Presley walked down the street, lazily plucking the string of her bow as Stefan chided on. She couldn’t even bring herself to process all that he was saying. She couldn’t focus on his words, and she hardly even heard them. Numb, she felt numb. Her actions last night were no doubt spontaneous, but the air between her and Daryl almost seemed awkward when she had awakened. She hadn’t even stuck around to share those feelings. She’d left before he could even tell her not to, by leaving rather quickly before he got up.
“Pres? Are you even listening to me?” Stefan asked, his tone concerned. He poked her shoulder lightly with her thumb, watching curiously when she jumped and gave him a confused expression.
“Huh? Oh, yeah.” She sputtered awkwardly, fighting to think of something to say to him, scratching the back of her neck as she stared forward. She looked down when he offered his hand, seeing a small pile of nuts in his palm.
“Nuts, unsalted.” He said with a small, innocent smile. She looked up, smiling faintly as she took them and popped them into her mouth. There was a massive difference between Daryl and Stefan. Stefan was safe and secure- he listened to her thoughts and respected what she wanted. He favored her happiness over all else.
Daryl, on the other hand, was about as dangerous as they got. He dove into situations without a second thought, without truly considering the consequences. He didn’t favor her happiness, he favored her life and her safety. Presley was a flame that wasn’t easily contained or even dimmed. Stefan was her opposite, and Daryl was exactly like her.
She needed them both, but she needed them both for different reasons. With a chastened motion, she pushed a small tendril of hair up into the fold of her bandana. Stefan continued to look at her with a concerned expression.
“What’s on your mind?” He asked, looking over at a disoriented walker stumbling on the other side of the street. The damned thing didn’t even realize that he was amongst two humans, food, in other words. By the looks of it, his eyes were black and red, signaling that he had become blind from blood that had leaked in his eyes at some period of time. He wandered without sight, broken neck hardly supporting his head.
“Nothing.” Presley said, but Stefan stopped, looking at her with a frown. After a moment of hesitation, she shrugged. “The Governor… It’s strange, not having to worry about him anymore.” She turned and continued walking, this time having Stefan trailing slightly behind her. “He’s gone, but the nightmares are still there. He doesn’t think about me, but I think about him, and often.” Stefan remained quiet throughout all of that. “It just isn’t fair, I guess. He got out of this all easy, and here I am… Still suffering.”
“But you’re alive.” Stefan pointed out. “He’s not.”
She laughed, the sound as empty as a beggar’s bank. “Alive isn’t living, Stefan.” She motioned to the walker stumbling across the street. “I am no better than those damn things. Walking, breathing, but not living.”
“You have something to live for, now, Presley.” Stefan said, rubbing his hand over Zeva’s head. “You have Daryl, you have Zeva… Me.” He added the last part more quietly than the others.
She shook her head. “All of you would be alright without me. You would all survive. Daryl would survive by himself, you would find another group to be with…” She stopped, sucking in a breath. “You all don’t need me. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be here. Daryl would be up in some tree house living off the forest until this whole thing passes, and you wouldn’t be in as much danger.”
Stefan, much to her surprise, chuckled in response. “Oh, Presley… Presley Presley, Presley… You obviously don’t understand how you’ve given Daryl a sense of living. Yes, he would survive, but he wouldn’t be living. He’d be no better off than those monsters you were just talking about.” Stefan explained, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Same with me.”
Presley didn’t respond, simply plucked an arrow from her quiver and fired at a fast-moving monster that wouldn’t reach them for another few moments. Without even a command, Zeva shot out like a dart at the fallen creature, retrieving the arrow with care.
Very suddenly and rather harshly, Presley’s hand snapped over Stefan’s chest, stopping him. Over their chatting they hadn’t heard the moans and rasps of the creatures, and they hadn’t noticed that they had gotten louder.
“Shit, shit.” She hissed, grabbing his sleeve and whistling very softly, hauling Stefan towards the closest house. It was a house that they had raided earlier, so entering was easy. Stefan shoved her inside and waited for Zeva to step in before allowing himself to enter. He shut the door carefully, making sure that it didn’t make a noise, besides the creaking of the hinges. Presley was already bent over a piece of furniture, pushing it towards the door.
“I got it, make sure the windows are closed and check to see if there’s a back door.” He hissed, and Presley slipped away. She ensured that all the windows on the bottom level of the house were closed and secure, and then checked to see the back door, which she locked and placed a kitchen chair in front of. She commenced back into the living room, motioning for Stefan to follow her. The three of them slipped up the stairs, and she scoped through the few rooms to make sure that they were still vacant.
Stefan chose a small bedroom and ushered Zeva and Presley inside, closing the door and locking it. They pushed a desk with an old television in front of it, before they both settled onto the bed. “Maggie and Glenn-.”
“They’ll just have to be alright.” Stefan said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “The walkers probably won’t choose that house, Pres. Besides, Maggie’s prepared, she has a gun and her knife.”
“A gun and a knife won’t do shit when you only have five bullets and there’s six roamers coming at you.” She hissed. She stood and stalked up to the window, harshly pulling back the blinds. Walkers swarmed the streets, each moving in the same direction, each moving at their own pace. At this rate they could be there for hours, and then what? Anything could happen to Glenn and Maggie during that time, and she knew damn well those windows weren’t boarded up. Hell, she didn’t even know if the door was locked. The possibility of a roamer actually choosing that place to check out was slim, but it was still there.
“Daryl is still out there.” She said suddenly, her heart dropping to her feet. She backed away from the window, horrified with herself. She turned on her heel and practically lunged for the door which was still guarded, but Stefan’s arms wrapped around her waist. She struggled and thrashed, kicking her legs and flailing her arms wildly.
“No, no!” She cried, continuing to struggle. “Let go of me!”
“Presley… Presley!” Stefan said fiercely, shoving her away from the door. Her heartbroken face was enough to shatter his own heart. Her eyes were wild and he could tell that she was on the verge of tears.
“I have to tell him.” She insisted softly.
“Presley, you’re crazy if you think you can go out there and survive.” He approached her with much hesitance, placing both of his hands on her shoulders. She shook her head, shaking and quivering underneath his touch. “Doing that would be definite suicide.”
“He would do it for me.” She whispered. Stefan hooked a finger underneath her chin, forcing her to look at him. Her blue eyes glistened sadly.
“I know.” He said just as she pulled away. She regained her sanity, looking at Stefan with a rather serious expression.
“If anything happens to him, it’s on you.” She said, and Stefan knew she meant it.
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Guys the feedback I got back was incredible. Because I got a ton of comments and votes, I decided to update a bit earlier than I had planned. I figured you guys didn’t deserve to sit here and wait since you know, this book has reached 200 votes now. I am so happy about this and I assure you, there is some more heart-wrenching parts in this story to come. It is far from over.
If I can get a ton of feedback just like last chapter, I will gladly update quickly. If I don’t get the feedback, I will still update, I promise.
Thank you for everything that you do, guys. Ya’ll made my day.
Comment, are ya’ll excited for tonight’s episode?! I am curious to see if they’ll be bringing Beth in quite yet or not. What do you guys think? What do you guys want to see? Comment, I want to see what ya’ll think/want!
Vote for chapter #40? I fell that is a big accomplishment.
Comment + votes = faster updates <3