the great war (r.g)

four

it was raining. for the first time in forever, it was actually raining. everyone had their water bottles out, catching the droplets as if there has never been such a thing.

rosita and tara were laying on the ground in a forming puddle.

abraham and eugene were looking around, dazed.

glenn and maggie were standing shoulder to shoulder, holding hands and watching the water fall into the bottles.

carl was holding judith and sticking his tongue out to catch droplets. izzy was standing next to him, covering judith with her coat so she couldn't get wet while also catching droplets in her mouth.

cora was standing there, looking around and admiring the people she was with. these people she was starting to care deeply for. she looked over at rick who was beaming up at the sky. that was the first time cora had ever seen him genuinely smile. that made her smile wider.

the happiness started to dissipate when the rain fell harder, thunder boomed, and lightning struck across the sky. the sudden aggression of the storm made judith start wailing. carl and izzy desperately tried to calm her down while rick said "come on, we need to find somewhere to take cover." daryl mentioned a barn they saw while scavenging and started walking off in the direction.

***

once the group made it to the barn, cora could smell it from many yards away. it smelled musty and like old garbage. understandable for an animal barn during times like now. cora looked down to izzy, who mirrored her looked. the two walked toward the barn behind everyone. "are we sure this won't come crashing down in the middle of this storm?"

"it just might," cora said, stepping inside.

after taking a look around the barn, the group decided to stay the night and wait out the storm. the only problem with this was that the barn was old and could fall at any second. there was also the fact that maggie found a walker.

cora found izzy a while later sitting on the ladder that lead to the loft part of the barn. "are you okay?" she asked.

"yeah, im fine." she was lying.

"whats wrong?" cora saw right through izzy's facade.

"i don't know. i just don't feel like i have a place here."

"what are you talking about?"

"well rick is the leader. michonne, tara, sasha, abraham, rosita, and glenn are good fighters. eugene is...interesting. you and maggie are good doctors. even carl has a place. besides being ricks son he is a great babysitter."

"oh come on. you dont need to have a 'place' to belong somewhere. you belong with me and im here. so therefore you belong here." izzy looked like she was thinking about something then decided on an answer.

"you're right," izzy said, standing up.

"i know, now go hangout with carl and judith."

***

later on in the night, sitting around the campfire, rick was telling a childhood story that ended with daryl stalking off. "i will say the 'we are the walking dead' part probably wasn't the best thing to say," cora told rick.

"you might be right," rick said, laughing a little.

"it was a nice story, though," rosita told him.

the storm started raging violently at the door. izzy, who was sleeping on the ground next to cora, startled awake. rick got to his feet and started for the door. michonne, sasha, and abraham followed shortly after. it was then that cora realized it wasn't the storm banging it's way through the door but walkers.

everyone who had previously been sleeping or relaxing around the fire was now pushed against the barn doors. it started with daryl, then progressed to everyone. helping each other save themselves.