crooked heart → the walking dead ⁵

[ 027 ] what we do to survive.

CROOKED HEART.

chapter twenty-seven, what we do to survive.
[ season ten, episode five ]

LUKE LEAVES WITH A group for Oceanside the morning after the horror ensues. He says goodbye to his group but they can tell he's excited to leave, to not be in the biggest danger zone.

Alexandria stays to help. Eugene, Theo, Michonne. Odessa allows them to stay and help, even after she denied to help them against Alpha's small herds. She didn't do it out of spite. She did it to protect her people and her community. And yet. . .

She now has to draw up plan for the reconstruction of the walls and the building that was demolished. She should be drawing up plans for her treehouse; the one that was meant to bring so much more happiness to the Hilltop. But that'll never happen now. Not with what they lost in the past several months, not with the gaping hole in their walls.

Cori stands by, sweat rolling down her neck. She grabs a cup and fills it with water. She glances down at the medicine in her palm. Her lungs, they hurt so bad. She throws her head back and shoves the pills in her mouth before someone sees. She drinks the water and washes them down.

"Cori!" Someone says. The red haired woman looks up, catching sight of a Hilltop resident, Brianna. "It happened again. Root cellar. Middle of the night."

It as in something was stolen from them again. It's been happening for a couple days now. This makes the third theft this week. Cori groans in frustration. "Who was on watch?"

"Magna." She replies.

"Yumiko?" Cori asks. The older woman turns, looking to her. "Someone stole again last night and Magna was on watch. Can you talk to her for me, please?"

Yumiko doesn't hesitate to agree.

Several minutes later, Odessa Grimes still remains in her office. Her eyes sting and the bags under her eyes feel heavier than usual. Her stomach hurts from not eating in three days. But despite the growls her stomach produces, a part of her is happy with it. The part of her she thought she buried so long ago desperately claws her way back up.

For so long, Odessa had a horrible relationship with food. Since the road to the prison all the way until she found herself at home within the Hilltop's walls. Years. But she healed. It took time, it took so much time. It was hard, too. She threw up and she sobbed on the floor at night beside the toilet. But Maggie was there for her healing journey. And then when she saw that Odessa's ribs could no longer be seen from under her shirt, she realized she had healed. And so the Rhee woman took that as her cue to leave.

Odessa needed her then and she still needs her now. Maggie, the woman she loves so dearly.

But now, the sound of a motorcycle revving outside will do. At the familiar sound, Odessa springs up from her chair. She rushes from her office and down the stairs.

When she makes it outside, she feels the sun on her body for the first time they day. Her blue eyes instantly find Daryl Dixon. He sees her. A weight is lifted off her shoulders and suddenly, her tears start to well again.

He moves past Siddiq and Ezekiel. He starts to make his way towards the Grimes girl.

When they're finally within arms reach, Odessa practically falls into Daryl. He catches her, one arms goes around her middle while the others wraps around her shoulders. She buries her head into his shoulder like a child. She can't contain it anymore. A sob falls from her lips.