𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 - c. grimes

A L O N E

Molly sat on the floor of an abandoned house as she continuously pet Scout's golden fur. He whined with each breath he took, as if he knew exactly what was happening. Molly had already dug a hole in the backyard and grabbed a blanket that now sat next to her. She didn't cry, she couldn't. Instead, she watched his belly slowly rise and shakily sink back down as his breathing became more and more difficult.

She used her other hand as she began to gently rub his snout. His nose was dry and the fur around it had turned gray. "I love you." She whispered. He whined in response, pushing his face further into her hand. She sighed as she readjusted how the both of them were sitting and had him laying across her lap. She stayed with him until he took his last breath. She could feel it. She could feel his heart slow down and eventually stop. She watched the last time his belly rose. With a shaky breath, she took his collar off, the vibrant red being worn down to look dull and dark. She put it in her backpack before slowly standing up, moving his body off of her.

Not knowing if animals turned worried her. She didn't want her dog to come back and have to suffer even longer, but at the same time, she knew she wouldn't be able to stop it from happening. Quickly, yet carefully, she wrapped him up in the blanket and carried him outside. He was a bit heavy, but she could handle it. Slowly, she lowered him into the ground and stood back up, taking one last look at his body before picking up the shovel she had used. She began piling the dirt into the hole as she found that she could in fact cry. Not bothering to wipe her face, she finished the task and threw the shovel on the ground as she made her way back inside.

She was officially alone.

━━━━━━ 𖥸 ━━━━━━

The group sat in the woods, just off of the road, taking a break from the couple of hours they had been walking. It was hot, so naturally, they grew tired quickly. Some people began looking around for any sort of food. Molly sat there, just staring at the ground. Her fist was tight around her knife, that Carol had retrieved, the handle tearing at her callouses. "Can I take a look?" Rosita asked, walking up to the blonde. Molly looked up at her, slightly confused. The woman pointed to her arm, where blood had dried on the material of the blue sweater.

"Oh, sure." Molly had gotten so used to the pain in her arm that she barely even registered it anymore. The more she thought about it, the more it hurt. She carefully pulled her arm out of the sleeve and pushed the short sleeve of her tee shirt up to reveal the wrapped wound.  "Have you cleaned it at all?" Rosita asked, removing the old gauze.

"Only once."

"Better than nothing." Rosita sighed, touching her arm. "Doesn't look like you need stitches, you just need to keep it clean and you'll just have a scar." Molly nodded, silently showing that she was retaining the information. Rosita pulled the backpack she carried off of her back and began digging through it. Molly watched as she pulled some clean gauze out. She ripped a long piece off and carefully wrapped the girl's arm. "Good as new." She smiled. "I'm Rosita." She properly introduced herself.

"Molly." She spoke as she put her sweater back on over her arm. She watched as the beautiful woman picked up her belongings and walked away. With a sigh, she sat back against the tree behind her and pulled her knees up to her chest.

As the sun rose, so did everyone else. Molly slowly stood up, functioning off of only a few hours of light sleep. She rubbed her eyes and moved her hair out of her face, securing it behind her ears. It wasn't long before Rick had everybody back on the road as they had no clear destination in mind. They just followed the road.

It was hot, it was grueling, it was exhausting. Molly's muscles ached and cried for her to stop, but she couldn't. She had to keep up. She didn't want to appear weak, because she wasn't. After an hour of mindless walking, Rick led them off of the road and into the woods. By now, some people had dropped layers due to the heat.