New Beginnings.

Day 7

Eliza's p.o.v
Pete was forced into a different house last night. I slept easier. He couldn't touch Ron. I held him back. He held me close. There is something between us. Two days ago he leant in for a kiss. Or at least that's what I think. I'm not thinking when I make my way to the gates. Spencer stands on guard.
"Mind opening the gates?"
"You're not going out there."
"I have a gun." I held it up to his chest.
"Mind opening the gates?"
"I can't." I place the gun back in its holster.
"Just kidding! Come on man."
"Why do you want to go out there?"
"Look either you let me through the gates or I climb this fucking wall like everyone else."
"Everyone else?"
"Bye spencer." I walk away. Damn. I do as I said and climb over the wall. I don't know where I'm going. I just wander around until I come across a pack of walkers. There's maybe nine. Ten even. I pull my knife out.
"Well shit." I mumble as I dispose of the first two. Swiftly the others follow until all ten hit the floor. Then I saw them. Carl and Enid so close together. In a tree trunk.
"What? You lost your nerve?" I shout. He just looks ashamed. I walk away. I keep walking. An hour in I come across a town. It's almost empty. The windows are all smashed in and the place has been looted beyond use. I stroll the streets. When I spot a man. He was maybe in his late twenties. About the same age Shane was when he died. I hide behind the wall.
"Hello?" The man calls out. I tense up at the sound.
"I saw you hide. I won't hurt you." He calls out. I hear his footsteps moving closer.
"Don't take another step." I shout back, cocking my gun.The footsteps stop. I peer around the wall. He doesn't have a gun in sight. His hands are up in defence.
"Who are you?" He flinches at my words.
"WHO ARE YOU?" I shout louder, he stumbles backwards.
"My names Ethan. What's yours?" He holds his hand out for me to shake.
"Eliza." I refuse to shake his hand so he lowers it slowly.
"Do you have a camp near here? People? A group?" His voice was laced with a desperate hope.
"We're fairly local." He steps forward. I step back.
"Do you take in new people?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
"Whether your safe to take in."
"Please. I have a group too but they aren't nice people. I have to get away. Please you have to take me." He pleads. I turn and walk away.
"Please! It's not for me. It's for my sister." I stopped dead in my tracks at the word sister.
"They hurt her. I can't stop it or they'll kill her. Please. I need your help."
"I can't." I turn back to him.
"Do you have any siblings?"
"I had an older brother." I say as tears brim my eyes.
"And he did everything he could to protect you." I nod.
"Please. I have to protect Erica. She's all I have."
"Okay. Four days from now you meet me back here and bring her too. If everything goes well I'll bring you back to my group. If not, I'll rip Erica's tongue from her throat and beat her with it." I say, turning away.
"Thank you." He whispers.
"Don't thank me yet. Thank me if you get what you want." He nods and I disappear into the streets. I take as many detours as possible making it as hard as I could for him to follow me back. Then I sprint back to Alexandria. I knock on the gates. Spencer opens them.
"You gonna let me in or shall I climb back over?" He lets me through and I keep walking leaving him in confusion. It was nearly dark. Carl and Enid had probably come back too.
"Eliza. Why were you out there?" Ron's voice sounds from behind me.
"Jesus! You scared me."
"Why were you out there?" I look down at my hands and clothes. Blood smeared across both.
"I don't really know."
"It's dangerous." He grabs my arms.
"Yeah a little bit."
"Don't go again?"
"Sure." I lied, knowing I only had four days to figure out what to do.
"Good. Want to come back to mine?" I nod, taking his hand. We walk to his place.
"We're all a it on edge cause of.... So just bare that in mind."
"I know." I say. We stay in Ron's room for a while. Watching a movie. Well, he's half focusing on the film and half on the medical book in his hands. Darkness engulfs the streets around us. A snarl sounds from outside. I leap up. Running downstairs. I fling open the door, revealing a lone walker.
"Ron stay inside." I shout, drawing it's attention.
"No." He stands beside me. I grab the walker by the throat, shoving Ron back as I do. Ron shakes it off pulling the knife from my pocket. He shoves it into the back of its head.
"Ron. You should have gone inside. You could have gotten hurt." He drops the knife on the floor. His hands are smeared with the dark blood of the walker.
"Ron?"
"Stop trying to baby me!" He shouts.
"I don't need you to protect me. Why do you do it? Why?" He was clearly angry.
"Ron I.."
"Don't try and shield me from it! I know what's out there...." I smash my lips into his. Grabbing hold of his shirt as I do. He immediately kisses back and cups my face in his hands. I pull him closer to me. He licks my bottom lip asking for more. I open my mouth and his tongue slips inside. He tastes of sugar. His hands move from my face to my waist and he deepens the kiss. I tangle my hands in his hair. He pulls me tightly to him. I pull away, pecking his sweet lips once more before taking the fabric of his shirt in my fists.
"I've wanted to do that since you got here." He whispers, kissing me softly again.
"Me too." He still held me tightly to him. He stares into my eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just... I like you a lot." I lean forwards and kiss him again, gentler this time. He smiles against my lips. I smile too.
"We need to tell someone about the walker." I say, taking both his hands in mine.
We walk over to where the latest meeting takes place.
"Eliza? Ron? What are you two doing here?"
"There was a walker. It got in somehow, Eliza and I dealt with it but we thought you should know." Ron explains, still holding one of my hands.
"Where is the body?" Deanna asks us.
"Just outside my house."
"Okay. Thank you for telling us." We start to walk away when Pete shoves his way through the crowd with Michonne's katana.
"Dad?" Ron goes to intervene but Pete shoves him away. I stop him from falling and stand in front of him. There is squabbling in the crowd that I am too short to see and then a horrific slicing notice fills the air. I turn from Ron just in time to watch reg hit the floor. Abraham tackles Pete and pins him down. Deanna starts sobbing.
"Oh my love. Oh reg. No. My love. No..." She continues to sob, sniffling between words. I grip Ron's hand in mine and he squeezes it tightly. I know what's going to happen.
"Ron. Don't look." He stares blankly at his father, tears forming in his eyes.
"Ron please. You'll regret it." I try to turn his face but I fail and the gunshot sounds. Screams fill the air. Ron doesn't scream. He doesn't cry. He drops to his knees. Tears dripping down his face. Jessie sobs loudly from behind us.
"Ron." I whisper. Kneeling close to him. I cup his face in my hands.
"Look at me. Everything will be okay." His eyes reluctantly meet mine and he starts crying. He sits down hard on the floor. I kneel between his legs.
"Ron. I'm so sorry." He pulls me towards him and I straddle him. He sobs into my shoulder. I hold him close to me, running my fingers through his hair.
"I'm so sorry." He grips my shirt in his fists. We stay like this. I don't even notice anyone else. Just him. Just us. Just his tears soaking my shirt.

Ron's p.o.v
Eventually I run out of tears and I'm just shaking in her arms. I feel sick. I look up at her, feeling myself go pale.
"Let's get you home huh?" I nod. I'm going to throw up. We walk back to my house. I shut the door behind me. Sam is probably asleep. I don't want to wake him.
"You don't look to good." She whispers. I gag, proving her right. She takes me too the bathroom and I throw up. In the toilet. She sits behind me and rubs my back. I keep throwing up until my stomach is empty and I'm just gagging. Still kind of crying. He's dead. My dads dead. I saw it all. The bullet hitting his skull. I start to cry again. Sobs escaping my mouth. Eliza says nothing just hugs me from behind.
"Ron?"

Eliza's p.o.v
Sam walks through the door a look of horror on his face. Ron doesn't turn round but I feel him tense in my embrace.
"Ron isn't feeling to good. I don't think he wants you to see him like this. Go back to bed yeah?" Sam nods.
"Hope you feel better Ron." The young boy turns and leaves.
"Thanks." Ron whispers, gagging again. It should be Jessie that tells him. Not me.
"He should hear it from someone he's comfortable with." I whisper in return.
"He's comfortable with you. We all are." He strains to say, holding back from throwing up. He leans back from the toilet into me. He rests his head on my shoulder and closes his eyes. We sit for a while. At least he's stopped crying. I pull away, grabbing a flannel wetting it then wiping his mouth and chin with it. He sits there looking solemn.
"I'm going to grab you some water from downstairs okay?" He nods slightly and I leave the room. I walk downstairs to see Jessie. She looks surprised that I'm here.
"Ron's been sick." I say, turning on the tap on and filling a glass.
"Where?" She mumbles.
"In the bathroom. I've got it covered." She smiles lightly.
"Thanks." I start up the stairs.
"Eliza? Would you stay with him? I have to tell Sam and I don't want him to be alone right now. Plus I know how much you two like each other."
"Of course." I walk up the stairs. When I get to the top the bathrooms empty. The door to Ron's room is closed. I knock. There's no reply so I walk in anyway.
"I got you some water." I place the glass on his bedside table. He doesn't turn around. He stays seated on the bed facing away from me. I walk over to him.
"Do you want me to stay?" I ask, standing just in his field of vision.
"If you don't I get it but I need to know." I say. He stays completely still. I turn to walk away.
"Stay." He says, reaching out for me. He grabs my waist and pulls me close.
"Always." I whisper. He presses his forehead against my stomach. I stroke his hair.
"Do you think you can try to sleep?"
"Yeah." He pulls open his wardrobe and pulls out the same red shirt I had worn two days ago. He hands it to me. I get undressed. He watches but I don't mind. I don't turn around. I don't want him to see my back. It was hideous. The scars from the whips and the bruises and scratches. I pull the shirt over my head. It still smells of him. That sweet smell I love so much. His eyes still locked on me. Then he undresses. Until he is only in his boxers. He stays like that. We both climb into bed and he gets on top of me. He lays between my legs with his head resting on my chest. He snuggles against me as though he's trying to listen to my heartbeat. Making sure I'm still alive.
"I love you." He whispers as I play with his hair.
"I love you too." I whisper, tracing the lines of his toned shoulders with my fingertips. I don't stop, even when I hear his soft snores fill the room.
Eventually I fall asleep too.