bigger than these bones.

          she supposed it was a FAIR question for people to ask in a world this CRUEL.     not many folks anymore would go out of their way to help a STRANGER, especially not when most often your own life is put in DANGER.     for her, she mostly just didn’t want to be like the person she was before.    too terrified to come out of the shadows to help another person, instead just assisting from afar and hoping for the best.      she may be cold, cynical, and PESSIMISTIC  --  but that didn’t mean she had to be HEARTLESS.      she still had a conscience, and it has been kicking her ass for YEARS now.                 putting away her equipment, reminding herself to soak them in ALCOHOL later, she barely even looked up at the man as she answered monotonously,     ❝ i guess i just wouldn’t ‘a slept too well thinkin’ about leavin’ ya here to bleed out...     or worse, gettin’ eaten alive by the dead before ya even have a CHANCE to bleed out. ❞     she certainly was CHARMING.             standing from the ground, she glanced at the BLOOD on her hands from suturing his wound.     this would attract the dead, so she pulled out a towel and a bottle of water from her pack and got the towel wet before using it to CLEAN her bloodied hands.      afterwards, she crouched down and handed the rest of the water bottle to him,     ❝ DRINK.    you’re dehydrated, ❞      now, she just wasn’t sure what to do.     let him fend for himself the rest of the way, or try to HELP him get somewhere safe.     it didn’t take her very long to decide, before sighing heavily in DEFEAT,     ❝ ya got somewhere ya want me to help ya get to?     wouldn’t feel right leavin’ ya now.     just in case those sutures rupture, i can fix ‘em for ya. ❞

          ooc.     i finally have a day off, so i’m gonna be getting to things soon.     just wake n’ baked and ready to write.  

          it wasn’t a very good week to start working at the GREY SLOAN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL.     the energy in the entire place was very melancholy and sad, but of course zoe could understand why.      these people had just lost a very important person, a surgeon named DEREK SHEPHERD.     zoe had heard all about it in the paper and the news, as he was one of the best neurosurgeons in washington.                   though she was a new NURSE at this hospital, she wasn’t new to the job.      she had worked almost a year at another hospital before being transferred to this one.     zoe hadn’t been having a very great morning.     to start off, she woke up thirty minutes LATE for work, her alarm was set for pm instead of am.     she spilled hot coffee on her scrubs, and now she was currently on her knees in the middle of the hallway because she had just dropped an arm full of charts all over the floor.     she was going to have to remember to put all of these papers back in order,     ❝ crap, ❞     she muttered under her breath as she tried to gather all of the scattered papers on the floor.  

     zoe suffers from BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER in the aftermath of eveline.  

          narrowing her eyes, she contemplated his words.      there was something about his VOICE, it made her feel like this guy wasn’t going to be a THREAT, regardless of how harsh he seemed.     her gut was telling her this was going to be okay  --  that they could remove the walkers from the area and split the findings fifty/fifty like he said, but she was still going to be CAUTIOUS,    ❝ fine.     but i’m keepin’ my EYE on you.     i will not HESITATE to put a bullet between ya eyes if you try anythin’.     an’ also... if we happen to find a pack a’ cigarettes in here...     i call DIBS. ❞

         zoe had planned on LEAVING him there the first time she spotted him on the ground, seemingly lifeless and bleeding heavily.     but when she examined him more carefully, she noticed that he was still BREATHING.     it was a shallow breath, but it still let her know that he had a chance.     there was a gentle SNARL from the thick woods around them.     only ONE.     enough for her to drop quickly, and then she opened her backpack and used everything she could to try and help him.     she wouldn’t have been able to move on with a clear conscious if this guy DIED a painful death, getting eaten ALIVE by those drooling freaks.            luckily, she knew a thing or two about tending to peoples’ wounds, and she kept an intricate first aid kit with her at all times.     she knew how to give sutures, and she even kept rubbing alcohol with her to make sure all of her equipment was sterile.      it was a deep gash, but she managed to stop the BLEEDING and she was almost finished by the time she heard his feeble voice.      she was going to have to finish his stitches while he was conscious, but hopefully his adrenaline was still kicking, or he was still in shock, so maybe it wouldn’t HURT him as bad.          ❝ don’t MENTION it.      an’ don’t MOVE.     i think your body is still in SHOCK, otherwise this would be hurtin’ like a BITCH right now.     i’m almost finished....    just one more suture.... ❞     her voice trailed off as she finished up.     she had been sitting there on her knees, right beside him for almost an hour.      she was surprised another walker hadn’t interrupted in that expand of time.     placing a clean bandage over his sutures, she looked up at his BLOODIED face, her own expression neutral,     ❝ give that time to HEAL before puttin’ too much strain on your abdomen.     keep the sutures CLEAN.     i’m gonna give ya some extra bandages to replace that one, but i don’t have many to spare.     you’re gonna have t’scavenge ya own eventually, ❞     her louisiana accent was THICK, and she placed the extra clean bandages on top of his chest.

          ooc.     omg i have so many drafts & i’ve been busy all weekend.      it’s almost five o’clock in the morning, my brain isn’t awake and i have to go to work soon.      i am gonna try to get some writing done right now, but idk if my sleepy brain is gonna let me. lol.     thank god for redbull.  

               it has been almost eight years since eveline was destroyed, and a lot has changed in zoe’s life.    with the HELP of umbrella corp and a crap ton of THERAPY, she felt more like herself these days.     there were still BAD DAYS  ;  days when she felt like giving up.      days she felt EMPTY and reckless.      the medication assisted with her psychosis and anxiety.     but there were still days she felt like she was going CRAZY.      she still suffers from severe PTSD sometimes.     she managed to focus most of her energy into SCHOOL after a couple years of therapy.     keeping busy and working toward a GOAL also helped with her trauma.     she ended up becoing a nurse and finishing school just last year and she finds that focusing on work and helping other people also helps herself.   she even let her hair grow out. 

          glancing at the lock on mia’s cell, zoe knew that the key was probably somewhere the younger sibling of the family didn’t want to go.      even if she could have found the key SAFELY, there was no way she could get mia out of here without her parents noticing.     they certainly would know who did it and exactly where to FIND her.      she wasn’t going to RISK it  --  and besides, whatever was going on with her family, she couldn’t be sure that it wouldn’t start happening to mia too.      zoe was doing her best to AVOID her family’s fate at all costs.      just being inside the house right now was making zoe uncomfortable.             ❝ it’s too LATE for apologies now.     i just want some ANSWERS, but, ❞     she paused briefly, glancing over her shoulder as she heard a noise.     fuck this old, creaky house.     ❝ i can’t stay down here for too long.     i don’t wanna RISK gettin’ caught.      what is she?      EVELINE.     what has she done to my family? ❞

          not before you help me get mia back.     it wasn’t that she was OFFENDED by his statement, or even butt-hurt about it.    why should he care what happened to zoe?     she wasn’t the person he came here for, and she was well aware of that.     but still, the fact that she knew as soon as he found mia and found the things zoe needed to make a cure from the attic he was going to do whatever it took to get the two of them as far away from this plantation as possible  --  with or WITHOUT zoe  --  was unsettling to say the least.     which is why she wasn’t going to put all of her trust in this man just yet, not when she still had everything to LOSE.             ❝ honestly, i’m SURPRISED she’s even made it this long.     she’s the one who BROUGHT eveline here.      how she managed to make it longer than THREE YEARS in that girl’s presence without fully turnin’ into a monster like my mama an’ daddy is mighty shockin’, ❞     her voice was COLD, and she showed no concern whatsoever.     she felt pretty numb to her emotions these days.      taking another long swig, she winced and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before letting her practically DEAD eyes look up at ethan,     ❝ i been helpin’ you.    to the best a’ my ability.     the only way i’m gonna KEEP helpin’ ya is if ya PROMISE to get me outta this fuckin’ place.      PROMISE ME. ❞

Me: *and

          ooc.      SHIPPING CALL!!     obviously i’m gonna be a little selective with this, since i ship CHEMISTRY more than anything, but this is basically just gonna let me know who would be interested in shipping with zoe.     i headcanon that she’s definitely into girls, but she’s more-so attracted to PERSONALITIES.      so give this a LIKE and i’ll jump into your IMs and we can discuss!