Ephemeral - Alia Dixon

38

"There you are" Brandon says with a smile as he returns. They've all just been out because apparently the people they had faught before I had come here had returned or some bullshit. I decided to stay out of this and so did Pope. He thought it'd be best for me to take a few days to heal properly because, and I quote: "we need you for what's coming". I have no fucking clue what he meant by that but I'm definitely not going to complain.

I smile as Carv walks over, tilting his head down, gripping my cheek with his hand and kissing me deeply, making me feel butterflies in my stomach. It's been pretty great with him the past few days. He's been making me feel special and somehow even normal in all of this shit.
"How did it go?" I ask and his face becomes a little bit more serious, his smile slowly fading.
"I have no clue. Half of them haven't even returned yet. We got them good though, more than half of them are dead. We surprised them" he says and my face slightely drop.
"How did they exactly attack you two months ago?" I ask him. He looks at me for a few seconds with an expression I'm not quiet able to read. He's difficult to understand sometimes and definitely a good liar.
"Doesn't matter. Most of them are dead now and I hope they'd be stupid to come back" he says, seeming a bit out of it before he seems to shake it off, grabbing my hands and squeezing them tightly before pulling me in for a much needed hug. His arms wrap around me tightly, as if he's frightened if he let go, I'd be gone. Maybe I will, that's the thing in an apocalypse. You never know who'll return and who won't.
"We brought one of them though. Said he wasn't part of the group and Leah wanted to give him a chance" Carver says and I look at him with widened eyes.
"That's dangerous" I say and Carv chuckles annoyedly.
"That's what I said but she insisted on bringing him here" he says, rolling his eyes. "At least she agreed on beating the shit out of him until he tells us where our people are"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I ask.
"Our only option" he says.
I look at him for a few seconds before hugging him again. We quickly let go off eachother again though as he gets called by Leah to take him to the cell. I don't engage in all of this. This isn't my fight. As much as Pope said it is since we're family but I can't. These people haven't done shit to me and I have no clue what actually happened with them and us. For all I know they all could be lying to me. Telling me lies above lies about what happened.

One of our men had died. I found that out roughly three hours later when his brother came walking in with his dead body on his shoulders. Sobbing, he tells us that he couldn't save him as the priest starts praying for him.
I stand in the corner, listening to everything and watching the scene infront of me, as Pope tries to comfort Turner. Pope's not very good in that though, found that out after my first time out of the walls when one of our men got shot and died. His speech was so full of bullshit, it was tragic. I knew Turner and his brother though. Supposedly, we're all brothers and sisters but the two of them we're related by blood, as far as they've told me. I could never imagine loosing Allen like that. I hope he's okay wherever he is right now. Far away from all of this and living a happy life. Maybe he's found someone. Maybe he's fallen in love. I wonder what he'd say to me and Carver. About me leaving them and never searching for them. Never even trying to get back. I'm doing it for a good reason though. If they'd found out about Alexandria or Hilltop, hell even Oceanside, maybe they'd come after them and hunt them all down for as far as I know.
I look at Leah and Carver from across the room, giving them both a stern look before Leah walks over and cries for our fallen brother.
Pope's footsteps echo through the room before he steps into the light, the anger and frustration clearly visible on his face. "God is here. And he's angry," he says, his voice full of hurt. "Do you feel that? Go make them feel our wrath"
I swallow hard, my jaw clenched tightly as I wrap my arms around my body in an attempt to comfort myself. Carver's by my side in an heartbeat, pulling me in for a sidehug with one hand as we both stare at the dead body infront of us. It's sad if I think about the fact that these people have known eachother even before the world fell down. They've all worked together as mercs.
Carver lets his head fall down on top of mine as he hides his face in my hair. I sigh.