To A Flame | closed for etnxnxdissxlvantur
He couldnāt get it out of his head. Couldnāt get rid of the image of the look on her face, couldnāt rid himself of the memory of her collapsing there in the dirt still wrapped up in his arms. He shifted slightly and scuffed the sole of his boot against the dirt, damn woman. She was pervasive, like some sort of vine like weed, growing quickly and wrapping around everything before strangling and overwhelming it. Except the only thing that she was currently overwhelming was him. The rest of the group seemed happy enough to leave her well alone, which in his opinion was the wrong move, not that he was gonna tell them that,
Sheād skipped the little girls funeral yesterday, her own daughter. And at first heād been furious about it, but he understood it. She needed that last image of her girl to be gone as bad as heād tried to bury his own demons. She didnāt want to see the monstrous shell that had shambled out of that barn take the place of her kid, didnāt want to see the group and the looks on their faces, and she probably didnāt want to see him either. Heād given her hope, lied to her in the only ways that had mattered at that moment. He understood what it was like to be alone and lost, and he understood what it was like to lose your only family, not that he ever had much of one to begin with. But heād been drawn to the whole situation in more ways that he could explain.
Sophia probably hadnāt even lasted the night, bitten, dead, and tucked into that barn by daybreak. And heād gone and made promises to bring her back. And somehow in all that Carol had latched herself to him, begged him not to leave her too. The worst part was that he wanted to be done with it, pack his shit and leave em all behind, except he couldnāt because even though he wasnāt admitting it, he still felt drawn to her. Like some sort of car accident he couldnāt look away from.
He could see her now, off in the distance where the camp was still set up in the old manās yard. Awake before the rest of them save for Dale up on top of the RV keeping watch, her eyes gazing through whatever it was in front of her. He didnāt have to be close to know that. It was a look that had been etched into his memory.
Finally he blew out a breath, disgusted at himself for stopping and giving it so much thought, and stalked back into the camp as silently as ever, holding up a brace of small game and dropping it unceremoniously onto the nearest surface.
āBreakfast,ā he said breaking the silence that permeated the camp.
Even if he did know what else to say to her he wasnāt sure how to say anything anymore.
