the great war (r.g)

seven

that night, the house was quiet. a quiet that cora didn't like. the kind of quiet that induced anxiety. so, she found herself sitting on the porch, in the middle of the night, watching. for what, cora didn't know exactly.

all the houses down the street were so dark they looked vacant. the only house she was okay with looking so vacant was the one directly next to "her house". that was because her group, her friends, all decided to stay in one house. all together like they were used to.

there was a noise in the house and a moment later rick stepped out of the door. "woah. good morning sunshine," cora said at the sight if the knife in his hand.

rick let out a breath and said "you couldn't sleep either?"

cora shook her head. "it kind of feels wrong, you know?" even though he didn't say anything, cors got the feeling rick knew exactly what she was talking about.

rick sat down in the chair next to cora's and they just sat there for a few moments. "has deanna assigned you a job yet?" rick asked.

"yeah," cora said. "i'm a supply runner with glenn." cora wasn't exactly happy about her assigned job, but she shouldn't complain.

"you don't seem too happy about the idea," rick guessed.

"no," cora laughed out the word. "i don't know i fires i thought i'd do something more helpful or something im more skilled at."

"like a doctor?"

"exactly," she confirmed. "so, have you gotten your job yet?"

"not yet."

"im sure it'll be something good," cora assured him. "like co-leader or something." rick laughed and looked out to the streets, cora did the same. the silence went from anxiety filled to peaceful, sitting here with rick.

when cora went to break the silence, she turned to rick but was faced with him, already looking at her. "would you like to go for a walk?" she asked him. rick cleared his throat before agreeing.

***

the next morning cora found herself in the home of an older couple, the millers.. mr miller was fawning over baby judith while mrs miller and cora were inside making lemonade. "i really don't understand how y'all could stand being on the outside. it must've been tough," mrs miller commented.

"it was. it definitely was. we lost a bunch of people," cora said. she had talen up the task of stirring the lemonade while the older woman put the ingredients back.

"i'm sorry to hear that. anyone close to you?" it was a simple question that anyone could ask given the topic of conversation but cora couldn't help but feel a little upset. somewhere deep inside of her didn't want to accept the fact she had lost people.

"my fiancé," cora told mrs miller, who's face changed from curious to pitying. "it's okay, i don't want to dwell on it. i just want to live a peaceful life now."

the two finished up the lemonade and brought it outside just as rick and jessie walked up to the house. "see, she's okay," cora heard jessie say.

"hey rick, jessie. is everything okay?" cora asked seeing as rick looked worried.

"everything's fine," rick told her. his worried look vanished in an instant as he smiled at cora and judith.

"would you two like some lemonade?" mrs miller asked.

"i would love a glass," jessie said and walked up the porch stairs just as cora was stepping down them to stand with rick.

"where's izzy?" rick asked cora. he always seemed to worry about something.

"she's fine. last i saw her she was meeting another kid. enid, i think," she told him.

"oh okay," rick nodded. his eyebrows furrowed a bit and he looked like he was staring at something in the distance.

"hey," cora said, putting her hand on his shoulder. at her touch, rick looked at cora. "there's nothing to worry about. we are okay here."

***

cora was sitting outside on a bench, waiting for glenn's interview to be over. while she did, cora watched the people of alexandria go about their day like nothing was wrong. like they were in the middle of an apocalypse. it angered her knowing they probably never had to fight for their lives or starve for days on end. yet she was amazed at how well they were thriving.

"hey, cora." she was pulled out of her head at the sound of glenn's voice. "are you okay? looked like you were zoned out for a while."

"oh, yeah. i'm fine. how was the interview?" she stood up and started walking towards the gate with him.

"it wasn't anything special. are you ready to go back out there?" glenn asked once they got closer to the gate. tara and noah were already there with deanna's son. these people, along with cora and glenn, were alexandria's supply runners.

"i am, actually. i was feeling a little too comfortable in these safe walls with the warm water," she said sarcastically. glenn laughed as aiden, one of the runners, shushed them so he could begin talking.