𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊, carl grimes

iv. wail of the walkers

In the frantic haze of her head, Riley could hear an echo beat rhythmically, growing louder each time the sound came again. It was the reverberation of her heart speeding up to try and grasp a hold on the flow everything was moving so quickly with. Although it was only minutes since she'd just visited Sawyer, it felt like hours had dragged by while she turned her head for a simple minute. 

Her feet clicked against the soiled floors of the administration building until she came to a stop in a small room of many. She'd be calling the room her new home for the next few days until she was allowed to break the walls of isolation she was kept prisoner in, but until then she was rooming with Beth and Judith in the confined area. Despite those specific companions sleeping in the same room as her, they weren't there at the current moment, the reason was completely unknown to Riley, but if she had to take an affirmative guess she'd assume they were with the other adolescents somewhere around the building. 

In a rush to waste no time, Riley grabbed a thin jacket she had from a hook on the wall and threw it around her shoulders, moving to a desk and opening it in search of a flashlight. Just moments before, Rick had came into the safe zone looking for his son and the girl. The defensive fences tasked with keeping the walkers from stampeding into their community and transforming each living individual into a braindead, cannibalistic, monster was heading to an imminent fail. As a last resort, Rick had asked the two to offer a hand in helping him try and restore the strength keeping those fences in place, and time was being knocked off the clock rapidly.

As her hands fumbled with different drawers and her eyes scanned the room for the item she was looking for, a new presence in the doorway alerted her silently.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked from his placement just outside the room, not quite sure if he was invited in.

"What?" Riley replied mindlessly, running from place to place as she cursed under her breath at there absence of the object. "I'm just looking for a flashlight. Mine literally just disappeared on me, I don't know where the hell it went."

"Oh, I got one." Lucas said, pulling the article from the pocket of his sweatshirt. "Here, you can take it."

Riley turned and looked to his hand, which indeed held a flashlight. "Thank you."

In a few large and brisk steps, she approached the boy and grabbed the item, making a move to leave the room and get back to Rick and Carl, who were probably already growing extremely impatient.

"Hey- um, where are you going?" Lucas asked, catching her by the arm before she'd disappeared too far.

"Outside, fences are getting weak." Riley said, slowing down as she walked backwards a few steps to come face to face with the boy.

"Is that safe? Do you need me to come out with you?" Lucas's eyebrows ran downwards instantly. His tone was quieter, his body now rigid.

Riley shook her head with a small hum accompanied by a faint smile. "It's okay."

"Alright," The older boy nodded slowly. "Just..."

Riley awaited his answer, examining the way his eyes drifted down the hall as a breath escaped his lips. "You have this look on your face like you're going to tell me to be careful."