when the prison falls, cassius "kaz" rhee loses more than a home- -he loses the control he's fought to keep since the world ended. as glenn's older brother and a long-time member of rick's group, kaz has always carried the weight no one else would. but separated and forced back into the wild, he starts facing the part of himself that the new world keeps dragging to the surface; the anger, the violence, the fear of becoming something he won't recognize. then there's rosita espinosa- -tough, guarded, and just as stubbornly alive as he is. she sees the cracks in him, even when he tries to hide them. together, they fight their way toward whatever's left of their people... while kaz battles the fear that surviving this world might cost him the last pieces of who he used to be. in a world ruled by the dead, staying human is the real fight. ( the walking dead fanfiction. ) ( male!oc x rosita espinosa. ) ( season four - season ten. ) ( started 12/8/25. ) ( finished . ) ( lowercase intended, story will be edited when finished. ) disclaimer: any gifs, images that may be/are used in this book do not belong to me unless stated so. this story will include sensitive topics. added characters and their dialogue- -excluding any dialogue that may come from other series/movies- - belong to me.

Here I was, convinced that love was something I'd never allow myself to fall into. I truly believed it was a waste of time and energy-an illusion that left people empty. I had seen too many women become love-drunk, so wrapped up in someone else that they forgot who they were. I promised myself I would never be like that. I swore I wouldn't walk the same path my mother did, a path that led straight to self-destruction. But then I saw you. You stood there, glowing with a light so fierce it was almost blinding. You shone so brightly that I swore if I reached out to touch you, I'd burn. And yet, despite the danger, despite every warning I had carved into my heart, I couldn't stay away. Something inside me shifted, cracked open, and suddenly the thought of distance between us felt unbearable.

"You can't see the future. I might have a chance. You don't know for sure." He mumbled, making her expression soften. "M-my mom used to tell me t-that birds still sing even after a storm. Why shouldn't people feel as free t-to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?" Samir stopped talking for a moment to regather himself so that he didn't stutter, but Nina froze completely. "You don't have to settle with him Nina. It's been five years an-and you're not a-as happy as you should be. You smile differently with me.. and you cry a lot with him. I just think that you deserve to enjoy your time with someone other than h-him for a minute because there's still sunlight out there for you too, even if you can't see it yet." How did he become her source of 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 so 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲? A short story.