blood   speckled   across   their   features   ,   stench   of   death   lingering   ,   morals   being   pushed   further   to   the   edge   ;   were   they   even   there   to   begin   with   ?   it   weighed   on   them   all   ,   who   they   were   being   spread   too   thin   ,   humanity   hanging   loosely   like   a   rotted   tooth   in   the   mouth   of   one   of   the   undead   .   

       rick   kneels   besides   hal   ,   a   bloodied   -   hand   drapes   itself   on   her   shoulder   ,   a   firm   reassuring   squeeze   followed.   “   you   did   a   bad   thing   for   a   good   reason   .   “   words   hoarse   ,   eroded   away   by   exhaustion   ,   an   air   of   defeat   ,   but   it   was   all   necessary   .   wasn’t   it   ?

Ilene looks up at his words, tearing her gaze away from the dead to stare at him blankly. She’d been transfixed by their movements, shambling bodies stumbling around, crawling out of the surf only to be slammed back into the sand. His smile takes her by surprise, seemingly so at odds with the horror of this world. For a moment she can’t fathom what he means. She turns her gaze back to the beach, and all at once becomes aware of the warmth of the sun on her face, of the light glittering as it reflects off the waves. Her breath catches, and for a moment, it’s like the grey veil of death and decay that’s lain heavy behind her eyes lifts, and she sees something beautiful. 

Her lips curve, forming a smile she’d thought lost to the harsh reality of the new world, and she murmurs, ‘I… I didn’t think they were possible to find, anymore’. 

if   a   moment   could   last,   this   one   would   be   it.   the   memory   of   the   dead   would   never   escape,   forever   staining   their   lives   with   blood   that'll   never   go   away.   but   rick   understood   moments   like   this   needed   to   be   held   carefully,   to   be   acknowledged,   even   if   they   might   slip   through   ones   fingers,   and   shatter   to   the   ground   beneath   their   feet.   ilene's   words   had   warmed   him   on   the   inside,   they   reassured   him   of   what   was   still   inside   her,   that   there   was   still   hope   to   be   had,   even   after   being   struck   with   harrowing   tragedy.   

rick   couldn't   remember   the   last   time   he   felt   this   --   the   morning   sun   glowing   exceptionally   bright,   its   warm   radiating   what   would   have   felt   like   comfort,   if   it   wasn't   for   the   dead   that   were   roaming   the   shores   of   the   beach,   some   half-stuck   in   the   wet   sand.   it   felt   like   nostalgia,   remembering   life   of   what   was   with   a   vulnerable   fondness.   regardless   of   the   past   weeks   they've   all   experienced   together,   a   soft   smile   was   brought   to   his   features,   his   eyes   looking   to   ilene.   

"i   miss   moments   like   this   more   than   anything."

call   it   a   hunch,   an   insinct   of   survival,   cultivated   by   centuries   of   experience   with   rotting   and   falling   flesh   as   a   badge   of   honor.   using   the   nose   of   his   gun,   he   points   to   the   passing   shadow   he   spots   inside.   "there's   somemone   in   the   house."   tone   hushed   and   graveled   by   errosion   of   radition.   azure   hues   gaze   to   the   one   beside   him.   "ladies   first?"   

          head  turns  to  the  other,  brow  rising.  her  words  come  unsurprising  to  him  ;  he’s  heard  it  all  before,  it  comes  with  the  territory  of  being  a  leader,  being  someone  that  others  can  look  to  and  confide  in.  it  came  natural,  he  was  a  listener  anyways.  

perhaps there will always be a part of her that has been burned too much by her mother  –  abandonment issues deeply rooted inside of her until it has made a home out of hal.     rick’s absence began with the feeling of missing him,  until it grew dark and into something akin to her childhood.      “i wasn’t sure if you were alive,  rick!     i thought you just left and that i wasn’t gonna  –”    she stops,  fire brimming everything inside of her,  but she’s becoming too explosive  –  she’s a supernova, desperate to become.

“it was long enough!”