The Walkman clicked free under her fingers, allowing her to swiftly change the cassette in hand. The car swayed and rocked as it flew over the bumps and potholes - soaring past the country roads's tight corners. Her cheek rested faithfully against the print of her knuckles, holding it up against the window for endless amounts of pondering.
Duvet - a song that felt like the comfort of a warm blanket. A pretty melody, soft, untouchable lyrics. An unforgettable guitar. She tuned in as the strings pinged round her head, softening her face into a soothed emptiness as the car steadied to a halt.
Tara jolted up at the sound, her head finally free from Jane's shoulder. It had haphazardly fallen there, and she didn't think to move it.
Her stomach churned with unapologetic angst. The only thing that could even start to calm it was the fresh, salty air and the warm sound of the thrashing, stormed waves. You wouldn't think that she liked the ocean so much, due to her past with Oceanside - but nevertheless, she felt connected to it. It was a strange feeling - not a love, or even a like. But a know. A natural, seething knowledge that she could never be as wise, or as strong as it was.
Yes. It was a raging apprehension of respect.
Her hair had already started to stick to her face by the time they were all getting out of the car. The heat had been clawing at all of them recently, having just past a winter that never really came in the first place. Meadows sprung with oblivious flowers and colourful dots of bush, as the sun beat down on the earth's plane. Cars were the worst - having no AC and being packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people - you were likely to break a sweat.
"All right. We've got a little bit to walk but we're here." Tara says, recognising their surroundings as Jane did too. The girls watched the others get out of their car, and gain sight of the birch trees that swindled around them. Carl gave Jane a reassuring smile, before following after his father. They retreated to a single file line after retrieving their guns from the trunk - Jane picking up her beloved shotgun. The thing was a tank, weighing at least six pounds, it's only weakness being that the chamber was so small.
Rick almost didn't let her have it, but then figured there was ultimately nothing he could do to stop her from bringing it along.
Every few minutes, they'd pass a tree layered in garlands of nets and conch shells, indicating they were close. 'I didn't come in this way' was what Tara told Jane. 'I just left this way.'
Every small crunch beneath her feet echoed around her cranium. First, it started slow, and soft. Now, as they neared the beach, it was loud and unbearable. When the air started to feel sickly, warm and salty, she began to become a little dizzy. The sand made it come quicker: the realisation that she would be back in Oceanside in a few minutes. A few dastardly minutes that she wished could last forever, so she'd never have to go through this. To see them all again.
When the soles of her shoes finally sunk into the sand, she had to lean on a tree to stop from falling. This was too real. She'd dwelled on this for days, yet, she was only feeling the reality of it now. She'd have to go in there, and face Natania again. Cindie. Tonya.
She steadied herself, making sure not to slip up like that again.
Everyone stopped at the beach, readying to fight. Or rather, persuade. She spotted ellie, alone on the bridge between water and sand. She was just watching as the smooth waves of blue rolled over one another, crashing and falling iridescently in the sunlight.
Jane took a breath in, her lungs shrivelling into her chest as she took a faithful breath from the world. Her feet unconsciously carried her there, next to the girl dwelling on the ocean.
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"𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞„
Fanfiction"Remember the first time you kissed me? It was on the cheek, outside of Hershel's quarantine zone. I remember feeling conflicted, because, I couldn't enjoy it. You were about to step into danger, and could've died. That's the first time I felt it, a...
