Brother's Keeper ¹ || The walking dead

8.

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"..Riven." Sophia calls out as Riven walks pass the lounge area, where Sophia, Carl, and Carol were at.

Riven backs up, peering into the room, his hair dripping wet, and instead of his bloody and dirty clothes, he wore black baggy pants with a grey t-shirt with his boots,

"You summoned me?" Riven questioned. Walking further into the lounge, Carl and Sophia shared a look, chuckling to themselves as they did.

"I made something for you," Sophia told him, turning to face him, and she held out her hand,

On her palm laid a thin, colorful bracelet, and Riven raised an eyebrow at her, "It's a friendship bracelet, Carl, and I have one too, see."

Sophia held up her other arm, showing her wrist, and Carl did too.

"I'm not really a jewelry kind of guy." Riven replied, and Sophia frowns,

"You don't have to wear it." Sophia told him, and Riven reaches his hand out, grabbing the bracelet and putting it on,

"Friendship bracelets are sacred," Sophia said with a smile, "it means we'll be friends forever!" 

Carol smiles, "it suits you."

Riven glances at her before looking down at his wrist, "You seriously don't have to wear it if you don't like it." Sophia told him,

Riven huffs, "I'm gonna wear it forever. Like you said, friendship bracelets are sacred."

He turns around and walks away, hearing Sophia and Carl giggling, and he smiles a little before it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

He made it to the room he and Daryl were sharing, and he sat down in the corner of the room and, propping his legs up, his arms resting on his knees.

The colorful bracelet stood out among his pale and bruised wrist, it was the first thing anyone has every given him that actually meant something, and he was going to cherish it but he wasn't going to tell Sophia,

It'll boost her ego if he does.

"..what are you smilin' about?" Daryl questioned, stumbling inside of the room, clearly drunk off the wine he had earlier.

"Nothin'." Riven quickly replied, eyeing his brother warily. A drunk dixon was never a good dixon to be around, but when they ever?

Even when sober, it wasn't best to be around Dixons for long.

"..you good?" Daryl questioned, dropping himself on the edge of the bed, and Riven nodded, being cautious of his words.

"M'fine." Riven muttered in response, twisting the bracelet around his wrist, and Daryl noticed,

"Where you get that? Stole it from that brat that's always hangin' around you?" Daryl questioned, and Riven scoffed,

"She gave it to me. It's a friendship bracelet, not like you would know anything about that." Riven snarkly replied,

Daryl let's out a laugh that made Riven flinch, "such a pussy, Riven! Probably got that from your Mama."

Riven glared at him, "Don't talk about that woman, Daryl, yours ain't better either."

Daryl chuckles, and Riven hated this drunk version of Daryl. It reminded him of their father,

Sometimes, their father was chirpy when drunk, and it scared the shit out of Riven even more so than he was an angry drunk.

"Sleep, Riven, you look like shit." Daryl laid back, and Riven scoffed,

"Says the one that smells like shit." Riven was quick to reply, earning another laugh from Daryl,

Riven stood up, "Ain't letting you get drunk again." He mumbled as he rushed out of the room, grabbing his bag, slinging it over his shoulders, and headed down the hallway,

His hands were shaking, and he glared at them before taking a deep breath and letting it out,

"Fuckin' idiot." He muttered to himself, hating himself for being scared of his brother, hating himself for feeling scared, anxious.

He abruptly stopped as Lori rushed in front of him. She was breathing heavily, a bit panic, and Riven narrowed his eyes at her,

"Don't.." Lori held up her hand, "Don't say anything." She walked past him, and Riven peaks into the room Lori walked out from and saw Shane. He spotted the scratch marks on Shane's neck,

Lori seemed scared, and Shane seemed to be the cause of that.

Riven walked away before Shane could spot him, but he decided to keep an eye on Shane,

Sure, he could only tolerate Lori for a couple of seconds, but he held some respect for her, so he'll make sure Shane won't try to hurt her.

Riven kept an eye out for Jenner as he headed towards the exit. This place was suffocating him, and he needed some fresh air.

Lucky for him, Jenner hadn't put those metal doors down yet, so Riven sneaked out, taking a deep breath,

The smell of rotting corpses filled his nose, and he sighed before heading towards the RV, ignoring the dead that lingered around,

He reached the RV and swung the door open, walking inside and closing it behind him, dropping the bag on the ground, and he opened the skylight before dropping himself on the couch with a deep sigh.

As he stares up at the ceiling, his eyes start to feel heavy, and he slowly closes his eyes, his breathing evening out, falling into a deep sleep.

⭐️

Riven was startled off the couch as the RV doors swung open. He landed on the floor with a thud, "What the fuc.."

He flinched as a loud explosion sounded, and he peaked his head out from the window and saw the building exploded.

He turns to Glenn, who was breathing heavily, "the fuck I miss? Went to sleep for a like a second, and the building explodes?"

Glenn looks at him with wide eyes, "Dude, you were in here this entire time?"

Riven nodded, "Yeah, snuck out last night, Sophia, Carol?"

"They're fine, everyone is." Andrea and Dale got in the RV,

"Jacqui stayed behind. She's dead." Andrea breathed out, dropping herself next Riven, who frowned,

He didn't know Jacquie well enough, and they only spoke once when she called his brother an asshole, still it hurt losing people, knowing that one day, it will be him, and nobody will miss him.

Riven stood up and went to the passenger side of the RV as Dale started it up, and he made eye contact with Daryl, who looked relieved, but Riven must be seeing things.

Why would Daryl look relieved to see him?

⭐️

1065 words

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