Malevolent. The Walking Dead

[ 032 ] when the sun hits

"Don't say that."

"I killed her."

"She was already dead. I couldn't protect her." Bill breathed, and Joey wiped away her tears. Her face was red and she hated it. She wished she could breathe in all of his sorrow and keep it within herself. "You couldn't save her." Joey choked, and Bill looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "I couldn't save her. But I have you now. I can protect you." He squeezed her hand, and Joey thought that she might break down. She crumbled slightly into herself, leaning her head on his shoulder while both of them silently cried.

They sat like that for a while, and Joey thought they might have been cemented to the porch. Daryl planned to go on a run, and Joey had to convince Bill to stay home even though he insisted on going. He needed time to grieve—and he seemed as though he wasn't in the right state of mind to go anywhere. She wanted to hug him and protect him from everything bad. With him in front of her, she didn't think much of Carl. Joey felt guilty about that later—perhaps she didn't deserve him.

Denise had insisted on going on the run with Daryl and Rosita, since it was her idea. Joey almost wanted to laugh in her face. But, she felt bad—she knew that most of the people who had been in Alexandria since the beginning were trying to learn, but it was terrifying to witness. Joey was scared that Denise would get herself killed—she knew Bill wanted to go to help, but she was so scared of losing him, and it felt like every time he went on the outside of the wall Joey was waiting like a dog at the door for him to come home. Or, awaiting the news that he would never be coming home. Bill always assured her that he wasn't going anywhere—not any time soon, at least. But Joey was still mortified.

Abraham and Eugene went outside the wall as well, and Finn had muttered something about Eugene wanting to prove himself to Abraham. Joey wasn't sure how Bill and Finn were connecting so much with the others in Alexandria—meanwhile she had only made a connection with Carl. But, she was fine with that. She had Finn, Bill and Carl—they were really all she needed. Part of her wished she had a friend in any of the other women in Alexandria, but Joey hardly spoke to girls even before the apocalypse. She wasn't sure if she was going to start now—she only really spoke to Carol consistently.

Joey sat on the edge of the water that laid in the middle of the community, cleaning her gun. Bill had taught her how to take apart and clean her gun when they were in Nevada. It was right around the time when Bill allowed her to carry her own gun without his observations, and without him breathing down her neck. Her hands were covered in grime and she wiped away at the residue all over the pistol. It was still heavy in her hands, but she liked the weight.

She heard shuffling in the grass, and when she turned around, Enid had stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide and her face pale. Joey looked between her and her gun, and Enid looked behind her. "I can leave, if you want..." She trailed off, and Joey shook her head. "Uh—no. It's fine." she didn't really understand what her problem was. The grass was almost infinite. She knew Enid spent most of her time reading here—but Joey didn't think it would be too much of a problem. Although, she felt slightly awkward given the fact that she was ninety-nine percent sure that Enid had a sort-of crush on Carl at one point. But that may have been because Joey was insane about whether or not Carl even liked her to begin with.

"Mind if I join you?" Enid asked, shuffling to pull her backpack in front of her and fished out a comic book. It looked like one that Carl and her had read before. She wondered if Carl had given it to her and it made her so angry she thought she was seeing red for a moment. Enid sat down despite the fact that Joey had not said anything—and placed her bag behind her back to lay down on. Joey knew that Enid went outside the walls often—sometimes, she even went with Finn. Joey wanted to ask Finn if he liked her but knew that he would just sneer at her and accuse her of being nosy.