The Purification (From the Ashes We Will Rise: Book One)

Chapter 6

"Sit down for a minute before you pass out," I sighed, dangling my legs over the edge.

"Can't sit," Glenn stated, slipping the hat over his head, "I'm on watch."

"I've seen each member of your group sit up here while they were on watch Glenn."

"Our group," he corrected, letting out a deep sigh, "and that's beside the point, each of them wasn't hiding the fact that there's a barn full of walkers within a mile of our camp."

"You're being to hard on yourself man. You were just trying to do right by Maggie," I sighed, strumming the cords to a familiar song.

"You don't get it, Li. I've always been the screw up and you've always been the golden child. I thought that since the world has ended, that I might be able to escape that."

We've hand this same fight many times before and I wasn't about to do it again, "do you remember all those nights you'd call me from college super stressed and anxious?"

"Of course I do," he sighed shaking his head, "but that's got nothing to do with this Li. I'm just messing up on all fronts."

"I think Armstrong would say otherwise," I chuckled at him as I began to strum the the chords. "I see trees of green. Red roses too. I see them bloom. For me and you, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world."

Despite his best efforts not to, Glenn couldn't help but smile and take a deep breath. He's always been relatively anxious and this was the song our mother used to sing to us when we were kids before she passed. Glenn was 19 and I was 16 when the crash happened. That's when I took over song duty. He would call me in the middle of the night and I'd pull out my guitar and sing, What a Wonderful World.

Sure it would be easy for me to just record it and send him a version, which I did, but any time he would call, I'd always answer. It was such small and simple task to do and he's my brother

I shot him a small smile as I continued strumming along, "I see skies of blue. And clouds of white. The bright blessed day. The dark sacred night, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. The colors of the rainbow. So pretty in the sky. Are also on the faces. Of people going by. I see friends shaking hands. Saying, "How do you do?" They're really saying "I love you"."

Glenn gave in to the music, closing his eyes and saying in time.

This bond of ours as brothers truly was incomparable to any other. This bond is a sort of union of souls, a feeling that to lose the other would be worse than death. And after thinking I'd lost him once, I'd never let that happen again. He the one who carried my soul beneath the gruffness and often crude humor. Whatever came, we knew we'd be there for one another. That reliability, that trust, it built us and sustained us.

"I hear babies cry. I watch them grow. They'll learn much more. Than I'll never know. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world."

"Thank you," Glenn sighed, allowing his body to relax.

"Any time," I smiled back at him.

***

Ever since Lincoln and I have been here, I've felt a little more at peace. I could let him run around and be a kid without being in constant fear of something bad happening to him. Well, as long as the walkers in the barn, stay in the barn, I don't have to worry. Glenn and I have been on top of this RV all day, with Dale stepping in every now and again.

I know I'm supposed to be watching out for walkers, but Glenn was doing that. I watched as Lincoln laid in the grass like he's sleeping. I've watched him do this over and over. When Carl comes to wake him him up, he acts no more alive than a sack of beans. He waits, cobra-like, until she gets right up close to his face. Then he jumps up hands like starfish in the sun. He shamelessly roared, not the timid little expulsion of an adult playing "lets pretend," but the no-holes-barred lung-emptying of a prehistoric warrior.

Then he stands there, his curly brown hair masking the dirt and grass that must cover it. It falls back down into his eyes and all I can see is a goofy grin plastered on his face. Carl screams every time, not upset but elated. He jumps, claps and laughs. Then they switch spots and Carl falls as if he were shot with a dart gun. They've been doing this since they finished the school work.

My attention was only drawn away from the boys when Glenn spoke, "s'up."

Shane stomped into RV, ignoring Glenn. We could hear him tearing apart the inside. What was he looking for? He spend a few more minutes before storming outside.

"You see where he went?" Shane snapped.

"Who?" Glenn asked confused.

"Don't even try to shit me, okay?" Shane grumbled.

"What?" I asked equally confused.

"Dale, Glenn," he snapped. "Did you see where Dale went?"

"Yeah," Glenn nodded standing from his chair, "he asked me to run and get him some water. Said he'd cover me on watch."

"And he was gone when you got back, huh?"

"Yeah," Glenn nodded.

"And what about you Liam. Did you see where Dale went?"

"I've been watching the boys, I didn't even realize that he was gone," I replied honestly.

"You think he's okay?" Glenn asked worriedly.

"Oh, he's fine," Shane mocked.

"Well why'd he bail then?" I pushed.

"So you two wouldn't tell me which way he went," Shane growled.

"I don't get it," Glenn sighed, scratching his head.

"No man, you don't," Shane huffed before walking off.

"What's his deal?" I asked.

"No idea," Glenn sighed as he plopped back into the chair.