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CHAPTER ONE
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

❛  𝐄𝐈𝐘𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄,
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 ❜
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. | ❝𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆.❞ | ₊ﾟ.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

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ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ
𝓇ℯ𝓊𝓃𝒾𝓉ℯ𝒹

PURPLE BRUISES AND RED SCRATCHES RIDDLED MY SKIN AS I PUSHED PAST THE MANY TREES IN MY WAY. I was following Shane back from the creek that we'd tried to fish from, my hair pulled up into a ponytail that seemingly didn't want to stay. Every couple of minutes, the band would slowly start to fall out of its once secured wrap around my hair, letting dark strands frame my face. I began to get frustrated at this, groaning every time I felt the band loosen around my scalp. Shane looked back every time to see my head down, flipping my hair back up into another ponytail.

"I keep telling Lori that y'all need to cut that shit off. It's only gonna get in your way." He spoke up, a sly smile on his face as he looked back at me once more, seeing my arms holding my hair up to tie it again. The camp started to come into view, seeing everyone moving around, doing what they all needed to be doing to contribute.

"I just need a tighter rubber band is all." I muttered, trying to pull the hair tie three times around instead of two. My hair was too thick at the top to support it, but I still tried, pulling extra hard on the giving band to try and slip my loose waves through it. Just as I was stretching it out a tiny bit further, the band suddenly snapped, flying out of my hands.

"Ah, damn!" I whipped around to see one of the men from the camp holding their hand up to their eye, rubbing at it furiously. "What the hell was that?!"

I let my arms fall back to my sides, my hair tumbling back down too as I quickly made my way over to the man. "Daryl, I am so sorry." I said, biting my lip as I tried not to laugh.

He looked at me through one eye, his hand covering the other.

"Ya think that shits funny?" he scowled.

I bit down on my cheek, trying really hard not to laugh as I replied. "Of course not."

"Won't be laughing when an arrows sticking out yer ass in a few minutes." he grumbled under his breath, walking away.

I wore an apologetic look as I called after him, "Sorry!" I bit my lip as he waved me off, his back turned to me as he sauntered back towards the woods.

Shane chuckled beside me and I rolled my eyes. "Shut up and find me another hair tie." I mumbled, feeling my hair start to stick to my back already in sweat.

This only made Shane laugh harder, finally parting from my side as he walked towards the tents.

I stuck my hands in my back pockets as I made my way towards my older sister, sitting down beside her with a hand twisted in my thick hair to relieve the heat touching my back.

"Do you have an extra hair tie?" I asked her, my voice hopeful.

Lori laughed and nodded, pulling her backpack into her lap and unzipping the smallest front pocket. She handed me the black rubber band and smiled in amusement as she watched me look around for an angry redneck before tying my hair up into a tight bun.

"Shane thinks we should cut it all off." Lori said, a small smile still lingering on her lips.

"Yeah, well, fuck what Shane thinks." I replied. Lori's amused face turned into a scowl as she gestured towards my nephew sitting beside her. "Sorry, Carl." I said sheepishly.

Carl smiled in return, and I shot him a wink as I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Lori asked, looking up at me.

"I'm bored. And hungry." I replied, dusting my pants off.

"Me too." Carl agreed, standing up with me.

"Nuh-uh baby, you sit your butt back down. You aren't going anywhere and neither is Lannie." Lori said, glaring at the both of us.

"But mom...!"

"No buts."

"You should wait until Shane says it's okay to go anywhere." she then said to me.

I looked at Lori and waited for her to say she was joking, and when she didn't, I rolled my eyes.

"Shane is not my keeper and certainly not the boss of me." I said, crossing my arms.

"Got that right. Sure as shit couldn't pay me enough to be your keeper," Shane piped in, walking towards the three of us. "But, I would argue I do have a say what goes on around in this camp, and you're apart of it. Therefor, I got a say about your whereabouts."

I stood there with my mouth agape, throwing my hands in the air. "Damn, what's a girl gotta do around here to get a bite to eat?"

"We'll be eatin' soon, Eiye. Just be patient."

Before I could continue to argue with him, there was commotion at the front of the camp. We all made our way to the group climbing out of the cars, watching as people embraced their loved ones. My heart ached for my nephew while I watched him turn to his mother with sorrow etched on his face, wrapping himself around her legs.

As the chatter grew more faint, Glenn motioned to a newcomer that helped them escape a horde in the city. My breath caught in my throat as I watched the familiar curly haired man step out from behind the van, and I stopped breathing completely. I tried to motion towards Lori, my hand batting behind me as I kept my eyes entirely on the man I'd called my best friend for over two decades.

His eyes finally met mine, and it was like the world stopped spinning for a minute. I couldn't speak, and he didn't either. But the earth resumed its natural orbit as Carl shouted,
"Dad!" and ran past me in a blink into his fathers arms, Lori not far behind him.

My mind started spinning as I thought back to the night Shane pushed us out of the house to get us into the city, telling us the man we loved was dead, seen by his own two eyes.

My legs slowly started moving as Rick finally got off the ground and embraced Lori once more, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. His glistening eyes met mine again, his smile never faltering.

I reached them quickly, slamming my body into all three of them, pulling them all into my arms. Happy tears stung my cheeks as I laughed a little, just wrapping my arms around Rick. He let go of Lori with his free arm, wrapping both of them around my waist.

"It's good to see you, Eiye." he whispered, planting a chaste kiss on my forehead.

"Good to see you too, Grimes." I whispered back, squeezing him tighter.

* ੈ✩‧₊˚

AFTER our reunion had settled, the discussion of the Dixon brothers was amongst us.

"Merle was a total dick, but we shouldn't leave him up there...." I chimed in, biting gently on my chipped nails.

"You don't understand. He was endangering us all, Eiye. We would've died." Rick said.

"Well....." Dale started, his eyes wide as he looked at all of us. "Who's gonna tell Daryl?"

T-Dog initially volunteered as Rick also said he'd do it. They both felt responsible for the older Dixon being left behind.

"Doesn't matter who tells him," I said. "He's gonna be pissed.... and rightfully so."

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AUTHORS NOTE.

PUBLISHED 6/27/21
thanks to anyone who is reading !

EDITED & REPUBLISHED 10/15/21
EDIT 2/25/22 edmundhasmyheart created this AMAZING collage for this chapter!

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