty just because of his indecisiveness.

It probably didn’t help that the roads up to the Ferns’ weren’t all too great. They lived out near the fields--not too far from Azzy, actually--but it was a route better suited for bikes and wagons. Dirt roads weren’t too good for skateboards, so Arrden ended up on foot a good chunk of the way. Not that he actually had to travel too too far up the road, as the Ferns kept a farm stand at the end of the long driveway to their house, stocked with cartons of the day’s fresh eggs from their amassment of chickens, quail, and pigeons. Early in the mornings, you could even find a few glass bottles of milk down in the cooler, or a few blocks of cheese and butter, or baskets of whatever fruit was in season up on the table. All you had to do was leave something of worthy trade in the exchange basket, like flower cuttings, or seeds, or handmade jewelry, or… anything, honestly. His dad said the Ferns practically begged people to take their eggs from them in the past, and yet every year they were more than eager to get more chicks to add to their flocks.

Arrden placed a jar of calendulas and rudbeckias on the trade counter, gently placing a carton of chicken eggs and a glass jar from the ‘givebacks’ counter into his bag. At least it gave him a safe place to sit Little Daisy--he imagined the doll felt quite comfortable, sitting nestled in a glass jar all to herself. After making sure everything was safe and secure, he made his way back down the dirt road, hopping onto his skateboard the instant it became a viable option.

The ride to Junebugs took him to basically the opposite side of town from his house back in the suburbs, not that it meant all too much to him. He liked the solitude he got from riding around on his skateboard, humming his favorite songs and feeling the wind in his hair. Still, the street lights might be coming on by the time he actually made it back. He’d worry about that later, for now he had to hurry to Junebugs before they closed shop for the day. Fortunately, he made it just in time--the sign still read ‘Open!’ on their front door. He enjoyed the perfumed scent of the serviceberry and apple flowers as he rode under their reaching branches on the pathway, the colorful pink blooms of native rhododendrons growing in bright surges around their trunks. Junebugs’ front garden was always a wonderful sight to see, though part of it was because being there almost always meant leaving with something sweet.

The front window counter was still open, so Arrden stepped off his board and made his way over to ding the little bell on the counter. “Just one moment!” a voice called out from further inside. Of course, Arrden didn’t mind waiting--waiting just meant getting to enjoy the scent of sugar syrups and honeys and glazes, the colorful sight of candied fruits and flowers alongside baked cookies and other pastries settled on drying racks. He could feel his mouth starting to water at just the thought of taking a bite of some. Unfortunately, he had to save all the candy for his sister, otherwise she’d definitely pitch a fit.

It didn’t take too long at all for Mx. Junebug to return to the counter. Their fingers were still stained with various colors from dealing with so many plants and candies, but they brushed it off on their apron and smiled. “Hey! I like your patches, kid. How can I help you?”

“Oh, uhm, thank you!! Uhm, do you have any candied strawberries? Or violets, maybe?”

Mx. Junebug leaned on the counter. “I have both right now, just finished a batch earlier today. What’re you wanting to trade for ‘em?”

“I! Have! Uhm…” Arrden set his tote bag on the counter and gently reached in to pull out the jar of flowers that remained--a handful of zinnias and milkweed, which fortunately the two caterpillars were still munching away on. “My mom grows lots of flowers! And these ones had some caterpillars on them! I heard you like them?”

Mx. Junebug’s eyes grew wide, and Arrden knew he had a good trade before they even said anything. “I will absolutely take those little buggies off your hand! Give me a moment to get you all set up, alright?” they said, taking the jar in both hands before disappearing further into the house. Arrden leaned against the wall by the counter, lazily watching bees fly around the serviceberry blossoms as he hummed under his breath. Ultimately, it didn’t take all too long for Junebug to come back with a small bioplastic baggie of candied strawberries and violets, tied off with a little bow of teal rope. “Here you go, kid! Hope you enjoy ‘em!”

“Thanks so much, Mx. Junebug!” Arrden grinned, waving before he hopped back onto his skateboard and made his way back onto the main streets.

The ride back home was fairly uneventful. For Arrden, at least. Things in Aster slowed down, sure, but they never came to a full halt. Even now, strings of fairy lights were beginning to turn on amongst the market’s awnings, powered by solar panels that had been collecting energy all afternoon. Though most stalls stayed closed through the night, the street instead became something akin to a giant party hall for those who preferred to be active through the night. Older teens and young adults danced to a collection of music--on one end of the street, there was a punk band performing, while on the other someone had brought a speaker and was playing party tunes from their phone. Arrden was half-tempted to join them--Kendall had been to a few night parties and said they were loads of fun--but if he didn’t get home soon, his parents would be upset. So he had to muster all his self-control to stay on his board and skate past the festivities, skate past the cozy-looking library that was all aglow as late night readers nestled into beanbags and chairs. Once he made it past the nightly temptations, though, it was just softly glowing street lamps until he made it back home.

As he stepped back inside, he was greeted with the sight of his mother resting on the couch with Daisy in her lap, watching TV. His dad was in the kitchen playing rock songs on the radio as he sang and cooked.

“Hey, Ma! Hey, Dad! I’m home!” Arrden beamed.

“Glad you’re home safe! Took you a bit longer than I was expecting, was everything alright?” his dad said, peeking out from the kitchen doorway.

“A bit, but I got sidetracked talking to some friends. Sorry I’m late, though.” he said, making his way into the kitchen to set his bag down before rushing back out to hug his mother. “Hey, Ma! How was work?”

“Oh, it was good! I was just telling Daisy about the new window we’re working on for the community center’s new makerspace! It’s going to be big and round, with a lovely big daisy!”

“Daisy! Like me!” Daisy beamed.

Arrden grinned and ruffled his sister’s hair. “Daisy, like you! I bet it’s gonna look great, Mama, you can build anything!”

His mother leaned over to give him a kiss on the forehead. “You’re a sweetheart, Arrden, you know that? So, what’re you gonna do tonight?”

“Uh, I checked out some books from the library that I wanna read! I left them in the kitchen, actually, let me go get them!” Arrden hopped up from the couch to duck back into the kitchen to scoop up his books--and Daisy’s doll, hopefully before his dad spotted it.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky--the doll was sitting in the jar, out on the counter beside his stack of books. He froze at the sight of it, and his father turned from the cooking to send him a look. Uh oh.

“Arrden? Let’s step outside a moment.” his father said, sliding a lid onto the simmering pasta sauce. “We need to chat.”

Uh oh.

Arrden nodded wordlessly, following his father out the back door into the backyard. There were a handful of fireflies flitting about as they made their way to the bench swing under the treehouse. His father leaned back in the seat, while Arrden sat hunched into his own shoulders. The silence was agonizing, as they sat out there, Arrden’s poor mind going wild with possibilities. He’d always tried to avoid getting into trouble with his parents, and he had a significant feeling that he was in trouble with his parents right now. Oh, he was never gonna get that spinning wheel at this rate, let alone a beehive!

“You went out to get Little Daisy back, didn’t you?” his father finally said, but he hadn’t looked away from the fireflies yet.

Arrden nodded quietly, then realized where his father’s eyes lay. “I-I did. I… wanted to bring it back before you realized it was gone, because…”

“Because you took Daisy out, even though we’d said she had to stay inside?”

“Y-Yes… I’m sorry, Dad, but she was being so sad, and I just wanted to cheer her up! We were safe the whole time, her ear didn’t even hurt at all, and--but… I shouldn’t have taken her, I’m sorry…”

His dad hummed. “I appreciate you looking out for your little sister, Arrden.” he let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. “Lord knows my older brothers wouldn't've done the same for me at your age. And I understand why you wanted to find the doll before it became a larger issue. I’m not mad at you for trying to find the doll.” Arrden let out a sigh of relief, but paused as his father turned to him and held up a finger. “But. I’m a bit upset that you took Daisy out into the town without permission. What would you have done if she’d gotten hurt, or if her ear infection got worse while you were out?”

“...you’re right, Dad… does this mean I can’t have a spinning wheel…?”

His dad’s eyebrows arched, and his locs shifted as he tilted his head. “...not necessarily. I think you were irresponsible to do what I told you not to, but I can also see you were being responsible by looking for Little Daisy and owning up to your mistake. I do wish you would be more honest with me, though--I would have helped you look if you’d told me. And you wouldn’t’ve had to get bribe candy for your sister, either.”

“Did she tell on me?” Arrden pouted. “She promised not to if I got her candy.”

“I noticed she didn’t have the doll, and she was honest with me when I asked.” another hum from his dad. “...I’ll talk with your mother about letting you have a spinning wheel, but if you break our trust again, we’ll be pushing it back by at least a month. Alright?”

Arrden nodded. “Alright. Thanks, Dad.”

His dad laughed, ruffling his hair a moment as he stood to his feet. “You’re a good kid, Arrden. There’s worse things you could be doing than taking your sister out to play. Now, come on in when you’re ready, alright?”

“Alright, Dad.” at that, his Dad made his way inside, closing the door behind him, leaving Arrden sitting alone on the bench outside. He sighed, looking up at where the stars were beginning to peek their way through the darkening sky. He stayed there awhile, watching the fireflies and moths dance around the meadow, listening to the rustling of the wind in the tree’s branches, the gentle creak as he swung slowly back and forth on the swing.

He was a pretty good kid, huh?

-------------------------------------------

Special thanks to @1wren and @105ttt for beta-reading this fic for me!

[startrekfangirl2233-writes]

Hello Star!! I saw that your requests were open and I was wondering if you will okay to write a Bradley x reader with the prompt; “please talk to me. i need to know you’re alright.” Thank you so much bby<333

A/N: Pav! Thanks for this amazing ask! You're so lovely and this prompt was dynamite. It was supposed to be a drabble and 2.7K words later, here we are! I hope you love it as much as I love you and this request! More under the cut!

AO3: Cross-posted here!

Most people mention their first boyfriend or girlfriend when they talk about falling in love for the first time. You always had a different answer. You fell in love before you even knew what romantic love was. You were nine years old when your parents moved your family across the country to San Diego. As expected of a precocious nine-year-old, you were less than enthused at the thought of leaving everything and everyone you knew what felt like a million miles away. And you’d shown that frustration by causing a fuss through every moment of the moving process, from packing your things to the long flight to San Diego. Your mom had finally had enough of you underfoot when the moving van showed up with boxes of your belongings in front of your new house.

“Sweetheart, why don’t you take your stuffed bear and play outside.” Though she was smiling, you knew the difference between a request and an order, and this was definitely an order. There was a small backyard fenced off behind your house full of long blades of overgrown grass. Curious, you took your bear, named Pooh Bear long ago, after your favorite childhood cartoon, on an exploratory adventure. After hours in a cramped, stuffy plane, the fragrant sun-warmed grass felt like heaven. The backyard was so overgrown that you had soon fashioned yourself and Mr. Pooh, your erstwhile associate, as explorers making your way through an unknown jungle. In the back corner of the yard was a large, beautiful old tree. Throughout your explorations, you soon found yourself babbling away at Pooh and settling down in the shadow of that beautiful tree. You’d talked yourself out and were waiting for the noise of the movers to fade so you could finally beg your mom for a snack when a plane landed in your lap.

“Hello? Hello!” A reedy voice had called over the fence to you. “Is there anybody there?”

“Yes! Are you missing a plane by any chance?” You shouted back.

“I am! I’m in house number 15!” The voice yelled back at you. “Can we meet in the front yard so I can get my plane back?”

“I just have to tell my mom where I’m going, and I’ll meet you right there!” You’d yelled back, excited. A friend! Hopefully, this boy would want to be your friend. 

Plane and Pooh Bear in tow, you excitedly scurry back into the house. 

“Mom! Mom!” You’re practically shrieking in your excitement.

“What?! What is it, sweetheart?” Your mother had sounded harried, her hair sticking to her forehead in the heat of an early San Diego summer. 

“A boy from next door lost his toy plane over the fence! Can I go give it back to him?” You’d wheedled, your voice pleading as you had tried your best to look as innocent as possible. “I promise we’ll be in the front yard and only in the front yard. He said he lived in number 15!”

“Alright, sweetheart. You can go to return the plane. But if you hear me calling for you, you’d better come right back. Ok?” She held your eyes until you’d nodded eagerly, your glasses sliding down your nose with each jolt of your head. Permission gained, you’d rushed out the front door, pausing perfunctorily to shove your feet into a pair of flip-flops, dodging the movers as you’d rushed helter-skelter out of the house. Pooh Bear and plane in hand, you’d skipped out to the sidewalk in front of your house. To your left, the house was obscured by the moving truck in your driveway. The house to the right, however, was labeled number 15. You knew you’d got the right house when the screen door slapped open, and a gangly tow-headed boy strides out. This must be the boy who'd lost the plane. He’s tall with dirty blonde hair and big brown eyes.

“Hi!” You introduce yourself and Mr. Pooh Bear. “I’m nine years old and just moved in next door. Here’s your plane!” You’d been grinning widely, the gaps in your teeth on full display as you peered up at the boy, carefully cradling the plane in his hands.

“I’m Bradley, Bradley Bradshaw.” He’d finally responded. “I’m eleven.”

“So you like planes?” 

“Yeah,” He’d finally smiled back at you. “I love them. My dad was in the Navy. He died when I was two years old. He used to fly in one of these every day. My Uncle Mav gave me this toy. Thanks for bringing it back.”

“Can you tell me more about it?” You’d asked carefully.

That had been the beginning of a beautiful friendship with Bradley Bradshaw. He’d been your best friend since that summer day when you were nine and he was eleven. Most of your childhood had been spent running into and out of your houses. Both of your mothers had oft joked that they’d be in-laws as soon as you grew up, as close as you were.

You’d been sixteen, and he’d been eighteen when you’d realized your feelings for Bradley were more than friendly. That summer had been the most taxing on both of you. His mom, Carole, had been increasingly sick, and he hadn’t known how to deal with the possibility of losing her. You’d spent many an afternoon sitting under the tree in your backyard, holding your best friend as he’d sobbed, still gangly but grown into his height. You’d been his support, standing at the cemetery later on that summer, propping him up as he’d laid the only family he had left to rest. You'd been the only person he'd told about Mav pulling his papers to the Naval Academy. You were the only person he’d said goodbye to a few weeks later when he decided to leave everything he'd ever known, including you.

You were roused from your sleep by pebbles clattering against your window. In the early morning light, you’d cracked open your blinds to see Bradley’s window open across from yours. You’d heaved the blinds open and scribbled on a notebook, “I’ll meet you downstairs!”. You’d snuck downstairs and met Bradley on your front lawn at his nod.

“Hey, Bradshaw. What’s going on?” You’d felt exceedingly ugly in your duck-printed pajamas, especially as Bradley was fully dressed.

“I’m leaving.”

“What?!”

“I enlisted in the Navy yesterday. I’m driving to Pensacola for my basic training, leaving right now.” 

"Is this because of Mav? When he pulled your papers?" You'd been in shock, processing the news.

"Yeah. I'm still angry, but I found another way to fly for the Navy. And this time, I will prove that I can do it." You'd seen the anger in his eyes.

When your eyes had teared up at the thought of losing him, he’d crushed you to his chest. 

“I know, Sweetheart.” He’d murmured. “I know. I’m going to miss you too.” His eyes are soft and sad in the dimness of the morning light. “I couldn’t leave without telling my best girl goodbye.”

“Bradley!” You’d sobbed in earnest, feeling your heart break for real. “I don’t want you to go!”

“I don’t want to go either. But I have to!” He’d tried so hard to convince you. “It’s the only chance I have to achieve my dreams.” 

“But I love you, Bradley!” You’d finally had enough, letting the words slip off your tongue in your grief. “Please don’t go.”

He’d cried before kissing you clumsily. “I love you too, Sweetheart. I wish I’d told you how much before now. I have to go to Florida, but I want you to promise you’ll call.”

And call you had, every night for all the years he’d been in the Navy, continuing until he’d been back in San Diego at Top Gun. That was when you’d finally taken your relationship to the next level and then gotten married a year later, just like Carole and your Mom had hoped over a decade earlier. 

Being a Navy wife was the hardest thing you thought your relationship would ever have to overcome. The constant worry for him and the length of his deployments stressed your relationship more than you’d ever seen. Or so you thought. This new mission Bradley had been pulled into as part of a special detachment scared you witless. It scared him too. You’d known him for two decades; the only time you’d seen him this frightened was before Carole died. Add to that the stress of having Maverick in his life again, and you didn’t know when you’d get your happy, sweet, golden retriever of a husband back again.

Three short weeks later, after everything had gone down, you got the bare bones of the mission details from Maverick and knew the healing process for Bradley would not be easy after what he’d been through. At first, Bradley had seemed lighter, more like the boy you’d first fallen in love with. He was reconnecting with his Uncle Mav. His physical wounds had healed in no time at all. And then the nightmares set in. Nearly every night, he’d woken you screaming for Maverick, sweating profusely, shivering, and shaking. On occasion, you’d even woken to hear him retching in the bathroom. No matter what you did, he wouldn’t open up to you. So you’d resolved to keep an eye on him. That’s why you found yourself at the Hard Deck one night with the rest of the newly named permanent Dagger Squadron. 

Bradley was his usual cheery self, outwardly, at least. But you knew him well enough to see the differences. He'd joked and bantered, drinking and trash-talking as he played pool. But when the spotlight shone on others, you could see the shadows in his eyes.

“Hey, Missus Bradshaw!” Phoenix is grinning. You smile back at your husband’s closest friend in the Navy.

“Hey, Phe.” 

“C’mere.” She tugs you to a less crowded corner where Bob sits. She gestures between them. “We’ve been meaning to talk to you. There’s something up with Rooster. He’s not himself, not since we got back. He’s quieter, and though Bagman seems to make him just as loud as he used to be, he hasn’t roused the bar into song since we returned. The piano’s gathering dust over there. Mav’s noticed, and so has Penny. We’re all getting worried about him. But he won’t talk to us. Maybe you can use your feminine wiles to get him to cough up what’s bothering him?”

They’re both gazing expectantly at you, Bob as always following Phoenix’s lead.

“I’ll see what I can do, Phe. But he doesn’t talk to me either.” You shrug, letting your worry bow your shoulders. “Do you know where he went?” 

“I saw him head out onto the beach.” It’s sweet Bob who speaks. You grin in thanks, pressing a kiss to his cheek, adjusting his glasses, then your own, and leave your drink with Phoenix before heading out to find your husband.

It’s a beautiful summer night in San Diego. The balmy ocean breeze brushes your hair from your face as you pull your sandals off and walk barefoot through the sand. Bradley’s starfished out in the sand, a little ways off. He’s humming tunelessly under his breath, and you can’t help but smile when he breaks into the chorus, “Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire!”

“Hiya, Handsome,” you murmur tenderly, sitting on the still-warm sand near his head. “This isn’t where I expected to find you.”

He laughs, eyes blearily focused on your face, tone nearly hysterical as he cackles joylessly.

“You nearly didn’t find me here at all, Sweetheart.” His voice is rough. “In another world, if it weren’t for Mav, you’d be a widow with a Military flag in our house.”

“B …” Your chest aches at his words. “I know, baby. Mav told me.”

He sits up carelessly, tugging you under his arm. 

“Please talk to me. I need to know you’re alright.” You place your hand over his heart, resting your head against his broad shoulder. “I’m worried sick. You’re not eating. You’re not sleeping. You’re a shadow of yourself. And I don’t know how to help you.”  You’re sniffling now, breathing in his cologne as you sit cradled in his arms. “Please, please talk to me, Bradley.”

For a long time, all you can hear is the rush of the ocean and the faint roar of the patrons at the Hard Deck. Bradley’s a line of heat against your side as you sit in the sand.

“Sweetheart, I don’t know how to find the words.” His voice is harsh, throat working furiously as you look at him. “In the middle of that mission, with missiles flying through the air and me as their target, I thought I’d never see you again. I wanted nothing more than to see, hold, and tell you I loved you again.” 

Tears are dripping down his face, mirroring the tears leaving your eyes.

“And then I got shot down. And I knew I’d never see you again. Never see our babies be born or teach them everything they need to know. And the worst of it all, I made my peace with that. I asked Jake, Bagman, to take care of you after I was chosen before we launched. He’s exactly the kind of man you’d be happy with if not me.” He’s breathing roughly, on the edge of a panic attack, eyes staring unfocused out over the water. “And then Mav pulled his pilot shit, and I don’t know how to live anymore. I feel like Bradley Bradshaw was left in the snow that day.”

“Bradley, baby. I wouldn’t want to go through this life with anyone but you!” Your voice is thin, reedy, “I love you. And,” Your voice is wry as you continue, “while I’m sure Jake Seresin is a consummate gentleman, I think Phe would have a problem with me spending the rest of my life with him.”

You both chuckle, somewhat hysterically, sitting in the sand.

“So, where do we go from here?" He's quiet as you both sit, staring out at the waves. 

"We live, Lieutenant Bradshaw." His mustache quirks at your use of his title. "We live our life together, as we promised in our vows. You're going to get the name of the therapist Mav's been seeing and make an appointment to talk to them."

"And," You murmur as Bradley rises to his feet, drawing you up with him, "you need to kiss me. Now. Kiss me like you wanted to when you weren't sure you would ever see me again."

He's smiling now, like he was at eighteen when he'd kissed you goodbye and like he has every time he'd kissed you since. His mouth against yours is gentle, his mustache brushing softly against your upper lip as you stretch to meet him. His arms wrap around your waist as the kiss deepens. You can finally feel him relax in your arms. This is where his healing begins.

You can't help the grin on your face and voice as you walk back to the Hard Deck, looking at your husband.

"And anyhow, Mr. Bradshaw, you'll kiss me a lot in the coming months."

"Why's that?"

"You're telling me you won't kiss your pregnant wife as she grows your only child?" You're pouting at first, but that transitions to giggles as he comes to a complete stop on the wooden planks that lead from the Hard Deck to the beach.

"You're pregnant?" His voice cracks, wonder in his eyes.

"Yeah. I've been drinking soda with Bob all night. I'm about 12 weeks along. Baby Bradshaw was conceived when I met you in Hawai'i for our anniversary when you were temporarily stationed there."

You're swept into his arms again and kissed until your lips ache with the force of it. He drops you gently back onto your feet before flinging the glass doors leading into the Hard Deck open with a crash. It's late, and only a few stragglers, the Dagger Squad, Mav, and Penny, are left inside. His dramatic attention brings everyone’s eyes to the two of you. 

“WE’RE HAVING A BABY!” He roars, all the pain and fears finally off his shoulders now that he’s spoken to you. Now that he’s shared his fears with you. The bar comes back to life in barely a second. The Dagger Squad, save Phoenix, Bob, and Penny, congregates around Bradley while the other three congregate around you. You’re soon squished tight in congratulatory hugs by everyone. You grin when Bradley Bradshaw finally sits at the piano, serenading your heart home. Healing will be challenging, but not so long as your husband tells you he loves you.

I DO NOT CONSENT TO HAVE MY WORK POSTED, TRANSLATED, OR PUBLISHED ON ANY SITES OTHER THAN HERE OR ON AO3 BY ME. IF YOU SEE MY WORKS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN HERE OR AO3, THEN THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND I WILL BE WORKING TO TAKE THEM DOWN.

[the-name-is-z]

SKELETONS | ch. 24

daryl dixon x f!oc

masterlist

a03 link

Summary: As the group starts to make a new home of the prison, someone sabotages their plans, leading to unfortunate losses. Warnings/Information: AMC's The Walking Dead OC Insert | 18+ Advised | strangers to lovers; the slowest of slow burns; gore; angst; horror; humour; m/f; canon character death; killing walkers; ethical discussions; murder

Chapter 24 - Where Else

“Okay, let’s get the other car in. We’ll park ‘em at the West entry of the yard.” Rick instructed as they drove the vehicles in from the road. Iris backed the truck up on the side of the gate, careful not to drive over any walker’s they’d left on the ground.

“Good. Our vehicles out there look like a giant ‘vacancy’ sign.” Daryl remarked.

“After that, we need to load up these corpses so we can burn ‘em.” 

“Gonna be a long day.” T-Dog grumbled.

“Where’s Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help.” Carol stated. Iris walked over, rolling her neck. Those prison mattresses were terrible. She’d rather sleep on the ground.

“Up in the guard tower.” Daryl replied.

“Guard tower?” Rick asked, putting his hands on his hips. “They were just up there last night.”

“Glenn! Maggie!” Daryl yelled across the field. Iris could see their silhouettes as the two of them stood up, and Glenn shouldered the door to the balcony open, shirtless, still buttoning up his pants.

“Hey, what’s up, guys?” He called back. Iris whistled loudly, earning a hearty laugh from Rick and T-Dog.

“You coming?” Daryl asked impatiently.

“What?” Glenn asked. The rest of them burst out laughing, grinning to themselves. Carol had to cover her mouth as she smiled.

“You coming?” Daryl asked again, smirking. “C’mon, we could use a hand.”

“Yeah, we’ll be right down.” Glenn replied. Iris shook her head, turning around as they walked back to the gate.

“Hey, Rick.” T-Dog called, stopping them in their tracks. Smiles faded as they turned, seeing Axel and Oscar walking across the courtyard toward the field. Rick started storming toward them, Daryl and Iris following quickly.

“That’s close enough.” Rick hissed as they stopped about six feet away. “We had an agreement.”

“Please, mister. We know that.” Axel replied quietly. Glenn and Maggie came out from the guard tower behind them. “We made a deal. But you gotta understand… we can’t live in that place another minute, you follow me? All the bodies— people we knew. Blood, brains everywhere. There’s ghosts.”

“Why don’t you move the bodies out?” Daryl asked.

“You should be burning them.” T-Dog stated.

“We tried. We did.”

“The fence is down on the far side of the prison.” Oscar explained. “Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. We’ve been just dropping a body and running back inside.”

“Look, we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew. Nothing. You trying to prove a point, you proved it, bro.” Axel assured. “We’ll do whatever it takes to be part of your group, just please, please… don’t make us live in that place.”

“Our deal is not negotiable.” Rick said sternly. Iris pursed her lips. “You either live in your cell block or you leave.”

“I told you this was a waste of time.” Oscar muttered. “They ain’t no different than the pricks who shot up our boys. You know how many friends corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw ‘em out, like. These were good guys. Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint, like Tomas and Andrew. Now we’ve all made mistakes to get in here, chief. And I’m not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me. We’ve paid our due— enough that we would rather hit that road than go back into that shit-hole.”

Rick turned to get one glance from Daryl, who shook his head. They decided to lock Axel and Oscar up in between the front gates. Axel muttered small complaints, but they were safe at least. T-Dog argued for them to join in.

“Are you serious? You want them living in a cell next to you?” Rick asked. “They’ll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You wanna go back to sleeping with one eye open?”

“I never stopped.” T-Dog replied. “Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves.”

“I don’t know. Axel seems a little unstable.” Glenn pointed out.

“More-so than the rest of us? He already said, he was in for drugs, which we don’t have, and Oscar broke in to some place. They’re not killers.” Iris argued.

“After all we’ve been through?” Carol asked. “We fought so hard for all of this, what if they decide to take it?”

“It’s two against eleven.” Iris replied. “And I still cuddle my knives like teddy bears.”

“It’s just been us for so long.” Maggie murmured. “They’re strangers, I don’t— It feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around.”

“You brought us in.” T-Dog pointed out.

“Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms. Didn’t give us a choice.” Maggie replied.

“They can’t even kill walkers.” Glenn replied.

“They did. Sort of.” Iris chuckled.

“They’re convicts, bottom line.” Carol frowned.

“Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do.” T-Dog countered.

“I get guys like this. Hell, I grew up with them.” Daryl said. “They’re degenerates, but they ain’t psychos. I could have been in there with them just as easy as I’m out here with you guys.”

“So you’re with me?” T-Dog asked.

“Hell, no. Let them take their chances out on the road, just like we did.”

“What I’m saying, Daryl—“

“When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid.” Rick started. Iris bit down on her tongue, looking out at the forest. “Nineteen years old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial— suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and then two weeks later, shot another girl. We’ve been through too much. Our deal with them stands.”

Rick and Daryl turned back to go speak with Axel and Oscar. T-Dog looked frustrated, but he was definitely outvoted. Plus, Rick had a point. They didn’t know them. Axel was a coward, but sometimes cowards did the most damage in situations like the ones they found themselves in all the time. Iris had often considered herself lucky she never wound up in prison as a youth. A few overnighters in a holding cell, but never anything crazy. But she knew people like the boy Rick described. And unfortunately, he was right. They’d lost so much already, the stakes were high.

-

They spent the rest of the afternoon piling the bodies up all together. They were sweaty and tired, but it was done.

“Move the cars to the upper yard. Point ‘em facing out. They’ll be out of the way but ready to go if we ever need to bail.” Rick explained, tossing the gate keys to Glenn. “We’ll give the prisoners a week’s worth of supplies for the road.”

“They might not last a week.” T-Dog replied spitefully.

“It’s their choice.” Rick replied.

“Did they really have one?”

Iris left them to talk it out as she followed Daryl to the gates. Maggie got into the SUV while Daryl got onto his bike, ready to pull up to the courtyard.

“Twin cylinder, is that a Triumph?” Axel asked Daryl, observing the bike.

“Don’t even look at it.” Daryl grumbled.

“Didn’t want it bored out?” Axel asked. Daryl ignored him, starting the bike. “Sounds like it could use a tune up. I’m pretty handy with a wrench. Heads are leaking. I know my bikes!” Iris chuckled as Daryl pulled away, leaving Axel to himself.

“Man, will you just stop? Have some balls.” Oscar scoffed.

“Just sayin’.” Axel muttered as Glenn closed the gate behind them.

-

A few hours later, Iris passed Axel a box of supplies as Daryl, Rick and Glenn went through the fence to scope out the hole Oscar had mentioned.

“I’ll cut you loose as soon as they get back.” Iris said quietly, clicking the lock shut.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Axel replied. Iris cringed.

“Don’t call me ma’am, it makes me feel old.” She replied. Axel chuckled lightly. “Sit tight.” She sat down on the gravel in the dog run, watching the hole in the fence as the others climbed through, weaving the wire back through the links.

“So what’d you do before this?” Axel asked. Oscar muttered for him to keep his mouth shut.

“I was a mechanic. Mostly bikes, cars.” She replied quietly. “Hence the matching outfits.” Axel nodded. “You?”

“Gambling man.” He said, putting the box down. “Never had much in the way of a career. Though Oscar here was an electrical engineer.”

“Yeah, well…” Oscar grumbled.

“You think you could maybe put in a good word for us with your man? I know we—“

“We tried. If you can prove yourselves, maybe he’ll let you stay.” Iris murmured, frowning as she watched them walk the perimeter.

“How are we supposed to do that?” Oscar asked. Iris didn’t answer, instead turning back toward the prison. She smiled as she spotted Hershel taking a stroll with Beth, Lori and Carl in the courtyard. 

“Alright, Hershel!” Glenn called. Iris’ smile fell when she spotted the walkers come out of the courtyard behind them.

“Walkers!” She yelled, scrambling to her feet. Rick, Glenn and Daryl were running to the hole in the fence. Iris scrambled to unlock the gate in the dog run, sprinting past Axel and Oscar toward the other gate.

“Walkers, look out!” Carl called. Lori, Carl, Maggie and T-Dog started shooting, but that didn’t stop the swarm from growing. Hershel hobbled out of the way on his crutches, but he was slow. Beth screeched in fear from beside them as they moved around away from them. Iris threw the gate open, sprinting across the field and unsheathing her knives. She didn’t bother opening the gate to the yard, climbing over the fence and hopping down. She pulled her gun and started firing, bore walkers coming as fast as they shot them down.

“That gate is open!” T-Dog yelled, gesturing to further inside the courtyard where they had locked off all the walkers before. Iris grimaced. Maggie herded Lori and Carl inside, Carol and Iris backing up T-Dog as he ran for the gate. He shoved a few out of the way, pulling it shut.

“T!” Iris yelled, running over, but it was too late, and the walker was too close. He screamed as it’s teeth sunk into his shoulder, ripping out flesh with reckless abandon. Iris put a bullet in it’s brain as Carol screamed.

“Here!” She called, shoving open a door on the other side of the catwalk. She pulled T-Dog inside and slammed the door behind them. Iris was somewhat surrounded and she grimaced, making a break for the chain link cage Beth and Hershel had locked themselves in. They watched as she climbed the fence, perching on top of it while the walkers pooled around them. She unloaded her clip but there were still more.

Daryl, Rick and Glenn finally made it to the courtyard, pulling the gate open and unloading their own guns into the walkers surrounding them. Glenn used his machete to cut through to the gate while Daryl unleashed his crossbow on the walker’s surrounding Iris, Beth and Hershel.

“What the hell happened?” Rick yelled.

“The gate was open!” Iris replied, jumping down from the roof of the doorway after they’d removed the walkers surrounding her. “Lori, Carl and Maggie went through to the cell block. T-Dog and Carol went through there, but T got bit!”

“Anyone else?”

“No.”

“Stay put!” Rick yelled to Beth and Hershel while they continued clearing the courtyard.

“You alright?” Daryl asked. Iris nodded. She was fine, albeit shaky and nervous. 

“Those chains didn’t break on their own.” Glenn said after slicing the top of a walker’s head off. “Someone took an axe or cutters to ‘em.” Rick turned around, staring daggers through Axel and Oscar, who stood warily at the edge of the gate. “You think they did it?”

“Who else?” Rick growled. Iris nearly jumped out of her skin as a loud alarm blared out across the compound.

“What’s that?” Glenn asked, alarmed.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me!” Daryl yelled, exasperated. The noise was drawing walkers in from everywhere, and they started to gather along the outer fences. 

“Kill it!” Rick yelled. They pulled out their guns, aiming for the loudspeakers. He wheeled around, pointing his gun in Oscar’s face. “How the hell can this be happening?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, it has to be the backup generators.” He insisted, putting his hands up.

“How do you turn those on?”

“There’s three that’s connected to a diesel tank, okay?” Oscar explained frantically. “Each one controls a certain part of the prison. The hacks shut them all off when the prison was overrun.”

“Can someone open the main gates electronically, with full power?” Rick asked.

“I only worked in there a few days. I guess it might be possible.” Oscar shrugged.

“Okay, come with us!” Rick yelled, grabbing him by the shirt and hauling him along. They burst through into the cell block, but there was no one there. A few walkers, but that was it. “Lori! Carl!”

“Maggie must have taken them further in.” Iris said, out of breath as she kicked her mattress that had been knocked askew.

“We just took down five of them in there.” Daryl called, running in from the other room.

“Four in here, but no sign of anyone.” Iris replied.

“They must have been pushed back into the prison.” Glenn breathed. 

“Somebody is playing games!” Rick yelled in frustration. “We’ll split up and look for the others. Whoever gets to the generator first, shut them down!” They split up, Iris following Daryl, Rick and Oscar as they jogged through the corridors.

Oscar led them to the generators and they burst through the door, narrowly escaping a few hungry, snapping jaws. 

“Daryl, get the door!” Rick yelled. Daryl and Oscar threw themselves against the door, holding it shut as the walkers pointed against it. Rick ran for the generator. “How do you shut these down?!”

“Go, I got it.” Iris traded places with Oscar, and though he was much larger than her, some help was better than none. She and Daryl pressed themselves against the door, boots skidding against the ground. Iris heard her heard pounding in her ears before the scream. Andrew yelled as he popped out from the corner, slamming his baseball bat into the electrical panel, aiming for Rick. They wrestled, Rick attempting to disarm him as they slammed into various panels. Daryl let out a cry of effort as they strained against the door. Iris slid to the ground, scrambling up against it with a grunt.

“We gotta let go.” He grunted. Iris nodded and they moved in tandem away from the door, grabbing their weapons. They killed the first few that were slamming against the door before Daryl shoved it closed once again. Oscar tossed one of the metal panels at Andrew, shoving him off of Rick before picking up Rick’s gun.

“Shoot him! We can take back this prison!” Andrew pleaded as they both stood on shaky legs. Rick held out his hand. Oscar panted. “What are you waiting for? It’s our house! Shoot him!” Oscar pulled the trigger, and Andrew’s body hit the ground. He handed the gun back to Rick and Iris keeled over, hands on her thighs as she panted. Rick shut the generator down, the alarms stopping, finally. 

They made their way down the hallways, searching for the others. There was a scuffle somewhere down, but when they rounded the corner, they found Glenn and Axel. They all moved together down the hallways, finding two walkers standing over a body. Rick shot them both, but Iris held a hand to her mouth in shock.

“T…” She whispered. He was flayed open, barely a corpse as his innards littered the ground. They all paused for a moment and Daryl belt down to lift Carol’s scarf from the floor. She was nowhere to be seen, but they had no idea. They followed the halls all the way through to the door T-Dog and Carol had escaped through, Hershel and Beth waiting on the stairs.

“Hershel!” Glenn called.

“You didn’t find them?” He asked.

“We thought maybe they came back out here.” They both shook their heads.

“What about T? Carol?” 

“They didn’t make it.” Daryl replied.

“That doesn’t mean the others didn’t. We’re going back.” Rick said lowly. “Daryl and Glenn, you come with—“ Rick stopped as the sound of an infant crying carried over the courtyard. They all turned to see Maggie stumble down the stairs, a small bundle of Carl’s coat in her blood-soaked arms. Carl followed blankly, his face dark and his eyes empty. His own hands were covered in blood and Iris held in a gasp.

Rick dropped his axe as he faced Maggie, shaking his head. She was crying, clutching the baby close. Rick shook his head again, his lip quivering. He blinked, staggering back and forth as he walked closer.

“Where— where is she? Where is she?” He asked. When Maggie didn’t answer, he made for the door.

“No, Rick no!” She cried, pulling him back. Rick sobbed, clutching his hands to his face as he stared up at the prison. Carl stood next to him, motionless.

“Oh, no. No!” Rick cried. Glenn walker over, pulling Maggie to his chest as she cried, resting her head on his shoulder. Iris sheathed her knives, running a hand through her hair as tears lined her eyes. 

-

TAGLIST:

@heidiland05

@ryoujoking

@catlalice

@maxinehufflepuffprincess

@lowkeyhottho

@fadingpalacebonkpsychic

[the-delta-42]

The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if St Johns succeeded in capturing and eating the Motel survivors?

[First] [Previous] [Next]

Losses

What if St Johns succeeded in capturing and eating the Motel survivors? Prompt Submitted by Darkwubs on AO3

Requests On Hold

TW: Implied Rape/Non-Con, Cannibalism and Murder

Lee scowled as Larry, Lilly and Kenny were hauled out of the meat locker by the St. Johns, with Andy throwing Duck in. Making sure Duck and Clementine were behind him, Lee grimly watched as he heard Lilly screaming at them through the door. They heard Larry yelling, before a gunshot echoed out, followed by two more. They heard Danny and Andy talking about something, as they started butchering.

Outside the Barn, Carley and Ben quietly watched as Walkers started pressing against the fence. Lee and the others had been gone longer than they’d expected, prompting Carley to make the decision for her and Ben to go find them. It was probably nothing, but they had to be sure. A noise beside her made Carley pause and look towards it, expecting a Walker. Instead, she saw a boy roughly the same age as Clementine looking up at her.

“Hi.” Said the boy, getting a small wave from Carley and Ben.

“…Hey.” Carley wondered if this was how Clementine met Lee.

“Carley, there’s the woman.” Said Ben, pointing towards the house.

“Probably noticing that the fence isn’t on and the Walkers getting through.” Murmured Carley, as one of the St. John brothers stepped out, holding Katjaa’s severed head, “Oh, god.”

“We got the meat stripped off the three you wanted us to kill.” Said the brother, “Just Lee, and those kids left.”

“I had to get rid of that one we had for dinner.” Said the man’s mother.

The man scoffed, “Where’s Andy?”

“He’s with that woman.” Said the mother, “You had that vet.”

“Wasn’t fair he got the prettier one.” Grumbled Danny, “Can I have that other one, that came here earlier?”

“We’ll see.” Said the mother, “I turned the fence on, we got Walkers comin’ up on us.”

Carley took the opportunity to raise her gun and shoot Danny in the spine, the man fell with a scream.

“My legs!” Screamed Danny, “I can’t feel my legs!”

The mother, Brenda, Carley remembered her name, looking around frantically, before Carley took her out as well. She wasn’t killed, but she hit her head when she landed. Without waiting for Ben or the kid, Carley ran into the barn, finding an inside door open to the horrific scene of Kenny, Larry and Katjaa butchered. Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, Carley stepped past them and saw a meat locker and wrenching the door open. Carley just stepped through, when Lee tackled her.

“It’s me!” Yelled Carley, making Lee pause.

“Oh, thank god.” Gasped Lee, before spotting the dead bodies, “Fuck.”

“Where’re Mark and Lilly?” Asked Carley, getting a groan from Lee.

“They fed the others Mark’s legs,” Said Lee, “If Lilly isn’t with the others, then they might have her somewhere else.”

“We have to get the kids out of here.” Said Carley, just as they heard a scream, “That sounded like Lilly.”

Lee frowned, before looking at the kids, “Go with Carley, I’ll get Lilly.”

Carley soon found herself with Duck and Clementine, guiding them past their dead friends. Lee grabbed a rifle and a pitchfork, stabbing Brenda with the farming instrument and charging into the house. There was some yelling, before there was a gunshot. Carley waiting a few moments, before looking at Ben, “Keep the kids with you.”

Without waiting for a response, Carley rushed to the house, finding Lee keeping Andy pinned by standing on his shoulder, while trying to coax a catatonic Lilly out of the room. Carley swallowed, noticing that Lilly was naked.

“Lee.” Carley got his attention, “I’ll take over here.”

Lee nodded, before he hauled Andy to his feet and forced him into another room. The sound of breaking glass and Andy screaming told Carley that Lee threw the other man out a window. After getting some clothes on Lilly, Carley gathered what weapons and supplies she could find into a bag, the two women saw Lee shove Andy onto the electric fence, before he dragged the paralysed Danny over to his reanimated mother and shoved his face against the Walker’s mouth.

“LEE!” Yelled Carley, making Lee look at her, “We need to go.”

Breathing heavily, Lee nodded and guided the kids and the women out of the farm, leaving their dead friends. Lee’d hoped that they wouldn’t lose anyone else, killing a Walker that got a bit too close to Ben.

L

The boy, that crept up on Ben and Carley, gave his name as Adam and that he’d gotten separated from his dad while they were hunting. They found his family’s car, with them deciding to wait at the car until Adam’s family turned up.

“Look at all their supplies.” Said Ben, looking into the car, “They’ve could survive for weeks off this.”

“Probably.” Shrugged Lee, “Almost makes me wonder why they were out hunting.”

“We could double back,” Suggested Carley, “take whatever supplies remain at the dairy.”

“Tomorrow.” Said Lee, looking at Lilly, “It’s dark and we don’t want to get lost.”

The sound of a stick breaking got their attention, just as a man, a woman and a girl a little bit older than Duck appear from the darkness. The man stared at them for a bit, before hastily grabbing his gun, “W-what do you want?!”

Adam perked up and rushed out, “Dad!”

“Adam!” Gasped the woman, rushing towards him, “Oh, baby, I thought I’d lost you.”

“I found these guys.” Grinned Adam, “They fought some bad guys as a farm, she,” He pointed at Carley, “shot two of them, it was so cool, he,” Adam pointed at Lee, “threw one of the bad guys out a window and beat him up and threw him onto a fence! And, and he stabbed another with a pitchfork and when she became one of the monsters, he threw the last surviving one onto its mouth!”

Adam’s parents wearily looked at Lee and Carley.

“They were cannibals, who tried to feed us our friends legs and killed three more of our friends.” Explained Lee, before glancing at Lilly, “She… er… got stuck in a room with one of them.”

Adam’s dad slowly nodded, before looking over the group, “Do you have somewhere to stay?”

“We’re based in the Motel not far from here.” Said Carley, “We don’t have much in way of food… or anything really. That’s how they got us.”

“We’ll… er,” Adam’s dad looked at Adam’s mom, “we’ll meet you there.”

L

Adam’s parents, Mitch and Tess, checked them over when they got back to the motel. Tess turned out to be a doctor, while Mitch was a handy-man/mechanic. Lee was somewhat happy that Duck and Clementine had a couple of kids around their age for once. Lilly stayed in her room for the most part. Mitch started fixing the RV, stating not all of them could fit in the car.

Lee, Mitch and Ben had gone to the farm and scavenged anything that could be useful. Ben got separated from them for a bit, but they all made it home. Lee and Carley had done several supply-runs into Macon, gathering as much food, weapons and supplies as they could find. It was after one of their supply-runs that they found Lilly had gone missing.

Then the supplies started to go missing, which led them to move the supplies into the RV, with someone inside it at all times to keep an eye on them.

“They have to be going somewhere,” Said Carley, looking around at the other three adults, “what are they taking?”

“Opioids.” Responded Tess, “And since none of us are getting high, they’re not using them, which means they’re either stashing them away or giving them to someone outside of the group.”

“Who’s watching the supplies now?” Asked Mitch, looking at Lee.

“Ben,” Answered Lee, “I’m going to look over the outside, since we’ve checked everywhere else.”

“We’ll get the vehicles ready.” Said Carley, as Lee headed out.

Half-an-hour later, the station wagon and the RV were tearing out of the Motel, speeding away as the Bandits from the woods shot at them.

L

They stopped at the side of the road during the night, with the Adults stepping out, after Lee hit a Walker.

“They had Lilly.” Said Tess, “They said ‘one isn’t enough anymore’. What else could they’ve meant?”

“Someone gave them supplies and sold a member of the group.” Carley frowned and Lee dealt with the Walker, “That, or they’ve been sneaking in, but then why only take one?”

“The kids would’ve mentioned it,” Said Lee, looking up from the Walker, “which only leaves Ben.”

“What do we do with him?” Asked Mitch, making Lee sigh.

“We don’t have the numbers to cut him loose.” Said Lee, “We’ll keep him away from the others, but we’ll need to come up with a more permanent solution.”

After ensuring that there weren’t Walkers approaching, they got back in their vehicles and drove off.

L

They stopped at a level crossing, with a train blocking the road. Lee, Mitch and Ben scouted the train out, discovered that it still worked and met an old homeless man who was living in it. After introducing him to the rest of the group, Lee and Mitch got the train free from the derailed cars.

“Good luck.” Said Mitch, as they split the supplies, “In Savannah, I mean.”

“You as well.” Responded Lee, “Maybe we’ll run into each other again someday.”

“Someday.” Said Mitch, as Carley got Clementine, Duck and Ben onto the train, “You going to teach them how to shoot?”

“Carley seems to think it’s a good idea.” Said Lee, looking at the train car, “Hopefully we can make a more solid plan when we get to Savannah.”

Mitch sighed, “Well, be seeing you, Lee.”

“Goodbye Mitch.”

The two halves of the group bid their goodbyes, with Adam giving Clementine his hoodie, “So you won’t get cold.”

With a final wave, Mitch and his family drove off, as Lee started the train.

L

The trip was quiet and without interruption, until Lee had to stop the train because a tanker was blocking the track. Lee had gone up to inspect the coupling when he ran into Omid and Christa, a couple that had been travelling when the outbreak started.

After showing Omid, and Ben, the controls of the train, Lee took Clementine down to a nearby station, while Carley kept watch on top of the train. After a few minutes, they heard a gunshot, prompting Christa to run down to the station, just as Lee and Clementine stepped out.

“What happened?” Demanded Christa, looking at Lee.

“We ran into some Walkers,” Explained Lee, “We dealt with it.”

“Really?” Christa frowned, “You and an eight-year-old girl?”

“I’m nine.” Corrected Clementine, making Lee look at her.

“When’d you turn nine, Clem?” Asked Lee, drowning.

“Four days ago.” Answered Clementine, after counting on her fingers.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Everyone died.” Answered Clementine, “I didn’t want to be happy.”

“Clem,” Said Lee, gently as he crouched down, “you can be happy when you’re grieving. Sometimes, it’s what keeps us going.”

Clementine gave Lee a small nod, before they reached the trains. Lee and Omid went up and started cutting the tankers coupling, while Carley saw a horde of Walkers in the distance. Glancing at her gun, Carley tucked it into her waist band and called down to Christa, “We’ve got some Walkers coming up, if they guys are quick, we can get out of here before they reach us.”

Just as Carley said that, the tanker dropped down onto the ground, with Lee and Omid hurrying down to them and clambering onto the train. With heavy breaths, the survivors left the horde behind.

L

“The Marsh House should be down here.” Said Carley, as they walked down a street, “Hopefully, we won’t have any unexpected surprises.”

Lee glanced back at the group, Christa and Omid stuck around, but Lee felt like that they were hiding something. Chuck kept an eye on Ben, as Lee had requested, making sure he didn’t do anything that could put them at risk. Lee and Carley still had to decide what to do with Ben.

Lee bumped into Clementine, not noticing that she’d stopped, “Clem?”

Clementine stared down the street, with Lee following her gaze. He felt his breath catch in his throat, Clementine’s parents ambled around, not making any noise. Gently pushing Clementine forwards, the small group hurried into the Hotel, with Ben tripping when a Walker grabbed his ankle. Faster than anyone them could react, the Walker clambered onto Ben’s back and tore a chunk out of his shoulder. Swallowing, Lee pulled the hotel doors shut, as Ben was devoured by the Walkers in the street.

Swallowing, Lee turned to the others, “We need to check for Walkers. Chuck, stay here with the kids, okay?”

Chuck frowned, but nodded. Lee took the rest of the group and spent the next few hours putting down the Walkers still in the hotel. Sooner than they all expected, they’d each claimed a room.

“Ooh.” Carley stretched as she sat down, “That was exhausting.”

“Yeah.” Murmured Lee, wrapping an arm around her, “Fuck, how long has it been?”

“Since when?”

“Since we lost the others.”

“Just over a week, I think.” Sighed Carley, leaning against Lee.

“Christ.” Lee looked down at Carley, “Wanna talk about it?”

Carley sighed and looked up at him, “No.” Without another word, Carley closed the distance between them and kissed him.

L

The next morning Lee and Carley woke up tangled together, with a strange feeling of contentment. They got dressed and checked on the kids, finding Clementine wrapped up in a blanket and Duck half-way off the bed.

After gathering the rest of the group, they took stock of their situation. A couple hours later, Lee and Carley were walking down to the river front, with Duck and Clementine in tow.

“I still think this is a bad idea.” Said Carley, looking around for Walkers.

“It’d help them with future runs.” Answered Lee, glancing back and Duck and Clementine, “Clem, Duck, stay closer to us.”

The children hurried over to them, just as they reached the river. There were boats, but the ones that were sea-worthy had been completely stripped of anything remotely useful.

“Who are you guys?” Asked a woman’s voice from behind them.

Lee and Carley immediately spun around and aimed their guns at a woman in an orange hooded jacket. The woman lowered her hood and remove a mask she’d been wearing, “You’re not with Crawford.”

The woman had interrogated them, told them about Crawford and how she used the bells around the city to lure the Walkers away, when the Walkers that she’d lured away came back. The group ended up being split up, the woman, who’d given her name as Molly, had gotten Carley and the kids up to higher ground, while Lee had to escape into the sewers.

L

Lee returned to the hotel, with the help of another survivor, Vernon, after he stumbled across them. He found that Carley, Clementine and Duck had gotten back to the hotel with Molly. After reuniting with them, the group, as well as their two guests, convened in a lounge-like seating area.

“The hotel’s fairly well stocked,” Argued Christa, looking around them, “and winter’s almost here, so, adding what we already have, we could hold out here until the weather warms up.”

“I thought you wanted to get back on the road.” Remarked Lee, “But, staying here does seem like a good idea. But we’re gonna have to learn the layout of the streets, which ones are blocked, which ones are overrun with Walkers and all that.”

Chuck cleared his throat, “It might not be my place to say, but how long have you been pregnant?”

Everyone looked at the old man with varying degrees of alarm and confusion.

“What?” Carley frowned, “How do you know she’s pregnant?”

“I was a doctor,” Answered Chuck, “was let go on account of my arthritis.”

Lee sighed, “Okay, so, taking Christa’s condition into account, we’re probably gonna be here until the baby is born—”

“Probably longer,” Said Carley, “it’ll be a while before their baby’s safe to travel.”

 “We’re going to need more medicine.” Said Lee, “And some more weapons.”

“And Crawford will have both.” Said Vernon, “I know a way into Crawford without them knowing.”

“If we do go,” Said Carley, “Some people are gonna have to stay behind.”

L

Vernon had left and returned with another member of his group, a woman called Brie, before they led a small group consisting of Lee, Omid, Molly and Clementine to Crawford through the sewers. They’d found the community had fallen and was overrun with Walkers, Lee found himself agreeing with Vernon when the older man said they now had the advantage. They set themselves up in a classroom, with Lee instructing Clementine to hold the fort until he got back, before he went off with Molly to get a battery and some gas for something she was working on.

Meanwhile, at the hotel, Carley, Christa and Chuck

Brie offered to stay with Clementine, while Vernon and Omid got the medicine. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing, with Lee and Molly returning with the battery. Brie then took Molly and got the gas, before Vernon and Omid got back to the room, it turned out that Omid knew his way around a lock. They’d just gotten the armoury open when Molly and Brie got back, they gathered what weapons they had and made their escape, spotting the large horde of Walkers that had been attracted by the train.

“Maybe you should bring your people to the hotel.” Suggested Lee, looking at Vernon and Brie, “We’ve got the room, and we’ve got it pretty secure.”

Vernon hesitated, before glancing at Brie, “We’ll discuss it amongst ourselves.”

Lee found himself nodding, before they started on their way back to the hotel.

“So,” Omid looked at Molly, “What’re the gas and battery for?”

“I’ve been trying to fix up an RV,” Said Molly, after a few moments of silence, “the Battery and the gas were the last things it needed, I think.”

Having an RV, Lee thought, could be useful when they eventually moved on. He decided to talk to Molly about it later, after they were all safe at the Hotel.

L

Vernon and his group reached the hotel, just as the horde hit Savannah. Lee made sure that Molly was with them before they hit. Everyone knew that the hotel wasn’t going to be long-term, but as Lee looked around the two groups mingling with each other, he couldn’t help by feel hopeful.

“Do you think Mitch and his family are okay?” Asked Carley, making her presence next to him known.

“I hope so.” Answered Lee, “Maybe we’ll run into them again.”

“It’ll be a while.” Said Carley, as she watched Clementine and Duck talk with Molly, “Do we stay as a big group or split off?”

“I don’t know.” Sighed Lee, “Molly’s RV would come in handy, but we know the issues of having a medium sized group, having a large group might be worse.”

“Or it might be better.” Carley pointed out.

Lee sighed, “I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Carley hummed, before resting herself against Lee. The couple stood in silence, watching the group. Lee knew that they needed to come up with a plan or something, but, for now, he wanted to enjoy the peace.

Next Story: What if Clementine & AJ joined the Saviors instead of the New Frontier?

[daryltwdixon]

The Promise of Us: Chapter 27

“You found them like this?” Rick asks quietly, his voice hoarse.

You’re standing in a back-gated area with Daryl, Rick, Carol, and Tyreese. The two burned bodies lie on the ground, the acrid stench of charred skin and smoke filling your lungs. The sight of the corpses is disorienting, your mind feeling sluggish as it tries to process the horror before you. Tyreese’s gaze locks onto Karen’s bracelet—there’s no doubt about who one of the victims is. The other must be David, the man whose cough you’d heard echoing through the prison halls only hours ago.

Someone—one of your own—did this to them.

Tyreese’s face is twisted in a mix of grief and rage as he turns to Rick. “I came to see Karen, and I saw the blood on the floor. Then I smelled them,” he says, his voice tight. You swallow hard, remembering the smears of blood on the floor, the signs of bodies being pulled out to this side yard.

“Somebody dragged them out here and set them on fire!” Tyreese’s voice rises, cracking with emotion. “They killed them! And set them on fire!” He steps closer to Rick, raw determination in his movements. Daryl inches behind him, muscles taut, ready to intervene. You tense instinctively, your hands hovering between your knife and gun, unsure whether either is appropriate to subdue someone you care about.

Tyreese looms over Rick, his eyes wild with anger, “You’re a cop. You find out who did this and you bring ‘em to me, you understand? You bring ‘em to me,” he demands, his voice ragged as he jabs his finger at Rick’s chest.

Daryl steps forward, placing a hand on Tyreese’s shoulder. “We’ll find out who—” he starts, but Tyreese jerks violently, shrugging off the touch. You feel a surge of tension as Tyreese’s agitation spikes, each movement more erratic than the last.

“Do I need to say it again?” Tyreese growls, his voice shaking with rage.

Rick shakes his head slowly. “No, no, I know what you’re feelin’. I’ve been there,” he says quietly, trying to keep his tone calm. “You saw me there, it’s dangerous.”

“Karen didn’t deserve this!” Tyreese shouts. “David didn’t deserve it, nobody does!”

“Alright, man, let’s—” Daryl says, trying to pull Tyreese back, but Tyreese twists violently, slamming Daryl into the side-yard fence.

“HEY!” you shout, rushing forward directly behind the large man. The sound of your voice only seems to fuel Tyreese’s anger.

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere ’til I find out who did this!” he yells, fists bunched in Daryl’s shirt, his body coiled like a spring ready to snap. Daryl shoots you a look, his hand behind Tyreese’s back in a silent plea for you to hold back.

“We’re on the same side, man,” Daryl says, trying to defuse the situation.

“Tyreese, we’ve all lost people. We know what this feels like,” Rick adds, stepping closer. “You’ve got to calm down so we can—”

But before Rick can finish, Tyreese twists sharply, his rage unfocused. His fist swings out wildly, and before you can get out of the way, it slams into your face with a brutal force. Pain explodes in your skull, the impact knocking you off your feet. You feel yourself hit the ground hard, your head cracking against the unforgiving concrete. Lights flash in your vision, and for a moment, everything blurs.

“She wouldn’t want you acting like this!” Rick shouts, but Tyreese is too far gone, throwing his fists at Rick now, unaware of what he’s done to you. Carol’s voice pierces the chaos, a desperate scream for them to stop.

Daryl lunges forward, getting behind Tyreese and trying to pull him back. “That’s enough, man!” he yells, but Rick’s rage has already broken free. He’s back on his feet, fists flying, each punch landing with months of suppressed anger behind it.

You push yourself up slowly, head spinning as the sound of Tyreese’s broken sobs fill the air. Pain radiates from your cheek, and you instinctively reach up, feeling the swelling already beginning, blood on the tips of your fingers where he broke skin. You sit there for a moment, dazed, but unable to look away from the brutal scene unfolding in front of you.

You try to steady yourself, blinking rapidly to clear your vision. The pounding in your head is overwhelming, but it’s the throbbing pain in your cheek that stings the most. You feel disoriented, a mixture of shock and anger swirling inside you. Through the blur, you make out Daryl breaking away from the fight. His eyes, wide with concern, dart toward you, and without a second’s hesitation, he rushes over.

“Hey, hey,” he says, dropping to a crouch in front of you. His voice is rough, but his touch is surprisingly gentle as his hands hover over your face. “You good? Can you stand?”

You nod slowly, your body still shaking from the impact. He reaches out, gripping your arm with a firm but careful hand, helping you to your feet. You wobble, and Daryl’s grip tightens, steadying you.

“Easy, now,” he murmurs, eyes scanning your face. There’s a raw intensity in his gaze, a mix of anger and worry. “Damn it,” he mutters under his breath, glancing over his shoulder toward Tyreese and Rick.

You press a hand to your cheek, wincing at the tenderness. “I’m fine,” you say, but the words come out weaker than you’d like.

Daryl shakes his head, not buying it. “Ain’t lookin’ fine,” he replies gruffly. He glances back toward the still-sputtering fight, then back at you, his body tense with indecision. 

You swallow hard, nodding again. “Just… help me to the fence,” you say, your voice steadying. “I need a minute.”

Daryl slips an arm around your waist, supporting you as you move toward the fence. His presence is solid, grounding, and you lean into him, grateful for the comfort.

“I’m sorry,” he mutters quietly, his voice barely audible over the commotion. “Should’ve stopped him sooner.”

“It’s not your fault,” you manage, resting a hand on his chest to steady yourself. He’s warm, and his heart is beating fast, the adrenaline still running high. “Just… make sure Rick’s okay.”

Daryl’s jaw clenches, his gaze hardening as he watches Rick and Tyreese. But he gives you a small nod, a silent promise that he won’t let things spiral further. Then he gently lowers you down to sit against the fence, his hand lingering on your arm for a moment longer before he turns back toward the chaos. Eventually he tears Rick away from Tyreese, who lays on the ground helpless and sobbing.

❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥

“You’ll be alright,” Hershel says, his voice gruff but kind. “Not as bad as Rick’s sprained hand, that’s for sure.” He pauses, glancing up at you from under his brows. “There’ll be a council meeting tomorrow morning,” he adds. “Thought you should know.”

You nod, sucking in a sharp breath as the antiseptic seeps into the cut on your cheek. The sting is sharp, and you instinctively flinch. Hershel’s touch is gentle, his hands steady from years of tending to wounds far worse than this.

“Hold still,” he murmurs, continuing to dab at your face with a damp cloth. “It’s not deep, but it’ll bruise somethin’ fierce.”

You manage a strained smile, though it feels more like a grimace. “Yeah, well, adds to the collection,” you joke weakly, your voice rough from the earlier shouting and shock. Hershel’s lips twitch with the hint of a smile, a fleeting softness in the midst of the bleak reality around you.

“Guess it does,” he agrees. His gaze lingers on you for a moment longer, a mix of fatherly concern and weariness in his eyes. “You need to get some rest after this, alright? No runnin’ off on your own.”

“Sure,” you reply, though you both know it’s not a promise you’re likely to keep.

The door creaks open, and Daryl steps inside, his eyes immediately finding yours. He looks a little more bruised himself—Rick must’ve gotten a few solid hits in before the chaos ended. Daryl’s gaze softens, relief flickering in his eyes when he sees you sitting upright.

“How’s she doin’?” Daryl asks, his voice low as he addresses Hershel.

“She’ll live,” Hershel replies, pulling back to inspect his work. “Just a few more dabs of this and she’s good to go.”

Daryl walks closer, his posture still tense. He crouches down beside you, his eyes scanning your face carefully, like he’s assessing the damage for himself.

“Looks worse than it is,” you say, trying to reassure him.

“Yeah, well, it still pisses me off,” he mutters, the anger still simmering beneath his words. His hand hovers near your cheek, but he pulls it back before touching you, as if unsure whether he should.

Hershel finishes dressing the abrasion and rises slowly. “That’s all I can do for now. Get some rest,” he repeats with a pointed look at you. “And you,” he adds, turning to Daryl, “try to keep her out of trouble.”

Daryl gives a faint huff, his lips twitching with the hint of a smile. “Ain’t no promises there.”

Once Hershel leaves, you and Daryl are left alone in the small room, the sounds of the prison faint in the background. There’s a heaviness in the air between you, a mixture of relief and lingering frustration.

“You scared the hell outta me,” Daryl finally admits, his voice low and rough. His eyes meet yours, the blue darkened by worry. “Didn’t know he was gonna swing like that.”

“Neither did I,” you say with a weak laugh, wincing as the motion pulls at your sore cheek. “Guess I was just in the wrong place.”

Daryl shakes his head, his jaw tightening. “Ain’t no right place for what happened.” He pauses, then leans forward slightly, his voice softening. “You gotta be careful. I can’t be everywhere.”

You nod slowly, the weight of his words settling over you. “I know. But we all took hits today.”

“Yeah, we did,” he agrees, a reluctant understanding passing between you. There’s a moment of quiet, both of you just breathing in the same space, and then Daryl reaches out, his fingers brushing yours. It’s a small gesture, but it carries a depth of emotion that words can’t quite capture.

“Get some rest,” he says, his voice a gruff command, but there’s a tenderness in it that makes you feel less alone.

You squeeze his fingers briefly before letting go, a silent promise that you’ll try to be more careful. He lingers a moment longer, his gaze lingering on your bruised face, then finally rises to his feet.

“I’ll be right outside,” he says, his voice low. “If you need anything.”

You nod again, watching him leave, the door closing softly behind him. As you settle back, exhaustion finally catching up with you, you feel a flicker of gratitude—for Daryl, for Hershel, for the stubborn will that keeps you all going.

❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥・・❥

“It’s spread,” Hershel says gloomily in the dim light of the library that late afternoon. “Everyone in Cell Block D—Sasha, Caleb, and now others.”

“Jesus,” Carol murmurs, barely audible. “So what do we do?”

The words barely register as you blink slowly, your vision blurring. Your face burns like it’s on fire, the room spinning dangerously. You can’t keep your balance any longer and slump down against the wall, trying to steady yourself. The blow from Tyreese must’ve done more damage than you realized—your head throbs, a pulsing reminder of how hard he’d hit you. Sweat slicks your back, cooling briefly before the heat returns, settling deep in your skin.

The conversation continues, though it sounds distant and muddled, like you’re underwater. You catch glimpses of Daryl’s concerned glances in your direction, but you try to focus on the discussion, even as the world tilts around you.

“We need antibiotics,” Hershel announces, cutting through the haze.

“We’ve already hit every pharmacy nearby,” Daryl grumbles, his voice low and gritty.

“The vet college,” Hershel suggests. “It’s one place people may not have thought to raid. The medications there are similar to those used on people.”

“That’s 50 miles away,” Daryl counters, his tone frustrated. “It was too big of a risk before, but not now. I’ll gather the team.”

“I’m coming,” you say at the same time as Michonne.

She looks over at you with a small grin, but Hershel’s expression remains serious. “Michonne, you haven’t been exposed. Daryl and Y/N have. If you go with them—”

“Please,” Michonne interrupts with a smirk, “I’d be more worried about the other things I’d be exposed to out there with these two if I was alone with them. I’ll gather the others” She glances between you and Daryl, trying to break the tension. It works, and you manage a faint smile despite the pounding in your head.

Michonne crosses the room quickly and reaches out to help you up. You grab her hand, rising unsteadily, feeling a momentary wave of dizziness before it passes.

“You sure you’re okay to go?” Daryl asks quietly, his voice rough with worry.

“Please don’t ask me to stay behind while you’re 50 miles away,” you reply, your voice steadier than you feel. You search his face, finding both frustration but still a warmth there as he looks at you. He sighs, the tension easing just slightly.

“All right,” he mutters. “But we best not waste any more time.” He reaches for your hand, his grip warm and grounding as he leads you toward the door.

“I’ll lead the way. I know where things are kept,” Hershel says, stepping forward.

You and Daryl exchange a look, a silent understanding of the risks ahead. “Hershel,” you say softly, “when we’re out there… it’s always the same: sooner or later, we have to run.”

He pauses, his eyes meeting yours, the weight of the reality settling over him. He nods slowly. 

“I’ll draw you a map.”

[absideon-ephemeral]

Sky | Bucky Barnes

Bucky Barnes x reader

Summary: The sky is always changing. Never the same twice. But it’s never been the same since you’ve been gone.

Warnings: ANGST, slight gore, descriptions of blood and death. Violence. I want to make someone cry (probably myself). Language, not a happy ending.

A/N: First off, y’all shocked the hell out of me. 1k+ likes on Dog Tags?!?! Thank y’all so much. I was inspired by the book Strange The Dreamer to write this.

The sky is ever changing.

Never the same twice.

The sunrise is always different and so is the sunset.

Nothing is ever the same when it comes to the sky.

And nothing will ever be the same for him either. . .

It was supposed to be an easy mission. A simple take down. But when has anything ever been easy for any of you?

It started when Sam received word that a new group of extremists were forming in Madripoor. It was small, a rag-tag Flag-smasher wannabe group. They preached the same message: those who survived the snap were forgotten when the rest came back and deserve the same help as they did. Not wanting to repeat the whole situation over again, Sharon (who had yet to come out as the Power Broker) contacted Sam who then contacted you and Bucky to help solve this rising problem. After a quick debrief from Sam, you three were boarding a plane (courtesy of Sharon) and off to Madripoor.

From there, the rest seemed like a blur. You remember suiting up and the debrief, locating the exact place. You remember the ride there, sitting alone in the back seat while Sam drove and Bucky rode shot gun. You remember looking out the window as you drove on, the sky a pale gray; the kind indicating a storm coming in. You remember Bucky calling your name, asking if you were okay. You nodded, not letting on to the growing unease within you.

It was a fairly short ride. You parked a distance away as to not attract attention. When you finally snuck up on the building, your unease turned to dread. The rag-tag group chose an abandoned steel mill as their hide out. That meant all sorts of sharp metal pieces were probably lying about. Now you had to worry about those kind of hazards as well. As you three snuck over the wrought iron fence, mindful of the sharp spikes on the top, drops of rain began to appear. Your feeling of dread increased the closer you go to the building.

“Guys, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” You moved into position to breach the door. Bucky and Sam glanced at you, concern flashing over their faces. They knew you, and when you say you have a bad feeling, majority of the time you’re right.

Bucky glanced back at Sam. “She’s right. Something’s off. It’s too. . .quiet.”

“Look, we’ve got to take out these guys before they cause too much trouble. We’ll just have to be more careful. We’ll watch each others six and the minute we see something too dangerous we’ll pull out, okay?” Sam replied. You and Bucky nodded, understanding that this was something that had to be taken care of.

You three breached the back door, already suspicious that no alarms had been triggered. You three moved along the bottom floor, weaving in and out of old machines and metal. It was quiet. Too quiet. Your thoughts were racing - either they’ve relocated or all hell is about to break loose. Just as you three moved out from under the second story balcony, the latter came true. You were the first to see it, the glint of polished black metal moving above.

“Get down!!” You barely had any time to yell before figures popped up from above and began raining down bullets.

The three of you were forced to split up, taking refuge behind machines. You couldn’t see either of your partners and you assumed they couldn’t see you. The bullets pinged off oft the metal as the people above kept trying to get a better shot at you.

“Are either of you hurt?!” Sam yelled through the comms.

“Negative!” Both you and Bucky yelled back. The bullets paused a moment - reload time. You took this as your opportunity to pop up and and take a couple shots, downing a few of them. You only managed to shoot three before the bullets began again. One managed to graze your left arm as you ducked down.

“Shit!” You press your hand to the graze, palm coming back bloody.

Bucky frantically called your name through the comms. “What happened, did you get hit?” His tone was frantic and laced with worry.

“Just a graze. Took down three of them. How you two holding up?”

“Can’t get a single shot in,” Bucky said.

“Neither can I. I’m deploying Red-wing.” Sam deployed the little robot and had it zooming around the room, hitting people with small little bombs or electrical charges. Between you and Red-wing, most of the people were either dead or incapacitated. All except one.

That single person took off running, ending their gun fire and allowing you three to get up.

“Split up! We can’t let him get away!” You yelled. Before the other two could protest, you were on your feet and sprinting after the criminal.

Your blood was pumping. Heart racing. The criminal was sprinting, almost inhumanly fast. You had to dodge machines and steel and objects thrown in your way. You managed to get all the way to the third floor when you lost sight of him. Coming to the end of a hallway, there was a split. A 50/50 chance you would either catch this guy or not. A curse fell from your lips.

“Sam, Buck, you got eyes on our guy? I lost him on the third floor. Don’t know if he circled back around.” You kept glancing back and forth from your left to your right. Straight ahead of you was a window out looking the fence you crossed over earlier. The rain had stopped and the sky began to clear its way into the beginnings of a sunset.

“Negative on the second floor,” Bucky replied.

“Nothing on the first either,” Sam added.

You sighed. Weighing your choices. You were just about to turn back around when you caught movement out of the corner of your eye.

They were fast - too fast. You barely had time to block before they were swinging at you left and right. When the shock finally wore off you began to fight back. Trying to match their pace but beginning to fail. You went to kick, but they dodged and your step faltered.

Big mistake.

The criminal used this to his advantage, grabbing you by the neck and slamming you against the glass window. You couldn’t breathe right. You tried to gain leverage but just couldn’t. Your comm has been knocked out and effectively cut you off from help. He slammed you against it again, and again. The window began to crack and spider. Your adrenaline rose with the noise and with a newfound strength, you managed to get your legs up and kick him hard in the chest and groin. Stunned, the man let’s go, and you drop to the floor, gasping for breath.

But the fight isn’t over yet.

He straightens, you scramble off the floor, and the dance of death begins. Both of you were exchanging blows left and right: dancing in an intricate circle to live. You turn again, your back to the window. And that’s when your bad feeling came true.

All it took was a moment of hesitation.

A moment where Bucky came skidding around the corner and into the hallway to your left.

A moment where he yelled your name.

A moment to turn your head and take your eyes off your opponent.

And then you were through the window. Shattering glass as the man drop kicked you straight through it.

For a moment you were weightless. Like time had stopped and you were floating in the air surrounded by bits of glass.

But then gravity kicked in.

And you were falling.

Normally a three story fall wouldn’t be so bad. You would end up with a few broken bones or minor injuries that could easily be healed (thank you advanced tech). But, that’s only if you land on straight ground.

No one said anything about an iron fence.

The grief on Bucky’s face as he stood in the window and the pinkish hue of the sky were the last things you saw before your body suddenly jerked and everything went dark.

And Bucky, your poor, poor Bucky, saw it all.

He shot the guy down a second after you went through the window, racing to the edge to see if you would be fine. But he too, forgot about that wrought iron fence. He was helpless. He could only scream your name as you fell to your death. His cry of anguish could be heard all throughout Madripoor as your body collided with the fence and on one of those sharp iron spikes. It went right through your chest - the force of the landing snapping your spine, ensuring a swift death.

He backed away from the window, slowly, and once he could no longer see your body, he ran. Down to the first floor, past a confused Sam (who ran after him), out the door, and to you.

He hoped it was all just some bad dream. You looked too beautiful to be dead. Even as blood ran into your hair and dripped down the fence you still looked beautiful. Your body was arched over the iron: back curled and arms open wide as if you were rejoicing. The spike sticking straight out from you chest and glistening with dark blood. Your eyes open yet dull. He stopped right under you.

Sam, the poor fool, had heard his partners screams and followed him when he ran past. He was a few paces behind Bucky, slowly walking out to meet him. As he approached, his stomach sank.

There you were - beautifully arched over a iron fence, covered in blood, and a spike through your chest. Sam felt sick. Just a few moments ago you were running and shooting. You can’t be dead.

The same thoughts were running through Bucky’s head. He just saw you. You had looked at him. You were alive and fighting mere seconds ago.

But now you were gone.

Bucky called your name softly, tears beginning to silently fall. He approached the fence and placed his hands under your neck and at the small of your back. He painstakingly lifted you off the fence, the wet squelch from blood sounding as he did. He made it but two steps from the fence before collapsing with you in his arms. His hands and arms were now soaked in blood. He kept calling your name, begging you to wake up. Sam slowly approached and kneeled in front of him.

“Buck,” Sam called softly. Tears began to fall down his face as well.

Bucky shook his head. “No, no we can still fix her. Call an ambulance or something. We can still help her.”

Sam said nothing. Only staring at his partner holding the love of his life in his arms. Upon hearing no answer, Bucky lifted his head, bloodshot eyes meeting Sam’s.

“Sam do something! Please, please help her. Sam, please,”

Sam could do nothing but shake his head. She was gone. Nothing could help now.

A gut wrenching sob tore through Bucky and he curled around you, laying his head in the crook of you neck, trying to keep hold of what little warmth your body had left.

The two boys sat, one silently crying, mourning the death of a partner and the grief of his friend; and one furiously sobbing, clutching the dead body of his love.

As the two sat in the abandoned steel yard, the sky gave away to a beautiful sunset. One with oranges, purples, pinks, and reds.

Nothing was the same for Bucky since the day you died.

And the sunset began to haunt him, reminding him of you arched over the fence with a beautiful sunset behind you.

No, nothing will ever be the same.

Especially the sky.

[ameagrice]

Reflecting Light

Once the annual Reaping has passed, and summer rolls out, Winter is the next toughest part of the year—another season of survival. Fortunately, best friend Treech knows exactly how to brighten up the stormy days.

Treech X Lamina | The Hunger Games

IT’S RAINING, just as it was the day she met him. The clouds are so thick you could just reach up and eat them—they do nothing to quell the rumbling in Lamina’s stomach; unfortunately, tesserae doesn’t do much to quell an appetite.

School’s out for the day—mostly everyone has left, besides the few troublemakers that still roam the halls, trying to escape detention. Perhaps, to them, Lamina looks the same. Or at least she hopes she does; it might keep them off her back. She watches as they jostle around by the door, trying to shove one another out into the heavy rain, thunder rumbling every few seconds. They laugh and shout as boys typically do, the way her cousins do when she sees them.

The sound of new footsteps growing closer prompts Lamina into action, turning her head. Newly-cut hair tickles her neck, but it’s forgotten quickly when Treech’s sharp, cheeky grin comes into sight.

“Thank goodness,” Lamina pushed herself off of the wall. “I was starting to think you were going to ditch me.”

“Ditch you?” He gasped, as though it were a crime worth the punishment of a hanging. “How dare you think so lowly of me.” He swung a heavy arm around her neck, pulling her along to the door where the boys are still shouting. As it always does, her heart speeds up ever so slightly at the chance of an altercation, but it doesn’t matter now that Treech is here—he’s popular within the small school.

She grimaces as the first few drops hit her face, and then all at once as Treech throws them out into the weather, at its mercy. Its cold texture shocks her at first, but Treech just laughs, as if there could be nothing better in the world than to be exposed to the elements, feeling life itself. Perhaps, though she’d only realised it now, he always had been that way.

“Oh—no, let’s go back inside—” she tries, resisting against his hold. “We’ll wait the rain out.”

He’s stronger than he looks, she’s always said so. Tall, firm around the shoulders when he swings her over his shoulder. In this last year of school, it’s like he’s shot up at a thousand miles a second. Lamina yells in surprise, protesting.

“Don’t be a baby,” he calls. “What’s a bit of rain?”

“What will your mother say?” She rolls her eyes playfully, “when you return home with ruined clothes?”

“Not much!” He bounces down the steps of the building, Lamina jostling at his shoulder. She can’t help the laugh that escapes. Treech’s hand on her ankle, just over her boot, holds tighter on the last, steepest step, the other hand he has raised to her hip holding her there.

This isn’t helping the accusations she thinks to herself, flexing her hand against Treech’s neck. My mother will never let this go.

Another part of her brain whispers, do you want her to?

No. She isn’t sure she does.

She’s shaken to life when he suddenly leans forward, hands releasing her. Lamina’s boots crunch the gravel and stones. They’re on the Main Street now, through the town. And she’s drenched from head to toe. A glance up at Treech shows her that he is, too. What were this morning dirt-brown curls, shiny and soft, are now flat against his head like a wet dog, his jacket dripping water. He still beams at her, and snatches her hand.

“Come on, then!” He calls, yanking her into a run with him. “I got something for you!”

She pants with exertion, trying to keep up with him. He doesn’t let go of her hand, warming it up. “Like what?” She manages. They fly past people on their work breaks, sitting outside their stores. They fly past the peacekeepers patrolling, who simply follow herself and Treech with calculating eyes. They shoot past the barbed-wire fences separating the soggy, dirty woodlands from the town, and the people working out there, axes coming down every few seconds, the people slick with rain and sweat.

She tries not to think of the future. Of what will be for her and Treech in only five months. A torturous summer, a lifetime of work. Another Reaping. If they can make it this final Reaping without being called up, they’ll be safe for the rest of their lives. Just let them turn eighteen, after the Reaping. They’ve been lucky since the Reapings started, just before they turned seven years of age. Luck has been on their side, mostly. Ten years, no calling their names.

Lamina hopes with all her heart, so hard, that it physically aches.

Treech finds a spot just behind a building due for demolition in a couple of weeks. There are no peacekeepers this far out of town, there’s nobody this far out of town, especially not in this weather. You’d have to be insane, she thinks.

“What is it?” Lamina’s brows raise, staring Treech down. His own eyebrows jump, a sly little grin coming to his face; it fits him well. Tanned hands dig around in the pockets of his pants, until finally he pulls out a small, white package.

“What is this?” She snickers, in a way she only does around Treech and her family. “Some sort of deal?”

“Only just,” he shrugs his shoulders, gesturing for her hands. She holds them out without question—trust came easily between them. He tipped the package until two little things fell into her palm.

Her eyes wide, Lamina can’t believe it. “No. Way. But—how did you get these?” The two small, wrapped candies are a delicacy she only had the luxury of tasting once, in a memory before the war, before the first games.

He winked. “Well now, I can’t go ‘round just telling anybody the tricks of the trade, can I?”

She rolled her eyes, a smile betraying her, and moved to pull her hand away. Treech’s larger one shot out, clasping hers closed around the candy.

“What, changed your mind?”

“Don’t I get a reward for my hard work?” He asks, not shy in the slightest.

She scoffs loudly, shoving him away softly. “My presence is enough, don’t you think?”

They sit, knees knocking in the rain, eating stolen candies.

Anything for one another.

Summer comes around much too quickly. School ends, the weather ramps up and sooner rather than later, the days are scorching.

Lamina knows, this is where things begin to head downhill.

Working in the woods is torture, in the heat. Peacekeepers guard the place, and have it surrounded. No breaks are to be taken unless they say so. Her skin is burned and sore before she knows it, and she hasn’t talked to her friends even once in the last two months. The shifts are exhausting, and prompt no want to so much as visit anybody quickly. It’s tedious, tiring work, but she becomes quick with an axe before she knows it, as if it was second nature. There’s always the fear of striking herself, something she tries to not think of before bed at night. But it never comes.

The Reaping is approaching. Only a matter of weeks away. And she prays to whatever is up there, whoever it is that her grandmother prays to, also, that she will be kept safe and granted this final wish.

Two months after the start of working long days, Lamina finally catches a glimpse of Treech. He’s just a few yards away, swinging that axe into the base of a tree with another guy on the opposite side of it. Under the unforgiving sun, his tan skin shines with sweat. He’s built up more muscle than he had at school, but the little amount of food everyone receives even after working isn’t enough to build up the way anyone should in District 7.

A peacekeeper notices she’s stopped working, and yells, jabbing her in the neck with the end of his gun. The altercation causes people to look and stare, until she raises her axe on sore arms and brings it down once more, splitting wood over and over again. People go back to work, but she slows ever so slightly, looking to her left.

Treech, dark-eyed, sleeves rolled up, watching.

He looks away before she can smile.

Reaping day comes around.

And the world comes crashing down.

Her name, the mayor calls.

Treech’s name, last.

He doesn’t look her in the eyes.

She can’t stop the crying.

She can’t believe their luck.

Or rather, lack thereof.

It happens quickly.

A long trip to the Capitol, embarrassed on live television. A capture in a zoo enclosure. A mentor in red shows up for one of the tributes, a Lucy Gray Baird. Where is Lamina’s tribute, she wonders? What about Treech’s? Don’t they care?

It’s the first night in the zoo that he talks to her.

“I’m sorry.”

The whisper comes when everyone else is asleep, the zoo empty of visitors, the night cooler than it gets in the district.

Lamina turns her head, aching on concrete. At her side, Treech is watching her. She’d been watching the starry sky, wondering if it would be the last time she saw them ever. Who knew; maybe she could win this thing.

Her eyes burn with tears again, throat closing up. And she nods.

“It’s okay.”

He reaches for her hand, and she lets him take it.

“I’ve got your back, alright? You can trust me.”

They meet with their mentors the next day. Treech has a girl who is soft-spoken and almost kind. Lamina gets a harsh boy, who smugly states, “You will win, Lamina.”

But not for her sake.

She can’t stop crying in there, either, under the judging gaze of her mentor, who runs through a list of everything she can do to win this game, including a detailed plan of which tributes to take out first—Dill, an ill girl who coughs through the night; Wovey, she’s young, an easy target. And then the ones to look out for—Treech, he says, but she knows he won’t touch her; Coral, who has been eyeing her up already, looking for her weak points.

They’re led back to the zoo straight after the meeting. Visitors come and go—Lamina almost wished they’d stay, and make the day last longer, to avoid the games tomorrow morning.

On the edge of sleep, she can’t quite grasp what is is that’s happening when peacekeepers burst into the zoo and demand they get in the truck. Panic strikes her so firmly in the face that Treech has to pull her along into the vehicle, by the hand, like they’re back in school.

They’re shown the arena they are due to fight to the death in from tomorrow morning. It’s huge, and she tries the best she can to take in all the places she could hide—there aren’t many. It’s one big, open space. She feels more hopeless and desperate than ever.

“Hey—lumberjack,” the girl—Coral, Lamina remembers her as—calls over to Treech. “Come here.”

Treech nods his head over to her. “Lamina—”

“No. Just you,” Coral says firmly. She eyes Lamina up and down. “Just you.”

And now she wants to scream. Wants to tear down the arena inch by inch with nothing but her hands, even if they bleed. Wants to shoot the peacekeepers away, wants to pull Treech back to her and demand he doesn’t let her go.

But, wishes aren’t granted when you’re from the districts. She should have been used to it by now.

People are watching them when Treech abandons her, walking over the Coral.

That’s when the bombing starts.

‘Rebels’ she hears a peacekeeper cry. The arena begins to fall to pieces and she can’t believe her eyes. Dust, fire and sparks fly up from everywhere, making it hard to breathe. The dirt in her eyes stings and burns, and she stumbles for a second, rocks and pieces of rubble hitting her skin, hurting her. She can’t see anyone, but she hears him.

“Lamina?”

It’s a loud, terrified shout of her name, and it hurts her a little bit more.

Treech shouts again, less sure this time. In a way, she’s glad he’s worried. On the other hand, she’s just as scared for him. At least he isn’t dead.

Someone picks her up from the floor with such vigor that it makes her dizzy, still unable to see. People are shouting and crying all around. All she does is hope the person pulling her along is someone good.

It’s a peacekeeper. He shoves her back into the wagon, falling into Dill, one of the other girls. One by one, the tributes are rounded up again, and taken back to the zoo. Treech is the last to be put on the wagon, heaving for breath. He blinks wide-eyed at Lamina, wiping his hands across his face, trying to get as much dirt off as he can.

She’s hurt. Physically, it’s easy to deal with the pain. More than once she’s fallen in the woods and had more splinters than she can count stuck in her hands. But emotionally, she’s scared. Treech has willingly offered himself up to another group—an alliance, she wants to call it, without a second thought. They’re supposed to be partners—if not district partners, at least friends.

That night, Treech sleeps away from her, on the other side of the pen.

And in the morning, when the games begin, he doesn’t talk to her. She cries the whole way to the arena, trying to hold it all inside, but she’s loud. Reaper, one of the boys, keeps glancing over at her, and she’s terrified. He’s sizing her up for the kill, she knows he is. He’s bigger than her, a lot stronger, and he hasn’t shown one bit of weakness this whole time. Coral grins cruelly when she meets Lamina’s eye, and again in the arena, when the countdown begins.

The bell rings, signally the start of the end. It’s a bloodbath already, but a sudden determination has struck her. She will not die here. There’s a small axe relatively close, at the bottom of the pile of rubble the others are climbing up, striking one another for the best weapon. She’s trying to ignore the district 2 boy, hanging from a rafter. Is he still alive? She’s not sure. Maybe he escaped last night in the bombing—she didn’t see him back at the zoo.

She’s got her weapon, and she gets out of there, climbing a broken beam all the way to the top. There’s a good vantage point up here, where she can watch the other tributes, the whole arena, and see who’s coming.

It’s a long, slow game.

Up from her height, she watches people die, just glad it’s not her. It’s awful to see, of course, but she thinks the more that go already, the more chance she has of getting home. They’ve all noticed her, sitting and watching, but nobody has approached, not yet. She keeps note of Treech guiding his little group away from her where he can, and wishes she could laugh. He’s abandoned her, left her to fend for herself, but tries in his own way to help.

Whatever was the point?

A day passes, and then the night, and before she knows it, she’s tired, thirsty and starving. Nobody has sent anything yet. Nothing at all to anybody.

But plenty have died.

Eventually, when she thinks she might be safe, Coral comes for her. Mizzen, a small, skinny boy, comes from one side, climbing up, and Coral the other, approaching her like a trapped animal. Treech and another boy watch from below.

She tries her best.

She hopes her family know that. She really, really fought to the end.

When Coral strikes her the first time, she’s stolen of breath. Lamina drops her axe, her heart plummeting in shock. This can’t be happening, surely? This isn’t the end, right? Treech wouldn’t leave her up for the kill, would he?

Oh, but he would. Lamina gasps, trying not to scream. Her betrayed eyes drop down to Treech as her hand shakes violently, trying to push down on her bleeding stomach, punctured from Coral’s weapon. Treech has turned pale, his eyes so wide, looking at her and away, at her and away.

Coral strikes her again, in the chest this time, and Lamina shouts, her whole body weak and shaking. Coral pushes her off the edge of where she thought she found safety, and she plummets toward the ground, dizzy and tired.

It doesn’t take long.

Her last thought belongs to Treech.

for @lofhdfn who requested the Treech and Lamina fic :)

‘It doesn’t take long’ hurt me icl. It took a while to get this out, I rewrote it a couple of times but I think I’m fairly happy with it, now. This is more of an interpretation story, I didn’t want to make anything too set in stone in case it didn’t go well or didn’t work with things I planned while writing it. I did take a bit out, but I tried to include as much angst as I could while still showing how they cared for one another.

[indigosunsetao3]

A Reason To Try

Chapter 13 - Escape Plan

Masterlist of Chapters

Warnings: 18+ - No minors Please read the tags on AO3 for any of your triggers

Alex Keller X Original FMC 6.0k words - AO3 Link

Madeline had been in the midst of pulling on a pair of boots when she heard the sound of an approaching car. She shot up from where she had been sitting and went to one of the bedroom windows to peer out, careful to stay off to the side. The gauzy curtains shielded her enough from being seen, but she could easily see the car, cars, pulling in. There were at least three of them, and they were driving slowly surveying the area. Her eyes instantly cut to the bowls that she had left on the fire escape overnight, and she debated how fast she could open the windows and pull them in before they saw. She decided against it as they drew closer; movement would draw their eye, but a few errant items may not.

“Madeline,” Alex called, his voice even lower than usual as he watched two vehicles park by the construction trailer. “How many do you have?”

“Three,” Madeline answered as she walked out to the living room, feeling her body already beginning to tense up with fear. “Why? Are there more?” She asked as Alex remained stock still, staring out the window.

“Two,” he answered simply as he continued to watch. Two men climbed out of a beat-up truck, guns raised, looking around the area as their companions climbed out of their car, also armed. “Armed,” he continued as Madeline walked up to his side to look out as well, pressing herself up to his side to look out the small gap he made in the curtain with his fingers.

“I didn’t stay long enough to see if they were armed,” Madeline answered as she gripped the windowsill, watching as the men used the hole in the fence Alex had made to get into the construction area.  “What do we do?” Madeline asked after a second of watching. One of the men was barely a man at all, a gangly teenager who held his shotgun like he had never seen one before, let alone used one.

“We watch,” Alex said quietly as he flicked his eyes down to her. He brought his free hand up to her lower back, carefully pressing his hand there as a form of reassurance. He could feel how nervous she had become, everything rigid as she stared out the window and her breathing tight. “And we prepare. Start gathering what you want to take and put it in easy-to-move containers. Fill the duffels, backpacks, and anything easy to carry. Keep it as quiet as possible.”

Madeline leaned into the touch before jumping as a car door slammed, and muffled voices could be heard yelling at one another.  When Alex flexed his fingers in response to the noise, she knew he was thinking exactly what she was; they were going to draw those things. In all the time they had been there, nothing had shown up, not even a noise in the distance to indicate they were around. But Alex had still kept quiet outside, was still careful as he worked, watching over his shoulder, and never letting himself get too distracted. She had watched him stop what he was doing on countless occasions to listen. Yet these people were loudly yelling at one another, opening and closing doors without worry, and making a ton of noise rattling the fence.

“They’re too loud,” Madeline finally whispered as someone, another younger-looking guy, began messing with the generator, hitting it a few times because it wouldn’t start. Alex had siphoned it the day before so it just whirred then whined and died. “They’re going to draw them,” she breathed.

“We’ll keep an eye on it,” Alex answered, his voice a bit distracted as he watched two men enter the trailer. They went in guns raised but hardly looked like they were properly trained on how to clear, which meant they’d be jumpy. “If they show up, we’ll figure out the next steps, but for now, let’s keep it one thing at a time.”

Madeline nodded once before stepping out of his grasp. If they needed to get ready, she needed to move now. Most of their items were in the living room and kitchen, respectively, but she still had clothes and items in the bedroom, and she knew Alex had some of his own things in the room he had taken.

She went to her room first and carefully threw things onto the bed: clothes, hygiene items, and a second set of heavy-duty sneakers. Living in a constant state of traveling, Madeline had learned how to pack and make the most out of little space, so she began folding. She rolled undergarments into tight balls and shoved them into her spare sneakers, stuck hygiene items inside rolled-up pants, shoved odd-shaped items into the side nets of the backpack and filled any gaps with shirts. The pack was stuffed to the brim and hard as a rock by the time she finished but she had managed to get everything she wanted to take in it and then some.

Alex kept his vigil at the window, ears strained for any noises getting too close to their condo or for those things. Luckily, the things shrieked and snarled, so their sneaking up wasn’t really a fear, and in the open area, their sounds would travel. So far, nothing. He also listened to Madeline’s quiet shuffling and the soft footfalls as she showed up in the living room with two bags so tightly packed that they made a thump as she dropped them onto the couch. She stood up and pushed some sweaty hair off her forehead, evidence of her hustling, before giving him a tight smile and heading to the kitchen.

All the work she had spent neatly dividing and packing up the items seemed null, though having her notes on them did make it a little easier. She was able to find easy-to-eat foods, ones that weren’t too heavy but had more nutrition. She dragged her old duffel onto the floor next to her and started filling it, dispersing the weight between it and another bag with the water and food. She and Alex would each have to lug one, and she grunted a bit as she lifted one onto her shoulder, then the other, before stumbling to the couch to drop them.

“We need to get to the roof,” Alex said suddenly as he spotted the group headed toward the condo. They were moving to begin raiding the condos, as he expected, but he knew what they would find. He had already gone through them and picked them clean. He hadn’t been meticulous in his movements because there was no need to cover his tracks inside the building. They just needed to keep up appearances on the outside for people driving by. But if they started going condo to condo to find them turned over and empty, they’d be upstairs to them fairly quickly.  

“The roof?” Madeline asked, a bit winded as she heard the people getting closer, their voices echoing in the open stairwell between the condos as they talked. They were discussing how to split up, what to look for, and what to take. And to shoot first and ask questions later. Apparently, it didn’t take long for some people to lose their humanity.  “Why not the cars? We can just-“ she flinched as a loud bang followed by a grunt, and another loud bang met her ears. They were kicking in the doors and calling out taunts to the potential people inside.

“We won’t make it to the cars without them seeing,” Alex answered, “they’ll be up here soon. We need to look like we’ve left.”. He pushed off the window he was at and started gathering up the laptop and phone along with some other spare wires. There was another bang as he shoved the electronics into a duffel with the food before snatching up his notebook and the bag of keys of the shortlisted cars. The last thing he did was bend under the couch and dig out a small reusable grocery bag, one Madeline hadn’t seen before. He packed it as well, zipping up the duffel one-handed.

“The door?” Madeline asked as Alex grunted, throwing the straps of both duffels over his shoulder. The loveseat was still shoved against the door, and he turned to look at it.

“Leave it, they’ll hear us move it,” Alex answered as he ducked his head to slip the M16 strap over his head. “Can you just get the bags?” He slipped the safety off his gun and held one backpack by the strap out to her.

“I-yes,” Madeline answered as she stared at him. The bags of food had to be at least fifty pounds each, and he was holding them ease, along with his gun, which she knew was also heavy. Not to mention all the extra items he had shoved into the duffels at the last moment. She crossed the space to him quickly, and he motioned for her to turn around so he could slip the straps over her shoulders before she picked up the other one to carry by hand. She opened her mouth to inquire what car they were going to take when she heard an angry yell.

“They’ve figured out there’s nothing in those condos,” Alex supplied calmly as he stared at the door.  His heart rate had kicked up a few notches, but he still remained calm. These were civilians, not trained soldiers. So, while they would be trigger-happy, they were sloppy, and he could outdo them. It was just a matter of how many he could take on at a time. “Come on, they’re going to kick in every door they can find.” And no sooner did he say that, they could hear them beating at a door seemingly just a floor below them.

Madeline followed him back to the bedroom, her eyes doing one last sweep of the area before following Alex out onto the fire escape. They moved slowly in an attempt to be quiet, but every movement, each creak, sounded like a gunshot to her ears. She curled her lips into her mouth as she gingerly lowered the window back down, praying her fingers didn’t slip in the water on the glass. When it was in place, she stooped to pick up the bowls, carefully stacking them into one another before going up the stairs.

The roof was soaking, with puddles of water all over, and Alex pointed for Madeline to go to the far corner behind some HVAC units. He wanted them to be as far away from the fire escape as possible because if they couldn’t get into the condo by the front door, they could figure out the fire escape route and go up that way.

Madeline was still quiet with her steps as she walked on the roof, her feet splashing in the standing water as she panted at the extra weight on her back and in her hands. The air wasn’t frozen, but it was still chilled, and the wind that whipped around felt like it was going right through her jacket. When she got to the units, she crept around the side, half bent over, before crouching down fully so she couldn’t be seen over the roof edge. It was soaked over here, too, but they had nowhere else to go, and she eased the backpack onto the driest-looking spot next to the roof wall.

“Good?” Alex asked as he finally joined her, losing the duffel straps from his shoulders to the ground and rolling his neck a bit. When Madeline nodded her reply, eyes wide and skin a few shades paler, he gave her a small smile before sitting next to her on the roof. The water instantly soaked through his pants, and he sighed in discomfort before tensing. The group had made it to their condo. He could hear them smashing at the door, yelling at one another, and then the sound of gunshots. They had resorted to shooting at the door to get it open.

“Alex,” Madeline whispered as she gripped his forearm, flinching at each shot and yell. They weren’t even trying to be civil anymore. Each blast of the shotgun made her wince, and Alex rolled his arm over slowly and extended his hand out to her to grab. She did it gratefully as he sat listening, eyes trained toward the fire escape.

“We’re okay,” Alex stated reassuringly before he leaned forward, grabbed a duffel, and unzipped it a bit before sitting back with a few keys in his hand. “Each of these cars is fully stocked,” he explained as he shoved a few key fobs at her. There was a small post-it note wrapped around the keyring, and Madeline peered at the writing. It was the color of the car and a few numbers or letters from the license plates. “If we need to run, go to any of them,” he explained, and he saw her open her mouth to fight. “I gave us plenty of options on purpose. We can’t plan for everything, but I did my best,” he grinned slightly.

“You’re keeping some, right?” She asked as she fingered one of the loops of an actual set of keys instead of a fob. An older car, she was guessing.

“Yes, there are still some in there,” Alex said with a nod as he tapped the duffle with his foot. “All of them are viable options. So, pick your favorite,” he smirked as she mulled over the logos on the keys in her hands.

Then they heard the rattle of the metal fire escape.

Alex gently untangled his fingers from hers and pushed up on his knees, slipping the gun strap over his head and setting it gently to rest on his thighs. He could hear multiple sets of footsteps on the fire escape, the metal rattling as they clamored up, and a few voices talking. He cut his eyes to Madeline, who shrank down even further against the wall, and he indicated for her to be quiet, to which she nodded. If they could just stay tucked down in this far corner, hopefully, these people were in too much of a rush or inept to do a clean wipe of the area. Then, once they left, he and Madeline could wait it out a few hours before escaping.

Madeline shoved the keys into her pockets as she stared at Alex’s back and listened. It sounded like three or four men walking on the roof, all of them chatting casually and laughing at what they had found. One of them commented that it was obvious a woman had been in the condo, and she shut her eyes at the crude remarks they made about her from the dirty clothes they had found. Alex inhaled a sharp breath through his nose in indignation as he adjusted to reach into his vest and dig out a knife. Madeline stared at him and shook her head once, but Alex slowly shifted the gun off his lap and gently set it down on the rooftop.

They were too close for shooting, too many of them, and the more noise he made, the more people he’d draw. There were four of them, and as he quickly checked around the edge before pulling back, he saw two of them were teens who looked like they hadn’t seen anything more than a schoolyard fight. If push came to shove, he could disarm and take them out, but then they’d have to move before the rest of their companions realized they were missing. He carefully nudged the gun toward Madeline in a sign for her to take it, but she shook her head at him again.

“Take it,” Alex hissed as he flipped the knife in his hand, letting the weight settle in his palm. He nodded pointedly at the gun as if to indicate they were done talking about this, and he watched Madeline reach for it. When her fingers closed around the butt of it, he leaned his back against the HVAC as he shut his eyes to listen to their steps. They were getting closer, spread out a bit but still in a relative semblance of a group. He’d have to move quickly, aim for the biggest guy first, and pray that he was leading the way.

Alex took a deep breath, then another, body bent in a crouch, preparing for the best moment to strike. The toe of a boot came into his view, and as he was about to slip out from behind the corner, a loud blaring horn cut through the silence. He flinched and stayed crouched, looking over at Madeline as the men cursed, obviously just as startled as he had been.  

Madeline prayed that whichever alarm she had set off was one of the cars that was further away. She had reached into her pocket blindly and hit the alarm on the first fob she wrapped her fingers around. Alex was good, but it was four against one, and he was planning on just going into the fight with a knife; she couldn’t risk that. He snapped his eyes to her in silent reproach, but she didn’t care; what she had done had the desired effect. The men had halted in their steps and quickly turned around and jogged back to the fire escape to find the source of the noise. They were cursing as they ambled toward the metal steps, and Madeline gave Alex a small smile.

“What happened to being quiet?” Alex asked as he scrambled toward Madeline, shoving the knife into its slot on his vest as he picked the gun back up.

“You have your methods. I have mine,” Madeline answered with a shrug as she turned the key fob over in her hands. “I hope this wasn’t one you really wanted to take,” she said as she peered at the logo, a Toyota.

“I was more partial to the Ford,” Alex deadpanned. “I think you can cut it before we bring more friends.”

Madeline turned the alarm off so only a ringing silence met their ears. She pocketed the key fob again and shifted in her crouch to fall back on her bottom, water seeping into her skin. The men shouted at one another from the windows and parking lot, trying to figure out what had set off the car.

“How long do we wait? Madeline asked quietly as she leaned her head back on the wall.

“Until they leave or nightfall, whichever comes first,” Alex answered as he peered at the watch on his wrist. It reflected the current time they were in as well as the time in Uzikstan on a smaller face. The pang in his gut at the thought of that made him drop his wrist.

“Nightfall? It’s barely nine,” Madeline groaned as she shifted her hips a bit. She was going to be stiff if they sat there all day.

They fell silent for a bit, listening to the rummaging and things being tossed around inside the condo just below their feet. Alex was sure they were dragging all his hard-won things out the door in the nice totes Madeline had packed for them. It was frustrating that all of it went to waste, but he’d rather have them focus on that instead of trying to find them. As much as he hated to admit it, her trick with the car had been a saving grace; if their group had realized too quickly that their friends hadn’t returned, it would have been an all-out brawl.

“So, is this like a reverse stakeout? We’re the suspects having to wait out the CIA?” Madeline asked after long minutes, nudging him with her shoulder.

“People always think stakeouts are these glamorous things,” Alex answered with a chuckle. “It’s mostly just this. Sitting and waiting for the target to move. I’ve had to lie on a roof for almost a full day just watching a building more times than I can count.”

“I blame Hollywood,” Madeline answered. “They always made it look fun. Junk food, witty banter,” she sighed wistfully, “longing stares between the partners that refuse to acknowledge the tension. Then, in the next scene, they jump one another in the backseat.” She laughed a bit, trying to ease some of her own fear now that they had a moment of rest with the men off the roof and well away from them.

“I can tell you that the witty banter dies pretty quickly, and it’s mostly silence with the occasional check-in and cussing at how bored you are,” Alex answered. “And your partner is usually just as grumpy and probably hasn’t showered in about a week. No one wants to jump anyone in that state.”

Madeline laughed before bending her knees to wrap her arms around them. “I suppose. I like the fake version better,” she confessed as they both heard glass shattering. It seemed that these people were just destroying things to destroy them. “Less dangerous.”

“And more kissing?” Alex asked with an eyebrow raised, and he saw a faint blush creep across her cheeks.

“That too,” she admitted with a sigh.

“Well, I can promise that these men are all flash and no bang. They are being loud to be intimidating because that’s all they have going for them. It’s the quiet ones you have to worry about. The ones you never hear coming,” he explained as a car alarm went off again. He was about to continue talking to convince her they would be safe, if a bit sore, when it registered.

The car alarm that was blaring was further away. It was coming from one of the cars he must have moved in his rearranging, not one of the ones closest to them. Alex had left those keys with those cars, carefully tucked inside the wheel well to avoid setting off the alarms. There was barely any gas left in them, but they could still be useful to someone else for the battery or shelter. Which meant there was only one reason the alarm was going off. Someone, or something, else was there.

Judging by the growling shrieks that echoed, they had attracted more than other survivors.  

“Shit,” he barely breathed as he twisted in his seat to peer over the wall. He could see them, a good dozen of them sprinting toward where the men were yelling again. They were drawn to sound and movement, so the men frantically picking up what they could to run had caught their eyes. And the car alarm still going off, one of them having probably bumped into it, would just keep drawing more and more of them. “We’re going to have to move,” Alex said as Madeline peered over the wall with him.

These stupid fucking men had ruined everything, Had destroyed any hope of shelter by kicking in, or shooting down, the doors of the condos. They had drawn the things by being so loud, and now they were just a beacon for anything else around. Madeline had seen the way these things worked firsthand too many times. They would just keep coming in droves, looking for prey in packs.

“The only way down is the fire escape,” Madeline answered as she shifted the backpack. “The men,” she started, but Alex shook his head.

“The men are less dangerous than these things. We make a run for a car; they’re doing the same thing at this point; they aren’t going to be as concerned with us; they’ll be worried about themselves,” Alex answered as he hefted one duffle on his shoulder, then grabbed the second backpack. If he was going to be using the M16, he needed to be a little freer to move.

Madeline dug into her pockets and pulled out the keys, fingers gripping them all in one hand before grabbing the second duffel and half-hauling it over a shoulder. It was heavy, the strap digging into her skin, but she gritted her teeth as she adjusted it. She was lopsided with weight but shifted and began jogging toward the fire escape.  

The shrieks were getting closer, and the panicked yells of the men below them added to the mix. After days of near silence, the noise was enough to make Madeline flinch as she ran with Alex toward the fire escape, hitting the unlock button on every fob she could. The chaos would hopefully keep the men below distracted from her actions as the mechanical clicks and flashing lights indicated that vehicles were being unlocked.

“Keep going,” Alex said with a nod as he came up hot on her heels, seeing her hesitate at the railing as she looked to him for instructions. “I’m right behind you,” he said as he gestured for her to get moving.

They made it down a level and a half before pained screams met their ears. The group of raiders hadn’t gotten away in time. Madeline focused on her breathing as she kept going and made it to the third floor when a few things burst through the breezeway, chasing a man who had broken away. Not a man. One of those teenagers who no longer had a weapon and was sprinting for his life. He wasn’t going to make it; the tall fences were going to block him in, and he seemed to realize it the second Madeline did.

“Get in a car!” Madeline screamed loud enough that it made her ears pop. “Get in one of the cars!”  

The kid hesitated, looked up, and made eye contact with Madeline, who was half-leaning over the railing as she pointed to the scattered vehicles. He seemed to understand after a second and ran for one, reaching for a door handle and yanking hard. It didn’t budge.

Alex groaned at Madeline but shifted his stance, raising his gun up to try and help the kid, taking aim at one of the things as he ran for another car. Madeline was fumbling with the keys to unlock them, double-hitting the buttons to get another car fully unlocked, when Alex took his shot. It caught the infected person in the shoulder; it didn’t do much but slow it down for a second as it twisted with the impact. Alex shot again and caught it in the neck, the bullet angling off to shatter a car window. They were too fast. He shifted his sights to be just a few inches ahead and took a third shot, and it hit home right in the temple.

“Oh fuck,” the kid yelled as the blood sprayed everywhere, and he yanked on a car door. He managed to get it flung open, but the rest of the party had arrived. There were too many. Alex sent a spray of bullets to try and take as many out as possible, but only a few shots made their mark.

Madeline watched it as if in slow motion as one of the things bodily climbed up over the car and tackled the teenager from above. The panicked scream made her gasp, and she twisted away from the sight as the boy yelled for help, his voice drowning out in gurgles as the thing clamped down on his neck and ripped at his jugular.

 “You have to go, Madeline,” Alex said as he came up beside her, eyes darting around at the mess in the parking lot below them. There were too many, and that damn car alarm was still going off, drawing more.

“Which car?” Madeline asked frantically as she looked up at Alex, who was looking at the parking lot.

“Any of them,” he answered. “Pick one and just drive,” he instructed.

“Fine,” Madeline answered as she looked down at the keys in her hand before glancing at the parking lot. “The red Ford then,” she stated as she held up the keys; he had said he had been partial to a Ford anyway. “I’ll open the back door for you so you can concentrate on keeping them back.”

“No. I want you to get in the car and go.” Alex stated as he flicked his eyes down to her. He saw the moment the words clicked in her head that he was telling her to go without him. The panic in her face was only emphasized more by the last bit of color draining from her face.

“What? No. I’m not going to leave you,” Madeline nearly squeaked as she reached for his arm as if afraid he was going to run from her now. “That’s not how this works.”

“There’s a huge farm about twenty miles straight north from here, off this main road,” he gestured toward the community's exit, ignoring her protests and how she opened her mouth to fight. “Stay on the state road where you can and find Mulberry. It’ll be right before you get to the next town on your left. Go down it for a while until you see the barn and other buildings. Don’t go into them or on the property; go to the service road behind them and wait there. Pull off the road into the woods a bit.” Alex kept his voice even, unhurried, as he relayed the instructions even though they were running out of time.

“No. I’m not going without you,” Madeline said firmly as she held him. She’d be damned if she left him here alone.

“I told you I tried to plan for everything; this is one of them,” Alex answered as he looked down at her. “I will cover you to get to the car, and you will get in and go.” His words were a firm command but not a cold one, just one that she knew there was no arguing with. “Both of us will not make it right now; there are too many. You know it, and I know it,” he paused, staring into her wide eyes to make sure she understood. He gently placed his hand over her own and squeezed once before prying her grip off him.

“Alex, I-” Madeline started, her heartbeat throbbing in her ears.

“I’ll follow you when I can. But you only wait for me until daybreak tomorrow. If I don’t find you by dawn, you need to keep moving. One group of raiders just means there are three more around. You can’t linger. You have to keep on the move,” he instructed, feeling a lump in his throat but forging on. “I have a map,” he dug into his back pocket and handed her a well-folded piece of paper. “It goes as far as the middle of Alabama, so you’ll have to get another. But I highlighted the route. Remember not to take-”

“Stop!” Madeline snapped as she shoved the hand he held out to her with the map. “I’m not going anywhere without you. I am not leaving you. Do you think I can get to Texas alone? You think I can live with leaving you here?” She felt a dizzying swoop in her stomach just thinking about what he was asking her to do. A few days ago, she was so upset with him that she told herself she would be fine if he just walked out the door, but the reality was she was terrified to be alone. To be without him. “I don’t like this plan. I don’t like any of this. Give me another plan of yours; you said you have multiple. Pick another one.” She was firm in her words, though she felt like she would be sick.

“You don’t have to like a plan for it to be the best plan,” Alex answered with a sad smile. “I’ve gotten you this far…you have to trust me.”

Madeline opened her mouth to keep arguing when something rattled the fire escape. The things were trying to climb up to them; it seemed their original quarry was either dead or turned, and they were the new focus. She felt Alex shove the map into her hands as he raised his gun and shot down right through the gaps in the metal floor, hitting the one in the lead right between the eyes.

“Go, Madeline,” Alex said as he avoided her gaze, staring down the sights of his gun to take aim at more of them. “Run right for the Ford. Don’t pause, and don’t look back; I’ve got you.”

“You better be there,” Madeline breathed as she shoved the map into the front of her sweater, needing to keep her hands free. “I need you to be there, Alex.”

“I’ll see you in a bit,” Alex answered, daring to look over at her one more to give her a soft smile and nod.

Madeline felt her body move while her heart still screamed at her to stay, to make it work so they could go together. But she knew Alex was right; he had been right about every move they had made so far. If she lingered, she could ruin his chance to escape, so she needed to trust that he knew what he was doing.

Before she knew it, she was jumping a few feet down between the bottom of the fire escape and the parking lot, careful to avoid the thing that was still oozing blood from what was left of its head. The asphalt was wet, and even over the growls and shrieks, she could hear the rubber of her sneakers squeak against the pavement as she sprinted. The things seemed to be right on her heels as she went, and she felt her bones rattle with every shot that Alex took, hands flying up to protect her head as one felt so dangerously close she was certain she felt the breeze of a bullet on her neck. But just as he promised, Alex kept her covered.

She made it to the car and ripped the door open, practically falling into the seat as she did. She threw the duffel into the passenger seat and balled her feet under her before slamming the door shut. One of the things rammed hard into the glass as if it was only a second behind her, and she screamed into the muffled silence of the car as its hands clawed at the glass, frantic to get to her. She stared at it for a second before shakily hitting the push start and throwing the shifter into drive as she pried the backpack off.  

Alex watched from his perch as Madeline wriggled around inside the SUV, peeling the backpack off her back before starting the engine. When he knew she was locked inside and uninjured, he raised his gun up from its firing position and rushed back up the metal steps to the top. The whole structure shook under him as the things writhed and fought one another to get to him first, snarling with rage and hunger.

The fire escape on the far side of the building was his only option at this point. It was the furthest from the getaway cars and closest to the beacon still blaring, drawing every infected within miles, but there was no other choice. The things were only a few paces behind, and Alex heard the telltale sound of a body falling onto the roof in its uncoordinated rush to get to its prey. He began running again, changing out his magazine as he went and tossing the empty one somewhere on the roof.

Alex had known his chances of escaping were slim when he told Madeline to leave him. But as he watched her speed out of the community, tires screeching and horn blaring to draw the infected away, Alex felt a sense of contentment with his choice. After so many failures on this mission, he succeeded in one of his promises: he kept her safe.