The heat of the fire against the fair yet dirtied skin of Riley's face was intense with the burn of the flames, but at the same time, the near blinding of it was almost comforting. She could feel the heat seeping through the fabric of her clothes, crawling up her body as it scratched and stung at her knuckles and cheeks, but the tight grasp of its warmth resembled a sort of protection against the coldness all around her in a way. Perhaps, the feeling of overbearing defense was welcomed after everything the girl had been dealing with all of recently.

"My face hurts." Nessa mumbled from a little far to Riley's side, gently prodding at her cheek where a deep scratch was beginning to grow dirtier with each dab of her fingers.

"Stop touching it." Sawyer said, his own position directly across from the older girl. 

"But it keeps stinging." Nessa whined, tucking her hands into her lap to restrict the addictive motion.

Riley side glanced her brother, whose blank stare of disbelief and annoyance broke a faint smile onto her lips. The two resorted to ignoring the girl, thinking with their exhaustion rather than their brains. That whole day had revolved around breaking out of Terminus, which had everyone emerge in a fresh round of wounds and unlimited weariness. Those who hadn't been taken into the place's captivity had spent their own energy helping Rick and a few others lead their whole group as far away from the site as possible before finding a safe enough area for everyone to lay down in for the night. They'd settled on a little clearing in the dark woods, building up a fire and huddling close with their weapons so close to them they could be mistaken as a makeshift teddybear rather than a gun, or knife depending on the individual. 

"It'll get infected. Stop." Carl muttered, bouncing Judith on his leg. The infant had just recently ceased her crying, her older brother enduringly holding onto his patience and finally getting her to fall asleep. 

Riley didn't blame the little girl, didn't even hold any annoyance at all- unlike a few others in the group. She probably hadn't had a sustainable amount of food in a little while, was probably tired and hurt and hungry just like the rest of them. It's only so much harder when you're nonverbal and completely unaware to everything happening around you.

Riley let out a half sigh, running a hand through her hair which had become quite distasteful after the lack of the showering and abundant amount of dirt and blood from all different things alike. She looked over at Judith in Carl's arms, her eyes had fallen shut and her breathing was heavy and patterned. Her peaceful state of sleep almost made Riley knock out just by a glance.

"How you doing?" Carl asked softly, his eyes tracing the girl's face just as her's traced Judith's.

Riley looked up Carl's, shrugging a little with a sarcastic yet warm smile. "Never better."

"We should probably go to sleep soon." He murmured, adjusting the baby a little bit in his arms. "I'm going to go leave Judith with my dad, do you need me to bring back anything? Like, a blanket or water or something?"

"I'm okay." Riley shook her head, her lips spreading in a soft smile.

Carl nodded, blue eyes wandering her dirt struck features in the firelight before shuffling a little bit and getting to his feet, walking over to the shadows where his father remained with a few other adults, discussing the dawning future of what most likely held unlimited death.

Riley turned back to the flames, lips parting with a gentle sigh as the weary exhaustion broke along her like a cracked egg above her head. She glanced to the side, checking to make sure her bow and arrow was still right next to her- which it was. Although she'd only had the weapon since their escape from Terminus, the girl grew a tight attachment to it. The reassurance of having arms to protect her in her strongest category became a constant thing she'd been craving, almost like an addiction, as if she couldn't go more than a solid minute without checking back to see if she still had it in her possession whenever she set it down. Alas, it was still in its spot, wood gleaming a magnificent amber in the light of the flickering blaze.

Riley picked the bow up, setting it next to her bag on the opposite side of the fire, not wanting to take any unlikely chances. After setting the quiver of arrows down beside it, Riley brushed off the material of the bag, gently pressing her palm against it to test its ability to cushion her head for the night. It wasn't great, rather hard and lumpy, but it was better than the flat forest floor. She adjusted herself a little bit to lay down when the crunch of leaves beside her snapped her head upwards.

"Hey," Lucas said, sitting down next her to her, arms crossing around his legs as the fire illuminated half of his face.

Riley sat up a bit, tucking a piece of hair that fell into her face behind her ear. "Hey."

"Long day, huh?" His nose crinkled from the heat of the flames.

Riley nodded, her agreement expressed vibrantly on her face. She ran her eyes along the boy's sturdy image, soaking it in. He seemed fairly beaten down, spent with exhaustion and injury, but he had a tinge of a lifelike feel to him, as if he weren't as sapped as some of the other people, who seemed to be holding on just for the sake of survival. It made the girl wonder if he'd experienced less troubles in the duration of which he was dragged through the roads with no indication of who was left and who was not, or maybe, he just had a higher endurance for those types of things.

"Who were you with?" She asked abruptly, catching his attention. "After the attack, who were you with?"

"With my dad and Billy at first. We picked up Nessa around the end of the first day." Lucas answered without much hesitation, but toward the end of his sentence, his voice lost its stability, his gaze floundering toward the fire. "Uh, we lost my dad a little after that. Ran into your brother and Carol and Tyreese around the third day, maybe? I don't know, I kind of lost track. Kind of hoped you'd be there with him, but you weren't, so..."

Riley examined the boy's face, almost feeling sorry she asked. But then again, unfortunate as it was, the story was just another vein that led to the beating heart they all shared, and perhaps, instead of viewing it as a torn down wall of his, it could be seen as a connection he shared with her, with them all. Riley never saw Lucas as a boy shielded from the world of danger and demise, he'd always had that air of instinctive survival to him, just somewhat veiled by his means to live without the constant, nagging, fear of vengeance and murder in the corner of his eye. Maybe that was what drew her to him in the first place, why hearing of the boy's father's death was shocking as it was. But somehow, he'd managed to pull through to be seen by others the way he was before everything had happened. It was a skill, Riley almost thought, one she kind of wish she possessed.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. She didn't tear her gaze from him, instead met his eyes with her own when he glanced back at her.

Lucas shrugged, lips drawn tight as his wet eyes cleared. "Shit happens. I knew something like that was going to go down anyway. Just wish it wasn't him."

"I know." Riley muttered, thinking back to her own mother who'd passed in the fall as she angled her gaze to the ground. 

Lucas stared at her, examining the empathetic glow of sorrow etched into each line and dip of her face. "She went too?"

Riley blinked, looking back to him. "Sorry?"

"Your mom- stepmom. Meg, she died too?"

Riley paused, a little taken back by the quick snap of the pieces he put together when she hadn't even laid any out for him, but then clenched her jaw a little, trying to hide the fresh sting. "Yeah. Yeah, she died too."

Lucas nodded his understanding. He inhaled a deep breath, clearing his lungs, his mind,  Riley didn't know. She felt a little selfish when a ping of relief came to her, that someone shared the experience and feelings she had. Of course, there was always Sawyer, but things felt a little too given and artificial when she put their experiences side by side, like it was built in. With Lucas, it felt a little more raw, a little more of an open wound to the world, just like hers.

The warmth of fire-warmed skin on the top of her hand brought her back to reality and away from her thoughts, and she didn't have to look down to know it was Lucas's hand on top of her own. Riley looked over his face, scavenging for interrelation in his eyes, and it didn't take more than half of a second to find it. 

"I'm always here if you need me." He said quietly, as if the flicker of the flames beside them and the screams of the crickets around them drowned his voice out. 

Riley nodded, her cracked lips stinging as they split into a gentle smile. "I know. Thank you."

Lucas swallowed, giving her hand a tender squeeze and letting his own linger for a few seconds more before removing it, leaving her skin vulnerable to the cool air.

"I'm going to check in for the night. I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight." He followed, beginning to stand.

"Goodnight." Riley echoed, watching the small, watered down beam on his face as he turned to walk back over to his place for the night, near Billy and a few others from their group.

The girl rubbed at her eyes, the drowsiness she'd been fighting off before running back to her. She laid her head down on her bag, staring numbly into the fire, brain clouded with emptiness as she waited for either the sleep to take her first or the feeling of safety that allowed her to shut her lids. A bit in front of her, she could see Samson come over and sit beside Nessa as she slept soundly, hugging herself in her sweater to block out the cold. He looked down at her unconscious figure, blinking every now and then, as if he had to remind himself to do so, to do those natural, human, things. On the other side of the fire, Sawyer rested on his back, one arm behind his head and the other across his stomach, a delicately lethal knife in his grasp. It seemed strange, having him lay by himself by the fire without Beth's head on his chest, or without Riley herself right by him as Meg tucked her hair behind her ears, brushed it out of her face. Everything seemed so empty, so void of color and life. It was a peculiar sight, a disturbing feeling, one that nearly fought the sleep beginning to lay itself down on Riley's subconscious.

Eyes closing with the soft pattern of her breathing, Riley's thoughts began to mingle with her subliminal mind, her body beginning to grow heavier. A second pair of footsteps reverberated around her head, but this time, she could barely pay any attention to them. The sound of the person shambling a few things around and then finally settling down rang around her, a small pause coming in from her surroundings.

"Riley." The person whispered, voice quiet as if trying not to disturb the tranquility Riley had surrounded herself in momentarily.

"Hmm?" The girl hummed in response.

"You still awake?"

Riley sucked in a breath, turning onto her back a little. "Now I am."

"Oh, sorry." Carl said, laying his head down on his own bag, facing the girl. 

Riley mumbled something unintelligible, although she wasn't quite sure herself what she was even attempting to say. "It's fine."

Carl furrowed his eyebrows a bit, watching the way her eyelids shut again. "What was Lucas doing over here?"

"Lucas?" Riley murmured, her brain slowly deciphering the boy's words. "He was just saying goodnight."

"Oh." Carl said. He blinked a little too much, running the sentence over his head. Lucas seemed to be there a little longer than just to say goodnight, but it wasn't really any of his business anyway. It wasn't like he was spying on them at all, he just went to put Judith with his father and say goodnight to him, and that took a little bit too. But it didn't take as long as Lucas and Riley, which was kind of weird, since him and his dad were closer than they were, but maybe they were just catching up. He didn't really know, he didn't really care either. It wasn't really that big of a deal, he thought, as it had been a rough ride since the last time everyone was together. He sighed a little bit, closing his eyes.

The heat of the fire on his back was nearly burning from the close proximity, but he didn't dare move closer than he already was to the girl, purposely keeping them a few feet apart. He wondered if he was blocking her from the warmth against the chilling atmosphere they slept in, and for a minute wondered if he should move, but he was already so close to passing out, and she was sound asleep anyway. Her arms were bundled close to her chest, hair covering her neck as her legs tangled together. Her shirt was thin, pants torn from the life threatening adventures they'd climbed through recently. Carl sighed a little, sitting up. He shrugged his flannel off, shaking it out a bit to rid it of the dried leaves and dirt it picked up and then laid it across her. He tucked it a little bit up by her neck, watching as her head angled down a little bit, nose brushing against the mangled yet soft material before he picked up his hat from the ground, laying back down against his bag as he placed it over his eyes, falling into his own rhythm of sleep until the daybreak awoke him tomorrow. 

"We leave in five." Rick's voice projected around the circle of people as they rose with the light shining over the curve of the trees, the luminosity shining through the leaves. 

Riley's arms were crawling around by her head, right above her shoulder as she picked her fingers through her tangled hair, trying to force it into a braid. It was a bit of a struggle, but proved worthy in keeping the mess out of her eyes. Her bow was by her foot, quiver strapped along her upper body. 

"You almost ready?" Maggie asked, coming up beside her as she readjusted her gun in her arms, green eyes reflecting against the nature around them.

"Yeah," Riley nodded, tying the hair tie around the split ends of her braid. She glanced behind her before bending down to grab her crinkling bottle from the pocket of her bag. "Just give me two minutes."

"Not so fast," The woman stopped her. "Where 'ya headed?"

Riley shrugged, raising the plastic container. "Just filling up my water bottle."

"Alright. Get someone to go with you, I don't want you out there alone."

"The river's right there." Riley pointed out, but Maggie's firm stare ran any argument away. The Endicott nodded.

"Be back quick, we're leaving soon." Maggie turned to take her leave, heading over to Tara and Glenn, who stood beside the man who'd helped Riley that same day of the prison fall. It was funny, the girl thought, how she still hadn't even learned his name yet.

Riley whistled, signaling Selva over, who'd left at some point early in the morning when only a few people such as Daryl were awake, returning just a few minutes ago. She wasn't keen on asking anyone to come with her to fill up her water, as most people were already busy with the task of making sure they had everything- which was not much- in their bags and counting all their weapons to be clear none were left behind. Besides, with a bow and arrow plus a dog who'd already mauled his fair share of things in front of Riley seemed good enough "protection" as it is.

Picking up her bag, the girl moved over to the edge of the forest line and dropped the sack by a tree, removing a few nuts from a little pocket incase Selva got hungry. Not like it was much, but it was all she had to offer.

"You ready, boy?" Riley asked, slinging her bow around her torso as she stood. Selva stood beside her, waiting for her cue to leave. 

She kind of liked how he wasn't one of those splendidly friendly dogs who enjoyed social activity and liked to get belly rubs from whoever would offer, she was almost grateful that he was independent and fierce, like he was built for the world they were surrounded in, how he'd go and stay at his own pleasure. It made Riley feel like she wasn't in charge of him, like she didn't need to constantly look out for him. He wasn't really her dog, but more of a companion who often liked to stick around her at times, or bring back a squirrel he'd caught on a lucky day which proved to satisfy multiple people all around. 

"Let's go." She said, walking out of the camp. 

She'd only made it a few yards, though, when a call from her right turned her back.

"Hey, where you guys going?" Lucas called, his own bag hung around his shoulder.

Riley looked down at Selva, who waited patiently for her to continue. "Just filling my water bottle."

"Alone?"

Riley furrowed her eyebrows with a teasing grin. "Is that you asking to come with?"

"Well, it's not really safe to go out there by yourself." Lucas reminded her, his fingers tapping along the strap of his bag.

"I can protect myself." Riley assured him, turning to leave. She probably only had a few minutes on the clock before everyone left.

"Oh, yeah. I know, just saying." Lucas nodded. When Riley didn't add anything else, he started forward, falling into line with her. "I have to fill up mine too, anyway."

Riley let out a short laugh. "Okay."

Selva trotted a bit in front of them, a couple times pausing to sniff at something here and there, other times wandering off to appear back in front of them or behind. Each time, Riley just kept walking, not really paying much attention to where he went.

"Good dog," Lucas wondered aloud. "Always comes back."

Riley glanced over at the canine, who was walking at an even pace in front of them. "Yeah, he just goes where he wants to. He's pretty self sufficient."

"Sounds like somebody I know." Lucas hinted, looking down at the girl beside him.

Riley grinned, shrugging. "Smart dog."

Lucas chuckled, turning back to face forward as they came upon the river. Riley bent down on her knees, unscrewing the bottle cap and dipping the flask into the stream, beside her, Lucas did the same.

A little ways across the river, a small, brown, bunny hopped along the bank, its furry body peaking above the grass. Riley looked up, taking notice of the small animal and grinning. She nudged Lucas with her elbow.

"Hey, look." Nodding her head toward the rabbit, the boy beside her looked over too. He squinted his eyes as he swept over the riverside. 

"There?" He outstretched his arm.

"Right- no, there." Riley placed her hand over his fist, moving it over to the right direction. "Right- yeah, right there."

"Oh, I used to have one of those." He said, smiling at the sight as he watched the rodent dip its nose to the grass.

"You used to have a bunny?" Riley asked, fighting back a laugh.

"Yeah, what? Is that so hard to believe?" Lucas turned to her, eyebrows twinging with his continuing grin.

"No, no. Not at all." Riley shook her head, looking down to hide the amusement painted along her face. "You just don't strike me as a bunny guy."

"Yeah? What kind of guy do I strike you as?" Lucas asked, the entertained smile failing to mask the intense stare that burned the side of her head.

Riley looked back up, turning to him as she pulled her bottle out of the flowing water. She laughed a little, the nerves in her giggle making her face contort with a little confusion.

"I don't know, like, a dog guy maybe. Or a cat guy." 

Lucas grinned. "I like cats. They're cool."

Riley nodded her agreement, although Selva still stayed ranked at her top. "Yeah."

Lucas glanced back down, pulling at his own bottle and twisting the cap back on. It was quiet, peaceful, for a moment, before the sharp intake of his breath indicating a comment on a more serious matter broke through the serenity.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" His voice was steady now, no longer holding that gentle air of amusement in it.

"Shoot." Riley said, looking over at him as she leaned back on her heels.

Lucas ran his hand along the back of his neck, not yet making eye contact. "What's- um, what's with Carl?"

Riley pursed her lips as her eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know, he's not as... distant as he was before. I saw you and him talking a lot." Lucas said, adding further context.

Riley tilted her head a little, not quite up to speed. It was kind of him, though, to ask and wonder about the boy. It was nice of him to care, she thought. "Well, I guess after everything we kind of patched things up. I mean, there was no reason to hold anymore stupid grudges when everyone was dying and separated. I guess we just kind of figured we had more important things on our plate."

Lucas nodded. "So you guys are friends now?"

Riley thought for a moment. Supposedly they were, at least she thought so. "Yeah. Yeah, we're friends."

"Oh. Cool."

The sudden change in the boy's mood took Riley by surprise. She scratched at the curve of her eyebrow, fixing her braid a little bit as she waited for him to say something. He didn't.

"Why are you asking?"

Lucas glanced back to her, a little bit of a stumble in his words appearing in the back of his throat. "No, nothing. I was just wondering."

"Oh." Riley nodded, trying to diffuse the awkward atmosphere.

"I mean, I don't really think he likes me. I guess I just kind of thought- I don't know. It's weird. I'm just making a big deal out of nothing." Lucas stuttered, shaking his head.

"Hey," Riley leaned forward so she was somewhere in his line of sight. "It's okay, whatever it is I sure it's not that bad. I don't think Carl has a problem with you, he's just... he's not a very social person, and he's been through a lot lately. I think he's just trying to surround himself with people he's comfortable with. It has nothing to do with you."

Lucas gazed over at her, trying to sense sincerity on her face, accepting the integrity in her words. "Yeah, no, yeah. You're probably right."

Riley smiled, hoping to have solved the issue before it escalated. "You know you have nothing to worry about, right?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, of course."

His eyes wandered her face, the delicate smile that graced her lips, soft despite the cracks and cuts in the flesh, the glimmer in her eyes that rang merciful in spite of the unforgivingly cruel world. It was in that moment that he'd taken notice of how close his leg was to her's, the way his knee was so close to bumping with her's, how if he just reached out his arm he could brushed the mud that caked her cheekbone away. 

Without a moment's thought of hesitation, Lucas leaned forward, his eyes falling shut as his lips moved to hers. 

Flinching back, Riley felt her own lips part in shock, her face drained of all color as she stared at him. For a moment, neither of them said anything, the high tension of awkward disturbance suffocating them both.

"What's wrong?"

"Lucas-"

"Shit." He muttered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- actually... fuck, actually, no."

Riley's head shook a little with surprise, indicating for him to explain himself as her mouth had run dry of any words. Her hand was clenched so tightly around her water bottle she was sure the cap might pop off.

"What was- did we not have something going on there?" Lucas asked, confusion lacing his voice so much that Riley began to second guess herself.

"I'm sorry, I- what?" The girl asked, eyebrows knitting together tightly.

Lucas let out a dry laugh. "I mean, I thought there was something going on between us, right?"

Riley's mouth stayed slack in shock, not knowing what to say. She took a deep breath through her mouth, but the oxygen failed to provide her with words, as if her whole vocabulary fell into the abyss.

"I-," Riley ran her gaze over Lucas's face multiple times, trying to see if there would be a flicker in his impatient emotions, but nothing changed.

"What? So you're telling me none of that meant anything? Are you just not ready, or...?" Lucas's voice had no accusatory tone- at least none that overpowered his perplexity.

"Lucas, I don't... I don't know what you're... I'm sorry, I just don't know what you're trying to do." Riley's words practically tripped over each other, as if her shock and confusion were playing jump rope with them.  

"Are you serious?" Lucas asked, eyebrows furrowing. "So this was just, was it just a mistake or something?"

"No," Riley shook her head excessively, although she wasn't really sure what exactly the boy was talking about, as there seemed to be a wide array of options. 

Lucas scoffed, a near laugh mixing with it. He ran his hand down his face.

"Lucas, please. Please don't get mad." Riley said, the pathetic tone in her voice spilling out like water over a waterfall.

"No, no I'm not mad." Lucas shook his head. "I'm just confused, like, I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on here, because I thought we had something going on but I guess I was wrong?"

Riley turned her head away, trying to blink away the high rate of disorientation gathering around her.

"Was I wrong?" Lucas asked again, his voice hitting the back of her head, but she had nothing left to say.

Riley turned back to him, shoulders mildly shrugging as her mind blanked, helplessness raining across her features so thickly that Lucas couldn't even see her behind it.

"Great." He nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Shit. Yeah, great."

"I'm sorry." Riley said again, apologizing just for the sake of keeping him grounded, because the intense feeling that he was angry with her was beginning to rise immensely.

"No, yeah, it's fine, totally fine." Lucas muttered, but his tone suggested otherwise. He stood up, snatching his water bottle with aggression from the ground. "They're going to be leaving soon, so you should hurry up."

Walking off, Lucas left Riley by the riverbank, the sound of his footsteps growing distant as he disappeared into the trees. Suddenly, the silence around the girl grew loud, louder than any ripples in the stream or birds on the branches. Selva came trotting back, running his nose along the ground before nudging her with his snout.

Riley blinked, glancing down at the dog before shaking her head, trying to rid her mind of the strangely alarming interaction. 

"Asshole." She muttered, grabbing her own water bottle and standing up. "Come on, let's go."

Riley turned on her heel, heading back to the campsite with Selva at her side. It didn't take long for her reach everyone, and by the time she'd arrived everyone was completely packed up and ready to leave.

"Hey, where were you?" Sawyer asked, coming up to his sister with her bag in his hands. "I got your stuff all packed up, threw an extra granola bar in there- it might be expired though, I'd check the label first."

"Thanks." Riley said, slinging the pack around her front. She tugged on the zipper to make sure it was completely closed. Her lips stayed pressed together tightly, shoving the plastic bottle into its side pocket.

"You okay?" Sawyer asked, taking notice of her salty attitude.

"Yeah, fine." Riley murmured, taking a deep breath. "Just... tired."

"Yeah, same. Woke up at like four in the morning to hear that redhead dude and the girl arguing over leg space." The girl's older brother nodded over to the group Maggie and Glenn picked up along the way.

Riley glanced over at them, the big, built, man called Abraham and the young woman with bronze skin she'd learned by the name of Char. 

Riley laughed a little, not doubting the exchange, as she was sure most people in their group had witnessed the two fight on a few occasions. It was a little ludicrous that her brother received the brunt end of it last night.

Up ahead, Rick called out to everyone, the round of people beginning to pick up their bags and set foot into the daylight as it shone brighter than just a half hour ago, when the grass on the ground was barely visible.

"Hey, you get going, I'm going to help Daryl and Sam cover the back." Sawyer said, hand falling to the knife sitting in his belt loop.

Riley gave him a single nod, turning to walk forward when he whistled, signaling her to turn around again and face him. Sawyer pointed his finger over to something a little farther left than her original path. Riley furrowed her eyebrows, turning a little bit to see where he was pointing at, when she realized he was referring to a someone rather than something. Toward the outer links of the group, Carl walked mostly by himself, the gun in his hands gathering the most of his attention.

With a faint sprinkle of red across her cheeks and a roll of her eyes, Riley started toward him. She weaved through a few people, trying to dodge Lucas, wherever he might be. Probably with Billy somewhere. She quickly fell into step with Carl, who didn't even notice her at first as he twirled his gun in his hands.

"Where's Judith?" She asked, hazel eyes clicking with his sapphire ones upon the instant his gaze flickered up. 

"She's with Nessa." He said, dropping his arm to the side which fell heavy with the weight of his firearm.

"Never saw that one coming." Riley remarked, a little surprised. It was more common to hear Nessa complaining about the infant's crying than hear of her spending time with her.

"Yeah," Carl chuckled. "I was going to take her but then she kind of just offered. She looked a little upset, probably a rough night."

"Just wanted some company." Riley figured aloud, some company who wouldn't judge her or tell her that everything would be fine, or that everyone else is going through the same thing. Nessa was a very sensitive person, perhaps she'd rather just complain to someone who wouldn't talk back to her.

"Yeah." Carl nodded. 

The two walked in silence, and just like the most recent times that they'd walked together, their hands brushed side by side. Not often, not a lot, but every now and then. Each time it happened, Riley felt her skin jump, like that feeling when you go down the drop on rollercoaster, but it was on the surface of her hand, right where her's collided with his. She wondered if he felt it too, that strange, strange, feeling. She was certain it was partially because of the still fresh feeling of their friendship, blossoming faster than an ordinary relationship hence their history behind it all. The feeling of them returning to what they used to be was so foreign and familiar at the same time, but all in all Riley had managed to keep her excitement low, even if it wasn't that hard given her overall mood as of lately. 

A smaller reason, one that she preferred not to dwell on, was the idea of touch in general. She'd tried to shed that feeling over violation she'd been receiving after every touch, and although it's been progressing, it still lingered. Something she had noticed though, was that it didn't appear as much when it came to that specific blue eyed boy. It could be topic she spent hours wondering about, but what Riley really thought it all came down to was just the fact that he was there with her when it happened, and gone through the same thing. Maybe it was the feeling of knowing he experienced the same thing she did and that she wasn't alone that made being touched by him so much easier than anyone else.

For minutes on, they continued like that, walking side by side, the occasional conversation passing between them as Daryl returned with meat or Sasha and Bob laughed together behind them. Riley tried to imagine it all like a simple hike in the woods, as if they weren't aimlessly walking to find something, anything.

It'd been only around a half hour after that when suddenly the air ran cold, the instantaneously swift sense of danger cleansed the air with a blood-soaked cloth.

"Help!" A voice screamed in the distance. Instantly, Carl's head perked up, his hat mimicking the turns of his head. "Help, anybody! Help!"

Upon instant, every person in the group halted in their step, some raising their weapons and others glancing around as they tried to place a finger on where the voice was coming from. Riley's hand flew back to her quiver and her finger's locked on the fletching of an arrow on instinct, but she didn't remove it yet, not quite sure if going after the cries for help would be the smartest decision.

"Dad, come on!" Carl yelled, trying to gather his father's attention, but the man just stayed planted where he was, his hesitance shining through his skin.

"Come on." Carl urged, but Rick didn't move. He turned, facing Riley, his eyes stuck on her hand drawn back to her quiver. Without a second's reluctance, he sprinted off into the trees.

"Carl!" Riley snapped, trying to draw him back, but he didn't spare a second glance.

Hesitating for just a moment, Riley rolled her eyes, muttering a curse beneath her breath before running after him, drawing the arrow and knocking it on her bow. Carl darted through the trees, his figure blurring every couple seconds as he dodged bushes and changed courses according to the crying voice. Behind her and beside her, Riley could hear and see other members of their group running as well, weapons up in case they stumbled into a bloody scenario. 

Less than a minute later, they all fell upon the sight of a man on top of a rock with a crowd of walkers around him not only a couple yards away. Carl raised his gun, shooting the walker closest to him as the man on the rock kicked and shouted. Coming up beside the boy, Riley drew back her arrow and aligned it with the skull of another walker not too far from Carl's victim. The spear split through the middle of its head within less than a second, her second arrow being knocked instantaneously. Closing in, Rick grabbed the head of a nearby walker and bashed it into the side of the rock, Daryl splinting another with his crossbow and Carol with her knife, along the line it went until none were left growling and attacking the man. 

Breathing heavily with blood splattered across his bearded face, Rick stepped around to the front of the rock. "We're clear. Keep watch." He glanced up at the man, whose trembling image distorted itself in against the leaves. "Come on down."

With shaking limbs and beads of sweat and tears streaming along his face, the man atop the rock carefully slid himself down until his feet his the forest floor with a thump. As he glanced around at his saviors, Riley examined him, keeping a firm grip on the wood of her bow and the arrow knocked just in case. His brown skin was shimmering in the sunlight, the sheen of perspiration gleaming along his blanked head. Apart from his whimpering and quivering, the only truly strange thing about him was his attire, Riley thought to herself. Without much judgment, of course, did she make the notice, but while most people seen around as of lately wore thinner clothes or cargo jeans carrying weapons and food, this man was completely wrapped up in a black suit. 

Riley furrowed her eyebrows, looking over at Carl, who lifted his shoulders a little bit in question as well.

"You okay?" Rick asked the man, stepping forward as he pinned him with his hard stare.

The man held his finger up in a pausing notion before doubling over, puking into the grass with an abundant measure of time. With a small twist of disgust on her face, Riley stepped backwards and turned around, giving the stranger as much space as he needed. Across the lines of people, Riley watched Nessa gag from the sight and bury her mouth in her palm.

"Sorry." He sputtered with heaving breaths once he pulled himself together, standing back up to his full height. "Yes, thank you. I'm Gabriel."

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick discarded the man's introduction, stepping forward with a frontal authority. 

The man chuckled, the sound so airy and frenzied Riley couldn't tell if it was a traumatic reaction or genuine amusement. "Do I look like I have any weapons?"

"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like." Abraham snapped from the back of the group.

"I have no weapons of any kind." The stranger clarified, a nervous edge in his voice once taking notice of the rather large firearm in Abraham's arms. "The word of God is the only protection I need."

"The fuck?" Sawyer muttered, eyeing the man with a judgmental sheen in his eye.

"Sure didn't look like it." Daryl grumbled in response. 

"I called for help. Help came." The man said with a gracious smile on his lips despite the odds of the situation.

He glanced around at the unsure and suspicious stares from all around him, the shrewdness in their expressions. His smile fell, although his movements remained rather jittery with nerves of his brush with death and the armed group surrounding him.

"Do you have- have any food?" He asked, blinking rapidly as he stared desperately at Rick. "Whatever I- I had left, it just hit the ground."

Beside Riley, Carl shuffled with his pockets, pulling out a handful of nuts from his flannel and holding them out. "We've got some pecans."

Gabriel's face fell a little bit, although his gratefulness at any shred of kindness burned a brighter flame. "Thank you."

Carl nodded, stepping back to his place beside Riley, who gazed at him thoughtfully. Of course, had she contained possession over the pecans herself, she would've given some too, but seeing the act of selflessness from the outer perspective granted her an air of consideration. By the way his flannel floated in the gentle breeze, Riley could see his pockets were now empty, all food once in them now in the hands of a man who the boy had just departed from his group to save without any hesitation. 

The coos of Judith beside her ear drew her attention from the side of Carl's face and the merciful glow on his soul, sharpening reality around her. 

"That's a beautiful child." Gabriel commented, eyes softening at the infant's appearance.

No one left any comment. Silence surrounded them like the shadows of a dark thicket, only the anonymous crickets voicing opinion on the interaction. Gabriel shifted nervously under the eyes of the foreign group, although his main attention was on Rick, who was leaned forward, peering at him with a burningly intense stare.

Riley swapped her weight from one foot to the other, glancing at Carl who looked between his father and the stranger, occasionally over at Riley when he could feel her gaze on him. But just like everyone else, his quietness stayed put.

"Do you have a camp?" Gabriel asked suddenly, his nerves practically performing in a blinding spotlight on his tongue.

"No. Do you?" Rick 's response was so fast he nearly cut Gabriel off.

The man in the suit nodded his head, then shook his head, then nodded again. "I have a church."

Rick sucked his teeth with exasperation, his hands falling to his hips. "Hold your hands above your head."

Gabriel did as told, watching Rick intently.

"How many walkers have you killed?" The Grimes questioned as he pat the man down. 

Riley immediately recognized the inquiry. Two questions would follow the first, the answers given would decide their fate. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about this man in their group, compared to everyone else, he didn't seem quite as... capable, in a sense. Even Nessa seemed to be more equipped for their world, and that spoke volumes. Then again, he had a church, a place to stay. It was better than nothing.

"Not any, actually." Gabriel stuttered with a nervous chuckle.

"Turn around." Rick grunted, shoving the man as he pat down his back. "How many people have you killed?"

"None." Gabriel answered with almost surprise and disgust clearing out his vocal cords. He turned back around as Rick stepped away, his expression deeming near alarm.

"Why?"

"Because the Lord abhors violence." Gabriel answered, his voice no longer shaking.

Rick squinted his eyes, disbelief running over him like a waterfall. "What have you done?" The stranger's hesitance and lack of self assurance stimulated Rick's curiosity. "We've all done something."

Gabriel half -sighed, blinking with shame. "I'm a sinner. I sin almost every day. But those sins, I confess them to God, not strangers."

Samson whistled, scratching at the back of his neck and turning away while Nessa smacked him in the back of his head, but the whole interaction went unnoticed as Michonne stepped up, the leaves crackling like an approaching thunder beneath her foot.

"You said you had a church?"

Gabriel nodded, his relief of letting go of the conversation visible. "I can take you to it- all of you, as a thanks for saving my life."

Rick nodded slowly, easing off of the man although his guard was still heavily up, as if cemented with bricks. Gabriel swallowed, wiping his hands off on his suit before stepping forward a bit and parting through the group, setting off into the woods as the rest of them followed.

Through the forest they walked, the sun in its highest point of the day, destined to burn holes into the earth upon its firmest hour. They'd been traveling for around ten minutes now, every little while Gabriel making a comment about how close they were, about how he recognized a specific tree or nest as a marking point to keep his way. No one ever replied much, that except for Daryl or occasionally Rick.

Just like before, Riley stuck next to Carl, who was mostly silent, beside a few words here nor there. This time, though, Billy was with them, his mouth running quite exceptionally in the strange occasion to which they all sat. Of course, Riley noticed, Lucas was not with them.

"Do y'all think he wears the same suit everyday? Or do you think he has a closet of 'em that he switches between?" The boy wondered aloud, eyeing Gabriel from their place behind.

"Dunno." Carl muttered, shrugging.

Billy glanced thoughtfully at the man before turning back to his two friends. "The dude's definitely a nut, you heard the way he was talking? I'll tell you right now, that ain't no God saving him from those walkers, that was just luck. He better be grateful he got it."

Riley nodded with a raise of her eyebrows. "Maybe he has food in his church. I'm starving."

The girl felt Carl's gaze lift to the side of her face on the mention, but she ignored it, waiting for Billy's rant to appear again.

"Do y'all think he has a Jesus statue in his church? The one my mom went to had this huge life-size statue of him on the cross, scared the shit out of me when I was little. But then we stopped going 'cause she decided she wasn't religious anymore." Billy continued. "I was happy. I didn't like religion 'cause they had too much rules in that church."

"Maggie used to be religious." Riley remarked, glancing over at the Rhee. "Beth too."

The mention of the missing blonde rained an eerily sad tone amongst the small group, silence beginning to take its stay around them. Riley bit her lip, sorry she even brought it up, although for reasons she couldn't quite explain, she sort of liked bringing the topic around, as if the Greene's image was still alive and she wasn't being forgotten.

The clearing of a throat nearby snagged her attention, and she saw Lucas drifting a little across the group, although he was purposely ignoring her and glancing toward Billy.

"Give me one sec." The boy said, running off toward the redheaded boy and leaving Carl and Riley alone.

The quietness became apparent again, but this time, the girl sort of enjoyed it. Usually, it was most comfortable when she was with the Grimes boy, as if awkwardness didn't have any interest between them when the air grew soft and words were translated into mutual feeling instead of sound. She looked over at him, watching the way his head dipped a little and his eyes stayed trained on the ground.

Her knuckles brushed against his, the bumpy pattern rising no reaction from either of them though. Up ahead, Gabriel called out, pointing toward a dirtied white structure with brown doors coming in through a clear, his church making its appearance to them all.

"Hey." Riley nudged Carl with her elbow a little bit. "Look."

The boy glanced up, his eyes taking in the small building, but they didn't light up, didn't have much of a response to the sight of a roof over his head for the night, a safe and protected space for him and his family.

Riley frowned a little, taking in his reaction. "Are you okay?"

"What?" Carl looked over at her, acknowledging the concern on her face. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

Carl nodded. "Just tired."

Riley had a feeling that wasn't all to it, but she decided not to push the matter if he didn't feel like talking about it. "Okay."

His hand bumped against her's again, but this time, Riley followed his arm through its pattern of swinging by his side and slipped her finger's through his, giving them a tight squeeze before dropping it down. For some reason, she had decided not to hold onto it like she would someone else's, although she wasn't quite sure why. It just seemed a little more peculiar, or uncomfortable, for some reason to keep his hand in her own. She decided to let the thought pass harmlessly, instead responding in kind to the gentle smile Carl gave her as they approached the church.

Upon Rick's request, him and a few others swept around the inside, examining the place inside out before revealing themselves back to the group to approve to them it was safe and okay to hole up in for a little bit.

Stepping inside, Riley glanced down at the creaking floorboards beneath her foot, her head whipping around to absorb the decoration of bibles, drawings, candles, and empty food cans galore.

"Home sweet home." She murmured to no one beside herself really, although she heard a voice snicker beside her.

"This place is creepy as shit." The person said, standing next to her as they glanced around.

Riley looked over at Char, the young woman who had a constant hobby of bickering with Abraham. The girl was looking around the place with a keen sense of curiosity in her eyes, no fear to the strange sense of unease the place held.

"I like it." She finished, looking over at Riley, who nodded.

"It's cool." The Endicott agreed, although she didn't really have much opinion on the place. It was a place to sleep, that was about it. Its occupation before didn't carry much value to her.

"Better hope they have holy water in here." Char grinned, nodding over at Abraham and Rosita who came trickling in behind them.

Hearing the tease, Abraham shot the girl a nasty look, purposely knocking into her as he stepped further into the church, hand tightening on his rifle.

"Cunt." Char muttered, departing from Riley and moving over to Tara, picking up conversation with someone new.

Riley scratched at her neck a little, quite unsure of what to make of the interaction, but eventually marking it as the other girl being a fantastical extrovert and finding discussion with anyone she could.

The brunette girl placed her bow and arrow down on a pew nearby, dropping her bag by it as well before making her way over to Carl, who sat by himself on a bench.

"Hey." She said, sliding in beside him.

The boy glanced up, smiling gently before letting his lips fall naturally. "Hey."

"What do you think of this place?" Riley asked, turning her head to swipe over it.

Carl shrugged. "It's better than the ground, at least."

The girl grinned, her agreement apparent on her face. The conversation between Rick and a few others nearby about the topic of a run drifting into her ears. The babbling of Judith in Carl's arms was louder though, and pulled her attention back down to the two Grimes siblings. 

"She's antsy today." Carl said quietly, bouncing the baby on his knees. "She hasn't had much to eat recently."

"Maybe they'll find formula on the run." Riley held out some hope, eyes flittering up to Carl's.

He stared at her, eyes bluer than any shade of a crayon the girl had played with as a child, so filled with emotion that was completely unreadable to anyone, making even the most intelligent person become illiterate in their presence. So intimidating, they could be, yet Riley found herself intrigued by the chase of having the depth in his spirit be uncovered. 

"Yeah, maybe they will." He whispered looking back down to Judith, who giggled in the light of his attention and reached up to tug on his hair.

Riley smiled softly at the small action, at the way she let go immediately with another laugh when Carl pretended to be hurt. He held her steady in his grasp, hands that were so scraped and bruised holding onto her with such grace.

"She loves you so much." Riley murmured, that same gentle beam on her face illuminating in the slivers of sun that fell like snow through the cracks of the walls.

"She loves you, too." Carl said, looking up into her eyes. He shifted closer to the brunette girl so that their legs were pressed side by side. "Here, Jude, go to Riles."

Riley blinked at the nickname, hearing the word come from his lips taking her by surprise. He hadn't called her that since the early days of the prison, since his mother had died. The sound of it against her ears practically wiped the whole moment to a clean slate, starting it from that moment only. But, for the sake of keeping the calm and comfortable energy they'd surrounded themselves in consistent, she ignored it.

"Come here," She held her arms to Judith, heightening her pitch. "Come."

The baby used both Carl and Riley's legs as a bridge over to the girl with little assistance from either one of them, holding onto the older girl's shoulder with both of her tiny hands for support.

"She's going to be able to walk on her own soon." Riley commented, the touch of surprise and pride coating her voice to hide the faint sadness of the girl's aging.

"Yeah, she's growing up so fast." Carl said with a half chuckle, running a hand over his sister's head with adoration in the hues of his eyes.

It was true, when Riley thought back to the girl's birth, it didn't even seem that long ago. But really, it had been around a year ago now, take or add a few months. The subject of time really warped with Riley's mind in the most displeasing yet fascinating way, most times making her skin crawl with enchantment.

Beside them, the conversation revolving around the group's run dispersed, a good round of people including Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Sasha, Sawyer, and a couple others heading over to their bags and checking ammunition whilst doubling up on weapons. Riley's stomach flipped at the sight of her brother slinging a bag along his back and adjusting a machete in his hands. She never liked the idea of him going on runs, even if she always wanted to attend one herself, strange as it is. Perhaps the thought of him returning to her with a bite leaking blood and infection on his shoulder or ribcage was what caused her nerves to act up, or maybe the image of him dying that gruesomely painful death where a walker tore his guts straight from his stomach that plagued her mind, but above all, she didn't want their final goodbye to be him departing for the trip and then never seeing her again.

"He'll be okay." Carl said, gathering the girl's attention. She looked back over at him in question, Judith still balancing on her thighs. "Your brother, I mean. He's pretty tough, he survived the sickness from the prison and escaped the Governor all at once, so, I think his odds are pretty good."

Riley nodded, thankful for the boy's words of assurance. "Yeah, he is really tough."

"Besides, my dad will be with him. He wouldn't let anything happen to any of them." Carl continued, glancing over at his father who was talking to Michonne a few pews away from them.

Riley smiled, Carl's admiration of his father bringing a familiar gleam to his face. "Your dad's pretty good at that. Not letting people die." 

Carl laughed a little, lips pressing together in his own world of thought. Riley was positive Carl worried about his father just as much as she did her brother, even if Rick was a built in leader and survivor. Loving people in this world was the greatest of gifts and the worst of punishments, but with the beauty of being able to hold onto that humanity in others came with the sentence of damnation, and the only thing you could really do anymore was accept it.

She could've gone down the rabbit hole a multitude of times wondering about love and loss and Carl and Rick and her and Sawyer, but the sound of her name from across the church shut the whole thing down immediately. Riley perked up, looking a little ways behind her to where Lucas and Billy sat by themselves, each of their own two eyes trained on her as the talked in hushed voices.

Riley narrowed her eyes, running her tongue along her front teeth as she turned back around again, trying to brush off the feeling of them staring at her from their place far away. Beside her, Carl shuffled a little, glancing back as well before looking over at Riley.

"What's up with them?" He asked, leaning back against the wood.

Riley shook her head a little with a shrug. "Billy's fine, Lucas is just... I don't even know what crawled up his ass today."

Carl raised his eyebrows, clearing his throat a little. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but it wasn't like he hadn't noticed Lucas keeping his distance that day, and he didn't really care, either. In raw truth, his mind had wandered to the idea of his time with Riley being split once Billy and Lucas were back in the picture, but as of lately, he'd been in her presence- alone- just as much as before. He also didn't feel like bringing up the topic of the boy's attitude much, as he didn't like talking about him a lot, especially to Riley. It's not like he disliked Lucas, but Carl didn't talk much to the older boy back at the prison, and he didn't see why he had to now, in fact, he was surprised the boy even made it as far as he did. Congratulations to him, then.

"Is everything okay?" Carl inquired, although hearing the question from his own lips sounded a little weird. As much as he cared about her, he didn't want to mark himself as a therapist for her when Lucas screwed up.

Riley just rolled her eyes, leaning back with him. "That kid's just got a mouth on him, that's all."

Carl scratched at his upper lip to hide the faint grin on his mouth. "Yeah, I know. I've heard."

Riley glanced over at him, sharing in the amusement quietly. His hand dropped, revealing the slight curve in his lips, still visible despite the shade along his skin cast by his hat. There it was again, almost immediately, the silence, their silence. That quiet drift of comfort in which they both sat side by side in, breathing the air of fresh solace that was so hard to find now, as it only existed in that one person. Carl's eyes stuck so adherently to Riley's, that when they tore themselves away to look at something behind her, she felt her face go a little red.

She wanted to view it as awkward, she did view it as awkward. Who just makes silent eye contact with someone and then doesn't even realize how long it'd been going on until something takes their attention away? She silently reminded herself to be a little more aware next time that quietness came back to them, maybe the fuzzy haze of everything lately was causing her to slip into a sense of derealization and become lost in a world of nonsense whilst staring at something practically urging her into those captivating notions.

She turned to see what Carl had been staring at, making a quick identification to Rick as he knelt down by their pew, looking between them with a stern solemnity spread across his face, wiping any frolicsome theme they'd been in before.

"Listen, you two, I don't trust this guy." Rick's hushed voice spread around them like rapid waters.

"Why?" Carl asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Rick hesitated, staring at his son as his earnestness faltered. "Why do you trust him?"

Carl shrugged, glancing at the floor. "Everybody can't be bad."

Whilst Rick only chuckled, Riley thought over his words. Sure, the statement was true, but after what had happened to them the other night, with the Claimers and those two men, Riley didn't want to. The thought almost made her mad, like if by believing it, she was betraying herself. It was almost like she wanted to prove a point to the world, that if a person could easily and shamelessly do something as vile as they had to her, to Carl, to Samson, she didn't need to believe all of its inhabitants had a possibility of being good. Now of course, that didn't mean she would never believe in good again, all it meant was that now she opened up more to the possibility of people being bad. Much easier than she had before, might you add.

Yet still, she'd noticed, Carl held out hope, for other people, for humanity, for himself. He still let himself believe that there was good out there, that there was good and bravery in the heart of the strangers he met. Maybe Riley and Carl both had different outlooks on those who were left now, but in some strange sort of way, she kind of admired the strength he had to push past that night and have faith in the man they'd come across now.

"Well," Rick said with a nod. "I don't trust this guy, and that's why I'm bringing him with me. But he could have friends, so I need you both to stay alert and help Tyreese protect Judith, okay?"

Carl and Riley nodded, waiting for further instructions from the man as his cerulean eyes wandered.

"Now... I need you to hear what I'm about to say." Rick's voice was deadly serious, the grave expression etched into each line of weariness signaling the two listen close. 

"Okay." Riley hummed, tugging at a loose string on her shirt, a little tense in response to the Grimes man's tight-strung attitude.

"You are not safe. No matter how many people are around or how clear the area looks, no matter what anyone says, no matter what you think, you are not safe." Rick's tone held no advising or consulting tone, but rather a warning. It was almost like an order fit to disguise a silent plead, a plead that they would understand how high the risk on their life was and will always be, how guarded they must keep it. "It only takes one second. One second, and it's over. Never let your guard down, ever."

Riley nodded, the image of Carl's hat and the shadow of his hair bobbed from beside her, trying to express their understanding, but Rick wasn't yet satisfied.

"I want you both to promise me."

"I promise." Carl said quietly, no high and mighty act of a savior complexion sulking in his words- for once-, it was completely vanished.

Rick nodded, his body bowing slightly, as if a burden was lifted from his already black and blue shoulders. He glanced over at Riley.

"I promise." She whispered, to which the man pressed his lips together firmly, running his palm along her hair as he stood up to leave them.

"Dad," Carl stopped his father in his tracks, standing up as well. "You're right, I am strong. We both are. But we're strong enough that we can still help people, and we can handle ourselves if things go wrong. And we're strong enough that we don't have to be afraid and we don't have to hide."

Rick's expression was still matched with uncertainty, eyes flittering between his son and the priest. "Well, he's hiding something."

Carl dropped his head, accepting the cautious and sturdy walls put up by his dad, no longer trying to soften them. "I'll stay safe, Dad. We both will."

Rick smiled gently, although it faltered heavily before falling. "Yeah." He murmured, placing his hand on Carl's shoulder before turning and leaving toward the church doors.

Carl sighed, turning back to the two girls still sat down on the bench, placing himself beside them again.

"Speech of the century." Riley grinned, to which the boy's face flushed with faint roll of his eyes.

"He had to hear it, okay?" He pointed out, letting his head tip back to perch against the wood he sat on.

"Okay, don't get defensive on me now." Riley teased, tugging her fingers through Judith's tiny curls. "I kind of like it better when you're nice to me."

Carl shot her a nasty look, before swallowing and focusing his eyes on the ceiling. "Yeah, me too."

Riley examined his face, the regret and shame a little too apparent for her liking. "For what it's worth, I guess there kind of were a few upsides to this whole thing."

Carl turned his head a little, encouraging her to continue. 

"I missed you." 

Carl gazed at her face with a lack of expression, although his eyes held words that could take centuries for even the greatest prophet to read. His eyelids fell a little heavily, as if trying to shield the emotion threatening to make its appearance. 

Riley smiled, the look of those eyes bearing such devoted solicitousness warming the frenzy inside of her. Of course she'd always known, in a way, there's no way a friendship that specific and special can just leave with no trace left behind, but still, it was hard to keep that in mind when he'd spent so long looking at her like she'd been the one to discard him and shake him off like a bug clinging to her shirt. Seeing the words so softly spoken in his face activated the elation to appear on the soft lines of her lips and in the crinkles of her eyes.

"I missed you, too."

Riley brushed back Judith's hair with her hand, keeping the baby upright as she sat against a bench and waited for Tyreese to finish helping Sam and Eugene sort their rations. The infant babbled random nonsense, the sound of it bringing a gentle grin onto her face. Riley opened her water bottle, pouring some of its contents into her open mouth. Her lips were already chapped from being so parched all the time, often making her wince if she opened her jaw too wide. 

A sharp coughing accompanied by a shrill giggle caused her to glance downward a little, the girl instantly lowering her water bottle.

"Mm-mm," Riley shook her head, trying to swallow the water and scold Judith at the same time as she wrestled a hair-tie from her mouth. "Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Don't eat that, Jude. Give that to me."

The infant reached her arms out toward the black band, but Riley pulled it out of her reach, tucking it into her pocket. She screwed her water bottle cap back on and put it in the pouch of her bag, looking around for Tyreese.

"Hey, how's she doing?" The man of interest asked, coming up from the other side of the girl.

"Fine, she's a little fidgety right now, though." Riley replied, hoisting the girl up into her arms and handing her over to Tyreese.

"She is?" He asked, wiping some spit off of the baby's cheek. "I'll take her for a little walk, then. You want to go for a walk, Jude?"

The baby giggled again, pushing against Tyreese's bicep as she whirled her head around, much to the man's amusement.

"Hey, Rick and 'em going to be back soon, if he get's here before we get back would you just let him know where we are?" Tyreese asked Riley, dropping a knife into his belt loop.

"Yeah, no problem." Riley nodded, accepting the man's thanks as he headed to the church exit with Judith in one arm.

Riley herself was about to head that way anyway, as Carl had gone out a couple minutes ago and she wanted to see Sawyer once he returned. She walked out of the aisle she was in, going over to  the same doors Tyreese had just left through when she caught a certain image of somebody through the corner of her left eye- Lucas, sitting on a bench toward the front of the church by himself, flipping a knife over and over in his fingers. Riley hesitated, quite wanting to go over to him, but also at the same time, wanting nothing to do with him at all. She would like to say that in a usual case, she wouldn't cause any more drama than necessary, as the necessary tension was completely stupid to her in any case. But if she was being realistic, she was completely shocked at the boy's outburst toward her earlier that day, and the only reason she didn't say something back to him was because she couldn't even see it coming on, especially not from him. Turning away from the doors, she started over to the front of the church.

"Hi." She said, walking up in front of Lucas and resting her hand on a metal chair that leaned against the wall.

Immediately recognizing her voice, Lucas snapped his head up, jaw slackening a little at the sudden sight. "Hi?"

"I just wanted to say great going." Riley continued casually, watching the way the boy regarded her carefully. "You really know how to take somebody by surprise, I never saw you as the type to throw a tantrum because you didn't get your way, but I guess I was wrong, so, props to you."

"I- I'm sorry, what are...?" Lucas blinked rapidly, trying to place a finger on which way the conversation was branching out to.

"I realized I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier today when you tried to kiss me, blew up in my face when I didn't kiss you back, and then left me by the river like a child." Riley started, waiting for any response, which she was not granted with. "But I'd like to start by saying I just narrowly escaped being taken prisoner and locked in a train car by a band of lunatics, and I also just found out you were even alive yesterday. So, so sorry for not wanting to make out with you in plain sight while our group was searching for a place to sleep for the night, but next time, I'd appreciate it if you used your timing a little wiser before getting mad at me for something you did."

Lucas, who'd been avoiding eye contact, sucked in a quick breath through his nose, finally daring to glance back at the girl in front of him, who, for someone that just gave him an abruptly bold confrontation, was staring down at him as if they were in the middle of a normal conversation.

Lucas nodded. "Okay."

Riley was a little surprised at his lack of communication or yelling, even, compared to the morning, but was nonetheless grateful that he'd accepted everything she just said so easily. She shrugged. "Okay. That's all. Good talk."

"Yeah." Lucas said, watching as she pushed off of the metal chair and began to walk away again.

Footsteps echoing in the large space of the church, Riley let her hand fall to the door handle and pulled it open, greeting the late noon sunlight with squinted eyes. She wandered around the side of the structure, to where she'd seen Carl turn as he'd left before her. Just as she'd thought, the boy stood in the watery, yellow, sunlight, hands on his hips as he examined the church walls.

"Why are you staring at the wall like a weirdo?" She called out, grabbing his attention. She'd meant the phrase as a joke, but when he turned to her, his expression was like stone, serious and engraved with shadowed figures.

"Look at this." He said once she approached him, dragging his fingertip along the walls. "Scratch marks. They're deep, like knives or something. Someone was trying to get in."

"Huh." Riley stepped closer, letting the pads of her own fingers trace the dents in the wood. There were many of them, torn into the flesh of the church like walkers clawing desperately at their prey. It sent chills down her spine.

"I found something else." Carl said, nodding over to the left. "Come."

Riley followed him, stopping toward the end of where the church laid. In the walls, a deeper series of scratches caught her eye, but this time, they weren't aimless marks, they were words.

YOU'LL BURN FOR THIS

That was all it said, those four, sinister words embedded into the rotting flesh of the church. Riley didn't reach her hand out to that one, instead gaping at the knife drawn words with narrowed eyes and parted lips.

"What the hell is that?" She asked, turning to Carl.

The boy stared at it, eyes wandering the sentence with cluelessness. "I don't know. Doesn't mean Gabriel's a bad guy for sure, but it means something."

"Yeah," Riley agreed. "Were you looking for things like this out here, is that why you came out?"

"Yeah, kind of. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could uncover about this guy."

"Let me help." Riley offered, scanning along the wall with intent.

Carl chuckled behind her, following her footsteps. "You can try, but I checked the whole side already."

"You sure?" Riley asked, brushing away at a chunk of dirt where half of a word slipped out. The caked mud fell away, revealing a splotched and only slightly readable, tiny, sentence. 

HELP US

It was all that could be made out, perhaps a few other scratches in the wood were words too, but it was unclear, as the dust and dirt covered it too much. It didn't add much to the situation, but it added a sort of context, a little bit, anyway.

"You have a good eye." Carl said, touching away at the dirt.

Riley shrugged a little, the grace of her smile barely illuminable. Carl turned back to her, hand still on the wall, although his gaze was set to her. His eyes shortened a little, squinting lightly at something on her face. Without much preparation in advance, he reached his thumb out, wiping at something on her upper cheekbone while the rest of his fingers cradled her face.

"Dirt." He murmured as he pulled back, wiping his hands off on his jeans. "Let's hope they bring some Neosporin back, you have a cut on your face."

Riley furrowed her eyebrows, completely unaware. "Where?"

"Right here." Carl gestured to a spot on his own face, mirroring the location of hers.

Riley reached her hand up, trying to feel for the injury before the boy stopped it with his own, hampering it in his own.

"Don't touch, it can get infected."

"Right." Riley nodded, letting her hand fall back to her side. "You have a cut on your face, too."

"Yeah, I know." Carl said. The girl wasn't surprised he was aware, as it was pretty large and scabbed over, looking quite irritable for the past few days.

"Was it from...?" Riley didn't want to say the full question, but she didn't have to.

Carl nodded, pressing his lips together at the solemn memory. Riley wondered if he thought about it as much as she did, but she didn't want to ask. It wasn't a topic she enjoyed dwelling on much herself, and she doubted he liked to either.

"It was scary." The Grimes murmured, causing Riley to glance over at him. "I've never felt like that before."

Riley swallowed the thick, harsh, lump in her throat. "Yeah. Yeah, it was."

Carl was quiet for a moment, although his gaze stayed on her, traveling her image with a disparity about him. "I'm glad that I had you, though. I don't think I would've been able to handle that by myself."

When Riley turned to look at him, he was still staring at her, face filled with the same shaking fear she'd seen him drowning in the night it all went down. Although no tears streamed down his face, a long, winding, cut did, to remind him with physical affliction of what had happened to him, to both of them.

Riley reached her arm out, inviting him into her embrace as a source of comfort where he couldn't find it anywhere else, God knew she couldn't. It was only in the solace of the only other person who understood how it felt, the fear, the pain, the violation, all of it, that Riley could find an escape from those tormenting thoughts, even if just for a moment. She wasn't quite sure if Carl would find the same consolation in the hold, but by the way he'd nuzzled his head into her shoulder and caressed her shoulder blades with such clemency as if afraid he'd hurt her let Riley know that he did.

They stood there, surrounded by the darkened forest on one side and the chipped up church on the other, hushed in the solid clutch of the other's presence. Riley's arms were slung around his neck, ear pressed against his so that each of her thoughts wound into his brain and vice versa. Riley felt her eyes shut, saw the world drown out and fade into blackness when the heat of something different than the normal skin placed itself on the curve of her neck. It couldn't even have been mistaken for something else, as the specific pressure, the undeniable warmth, the moistened texture of it departed itself from anything other than what it was

Riley stiffened instantly, eyes opening upon the touch. "Carl."

The boy pulled away, clearing his throat and pinching his eyes as he stepped back a little. "Shit. I'm sorry."

Riley didn't say anything, the labored and implausible realization of what Carl just did catching her by such surprise she had to remind herself how to breathe before she took her next breath. What she'd felt on her neck just now, that feeling was Carl's lips against her skin, kissing her whilst she held him in her arms. She felt her heart beating fast, felt it, heard her blood roar like crashing of running water against rocks in her ears. She blinked rapidly, turning to Carl to try and find something to say, but she couldn't. She didn't know what to say, not at all. Did she give the wrong impression? Was that sign of comfort she'd offered for the both of them somehow perceived as an opening for him to make a move? She felt so stranded, blind from all angles, that she didn't know the first word to say to him, but the silence was growing longer, louder. And this time, the silence wasn't the good kind.

"Carl-"

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that, it was stupid. Jesus." Carl run a hand over his eyes, squeezing his face tight for a moment before letting his hand drop.

Upon those words, Riley felt her neck grow hot. What did that mean? She wasn't sure how he'd meant it, as she wasn't even sure what he was doing or thinking just a moment before, but the way he'd phrased it made her stomach sink a little. Carl glanced over, taking sharp notice of her quietness.

"I just mean..." Carl sighed, trying to find the right words. "Never mind. Forget it."

Riley narrowed her eyes a little, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it was stupid. I don't even know how I could think about doing something like that now. I was getting in over my head." Carl muttered, his eyes angled strictly toward the ground.

"What?" Riley asked, none of his words making any sense to her whatsoever.

"I mean, doing that kind of stuff now. It's stupid. There's too much to lose, I don't even know why I did that. Just forget about it." He said, his tone so sharp he practically snapped at her. He turned on his heel, beginning to walk back to the front of the church, but Riley had seen this go down before. Sure, maybe in a different scenario, different context, but she knew what came after this part. The distance, barely talking, the cold front, all of it as if they'd never known each other.

Riley raised her eyebrows, quite shocked with everything he'd revealed to her before. "That's the most cowardly thing I've ever heard you say."

"What?" Carl turned toward her, eyes that were once soft and open with raw emotion pouring itself to her now guarded immensely.

"You don't want to be vulnerable to somebody because you're afraid of losing them?" Riley repeated, to which she was met with a blank stare of tension so thick she could practically wave her hand through it. "That's pretty damn cowardly, Carl."

The boy let out a scoff. "Thanks."

"I'm serious." She said, arms still crossed strictly across her chest. "I've seen you do it before, Carl. To me, to your dad, to your mom."

Riley was sure she'd definitely touched a nerve by now, but in blatant truth, she was trying to. She wasn't sure if anyone else could read as far into him as she did, she wasn't sure who looked between his tightly strewn lines to see the little, scared, boy hiding beneath them. As far as she knew, she was the only person who wasn't a family member who'd faced the brunt end of his rougher edge and gotten past it at all, was still a part of his life by the end of it. If no one was going to snap him out of his endless cycle of pushing people away until he was alone, then she was going to do it herself. Only so much could happen until he forced her completely out of his life for good, and then, there would be no one left to sink both feet into the quicksand he was already drowning in.

"I know you think that one day, when the stars align and you've defeated every threat and saved every person, that everything in your life will be perfect. But once you reach that point, Carl, you'll see that you've pushed everyone that ever cared about you away, and that you'll be alone, and then you'll realize you've become the greatest failure of all." 

Riley's arms dropped to her sides, exhaling an unsteady breath from her nose. Nothing she said contained an accusatory tone, any biased anger. In those two sentences, all she'd said was the truth, what was bound to happen- in her eyes, anyway. By the afflicted expression on his face and the tenseness of his body, Riley saw that she just punched a bruise larger and more painful than any shown to the naked eye, and although it squeezed at her gut to be the one who made him feel that way, she'd rather have him hear it from her than never at all.

"I'm not trying to insult you, Carl." She added, more gently this time. "I'm saying it because it's what you need to hear."

Carl took a deep breath, eyes still trained on the floor. Riley could practically taste the saltiness radiating from him, could almost feel the hurt herself. The empty void of neither of them saying anything was so uncomfortably strange the girl almost wish she'd never came outside at all.

"Whatever. Let's just go back to the church, okay?" Carl mumbled, lifting his gaze from the ground to meet Riley's.

The look in his eyes was so beaten, so foreign, that Riley felt her stomach drop. But she didn't say anything, didn't do anything, she just nodded, following him back the way they came from all the way inside until they'd sat down, both on separate pews facing the other.

Riley brought out her knife from her boot, cutting small slices into the wood. She didn't want to leave Carl, as then she knew the awkwardness would only grow worse between them, yet somehow, being in his presence felt so unbearably hard. She looked over at him, jaw clenched tight with his eyes focused so hardly on his gun that he flipped around his hands she was sure they would pop.

For long, dreaded, minutes, that's how they sat, buried in uncomfortable silence, barely moving as to not draw attention to themselves. It was miserable, Riley wasn't even sure it was this bad when they weren't on speaking terms, because at least then, Carl didn't kiss her and she didn't give him a lecture about ending up as the world's greatest failure. Was she too harsh on him? She didn't mean to hurt his feelings, at least not that bad, just fracture them enough so that he'd realize that it's okay to feel, to love people and trust them enough not to push them away. She was doing all of it for his sake, but for some reason, there was a nagging thought telling her that the only thing she'd accomplished was pushing herself away from him.

"It's because I care about you." She snapped, dropping her knife into her lap without waiting for Carl to glance back up at her. "That's why I said those things, because I care about you."

Carl's lips parted, his blue eyes unblinking at the sudden outburst. Suddenly, Riley was extremely aware of how out of the random and strange it sounded, how different it sounded than how it did in her head. Immediately, she felt a wave of panic overcome her.

"As a friend!" She clarified quickly, to which Carl's eyebrows furrowed. "As a sister!"

Riley felt like smacking her face into the palms of her hands, like ripping her fingers through her knotted hair and tearing it all out. How was it possible that each second it just got worse and worse? That was definitely not how she meant it, as a friend? Okay, that wasn't too bad. As a sister? She was ready to pick up Carl's gun and shoot herself with it.

"Do you want to, maybe, try that again?" Carl asked with slight hesitance, his own confusion leaking into the hysteria.

"No!" She spoke sharply, turning to face forward instead of facing him. "Just forget I said anything."

Carl paused. "Okay."

Riley didn't need a mirror to see how brutally red her face was. There was nothing more that she wanted than to stand up and walk away from him, but that would only make things about ten times worse. She slouched in her seat a little, trying to ignore the way her shirt was practically moving with the thump of her heart.

"That wasn't weird or anything." Carl said awkwardly from his own pew.

"Shut it." Riley snapped, squeezing her eyes closed. She wondered how she could go from being so close to this boy, to patching up every hole ripped in their friendship over the time they'd spent together recently, to having it all crumble down. Though neither one of them was really at fault, it was still somewhat unfixable, or at least it felt that way. It was like the building blocks they'd been using to recreate themselves had melted into water, leaving them to scoop it up aimlessly with nothing left but their ruins along their hands. 

How pathetic it was, Riley couldn't help but wonder, to go from trying to prove to him how important it was to keeping people close, to losing him in a flash just as quickly.

With a paper plate of canned beans and mashed potatoes going cold, Riley sat with her back against one of the benches, all around her, people were talking. They were laughing, they were telling stories. They were being people. But after that day, Riley was feeling more exhausted than anything, too cramped up and tired to celebrate like everyone else, instead resorted to playing with her food or feeding it to Selva, who'd already had his fair share. She wasn't exactly far away from everyone, more like right in the middle, actually, maybe closer to the rear end, but she wasn't talking much to people, not like she didn't want to, but more like she didn't need to.

The sound of someone sliding down beside her, though, ruined that whole image now. Riley glanced over, expecting to see someone along the lines of Sawyer, Carl, Rick, or Maggie joining her, but instead, it was the man who'd helped her come to her sense back at the prison. The Korean man in the green jacket.

"Hey." He said, smiling a little awkwardly, as if still not completely comfortable with the people surrounding him.

"Hi." Riley greeted him, a little confused with the interaction.

"Uhm, I just wanted to- I wanted to introduce myself, because I remember you. From back at the prison." He said, stuttering a little.

"I remember you, too." Riley stated, to which the man nodded quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, I thought so. I just didn't really find the appropriate time before, but I thought now..." He trailed off, kind of hoping the girl knew where he was heading, which was confirmed by her smile and encouraging nod. "I wanted to say I'm sorry. For what happened to your home, I mean. The Governor- I didn't know how bad of a person he was until he attacked your people. I thought he was just finding us a new home, but I kind of figured out the hard way... those weren't his intentions."

Riley regarded him thoughtfully. "You have nothing to apologize for. You saved my life, thank you."

The man gave her a half smile, looking down at his hands. "Yeah, I kind of owed that to you, though. After he killed that old man, I realized I was on the wrong side. I was hoping you got out of there alive."

"Yeah, me too." Riley smiled. It was true, the guy really did get her out of there before she was the next one down. He could of ran, he could've saved himself, but he didn't. 

"I'm Boston." He said, giving himself a proper introduction. "Uh, Sung."

"Riley Endicott." The brunette offered him a final, tiny, beam to which he reciprocated before picking up her water and downing it. Over across the aisles, Carl sat with Michonne, both of them deep into a conversation while shoveling much needed food into their mouths. The sight made her smile fall, her appetite fading even more than before.

"It was nice meeting you, Boston." Riley said, pushing her plate toward Selva. "I'm just going to go get some air."

"Yeah, sure. You too." Boston nodded, watching her stand up and leave.

The girl made her way to the doors fairly quickly, not wanting to draw any attention. She slipped out as quietly as possible, the cool chill of the nighttime air raining down on her with dexterity. She inhaled a deep breath, smelling the bark of the trees and the dew on the grass, feeling it travel to her lungs in a much more calm manner than the constant chatter and smell of food inside. Of course, she was starving, and had enough to hold her over, but unlike everyone else, she didn't even try to scarf down more than she had to.

Stepping out farther, the doors behind her suddenly opened, causing her to spin around.

"Riley? What the hell are doing out here by yourself?" Lucas asked, shutting the doors behind him.

The girl clenched her jaw, turning around again. "Didn't know I needed a babysitter."

"It's not safe at night."

"It's not safe anytime. It's not different at night." Riley pointed out, starting for the woods. "Why are you even out here?"

"It was getting loud and stuffy in there, I just wanted some fresh air." Lucas said. 

The girl couldn't blame him, it was was the exact reason why she had left, but she was kind of looking to be alone, and even if she were with company, she'd rather it not be him. Regardless, she huffed out a breath, walking backwards so she could face him. In the pale moonlight, she could just barely make out the red hues of his shirt.

"Are you going into the woods?" Lucas asked, eyebrows furrowing. 

Riley shrugged. "Sure."

The boy sighed, his eyes rolling in the dark. She could tell he didn't approve of it, but she didn't really care. She came out here to be by herself, and if he chose to tag along, well, she wasn't responsible for him after that. Besides, she wasn't responsible for him period, same other way around. 

"Did you try the beans?" Lucas questioned, aiming for random conversation.

"They were all right." Riley replied, facing forward again as the trees grew thicker around them.

"Yeah, I agree." The boy murmured. 

They didn't say much after that, just wandered around in silence, making sure not to go too far from the church, keeping its glowing figure in sight at all times. Occasionally, they'd hear the crickets, or the rustle of leaves. Sometimes, they'd see the leaping silhouette of animals hiding around the forest, everything painted black in the shade of night. Riley was starting to wish she'd brought her bow, but she wasn't going to go back for it. If she went back at all, she wasn't going to come back out, and besides, she didn't really want Carl to see her and Lucas walking back in together, whatever he might make of that.

The sound of the crickets were beginning to grow louder, the church growing smaller behind them. A little bit uncomfortable in the rather creepy, perturbing, scene, Riley stopped walking.

"We should probably head back now." She said, glancing back at the church's small image.

She waited for Lucas to either agree or say something else along the lines of food or people, but instead, she was met with silence. Riley felt her heart stop, as if her whole body froze. She whipped her head around, looking for his image in the dark forest, but he wasn't there.

"Lucas?" She called out, but nobody replied. She began to retrace their steps a little bit, wandering this way and that. "Lucas? Where are you, this isn't funny."

Far behind her, the cracking of a tree branch forced her body to turn so fast she almost fell, but no one stood where the sound emitted from. Panic began to fill her body, alarming fear so distinct she could recognize it in all of her five senses. She wanted to run, to sprint back to the church as fast as possible and hide in somebody- anybody's arms, but she couldn't leave Lucas out there, not alone. 

"Lucas!" She shouted, and the cracks came again, but this time, closer, more to the left, and then closer again. "Lucas!"

She ran backwards, trying to keep her eye on the sight, but her body collided with something. The roughness of the impact confirmed it as a tree, not a person, but the collision was so sudden a scream worked its way out of her throat. Stumbling away, Riley ran again, but this time, no matter where she turned, the light of the church was no longer visible.

"Lucas! Lucas, please help!" She cried out again in guttural strain, but she heard nothing in response. "Carl! Sawyer!"

The names popping into her mind first were escaping her mouth with such desperation, Riley could barely keep track of who she was calling to, all she knew was that all around her was black, was silent except for the cracking noises.

"Carl!" She screamed again, voice hysterically manic and ragged, but no one replied. She was alone, out hidden by the shadows of the forest.

Finally, she felt the chills run up her spine, racing along every bone as an antagonizing grip of cold washed fear wrapped itself around her throat, paralyzed her body as it spun her around on the last, ultimate broken branch. Right behind her.

Turning around, there was no longer a swarmed sea of trees surrounding her, but instead, the blackened profile of a figuring coming toward her, hand raised with a rock before her skull felt as if it shattered into pieces, cracking and breaking the light bulb illuminating her sight and cloaking her into unconsciousness.

a/n - major rollercoaster for this chapter😭 thank u all for being so patient, i love u guys endlessly <33

- i'm so sorry to all my lucas lovers, he's my baby too but for the sake of this carl fic he had to have a downfall, and it doesn't get much better from here

- i didn't wanna speed too much into carl and riley as much as her and lucas bc they're the main plot, so i started it kinda small and confusing, bc friends to lovers tropes are never easy ..

- i kinda rushed to get this published so ignore all the spelling mistakes lmfao my bad guys !! also i added char as like comedic relief and also zendaya like cmon y'all, but j a reminder all fc's are in the cast chapter in case u forget :))

- thank u sm for the love u guys give, every vote and comment is taken to heart and also ain't no way we're at 45K reads ?? hello?? i love u guys. thank you💗