Perhaps without sight;

“I would know those footsteps anywhere.” Naomi whispered with a warm smile, smiling as she turned towards the steps headed towards her, though didn’t move forward; she mapped out the side to side just fine, but when people left things about often, it made it hard to guarantee the path would be clear. “She was the perfect angel while you were away. Like always. You’re back safely?” She asked as Sasha got up and trotted over to the woman in greeting – it was always one of her first questions, wanting to confirm the other hadn’t been bit or scratched.

“I think a bit of both if I’m honest,” she joked. Vee couldn’t help but wonder how she had even survived this long. Sure, it seemed like she was a member of the Elevated which meant she would be safe for the most part, but how she found them, she’d never know. “Oh no, I’m not part of your group. I’m with another group so I’m just passing by.” She was ready to shake her head at her question but luckily remembered she couldn’t see, “Oh no, you don’t need to do that, thank you.” Though they may not be hostile, she still wasn’t going essentially walk into a lion’s den. 

“What group are you part of, then?” Naomi asked, genuinely interested. She let her guard down a bit more, relaxing her shoulders, and starting to pet Sasha behind the ears. “It’s rather unfortunate – these days, where kindness has seemingly faded into the background; considered to be high and naive in standards.” Naomi slid her backback from her shoulders, getting to one knee as she felt around first pulling out a collapsible bowl, and filling it half way with water for Sasha. She then pulled out a half eaten package of crackers, and an almost empty thing of peanut butter.

She slid her bag on her shoulders, then stood back up, crackers and peanut butter in hand. “I think if we wish to rebuild our world, kindness should be considered a lot more. Or we’re just going to end up even worse off than we were before.” She took a couple steps towards the woman, holding out the crackers. “It’s not much, I’m afraid, but it would mean a lot if you would allow me to thank you for your help. There isn’t much left in this world at the moment, she if we, as humanity, lose our humility and compassion towards others, it is most certain, that we will not become everything we could be; and we will turn on one another faster than the undead.”

Vee came to a halt when the dog barked at her. Her hand instinctively went to her weapon, ready to use it if the dog attacked. She didn’t like the idea of killing a living dog but she would if she had to. Luckily, Vee didn’t have to make that choice as the girl calmed the dog. “No problem, I mean it would have ate me too so…” she joked before shaking her hand. It felt strange to shake someone’s left hand but she didn’t comment. “I’m Vee, it’s nice to meet you too Naomi. I have to admit, I’ve been told I make a good entrance more than once,” she joked.

“Are such entrances habits, or are you just lucky enough to seize the moments?” Naomi asked with a soft chuckle, taking half a step back after the handshake. It was true that she was too trusting in this world – shown enough by how fast she was willing to put away her weapon – but she also wasn’t naive. She was blind in a world full of monsters, and that made her a rather easy target. Though, the only gun she carried was in her bag, and it contained but two bullets; just in case her and Sasha didn’t have a painless way out of things. “Are you new to the group, then? Or just passing on by?” Then something occurred to her. “Has anyone offered you something to eat, yet, Vee? If you’re hungry, it’s the least I could do for your help.”

Vee was scouting around an area close to where the Elevated were located. She usually didn’t venture this far on her own without any sort of backup but there were a few places she knew of from before the damned doomsday that might have been missed. 

She watched the girl when she came into view for a few sort minutes. Judging by the dog and the way she hit the object, the girl must have been blind. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a walker shuffling it’s way towards her. With a quick swipe of her machete, it fell to the ground. She slipped the weapon into her homemade holder and headed slowly over to the girl. 

“It’s alright,” she told her calmly when she spoke up, “I’m not going to hurt you; are you okay?”

The giant white dog stepped over Naomi in a protective manner, and barked aggressively. Though, Naomi didn’t need this to know she hadn’t heard the woman’s voice before now. “It’s okay, Sasha.” She soothed, sitting up and petting the dog, though she kept her own small knife clasped in her hand. “Thank-you – for ridding of the undead, I mean. We haven’t met before, though.” Her voice soft, words not rushed, the blind woman gave a warm smile, before finally making the decision to return the knife to its’ holding place, then held out her left hand. “I’m Naomi. And the marshmallow you see beside me here is Sasha. It’s lovely to meet you. I’d certainly say you make a wonderful entrance.”

naomi’s comings and goings with sasha were nothing new. they were like clockwork, reliable, comforting even, that mundane routine could still be found in these times. normally, he’d let her go off without a second thought, knowing the lookouts would keep an eye on her, keep her safe — but there’d been more walkers than usual around lately, and he didn’t feel right about letting her go completely alone. after a few minutes hesitation by the door, he decided to go out there, just to keep an eye on things, make sure she didn’t get swarmed ( it was becoming far too common lately ). 

coming outside just in time to see her fall, his attention was immediately diverted by the stray walker, quickly taken out by one of their lookouts up top — before he even had to reach for a weapon. thank fuck they had good people here. he made his way over, careful not to startle her ( she was armed, after all ), but also careful not to be too loud, lest another walker be around. “just me, naomi,” was his greeting. “you alright? sorry, not to like parent you or anything, there’s just been a lot of activity lately.”

“Noah.” Naomi spoke softly, confirming to herself she wasn’t in any danger. She carefully slid the small knife away, bringing herself to her feet. Of course, Naomi was barely taller than five feet, and the white King shepherd by her side was just under three feet tall at the head; needless to say, she looked even smaller next to the dog. But small didn’t mean weak, and though no one needed hay bails tossed here, she helped out when she could; including agreeing to help with guard duty sometimes – obviously close to the tower. It wasn’t her that was helpful much, but Sasha, who never failed to growl in the direction of the walkers.

“No, I understand, thank-you.” She stood herself up, doing a mental check over herself once more, confirming that she was without injury. “Sasha isn’t growling anymore, so either it shuffled away, or someone took care of it.” She held no real fear when going for her walks, because between Sasha and the sighted guards on the ground and in the sky, she knew she was safe. Plus, her twin helped her navigate the outside area; cars that were unlocked and where they were; trees she could easily climb and await Sasha going to fetch help (something Nadia worked tirelessly to train her to do). “It was my own fault, really – I took a few steps without Sasha or the walking stick. It was foolish to assume everything would be the same.”

The woman crouched down, and kissed the top of the dog’s head, before going into her bag and pulling out a tennis ball. “Play time.” Standing up, the warm smile remained on her lips as she held out a hand towards Noah, palm up, other hand holding the tennis ball. “How about Sasha and myself join you for your shift – she’ll have someone to throw the ball for her, and you’ll have an extra pair of ears in her. You just have to promise if there’s a swarm, that you get Sasha somewhere safe.” Her voice was still soft and sweet, not rushed or worried. “And remember to come back to let me out of a tree later, once it’s safe.” Being out and about, Naomi knew she was a liability – it was why she had Nadia help her, hours every single day for the first couple months. There were many places she could hide; but if it was a tree, Sasha couldn’t be kept safe, whereas she could. It wasn’t so much self sacrificial, as her being realistic. Should a small or even large swarm come along, it would be more dangerous for everyone, trying to get Naomi back safely (depending how far and the circumstances).

Leaving her and coming back later made more sense. But, there were enough guards that it didn’t worry her. Even still, Sasha was her best friend. “Do you remember the feeling of the beach? Standing at the water’s edge.. bare foot, closing your eyes and letting the sun wash over your skin? The sounds as the waves crept up, cooling over your skin? A camp fire after sunset? The way it crackled and left your clothes with an after smell? It feels like we’re all scrambling to survive, but are forgetting to stop and remember the small things that remind us to live. Perhaps it wouldn’t be too much, to request someone willing, to procure a few board games. I know it seems redundant, to have someone searching for a simple toy. After all, you can’t truly live if you don’t survive. But would it be so bad? To offer some semblance of normalcy, to keep the sanity?”

The tower wasn’t ideal in some ways – there was limited space, and communal living meant things were always going to be moved around; and people had far better things to do than be careful where they sat their bag, or if they moved a piece of furniture over a few inches. The white king shepherd was only about five feet away, sniffing at some grass to do her business on, when Naomi tripped over something that definitely hadn’t been there that afternoon.

“That’s new..” She groaned to herself, as she lay there, taking inventory of herself. She chuckled softly when she felt a cold nose to her face, and reached up to give Sasha a small pat. “I think I’m alright, Sash.” However, her heart began to race when she heard the dog growl; Sasha only growled when there was a walker nearby. Listening closely, Naomi couldn’t hear grunts or shuffling of one, herself, which was somewhat of a relief, because it meant it wasn’t close enough for her to hear it. She did, however, hear footsteps of the living, and wrapping one hand around the pliable (leather loop handle, and not a hard metal one) grip on Sasha’s harness, her left hand reaching for the knife she kept on her – and she stood up slowly. “Hello?”