Until the world falls apart - Fear The Walking Dead

X- The return among the survivors

In a slow and laborious awakening, I emerged from the dark abyss where the boundaries between dreams and reality intertwine. A faint, flickering light filtered through the ranch infirmary's shutters, gently brushing my face as if inviting me back to life.

My eyelids fluttered open, struggling to pierce the haze of drowsiness, attempting to discern the blurry outlines of where I was. Distant murmurs from the ranch's everyday life mixed with the weakened beats of my own heart.

Tattered remnants of fleeting memories swirled in my mind—blurry fragments of a vanished reality, a distant echo of my struggle for survival. I realized I had danced with the abyss, grazed the threshold of the unknown.

The familiar scent of wood, horses, and damp earth tickled my senses, breathing a semblance of normalcy into this altered world.

A shiver of emotions, a tormented mix of relief and anguish, washed over me. I knew I had survived an almost insurmountable ordeal, yet I also felt the weight of my existence's fragility.

I had wandered long in a dark realm, lost between dreams and void, as if time had paused in a forgotten corner of the universe. My return to consciousness was slow, a flickering light infiltrating the void of my mind.

The initial sensation was uncertainty, an almost tangible disorientation. The blurry edges of reality struggled to take form, to reassemble a shattered puzzle. Each breath was a reminder, each beat of my heart a fragile symphony between life and oblivion.

Reconciliation with reality, this present unfamiliar to me after a long absence, was like navigating murky waters. Every sound, every familiar face was both comforting and unsettling, as if I were rediscovering a world I had left behind.

It was like emerging from a long slumber, but the weight of lost time and missed experiences was palpable. Yet, beyond this uncertainty, there was also gratitude: immense gratitude for simply being back, for feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin and the steady breath of life in my lungs.

And then, there was this insatiable thirst to rediscover, to rebuild, to fill in the gaps of lost time. It was a rebirth tinged with complexity, a new page to write in the book of my life, with chapters both bewildering and promising. I wasn't dead—I had survived, and I was stronger than ever.

Instinctively, I sought Troy's reassuring hand, but it wasn't there. A shiver of anxiety ran down my spine as I realized he wasn't present.

Despite the comforting presence of my family around me, I felt alone. The instinctive search for Troy's familiar warmth left me with a sense of absence, a void difficult to ignore.

"Where... where am I? What happened?" I finally asked.

"Bella, you're finally awake! Oh my god, we missed you so much," my mother, emotional, enveloped me in a hug.

"You really scared us, you know? Good to see you back, sis," said Nick.

"You're in the ranch infirmary, Bella. You've been in a coma for some time," Alicia smiled through her tears.

"I... I don't remember anything, well, I have some memories, but they're blurry."

"Don't worry about that, honey. What matters is that you're back with us," declared my mother, gently caressing my face.

"I really thought I was dead, I couldn't feel anything, I saw myself slipping away, I was so scared," I trembled.

"But you're alive, and you're back with us. Welcome back among the living!" Nick congratulated me.

As I slowly began to recover, my family gently explained that Troy had been sent on a mission by Jeremiah and couldn't be present at that moment. It partially eased my worry, but it didn't fill the void I felt.

Every embrace, every glance, every tender word was like a breath of fresh air after being plunged into unconsciousness. Feeling their arms around me was a powerful reminder of the warmth and security I found in them. It was a moment where emotions harmoniously mixed, where the happiness of their presence slowly erased the confused memories of my previous state. Reuniting with my family brought back a sense of belonging, a familiarity that helped me gradually regain my footing in this world after the period of confusion. And at the heart of that moment, there was an unwavering certainty: their love and support would always be there, a guiding light as I found my way back to reality.

After this emotional reunion with my family, I gently escorted them out of the infirmary to rest. Once alone, I allowed myself a moment of tranquility to recall the events that preceded my coma. The fragments of memories overlapped, but I endeavored to piece together the missing parts, to understand what had happened to me.

Amidst this quest for memories, a persistent thought concerned Troy. His absence at my awakening was palpable, and my heart raced at the thought of reuniting with him, of understanding what had happened during my coma. I knew we had things to discuss upon his return, explanations to share.

Questions swirled in my mind: where had he gone? Had he been informed of my awakening? These questions looped incessantly in my mind.

I found myself gathering my thoughts, preparing the questions I would ask him upon his return. Anticipation and impatience grew within me. I looked forward to conversing with him, to putting words to my worries and understanding what had happened during my absence.

It was a mix of emotions: the joy of being back with my own, mingled with a persistent worry about the situation with Troy. I knew this impending conversation would be crucial in unraveling this mystery and establishing this essential connection to move forward after this trial.

Finding myself in this state of reflection after emerging from a coma was like navigating a path strewn with questions, hesitations, and new perspectives. Thoughts whirled in my mind, and Troy was at the center of my contemplation. He had been there, by my side, in moments when I was most vulnerable. His actions contradicted the images I had conjured of him in the past. Through the haze of fragmentary memories, I began to glimpse another facet of his personality, a vulnerability that didn't show in his tough exterior. My perception of Troy was slowly changing. Perhaps he wasn't the monster he sometimes appeared to be. Perhaps he had his inner struggles, his own areas of vulnerability.

His gestures, his presence by my side, had saved me, had allowed me to be reborn. Perhaps he was more human than I had thought, perhaps he had simply sought to protect himself behind a tough and impassive facade.

Vulnerability was where masks fell, where the true essence of beings revealed itself. I found myself wanting to know this part of him, this vulnerability that seemed so far from the image of independence and strength he projected. This other side of his personality, his vulnerability that I was finally perceiving. Perhaps he was much more complex than I had imagined, with his own inner struggles and areas of fragility. This introspection offered me a new perspective, a desire to discover the man behind the façade, with his joys, sorrows, and mysteries to reveal."