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A Depressing Swing And An Emotional Hit

Our group took hit after hit, but we kept moving. It's not like we had anywhere to stop. We were out of water, out of food. I hadn't slept properly for weeks now and our van had run out of gas, so we moved on foot. But that wasn't on my mind right now. All I could think about was how long Judith had left. We were barely surviving as it is, I couldn't imagine how the baby was feeling. It was like she understood the world she lived in now, because she didn't cry often.

I picked at the healing scab on my arm, drawing a small amount of blood. I wiped it away, only for a new drop to form. I watched as it grew bigger, eventually trickling down to the crease of my elbow. The trail of blood dried up in the heat, pulling at the skin and making it itch.

"Stop, that tickles." I complained, wafting my arms behind me. Beth giggled, not listening to me and continuing to brush my hair.

"It's getting a little long. You want me to cut it?" She offered, pulling a pair of scissors from the nearest drawer.

"Sure. I never liked it long anyway. Besides, it's starting to get in my eyes." I blew a sharp breath upwards, my bangs waving about.

Beth snipped at the ends of my hair, kicking it out of the way when it fell to the ground. I kept my head still until footsteps came through the door, followed my childish voices.

"Can you do mine after, please?" Lizzie begged Beth, making her laugh.

"Sure, just let me finish up with my first customer, and I'll be right with you." I felt small feathers of hair sweep along my neck, which were quickly brushed off. "Okay, all done. It looks nice, but I bet you'd look real pretty with long hair, don't you think?" She asked the question to Lizzie and Mika, who eagerly nodded their heads.

"Yeah, whatever, who's hair am I cutting?" Mika jumped up and placed herself at the table in front of me. I found another pair of scissors and started cutting, only taking off about an inch. Beth stood beside me, snipping away at Lizzie's hair. "Maybe I should tell Hershel I wanna be a hairdresser." I joked.

"I'm sure he would love that!" Beth replied with a laugh.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I wouldn't cry now, or rather, I couldn't. My eyes stung as they tried, but still nothing happened. I quietly groaned in frustration, feeling kind of mad at myself. It's like I couldn't even force myself to feel these things.

I slowed down, waiting until everyone passed me by and I was alone at the back. I looked over my shoulder, seeing the small gathering of walkers on our tail. We couldn't take care of them now, not when we were so weak.

I blankly stared ahead, noticing Carl hand a small yellow box to Maggie before drifting backwards, walking alongside me. I kept my gaze on my feet.

"That was nice of you." I don't know why I said it so bluntly. It was a nice thing for him to do, and I hoped Maggie felt better because of it. It's like no matter what I was feeling, whether it was good or bad, nothing came out that way.

"I found something for you, too." He presented a small red flower in his hand. "I thought, because the others got left behind, you could start a new one. Like a 'volume two' or something."

I took the flower from him and looked it over. It was simple, beautiful, full of life. "Thanks, Carl. It's a nice idea." I fished my book from my bag and placed it between the pages. I glanced up when I saw Daryl leaving for the woods. He had been doing that a lot lately, but I didn't care to stop him.

"When was the last time you talked?" He had seen me watching. I sighed, searching my brain.

"The prison, maybe. I don't know, a while. He doesn't wanna talk to me." I shrugged. I missed hunting with him, I missed talking to him and the irritated look he would get whenever I pissed him off. But I knew if I talked to him right now we wouldn't go back to that, not yet.