I am screaming and giggling and kicking my feet at the new update from Onyx about DLB. I kid you not I just relogged into this old Tumblr account for the first time in YEARS and was like I miss reading on here. I redid my page and was checking on Onyx's page bc I wanted to make sure was following in case there was an update (which there hasn't been one for years since she took everything down.) And THREE HOURS AGO SHE POSTED AN UPDATE?! My spidey senses were tingling on that one it's so freaky. But I am over the moon. I used to listen to the audio version of DLB on Spotify before it was removed. Specifically while I was driving home from work at night in the wintertime and EVERY SINGLE WINTER since it got removed I have been thinking about this story. Idc what anyone says I am so psyched with this update and revived hope of the fic being completed. <3
got me feelin like Julie freakin Andrews on that hilltop
DAYBREAKER - RANCH : DONT LOOK BACK ft @fleetsummers & @lxighmadxson
Colin Young
"Shit" he had sounded the bell as soon as he saw the first daybreakers charge in. He followed protocol and got down as fast as he could. Out of sight, avoiding direct contact or be shot by arrows. This did not mean he would not go to where he knew Leigh was saddling up. She had talked about that to him during a shift. He ran , ducked and arrived as she was guiding her horse. "Leigh! They're here" he spoke hushed as he grabbed the saddle to swing it on the horse.
Leigh Madison
Leigh had heard the bell and was already at the stable. She knew this was coming but damn if she thought they had more time. Unfortunately the chaos has spooked Stella and she was now wasting time trying to get her to settle. Eventually she got her down and that was when Colin arrived. "I heard. How much time do we have?" She asked as she held Stella steady while Colin got on the saddle.
Colin Young
Colin was working as quickly as possible. He was no horse man, but he could saddle a horse, Leigh had showed him basic care. "I'll give you as much as you need to get back to Redwood." he spoke, knowing well what that actually meant and entailed. "Front gate is compromised, you'll have to get through one of the fences…let's go…"
Leigh Madison
Leigh adjusted a couple of straps before pointing her attention on Colin. "Wait, what are you gonna do?" She didn't like what they could possibly mean, although leaving everyone back here was not exactly any better.
Colin Young
"Buy you time if we get stopped on your way out." he replied as a matter of fact. "We're gonna be like the wind, quick and quiet." he heard some commotion nearby. "come on, let's go. " he motionned towards the back of the building. He peaked his head out , right, left, he saw no one in sight. "go go go."
Leigh Madison
Leigh hated this. This was what she was here for, but still, Colin and the others weren't safe. And if she didn't make it back to Redwood in time it was possible everyone else here wouldn't survive. But she couldn't think of that. She had to succeed. So she followed behind Colin, waiting for him to give the clear. As he told her to go she did, pulling Stella along - until she heard gunfire behind Colin. "Colin, move!"
Colin Young
Some of it brought back bad memories about how his last settlement , the difference was that zombies did not discriminate and aim with precision. He knew far well that one of them would be a shield for the other. It was what it was. He ducked down, the gunfire not really bothering him since they were everywhere, but he heard the bullet whistle past them. "Doesn't matter, forward Leigh, forward." he told her . Looking back to where that came from he still wasn't seeing anyone, and thus he focused on looking at the corner of the building, it would be open after this. "I'll go first , open the fence, you get on Sally and just go okay? " It wasn't really a question. He made a run for it, avoiding the traps he memorized thanks to Zack. He managed to open the fence, but before he could make any further move, he felt the air knocked out of him when projected…well…against said fence. He groaned, completly out of it and shook his head to regain composure. He only had time to see the light vanish behind a towering figure when he felt a blow.
Leigh Madison
Leigh knew that when this day happened it was going to be bad, but still to see it like it was - nothing could have ever prepared her for it. She remembered the chaos when the ranch she had been on was overrun with zombies but it was so much more different than right now. Colin's directions were easy but she didn't like them. Although he left no room for argument as he ran to the fence. She saddled herself on Stella and was ready to run when she saw the man throw Colin into the fence. "Colin!"
She dug her heels into Stella's sides and ran around the traps, approaching the man that was towering over Colin. As she got closer she rared Stella on her hind legs so Stella would kick the man away from Colin. It worked - kind of. He stumbled and then looked up to Leigh with a predatory sort of glance. She backed Stella away as the guy wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and started walking towards her.
fleet summers
Colin was safe -- within reason -- where he'd landed, so Fleet didn't head towards him. If Colin was injured worse then there was nothing he could do anyhow; the real concern was getting the way clear for Leigh to make it out, make it to Redwood.
The idea wasn't to draw the Daybreaker's attention, not really; Fleet was more inclined to take advantage of his focus being on Leigh. But even his lightfooted run towards the man didn't work in the end because Stella saw him, or caught wind of him, and she lifted her head and whinnied, and the Daybreaker must have understood horses because that reaction prompted him to turn. Fleet should have kept running. He should have barrelled right into the man and swung his crowbar before the Daybreaker had much time to register what was happening.
But he wasn't a seasoned fighter in that way. He couldn't suppress his overwhelming instinctual reaction, which was to freeze, some feet away with his crowbar in his shaking hands. 'I'll do both of you, then,' the Daybreaker said, with a sinister grin, his eyes on Fleet's weapon as he stalked towards him.
Leigh Madison
Leigh was running through her options. She could try to run through him with Stella but that wasn't guaranteed to work. He could grab her and pull her off if she wasn't fast enough or hurt Stella and then they had no way to get word back to Redwood. She had to think fast but she wasn't a fighter. Not like this, at least. She was looking to Colin, willing him to get up when Stella started to whinny. That's when she saw Fleet. Unfortunately, just as much as Stella's behavior gave Fleet away to her, it gave him away to the Daybreaker too. Stella was trotting nervously and she held the reins steady to keep her from bolting. But now with the Daybreaker not paying attention to her and focused on Fleet, she could make a move. She clicked her heels into Stella's sides and started running towards him. "Fleet, move!" she said just as she got close and trampled him down with Stella. It wouldn't keep him down but it could stun him enough for Fleet to help Colin while she started her race back to Redwood. She felt bad for leaving them behind but the sooner she got back the faster she could bring help. Hopefully nothing happened to them in that time.
Colin Young
It took that long for Colin to come back to his senses. He pulled himself up with the help of the fence. He only saw the back of the horse, and was a a bit relieved that Leigh was on her way out. He couldn't do more. However, Fleet was standing opposite to him. Maybe they could pull it off to make him stumble towards a trap. Maybe. He wiped the blood from his face and took some speed to then jump on the daybreakers' back. Not thinking about how dumb this was, was helping to not freak out for now. He used the fact that he was a bit stunned to put koala hug him from his back and put his hands on his eyes. Blind giant, he was starting to push the eyes in , knowing that he wouldn't be able to hang on for very long, but hopefully that would be enough for the other to do something.
fleet summers
The Daybreaker roared with aggravated rage when Colin jumped on his back, and even stunned as he was, Fleet could see that the other man was digging into their enemy's eyes, possibly intending to … pop them out? The thought made his gorge rise but Fleet shook his head hard, remembering those Daybreakers in the pit traps outside the perimeter. He'd killed them. He'd done that. He could do this.
Fleet darted into motion, not giving himself a chance to think any deeper; he was thinking instead about Zack killing the Daybreaker who'd attacked him, and although his crowbar wasn't the same as a knife, it had a hook on its end. Fleet reached the big man, wheeling around blindly as Colin tried to dig out his eyes, and he rammed the sharpened ends of his crowbar into the man's belly, just above his left hip. A moment of resistance and then it gave, and Fleet made an agonized noise at the horrendous feel of the crowbar ripping through skin, flesh, fascia, the stench of intestines tumbling out.
Colin Young
Colin was trying his best to keep the Daybreaker blind, but he was getting tired of holding on, especially with his bad arm. He ignored the sound of penetration and the growl of pain the Daybreaker. It was probably easier to pretend this was just a big Walker and not a human being. The Daybreaker rammed Colin against a building , which made him lose his grip and had to hold on to the other man's shoulder. Having eyes on Fleet, the guy grabbed the crowbar and pulled on it to get Fleet closer before sucker punching square in the face. Out of breath and mostly out of options because he had nothing on him to pierce or bash, he resorted to biting the guy in the neck to get his attention back on him and not Fleet. "Aah son of a bitch" yelped the Daybreaker. He bashed Colin against the nearest building again and again until Colin let go. Then took him by thre throat and lifted him up. Swinging wilding, Colin was grasping for air and was putting his hands on that arm to try to get him to let go .
fleet summers
The man was like a tank. It was as if Fleet hadn't just disemboweled him, like Fleet had just given him a love-tap, as the Daybreaker yanked him closer and disarmed him, following it with a punch to the face that sent Fleet reeling back with an explosion of pain in his head. He wanted to throw up but all he could manage was retching and moaning, black fireworks going off in his vision, and Fleet forced himself to breathe and wiped blood from his eyes, blinking to clear his head. The Daybreaker still had Colin, somehow managing to hold the man up and throttle him with whatever violence-fueled adrenaline was running through him.
He'd dropped the crowbar, at least, and Fleet slapped more blood from his eyes -- it just kept running down, that punch must have busted his brow somewhere -- and threw himself into motion. Heading towards the dark shape of his crowbar in the grass, swooping it up in his hand and catching a loop of dangling intestine with the hook end, swinging his arm to wrap it around and around as more guts spooled out of the Daybreaker's belly and then stopped. At the end of its tension. Fleet could hear himself panting, keening through his teeth, but he yanked his arm back and the Daybreaker finally dropped to his knees, slithering in the pile of his own entrails, slumping heavily over onto Colin.
Colin Young
Colin told himself to just hold on, hold on. He saw Fleet in his peripheral vision and in his state of semi-consciousness, that thread he was pulling seemed endless, going and going for so long. Time seemed to stop. All became sensations. He was hearing his hearbeat in his ears and when he finally hit the ground, the whole was spinning. It took all his strength of will to actually pull the Daybreaker off of him. He remained on the ground for a second. He was coughing and trying to catch his breath. As he regained some of his senses, the first thing that he noticed was the stench of intestines, of blood. It was different than walkers. He also knew that there were high chances that this Daybreaker might turn.
He pulled himself up and stumbled towards Fleet. He put a hand on his shoulder and searched for eye contact. There was no point in asking if he was okay, none of them were. He silently took the crowbar and went back to the corpse. He lifted the crowbar and swung it in the guy’s skull , stumbling forwards on a knee when he did so. He spat some blood and turn around with the crowbar to meet Fleet again. He extended a hand. “ We can’t stay here.” He whispered in a raspy painful voice.
fleet summers
Colin managed to get himself free from the weight of the Daybreaker and Fleet watched, half-tuned in and half-out, not wanting to have to enter the fray again. He didn't need to; Colin came over and looked at him, seeing that Fleet was standing and functional, and then he went off to the Daybreaker lying in a huge heap and started swinging. Fleet didn't try to go over there, but as each blow landed things started to come into sharper focus and by the time Colin came back to him, reaching out a hand, Fleet felt rage heating its way up his throat. "Don't you fucking touch this," he spat, reaching out to snatch his crowbar back from Colin, holding it tight to his chest white-knuckled. "Don't ever touch this again, it's mine." The bloody effluvium of it was smearing into Fleet's beard, down his neck, but it didn't matter, just the overwhelming distress at somebody else having used his crowbar. "I killed my father with this. Don't -- nobody else gets to touch this."
Colin Young
Now that was a reaction and an answer he did not want to delve into or touch form a mile away. He really was not sure how to approach someone who was piling different traumatic events. Colin lifted his hands to appease Fleet and show that he was not the enemy here. “ I needed to make sure he wasn’t coming back for a second round, it’s all yours, won’t take it again.” He whispered because maybe an explanation would also be what Fleet needed. He had buried the father, taken good care of him for his lest resting place. He stepped closer. “ You killed …but you also saved my life with it … now please, let’s move before another sees us. “ he pleaded.
fleet summers
The deathgrip on his crowbar didn't abate, but Fleet watched Colin raise his hands and that meant Colin wasn't going to take it again; he knew logically, somewhere, of course, that Colin had simply taken whatever weapon was at hand to save them both, but. That logic hadn't percolated its way anywhere useful, and the only things Fleet was aware of were the feel of the crowbar in his hand and the blood that was dripping down his face unabated now. "Okay," he said, and realized his voice was coming out strange and juddering because he was shaking from head to toe, and then further realized that it wasn't just the bleeding wetting his face, it was that he was crying. A red haze fuzzed his vision, eyelashes hung heavy with brine and blood, and Fleet felt his knees almost start to give out before he bit down on his tongue to bring himself back, shaking his head hard and dragging his sleeve over his face. "Okay," Fleet said again, still trembly but more sure. "Colin. Yeah. Let's keep moving."
Colin Young
« Okay, good, good, come on. “ he coaxed him after a sigh of relief. He stumbled towards the opening in the fence he had opened up for Leigh originally and pulled up a bit for Fleet to get through and he followed. He hoped the rest of the Ranch chosen would also be able to get out , but that was out of his hands, he could only focus and care for the one that was with him and himself. They had a long road back , and he made sure that Fleet would continue moving towards their home and be safe for other people to give him the help and comfort he right now needed.
Repost @allmymashups: Because sometimes, ya just gotta find out what a young #BobDylan would look like in the #ArchieVerse... ••• #TheTimesTheyAreAChangin #DontLookBack #LikeDylanInTheMovies #ImNotThere #NoDirectionHome #TheFreeWheelinBobDylan #BlondeOnBlonde #OhMercy #ArchieComics #ArchieAndrews #JugHeadJones #JugHead #RiverDale #BobDylanComesToRiverDale #JeauxJanovsky #JeauxJanovskyArt #JeauxJ #Microns #Ink #SketchBookArt #SketchBook #BrushPen #HandDrawn #Comics #Comix #ReadMoreComics #DigestComics #FolkMusic @mpellerito (at Vermillion, South Dakota) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChktUy7OQfP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
"He's still asleep, if the steady rhythm of his breathing is anything to go by. He's got his back to her, awful scars catching the still-burning firelight."
"Your hair..."
"Like hers, it was soaked with sweat in the night — and yet somehow when it dried, it did so in the form of soft, white-blond curls. Loose and yet undeniable."
You might have gone through a lot that makes you believe your life will always be difficult. But you've been through it, you managed to do so and somehow it has shaped you into the person you've become today. Life doesn't always get easier, but it gets better. The more you go through life, the more you will also grow through life. You will also, one day, outgrow life - so keep on fighting and never give up.
This is for @onyx-and-elm . DLB grabbed my heart and soul and has brought me so much joy. I haven't created fanart in years, but this painting elbowed its way, fully formed, into my brain. I spent an embarrassing number of hours on it, while listening to the DLB Spotify playlist on repeat (check out the bottom right corner of the painting for some of the lyrics to Phantogram's "you don't get me high anymore," a song which I feel is absolutely fucking spot on for the mood of this story). This story is a bright spot of joy for me and your writing glows.
