(Temp hiatus) Observe (the walking dead)

Sweet gestures

       Ava had been shaken awake, which she didn't even realize had happened. She looked up groggily at Roman. "Hey, I think our sixteen hours are up," he said softly.

       Ava nodded and rubbed her eyes before looking back up at him. He was already looking at her with his hand extended. She grabbed it, and he pulled her to her feet. She then realized how sleepy he looked. "I'll drive; it's safer that way," she smiled, and he didn't argue with that.

       The duo got in the car with the clay hat and rolled the windows down, driving off towards the prison. Sometime during the drive, Roman reclined the passenger seat and fell asleep. Ava decided to be nice and drive a little slower so he would have more time to nap.

       It was quite late by now, and they probably should have stayed at the cabin for the night. But Glenn had told them to be back as soon as the hat was done, so that's what they did.

       To occupy her mind, Ava hummed the song from before softly. She figured out where she had heard it from: it was the song Beth had sung for them in the cell block before the governor struck.

       She smiled fondly at the memory as she hummed, the wind from the window blowing softly through her wavy brown hair. She glanced at Roman periodically as she pulled off the road, turning it off and rolling the windows up.

       Can't hurt, she thought to herself. I doubt anyone will be at the gates to open them for us anyway. She sat there, letting Roman sleep for a few hours as the sun rolled. When she decided it was time to get back on the road, she did it as quietly as she could, still glancing at the boy periodically to make sure the new movement wasn't going to wake him.

       When she knew he was still sleeping soundly, she drove quietly the rest of the way to the prison and carefully up the gravel to the gates.

       She was met by a happy Karen, Rick, Maggie, and Glenn as she pulled in. She held her finger to her lips to hush them as she stepped out of the car, walking a little into the grass where the four followed her.

       "I napped at the cabin, but Roman stayed up the whole time. I pulled off the road for a few hours to let him sleep a bit more, but he's still tired," she explained as the four took their turns giving her a "welcome back, glad you're safe" hug.

       "Anything happen while you guys were there?" Glenn asked her, glancing at the blood on her shirt.

       Her cheeks turned a dusty pink, worried they'd find out she had a close call. "No, nothing out of the ordinary. We're both okay," she smiled. Ava didn't want to tell them about it because then they'd never let her out of their sight, especially Glenn and Maggie, as they'd assumed some kind of parental responsibility over her.

       "Thanks for letting Roman sleep. I can hardly get that kid to rest. I don't know how you did it, honestly," Karen chuckled softly, crossing her arms.

       Ava furrowed her brows, confused. "He fell asleep on the ride here. I didn't do anything. It was pretty quick into the drive, too," she shrugged.

       "Huh. Weird. I guess the sleepless nights caught up to him," Karen tilted her head, looking back at the car to her sleeping nephew.

       Ava shrugged and turned to Rick, smiling. "Where's Carl?"

       "He's at the second gate," Rick said before looking up towards the prison and waving a hand for Carl to come down.

       The young boy made his way down the gravel path and stopped next to his dad. "What's up?" he questioned, hand on his holstered gun, probably assuming they had a "job" for him.