➳It was a relief when their dysfunctional group - minus Mack - left Cheyenne, Wyoming. They'd been hiking for a few days since then, but Ten Thousand would take any amount of hiking in the middle of nowhere over what happened.
Yeah, being almost killed by explosives wasn't really high up on his to-do list after the other day.
They trudged along, and the boy angled his face up to look at the sky - relishing in what little sunlight he could feel on his face.
Doc had told him that the nukes had messed with the weather, which is why there wasn't much light breaking through the clouds.
"Stupid Murphy," the boy grumbled, and (y/n) laughed beside him.
"You can say that again."
He looked at her, puzzled. "What?" She faced him, mouth open in disbelief before she waved a hand through the air.
"Never mind."
At least she was smiling, he thought as he watched her face. It was different, after seeing her for so many days after the lab looking a breath away from death.
He'd seen that enough in his lifetime, and he wasn't sure if he could bear seeing it happen to her. Before the apocalypse, he had only his Pa to keep him company, and she felt like his first real friend.
"You're staring, you weirdo." she teased, sticking her tongue out at him. Laughter bubbled in his chest, but he smothered it into a cough. Her smile turned into a frown, and she bumped their shoulders together.
"What's wrong?" She asked, watching him with eyes that he felt like would see through any of the multiple lies his brain was thinking of at that very moment.
"Nothing," he mumbled, and turned his gaze to the landscape in front of them. She didn't press him anymore, just walked quietly by his side. Eventually, though, he saw she'd drifted away from him and towards Addy.
Good, he thought. Addy needed somebody to console her after Mack died, and it's not like Tommy could.
He spared a glance at Cassandra, who followed Murphy in her ridiculous outfit. He still couldn't figure out what Murphy did to her, only that it was very obvious she wasn't his friend.
Maybe, she never had been.
Tommy was still frowning down at the ground when Doc sidled up to him.
"You okay, kid?" The older man asked, putting a hand on his shoulder like he was his father. A small part of him would have shuddered, if he didn't like Doc so much.
"I guess," he sighed, watching his black boots crush dried grass further into the earth. Doc made a noise between a laugh and a scoff, so the boy looked at him.
"Remind me never to take you to Vegas."
"Why?"
"You've got the worst poker face I've ever seen! Is it about (y/n)? Kid, I tell you, girls are weird creatures," the old man shook his head, and looked at the aforementioned girl, who was holding Addy's hand now.
Jealously made Tommy feel nearly ill, and he sucked in a breath.
"So anyway, that's why my second - or was it third? - wife left, so just make sure you don't say that." He was twisting his beard aimlessly when Tommy blinked at him.
"Huh?" The man chuckled.
"God, kid, I was telling you to talk to her. Oh and, she loves flowers."
"I know," 10k added quietly, pursing his lips.
The older man clapped him on the shoulder again. "You know, I never had my own boy. Guess the world works in weird ways, doesn't it?"
The boy forced a smile. "Sure, Doc."
➳The plains were, well, plain. There were hardly any zombies in sight, and 10k's trigger finger was itching to add to his count. It was thus, that the hiking began to get a little bit boring.
He missed fishing and climbing trees, learning to trap.
He missed living. Actually living, not surviving by a thread just to make it to ten thousand kills. The boy doubted that's what his parents meant by having a goal in life. Surely.
They trekked steadily throughout the day, and everyone was getting to be antsy. The apocalypse was usually more fun than staring at the same landscape for hours on end.
(y/n) was walking in front of the boy, as they group clambered down a small cliff face. It wasn't very steep, but Warren warned them.
"Careful, y'all!" Came her voice from below. "Pretty sketchy, lots of rocks." Vasquez went next, as Murphy and Doc chatted about what foods they missed most from before.
"Oh man, remember turkey on Thanksgiving?" Doc said as they approached the ledge. Murphy groaned.
"Please, stop. I'm hungry enough as it is." They snickered, and descended. Cassandra practically leapt off, leaving only him and (y/n).
"Got it?" He asked her, as he watched her wince and rub her shoulder - the one that had been shot only a week prior. She set her mouth in a determined line.
"Yeah."
She made her way to the cliff face beside him, and he stepped over a rock before angling his body to face her, and crawl carefully down the grassy slope.
He only took a step when she cried out, and he heard the sound of falling dirt.
"10k!" she cried as she slipped, having tripped over a rock. His eyes went wide and he shot out his arm to grab her wrist and keep her from falling. Tommy pulled, and their chests collided, sending him careening backward into the slope of the hill, thankfully not down.
She drew a few gasping breaths, and he could feel her heart beating wildly. He coughed awkwardly, but thankfully - she spoke.
"My shoulder." It came out as a whimper, and he immediately let go, wanting to put as much distance as he could between the two of them.
"Sorry." He grumbled, and let his feet carry him down the slope the rest of the way. He heard her behind him, cursing at the rock that caused her fall before she jogged to catch up with him.
"I hate when you do that." she complained, and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Do what?"
"You do something really nice and stupidly heroic, and then act like it never happened." He shrugged, and she rolled her eyes.
"If you'd stop falling, maybe I wouldn't have to catch you all the time." he pointed out, his tone only half-teasing.
The other half of his tone was serious, but he wasn't sure who he was speaking to more: her?
Or himself?
NOTES;
Super shot little 10k pov because something about writing from his perspective literally brings me so much joy and i just - ugh. Love him.
Anyways, hope u enjoyed this little bit of cuteness. season two episode 5 is when things really get going for these two, by the way in case y'all are bored lol. <3