it wasn’t as if he didn’t expect the guardians to keep the perimeter secure, but he was too wary for his own good. gabe would always make a round of the mill first thing in the morning, the ass crack of dawn in his opinion, but sleeping in was a luxury from before the apocalypse. he nodded at a few guardians unlucky enough to have gotten stuck with the morning watch, slung his shotgun over his shoulder and turned down the trail.
it was still a bit cool for august, but if he kept up a quick pace, he was plenty warm enough. everything else was exactly as he’d expected: quiet, deserted, almost peaceful. they hadn’t seen any infected for a couple of weeks. it was all relatively still, not even the birds chirping their morning songs yet, and so quiet he could almost hear himself think. he was starting to settle into the tranquil morning when the crack of a twig caught his attention.
his gun immediately came up, and he swung up around to peer down the barrel towards the noise in between the trees. nothing he could make out yet. but it was far too quiet to be infected, unless perhaps it was a lone stalker. didn’t seem likely, so he risked it.
the baby got her up early. really early. she may have had a few more hours to sleep, but little one liked to rise bright and early, so out of bed she was as soon as the sun came up. walks were supposed to be good for pregnant women, so she usually used her morning time to walk around the camp and get a bit of fresh air and exercise. she loved being in the clinic, but sometimes it was nice to get outside.
a few mornings ago, she could have sworn she saw some wild mint growing just outside the perimeter of the camp. she eyed it carefully, trying to get the best look she could from a distance. it seemed like such a long shot. what would mint be doing growing in a place like this? but curiosity picked at her, and she looked for it again every time she passed that spot.
on that particular day, ophelia decided she must investigate. she knew it wasn’t safe to go beyond the limits of the mill, but it wasn’t that far, and there didn’t seem to be anyone, or anything around. so she carefully stepped into the woods, making her way over to the plant and bending down to examine the leaves. suddenly, she heard a voice behind her. she froze, her heart pounding in her chest. slowly, she turned to see none other than gabriel miller. relief washed over her as she rose to her feet.
“i’m so sorry mr. miller, sir. i know i’m not really supposed to be out here alone. i was just walking and- well i just wanted to get a better look at this plant, to see if it was mint. it would just be so helpful to have some mint in the clinic, i couldn’t pass it up,” she explained.
