Riley Negron

If the apocalypse comes, text me.

[logan-daniels]

He quickly retracted his hand as he could tell that was the last thing she wanted right now and it made her uncomfortable. “Because I have to believe that there is more to life than this.”He said referring to all chaos that was around them. “I would notice, I know it’s strange but–you’re the first friend I’ve ever had.”

[riley-negron-blog]

Riley fell silent as she simply nodded her head. The relief she felt knowing that someone still cared was immense, something she wasn’t expecting in the slightest “What if there isn’t more to life than this- what if this is it?” she asked, finally feeling herself calm down. Maybe she was going into shock

[starryskiesandbluediamonds]

Ophelia staggered back a pout on her lips. “I was just trying to help!” She said crossing her arms over her chest. She let out a loud gasp when Riley had said she was infected. Ophelia saw no visible signs but she let out a huff not appreciating the push. “If you’re infected you’re putting us all at risk just being here!” 

[riley-negron-blog]

“Well great help. I totally fell because I wanted to lay in the damn snow” her legs were numb from running, her stomach was moving in knots from over exerting herself. In all honesty she welcomed the coolness of the snow that seeped in through her jeans “Back off or I’ll bite you” another empty threat, strangers and Riley had a tendency not to see eye to eye on the best of days, solely due to Riley’s stand up personality “Send me out then, I dare you”

[starryskiesandbluediamonds]

Ophelia sent the boy that was with them to warn the others to be on guard as she tried to help Riley up. “You can’t just crash on the ground you have to get your heart to slow down here let me help you up - do you need water?” Ophelia asked trying to be helpful. 

[riley-negron-blog]

Riley pushed the girl off her, not wanting any help “Don’t touch me” she spat, eyes landing on the red head who reprimanded her for falling. “I’m infected” it was a lie- an attempt to be left alone or pushed out or anything honestly

[logan-daniels]

“The point is we have to keep moving forward.”He said quietly as he rested a hand on her shoulder as he looked over to her. “We can’t give up, we have to hold onto whatever hope we have left and keep surviving. We can’t give up.”He said quietly. “There’s no one to fight for? You fight for you Riley, that’s who you fight for. Fight to survive.”

[riley-negron-blog]

“But why” she snapped, looking at where he placed her hand before shrugging her shoulder in an attempt to removed it “That’s easy for you to say- you’ve got a sister to look out for- to keep living for. If I left this place no one would notice- no one has noticed. I leave all the time on my own.”

[starryskiesandbluediamonds]

Ophelia wasn’t on guard duty or front door duty either she just happened to be passing by when she heard the frantic voice of a woman pounding on the door. “Open the door!” She said when the boy across from her wouldn’t move Ophelia threw open the door letting the girl in. “Are you okay?” She asked worried. “What’s going on?” 

[riley-negron-blog]

“What does it look like, Blondie” Riley snapped as she pushed her way past the girl, just in time for her knees to finally give out under her. She crashed down hard on the ground- her mind still racing a million miles a minute as she replayed the events over and over in her head. What they did wrong, how it should have been her instead of Sophie “Crooks are coming- just get people on the walls. Small group that was too much for us to handle”

[logan-daniels]

He had no idea how to act around her, he never had to comfort anyone before and the whole thing just made him feel strange–he felt empathetic and wanted to help her but he just didn’t know how. “Well I’d hate to think that she died for nothing, she died so you could live.” He said quietly, “I know there’s nothing I can say or do to make you feel better right now but I don’t want you giving up.”He said simply. 

[riley-negron-blog]

“What’s the point though, Logan?” The sobs had slowed and she let out a shaky breath. She had given up on trying to look tough a long time ago- the vomit helped with that. And now she was just the scared little girl she always pretended not to be “The world is literal shit- people are eating each other. I’m already sick of fighting and now- there’s no one to fight for. What is the goddamn point”

[logan-daniels]

“Up until a few weeks ago I didn’t have no one either, don’t count yourself out yet.”He said quietly. “How do you know she’s not still out there?”He asked quietly, maybe the two got split up or something–maybe there was hope that she was still alive. One thing he didn’t want to think about was how Sydney would react–even though he didn’t like her he knew all hell would break loose if she found out. 

[riley-negron-blog]

“Well up until a few weeks ago the world wasn’t ending” she retorted back, the instant regret visible on her face. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, making her body as small as humanly possible as she allowed more tears to silently fall. She remembered the look on her face when she told Riley to go- Sophie knew she wasn’t going to walk out of there “No- there’s no chance. She blew up her place so I could get away. It was either that or we’d both die fighting them off- there were dozens”

[logan-daniels]

He knew the look on her face–defeat. He couldn’t leave her alone, not now and he knew she didn’t want to go inside so he plomped down beside her on the hard cement–only a few feet away from her vomit. “I didn’t know Sophie all that well–but she wouldn’t have wanted that, she would have wanted you to make it back here.. so don’t go talking like that.”

[riley-negron-blog]

“I don’t think it really matters what a dead girl would and wouldn’t want” there was a numbness those words brought. She knew deep down she didn’t mean it but right now, in this moment she didn’t care what words slipped through her lips “I don’t expect you to get this but like I said- I’ve got nothing now. No one. That was it for me. So I think I’m going to talk however the hell I please”

[liamxsmoke-deactivated20161106]

<p><small> “I’m sorry that it was under such circumstances.” Was all Liam could say about it. He was all for them learning their lesson and listening to what he tried to teach them - but he’d prefer it to come naturally. Not because they had to watch someone else die. He took s step back with a nod, calloused hand running over his jaw. “We’re going to look out anyway. If they’re at the cabin, good. Less on the streets. If you don’t want to, I will tell syd. You should go and eat something - rest.”

[riley-negron-blog]

“Yeah. Me too” she snapped before she let out a long sigh. Her chin quivered for a moment as she let everything sink in. She knew a lot of these people had lost a lot so she couldn’t really justify acting like a baby in front of them all but it hurt. more than she ever thought anything could hurt “Like I said- give it a little bit. No one else needs to die and yeah- I don’t think I can face her right now”

[liamxsmoke-deactivated20161106]

“then leave it. We’re still going out there to look for her.” Liam replied as calmly as before. He knew how easily emotions could take over your senses, make you say or do things you didnt want to do. And he couldn’t blame her. “She should’ve let others know. A group of two is too dangerous, I told you that. Going out there on your own is suicide. You should’ve listened. Both of you. - you did what you had to do. Otherwise both of you would be dead now and even if the chances of her making it through are small, we’re going to check and we wouldn’t know about this if it weren’t for you. ”

[riley-negron-blog]

There was something weirdly calming about Liam. It made Riley uncomfortable- she didn’t like it. With one final huff of shaky breath she slowly nodded her head “Don’t lecture me, I fucking learned okay? I learned my goddamn lesson” she avoided eye contact with the man. She knew it was her own fault and she knew she should have listened. but it was either go with her or Sophie would have gone alone and while Riley wasn’t opposed to going solo, the idea of letting Soph go alone wasn’t something she could have lived with “That area is going to be surrounded- explosion are noise and that draws them out. You’re going to have to wait at least until tomorrow. Someone will have to tell Sydney.”

[logan-daniels]

He frowned at her words, he knew Sophie was her best friend but he didn’t really know the girl all that well. “You need to drink something–if you don’t you’ll regret it later when you’re stuck to an IV.”He said “You can’t do that, you can’t go blaming yourself.”He said quietly as he looked down to her. “It’s not going to bring her back.”He said as he knelt down beside her, “Come on..you’ve gotta get up.”

[riley-negron-blog]

“I don’t care” her words were quiet as she let herself fall back so her butt was on the cool, hard ground. She made eye contact for a moment before she looked away again- confirming that this was real and that someone she barely knew was seeing her at the lowest point she had ever been in “She was everything I had- what the fuck is the point in trying now? I can’t- I should have been there with her” 

[liamxsmoke-deactivated20161106]

Liam stared at Riley in shock. He knew Sophie and Sydney, couldn’t believe that the younger sister would ever do something like that. Blinking quickly, he tried to collect himself and quickly shook his head at Riley. “We’ll check if there’s any chance she might’ve gotten out. Any signs of survival. We won’t leave anyone behind okay?” He spoke calm and slowly as he wiped the girls tears off her face and firmly held her cheeks between his hands. “Why were you out there?”

[riley-negron-blog]

“She blew up- I don’t want your false hope” Her voice was probably louder than it should have been. It wasn’t intentional, she wasn’t angry at Liam. She was upset at herself, her adrenaline was still running, and she just didn’t know how to act. Especially with him there being kind to her “Because we’re living in hell and she wanted to make it less hellish. She wanted some of her things back. One minute everything was clear the next there were six inside and even more on their way. She told me to run so I did” and she would never forgive herself for that.

[logan-daniels]

He felt himself relax slightly when she said that she wasn’t bit, still she didn’t look to good, she looked scared out of her wits and she looked like she was going to be sick. “Who?”Logan asked as he had no idea who she had left with, there wasn’t any planned runs that day so she figured she must have went rogue. He watched as she fell to the ground, emptying the contents of her stomach on the grass before he leaned down next to her. “Let’s get you up–come on you need some water or you’ll dehydrate.”

[riley-negron-blog]

She brought her arm to her face, using the sleeve to wipe the vomit off her chin as she let out a much needed sob “Sophie-” her throat burned from the bile and the thought of putting anything else in her stomach caused her to once again- try to vomit though with nothing left in it she just heaved for a moment, expelling nothing but a little saliva. “I’m not thirsty” she finally spoke again, keeping her eyes on the ground in some strange thought that maybe if she didn’t look at him, her current state of being wouldn’t be a reality “It’s all my fault- we shouldn’t have gone”

[liamxsmoke-deactivated20161106]

 “alright Riley - calm down. Breathe, you’re safe now.” Liam couldn’t quite understand what she was panting, eyes flickering around frantically. He took in her appearance for a second - blood, tattered clothes, dirt. He could very well imagine what happened out there. “Sophie? She’s still out there? Okay, listen to me. We’ll get a group to go out there and find her. She’ll be alright, you her me? You got yourself back safely, it was a good decision. You got help. We’ll get her back. Where have you seen her last?” “

[riley-negron-blog]

Riley did as she was told, taking in a deep, shaky breath and letting it out in a mild whimper as he examined her. The reality of the world came crashing down around her and his voice became clear- like a grounding point “In her family home. Right before she blew it up” as she spoke her vision began to blur from the tears that threatened to poor out “She’s dead, Liam- there’s no helping that” 

[logan-daniels]

Logan wasn’t on wall duty but he had heard the girl yelling, he recognized the voice and quickly rushed the the front door and toward the gates. “Let her in!”He commanded to the two guy son wall duty who quickly opened the gates, there were crooks off in the distance and he quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in, his gaze shifting over her checking her for bites before he quickly grabbed her by the forearms, “Are you alright? What happened?”

[riley-negron-blog]

“I’m not- I don’t think I was bit” she honestly didn’t know if she was alright or not. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, her legs were turning to jelly as the adrenaline slowly began wearing off “She killed some but there were just so many we couldn’t- we just- she’s gone” she was rambling, her voice not connecting properly with her brain as she could feel a sickness rise in her stomach “I think I’m going to puke” she commented breaking free of his grasp just in time and falling to her knees as her stomach effectively emptied itself.

[liamxsmoke-deactivated20161106]

Liam had already seen the girl running through the streets from afar and quickly made his way back inside the hospital, to the front doors. He had quickly secured his weapon on his back as he threw the doors open, not spending even a quarter of a second to get the girl inside. “Get inside, quick.” Crooks were following her, would’ve caught up for sure if it weren’t for the fact that, which he assumed, adrenaline had kicked in. Quickly shutting the doors once she was inside, Liam grabbed her arms. Mostly to make sure if her legs gave in she wouldn’t just fall down on the ground. “Riley? Riley are you alright? What happened?”

[riley-negron-blog]

She could barely hear him speak- her ears were ringing and her heart was thumping so hard all she could make out was mumbled words. The girl tried to shake him off her, but his arms were firmly gripped on her arms preventing her from going anywhere “There were so many” she croaked- her words didn’t even sound like they were coming from “Sophie- she- there were just too many completely out of nowhere”

[riley-negron-blog]

Riley hadn’t run that hard in her life. She was covered from head to toe in soot and grime and blood that she wasn’t even sure belonged to her. Clean steaks down her face from where fresh tears had fallen. Fight or flight had kicked in and Riley had always been someone who survives. Though the explosion she heard, she knew she was broken beyond the point of return. She didn’t stop until she was at the front gate of the hospital, her fists pounding on the cold metal “Open up!” her voice was frantic and hoarse as she looked around her, trying to see if she had been followed- which she was sure she had been “Open the damn doors!”