MAKNAE [twd] *editing*

【85】

I lay Deanna's letter down on the desk that was once hers- now mine.

It hadn't been a full week since the herd broke through the wall and we were still doing clean up. Since the wall was so necessary, I ended up helping Abraham and the rest of the construction crew plan out the wall before I was even settled into the office. Olivia made a joke about our matching clipboards as I was sketching the plans on the go most of the time which was a small thing that brought a smile to my face.

The wall was being built now and they were a little over halfway done. Since there wasn't a need for me to oversee the rest as Abraham was in charge of that department, I was finally moving my things into Deanna's office and going through her things left behind.

"Moby Dick?" Daniel questions, picking up a book from the box.

"It's about a whale, not a porno," Taeyang advises.

"Well, why didn't they say that?" Daniel scoffs, tossing the book back down.

He turns around to look at the shelf and stumbles a bit, catching the back of a chair just in time before he fell.

"Hey, you don't look so good," I frown.

"I don't feel so good," he rephrases, his free hand on his forehead.

"Denise said it would've been better if you stayed in bed an extra day. Maybe-" Taeyang attempts.

"I can't keep looking at that damn ceiling anymore, hyung," Daniel sighs.

"Well, if you're not careful, you'll be looking at the back of your eyelids after you pass out again," Taeyang scolds, helping Daniel sit down.

"So, where is Deanna gonna put her stuff since you're taking over?" Daniel asks me.

I hesitate, wondering if I just heard him wrong or he was having trouble placing his words together correctly, "We're giving it to Spencer. He said he was going to go through it and decide."

Daniel's eyebrows crinkle in confusion before he blinks a few times like he remembered something, "Right.. Right.."

I look to Taeyang, meeting his eyes that said he also caught on to Daniel's mistake.

Did Daniel forget Deanna was gone? Or were words harder to place with his condition?

"You guys in here?" Ben calls from the door.

"Back here!" I call.

Soon after, there's footsteps and Ben is walking into the office with Jessie- each carrying dishes in their hands.

"Hey," Jessie forces a smile.

"Hey, Jessie," I greet.

"I um.. I made you guys lunch. Rick and the others won't let me do clean up until they find.." she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "Until they find.."

I knew of the situation already. The others in the community agreed to let Jessie rest or find a job elsewhere until they found Sam's body and buried him. They didn't want her to see what happened to her son- how brutal it became. It would send her over the edge she was already dangling off of so precariously.

"It's okay, we know," Taeyang pats her arm.

"Yeah," she coughs out, setting the dishes on the table, "I just needed something to do. I know you've all been working hard here and probably haven't had a decent meal in a few days, so I decided to make a little something. Ben helped me out."

Ben smiles as Jessie pats his shoulder leaning on him and he squeezes her hand reassuringly before letting go again. Ben hadn't left Jessie's side much since we all found each other again. When we were together, he had said she reminded him of his own mother. He didn't know what happened to his mother, but he was afraid that she thought he was gone and was possibly in the same condition as Jessie was now.