The New World (Days Gone Fanfic)

Secrets Out

I couldn't stand the look of pity from Boozer when I finally woke up in his arms, so I left. It's not like I have to worry about the freaks, they don't see me. Sometimes I wish no one could.

The moon is high and shining bright, it's peaceful out here in the field of pretty flowers, at least it was till a nearby horde decided it was time to come out and eat. They are noisy with the slouching sounds coming from the creatures they've eaten are sickening yet I don't move to leave. It's gross but it's better than having people look at you like you're broken and shattered.

I don't know how long I've been out here and I don't really care but in the midst of my mindless staring the sound of slow and cautious footsteps sound only mere meters away from me. I don't think anything of it till a small and quiet whisper floats to my ears "Erin"

I turn my head in the direction of Deacon who is crouched down in a nearby bush, he's practically hidden except for the shiny metal of his weapon peeking out from the top of the bush. "why are you here?" I whisper back, struggling to focus on his shadow-covered face. "Boozer said you ran off, you kinda scared him" I scoff "I scared him, really?" his dark face slowly moves in a nod "tell him sorry for me" my eyes linger for a second before they move to look back over the small pond that the flowers grow around.

"you shouldn't be out here" Deacon says as he slowly moves out of his bush and towards where I am but he stops when I shake my head and point to the horde nearby "neither should you"

"go home Deacon" my voice takes on a harsh edge as I refuse to meet the man's eyes "no, not without you" my eyes start to glaze over with a light film of moister as I try my hardest to stop from crying "why, why do you care so much?" my question seems to stump him as his head lowers and his voice softens "I don't know. all I know is that I'm not leaving without you so if you stay I'm staying too" this time without stopping he fully emerges from the bush and comes to sit next to me, close enough so our shoulders are touching.

Knowing that he's not going to leave I let my shoulders drop and my head falls to his shoulder, I feel his arm move so it's wrapped around my waist. He then places a light kiss on the side of my head and we both sigh in unison. " my father wasn't always angry, but when he was he really got angry and would end up hitting someone. It was usually my mom but something changed when she died. He blamed me and didn't see me as his daughter anymore. It started with glares, looks of disgust, and occasionally a slap or two but when things started to get hard he would use me as a way of anger relief. He would lock me in my room for weeks, maybe even months, and every once in a while he'd get busy and forget to give me something to eat. The starvation wasn't that bad, the worst part was the constant pain I was in from constantly being used as his punching bad. Then it stopped about a month ago, they found a doctor out in the shit that said she could potentially find a cure for all this. My father fed into all her shit and gave her what she needed, which consisted of a steady string of newts to test and a lab rat. I'll give you two guesses about who that rat was and the first guess doesn't count."

Deacon's whole body stiffened, yet he never said anything. He just listened. "I was poked and prodded, cut and burned. I felt as if hell swallowed me then shat me back out, and people wonder why I have night terrors, well who the fuck wouldn't after going through all that?" his voice is light and quiet when he speaks "how'd you get away?"

"one day they brought in a newt for the doctor and she was to test her 'cure' on it to see if it worked or killed it like all the others. She put me in a room with it to see if it would attack or not, it didn't, the problem was it wasn't her 'cure' that made it passive because when a guard opened the door the newt immediately rushed at him. He died. The doctor then had the bright idea to put me in front of a horde and see if they'd act the same, and well how about I just show you."