HEART OF GLASS¹ ━━ the walking dead ✓

[ 044 ] target practice

"I'll never forget," Marley said.

If she thought hard enough, she could still see the empty look in Beth's eyes, hear Maggie's scornful words ━ tainted by desperation ━ as she ripped the knife from Beth's hand and urged her not to be so selfish. Losing a sister on top of everything else would have broken Maggie entirely. Marley couldn't even imagine how she'd feel, what she'd do, if the world tore Sage away.

"You peeled my apple for me," Beth reminisced with a small chuckle, "'Cause you knew I didn't like the skin. I never got to say thank you."

Amused, Marley's lip curled at the corner, "I won't hold that against you. I think you were a bit too preoccupied with everything else in your life to thank me for some peeled apple slices."

"Well, I did appreciate it."

"I'm glad you did."

Beth crossed her arms, her oceanic eyes glazing over like they always did when she was thinking, "Not goin' through with what I planned, voluntarily leavin' this world . . . some days I regret it, some days I don't."

A shrug lifted Marley's shoulders, "You had every reason to feel like there was nothing left for you. After I lost my Mom ━ everything lost its colour."

"She was bit, right?"

Marley swallowed thickly, "She was."

"My Mama was, too," Beth said, sniffing. Her eyes welled with tears ━ but she was determined to maintain her composure, and so her dirt-caked face hardened and remained dry, "Her and Shawn, they left to get some supplies from town, but when they came back . . . There was nothing Daddy could do. The fever got 'em in the end."

"I'm so sorry, Beth," Marley lamented.

"You don't need to be sorry."

She bowed her head, gazing at her blood-splattered shoes, "She would've been proud of you."

A sweet smile bloomed on Beth's face, "Your Mom would've been proud of you, too. You've grown so much since the farm."

"You think?"

Beth's smile grew, "Oh, I know."

Marley drummed her fingers against her thigh, "Back at the farm, before we found Sophia, Shane called me a little bird once. He was trying to get under my skin, paint me as one of the weaker ones," she mused, absently picking at the skin around her fingertips, "He's not here anymore, and it's like I'm still trying to prove him wrong."

The chasm between Beth's brows furrowed, "He always had it out for you, didn't he?"

"Shane? Yeah ━ he hated my guts."

"Well, I think you've proven him wrong," Beth said firmly, "You're stronger than he ever was. You have us ━ your family. We make each other stronger. That was somethin' Shane never had. He was too busy tryin' to build his own that he pushed the people who cared about him away."

Marley blew out a scoff, "I never cared about him."

"No, me either."

Their laughter was interrupted by Glenn, who had called everyone over as he was mapping out the interior of the prison on the ground with chalk. Plans for a fight. Oh, no. The thought of fighting the Governor and his abundance of trained militia-wannabes filled her with dread. She wanted to live. She needed to for Sage ━ to honour the promise she made her mother.