𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞 || 𝐓𝐖𝐃 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲

━━━━━━━━━.◦*∘☽

𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨

At this point, not getting enough sleep for long periods of time had become a near constant factor in my life.

After seeing Dale's insides on the outside, I couldn't even blink without seeing the image of him struggling to keep his grip on life while steam rolled off his intestines because of the temperature difference between his body and the bitter air.

I'd seen a lot of shit in my life before and after the world went to shit, but seeing a person so close to me having their stomach ripped apart left another gash inside my already fucked up psyche.

Dale's death is just another tally on my seemingly ever growing list of loved ones that never seems to end.

When my dad calls Elijah and I from my tent the next morning to hold a service in Dale's honor, I try to numb myself to the fridged tempurature outside as I wrap the jacket Lilly had given me around myself and we head towards the grave sight that'd enevitably formed.

The graves are all different.

I can barely look at the two smaller circles of dirt, with rocks all around them as Rick speaks.

"Dale could... could get under your skin. He sure got under mine. Because he wasn't afriad to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare, and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. The truth, who we really are." Rick says before pausing.

"In the end he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives. Our safety. Our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale." Rick tells us all before a long pause of silence falls over the whole group.

After a little more time, everyone slowly starts to disapate to head back to camp to pack up everything as Hershel finally decided it was best to have all of us in the house.

After Dale's attack he agreed it was to unsafe for us to be outside in tents, and with winter heavily approaching it would be hard to keep everyone safe and alive when snow started falling.

Lilly approaches me, rubbing her hands together and offers me a small welcoming smile which I forcefully return, all things considered.

"I have enough space in my room for you and Elijah, if you guy would like. I know its not much but it's better than camping out with everyone in the dining room and living room." She says softly, before looking around. "If Gage comes in there, we can still make it work." She adds.

I roll my eyes at her, but have given up on trying to deny the odd gravitational pull myself and the younger Dixon have to one another.

He sort of just always ends up in the same general area as me, and I, him. Anyone with eyes can see it, but it's not like Glenn and Maggie, who's relationship staus is still a mystery to me becuase I know it's not my business but it's clear they're something along the lines of 'dating'.

If you can even call it that anymore.

So, I bump myself into her softly, a sign shes grown to realize is my gratitude and she smiles.

"At least I'm not rooming with Beth or Maggie." I tell her and she cracks a smile.

"I think Glenn's already rooming with my sister, and Beth doesn't know what she wants more than half the time, and she's still a moody teenager." Lilly explains and I shake my head, undertsanding that all too well with my own brother.