𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 , the walking dead

[51] the in-between

THE IN-BETWEEN
---

THE FIRE CAME TO LIFE, the fire that Rory and Louis worked together to build sprung its flames. The flames danced around with a spark, a king of warmth. It seemed to brighten their world, the darkness that surrounded them faded into the background behind the trees. The stars shone in the sky extra bright that night, hanging in the sky giving them all a sense of calmness in their world of chaos.

In this moment, it all felt like a breath of fresh air. Even though in a rotting world there can be no such thing as fresh air, but this was the closest thing Maeve could get. It felt good, like the burning in her lungs finally settled. The pain of it was still present, still existed and lingered but in this moment it was manageable. She was fine.

Maeve's head rolled back, looking up at Elliott who sat behind her leaning against a tree. Her body positioned between his legs, using his chest as a pillow. Elliott didn't seem to mind, his fingers playing with the strings of his hoodie as he was lost in thought staring at the fire. Maeve's eyes drifted to beside him where he had his arm around, Rory who was leaning into him. Louis sitting between her legs similarly to how Maeve was sitting with Elliott. Kai laid between Maeve and Louis, his head on his brother's shoulder while his fingers were interlocked with Maeve's.

This moment, this was Maeve's favourite moment. For once she didn't feel scared, or worried about what came next for this group, because no matter what she knew they'd always have each other. That's what mattered, this family, these people, that's where her heart beats.

"Maeve..." A voice echoed, sounding like part of the wind simply flowing through the air mindlessly. Maeve lifted her head up, looking back up at the people behind her only to find that they were no long sitting-they were standing. They weren't alone this time either.

Everyone from Alexandria stood with them, lined up looking at her. They're all smiling at her, looking at her with loving eyes. It made all her insecurities wash away, she didn't feel like a monster, right now she was apart of a family. A large one, a strong one. No hate, no judgement. Just love and respect. Together, they were stronger, a force to be reckoned with.

Elliott and Louis who stood in the middle of it all stepped out of the way, and that's when Milo came forward out of the dark. His welcoming eyes and smile on his face as he approached Maeve, who was still simply standing there watching. Milo reached his hand out, silently asking her to take it. Which didn't even need to be asked, Maeve without hesitation took her best friend's hand letting him guide her.

Milo guided her away from their friends and family, and she looked over their shoulders as they started to fade into the distance. Maeve felt a coldness take over her the further away from the fire they got and the deeper they went into the woods. Maeve wanted to ask where they were going, but by the time she opened her mouth-they were stepping into a clearing.

Instead of being confused about where they were, Maeve felt a odd sense of familiarity. The clearing was light up, but there was no lights around only Milo and Maeve. Maeve looked around, getting more and more confused as she couldn't seem to remember what this place was or why she felt like she had been here.

"Mi, where are we?" Maeve asked, turning to look over at him.

Milo slowly turned over to look at her, that face of warmth and comfort she's noticed was gone and now replaced with emotionless crying. Tears stained his red cheeks, and even more were slipping from his red puffy eyes.

"Where it all ended." Milo stated lowly, and Maeve was so confused-why was he crying?

As if able to read her mind, Milo lifted his arm and pointed in the direction ahead of them. Everything in Maeve knew whatever she was about to see was nothing good, and she probably should turn around and join her friends back at the fire. But she couldn't, she had no control over her body that was making her turn her head to look ahead of her.