･ ❝ she's a kicker. ❞

When the siren had gone off, Carter hadn’t exactly had much time to be careful of what he was doing when he was running from groups of walkers and he’d carelessly ended up with a bit of a gash that probably needed to be cleaned properly. He didn’t exactly know many people around here that were good with injures and possible stitches if he needed them, but he did know Scarlette. He thought she was sweet from the moment they met and he’d automatically felt like she was a good friend to have. With her in mind, he started searching around the country club for the girl in question, the only one he currently trusted to be able to help him. Walking into the med bay, he found it deserted. “Scarlette? It’s Carter.” He called out, walking in further when he heard a soft noise, like someone crying. Ducking his head into a room, he found the woman he was looking for. At the sight of her, he could feel a pain in his chest. There were tears rolling down her cheeks, a cat clutched to her chest and a photograph in her hand. “Scarlette…” He murmured softly, coming over to sit beside her on the floor. “What happened?”

              with the siren disabled and the world slowly returning to it’s own version RIGHT.    she’d had people in and out throughout the last few days - injuries sustained left, right and center from fleeing the rotters or from raiders or just in the general malaise of the time.   after resetting the arm of a sixteen year old - she’d crossed to her room, intending to have a nap or at least a lay down and relax.      crookshanks uncurled himself from his nuzzled spot on her bed and gave a soft meow before beginning to purr long & loud.   scarlette had smiled, changing her shirt   ( the one she currently wore had blood splatter on it )   and pulled another one from the pile of clothes she’d scavenged.    when the photo hit the ground, she felt her heart SINK and her stomach roll and she felt like she was going to be sick even as she picked it up.   she’d lost track of how long she’d sat there - staring at her wife and child, forever it felt.  she couldn’t  S T O P  herself.

                 the siren is a death march.

~ ░  * ✧ 。┋  {  tinykicker:  }

               “i guess all i can say is that there’s never a CERTAINTY in this world anymore,” she replied - slightly SOMBRE as she thumbed the pages absentmindedly ——-     “you never know if you’re going to wake up tomorrow.     i think if people get too COMFORTABLE, it can be dangerous.”      was that some sort of twisted way of saying that she should seize the moment?  the logic that she FELT ——-         it told her that she should live by the idea of carpe diem - but she was too much of a coward to ENTIRELY live by it.        “and i’ll always have yours - even though i’m nowhere near as TOUGH as you are, but i’ll always be around to take care of you when you’re sick.”   she smiled, rosy-lipped and bright eyed - with an air of a clichéd ‘blushing bride.’

                       she paused as skyler drew   s l i g h t l y   closer - growing more and more familiar with the gentle, subtle touches and the physical contact that grew between them both - it never failed to bring a smile to her lips  ——-    and a pinkness to her cheeks.     “if we do, i’ll bring you some when they’re fresh,” scarlette smiled again at the older woman.

                 “i’m ready whenever you are, madame leader,” a small giggle escaped her lips, nudging skyler’s knee with her own   ( gently, softly - playfully )   as she snapped her book shut and slipped it back in her satchel.      “i know where to go - but it’s a bit of a hike - around an hour and a half or two hours to get there.    do you think they can spare you around here for a few hours?   i feel almost selfish taking you away all for myself.”

             ❝      maybe you’re right  ,  scar  ,  but we still need to PLAN like we will  ,  otherwise  ,  if our tomorrow  d o e s  ,  in fact  ,  come  ,  and we’re not prepared for it  .  .  .   it would be total ANARCHY  ,  and we’d all die anyways  .     ❞    perhaps it was that very mentality which led her to become a leader in the first place  ;  skyler is a visionary  ,  through and through  ,  taking on the responsibility of life in a time of certain death so others wouldn’t have to  .  granted  ,  it was no task easily accomplished  ,  especially considering the challenges surrounding the prospect of motivating others to work when their efforts may be futile tomorrow  .  .  .   perhaps that’s why she’d developed her regal facade in the first place  ,  a barricade of emotional attachment  ,  a manner of retaining authority  . 

            and yet  ,  there was scarlette  ,  breaking it down  ,  crack by crack  ,  piece by piece  .  &&. Skyler could no longer help but  s m i l e  . 

                            ❝      oh  ,  man  ,  sickness is the LAST thing any of us need right now  .                                       but that’s why i’m lucky i have you to look after me  ,                                       in the worst of scenarios  .      ❞

            this was said with an appreciative nod  ,  a gesture of appreciation directed to the mention of pineapples  ,  and then  ,  with a last moment glance at the incarnadine hue of the younger’s cheeks  ,  the curvature of her lips when she grins  ,  the spot on her OWN leg where the ghost of the other’s knee know lingers  ,  the drake slings her black duffel across her shoulder and rises  . 

            ❝       don’t worry  ,  they’ve got it under control  ,  i think  .  they’re good campmates  ,  all of them  .  i’m so thankful for my family at springhill suites  ,  and i’m confident in their abilities  .  they’ve gone longer without me around before  .  .  .      ❞     she trails off  ,  reaching her hand outwards to curl around the dainty fingers of the younger woman  .    ❝      you  ,  my dear  ,  are  a n y t h i n g  but selfish  ,  so stop worrying and let’s  G O  .      ❞

It still feels strange. He’s been in this town for little under a week and it was still odd seeing people walking around, acting like a real little town. He hasn’t seen anything like this in all the years he’s been travelling around the country. Sure, he’d find groups here and there, but never any as large as this. Being around people had always made Carter feel more alive, and for the first time in years, he was starting to feel somewhat normal again. But there was no way that his life could feel truly normal again without his daughter in it, without the knowledge of what had happened to her. So with her in mind, he tucked his battered old wallet into his back pocket and headed out of the country club, no real destination in mind. He doesn’t know the area very well yet, but he’s always had an exploratory nature. 

Spotting someone not too far away, Carter approached them slowly. He may not have been around long, but he knows that there are people around here that don’t trust easily. “Excuse me,” he called out, tone soft as he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and retrieved the photo of his daughter. “Have you seen this girl? Her name’s Olivia.”

            something in scarlette’s chest broke a little more as carter procured the picture of his daughter - the newest member of the country club  ( aside from scarlette herself )  had slotted himself in the position of patrol guard which made all the more sense given his paternal experience.   the love in his eyes as he looked at the picture of his daughter made scarlettes’s hand twitch as she reached to the hollow of her neck and played with the locket that hung there.

     - —   ❝     P I N N E D    M E M E.

         send “AH” to pin my muse against the wall but letting a randomizer choose          ↳    “DON’T” pin my muse against the wall to prevent them from leaving.

                                ft.   @avcnging  /  skyler drake

            scarlette just wanted to LEAVE and get away from here, she was still furious that skyler had allowed her to believe that she was dead - she was hurt and embarrassed that it had effected her so.

         she didn’t WANT to face her embarrassment - she didn’t want skyler looking at her like she was some sort of stupid lovesick fool, crying over a not-dead woman and then running from the funeral-turned-celebration.

                “what do you want from me?” she snapped, “you already made me look and FEEL like an idiot… i spent days crying over you, thinking that you were DEAD.  and then you stroll up like nothing is wrong?”   she shook her head, attempting to brush passed her - but with a rather ungraceful    ┉ OOF ! she found her back flat against the brick wall with skyler holding her in place.

        “what ?    what do you want?   why can’t you let me leave.   i’m already embarrassed enough; fawning over you like an idiot…” but she allowed skyler to hold her in place - somewhat, she knocked the other woman’s hands away from touching her, “i shouldn’t have even fooled myself ┉  GOD !” she gave a frustrated grunt and pushed skyler away from her.

Ashley smiled brightly at the girl as she tested out her name. She refused to let her smile slip or falter at the further mention of her mother. “She was very clever. In a kooky way.” Ashley agreed. “And i couldn’t agree more. I try to learn whatever i can, whenever i can. But i always picked this up and fit in with this stuff the easiest.” She admitted.

“She and you both sound brilliant.” Ashley said, wondering if she’d ever not be impressed by the girl before her. “Head of surgery… That’s amazing. But, this- what you do, and grow here- it’s just as, if not more so, amazing. Not exactly a dream career, but… It’s still something good, right?” She knew her constant optimism could be a bit much for some people at times, but Ashley couldn’t help it. It just came out of her.

           “I think the king of plants really goes out to topher, actually, and if you’ve not met him you will absolutely love his talent when it comes to making plants FLOURISH,” she smiled, “but thank you ! —- i think it’s so important to find out natural ways to heal people, seeing as modern medicine seems to have gone the way of the dinosaurs,” she let out a small huff of a laugh.

         -  —   ❝   B O N E S   M E M E. 

                         ft.   @avcnging​   /  skyler drake

             she’d cried for DAYS -    from the moment she learned that their scouting group had been attacked… from then on she hadn’t known WHAT to do.     she berated herself for getting close, for letting herself CARE… crookshanks curled up next to her at night, purring and warm and innocent with no clue while the tiny blonde woman was so distraught.

           she blamed herself, for encouraging skyler to go - — because scarlette said she’d be fine, that she could handle the next gathering with ashley and topher and janicka if need be.     and now she was ‘fine’ - — but skyler was DEAD.       another woman she’d let herself care for - gone.

                    the members of her camp had gone looking, found some bodies - some rotters… but skyler was just gone.    it seemed to be the general consensus that she was just dead. eaten. ripped apart.     there were bodies of raiders found too - — so all they could do was assume the worst.      scarlette had wanted to COMB the woods, but she couldn’t do that, she wasn’t strong or smart or skilled enough to do that.

                   so they held a   f u n e r a l.

              scarlette hung back - letting those who wanted to speak do so. it was another funeral, another grave, another loss.      she felt this pain - intensely, deep in the pit of her stomach; another open wound without a means of protect it from the ravages of the world. any more of these wounds  – — she wouldn’t survive.   she couldn’t.

      honestly, she thought that she was HALLUCINATING when she saw the blonde woman; familiar gait, same silhouette - —  and scarlette was sure we was losing her mind entirely. sklyer tried to explain how it was for her own safety to hide, try to TRACK the people who’d attacked their loved ones and camp mates - how she’d left behind the ripped shirt that had been destroyed in the fight in hopes that if they came back they’d assume she either died or fled.

                 but scarlette turned away from the CELEBRATION of skyler’s survival. everything just hurt too much; everything was too MUCH.

     she heard skyler calling out to her - — but she increased her pace until she was in a full-blown sprint, away from skyler and her GRAVE.   she wiped her teary face and balled her fists - fury and confusion; ANGER and happiness it all bubbled over inside her.

          “don’t!     don’t s-say a damned word!” she yelled; knowing full well that skyler had entered the same clearing as her; “how could you do that?    how could you just come into my life and MAKE me care and then just … LEAVE ?!       i though you were dead skyler - dead !     i’m here mourning for you, crying for you because - —-     you know what? it doesn’t even MATTER.     nothing matters anymore anyway.”

     - —     ❝    R O U L E T T E    M E M E.

                                    ft. @avcnging​  /  skyler drake

                  her smile felt like honey, oozing sweely across her face as she watched the other blonde woman fuss over crookshanks.    - —-  there was a touch of sweetness and determination in her eyes as she fiddled with the battered up, battery operated CD player.   there was a soft song playing; most of the tracks were skipping and awfully scratched up… but there were a few that worked fine.

            “hey,” she said softly, gently pulling skyler’s attention from the snoozing kitten, “come dance with me,” scarlette said as she clasped skyler’s hand and guided her to her feet and into scarlette’s waiting arms.

             scarlette looped her arms around skyler’s waist - smiling almost bashfully as she did so.    a slow - side to side swaying making up the steps of their ‘dance’ to the disc that contained the song;  HO HEY by the LUMINEERS.       she hummed along as skyler’s arms looped over her shoulders and dangled gracefully about her neck.

        up on her tiptoes - barefoot on the dusty floor - she pressed a light kiss to skyler’s cheek; almost brushing her lips but not quite.    crookshanks was purring from across the room - stretching his lanky, ginger form across scarlette’s bed.