world's end ━ the walking dead

( 𝟎𝟕𝟕 ) back to atlanta

Zoe sighed quietly, before pulling her father in for a hug, "Dad, I promise, I'm going to be fine. I've been surviving this long, haven't I?" She asked him, as she felt the older man stroke the back of her head in that fatherly fashion that she loved so much. Rick was someone that could always make her feel better no matter what happens, the man had that affect on her, and all of those around her, even Nate, who had even begun to see Rick like his own father, and Nate was beginning to feel like his son - unknown to Zoe, he would be, soon.. But either way, Rick was just someone that everyone wanted around because of his leadership skills, but also because of his people skills, Zoe guessed that it was because of him being a cop before the outbreak, that he was like this, and she was glad.

Rick felt like he was hugging his wife whenever he hugged his daughter, the two were so alike, at first, he hated it, he felt like he couldn't even look at his son or daughter without seeing the woman he loved that had died, but now, he found it soothing, the fact that he had made these two kids, that they were his. And no matter what happened, Judith was his, too. "Okay, let's go and get Beth and Carol then, yeah?" Rick asked, as the father and daughter duo finally pulled away, and the man pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, lingering for a few seconds before finally letting go of her, sending her a small smile. Carl was waiting by the side to say goodbye to his sister and father, and he hugged his father first, before hugging his sister, the girl pressing a kiss to the side of his head, that this time, he didn't brush off or act disgusted at, causing Zoe to smile at the boy, loving how he was getting over his stupid 'I'm too good for kisses' stage.

As the church doors shut behind them all, Zoe took a deep breath in, before following after Nate, who was already waiting at the truck with Daryl, waiting for the girl to follow after them; the boy, Noah, that Daryl had brought back from Atlanta was with them, looking around uneasily at the amount of people he didn't know surrounding him, it was bater than Atlanta, but it still made him uneasy. The boy looked at Zoe and sighed in relief that someone was around the same age as him and Beth, it meant that it was someone else that he could partly relate too, not like back at the hospital, where he didn't exactly get along with everyone, he mostly stuck to himself, and it had been lonely, but he was hoping that when they get Beth back, he could stay with this group, as they looked like the best kind of people to survive with, they looked like family. It is something he had been wanting for a while, he was lonely, and he was hoping that after this, his loneliness would fade.

Zoe knew that it was going to be an awkward drive, since Bob had just died, and Sasha was coming along with them all, she didn't know how it was going to be, but with Tyreese tagging along with them all, she had a feeling that it wouldn't be too bad. The journey was silent throughout the whole time to the city, and to both Nate and Zoe, it felt longer than it should have been, the girl leaning her head against her boys shoulder and nearly falling asleep during the drive - she hadn't been sleeping well, especially not after the other night; she was still haunted by the lives she took, no matter how much Nate, Rick and Michonne had tried to convince her that she did what she had to do, and if she didn't, they would have just attacked another innocent girl, and they may not have been as lucky as her. Zoe felt like a part of her had been torn apart and thrown away, like her innocence was gone - when the whole world ended, she had thought that she could survive with minimal killing walker, but as time went on, she realised that she couldn't even avoid that with living people.. When she sat in complete silence, she had all of these thoughts rush back to her, and she hated it, counting down the minutes until they all finally reached Atlanta, and they could get started with getting Carol and Beth back.

Nate could tell that something was wrong with Zoe as she laid on his shoulder, feeling the girl fiddling with his fingers the whole time had given him an idea that she didn't like the silence, that something was bothering her, and he just knew that the girl was thinking about what had happened during their time apart again. He wished that she believed him when he told her that she had to take their lives, that there was no other choice.. The whole journey, the girl fiddled with his fingers, and the whole journey, he wanted to talk to her about what he knew she was thinking, what he knew was killing her inside - but he couldn't, not when they had a few other members of the group in the back of the truck with them, where everyone could listen, and they also didn't know Noah, and he didn't want to have a heart to heart with his girlfriend in front of someone they didn't even know. The drive went fast for him, unlike Zoe, who felt like it took days to get to Atlanta, but eventually, they had made it to the city, somewhere they hadn't been near since the beginning, where they had been living at the farm, or the camp just outside of the city, and it felt strange to be back, like thy were all them clueless survivors from the beginning.