CHAPTER FOUR // 68 days after the fall.
ABOMINATION OF NATURE.

Camaraderie. It wasn't something Scarlett was used to in the dog eat dog world she came from.

The only time teamwork was ever a part of her life was when she and her aunt were clawing their way into the offices of casting directors back towards the beginning of her career. Or when they were staying up together into the late hours of the night perfecting the monologue that might just give her her 'big break.' And even then, it was more like a General barking commands to her Private. Scarlett might as well have saluted her.

But on day 68 after the fall, your Aunt Scarlett partook in real, authentic camaraderie.

It was at the expense of Glenn's sanity, but it still made a super big impression on her.

You'll see what I mean.

     "Blessed be God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to Him, for the gift of our brother Otis."

Hershel's voice was calm and steady against the wave of grief that the funeral brought; a Bible in his hands. Everyone stood solemnly around the cairn they'd created, each taking a turn to lay a rock of their own, one by one. Those who had hats clutched them in their hands out of respect.

Scarlett wondered how the new group felt attending the service, since most of them had never even met the man it was for. Even she felt out of place being there, and had been living with Otis for the past two months. Still, each of them had shown up.

"For his span of years, for his abundance of character. Otis, who gave his life save a childs. Now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you God, for the peace he enjoys in Your embrace. He died as he lived, in grace. Shane, will you speak for Otis?"

All eyes snapped over to the former cop, who merely stared off into the distance and then quickly at his shoes; flickering eyes unable to meet Hershel's. "I'm not good at it. I'm sorry." he muttered, clearly not wanting to speak on the behalf of a practical stranger.

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." Patrica implored through her weeping, tears spilling ceaselessly from her sad eyes; Maggie's hand on her shoulder.

Eyes back on Shane— now he couldn't say no.

"Okay." he shifted nervously, tears of his own threatening to appear as he inhaled shakily; preparing himself. He was still looking anywhere other than the Greenes. "We were about done. Almost out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limpin', it was bad. Ankle all swollen up." He paused, voice hardening to ease its sudden wavering. Still, it cracked powerlessly here and there. "We've gotta save the boy. See, that's what he said."

A breeze swept through the small patch of land, shaded by trees. Lori looked like she was going to be sick at his words; guilt and gratitude and heaviness and hope filling her all at once.

"He gave me his backpack, he shoved me ahead." He shook his head, eyes darting wildly about as he recounted the story; as if the harrowing images were playing across them right now. "Run, he said. He said I'll... I'll take the rear, I'll cover you. And when I looked back..." his voice trailed off, Patrica's lip trembling as she clutched onto her aching chest; hanging on to his every word. Shane suddenly changed course, lightening up a bit as he limped over to the wheelbarrow holding the stones they'd used for the cairn; adding one as he spoke. "If not for Otis, I'd never have made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both." Finally, he looked to Patricia. "If any death ever had meaning, it was his."

     Most everyone seemed moved and deeply affected by his words— they were exactly what the newly widowed woman had requested to hear, after all.

     But something felt off to Scarlett.

     She wasn't good for much, but she knew a performance when she saw one. It was perhaps the one true skill she had. His pacing, his dramatic pauses, his shifting eyes, his tone of voice, the way he cried and shook his head— she was familiar with all of it. He was playing every card in the book, everything she'd ever studied demonstrated through his speech just now. He was genuinely torn up, that much was obvious. But that didn't mean what he was saying was honest.

     It was the epitome of the arts. Most of the greatest performances of all time were filled with the kind of raw emotion you can't make up. Actors plucked that heartache, that joy, that anger, whatever it was from their real lives, and decorated it through the words of a fake story.

     Just like Shane had now.

     But the woman kept her mouth shut as Hershel thanked him and flipped through the thin pages of his Bible to continue on with the service. It wasn't the time nor place to start pointing fingers. She didn't quite know what his dishonesty implied, but she figured suggesting that he meant anything other than what he'd just said was the same as suggesting the unveiling of nightmarishly sinister veracities. So she sealed her lips and buried any assumptions deep, knowing she'd likely never look much further into it again.

Sophia.

It was the only name that mattered right now.

Immediately after Otis's funeral had concluded, the Greenes had been informed that Carol's 12 year old daughter had gone missing nearly a full three days ago. Besides the time they had been forced to sacrifice in order to save Carl, finding her was the group's top priority, and quickly it became their's too.

"County survey map." Maggie announced, unfurling the large chart against the hood of the car a small cluster of them were gathered around; everyone leaning in to study it. "Shows terrain and elevations."

"This is perfect." Shane observed.

"We can finally get this thing organized." Rick nodded, sheriff's hat sitting proudly atop his head. "We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams."

"Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." Hershel shook his head, gaze then shifting to Shane from across the vehicle. "And your ankle. Push it now, you'll be laid up a month. No good to anybody."

"Guess it's jus' me." The crossbow man, whose name Scarlett still didn't know, took a breath; pointing out a place on the map. "I'm gonna head back to the creek. Work my way from there."

"I can still be useful." Shane added. "Drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back."

"Alright. Tomorrow then, we'll start doing this right." Rick nodded.

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." the Walsh man declared.

There was a short beat before Hershel hesitantly voiced his opinions. "I'd prefer you not carry guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."

"All due respect," Shane began, removing his hat absentmindedly. "You get a crowd of those things wandering in here..."

"Look, we're- we're guests here. This is your property, and we will respect that." Rick shot a warning look to his friend before laying his revolver on the hood of the car, Shane rolling his lips into his teeth aggravatedly before doing the same. "First things first. Set camp, find Sophia."

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that." Shane once again spoke up.

     Rick dipped his head down, a somber air in his eyes. "You do what has to be done."

     "And her mother? What do you tell her?" concern was written across Maggie's features.

     "The truth." Andrea answered bluntly.

     Scarlett and Maggie exchanged glances before looking to Hershel, knowing he would have a massive problem with this. Sure enough, he subtly shook his head. Doing what has to be done was not the way the Greene family handled the infected. The others were unaware of their wordless interaction as they carried on.

     "I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying til we're at a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience." Shane declared.

     Hershel looked like he was about to disagree before Rick turned to him. "Our people would feel safer. Less inclined to carry a gun." The old man nodded reluctantly. "Thank you."

"That stuff you brought. Got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that?" Maggie asked.

"Just what you've seen." Andrea replied, soon leaving with Shane and the crossbow man.

"We're runnin' short already. I should make a run into town." the Greene girl declared.

     "Not the place Shane went?" Rick questioned incredulously.

     "No, there's a pharmacy just a mile down the road. I've done it before."

"I'll help you make a list, then."

Maggie nodded. "Come on, gotta saddle my horse."

The two set off, Scarlett about to amble her way back to the house when Hershel placed a hand on her shoulder; the woman turning back around.

"What would you like to do about housin'?" Scarlett knitted her brows— housing? What did he mean? The man recognized the confusion on her face and elaborated. "The bedroom you've been stayin' in, Carl needs that now and there isn't another spare room. Now, I'd be happy for you to take the livin' room couch, or we have a tent you can use."

"A tent?"

"You can pitch it out here with the others. Rick's group."

She turned to observe 'Rick's group' further. Glenn, Carol, Dale, and T-Dog were all bustling about arranging their new camp site; having selected a shady spot beneath a rare patch of trees amongst the clear grassy land. They were hanging clotheslines and assembling tents of their own, setting out lawn chairs and opening an umbrella on top of Dale's camper.

"What would be easiest for you?" she asked.

"Choice is yours."

Scarlett silently mulled over her options. They looked like they knew what they were doing, and safety on the Greene farm had never been an issue— that's not what concerned her. The concern was bunking with complete strangers, overstepping and crossing boundaries and invading their personal space. But she couldn't think of a bigger invasion of privacy than taking over the Greene's living room, where she would be forced to reside in a highly communal area, certainly always putting herself in the way.

She turned back to him and flickered a small smile. "Tent sounds good."

     "I'm sorry about this, we just don't have the room."

     "No, no I understand."

There was a short beat as the two began to waltz side by side towards the picturesque farmhouse to retrieve the tent. He glanced over at her, a pensive look on his face. "Can I ask you a personal question?" She nodded. "Are you religious?"

"No." she was quick to add on when she spoke so bluntly. "But I admire you and your family's faith."

He chuckled softly at her frantic proclamation, as if worried she would offend him by being an atheist. "Don't worry, I'm not going to start castin' demons from you. Just curious."

They paused at the porch steps, Hershel observing her study the obstacle for a moment; glancing down at her leg. He remembered how bad it had been when she first arrived. It was undoubtedly one of the worst breaks he'd ever seen; dislocated knee, broken ankle, and multiple fractions throughout her leg. He had done the best he could, but without an orthopedic surgeon and proper physical therapy, he had been worried she'd never regain good mobility. So far, the odds were looking miraculously in their favor.

"It's time you get off the crutch. Start building your muscle back." he decided, the woman nodding acquiescently and passing it over to him when he offered his hand; carefully testing some weight on it. "Causin' you any pain still?"

She shook her head politely. "No pain, thanks to you." There was a beat before she moved back to an earlier subject. "I do admire your faith, though. Maggie was telling me last night about John 13:34. It's nice... the way you raised them. They're good people."

     He smiled warmly, reaching out to tap her shoulder. "I'll tell you what, Scarlett. You ever have any questions about our faith you admire so much, you come talk to me. I'd be happy to discuss it."

     She nodded gratefully, the two soon heading inside and settling into a comfortable silence as they rummaged through a dust-laden closet; searching for her new place of residence.

    
It wasn't until Scarlett was standing beneath the patchy shade of a tall tree, staring down at a haphazard heap of pegs and metal poles and wads of waterproof fabric did she realize she had not the slightest clue of how to pitch a tent.

She'd been at it for a full twenty minutes in vain when a voice pulled her from her pointless endeavors.

"Need some help?"

She looked up from where she was now sitting on the ground, a few random objects in her hands that she'd been studying like puzzle pieces. Dale was smiling down at her with his hands on his hips, cheerful eyes shaded by his bucket hat.

     "I would love some, thank you." she squinted in the sunlight, the old man chuckling heartily before taking a seat beside her in the grass.

     "Well, you had the right idea. Picked a nice, flat spot. Went straight to the building, though. Skipped the footprint."

     "The footprint?"

     "This tarp, here. Lay it out on the ground. Shiny side up." They rose back to their feet, Scarlett taking one end of the tarp and Dale taking the other; shaking the dirt from it as they spread it out and began smoothening it on the grass. "Guessing you never went on many camping trips back in Beverly Hills?" he joshed with an innocent grin.

     She smiled out of obligation at his joke, but it never reached her eyes. Most of her smiles didn't. "Not a lot of camping done, no."

     "Lay this out next." he instructed, handing her part of the tent body. He peered back towards the farmhouse briefly, something evidently on his mind. "The Greenes... they seem like nice people."

     "They're very nice." she agreed, eyes flickering back up to him briefly; still gazing at the house.

"You've been with them this whole time?"

She nodded. "Your group seems good at this."

     This drew his attention back to her, that same cheerful grin of his reappearing. "What? Like we're apocalypse savvy?" She chuckled and nodded again, the man dismissively waving his hand. "Ah, we're making it up as we go. Just like everybody else."

His gaze moved up as Andrea walked by, and he beamed in her direction. She didn't return the gesture, eyes lingering apathetically on him before she sent a polite smile to Scarlett. She watched as Dale's so far unyielding jubilance faltered for the first time, knowing there must be a story behind that.

     When he said nothing else, Scarlett hesitantly nodded towards the camper the woman waltzed into. "The RV is yours, right?"

He turned back to her, staring for a moment before shaking his head and coming to. "Yes! Bought her after I retired. Traveled across the country right before the fall."

     There was a wistful look in her eyes when she smiled. "Sounds nice."

     He nodded, eyes staying on the door through which Andrea had just disappeared into a moment longer before crouching back to his knees; picking up one of the metal poles and beginning to teach her the next step.

     Within thirty minutes of Dale offering her help, Scarlett had learned how to successfully pitch a tent and just about everything there was to know about him and his group. She was about to head inside and fix herself lunch when Maggie came jogging up.

"Hey!" she called, slowing to a halt before her.

Scarlett lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "Hey. I thought you were going on a run?"

     "Got held up. Your leg all better?" the Greene girl abruptly inquired, Scarlett's brows furrowing slightly before she nodded. 'All better' might be an overstatement, but she could walk on her own now. "Good. Follow me."

     Doing as she was told, Scarlett hobbled behind Maggie all the way to the cattle well located at a more remote section of the farm. A whole group— Lori, Andrea, Dale, T-Dog, Shane, and Glenn— was huddled around the borehole; peering down into it with concerned expressions. She joined their side, the confusion on her face melting away when she saw what it was they were all marveling at.

     There, wading waist deep in the water, staring right back up at them was one of the infected— barely resembling a human anymore. It was bloated beyond comprehension; inflated like a balloon. It's face was so puffy it's eyes could hardly crack open wide enough to look at them. It's slimy skin was a sickening green-gray color. Swollen rolls of fat had been created by the way it absorbed the water like a sponge. Tumefied fingertips reached lazily up towards them, cacophonous gurgling noises coming from it's distended neck.

     Scarlett was stunned. This was the closest she'd ever been to one, and with it lurking down at the bottom far far away, she didn't have to be fearful of its proximity, giving her the time to truly study it. It was an abomination of nature, and staring at it now filled her with unease that this is what was being kept in the Greene barn. Doubt bubbled in her chest that this was some sickness with a cure in sight the way Hershel treated it as. This thing down in the well was not an ill person— it wasn't a person at all. Not anymore.

It was then she noticed the long rope tied around Glenn's waist, her gaze following it all the way to the well pump it was wrapped several times around. Her eyes widened in incredulity, moving back over to Maggie, who stood with crossed arms and an apprehensive expression. They were sending him down there with that thing.

     Glenn was sweating bullets by the time everyone was lined up at the rope like it was but a mere game of tug of war, disquietude written across his face as Shane tightened his makeshift harness once more before joining the others. The plan was to retrieve the infected one to preserve the cleanliness of the well without getting any of its blood inside... though the idea of drinking the water it had been stewing in beneath the Georgia sun for God only knows how long was enough for Scarlett to rather go thirsty.

     "Nice and slow please." the poor boy let out a shaky breath, sitting on the concrete rim with his legs dangling over the drop.

     "We gotcha." Andrea assured in a soothing tone.

     "Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie shifted uneasily on her feet, struggling to keep still.

     "Wanna get it out of your well or not?" Shane questioned, at the front of the line of people.

     "Give us an eye there, Maggie." Dale requested.

But the Greene girl pointed to Scarlett instead, advancing quickly over to a spot at the rope. "You take watch, I'll be pull team. Better for your leg."

The blonde woman stood for a split second, picking at the beds of her nails before meekly nodding and shuffling closer to the well, a shiver racing down her spine— she couldn't believe they were actually doing this.

     "Hey, Scarlett?" Glenn's breathy inquiry cut through the birds cawing in the distance; voice quivering as he looked up at her standing beside him. "That one movie... you rappelled down a wall in that. And the rope held then... right?"

As if this was at all the same situation.

     "Well, my stunt double did that." her uncertain voice was barely above a whisper, and she tensed when all eyes fell incredulously to her; her words the opposite of comforting. Quickly, she backtracked. "It was a piece of cake. Rope held up beautifully."

His heavy breaths echoed up through the well when he scooted himself over the top and inside, a flashlight in hand. Slowly, he descended further into the dingy pit; everyone's feet firmly planted in the dirt as they fed the rope around the pump little by little.

"He alright?" Dale asked from where he stood faithfully at the back of the line, a bead of sweat traveling down his face.

Keeping her bad leg straight, Scarlett lowered herself to the ground; sitting on the edge of the well where Glenn had just been as she called down to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yup, doing great!" was his clearly not great response. "Living the dream."

The further they lowered him into the well, the louder and more aggressive the infected's snarls became.

"Uhh... a bit more." Scarlett instructed. "More."

They had all been too busy craning their necks trying to watch to notice the bottom of the water pump begin to grow loose from the pressure of the rope. It wasn't until it tore completely from the ground did they realize. Automatically, they were jerked much closer to the well from the unexpected tug, which, in turn, caused Glenn to go dropping several swift feet towards the bottom— far too close to the bloodthirsty creature now.

Instant chaos ensued.

     "GET IT! GRAB IT!" Lori shrieked, Shane and T-Dog both diving for the broken object.

     Everyone lost control of the rope, almost the entirety of the cable disappearing into the well with Glenn. The only thing they could hold onto now to keep him safe from the snapping jaws of the infected was the steel water pump itself, which was much harder to command.

     "GET ME OUT OF HERE! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Glenn's frantic shouts reverberated through the borehole.

     Grunting and straining and yelling, they all piled frantically around T-Dog, who was holding the detached pump and had been pulled to the very edge. Scarlett desperately grasped at what little exposed rope was left with one hand, the other pushing herself against the concrete well as she pulled with all her might; face turning red.

     "PULL, PULL!"

     "GLENN!"

     "PULL HIM UP!"

     They were a heaping mess on the ground for what felt like an eternity as Glenn continued to scream and kick at the monster's greedy hands; just doing everything they could to keep from losing him entirely. But eventually, they gained enough control over the rope again to make it back to their feet and haul him the rest of the way up; Shane leaping forward to grab onto his arm and heave him back onto dry land.

     "Are you okay?" Lori was immediately on the ground and cupping his face in her hands as he rolled and scrambled onto his knees; straw and hay sticking to his body.

     Everyone was huddled around his trembling frame in a second, chests heaving up and down with panic washed unyieldingly across their faces. He was alive, but still— their mission had been unsuccessful.

     "Back to the drawing board." Dale sighed.

Still trying to catch his breath, Glenn clambered to his feet with an unexpected grin; eyes glistening as he held up the frayed end of the rope he'd taken down into the well with him. "Says you."

With humongous eyes, they all rushed back to the edge; peering down to see the other end of the rope secured tightly around the infected's body.

He had done it.

The boy was still grinning like an idiot, watching happily as everyone's faces lit up and soaking in the sweaty embraces and various exclamations of amazement many of his friends showered him with. He sauntered over to Scarlett, evidently proud of himself as the woman still gaped down into the well; frozen in awe. She only turned her head when she sensed him beside her, expression remaining.

     "You were right." he shrugged casually. "Piece of cake."

     She stared at him, struck dumb a moment longer before her hand flew to her sweaty chest and a loud laugh of disbelief tumbled from her lips; now in an open grin. He chuckled too, nudging her with his arm before turning back around and getting caught up with another friend.

     But she stayed there, by the well, her hand still on her chest as she felt her heart thud furiously beneath her palm. She'd almost forgotten she had one.

     Is this what it feels like to be a part of something meaningful, she wondered.

Perhaps still riding a bizarre high from earlier, Scarlett found herself sitting around a campfire with Rick's group later that night. Maggie and Beth had joined too, and the three were sharing a long log for a seat. The humid air combined with the heat coming off of the fire was almost too much to take, but there was still something so soothing about it. The sparks of red and orange crackled and hissed as they preformed pirouettes against the the stygian sky, aglow with scattered stars.

Their 'clean well initiative' had ultimately not been successful. Once they were able to haul the engorged creature to the top, it split in half from its colossal weight at the rim; all of its guts and pungent blood spilling back down into the shaft and sullying the water anyway. Maggie and Scarlett had both thrown up. But still, together, they had managed to retrieve it— even if it's intestines weren't strong enough to stay connected in the end.

     Lori and Rick were both inside the house with Carl, and Carol stayed inside Dale's RV she had spent the entire day tidying up.

The crossbow man ( who Scarlett had finally heard be called Daryl ) had come back with no Sophia. But he hadn't returned entirely empty-handed. A cluster of dead squirrels tied up in twine had been slung over his shoulder, and once those same squirrels had roasted over the fire, they were being slovenly distributed by him.

Scarlett watched as he tore them into chunks, his fingernails lined with dirt, and passed them around without saying a word; plopping them directly into people's bare hands. None of his friends seemed to find his actions strange or uncleanly.

He paused at the two Greene sisters and Scarlett, staring them down with the shredded meat still in his grimy palms; evidently debating whether or not he should share his precious catch with them. They stared back up at him from where they sat— equally as uncertain. Eventually, he ripped off a teeny tiny sample for each of them and grunted lowly for them to unfurl their fingers.

"Thank you." Maggie smiled, doing a good job at hiding any distaste, and nudged her little sister when she said nothing.

Beth's ( fearful ) eyes snapped up from the unprepossessing squirrel meat in her hands, and with a grimace she couldn't shake, she mustered up an uneasy; "Thank you." When the young girl saw him move to Scarlett next, having seen an interview once that she didn't eat meat and never having seen that proven wrong during her time living with her, she quietly spoke up for her. "Oh, Scarlett's a vegetarian."

Daryl's eyes flickered over to the 16 year old in a brief moment of disbelief before traveling back to Scarlett, strings of brown hair brushing the top of his lashes. He stared at her disapprovingly through his stony-faced expression, and she stared right back, awaiting direction like the sheep that she was. Eventually, he broke his gaze away, coming to the conclusion that she wasn't going to.

"Not in this world you ain't." he gruffly stated before tilting his head back and letting the food fall from his palm and into his own mouth; licking each of his fingers individually before trudging away and back over to his spot on the opposite side of the fire.

     The woman's eyes lingered on him a moment longer from between the yellow and orange flames, his features covered by the filth and sweat from today and all the days before it— the days he'd spent searching so relentlessly for Sophia. She wondered why out of everyone, he was the one who fought so resolutely for the missing little girl's return.

     "Anyways," Glenn continued what he had been previously saying, shaking his head in amazement. "I've never seen anything like it!" He outstretched his arms to describe the staggering size of the infected one from earlier to Daryl and Beth. Daryl looked apathetic; Beth looked horrified. "T-Dog eventually had to put it down, but—"

     "Can we maybe not talk about this while we're eating?" Andrea gave the younger man a tight-lipped smile.

"I'd have to agree." Dale raised a hand— though it might've just been him using the opportunity to rebuild whatever had been broken between he and Andrea.

Glenn nodded, and a brief lapse of silence settled over them before Shane spoke up— kissing his teeth and gesturing with his head to Scarlett. "Alright, then. How 'bout you, Hollywood? Bet you have some stories we don't."

     "Oh, yeah!" Beth's little gasp could barely be heard from beside her, an innocent smile of excitement popping onto her features.

     Having all eyes on her was not foreign to Scarlett. She was used to serving as their magnet on any set or red carpet; she normally didn't shrivel beneath them. But tonight no one was feeding her what to say or what to do. She was without her puppeteers, and she didn't know how to make her limbs move all on her own.

     And so she stared at Shane, blankly and uncertainly, for an uncomfortably long moment before forcing out a few stiff words, hoping they would suffice. "What do you want to know?"

     "Yeah, I got a question." T-Dog grinned in amusement, already almost finished with his squirrel meat. "What's it like having your name on a Hollywood star?"

     Beth leaned forward expectantly, Glenn subconsciously doing the same.

     Scarlett's lips parted. Worthless, she wished to say. It meant nothing. Especially now. But the youngest Greene's eyes were so sparkly in the firelight at the thought of the Walk of Fame, and Scarlett didn't want to take that away from her. So she speedily dreamed up what Gary or Abigail would've prompted her to say, what would've been scripted, as if the cameras were rolling around her.

     And with her best smile, the woman said, "It was an honor."

     "I've always wanted my name on a star." Beth mentioned softly, Scarlett flickering her a smile.

     Daryl scoffed quietly from across the fire, leaning forward on his knees, head hung down as he wiped his empty hands against his pants. The man rose from his spot, mumbling a throaty "night" to his friends and taking a final leery glance at Scarlett before sauntering off.

     "Bet Beverley Hills was a helluva lot different than this place." Shane chuckled, a condescending undertone to his voice.

     Scarlett nodded politely to him, still playing her part. "It was."

Perhaps it was morbid, but she'd much rather continue discussing the walker ( as this group so eloquently had named them ) from the well earlier. Where there'd been no spotlight or fruitless things like Hollywood stars; only everyone together as one.

Her eyes wandered transiently back over to Daryl's receding figure, almost emerged entirely in the darkness now; crossbow hanging across his back. Perhaps he found it pointless too, seeing how most people did not scoff at a Hollywood star.

She wished she could.

cam speaks!  

after much careful thought & consideration,
and taking in everyone's opinions who i spoke to,
i am officially declaring scarlett and daryl🥳

though i cannot confirm nor deny if
mr ricky doo dah grimes has plans with
another oc down the road... ; )

also, it will be a few chapters before eva's story
ties into the season 2 plot, so don't think i'm just
neglecting her story lol <3

as always, thanks for reading!
mwah!

xoxo, cam

word count 5,456