:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"are you sure you're supposed to be moving this much?" brody furrowed her brows in worry, glancing at you. slightly rolling your eyes, you assured her : "i'm sure it's okay. and it's not like catching some fish is going to hurt me." brody softly nodded in response. "do you still remember how to even do it?" a small smirk appeared on the redhead's face, as she challenged you. "pfft, of course i do." liar. you haven't caught a single fish in years and it's not like you were good at it even before you left. at your words, brody let out a chuckle, causing you to sent her a quick glare, but not too long after, you also broke down into a heartfelt laughter.

soon the two of you joined violet, clementine and aj, who were walking in front of you the entire time, staying quiet unlike you and brody. after all, you haven't talked in a while what meant there was a lot to talk about. vibrant strays of the sun were penetrating through the tree branches, landing on your face and skin. the cool breeze didn't went unnoticed by you, as it created almost idyllic atmosphere.

"you know, i've been thinkin'." announcing, brody looked around at everyone. "i wish we could all go on a road trip together." not even a minute later, violet was the first one to reply : "road trip? why bother? it's not like there's anything worth seeing anymore." slightly tilting your head to the side, you glanced at the blonde, as she spoke. soon enough, she finished her words, noticing your stare. the second violet's greenish eyes met yours, you looked down at your feet, slowing down your pace, which caused you to be slightly behind the rest of the group. "oh, c'mon. i'm sure there's a plenty of stuff to see. maybe clem could show us around." brody asserted. "you're able to get a car working and you know how to drive!"

"barely." violet mumbled, before brody cut her off : "c'mon, vi!" "that sounds kind of nice. i love the open road. i wouldn't mind showing you around" joining the conversation, clem said, earning a toothless smile from the redhead. "just as long as you're not the one driving." violet added. "are we going to the car?" aj looked up at clementine, wondering. "no, bud, it's broken." giving him a sad look, clem answered his question. "good. i'm sick of the car." the kid slowly shook his head from side to side.

the shed soon came in view. suddenly, your attention snapped to brody, who was standing in front of a old car. "i wish this old rust bucket was still working. we could just jump in and start driving." brody ran her hand across the dirty car, back turned to you and others. "we could take turns sitting in the back-- it'd be like driving one of those cars with the top that goes down!" the redhead dreamingly stated. "we'd run out of gas eventually." crossing her arms over her chest, violet remarked, earning a quick eye roll from brody. "but it's fun to imagine, isn't it?" turning around and leaning her back against the car door, brody asked. "where would you go, clem?"

"it sure is fun to imagine." you thought to yourself, letting out a long breath. get in the car and drive until the gas runs out, not caring where you'd end up would be the best. just driving and driving, leaving everything behind. maybe even starting all over again and not repeat any of the mistakes you've already done. but that's not possible, which is why you can only dream.

"if you could drive anywhere you wanted?" brody's question snapped you out of your thoughts. "if gas wasn't an issue." crossing her arms over her chest, the redhead waited for an answer. "or a busted carburettor, or flat tires, or the transmission--" violet mentioned, before brody cut her off once again :"buzzkill." meanwhile clementine took a second to think about the question, before finally answering : "i'd drive down to the coastline maybe park on the beack and go swimming." at that, brody softly smiled. "that'd be an absolute dream. you could spend everyday in the sun--" brody proclaimed. "and die of skin cancer. fun." the blonde interrupted, shrugging her shoulders.

"we're all going to die. i'll take skin cancer over turning into a walker any day." brody innocently announced. "you'd still turn into a walker, even if you'd die of skin cancer." you remarked, finally joining the conversation, as you leaned your body on one of the empty barrels. "c'mon the two of you, would it kill you to live a little?" furrowing her eyebrows, brody uncrossed her arms, which made you let out a short sigh. straightening your posture, you stretched your arms up in the air, stopping the second a wave of pain went through your injury, causing you to grit your teeth. clementine, brody and violet continued their conversation, while you silently walked away, making your way inside the shed.

closing the door behind you, you looked around the place, before spotting a bed and making your way towards it. after sitting down on the bed, you carefully lifted up clothes, exposing your stomach. you couldn't help, but worriedly gulp down at the sight of your injury bleeding through the many layers of bandages. just as you were about to remove the bandages, the doorknob clicked. panicking, you swiftly pulled down your clothes and stood up from the bed, gaze glued to the now opening door. a breath you had no idea you were holding escaped your lips, when brody and clem with aj following right behind them walked in.

"where are those spears? have you seen 'em, y/n?" looking around the place, brody questioned. "no, sorry." you gave her a straightforward answer. "hey... about vi." the redhead started, sharing you a glance, before looking over her shoulder at clem, who was still standing by the door. "i'm sorry she's being a little mean. it's my fault." at those word, you could't help, but cock your head to the side in confusion. "what do you mean?" clem furrowed her eyebrows. "i was there, when those walkers killed sophie and minnie." they were really close with vi and... i think she blames me for what happened to them." eyes widening, you tensed up upon hearing that. "i mean, how do you even apologize for something that fucked up? i don't know maybe i deserve it." slowly looking down at the floor and crossing her arms over her chest once more, brody sighed.

"it wasn't your fault. these things happen." clementine explained, trying to assure the redhead. "still, i was the one who had to break the news to her. and ever since i did, she's become distant. we all used to be friends. guess i just kinda miss that." slightly raising her shoulders, brody uttered, looking at you for a few seconds, before gazing back at clem. "but when you showed up... i don't know, i just haven't seen her warm up to someone in a long time." brody's words caused your heart to sting, as your stomach swelled with a feeling you strongly disliked - jealousy. but instead of sulking around, you attempted to shake off the feeling, before walking towards brody and gently placing your hand on her shoulder, as she placed her hand on top of yours. "she's right. none of it was your fault." you reassured her.

"do you-- i mean, i'd hate to ask this of you. but do you think you could talk to her? see how she feels? about me?" making her way towards the spears, brody asked the brunette next to her. "no offense, y/n! but i know things between you and violet are..." "complicated, i know. it's fine." you cut off brody before she could finish her sentence, understanding what she meant. "sure thing, brody. i can talk to her." the corners of clem's mouth turned into a convincing, small smile. "really? that's great. thanks, clementine." the redhead said, before grabbing the spears and a bucket from the floor. "i'm gonna go check our fish traps downstream."

"hey! what the hell is taking you so long?" violet shouted from outside, earning everyone's attention. "see? i'll take these to vi. there should be some extras lying around." brody gave clementine a quick, sad look, before walking out of the shed, leaving clem, aj and you inside. the brunette started to look around the place for a spear, but before she could find it herself, you decided to help her out. "there should be one next to the bed." you announced, earning a thankful nod from clem. "thanks." she grabbed the extra spear, as you grabbed another one for yourself to use.

suddenly, a thought appeared, causing you to quickly turn around and face clementine, who was getting ready to leave. "look, i'm sorry if i came off as rude yesterday. i didn't mean to do that. you've probably heard about me being back here after some time of being... absent." nervously, you bit the inside of your cheek and averted your gaze. "i did." clem simply replied, confirming your words. "it's just..." not knowing how to explain it, you let out a long breath. "weird to be back?" slightly tilting her head to the side, clem asked. "exactly." pursing your lips into a thin line, you answered. "ready to get some fish?" clementine suddenly turned to aj, watching him stand up from the bed he was previously sitting on. "yeah." nodding in response, aj made his way towards the door and clem followed him, but not before glancing at you over her shoulder, softly smiling, as you returned the smile, feeling your stomach flutter.

making your way towards the river, you noticed violet in the corner of your eye. taking a deep breath, you mentally assured yourself, before walking towards her and asking : "can i join you?" at your words, violet looked to the side at you. "sure." shrugging her shoulders, the blonde plainly answered, watching you stand right next to her. you could feel her eyes glued to the side of your face, but you attempted to ignore the heat rising to your face, paying attention to the fish instead. raising the spear above your shoulder, you didn't waste any second, before swinging it down in the water. a rather surprised chuckle left your mouth, as you caught a fish on the first try. "how's your wound?" violet suddenly questioned, which caused your rather excited expression to falter. "fine. it's fine." after you answered, violet opened her mouth to say something, but the presence of someone else stopped her. "you guys have room for one more?" clementine called from behind you. "of course." you easily responded, offering her an assuring look.

"heads up, guys! the haul's not looking that great!" brody shouted from where the fish traps were placed. "uh, yeah, okay!" violet shouted back in response, before quietly groaning. "god... sometime's she just gets on my last nerve, you know?" the blonde sighed. "yeah, i can tell." affirming, clem turned her spear upside down, leaning on it. "i mean... it's- it's not like i hate her. i just... 'i wish we could all go on a road trip together'." mocking brody, violet rolled her eyes. "well, she does think you hate her." you muttered, keeping your head low, as you continued to try and catch more fish. "she definitely thinks you hate her." clem agreed with you. with no reply, the blonde let out another long groan, while attempting to catch a fish out of frustration and succeeding. clementine and violet continued to talk to each other, while you kept trying to catch more fish, drowning out the girls' conversation.

"--i didn't even get to say goodbye." violet's words rang through your ears, as you stopped all your movement, before gulping down the lump creating inside your throat. "i wanted to talk to brody, to tell her i didn't blame her for what happened. but everytime i tried, i was reminded of who we lost. it was easier not to talk about it." violet admitted, looking down at the ground and letting silence take over. "you guys catch any fish?" brody asked, unaware of the previous talk, breaking the still silence, as she made her way towards the three of you. "a few, but not enough." you let out a sigh. "i didn't get anything. we should catch up with louis and aasim. see if they had any better luck." and just like that, the five of you started to walk into the woods. "the grand canyon." violet suddenly announced, confusing the others. "what?" raising her brows, brody questioned. "that's where i'd go, if we took a road trip. start driving until we hit the grand canyon."

( FEW MINUTES LATER)

"where are those guys?" searching around the woods, clem furrowed her brows, growing inpatient. "practicing making out with a toothless walker?" violet playfully offered. "gross." brody replied with a quick shake of her head, throwing her hands in the air. "i know. poor walker." the corners of vi's lips turned into a small smirk, as you and the others let out a laugh at her remark. "what the hell?" the laughter soon died down, when you noticed one of the traps was sabotaged. "this isn't good." the blonde took a closer look at the rope, while ruby called out for the guys once more. "aasim! louis!" no response. "spread out. see if we can find them." announcing, violet begun to look around.

examining the traps, you spotted a monster hanging upside down from one of the traps, a sharp, wooden stake inside it's head. carefully, you looked around you once again, pulling out your katana just in case. "we didn't kill this one." violet muttered as she, clem and aj joined you. "we wouldn't have left it hanging in our trap." the blonde announced, before brody also joined you. "what the hell?!" brody panted, staring at the walker in front of this. "found this, too." reaching inside her pocket, clementine stated. "do any of the kids smoke?" the brunette asked, showing the thing she found earlier, causing brody's eyes to go wide, as you only stared at it with furrowed eyebrows. "nope. nothing to smoke." violet shook her head from side to side.

"who's this unlucky fella?" a new, but familiar voice joined in. "where have you been?" raising an eyebrow, clem questioned aasim and louis. "checking nearby traps. the ones that were sprung were all empty. all the rest are broken." aasim mentioned, informing everyone. "someone robbed us?" gasping, brody asked. "oh, great. now we're gonna starve." louis rolled his eyes, placing one of his hands on his hip. "fuck, that's... fuck... fuck!" everyone's attention turned to brody, as she started to panic. "it's just... fuck... it's okay, brody, c'mon, c'mon..." the redhead continued to mutter under her breath, heavily breathing.

"brody? hey, just look at me and take--" hesitantly, you placed your hand on top of brody's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "just shut the fuck up, okay?!" harshly slapping your hand away, brody shouted in your face, causing you to flinch and take a step back at her sudden actions. "i have to tell marlon about this." the redhead stuttered, glancing at the forest ground. "um, we still need to food. you know, to live? we definitely don't have enough here." crossing his arms over his chest, louis objected. "you guys figure it out." brody advised, before walking away, making her way back to the school and leaving the rest of you there.

"i'll take this haul back to school. maybe we can ration out something." letting out a quiet, quick sigh, aasim decided. "aasim, wait!" you called out, as he came to a halt and turned around to look at you with confused eyes. "i'll go with you." as you made your way towards him, aasim shrugged his shoulders in response. "i have no issue with that." the two of you begun making your way back to school. throwing one last look over your shoulder, you sent the rest a small wave, deep down hoping they won't be mad at you for leaving aswell.

"so why'd you actually join me? i'm pretty sure it's not because you wanted to keep me company, so?" once the two of you were far enough from the group, aasim queried. rubbing your temples, you slowed down your pace and slumped your shoulders in exhaustion, which caught aasim's attention. carefully lifting up your clothes, you revealed your blood-covered bandages. "please don't tell anyone. i think the wound re-opened somehow." you uttered, pulling down your clothes once again and hiding the dirty bandages underneath. "shit- you need to get that checked or something, cause that's a lot of blood." the brunette stated, shaking his head from side to side with widened eyws. "i will, but promise you won't tell anyone for now. i don't want them to... think less of me or something." you looked down at your feet in embarrassment, sharply inhaling. "okay. i promise."..

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