it was easier for reggie to sleep through the night now, she’d found a technique that helped her knock out fast - - and it relied on her memory of the meditation tapes she’d fall asleep to throughout college when she’d be up all night worrying about an exam. however, this night in particular, reggie was faced with a nightmare - - one that felt all too real. tossing in turning in her sleep, mumbling out “no’s” and “it’s me”s while in her resting wakefulness, she was met with the walker version of her wife, daisy. frantically forcing herself awake, panting, tears streaming, and sweat gluing the stray pieces of her high bun to her face - - she had knocked the bedside framed photo of her and daisy’s wedding day onto the ground and shatter the glass in a moment of panic.
that only added to her tears as she sadly creeped over to behind the curtain, tapping a sleeping cj’s shoulder gently . she knew how much she resembled a child waking their parent after a nightmare , but what could she do ? “ ceej . . .” she whispered, a tear dropping onto the blonde, that she immediately wiped off, “ s-sorry, i - - i had a nightmare . . . can i . . .?” she trailed off, embarrassed to finish the statement .
COLBY PAUSED HIS MOTIONS FOR A MOMENT as he recollected on the fond memories of treating reggie’s very minor burns after she had set her sleeve on fire. he couldn’t stop the laugh that spilled from his lips, moving closer to her body so that he could wipe the excess ointment off. “i cannot believe we not only have to worry about you with fire, but now you with just about any inanimate object. what are we gonna do with you, reg?” colby was joking, of course. he was more than confident when it came to treating the minor injuries that resulted from sheer clumsiness in their new world - it was the bigger things that made him stay awake at night. colby allowed his hand to lightly ‘slap’ the girl before him, his fingers brushing against her cheek in a tapping motion as a revenge action for the ‘kick’ he had received. “thank god we have a big bad wizard of oz like branch around to keep us safe, yeah?” he laughed as he removed his gloves from his hands, tossing them into the nearest trash bin. “anythin’ else i should be assessin’? i swear if you’re hiding a secret sprain or somethin’, i’ll slap you for real this time.”
a playful roll of the eyes followed suit and as soon as she saw the opportunity to take a jab at her father, she took it, “ well, you could always get rid of me the senator richard quinton way: when the going gets tough, get rid of the ‘problem’ by sending them away on a one trip plane ride to some gorgeous vacation home mansion- - all expenses paid.” she chuckled, putting air quotes around the word problem. as his hand mimicked a slap, she raised her brows, letting out a giggle, “ are we about to fight, for real ? watch it, or i’ll throw an apple at you, dorothy.” reggie toyed with a single fist raised in the air, unable to fight back a smile. “ yeah, no, that’s it. nothing else to see here.” the brunette rose to her feet, slowly, holding her hands in the air, though she knew there was something up with the ankle that met contact with the root: it came with bruising, swelling and a neat little limp. . .but she was just planning on getting out of there while colby wasn’t looking. she didn’t need to have to take a break from scouting, in a worst case scenario.
“YOU POKE FUN BUT I PROMISE my words are going to be echoing in your head the next time you start fuckin’ around with mother nature,” colby said with laughter lacing his words. truth be told, he knew all about the clumsy injuries that a person could bring upon themselves. there had been a time, pre-apocalypse, where he spent a lot of his time drunk and taking a spill all over the place. “i do have to admit though,” colby started as he started using antibacterial ointment on the gash presented on her cheek. “the scar this most likely will bring will definitely give you a leg up on the poor bastards who run into you outside the walls. just hope there aren’t any big, bad tree roots hidin’ out for ya.”
“yeah, yeah, yeah. just be happy that i didn’t set my sleeve on fire, again. i miss that sweatshirt.” reggie played along, a laugh following behind those words. moments like these were rare for the brunette, actually laughing - - joking. times like these made things seem almost normal . . . the new normal. “ i don’t know, colbs. something tells me the trees got the memo when i cursed them out. i wouldn’t be surprised if they picked up and walked away like the trees in the wizard of oz.” she rolled her eyes playfully, sending a gentle ‘kick’ to the male’s shin ( though it was just a tap ) given the close proximity, “ see ? i’m just as big and bad as any ol’ branch, root OR log .”
reggie had a little brain baby forming as a way to distract her from all that was going down. so, she sat down and scribbled down formulas, playing with widdled blocks of wood and pieces of scrap metal, discussing audibly to herself about mass increasing momentum, building off friction, throwing in some numbers, followed by more scribbling, then fiddling and clanking around with the project she was building. a shadow washed over her before she realized, she wasn’t alone. “ oh - - !” she yelped out, frantically pushing up her glasses and dropping the pen that was running really low on ink. “ uh, hey . . . what’s up? i wasn’t being too loud - - or ... something, right?” she muttered out, flustered and honestly embarrassed - - pushing her hair out of her face, leaving a dark smudge of grease on her cheek from her invention-to-be.
it’s almost time to head out again , and that has tori in high spirits. leaving is always risky , obviously , but she has tendencies to get cabin fever all too easily. “ hey ! ” she greets when she spots the other , striding across the open space and promptly hauling herself atop the nearest surface , drawing a cigarette from the pocket of tattered jeans as she settles. “ got a light? mine’s busted. fucking sucks. gotta try and scrounge up a new one when we head back out. ”
“ you came to the wrong person , bud .” reggie offered out a small sigh following a shrug. “ i don’t smoke, and they took away my match privileges after i accidentally set my sleeve on fire that one time.” she admitted, “i can only use them while out on patrol and, slash, or in case of an emergency . it’s outta my hands .” she frowned, pursing her lips in thought. “ oh ! in girl scouts i learned how to start a fire with a magnifying glass - - i don’t have one of those, but i do have ...” she trailed off, taking off her oversized round glasses, the ones with the diagonal crack down the left frame. “ . . . my unfortunately HIGH prescription looking devices.” she sung, “worth a shot, hm?”
COLBY COULDN’T STOP THE DISAPPROVAL from sweeping across his facial features. his fingers worked nimbly with patching up the community member’s most recent injury, not even wanting to ask what had occurred to receive such n injury. “you have to be more careful,” colby started with a soft laugh exiting his lips as he shook his head. “i know i say that every time you come in here, but seriously, you’re ‘bout to make me run out of supplies.” it was a lie, of course, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t poke fun.
“ i told you i’d be fine , daaaaad.” she groaned, sarcastically throwing in a mocking nickname . reggie tried her best to be careful , it was her second highest goal in life, now. the first, was survival - - but, same coin, right ? no matter how hard she tried, she was very accident prone . “don’t go blaming me, blame nature and that faulty exposed tree root that caught my boot.” just another excuse, per usual. accountability was something she always struggled with. her knees and elbows were pretty scraped up, and the gash on her cheek from a branch had finally stopped bleeding. she toyed with her glasses in her hands as she got fixed up, “ i think it looks cool. especially this,” the brunette hummed, pointing to her cheek, “...it makes me look badass.” she giggled softly.
SHE WAS LUCKY TO BE THERE – CLAIRE knew that. after all, she had to prove her worth to be accepted in the first place. if it wasn’t for her education, she may have been out on her own right about now… pity, she thought, that such a beautiful green horizon might have been hiding those monsters. she sighed, lither fingers tucking golden brown hair behind her ear as she focused back on the pages in her hand. who knew that there would be teachers during all of this, but claire supposed that it at least gave the site a sense of normalcy. however today was rather slow, and the grey skies weren’t doing much for her nerves. eyes glanced up at the nearest face, and claire gave a small wave to flag them down. ❝ hey! ❞ she started, making her way over to them with a quicker pace. ❝ hey, you free right now? ❞
reggie was going on a little walk to clear her mind, it was never quiet in there - not even for a second. not since . . . everything went down . so, she was constantly trying to always do something. somehow, everything ( in her power ) was already done. walking provided her some relief. she was never more happy to be called for than when claire called her, and she quickly hurried over to meet the other halfway. “ yeah , i’m free . . . is everything okay ?” the last three words were rushed out, as a tiny bit of fear took over her body. she chewed on her lower lip awaiting an answer.
LOCATION: mountain top community, makeshift garden house/garden area
after surfing, cooking had been claire’s favorite pastime — she would often scour the internet, watching endless videos on how to make things like homemade pasta using simple ingredients. caught up in using it as a romantic tactic, she could have never pieced she’d use those recipes this deeply in survival.
today’s concoction was a lot more simple than pasta: lavender honey. she had already ripped the purple buds from the stalk and dropped them into the gooey liquid, when she heard someone enter the space. she only half craned her neck to acknowledge the person, still seated on the flipped over bucket she was using as a chair. “yo! right on time. wanna taste this and let me know if it sucks?”
reggie had been out on patrol for most of the day, her bones ached, but that was something she learned to ignore at this point. moose followed loyally in toe, which was something the brunette was thankful for: he provided a sense of home for her. she didn’t know what she would do wi - - “woah, buddy !!” her soft voice called out after the mastiff RUSHED , tail wagging like a helicopter lifting off as he bounded towards claire. “ hey, you know you don’t have to ask us twice.” she grinned to her roommate, knowing she too had a surprise for the blonde. she began eyeing over the source of sweet aroma that filled her senses, letting a soft hum, almost bouncing in excitement over trying it. “ i doubt it could possibly suck, in the case it does ? i found a bit of a treat on patrol that could save it.” she reached into her pocket to pull out a two pack of york peppermint patties, you could feel how misshapen they were from the heat through the package - - but it would do.
☠ — don’t open, dead inside ! oh, wait ! that’s just reggie quinton, you know, the cis female scout in the mountaintop community ? she is twenty nine years old and looks a lot like laura dreyfuss, but i mostly just see them wielding a pistol. now that you mention it, i don’t think i’ve ever seen them without their cracked round glasses. which makes sense, since they seem to remind everyone else in their group of clinging to the tattered books she loves so well, a gentle gaze with a caring smile, and the hurt of losing everyone she’s ever loved. well, hurry up and let them in ! we can’t leave them for the walkers !
regina reggie quinton was born in connecticut ; just another child in a rather large blended family in greenwich. her father was a popular and constantly reelected senator from old money who couldn’t keep a marriage to save his life, and it seemed that every day there’d be another divorce or a wedding in the works. reggie didn’t mind much, she was never lonely... and if she ever got too annoyed with the antics in the mansion they lived in, she always had the week at her mother’s home to look forward to.
she was always a very smart girl, though she knew that she had an in at any ivy league of her choice - she didn’t need that in. she went to yale with a double major in mathematics and physics, and it was there that she met, who she believed was her soul mate, a neuroscience major named daisy. the two met the first week of freshman year and were joined at the hip every day after.
the pair went on to earn their masters together, before diving into their fields. they soon after got married, a small family and close friends only arrangement and moved down to tennessee, as daisy was needed to help take care of her sick grandma. the couple lived a simple, but happy life. most days were spent cuddled on the couch, playing video games, reading and working on whatever project came along - those were the days that reggie would miss the most.
but then, everything went to shit: the world was changed in ways that no amount of education could fix. on day zero, daisy and reggie stripped their home of all survival needs: canned foods to ration, anything that could be a weapon, potassium iodide, all their camping gear... and of course, their mastiff puppy, moose.
they were considered lucky to find the mountain top community early on, living out of their car with a rambunctious BIG puppy was a risk not worth taking. it was then reggie got her job as a scout, where daisy kept mainly on base as a medical expert. her wife was an icarus, she didn’t know when to stop...she thought she could possibly cure the world, and without reggie’s knowlege of her ulterior motives, went scouting with her, only to try to study the walkers. she’d wandered away from reggie, and by the time that reggie heard her wife’s screams, it was too late. the walker had bit daisy.
reggie knew what she had to do, she shot the walker, but... she couldn’t bring herself to shoot daisy... despite her begging. she couldn’t take her back to base, as she was infected. if she left her there, she would die out, and become a walker herself in a slow and painful death. she knew she had to shoot her wife to avoid rebirth, but her mind wouldn’t let her pull the trigger. so, she left her there, with constant tears that wouldn’t stop for a full month... and they never really stopped.
from that day on, she was completely dedicated to the safety of the community ( and baby moose ). they were her family now, and she couldn’t lose anyone else. she’d do it in daisy’s honor.
