TENACIOUS DISPOSITION ─ The Walking Dead Universe

CHAPTER FOUR | Just In Case

CHAPTER FOUR
Just In Case
August 2010

Rosalía watched the sunrise as she drove, early morning light crept over the horizon, bathing the desert landscape in a soft, golden glow.

For a brief moment, it felt like she was living a dream.

But with Walter slumped in the backseat, her bag tucked under his head like a pillow, she couldn't deny it any longer.

Jesse was dead.

Skylar was dead.

Walt Jr. was dead.

Walter's baby was dead.

And they just left, leaving it all behind.

Walter stirred awake in the backseat, lifting his head from Rosalía's bag. "Where are we?" he rasped, squinting at the dark stretch of road.

"I haven't been driving for long, we're still in New Mexico. Somewhere between Gila and Cibola national forests." she said, keeping her eyes on the fading horizon.

Walter shifted upright with a groan, rubbing his hand over his face. "Can you pull over?"

Rosalía eased her foot off the gas and pulled over to the side of the road.

Walter climbed out stiffly, stretching before wandering a few paces away. The sound of him pissing broke the silence of the desert night.

She opened the back door, her eyes lingered on the envelope of documents on the backseat, her thoughts drifting to Jesse.

With a sigh, she reached into her bag and pulled out a couple of hotdog cans. Not exactly breakfast, but it was something.

Walter made his way back to the car, still half-asleep.

She handed him one of the cans. "No fork," she said, mouth full. She hadn't had the foresight to pack utensils.

Walter looked at the can for a long moment before the faintest smile tugged at his mouth. "It wouldn't be the first time," he murmured, his mind flashing back to the desert.

The endless days they spent stranded in the Albuquerque desert after Jesse had accidently drained the RV's battery.

The heat, the hunger, the cans she'd dug out of her bag with no forks to eat them with.

Rosalía smiled faintly at the memory; Jesse laughing as he shoved chips into his mouth straight from the bag. Walter giving him that dry, exasperated look as he spilt crumbs everywhere.

Seeing Walter beside her, the warmth of that memory felt bittersweet; sharpened by everything they'd lost.

Jesse.

The one person she could confide in.

The thought of him made her feel empty, and already she could feel the itch clawing at her veins, the need for relief, for escape.

The promise of feeling normal again.

They finished their breakfast in silence, tossing the empty cans into the trunk of her car. Rosalía dusted her hands on her jeans as she moved towards the driver's side as Walter sank into the passenger seat with a heavy sigh.

Everything Walter had worked for, everything they had worked for as a team, so Walter could provide for his family.

All of it was for nothing, not that anyone knew the end of the world coming. But it made Walter almost regret the time he spent cooking, wishing he had spent it with his family instead.