𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 , 𝐫. 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

ninety five -

EPISODE TWO
"cut our souls the deepest"
SEASON 9

｡°⚠︎°｡ 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘹

GREY KINGSTON
FEBRUARY 2018

fifty minutes west of new york city is where you will find the colony, a safe-haven for over 100,000 survivors in the state of new jersey. the biggest settlement anyone has come across since the fall eight years ago in february of 2010. surrounded by stone walls and made up of steel, the blocks are the residential wings of the colony.

founded by u.s. military, the colony is everything you searched for in every other place you temporarily called home. there are no attacks, no enemy groups, and enough food for everyone. its walls continue to expand up north and down south, following the border of the city, areas cleared of walkers so we can reclaim the world for the living.

two and a half years since we said goodbye to virginia, to alexandria and the hilltop, and came here, and it's been secure since then.

no attacks, no enemy groups.

but within the past five months, something seems to be looming. on multiple occasions when our troops have set out farther to scope potential areas to claim, they've come back saying they heard sound waves and saw smoke in the sky equivalent to what would be bombs.

one up in connecticut, another down in philly.

like what came of atlanta all those years ago seems to be happening sporadically again. who is the question, and why is what keeps us up at night.

the sound of destruction draws in walkers, then pushes them in the opposite direction when they realize all of their food has been incinerated. it pushes walkers in herds closer to us, to our borders we've cleared and claimed.

my footsteps against the rock and stone have his head turning in my direction, a quick reflex like an animal in the woods. daryl's always been quick to react, it's what got an arrow lodged in my leg the first day he and i met.

he drew one back and let it fly at the first sound of what could've been a threat. i've come to the conclusion that i was meant to be in that house that day seven years ago at the same time as an old friend of mine.

i've come to the conclusion that everything happens for a reason. some things though, i still haven't found the reason for. some things feel too big, too endless, to have an explanation as to why they happened.

now, daryl stands with a rifle in his hands as he looks out over the ledge of the colony's first wall. he takes the first wall as often as he can. i think he likes hearing everyone behind him because that way he knows we're all safe. he can hear that, and keep his eyes forward. it's the best of both worlds to him.

"you know, it'd be a lot easier to see far into the woods with one of these." i motion over my shoulder to the sniper that's always resting on my back. it's a weight i've come accustomed to that now when it's missing, i find myself reaching for it before remembering i don't have it on me.

"yeah, 'til you're too busy lookin' at one spot you miss the asshole who runs right under your nose." he rasps.

i smile to myself as i rest my lower back against the posts, my arms crossed over my chest.

"what're you doin' out here?"

"needed some air." i say, looking out at the tall, close-knit trees of the woods that will soon have buds so thick you really will need a sniper to see anything through them.