2. Never Tear Us Apart

s e v e n t y s i x

A few days had passed and Beth had been buried and the group were on their way to Noah's home. Half the group went, the others stayed back.

Theo was part of the group that stayed back.

She sat on the ground next to father Gabriel, picking at the grass, picking at her shoes, doing whatever she could to pass the time.

They were running low on water supplies, food even less.

"Can i ask you something?" Gabriel asked, hesitating as he turned to face the young girl.

Theo looked at the man, telling him to continue.

"Do you have any regrets in life?" He asked, holding his hands together.

"Random" She smiled, thinking about the last time she was asked such a strange question.

"When Sasha held a knife to my neck, you defended me, there I spilled all the regret I had, I just wondered if you ever wanted to talk about it?" He asked politely.

"My list of regrets is longer than the Bible" She admitted, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Highest regret?" He wondered.

She took a deep breath, thinking about everything that had happened in her life.

"One of them would be not cherishing the time I had with my mother, we never got along when I was a child, and we only made up about 7 months before she died, I felt as though I had no time with the mother I felt that loved me back for once. Or maybe..." She looked around to make sure people weren't too close, "Leaving my only daughter on the doorstep of a Mexican school" She nodded. A few newer members of the group overheard, looking at her in shock. Father Gabriel closed his eyes in sadness.

"Why?" He asked, leaning into her, knowing she wouldn't want people to hear into their conversation.

"Father. I was a victim of sexual assault. That baby was the result of a rape." She admitted, whispering everything. People didn't need to know, but it felt nice to speak to a man of faith about it. He was kind of like a safe heaven. "And as for my mother, I always loved her, I just never showed her." She sadly smiled. "You know the information now, look at me how you must" She shrugged.

"Theo..." Gabriel began "You are a very strong woman. Your mother would be proud" he nodded, smiling before leaving her be.

It almost made her cry on the spot hearing him say those words.

She shocked herself how easy it was to tell him, but then again, the past is in the past now and all she wanted to focus on was her present.

She went into her pocket and grabbed her last cigarette and walked over to Daryl. She sat next to him, lighting it in her mouth before passing it to him. He took it in silence.

He was taking Beth's death hard, in a way he blamed himself.

"You wanna talk about it?" She asked not to look at him.

"Nah" He shook his head.

She nodded, taking the cigarette back.

"I understand your hurting, and i will give you any space you need, but please dont push me away" She begged

He looked at her nodding before looking back toward nothing.

She whistled calling her dog over, standing and leaving him alone.

She finished her cigarette before taking Judith off of Carl.

"She looks more and more like mum you know" Carl smiled, looking at his youngest with absolute love.