For a long time, Eden Perkins believed she wouldn't find another human being she would willingly die for - she didn't want to. The past few months of her life, ever since the day the dead had started coming back to life - and maybe even before that...
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╔───── ╝ ☠ ╚─────╗ iv. | THE CHERRY ON THE TOP. ╚───── ╗ ☠ ╔─────╝
IT WAS A CONTINUOUS SHAKING that pulled Eden out of her unconsciousness and back to reality. She could feel the hands shaking her aching body and make out a voice whose words she didn't understand. A groan escaped her lips as one hand lay on one of her many bruises and put pressure there, unconsciously hurting her.
"Eden," she finally managed to make out the words the desperate sounding voice said. "Eden, please! Wake up!"
The first thing Eden saw when she tried to open her eyes was gray. Everything was bright and gray, forcing her to close her teary eyes after just a few seconds. The light only made her head hurt more than it already did and caused for her to want to hit her head against something just to slide back into the endless darkness to escape the pain of reality. Despite this, she tried again and blinked against the bright light until she was able to make out blurry outlines.
When she finally managed to open her eyes, she met a pair of amber orbs looking anxiously down at her. Eden would recognize these eyes among millions.
"Eden!" Clementine exclaimed in relief, finally stopping to shake her body. "Are you okay? Can you—Can you hear me?"
With another groan, Eden made an effort to sit up, which she finally did with Clementine's help. "Ugh..." she let out, "I feel like I got hit by a fucking truck..."
The eyes of the younger girl scurried over her face, a frown that made her look much older than she actually was, plastered across her face. "You're—You're bleeding."
Instinctively, Eden's hand went up to touch the wound by her hairline, the contact causing for her to distort her face in pain. At least the blood was dry. "I'll be fine, Clem," she smiled reassuringly. "The blood's already dry. It's just my head that hurts like hell." Eden let out a sigh as she looked up and took in her surroundings for the first time. She wondered how she didn't get killed while she's been passed out. She probably got luckier than brains again. "How did you find me anyway?"
"I stranded just there," Clementine explained, pointing towards the riverside. "I pulled myself up," she continued, now pointing at the stairs from which the bottom part seemed to be missing, "and then I saw you... At first, I thought you were... I—"
Upon noticing the troubled expression on the girl's face, Eden put her hand on Clementine's and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Hey, I'm fine, Clem," she assured. "I'm not that easy to kill, y'know?" She forced a smile on her cracked lips. "We should get the hell outta here, though, before we run into another one of our lovely friends."
Clementine nodded in agreement while Eden attempted to get on her feet but her body seemed to disagree with her when a simple movement caused for all of her to ache again. "Here, let me help you," Clementine offered softly and wrapped her small hands around the older girl's wrist. Eden gritted her teeth as Clementine used all her strength to get her back on her feet.
