𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗 ☼ 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚕 𝙳𝚒𝚡𝚘𝚗

ɪɪɪ. ꜱʜᴏᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜʀɪʟʟ

You did your best to support the archer as he dragged his feet, but he was built a lot bigger than you. You'd shuffled along for the best part of half an hour in silence, save for the heavy breathing next to your ear and the rustle of leaves beneath your feet.

Somewhere along the way you'd convinced him to ditch the necklace, and he didn't really complain much when you yanked it from his neck and threw it into a bush. You didn't know how far away his camp was, but you prayed you wouldn't have to stop for the night. You didn't have anything for a tripwire, and the man was in no state to defend the two of you as he was.

God knows you wouldn't be able to.

You kept stealing small glances at him as you walked. He had a raggedy t-shirt on, covered in blood and dirt, and a flannel wrapped around his waist to stop the bleeding. His pants were ripped, too, from the fall and climb you guessed - but maybe they were even like that before. You thought that perhaps he had been in the force, too. Or, he at least worked a physical job before all this, from the looks of him.

The silence suddenly felt awkward to you - probably because you were staring and were worried that he could feel your eyes on him.

"Let's hope we don't run into any zombies." You spoke nervously, trying to make conversation.

You could see him furrow his eyebrows in your peripheral.

"The undead." You clarified. "What do you call them, then?" You asked, seeing his reaction.

"Walkers." He mumbled and you nodded.

"What were you doing out here, anyway?" You went on, trying to distract yourself from the weight of this man's arm pressing down on the back of your neck. He was a lot heavier than he looked, and you were certain he wasn't putting anywhere near his whole weight on you.

"D'ya ever stop talkin'?" He growled lowly by your ear, almost making you stop in place. You suddenly felt very shy, wondering why you'd run your mouth so much. The man was obviously in pain and here you were, chatting like a schoolgirl on a lunch break.

"Sorry." You quickly replied. "Haven't spoken to anyone in a while. Guess I got a bit ahead of myself."

He stayed silent but gave you a knowing glance that you pretended you didn't see. The pair of you walked a few more steps before he took a bit of a hard stumble, more so than usual, and you barely managed to keep him upright.

"Do you want to take a break?" You asked once you regained your footing. He shook his head angrily.

You could tell he felt ashamed. Forget what he said about you, this man was stubborn as a mule. You stopped anyway, letting him rest against a tree as you pretended to tighten the lace on your boot.

"Ok. Just, just stop here for a second." You tried to convince him as he began to move again. "Please." He did as he was told whilst you dug around into your satchel. You pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to him. "Drink some of this. I have snacks too, you want any?"

He looked at it suspiciously, as if you'd perhaps poisoned it before giving it to him. "Why're ya doin' this?"

You were a bit taken aback at the question. It was only water. You then realised that he probably meant more than just that.

"I don't know." You responded truthfully, and you kept on walking.

It felt like hours before you approached his camp. The pair of you had given up talking a while ago, even though it was mostly you anyways. Instead, you both trudged along on your last legs. You weren't even injured, save from your hand, but you could barely put one foot in front of the other anymore. You didn't understand how this guy was still upright. Once you emerged from the woods, you finally saw something other than the landscape of a thousand trees that you were so used to seeing.