memories ✯ carl grimes

three

MEMORIES
three | ❝a prison❞

✯

MARNIE WAS ABLE TO FIND comfort in the gentle rocking of the bus. Her head was on Jamie's shoulder, and she found herself asleep as soon as she closed her eyes. Dreaming was something that never came to her anymore. She would fall asleep, see black, and then wake up. Sometimes, it wouldn't even feel like she had fallen asleep. She would wake up as tired as she had been before closing her eyes.

This time was different though, thankfully. It had only been about an hour, or maybe two, of sleep that Marnie had managed to get. But as the bus came to a sudden stop, and she found herself flying forward (Jamie caught her before she hit herself against the seat in front), she was well rested.

"I hate to bring bad news," Bear said, "but we're out of gas. Anyone wanna check that map for a station? I don't see any cars."

Marnie looked out and saw it was dark. She could make out the tree line, and the rockiness of the rock, but that was about it. The moon was covered with thick, dark clouds, but she could see a few stars. At least the sky hadn't changed for the worse. In fact, since the outbreak, it seemed to be brighter. Cleared.

Jamie stood up and approached Sam and Sasha, who were reading the map intentively. Marnie could make out the sounds of Sasha disagreeing with something Jamie had said, opting to agree with Sam. There was a back and forth, before Bear broke up the conversation with a grunt.

"There's one a few miles up," Jamie said, "I'll go with Sasha to get some, Ty, you come too. Sam, you stay here. We need someone competent to look after everyone."

He shot a nasty look at Ben and Allen, before turning to look at Marnie. She was hoping that he wouldn't leave her here on her own. It seemed Jamie wasn't comfortable with leaving Marnie alone, because he reached out his hand for her to take.

"We shouldn't be too long," Ty reassured Bear as he stepped off the bus. Marnie followed him closely, turning to look at Bear. He smiled at her, gesturing for her to get moving.

"Kill some walkers for us, kid," he said, and Marnie nodded and smiled. The bus door shut, and she realised that though she was with Jamie and Sasha and Ty, she was unarmed. Unarmed, and in the dark.

✯

The gas station wasn't far at all. Time passed by pretty fast, too, as Ty had Marnie on his shoulders. He was so tall that Marnie felt dizzy being so high up in the world. But she loved it. Her job was to look out for walkers, and she did it with pride. Each time she spotted one, she would whistle quietly and point. Jamie and Sasha were able to take them out with little struggle.

When the gas station came into view, it was a relief for Marnie. As much as she loved being on Ty's shoulders and having a job that felt useful, she was still terrified. And cold. Winter was approaching, and without somewhere warm, they would surely freeze.

Dried blood littered the ground surrounding the gas station. Ty had bent down and Marnie hopped off, walking towards Sasha, who was beginning to fill canisters with gas. As she did so, Jamie and Ty went inside. There was a thud, before Jamie returned outside, waving canned food at the two girls.

"Hey, Sash," Jamie said. Sasha squeezed Marnie's arm and jogged over to Jamie. He whispered something to her, and Sasha nodded. The two looked at Marnie, grinning.