𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥《 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯 》

t h r e e// I S S U E S

The sun shone brightly. Lighting up the cellblock. As the brightness rushed through the gated windows, it also served the function of an alarm clock. It seemed to wake up everybody in the same span of time.
The second day. It was the second day ever since Atlanta that Smith had had a quite night. Where she had slept though the night and had had no nightmares. She hadn't even dreamt at all. Just peaceful, quiet, recharging sleep.

The group sat around the table, with their improvised breakfast. 
"Isn't Nova a space thing?" Carl questioned, after staying silent, thinking for a few minutes.
"It is." She chuckled. "It's when a star shows a sudden large increase in brightness and then slowly returns to its original state over a few months."
"Isn't it, like, an explosion?"
"That's a supernova." She chuckled, getting one more bite of her meal. "It's thought to be the most intensive explosion, caused by stars collapsing into a black hole. Huge burst of radiation."
"Is that something they teach in high school?"
Carl had, and would never have the chance to go to high school, so he always made questions to get, at least, an idea of what it would be like.
Smith scoffed, getting up, with her empty bowl in hand. "They teach you nothing in high school."
Carl expressed confusion with his features. "What do they teach in high school, then?"
"A bunch of bull-- things... you'll never need." She stopped herself from cursing.
"I wish I could go to high school." He wished aloud.
"Oh, you didn't lose much, believe me. The best part of high school is leaving." She whispered.
"I liked high school." Glenn admitted.
She gazed him. "You know that makes you the douchebag, right?"
Glenn laughed out loud. "For real, I enjoyed it."
"High school is only fun when you skip every class or... when you're the douchebag." She smiled, gazing, purposely at the black-haired man. 
He shook his head, smiling. "How was high school for you, Daryl?"
"I don't know. Wasn't there most of the time."
"See?" Smith reasoned. 
"See what?" He questioned. 
"You didn't have to put up with high school."
"Yeah, had to put up with a bunch of other shit." He admitted, making the room go silent for a second.
He kept hinting to the possibility that he had had a horrible past but never mentioned why.
As each member of the group got up from their respective seats to pull the dirty dishes away, Beth came in the space, holding Little Ass-Kicker. 
Small talk unfolded as soon as they saw the baby, asking if she had slept well and if she needed anything. Little Ass-Kicker seemed to despise small talk as much as Smith and Daryl, themselves, as she threw up on Beth's shoulder. The girl gasped as she felt it on her clothing.
"Oh my god, can you hold her for a second?" The blonde girl asked, trying to hand the infant to Smith.
The woman's eyes widen at the movement, stuttering as Beth kept trying to push her into her arms. "Wha--I-- N-no--"
"Please, just for a second!"
"No!" She snapped, suddenly, leaving everyone in shock.
All eyes on her.
They had never heard Smith snap nor raise her voice towards anyone. All eyes were on her.
Heavy, suffocating silence filled the once thin air, expect for the baby's cries, which seemed to be muffled. Weird looks from everyone.
She felt as if she were being pulled down by gravity.
All eyes on her, even Daryl's...
She grunted before walking swiftly away, slamming the exit door behind her, causing a loud bang.
She took her unbuttoned checked shirt off, leaving only the white top she always wore under it and slammed it into the ground. Taking out her knife from her belt, she pushed the entrance door of cellblock A open.
Ironic how she had told Daryl to not behave like Rick and now she was doing the exact same thing.
Hypocrite. She heard her own voice say.
Groans escaped her mouth as the squelching sound hovered the air. Slushing from her knife. Walkers falling to the ground.
They kept on coming but she was blinded by... what could be called shame. Embarrassment. The horrifying feeling of all the eyes of the room placed on her, fixating on her. Like she was an alien. 
Smith was dramatic. That couldn't be denied. And emotional, too. And she was well aware of that.
Maybe she was making a big deal out of the situation... Or, maybe, they all thought she was a big bitch for yelling at poor Beth when she needed help. They were probably with a foot back, now. Changing their minds about her. She wasn't what she seemed. She was a fraud. 
Exaggeration. Overwhelming feelings. Anxiety. Obsession. Paranoia.
After what only felt like a couple minutes, that actually turned out to be a couple hours. And by a couple hours, that is, four hours and forty five minutes, she stopped, sliding down the wall, exhausted. She sat there for a while after she finished. She hadn't even realised she had cleared the whole block. Well, the hallways, at least. She didn't bother to put down the ones that were locked up in cells.
Nova Smith didn't even realise her cheeks were covered by a dry stream of tears.
"Are you seriously gonna cry because you're stressed?" She heard a high-pitched voice from the past in her head.
She quickly wiped the remaining tears off her face and inhaled deeply before getting up.
She made her way, extremely slow-paced, with absolutely no rush towards the exit door.
The view that greeted her caught her by surprise. Daryl Dixon was standing there, cigarette hanging from his mouth. She felt her eyebrows elevate when she recognised the man. 
Daryl Dixon wore a tricky expression. It looked like he was mad at something. Her, probably. But, his voice didn't sound angry. His tones always revealed his mood, and that one wasn't angry. It wasn't the softest either but it didn't match his expression.
"Come on!" He rasped, walking away.
"What?"
"We're taking a stroll. C'mon, hurry up."
She couldn't tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, so, she slowly made her way behind him.
He tossed the cigar butt to the floor and revived his motorbike engine. He must have been standing there, waiting for quite some time, given only a tiny butt of his cigarette was left.
She hesitantly sat behind him on the bike. 
"Hold on." He said, before they took off.