the light behind your eyes | the walking dead {slow updates}

04 | if we live that long

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The woods were the kind of quiet that did not bring any sort of peace. There was no peace among the trees whenever any distant, blurry shape could have been a half-rotted geek waiting for a bite of sweet, tender human flesh—flesh from the living.

That morning had been different.

Rick was there, Daryl was still out in the woods hunting God only knew what. Sarah was still stealing glances at her children like she was contemplating telling them something. Of course she probably had a lot to tell them. Peyton just wasn't sure she wanted to listen.

Going a little ways down the trail was more than certainly against the list of rules they had been given. For once, however, Peyton and her friends were following Carl and Sophia. They weren't quite as acquainted with the entire camp as they were.

"So you're sure this is fine? We're gonna get our asses chewed." Riley looked at Sophia as they walked, who only shrugged her shoulders.

Peyton felt guilty. She knew that Sophia had seen the way she reacted to Elijah's outburst the other day—the spite, the bravery, the willingness to stand up for herself against someone like him. Peyton felt guiltily because now Sophia wanted to do the same thing. Carol was not as strong willed as Sarah, Peyton worried that if Sophia spoke up the way that she had herself that there would be no one aside from Nathan to rescue her. Nathan could only take so much himself.

Peyton could smell it before she saw it.

The pungent odor of rotten flesh mixed with the summer heat was perhaps the worst thing she'd ever had the misfortune of smelling.

She looked up, throwing her arms out to grab her peers in front of her.

She yanked Carl and Sophia back as they began to scream for help.

Peyton remained silent as she reached into her back pocket for the knife her mother let her carry.

The deer had two arrows sticking out of its flank—but the geek had not noticed the children. It was too busy feeding.

It was only when Rick and the other men from aprons the camp showed up that it looked up from its defenseless meal.

Peyton stared ahead as Levi pulled her and Archer away, ignoring her mother's questions of her health as she ushered them back towards the center of the camp.

"Are you bit?"

"No."

"Did it scratch you?"

"No."

"Did it touch you at all?"

"No—"

She looked over her mother's shoulder and saw the head lying on the ground—detached from the body.

The branches began rustling ahead of them, prompting them all to place themselves in a wall between another potential threat and the rest of the camp.

"Son of a bitch."

Sarah sighed heavily, appearing relieved at the sound of his voice.

It had only been Daryl.

"That's my deer! Look at it, all gnawed on by this," he started kicking the body of the geek on the ground, "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy bastard!"

"Calm down son, that's not helping—"

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to the pond?" Daryl looked away from Dale and stomped back over to the deer.