like real people do | c.g [#wattys2019]

B O R E D O M

SEVENTEEN DAYS. It's been seventeen days since Beth was killed. The boy I didn't recognize is called Noah, Beth helped him escape Grady Memorial. Turns out they were 'saving' injured people without their consent and making them work to pay back what they cost them. They 'saved' Beth, who was supposed to escape with Noah, but she got caught and he found Daryl and Carol. They were gonna go to Virginia to find Noah's family. Rick thinks we might have a shot there.

It's been seventeen days of Maggie crying and Daryl hiding, not talking to anybody. Seventeen days of every single one of us mourning her.

It's been seventeen days of being stuck in a truck, getting to another place, which might not even be there anymore. But right now, that's all we have.

The rest of us are supposed to wait as Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Noah, and Tyreese check out the Shirewilt Estates. Noah's pretty sure the place is intact, so they're gonna check it out and, hopefully, clean it out. He says the place has walls and houses, from what he said it seems secure. Seems. But, it could be safe. It could be a place we could live in.

We spend the day basically doing nothing, waiting for them to report back. It's a weird feeling, having nothing to do. There's always something to do. I haven't felt bored in so, so long. Nothing's really happened in these past couple of weeks, besides crying, mourning, and getting to know and trust Noah. He seems like a good kid.

The thing is, I'm very thankful for this boredom. Because before this, it was friends dying, killing dead people, and taking every second of the day to try and appreciate the fact that you're still breathing. So, I actually smile as Carl complains about having nothing to do. Because it feels slightly like the old normal, even if it's just for a second.

But the feeling goes away as quick as it came, as four hours later, Rick, Michonne, Glenn, and Noah come back, carrying Tyreese's body, having covered it with a sheet. Sasha drops to her knees, crying.

We all stand back in shock as they explain that inside Noah's house were Noah's mother and two younger brothers, one of them having turned, the other one and the mother dead. The walker bit Tyreese in the arm and he didn't call out to anyone else, the fever having already set in by the time they got there. They cut off his arm, but it didn't do much, as he died not even fifteen minutes away from here.

Half an hour later, we bury him, Gabriel reading bible verses as every single one of us takes turns shoveling some dirt into the grave, Sasha being the last one. "We look not at what can be seen, but we look at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made from hands, eternal in the heavens. In the heavens." Gabriel reads.

And as tears run down Sasha's as Rick finishes burying her brother, all I wish is for the boredom to come back.

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