The New World (Days Gone Fanfic)

New Hope

It's been about 6 hours now since Erin lost conciseness, I've been calling into Addy every hour and she keeps telling me the same thing every time I call 'don't try to move her or wake her up, let her come back on her own'
the hardest part was trying to shift her onto her back without disturbing any of her wounds or causing her to wake up, but I managed to and had stitched her head slash up along with bandaging up the wounds on her back from the nails.

That was the first hour, after I managed to get my bearings under control. I never thought it would kill me this much to see her so still, so quiet. The other five hours I spent just thinking, thinking about how today could've ended differently if I left her at lost lake, I'd probably be dead. I'm extremely grateful to her but it pains me to know that she killed for me even if it was rippers that she killed.

The world has become so lost that even the smallest bit of innocence has been wiped away, I've seen it with Lisa and now with Erin. Maybe we're too far gone.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of radio static "Deek? brother you there? Addy told me what happened" I huff out a sigh as I force myself up from the chair by Erin's cot and walk over to the counter the radios on " ya Boozer, I'm here"

Boozer lets out a heavy breath " you ok brother? is she ok?" I start to pace around the small trailer, not daring to take my eyes off Erin " no, I don't know. I didn't see the wire. I should have seen the fucking wire!" in a burst of rage I ram my fist into one of the trailer's metal walls. A loud echo rings out through the small space and when I remove my fist there's a slight dent along with a small splatter of blood from my split knuckles.

"Deacon! calm down. What happened, happened. There's no way to change it, those fucking wires are way too hard to spot, it's not your fault. She won't blame you, and neither should you"

I don't realize I'm breaking down till I can't catch a full breath and a tear slips down my cheek "she is the way she is right now because of me Boozer. I can't breathe, Boozer I can't- I can't lose her like I lost Sarah." "Deacon, listen to me. Erin isn't Sarah, you're not going to lose her. now she needs you so you can't be losing your shit like this. Brother look at her, she's alright. She's not going anywhere. Breathe Deacon." 

Doing as Boozer says I slow my pace and look down at Erin's body, her back slowly rising and falling with every breath she takes in and lets out. Running a shaky hand through my hair I take in a deep breath and slowly blow it out, slightly feeling some tension leave. "Deek, listen I have to go but I'll keep my radio on me. Let me know when she wakes up. Love you brother" 

Before I can answer back the radio cuts back to static before going silent. Still feeling the heavy weight of dread but also feeling calmer than before I retake my seat next to Erin's bed and gently pick up her hand, holding it in both of mine, I rub slow circles on the back of her hand with my thumb. And with that, I continue to wait- wait for her to wake up.

__Erins pov__

Have you ever experienced the knowledge that you are asleep but not completely? because that's what's happening right now or at least that's what I think is happening, I can feel everything, though I wish I couldn't. my head feels like it's been split open and then put back together with barbwire, and the rest of my body feels heavy and hurts like I've been hit by a car then reran over. I can't move without causing spicks of pain to wave over the entirety of my body. my eyes are heavy and when I try to open them all I see is bright light causing me to immediately shut them. one of my hands is covered by something warm and rough, and I can feel something resembling hair tickling my exposed hip.

knowing that I'm not able to do much in my state, I start with something small, a twitch in my figures or the tightening of my eyes, both however causes immense pain and forces a scratchy groan to crawl from my throat. the groan is loud enough to alert the presence beside me as the hair on my hip moves and disappears completely.

"Erin?" Deacon, I try to sigh in relief only to let out a more pained groan as an unexpected wave of pain moves through me as my held hand is moved up to a dry but soft texter, lips. Deacon plants a gentle kiss on the back of my hand only to let go of it immediately after my groan. "sorry" it's one word but it's loaded with emotion, his voice is quiet, tired almost. but there's also a hint of sadness that is heard. what has him so sad?

"De-Deacon" my voice is just under a whisper and I'm surprised that he even heard it. he lets out a small breath before sniffling, is he crying? why? "wh-what- what's wr- wrong?" he lets out a slight laugh before grabbing my hand again and pulling it to what I imagine to be his forehead, he  then slowly shakes his head "nothing, nothings wrong." 

I try once more to open my eyes and this time I can though I have to squint in order to adjust to the light, through my blurred vision I see Deacon, his eyes are rimmed with red with dark bags under them from lack of sleep. He's holding my hand in both of his close to his mouth, I can feel his hot breath as he breathes out. My eyes finally met his and a once dim color lights to the beautiful ones that I have seared in my memory from just a few days ago. it's a funny thing, love, you never know who it's going to choose. It can be a sudden or slow process but we all end up there at some point.

At that moment, looking into his eyes I knew I would do anything for him and the look in his eyes told me that he would do the same for me even if there was a little sliver of him that belonged to someone else.

__Deacon pov__

Erin reluctantly finally let me move her to a semi-seated position, the amount of pain she was in seemed to dim slightly as more hours passed, it could either because of the painkillers or she's more different than we think but I don't trust my second theory and decided to just stick with the ladder. she only managed to stay awake two hours before her energy was drained and she fell asleep. Addy told me not to worry too much about her sleeping and said that it would be better for her to rest and not put too much strain on her injuries. 

ever since she fell asleep I couldn't get one image out of my rushing thoughts, when she opened her eyes, something changed in them. It's almost as if something lifted and they slightly grew more vibrant in color, I remember the feeling that flooded me when I stared into her steel blue eyes. I felt a sense of admiration, something similar to what I felt with Sarah, it felt like something was tied between us. something strong and unbreakable, something funny called love.