Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
RUTH
IT HAD BEEN DAYS. Days since Rick had gone into his own world, trying to search for his wife's body. The man only occasionally returned, as Glenn told her in his daily visits up to her cell. The Korean man never got responses from her, the only sign that she was still breathing being the small rise and sink of her chest.
This silence hit her the minute she sat back in her bed that unfortunate day. Bags lined her eyes from a lack of sleep, but she couldn't find the energy to let her lids close shut. The woman learned sleeping was not restful anymore. It was haunted with nightmares of bewitching and malicious memories that Ruth could no longer bear to see. Each time she saw the dark of her lids, a flash of her face appeared. It smiled and laughed, an emotion she wished she could have. She kept hearing her voice. It echoed through the quiet cell block at night, leaving Ruth wide awake to hear Lori's faint whispers. Her ghost brushed against her arm as she lay in bed every night, staring wide awake at the wall that could have been a portal to a new dimension. It was starting all over again. The death, the grief, and most importantly, the suffering.
Ruth found herself staring at the same damn cracked wall of her cell once more. This time though, she didn't examine the lines in the foundation. Brown eyes burned and melted the concrete in front of them, the gaze blank and dull like a lifeless body. The strands of her dead locks covered her like matted cloak, the tips just reaching past her shoulders. A constant ringing hurt her hears, signaling a migraine was beating and hammering her skull like a child with a toy. She winced, letting the pain wash past her skull and down her neck.
"Hey," she heard Glenn sigh from her cell's entrance. "brought you some breakfast." She didn't budge, much less move her head, but was able to hear the faint whispers between him and Maggie. Ruth soon felt the dip of the bed beside her and the brush of Maggie's head against her shoulder.
A paper plate was placed in her lap. She didn't look down at it, but felt the warmth of the food sink through to her thighs. A sudden aroma of tomato hit her nose and her stomach grumbled. "I'm sorry this is happening." Ruth didn't respond, but she felt a hand intertwine with her own.
"Glenn and I are going on a run to get some more supplies for the baby. We'll be back in a few hours." Glenn appeared in front of her, his body breaking the staring contest Ruth was having with the wall.
He shook his head. "Whatever is going on in that head of yours... I-" he ran a head over his forehead, "I hope you come back soon. Carl needs someone. We all do."
Ruth's eyes glanced up to Glenn's, a concerned look upon his youthful features. He switched his gaze towards Maggie, who squeezed Ruth's hand once more. "Eat something, too. You're beginning to look like a walker."
And with that, the two left her once more. Ruth glanced down at the breakfast. Spaghetti. Her stomach howled inside, begging for food after being deprived for days. Just do it. Her hand reached towards the fork placed delicately into the noodles and grabbed the handle. She tried to ignore the bitter and sour taste as she placed the fork to her lips, chewing on the partially cooked noodles.
