⤐ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.
"I need you to listen to me. When we're out there together, if I say run, run. If I tell you to leave me, then damn it, you le...
'she's hell, he's the devil. the demons see no end to this love.' -amber anwar
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⤐
Something snapped Zeppelin out of a deep sleep, like a magnet tugging her insides, pulling her out of her dreaming state. Moonlight flooded the living room, illuminating her loved ones in the buttery glow. Everyone was here, except...
Rick and Daryl.
She chewed on her thumb for a second, glancing at the door, then back to her family. After a few minutes of pondering, curiosity eventually got the best of her, and she peeled her sticky limbs off the floor. Summer was in full swing, the air outside thick and muggy, and all the body heat in the room didn't help to keep the sweat from trickling down the back of her neck.
She tiptoed over her family's bodies and padded softly down the hall, searching for some sign they were nearby. The sliding glass door leading to the backyard was cracked a few inches, and she pushed it open the rest of the way, stepping out into the cool moonlight. As she assumed they would be, the two men leaned side by side, their forearms resting on the porch banister as they looked up at the night sky.
Daryl turned the moment her foot made contact with the wood, though she was sure she hardly made a sound. He twisted to face her, now leaning with his back against the frame and his elbows on the banister. "Couldn't sleep?" His voice was husky, laced with exhaustion.
"Clearly you two couldn't either."
Rick murmured a chuckle, nodding his head slowly. "Just feels so.. permanent. And I don't know how I feel about it yet."
Daryl scooted over a few inches, nodding to the open space between him and Rick. Zeppelin took the invitation, copying Rick's position as Daryl turned and did the same. They sat in silence for a moment, gazing up at the star-flecked ebony sky.
"Feels like commiting.." Zeppelin whispered. "If we sleep here.. take jobs like Deanna wants. And you're not ready to do that?" She aimed her question to Rick, tilting her head to watch his muted expression.
He pondered it for a moment, twisting to his side to full face her. "Are you?"
She bit her lip and dropped her gaze from his, picking at a chipped piece of wood near Daryl's arm. "I don't know yet," she admitted. "But we'll just take it day by day, I suppose. If that's what you want me to do." She wouldn't lie, tell him she was excited to be here, but she would admit her loyalty to him.
Rick let out a soft hum, running his hand over his chin. Finally, he sighed and pushed himself off the banister. "I'm gonna go take a walk."
The leader of the new group wandering around the town well after midnight might not sit well with some of the Alexandria people, but she wasn't going to be the one to tell him so. He grasped her shoulder, nodded at Daryl behind her, and strolled away.
