We Three

How They Heal

They'd allowed themselves a small funeral. Kira's body was burned to ash. Alone. No need for any of those rotten corpses to be burned when they had plenty of live ones to worry about. This time they'd be able to do it properly, like they hadn't been able to with Grei. It was a silent affair, done a few miles away from the base. They could save that for reminiscing back at the base.

When it was done, Roone felt empty. He walked back to the base with the feeling, talking to no one, as if this was a time for conversation anyway. Since Hal wouldn't let him anywhere near the weapons, Roone had volunteered himself for the watch shift, just to get away. No one bothered to argue with him. He had sat alone on the wall for a few hours, basking in the setting sun and just feeling sorry for himself. It was a beautiful day, and Roone was angry at it.

Roone felt betrayed by the Earth that he walked on since birth. He wanted to punch something, to cry out to the sky and dare any undead to grapple with him. How dare the sun shine and give the illusion of happiness. Nothing was right with the world! Everything was off! Why did the sky continue to look so full and blue and the clouds so white. Why does the Earth continue to spin after a death so traumatic as this one. How had the world not imploded from grief?

Roone buried his head in his hands, willing for the feeling of anger and uselessness to leave, begging some shred of calm to come over him.

Gull had joined him around sunset, a calm presence beside him.

"Hey," Now, he was sitting cross legged, just behind the giant sign on the store. Just staring. Gull had positioned himself on the wall as well, but he was only leaning on it, facing away from the street. He held a soft, comforting smile on his face.

"Hey yourself," he snapped in a rough, gravelly voice. Gull's smile faltered. He was playing with his hands, something he'd only ever done when he was nervous, something he had never been around Roone for a while. Roone winced, he knew that Gull wasn't the best at feelings, but he still didn't deserve to be lashed out at.

"Sorry."

They sat in awkward silence for a moment. Finally, Roone looked up into Gull's damning soft brown eyes.

"What?"

"I, um, can I hug you? In a non- restraining way this time?" Gull asked quietly, nudging Roone's arm with his shoulder.

Roone shrugged.

"Can I get a verbal confirmation?"

"Just get in here before I change my mind." Gull slowly put his arms around Roone, and he had to admit, it felt nice. He felt warm, and...happy. They sat quietly for a while, needing only the presence of one another.

"You know," Gull murmured, breaking the comforting silence. "It wasn't your fault. No one blames you."

"Maybe one day I'll believe that." Roone whispered back. Gull pulled him closer as he cried.

***

Months passed. Seasons changed, and Roone healed. They all healed. But no one forgot.

It started through his inventions that he began to feel more whole. He had rigged a miniature version of his underwater pop up spike trap in all possible entrance spots. He smiled again, a true smile-- teeth and all, the day that it had run successfully after months of testing with less than stellar results. Gull, who'd been running the tests with him, wrapped him in a hug and laughed, leaving Roone confused until he realized that he had smiled since Kira's death. During supply runs, he kept his eye out for bits of machinery that he could use, and he had grown quite the stockpile. He'd found a lot to fiddle with in hopes of repairing his shield, as it had been on the fritz after he'd rammed it into a few more Infected.