chapter fourteen !
❪ outside it starts to pour ❫
TYRESE WAS DEAD. everyone was dying. the lack of food, dehydration and the heat was getting to everyone. the group was not at its strongest and rick was starting to notice that.
maggie became more quiet ever since the death of her sister. her husband was taking notice of this and tried his best to comfort her but it didn't change the fact that she lost beth.
daryl tried to distract himself from beth's death. when riley tried to check up on him, he quickly dismissed the conversation and walked away.
sasha was getting a little unstable since she lost her boyfriend and her brother in a short amount of time.
it was getting hotter each day, driving riley insane. she saw how the priest pulled on his collar as sweat drained on his forehead.
the walkers were far behind them while the group continued to walk ahead.
riley was in her own thoughts before carl interrupted them. "riley?"
she looked at him, "yeah?"
"do you think maggie will like this if i give it to her?" he pulled out a small pink box with a smile.
"what's inside?" riley inquired.
he opened it and handed the box to the girl. riley's eyes soften at her sight. it was a pretty ballerina inside and when riley turned the small handle on side, it twirled around.
"it doesn't play music," carl told her.
she shrugged and gave it back to him. "i think it's sweet." riley had a small grin on her face.
"thanks." he placed the pink box inside his bag. "maybe i'll get something similar for you, like for your birthday or something."
"i don't even know when my birthday is coming anymore." she chuckled, "all i know is the date, december 26th."
"right after christmas?" carl asked with raised eyebrows.
"yup," she nodded, "that's the time of the year where i got lots of presents."
"i find that cool," he smiled.
RILEY STAYED on the other side of the bridge with carl and the baby, and noah, who she still hasn't properly introduced herself too yet.
the rest of the group was with the walkers and pushing them off the hill, safely.
that was until sasha pulled out her knife and started fighting them.
the group followed her actions when they noticed the walkers were crowding them. riley stepped forward, placing her hand on her gun until she felt a hand tug her back.
"don't," noah stated. "they got this."
riley pulled her arm away from his grasp and slightly glared at the boy, "i can take care of myself." she spat at him.
when the group was done clearing out the walkers, the trio walked towards the rest of the others and riley stood beside daryl.
when they were back to walking, riley felt the sun beaming on her the whole time.
she was exhausted physically and mentally.
"dad, look." carl pointed ahead of them.
there was a few jagged up cars that was parked. the last time there was a car waiting for her and carl to sleep in, it didn't end well.
"i'm gonna head into the woods, circle back." daryl announced.
"may i come with?" carol asked him.
"no. no, just me." he shook his head and trailed his way into the woods.
riley stared at the cars while everyone else was looking and checking them out. she felt her heart slightly pace each minute and the sweat drip down her face.
riley walked towards one of the cars and stared at the back seat handle. she hesitated when grabbing the handle and slowly opening the car door.
"hey, sweetheart." riley's door was quickly opened and the girl was taken out of the car.
she froze as she thought of what happened that night.
her body was shaking in fear as he slipped his hand under her pants. "you sick son of a bitch!" riley sobbed, tears falling from her brown ones.
the girl took a moment to sit down on the ground and bring her head down, running her hands through her hair.
glenn found himself looking at the girl, a concerned expression written on his face. "riley?" he murmured.
she raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears. she saw the man walk towards her and crouch down to her level. "what's wrong?"
she shook her head and wiped the tear that finally escaped, "nothing, i'm okay."
"you're not." he said, "did something happen?"
"no." she stated, her voice coming out as a little harsh. "i don't even know why i'm feeling this way and i hate feeling this way," her breathing become faster and voice higher. "i don't want to feel this way!" she yelled.
"hey, hey," he pulled her into his embrace. riley let a few tears fall down, holding in her cries, "it's going to be okay." glenn reassured her.
she pulled away and shook her head, "it's not." she paused, "i'm never going to be okay."
WHEN THE smith girl calmed down, the group sat on the side of the road, silence taking over them.
a branch snapped and riley perked her head up. she sighed in relief when it was only daryl.
abraham took out some booze that he had on him. "so all we found was booze?" tara asked.
"yeah," rosita answered.
rustling and growling noises came from the woods and the group turned their heads.
there were three dogs that started barking at the strangers.
rick slowly reached for his knife and daryl started stalking towards the animals.
riley flinched at the sounds of gunshots that were made and heard the dogs whine come to an end.
she looked up at sasha, who was behind the gun. riley stared at the woman in disbelief before rick stood up and grabbed a few sticks, cracking them and handing it to everyone.
"let's set up a fire."
soon enough, a small blaze was made and the group was heating up the dog meat for 'dinner.' riley watched as everyone ate their food but she still hasn't touched hers.
daryl turned his head with a full mouth and eyed the girl. he swallowed the last bits of food before speaking up. "eat." he stated.
she looked at the man and scrunched her face up in disgust, "i'll rather continue to starve." she tossed the biker her stick with the meat connected to it.
"riley," rick began, "you have to ea–"
"i don't feel like eating!" she told him, annoyed at everything and everyone at this very moment. "is that such a bad thing to say?"
everyone looked at the girl with slight worry. they didn't bother to say anything to riley and left her be.
the brunette moved over to where noah was sitting at and sat next to him. he was confused on this act but before he can say anything, riley beat him to it.
"sorry for coming out a little harsh earlier." she apologized, "the heat makes me mad and grumpy."
he shrugged, "i get it." noah said, "i used to have a friend like that."
"especially with my asthma, it's the worse."
"you have asthma?" the boy questioned.
she nodded, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "hold up," noah grabbed his bag of belongings and started digging into his stuff until he found what he wanted to find.
noah pulled out an asthma inhaler and handed it to the girl. riley was stunned that a chuckle escaped her mouth, "oh my god."
"i grabbed a couple of things before leaving the hospital. luckily, they had asthma inhalers."
riley looked up at the boy and gave him one of the tightest but biggest hugs, "thank you." she murmured.
"no problem." he returned the embrace.
THE GROUP was back on the road after eating and found four gallons and bottles of water on the street.
'from a friend'
the note said.
"what else are we gonna do?" tara inquired.
riley looked at the water in desperation. she wanted nothing more then to just drink it all.
"we don't know who left it." rick said.
"if that's a trap, we already happen to be in it. but i, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend." eugene stared at the water.
"what if it isn't? they put something in it?"
eugene grabbed the bottle and began opening the cap. "eugene." rosita began.
"what are you doing?"
"quality assurance." he responded with and was about to drink the liquid before abraham harshly smacked the bottle out of his hand.
the redhead still hasn't let go about how eugene lied to them all about knowing the cure.
"we can't." rick stated.
riley raised her head to look up at the sky after hearing thunder rumbling. raindrops fell on her face as the girl closed her eyes. she opened her mouth to let the drops touch her tongue, missing the feeling of water.
the group laughed in joy and riley watched as rosita and tara laid on the ground.
"everybody get the bags. anything you can find."
riley stood beside carl and judith as he placed his hat on the baby, covering her head. the smith girl noticed that she, herself was drenched and that her hair was soaked. the rain started to get more heavier and the others stared ahead.
a storm was coming.
"let's keep moving," rick called out.
"there's a barn." daryl told the grimes man.
"where?"
"follow me!" daryl yelled out. everyone followed the biker as he went into the woods but riley stayed behind a little before grabbing one of the bottles of water.
abraham turned around, catching the girl. riley walked past him with the bottle behind her back.
"you didn't see anything."
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AUTHORS NOTE:
look who's alive and well!! :)
hey guys i missed y'all so much and sorry for not updating that much, i've been so busy with raising my grades up for school because of this one teacher.
also i had like major writers block this chapter but i wanted to include riley's trauma from s4 because i feel like the show just skipped over what happened to carl.
i might have to take a small break because my dog is not feeling well and i'm taking her to the doctors soon since everything is closed this week. my family is worried because she's literally my whole world since i was eight years old.
i hope y'all have a wonderful thanksgiving and remember; i love you so much and i'm grateful for all of my readers and my moots 🫶🏼
please vote for the next chapter and DONT BE A GHOST READER <3