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...
Ops! Esta imagem não segue nossas diretrizes de conteúdo. Para continuar a publicação, tente removê-la ou carregar outra.
╔────╝ ☠ ╚────╗ xvii. | FIGHT OR FLIGHT. ╚────╗ ☠ ╔────╝
HOURS HAD PASSED SINCE ZAK LEFT. Eden couldn't say how many — after all, Zak was the one with their father's watch on his wrist — but time had started to go by slower and slower with any passing minute she had to spend lying inside their shared tent, nervously curling one of her braids around her finger as she thought about every possible scenario her brother might have gotten into while he was out with the others.
Eden had gotten used to Zak being out a lot. Keana and Roy, who were pretty much at the top of their hierarchy if one wanted to look at it like that and he closest thing to be considered leaders among the animals all of them undeniably were, liked having Zak along, knowing how good of an archer and scavenger he was. But it had been different lately. He was running with them all day, every day and seeing this little of her brother — he was pretty much only there when he sneaked into their tent late at night, trying and failing not to wake her up, and falling asleep before he even had the chance to take off his bow — made her nervous.
Something was wrong. She could feel it.
And so, as she waited for his return, Eden couldn't help but grow more restless the more time went by until she couldn't force her body to lie down any longer and sat up instead. Instinctively, she reached for the grip of her machete that was safely stowed away in its holster around her leg. Before, she always used to take it off before crawling inside her sleeping bag, knowing how uncomfortable it was to sleep with but lately, she didn't feel comfortable putting down her only protection anymore — not with how the things were being inside her group at the moment. Things had been changing for some time now — it was impossible to miss — but over the past week, it had gotten even worse and Eden couldn't shake off this feeling of being in danger any longer.
It was the louder growing sound of footsteps that pulled Eden out of her thoughts and when she realised they were approaching her tent, she quietly unsheathed her machete, holding it in a tight grip inside her sleeping bag. She didn't want to seem suspicious — although her shaken expression would probably give her right away — but she knew she needed to be prepared after everything that had happened.
Slowly, the zipper of her tent pulled up. Whoever it was was trying to be quiet, to not wake her so she may not alarm the whole camp in case of an attack. Eden had a hard time as she tried to keep her body from shaking, the tension becoming to much for it.
When a familiar afro that was her brother's hair popped through the entrance, Eden finally released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and lowered her machete, placing it on her thigh. "Jeez... You scared the shit outta me," Eden sighed. Looking at her trembling hand that lay on the soft fabric of her sleeping bag almost made her laugh — maybe she was getting paranoid after all.
But when Zak didn't respond and straightened his position — Keana had given them one of the bigger tents after establishing her brother's value so Zak, being 6 feet tall, could actually stand inside of it —, only to stare into nothingness with a haunted look in his eyes that were so similar to her own, Eden frowned in worry, "What's up? Did something happen?"
Zak was yet to respond, and Eden couldn't help but grow more nervous. She didn't need an answer to her questions to know. His expression confirmed her suspicions — something had happened.
Dropping her machete inside her sleeping back as she rose from her seated position, Eden stood up and took a step towards him. "Zak," she tried again. "What happened? Zak."
Her words finally seemed to get through to him as Zak's head snapped up, the look in his eyes becoming rather frantic before it started flitting through their tent. "We have to go," he mumbled in a hushed tone, careful to keep it low. "We need to... need to get out of here... " Then, he already started moving. The first thing he grabbed was his sleeping bag and attempted to roll it together but his hands were shaking too hard.
Irritated and worried all the same, Eden knelt down next to her brother, taking the sleeping bag from him. She was about to repeat her previous question when she noticed something else.
His hands. There was blood on his hands.
"Who... " Eden swallowed thickly, afraid to finish her question but that didn't stop her. She needed to know, "Whose blood is this?"
Zak looked down at his hands as if he'd only just noticed the blood now. "Ethan's... He got hit—"
"What? What d'you mean? What happened, Zak?"
"I... I—The St. John's... Roy, Ethan, some others and I... Roy said we were just gonna collect our part of the share, something like that... He was... mad" Zak shook his head, still trying to process everything that had happened. "Said they didn't do their part... He... He made me shoot them... He—I... I don't... I've seen these people before, and the man I hit... I don't think... he was one of them... "
Confused, Eden asked, "Wait, what? The cannibals... "
"He wasn't one of them," Zak repeated, his voice breaking. "I just—I know. I shot a man... He didn't know. I saw his face, he... he didn't know... "
"Oh, my God... " Trying to gather her thoughts, Eden looked at the ground for a moment as realisation hit her. "Okay... okay, calm down. We'll figure—"
"No!" Zak interrupted her, his panic tone matched his wide eyes. "We have to get the fuck out of this hell or we're fucking next! You—You didn't... You weren't there, you didn't see Roy's eyes. He's lost it. We're fucking bandits, Eden. We steal from others, we attack them, we murder them — we're no better than the walkers. We're like... wild animals. And in the end, when there's nothing left to murder, who do you think is gonna be next?"
"I... "
"They will kill us, probably worse," Zak didn't wait for her to answer. "Eden—Edie, we have to leave while we still can, you hear me? This place isn't safe."
Eden blinked, thinking hard but then she nodded, her jaw set. "You're right. We're not like them... This isn't us."
Zak just looked at her. After what he had just done, he couldn't get himself to repeat her words but he really hoped she was right.
"We gotta leave tonight," Eden continued, her insecurity making place for determination. "You know where Roy and Keana are now?"
"Probably taking care of Ethan. We'll have to be careful."
With a smile, Eden started rolling up Zak's sleeping bag and said, "As long as we have each other's backs, we're gonna be fine. We'll make it out of here."
author's note ☟
compared to my 8k chapters this is so cute and sadly all i have after 2 weeks of nothingness lol one might think quarantine has me more productive......well, no. also take notes of what's happening, friends bc this chapter interlaces with the storyline of s1 📝🕵🏽♀️👀👀👀
