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RUTH
SHE SAT ON THE BED BESIDE LORI. Ruth's fingers trailed up and down the sheets, feeling the rough linen in her fingertips. It was a strange an peculiar texture, but she didn't mind. It was something new to touch besides her grime-covered clothes. Even her fingers were lined with a dirt she wanted to remove. It made chills run up her spine with each touch.
"You don't have to stay with me all the time." Lori teased, her eyes looking down at the woman next to her. They were both about the same age, so talking to Ruth was like talking to her twin. "You don't need to gain my respect, you already have it."
Ruth shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. "It's not just that." She replied. "I'm always concerned about the baby. I feel like I have to make sure that you're getting the proper necessities."
Lori smiled, one of her frail hands reaching to tuck a loose strand of Ruth's hair behind her ear. "I think we would have been best friends before all of this, you know."
Ruth laughed, feeling her body slump forward on the mattress. "I think we would have."
They held a long silence, Lori rubbing her stomach almost subconsciously. A look of worry adorned her face. Ruth noticed this, but she didn't ask what was wrong. The woman flipped her gaze between the two who sat in her cell. "Can you get Hershel for me?" Ruth nodded and pushed herself off of the bed.
Her feet carried her outside of the cell, Carol walking beside her. "Do you know why she needs him?" Ruth asked. Carol shrugged, her eyes staring straight ahead.
"Probably just unsure with the baby." She replied. Ruth glanced at her, noticing how her gray hair had grown over the winter. It was losing its militaristic style.
Ruth nodded, her eyes trailing to where the others gathered. The two met up with the rest, who surrounded a pile of discarded guard armor.
"I ain't wearing this shit." Daryl muttered, his hand holding one. It oozed with a weird substance that Ruth knew was once a person.
"We could boil 'em."
"Ain't enough firewood in the whole forest. Besides, we made it this far without 'em, right?"
Ruth leaned against the railing of the stairs. "Hershel." She called out to the older man. He turned, and she gestured for him to follow. Rick watched as he followed Ruth back to Lori's cell, his brows furrowed slightly with concern.
"Everything all right?" Rick asked.
Ruth hinted at a small smile, and she nodded her head. Carol spoke from beside her. "Yeah. Nothing to worry about." Carol replied. Rick nodded, and Hershel followed the two women back to Lori's cell. The woman sat up in the bed, her head down to the floor. The look of worry she held before looked like it increased tenfold.
