𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎 ᵀᵂᴰ¹

28. 𝙋𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙊𝙉 𝘽𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙆

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 || 𝘗𝘙𝘐𝘚𝘖𝘕 𝘉𝘙𝘌𝘈𝘒
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[ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ, ɪ'ᴅ ꜱɪᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴏᴜʀꜱ
ꜱᴛᴀʀɪɴɢ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ꜰʟᴀᴍᴇ
ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪɴ ɪᴛ ʜᴀᴅ ᴀ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ
ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴀʀᴇʟʏ ᴛᴇᴀʀ ᴍʏ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ]

ROLAND JOLTED UP from his sleep with a gasp as he grasped his gun that laid right beside him. Eyes wide as they flickered around him urgently and fearfully. His chest rising and falling with ease as he inhaled deeply and held it in. Closing his eyes and counting up to five and down from five. When he was finished, his eyes flickered open and he was finally calm, at least, a bit.

For months now, sleep hadn't come easy for him. It'd be either no sleep for days or sleep to only wake up a few hours later. Roland had learned rather quickly that he wasn't ever able to ease himself. To get used to just, settling down. It seemed foreign after everything with Emily and the months after that. Even finding his group- his family, he couldn't rest. He was paranoid about what might come and what he might do if something did come.

Rather he got reassurance from Emily each and every day and it felt nice, but he still didn't feel safe. He had a noose around his neck and it was slowly tightening. It was a matter of time before it choked him to death or he fell and it snapped his neck. But with the time slowly ticking by he was unsure of how long he had, but he was going to try and make the most of it. Protect and care for the people he cared about. Maybe even be able to rest finally.

A string of child laughter got Roland's attention as he squinted slightly to see Carl, Tom, and Emily chasing each other. Playing tag and running around in the grass near the front gates. He sniffled slightly and rubbed his nose harshly as he propped his arms up onto his knees.

"Everything alright?" Beth's soft and quiet voice was music to Roland's ears. He turned his head slightly to see her head propped onto his shoulder. Tilted just a tiny bit to the left as her eyes scanned his expression closely.

Beth didn't know how to go about talking to Roland after being apart for so long. What was she supposed to talk about or ask about? For so long, she thought he was dead and didn't know what would happen if she saw him again. But when they finally saw one another, she could see something that wasn't the same. Like something changed while he was gone. She could tell that Roland didn't want to talk about anything that happened when he was gone from the group. His eyes told her everything she needed to know.

She knew that something happened that messed him up so bad that he didn't seem the same. Sure, surface level, Roland was still here. His loving, caring, joking nature was still there. But Beth could see the anger and cold-blooded survivor in Roland. Before, she knew he was just a kid trying to survive. But now, everything was different and she could see it all.