sleepless club ▸ c.g [ 𝐈 ]

𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 ⇢ 𝟶𝟶𝟹

September 6th ┆09:38 am

"Ready?"

Glancing aside at the other from the corner of her eye, Anais gave a small nod of her head before adjusting the straps from her backpack around her shoulders.

  Matty was first to walk ahead, arm arched to ready his blade before pushing the entrance of the home open─ cautiously looking around, ultimately stepping outside to take a look around at the lifeless state the decaying left behind.

   Anais followed on, but it was clear to those who bothered to look that her mind was elsewhere. Her feet dragged on through the gravel, but her mind was dazed─ that was until she sensed the eyes from another following her every move.

   Furrowing her brows just a tad, she looked off into the distance, pausing for the briefest of moments to find the shadowed figure of the boy haunting her dreams.

  "Hey!"

The teen shouted out, and to Matty's surprise, she was quick to dart ahead─ leaving him to stare in confusion, before he quickly ran along.

  "Anais! Stop running!"

Strands of curls fell over Matt's eyes as he ran, but he went on─ extending an arm, hoping to snatch his digits against a layer of Anais' clothing to pull her back towards him.

Despite his calls, and the lack of air her lungs gained after bringing her weak legs through such effort, the brunette ran on with no intention to stop.

   Her focus was still fully locked on the teen who was suddenly startled by her quick approach, which would naturally prompt him to disappear behind the many trees.

"Get back here!"

The female shouted, digits curling into a tight fist; nails lightly digging into the palms of her already scarred hands.

Determination set in, and nothing could stop her. . . Except for a piece of root sticking up from the pile of leaves that bombarded the tarmac.

The toe of her shoe catches under the arch─ inevitably making her lose balance and crash to the ground.

Her arms instinctively stretched out, quickly catching herself before her body could smack down. That would only result in more injury, which she didn't need to add to the list of unfortunate events she already experienced.

Tilting her head upward to study the path ahead, she exhaled to find not a soul in sight. That only left her with the feeling of defeat.

"What the fuck?"

Stopping himself in his tracks, he paused in efforts to catch his breath as Anais stood back on her feet; brushing the dirt from her hands by rubbing them by the material on her jeans.

Emitting a sigh, she looked over her shoulder at Matty, "You saw him that time, right?"

Squinting his lids just a tad, he looked around at the trees that surrounded them for the briefest of moments.

"Wha─ Who?"

Anais scoffed, facing forward again by simply turning herself around by the heel of sneakers─ blanking out the young man who moved over her tracks in sheer confusion.

Walking on, her nails left the skin on her palm to now lightly insert themselves into the fabric on her backpack's strap.

"No offence, but you've been acting very fucking insane lately."

Matty would comment, but just like before, Anais would find no issue in ignoring him.

"Like, you think you're being stalked by some kid? 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮? You think he has nothing better to do with his time?"

Curling a lock of hair back behind her ear, Anais sniffed at the air─ only to cough at the smell of smoke and ash that lingered the air. The more she guided her way down towards the trees the mysterious boy disappeared behind, the more powdery residue would drift along the cooling breeze.

Ducking her head down to avoid the tree trunks that threatened to fall─ she then extended an arm, pushing back some leaves to take a good look at the man-made fences that gathered around the open woodland. Upon first inspection, it would appear that some of the walls collapsed, most likely from the outside.

It was easy to perceive that someone put much power to get inside, and they found no care in harming or attracting walkers in the process of doing so. Their one goal was to attack whoever or whatever hid within the walls.

It was now that Matty would stop talking to take it all in─ for a few seconds, at least.

"Jesus. ."

Anais muttered to herself, the sole of her sneakers leaving behind a trail against the ash and debris that coated over the metal frame that once blocked off those who threatened to enter.

"What the fuck happened here?"

Matty asked, pausing to watch as the dark eyed female stopped walking to read over the sign that, they could only assume, was placed on the entrance of the neighborhood that was once known as a 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝙯𝙤𝙣𝙚.

Kneeling down, the adolescent brushed a hand over the layer of dust to uncover the words that were sprawled over the sign.

"Welcome to the Alexandria safe zone─ Mercy for the lost. Vengeance for the plunderers."