Down by the water • TWD

Not a Party Person.

The grass behind the house was still damp from the morning dew when Avery crouched down in the yard, tossing one of the old tennis balls Ron had given her. Ranger tore after it immediately, paws kicking up dirt as he chased it across the grass.

"Show off," Avery muttered as he skidded to a stop and came racing back. He dropped the ball at her feet and looked up at her expectantly, tail wagging so hard his whole body moved with it. "You're lucky you're cute." She shook her head.

Ranger barked once, and she reached into the bucket beside her and pulled out the frisbee next, holding it up in the air. He immediately bounced in place. "Oh, now you care," she teased.

"Looks like somebody hit the jackpot."

Avery looked up to see Glenn walking across the yard toward them, a small smile on his face. Ranger took off toward him instantly. Glenn laughed as the dog jumped against his side, nearly knocking into him.

"Hey, buddy," Glenn said, reaching down to scratch behind his ears. She smiled at the sight, feeling envious. He spotted the bucket beside her and crouched down, picking up one of the rope toys. "Where'd all this come from?"

"Ron gave it to me," Avery said, watching Ranger immediately try to steal the rope from his hand.

Glenn raised his eyebrows slightly. "So you're making friends, huh?"

"Ranger is."

She looked away for a second before Glenn tossed the rope toy a few feet, Ranger sprinting after it. "You know," he said, "if we stay here, he's going to end up spoiled."

"He already is." Avery looked down at the dog, who was now proudly carrying three toys at once.

Glenn smiled a little before taking the frisbee from the bucket. "C'mon," he said. "Let's see if he can catch this."

"He's a Malinois; he can." Avery crossed her arms.

"Wanna bet?" He threw the frisbee high across the yard. Ranger bolted after it, leaping awkwardly into the air and completely missing it. The frisbee smacked into the grass behind him.

Avery immediately laughed, a real laugh this time, and Glenn looked over at her with a grin. "Maybe I overestimated his breed standards."

Ranger came trotting back with the frisbee hanging halfway out of his mouth anyway, clearly proud of himself.

Glenn picked up the tennis ball now, throwing it farther than the frisbee. Ranger chased after it at full speed, nearly tripping over his own paws before scooping it up in his mouth and racing back toward them.

Glenn bent down to grab the ball again, but Ranger got there first, picking it back up and taking two steps away like he wanted Glenn to chase him for it.

"Oh, so this is what we're doing?" Glenn asked, and Ranger's tail wagged harder.

Avery watched the two of them for a second before sitting down in the grass, pulling one knee up against her chest.

Glenn finally managed to steal the ball from Ranger and tossed it again before glancing over at her. "You know," he said, "if we stay here...we could probably start doing the walks again."

"Like at the prison?" Avery looked up at him, watching Glenn nod.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "We've got roads now instead of fences."

Avery looked out toward the street beyond the yard. She remembered how every morning they would walk along the fences. It was one of her only escapes from reality back then.

"You'd actually wake up that early?" she asked.

"I woke up every time, didn't I?" Glenn gave her an offended look.