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.・゜-: ✧☾ ☽✧ :-゜・.
The group stood in silence, staring at the water bottles placed in the middle of the road. Stella tightened her hold on Judith, pressing the child closer to her chest as she read the note tucked among the bottles.
From a friend.
A shiver crawled up Stella's spine. The feeling of being watched was suffocating, a ghostly presence lingering just beyond her line of sight. Her throat ached, dry and raw, and despite the unease curling in her stomach, she couldn't stop the desperate thirst clawing at her. The water sat within reach, so simple, so necessary, yet riddled with the unknown. She glanced over her shoulder again, her gaze carefully traveling along the trees.
"What else are we gonna do?" Tara spoke up, breaking the thick silence.
"Not this," Rick said, his voice firm and stern. "We don't know who left it."
"If that's a trap we already happen to be in it," Eugene said, his eyes permanently plastered on the water bottles. "But I, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend."
"What if it isn't? What if they put something in it?" Levi countered.
Eugene ignored the boy and stepped forward to grab one of the bottles.
"Eugene!" Rosita called out.
"What are you doing, dude?" Tara question. Eugene lifted the bottle but before he could take a sip, Abraham quickly knocked it out of his hand, the water splashing up in his face and onto the dry, cracked pavement.
"We can't," Rick said.
Moments later, the silence transformed into a rumbling. Thunder shook the sky, catching all of their attention instantly. The relief was instantaneous as cold drops of rain trickled down on them, cooling their skin and replacing the torturing heat. Stella tilted her head back, letting the rain soak her face, her cracked lips parting as she caught the drops on her tongue. A breathy laugh bubbled out of her chest. The girl lifted the makeshift hat from Judith's heat, allowing the rain to drip over her sweaty head.
She turned toward Rick, her smile wide, her exhaustion momentarily forgotten and the same applied to the rest of the group who laughed excitingly.
"Everybody get the bags, anything you can find," Rick instructed and the group scrambled, holding bottles and canteens beneath the downpour, working as quickly as possible before the storm worsened. Stella lifted Carls's hat from his head, sending him a smile before covering Judith's head from the heavy rain.
The happiness and relief were cut short as they soon realized that the weather would only get worse and they needed to take cover. The wind howled, and the sky darkened, heavy clouds rolling in with violent intent.
"Let's keep moving!" Rick shouted to drown out the loud weather.
"There's a barn!" Daryl said.
The group hurried to gather their supplies and followed Daryl into the forest, scurrying between the trees until they reached the barn. The barn was old, its wooden frame weathered and worn, but it was shelter. Rick and the others swept through first, weapons drawn, clearing the space before signaling the rest inside.
