Brother's Keeper ¹ || The walking dead

5.

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"..the fuck you mean I can't go with you?" Riven questioned, glaring at Daryl, who came back a few hours ago, throwing a fit once he found out Merle was left behind and handcuffed to a Roof, throwing a pack of squirrels at Rick.

Now Daryl and a few others were going back for Merle and the bag of guns that Rick had dropped.

"I mean just that. You ain't going." Daryl replied, pushing him to the side, and Riven scoffed,

"Why the fuck not? Merle is my brother, too." Riven argued,

"Half brother," Daryl corrected, turning to face him, "and you'll just be a burden out there, I ain't need to keep lookin' after a kid while looking for my brother."

Riven clenched his fists, clenching his jaw, nodding his head, "Half brothers, right, we're still brothers, asshole." Riven walked away from Daryl, his nails digging into his palms hard enough that it was breaking the skin,

Riven hated that Daryl kept reminding him that they were half brothers. He was just his brother as Merle was.

"Hey, Riven, come help fix the RV, " Riven paused by the front of the RV, "need an extra hand."

"..thought you couldn't fix it without your tools." Riven mumbled but walked over to Dale, needing a distraction at the moment.

"I still have ducttape," Dale replied, holding out a roll of ducttape. "Might need some for those hands of yours if you keep making yourself bleed like that."

Riven unclenched his hands and turned his hands around, looking at his palms, blood oozing out from his small wounds that his nails made.

"..ain't need you worryin' about me old man." Riven muttered, grabbing the roll of ducttape.

"You know he's gonna be fine, right? I don't know your brother as much as you do, but Merle seems like a tough man." Dale reassuringly told him, and Riven glanced back as the Van drove off,

"..they do care about you, even if they don't act like it." Riven scoffed, turning to look at Dale,

"Yeah, right, they just keep reminding me that I'm just their half brother, make it seem like I'm not even their real brother. It pisses me off." Riven muttered as he turned to face the RV,

"Brothers are like that, kid, just be patient, and they'll come around." Dale said, and Riven huffed,

"Yeah.. right."

⭐️

"..mermaids have pink tails?" Riven questioned in confusion as he stared down at the mermaid carving he made, and as promised, he gave it to Sophia in the morning to paint it with the paint that he stole from Carl.

"Yes, they have pink tails, although there wasn't much pink paint left, so it's kinda fading." Sophia replied with a small frown, and Riven hummed,

"I like it. Let's sneak this into Amy's stuff." Riven said, standing up from the bench he was sitting on.

"Why can't we just give it to her again?" Sophia questioned, standing up and following after Riven as he started to walk.

"Because then Amy would think I like her, which I don't." Riven replied, and Sophia grinned a little,

"Are you sure? You carved a mermaid for her." Sophia teasingly said, and Riven rolled his eyes,

"A fucking positive." Sophia giggles, and Riven glances around for any sign of Amy as they neared the RV where Amy was keeping her stuff at the current moment,

A few people were lurking around outside of the RV, but neither was Amy or Andrea.

Riven turned to Sophia, "Keep a look out for Amy." He told her, and Sophia nodded with a determined look on her face,

Riven sneaked into the RV and towards Amy's stuff, quickly putting the carved mermaid in her bag before rushing out of the RV,

He nods at Sophia, who nods back, keeping her giggles in.

"What are you two up to?" Dale questioned from on top of the RV.

Riven shook his head as he looked up at Dale, "Nothin."" He nudged Sophia, who let out a small laugh,

"Yeah, nothing, Mr. Dale." Sophia replied with a small grin.

Dale stares at them amused, humming as he nods his head, "Okay, then, carry on."

Sophia suddenly grins, "Mr. Dale, do you know where Amy is? Riven likes to know."

Dale chuckles, "She's by the river with the rest of the women, washing clothes."

Sophia nods, "Thank you, Mr. Dale." She turns to Riven, "Come on, let's go."

Sophia walks ahead, and Riven looks up at Dale with narrowed eyes, "Not a word."

Dale laughs, "My lips are sealed." Riven stares at him for a moment before turning around and catching up with Sophia.

The two of them walked in comfortable silence towards the river,

As they neared the women, they heard a bit of their conversations, "..I miss my vibrator." Andrea says,

"..me too." Carol responds, and everyone's starts laughing, while Riven gets a look of digust in his face, and Sophia looks confused

"..what's a vibrator?" Sophia speaks up, catching everyone's attention,

"Sophia." Carol's eyes widened, and Riven cleared his throat,

"It's a grown-up toy." Sophia glances at him before shrugging,

".. Problem, Ed?" Andrea questioned, as Ed walked over to them, smoking a cigarette.

"Nothin’ that concerns you." Ed told Andrea, before he speaks to Carol, "And you ought to focus on your work. This ain’t no comedy club."

Andrea huffs, "Ed, tell you what. You don't like how your laundry is done. You are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself , here."

Andrea tosses the laundry at Ed. He catches and throws it back at her, harder.

"Oh!" Andrea exclaims,

"Ain't my job , Missy." Ed tells her, and Riven steps in front of him,

"How about you just walk away before we have bigger problems." Riven told him, and Ed scoffs, smirking at him,

"You know, you ain't so different from your daddy. He used to beat you up, right? Well, I guess your daddy passed something down to you." Ed told him, and Riven took a step closer to him,

"Don't compare me to that bastard, I ain't the same as him, you waste of sperms just like hittin' little kids to act tough,well guess what, you ain't. You fat piece of shit!" Riven spat out, and Ed swung his fist, punching Riven in the face, making him stumbled, and the women exclaim in surprise,

Before Riven could do anything about it, Shane appeared, and he all but dragged Ed back before he started to beat Ed.

"..Stop it! Stop!" Carol cried out, but Shane ignored her, and Carol kept crying,

Riven rolled his eyes but he went over to Shane, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him back, Shane turned to him, and Riven gestured towards Carol with his head, and Shane looked over at Carol, who cried as she rushed over to Ed's side.

Riven couldn't understand how Carol could love a man like Ed.

⭐️

1153 words

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