⤐ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.
"I need you to listen to me. When we're out there together, if I say run, run. If I tell you to leave me, then damn it, you le...
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⤐
If Zeppelin squinted her eyes just the right way, Gregory almost looked like her high school guidance counselor. The man was a pompous ass, and he had always stared at Veronica in her cheer outfit too long for Zepp to feel anything but hate for him. Then, after she got into yet another fight, he pulled her into his office, asked questions about her home life that made her feel itchy, then referred her to a doctor— citing symptoms of mania and psychosis. Not that it made much of a difference in her life anyway because her mother threw the letter in the trash, but it just made her hate him more.
She hated that man then, and she hated Gregory now. He strolled across the stretch of yard that separated them from Barrington House, grinning like the Cheshire cat as he rubbed an apple on his button-up shirt. Zeppelin looked down to Maggie, who sat on the ground next to Glenn's grave with her knees close to her chest, but she hadn't noticed him yet, too entranced in her own thoughts as she stared and stared at that space of loose dirt. Zepp begrudgingly tore herself away from her position of standing watch over her friend and met Gregory just before he waltzed into the shadow of the building.
"Whatever you need to say to her can wait until she's done," she said before he had a chance to open his mouth. "She's busy." He scoffed and continued shining that apple. She clenched her fists to keep from knocking it out of his hands.
"I just wanted to congratulate her. I didn't realize her guard dog would be on duty," Gregory said, and though he smiled again, the tone of his voice was teetering towards malice. Zeppelin cocked a brow, and he took it as an invitation to elaborate. "I'm hearing a lot of good things about her. About her and Sasha both, actually. Some people even say she's our hero."
"Sounds like that bothers you," Zepp smirked. Maggie sniffed behind her, and Zepp couldn't help but watch as she slowly raised herself up, wiping away the soft tears trailing down her neck. "How come?"
"When people think I can't protect them, they stop listening and start plotting," Gregory sneered as he tossed the apple back and forth between his hands. Zeppelin's face must have betrayed her confusion because then he said, "Didn't she tell you? The night before you and David or what's face got here, the Saviors paid us a little visit. Practically rang the dinner bell to any dead one in the area, and Margaret here jumped into action. Now everyone's looking at both of us differently." He sucked in a deep breath and gave a half-hearted wave to a woman walking by, bouncing a baby on her hip.
Zeppelin waited until the man faced her before she spoke. "You know their names." Gregory's mask of confidence faltered before he quickly snapped it back into place. She smiled. "Scared of a little competition?" His silence was answer enough.
