HEART OF GLASS
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN !
[ season three, episode thirteen ]
Marley's stomach was tight with apprehension. Rick, Hershel and Daryl had gone to meet with the Governor ━ per Andrea's request ━ in an attempt to settle the ongoing war ensuing between their respective parties. She'd met the Governor before. She knew he snapped easily. His patience wore thin, and if it did in Rick's presence, who was to say he wouldn't draw a gun and put a bullet right between their leader's eyes? They were armed to the teeth and ready to pounce into action if any trouble stemmed from this meeting, but the rifle propped between her arms did nothing to alleviate Marley's anxieties.
She swallowed a mouthful of decimated oatmeal, trying to focus on something other than the irrational pounding of her heart. Any second now, the Governor could show up at the prison fences with Rick, Hershel and Daryl's corpses. If he did, how long would it be until they were all dead, too?
Other than Merle, Glenn and Michonne, the remainder of the group weren't good fighters. They could shoot a gun but not well. Daryl and Rick were the best, and without them, it'd prove to be a mighty struggle defending their home.
"Hungry?"
Marley glanced up from her bowl of oatmeal. Carol was standing over her, watching her intently, with a rifle in her arms that looked much too big for her slim frame to handle.
"Was it that obvious?" Marley mumbled through a mouthful of soaked oats.
A light laugh slipped from Carol's lips, "Yes. It was. For a second, I was worried you were going to eat the bowl., too"
"Don't tempt me," Marley quipped.
Carol lowered herself onto the bench, placing the heavy gun down in the midst of the circular table. Under her powder-blue eyes, the woman's sheer exhaustion became apparent in the form of heavy bags resemblant to the colour of bruises. Ever since Sophia's unfortunate demise ━ and her run in with death in the tombs ━ she'd been eternally tired. Marley understood to a certain degree. Sometimes, just going through the day was like hitting a wall. Other than surviving for the sake of putting off an inevitable death, there wasn't much else to do. The exhaustion caught up with you eventually; the lack of will-power.
Carol leaned on her hand, smiling warmly, "You know, Beth told me you don't tend to Judith much. Are you not fond of babies?"
Marley's brow twitched in confusion, "Uh ━ I wouldn't say I'm fond or not fond. Just neutral."
"Right," Carol nodded, rubbing her chin pensively, "I remember when Sophia was born and I didn't have the slightest clue what to do. I'd never had younger siblings growing up, so babies weren't something familiar to me. Ed . . . he left me to figure it out on my own. And I did. Eventually. It took me months to get over my fear of accidentally dropping her, or giving her too little feed ━ but I did it. I just had to believe in myself."
"You did a good job," Marley murmured. She glimpsed back in time, remembering a young girl with faded-blonde hair and a bright smile, "Sophia loved you so much. She was always telling Sage ━ boasting about her strong mom."
Carol chuckled, her eyes welling with tears, "Of course she did."
"She had every right to, 'cause you're one of the strongest people I've ever met."
"You think so?"
Marley cracked a grin, "Yeah, I do. You've got a strong mind, same as Hershel, and Maggie, and Michonne. That's more important than anything else."
"Hey, you're strong, too. Don't deny yourself that," Carol insisted, prodding the upper quadrant of Marley's arm firmly, "But you need to stop blaming yourself. Everyone else thinks it too ━ Beth especially. She's worried your going to put yourself in an early grave."
"Ah, so she talked to you?"
Carol teetered her head from side to side insouciantly, "I may have pried."
"Why?" Marley quizzed.
"Yesterday, I saw the way you looked at Sage. Like you regretted something. I didn't have to ask to know what you were thinking," Carol admitted, knitting her blood-stained fingers together. The blood just didn't wash away these days; it lingered in faint splashes of crimson, "You think it's your fault for what happened. For what the Governor did. And that's what's driving this wedge between you both."
Marley looked down at the table, eyes dusting over the indentations in the metal table-top. She worked her jaw thoughtfully ━ if Carol had noticed the way the Whitman sisters avoided one another like the plague, then everyone else must have noticed it too. What must they be thinking? Did they think she didn't care about Sage? Was that why Carol was approaching her about it?
"Sage probably doesn't wanna talk about it," Carol continued eagerly, like it was of the utmost importance to her for the pair to reform their dwindling bond, "When she looks at you, sees that same repentant look in your eyes that I can, she'll know you're gonna bring it up. And she doesn't want that. Not yet."
Marley frowned, "How am I meant to change the look in my eyes? I don't do it on purpose."
"Change your ideology," Carol told her. She gave a quick shrug as if to say it's easy, "You aren't to blame. Things happen, horrible things that we can't jump back in time to change. Sage . . . and Lori ━ it's not your fault what happened to them. It's not. You have to stop thinking it is, otherwise it'll eat you up from the inside."
Lori. How on earth did Carol know the Grimes woman still haunted Marley's subconscious?
She physically jolted at the mention of Lori's name, her mind suddenly overwhelmed by glinting knives and the sound of a blood-curdling scream and a blaring alarm ━ hands slicked in crimson, cheeks wet by tears. She wanted to forget everything about that day. She'd been doing well so far. Remembering Lori only brought back tainted memories that Marley didn't want to reimagine. She couldn't picture the woman's face without thinking of the thick red smile on her stomach, the very thing that killed her, or her pallid, beautiful face as she submitted to Death's leering prose.
A hand flattening against her shoulder pulled Marley back to reality, and she jolted again, almost falling from the bench.
Carol's hand immediately tightened around her shoulder, keeping her grounded and stable. How embarrassing. Marley ran a hand through her hair, glancing up apprehensively. The woman's expression was one of understanding ━ no judgement, no concern. Her eyes weren't clouded by sympathy, and she didn't look at Marley like there was something horribly wrong with her. It made her feel irrevocably better.
And quite suddenly, realisation hit her like a freight train. That was exactly what Carol meant.
She didn't look at her sympathetically, remorsefully even. If she did, Marley probably would have been tempted to scuttle away and hide under her pillow, peeling herself open with the question; what's wrong with me? But she didn't have to, because Carol wasn't there to bombard her with an onslaught of questions, to pick at her stitches ━ she was there to listen.
That was what Sage needed. Someone to listen, not someone to make her feel worse.
"Sorry," Marley said eventually.
Carol squeezed her shoulder again, "There's no reason for you to be."
Suddenly, the grating noise that was Merle Dixon's voice infiltrated the benevolent atmosphere that had been forming like a sphere around Marley and Carol, "I don't need permission."
Marley craned her head to the side, seeing Merle approaching the weapons table with intent. He stuffed a gun into a bag, face set with determination.
The side-door slammed shut behind Glenn, "You're not going anywhere. I can't let you."
"You can't stop me," Merle retorted, stuffing a pack of ammo in his backpack.
"If you're gonna live here with us, it's gonna be on our terms," Maggie told him. But Merle completely ignored her as if she hadn't spoke in the first place and span around, making a beeline toward the door, which only prompted Maggie to raise her voice angrily, "If Michonne can do it, why can't you?"
"'Cause it's my brother out there, that's why!" Merle spat, clutching his backpack strap so tightly that his knuckles paled, "What's the matter with y'all?"
He padded up the steps to the side-door, only to have his path swiftly intercepted by Glenn. The latter lifted his chin high, "I'm not gonna let you put them in danger."
"Nut up already, boy," Merle snarled, "This guy cops a feel of your woman and you pussy out like this? Get out of my way."
"No," Glenn shot back.
A beat passed. For a second, Marley wondered if the eldest Dixon brother was actually complying. Was he listening to an order? That would be a miracle ━ a miracle that was quickly proven an impossibility to achieve.
Merle lunged forward and latched his arms around Glenn's shoulders, physically dragging him away from the door, "Get out of my way!"
Glenn fought back, and soon enough, they went tumbling down the small flight of stairs. They landed in a heap of limbs and upturned dust at the bottom, both fighting to get the upper-hand. Unfortunately, it was Merle who succeeded in the matter, and he grasped his fingers around Glenn's chin and held the tip of the shiv attached to his metal-hand against his throat.
Everyone rushed forward at once.
Marley kicked the back of Merle's knees hard, causing him to emit a grunt of pain ━ but he still didn't let go of Glenn. Theo and Michonne acted together and grabbed one of Merle's arms each, prying them away. Maggie looped her arm around Merle's throat, pinning him in a firm chokehold that was enough to draw the wind from him. But, still, Glenn was under duress.
BANG.
Heart stuttering, Marley and the others simultaneously whirled around. Standing by the doorway to the cafeteria was Beth, pointing a pistol at the ceiling. She looked extremely vexed. Pulling the trigger was the only way she could think to draw the fight apart.
When they finally released Merle ━ and Merle released Glenn ━ Beth lowered the gun and marched away. Maggie ran after her.
"Let me go!" Merle all but screamed, "Let me go!"
"Have you lost your sense of reality as well as your brain? We let go," Marley gritted out.
The eldest Dixon glared fiercely at her, hand twitching over the gun plunged into his belt. He was tempted to use it.
She arched a brow at that, "You gonna put a gun to my head again?"
"Don't push your luck, girl," Merle hissed, but he didn't make another move to unsheathe his gun. Instead, he turned his gaze to Glenn, "I ain't goin.' Happy?"
"Shut up," Theo snapped exasperatedly, "Do you not get tired of hearing your own voice?"
"I get tired of hearin' yours," Merle bit back.
He finally left the cafeteria, and the group released a simultaneous breath of relief. Whenever Merle was around, tensions were high. Marley had once asked if she could lock him inside his cell, keep him detained in there forevermore ━ unfortunately Rick disagreed. All moral authority or whatever.
But, at that moment in time, she was very tempted to overrule his jurisdiction.
✧.｡. *.
It was cold.
The tip of Marley's nose was growing inordinately numb, and she ran her hand underneath it, making sure it was definitely still there. Her other hand was weaved around the mesh-fencing of the walk-way between the two cell blocks, cerulean eyes trained in the distance. From up there, she could see the prison clearly ━ the place they were set on defending. Back Before, she would have thought it a laughable offence to be so protective over a prison. Now, after all they'd been through, it was the closest thing to home. A home that was worth keeping.
There were tainted memories buried in the walls, lingering reminders of what they'd lost, but between the lines, it was the first place they felt safe. Safety was paramount.
Maybe that was what kept Andrea in Woodbury. She was always determined to find a place where she didn't have to worry about walkers, where she could kick her feet up and pretend to be in a normal world again, a normal life. And she'd miraculously found it ━ though at what cost?
The walk-way creaked under the pressure of another pair of feet. Marley looked to the side.
Theo was closing the metal door behind him, his compound bow attached to his back, which he didn't usually carry for any purpose other than protecting or fighting. A frown tugged at her brow. He didn't have watch duty. Marley relieved Maggie from it barely ten minutes ago. They all did two hour intervals. It hadn't been two hours.
"What are you doing up here?" she asked, unhooking her fingers from the mesh-fencing.
"Oh, thanks for the hospitality," Theo remarked sarcastically, "I feel so wanted."
Marley clicked her tongue, "I didn't mean it like that. I just ━ you don't have watch duty."
"You're right, I don't," he said. He stood beside her, gazing out at the walker-infested fields beyond the prison fences, "Just thought you might like some company."
"Really?"
His shoulders jerked into an indifferent shrug, "Well, that and I needed an escape. Merle was really getting on my nerves."
"What's he done this time?" Marley inquired, fingers subconsciously tightening around the rifle in her arms.
With a sigh, Theo met her eyes ━ and she just about sunk into the whirlpools of dark brown searing into her cerulean gaze, "Existed."
She let out a breathy laugh, "Other than that?"
"Breathed."
"Fair enough," Marley relented, a genuinely amused grin splitting across her lips. Her eyes flitted to his arm, which was concealed by his jacket, though bulky underneath from the abundance of bandages Hershel had used to dress the wound, "How's your arm?"
"Sore," he admitted, mirroring her actions of hooking his fingers through the mesh, "Hershel said I'm a bleeder. Bullet just grazed me, but apparently I bled like I'd been shot. I had no idea my body was that dramatic."
"Really? I could've guessed," Marley quipped.
Theo narrowed his eyes at her, a smirk ghosting over his mouth, "Hey, cut it some slack. It's been through the mill."
"Sorry," she said through light chuckles.
Their laugher died down, and the pair stood in relatively comfortable silence for a moment. Around them, the sky twinkled a warm hue of aquamarine ━ a stark juxtaposition to the misery and gaunt bleakness of its underbelly. Nature was to blame for the state of the world, and yet it'd never been so beautiful. So radiant.
Marley didn't understand. The population was rapidly dwindling, the remaining survivors succumbing to the darkness of the new world order, yet everything else stayed the same.
The globe positively twinkled with life.
"The Governor's leg . . ." Theo mused, his words lifting the silence blanketing them, "I saw him limping at the shootout. Did you do that? At Woodbury?"
She nodded, "He had Sage. So I shot him."
"I doubt he'll be able to walk without a limp ever again," Theo said knowledgeably, "Not with a gunshot wound like that."
"Good. It's the least he deserves."
Theo hummed in agreement, leaning on the mesh-fencing, "I wonder what they're talking about at this meeting. Rick and the Governor ━ I can't imagine it going well."
"I can't imagine it ending well," Marley said. She chewed on her thumb-nail nervously, "As much as I hate to say it, I'm starting to think Merle had a point. We could go down there, put a bullet in the Governor's before anything starts."
Theo shook his head, "Its already started. If we march down there all-guns-a-blazing, we'll get people killed. That's what we're trying to avoid."
He had a point. Sometimes, it was like hearing Michonne through him. She had such a huge influence over him that he was practically a second version of her. But, Marley had noticed his stubbornness was identical to Andrea's. His wit, and his attitude ━ it was Andrea's. She'd had a massive influence over him, too. Her departure must have caused him a great deal of pain.
But he did a good job at hiding it.
"Yeah, you're right," Marley said, emitting a sharp sigh from her nose, "We can't lose anybody else. It'll break us."
"It already has. We've all just learnt to cope with it."
From the corner of her eye, Marley peered at him wistfully. His dark curls ruffled in the breeze, chapped lips curving into a faint grimace as a particularly strong dead smell wafted over them. His burnt-mahogany eyes were panning over the field ━ the place Marley was meant to be scrutinising for threats.
She boarded the train back to reality and readjusted her stance, blocking Theo from her peripheral vision. No need for distractions.
Her thumb found its way to her mouth, the mangled skin around it grazing her bottom-lip. The walkers dominating the field were scattered, and between them, she searched for any potentially Governor-centric followers. They were hit out of nowhere last time. Rick said they had to be more prepared. The Governor's men could attack while the meeting was underway, while the best fighters were absent.
A heartless monster like him was bound to conduct that kind of remorseless order. Slaughtering innocent people was his idea of payback.
"You're bleeding."
Marley whipped her head around, only to see Theo was eyeing her warily, "What? I am?"
He nodded, gesturing to her hand wrapped around the mesh-fencing, "Your thumb. It's bleeding."
"Shit," she hissed. The skin around her thumb was gnawed so far down that it had been torn to an unsalvageable point. She was always picking at it. It bled regularly, "It'll stop soon. It's fine."
"I have some tissues," Theo said. He rifled around in his back pocket and procured a handful of crinkled tissue, spotted with black fluff from his trousers, "Here."
She forced herself to smile, "Thanks."
She held her hand out to grab it, but Theo took it a different way. He assumed she wanted him to help. He coiled his hand around her palm and tugged it gently toward him, pinching her damaged thumb between his fingers. He pressed the tissue to the fissures of cracked skin, stifling the steady trickle of blood, and squeezed.
"Uh ━ I can do it myself if you want," Marley offered awkwardly.
Cheeks ruby, Theo immediately handed her the tissues and stepped back, "Yeah. 'Course."
She reassumed his position, pinching the tissue around her bleeding thumb. It seeped into the white paper like spilled ink, but it didn't hurt. She had been through it so many times that the sting it elicited was now dulled to an insignificant burden. She didn't feel it anymore.
Theo squinted back out at the fields, his face still dusted a rosy hue. Touché ━ Marley's cheeks tingled with warmth.
"How'd you just so happen to have tissue in your back pocket?" she asked him curiously.
"I get nose bleeds sometimes," he revealed, "Better to be safe than sorry. I'd really hate to bleed all over my jacket."
She cocked a brow, "It is a nice jacket."
"Well, I stole it," Theo blurted, a chuckle reverberating in his chest, "Technically, the store wasn't in action considering the whole, uh, apocalypse situation, but I still took it from the shelves without paying."
Marley laughed at that, "That isn't exactly theft if the store wasn't in business."
"Hey, don't ruin my reputation," Theo interjected, "It was theft. I stole what wasn't rightfully mine. I am a thief ━ a real bandit."
"You're an idiot, that's what you are."
He shoved her playfully, raising his hands in mock surrender, "Alright, I'll take it. But only 'cause it's you."
Marley grinned, flushing red.
She almost missed the truck rolling through the prison gates, bringing Rick, Daryl and Hershel back home unscathed. Almost ━ she wasn't that inattentive, even with the current distractions. They both rushed down to meet them. They discussed the situation, and the mood of the prison inhabitants depleted significantly.
Marley's exuberance was snuffed out like a flame.
They were going to war with the Governor.
━━━━━━━━━━
AUTHORS NOTE !
they are THRIVING and
FLIRTING and AHEIKZENKA.
power couple me thinks. richonne
2.0 me thinks. my favourite duo
literally EVER. ugh i can't believe
what i have planned for them.
who let me become a writer?