Stale M&M's (recently plagiarized as "Sweet Tooth") The Walking Dead Fanfiction

23. Season 4 ~ ⩜

Summary: Oliver, Carol, Tyreese, and Judith are getting closer to Terminus. Carl, Rick, Michonne, and Daryl take a moment to recuperate.

~

Oliver had made some important decisions as of late. He'd decided that silence wasn't his soul-sound anymore. He was over it. He didn't know what his soul-sound was yet but he knew it sounded of something — anything. But the quiet? The silence? It was retched. And worse, it'd been taking over. Even talking had become a strenuous chore for Oliver, like pulling weeds, so he tried to take control over the noises around him instead. For instance, if things got too quiet, he would walk a little rougher against the pebbles between the wooden train tracks, or he would snap his fingers to a tune he liked, or sometimes, when it was really bad, he would pinch himself or bite his tongue until it bled so that his ears filled with the imaginary ringing that the pain made in his head.

They were drawing close to Terminus.

They set up an early camp for the evening so that they could get a head start in the morning. They ate some jarred peaches rationed from the grove. While Carol left to forage, Tyreese stood on watch at the edge of camp, and Oliver stoked the fire with Judith sitting behind him, watching curiously.

Oliver kept thinking about tomorrow, about Terminus, and he was terrified. To distract himself, he pinched the skin under his shirt to fill the silence in his head, careful to keep himself turned away from Tyreese so he wouldn't notice. He stopped quickly when Carol returned from the woods.

"Here," she said to him, and handed both Oliver and Tyreese two pieces of flimsy plastic wrap that she had collected more tree sap on. "Rub it into your wounds."

They did as they were told, even though they were both healing well. Oliver guessed Carol just wanted to be safe. When they set the used plastic wraps aside, Carol sighed, satisfied. As they settled to rest, Oliver moved to take Judith.

"I got her," Tyreese said softly. "I like her company."

Oliver nodded. He stood up to take over watch for him.

"Oliver," Carol said. "I'll do it. Get some rest."

The sun was still up, but again, he did as he was told and found a comfortable spot on the ground to lay his head.

MEANWHILE
𓌉𓇋

Carl, his father, Michonne, and Daryl had taken an extra day to recuperate before continuing along the tracks. On their way, they came across a knocked-down sign lying on the ground by the tracks.

'SANCTUARY FOR ALL.
COMMUNITY FOR ALL.
THOSE WHO ARRIVE, SURVIVE.
TERMINUS.'

"This is the last sign until we get there," Michonne said, marking with her boot where each sign was on the map. "We're getting close."

"We'll be there before sundown," Daryl said.

"Now we head through the woods," Carl's father said. "We don't know who they are."

He led the way and soon they came to a chain-link fence covered in thick vines, giving the four of them enough cover to peer through and watch the train station beyond. It looked deserted, with no guards on watch from their point of view, but things also looked tidy and undamaged and lived in recently — there were damp clothes drying on a line by one of the building doors, recently watered plants, and fresh linen folded on a table.

They decided to pair up and spread out to watch the area from a distance first, just in case. Carl went with Michonne even though his father asked to join up with him. Instead Rick and Daryl split off and Carl and Michonne headed the opposite way, just deep enough into the trees that they could still see the fenceline while avoiding being spotted by any Terminus residents.