014. never get attached

POST INFECTION DAY
JULY 2018

Emotions are, perhaps, one of the worst parts of life — especially in the fucked up world that everybody is forced to cope with now. Rosa had never been good at them, not since she was a little girl who would rather throw fists at others than exchange words. She'd lost count of the amount of times she'd gotten in trouble at that stupid FEDRA school, disciplined with extra laps or smaller food rations, because somebody pissed her off without even meaning to.

She'd been seen as a liability since the day she was thrown into their system, loud mouthed and uncaring about the consequences. The thing is, Rosa has always blamed them for being the way she is. They'd killed her parents, they'd forced her into the stupid training regiment and they'd tried to make her somebody she wasn't.

Escaping had always been the plan, and when she'd finally managed it, Rosa never looked back. She didn't have any friends there, plenty of enemies, but no friends. This meant nobody had the slightest clue as to where she'd gotten to, something she remains grateful for to this day.

"You know, Mark will kill you if he finds out you wasted those arrows,"

Rosa exhales with a rather annoyed expression, letting another arrow fly at the makeshift target in front of her. "And since when do I give a fuck what Mark thinks?"

"Well maybe you should,"

Rosa glares at Dylan, the younger boy getting in her way with his hands raised rather defensively. After being here for several months, she's grown used to the boy constantly interjecting himself into her business like some irritating sibling. He gets on her nerves quite easily and yet for some reason, Rosa was rather fond of the kid. Out of everybody in this desolate little camp, Dylan was the only one who actually gave a shit about her in some way. Most of the adults barely give her the time of day, Dylan's parents included.

"I'm not in the mood today, Dyl," Rosa sighs rather dramatically, sitting down on the ground and leaning against the large tree behind her. Dylan tilts his head, confusion washing over his face as he tries to figure out what's going on with her. Being moody is her trademark but there's just a little something different about her today.

"Mum is making lunch, said that she would have a bowl ready for you," Dylan tries to change the subject, smiling at the girl.

"Yeah? What did you have to give her for that?"

The group in this camp are an odd bunch. Despite being amongst others, it is truly every man or woman for themselves. They'd fed her for the first few days of her stay, after she'd stumbled upon them with cuts are bruises littered all over her skin. The minute she was feeling better, it was up to her to find her own food. So the fact that Dylan's mother is offering up food of her is rather surprising.

"Uh well, I'm on clean up duty for the next week but it's worth it. You haven't eaten properly in weeks, Rosie. I don't want you to get sick,"

Rosa's lips unconsciously flicker up into a small smile, that familiar fondness washing over her as she looks at him. She wishes there was a world where this boy could live out his life in safety instead of being stuck out in the middle of nowhere without any real security. Fuck, this kid deserves to have a life where he could be anything he dreamed of rather then that of a soldier.

"You're too good to me, kid. Tell you what, next time I go out scavenging, I'll pick up some of the berries you like," Rosa responds, watching as the boy's eyes light up in excitement.

"Dylan, sweetheart! You need to do your homework before lunch,"

Rosa rolls her eyes, a soft scoff falling from her lips as the upright blonde strolls over to the two of them. Whilst Dylan may be a sweet kid, his mother is an over controlling, hover parent who doesn't think privacy should exist. The fact that she has her own child doing stupid algebra problems in the middle of an apocalypse is enough to make Rosa hate her in the first place, it only worsens when she actually opens her mouth.

"And you, Rosa, perhaps you'd like to go and look for your own food. I can't keep feeding somebody who is not my responsibility," Quinn scolds, talking to the teen as if she was a five year old.

"Sure and whilst I'm gone, maybe you could remove that stick from up your ass. It must be uncomfortable being so high strung all the time," Rosa replies, pushing herself off the ground and manoeuvring her way around the duo.

"Learn some respect! I often wonder why we took you in to begin with. A waste of valuable resources is all you are,"

"Newsflash lady, if it weren't for you son, this group probably would've left your ass for dead a long time ago,"

Rosa picks her bow up from the floor and purposely knocks into Quinn's shoulder on the way, not even sparing her a glance.

"You will wish you had been nicer to me," the woman calls.

The girl is engulfed by the sea of green trees, completely disappearing from everybody's line of sight as she goes searching for some things. They haven't had much luck with food around here recently, but she knows how to scavenge up some berries — she'll be sure to grab some extra ones for the boy back at camp. Hopefully it'll bring him a little joy whilst he does his stupid homework.

Rosa crouches down and slowly picks the berries from the bush, using the small bag she's had in her pack to carry them. She doesn't even both sealing them, Dylan will be shoving his hand in for a handful the moment she steps back foot in camp anyway.

The girl lingers amongst the foliage for a while longer, enjoying the peace and serenity that comes with loneliness. She'd rather have her own company than that of others.If Rosa thought she could survive alone, she would've left this group a long time ago.

Rosa doesn't hurry, her pace could be compared to that of a snail, and it's probably for the best. Quinn will have time to get over what happened earlier and will more than likely go back to being oblivious to what's happening around her. One of these days, she might even learn how to take a joke, but Rosa isn't holding her breath on that.

The sticks continue to crack beneath the weight of her feet, more than likely scaring off any animal that may be around. Each one falls apart in a different way, the piece of nature splitting into separate entities and yet remaining just how they were before in some ways. It's a natural part of life, Rosa guesses, for things to break and fall apart under the slightest ounce of pressure — whether it be groups or an individual. Rosa has managed to keep those broken pieces together, stuck upon one another with the strongest of glues so that she can keep herself from falling apart. One of her superior officers at the FEDRA camp had compared her to glass once, all it takes is for a little nick in the surface and all the emotions she'd been holding together would shatter apart into unrecognizable pieces.

It's just Rosa, it always has been.

POST INFECTION DAY
JULY 2018

Perhaps Aurora should've learnt some self preservation skills before wandering away from the people who kept her safe. She should've actually paid attention to the things her Uncle Joel had told her about the world around them, even as she was shielded from the true horrors as a child. It would've saved her a hell of a lot of trouble.

The girl groan as her calves burn, the lactic acid continuing to build up in her legs. She feels as if she's been walking for weeks, which she sort of has, without a proper break. Aurora is almost sure there is a permanent indent in the palm of her hand where she'd been holding her gun, her tight grip never wavering as she looked for home.

There is also no doubt in her mind that she looks like an absolute mess, dirt caked upon her skin and twigs intertwined within her hair from where she'd slept on the ground. The clothes she wears are tattered and dirty, boy does she wish she was back home.

Lost in her own thoughts, as per usual, the brunette doesn't notice the woman behind her with a gun pointed threateningly. Instead, she keeps walking away, hoping to find somewhere to settle down for the night and sleep.

"Hands up!"

Aurora almost falls to the floor in shock, tripping on a tree root as she's unable to avoid it in time. Slowly, she turns around with her hands up to find a blonde haired woman pointing the gun right at her head.

"Drop your weapon and take your bag off," The blonde orders, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Aurora simply does as she's told, not wanting to die here or in that way. She would never forgive herself, and she knows Joel wouldn't forgive himself either, if she didn't manage to smooth things over with her family — then again, you can't really forgive yourself when you're dead.

"Good. Dylan, check her things for me please,"

A boy, no older than thirteen, sneaks out from the shadows and moves to stand in front of her. He looks at her curiously before leaning down to go through her bag. He pulls out the damaged water bottle, that she's been struggling to fill for days, and the last of her rations. There isn't much else in there, a box of tissues she'd found stuffed into the bottom below everything else.

"Clear mum," the boy says after a few moments, smiling up at Aurora as if it was simply the best thing ever. "How old are you?"

"Uh seventeen," Aurora replies cautiously.

"Oh! The same age as Rosa, maybe you can be her friend. She doesn't have any of those other than me," Dylan states eagerly, zipping up the girl's bag.

"There's a very good reason for that," the blonde woman hisses.

"Yeah, and what's that?"

The boy's mother seems to freeze at the sound of the voice, a teenage girl emerging from the trees with a scowl on her face. Dylan beams at her, and Aurora notices the way the girl's face softens at the sight of it. Her gaze then flicks to Aurora before returning to the woman, any ounce of softness now gone completely.

"You're terrible attitude for one," the woman sneers, looking as if she wants to point the gun at that girl instead of Aurora.

"It would get a lot better if you learned what personal space is, Quinn," Rosa scowls even further, stepping forward so that she is closer to the trio. "Also, you're pointing the gun at a chick who wasn't even bothering you. She walked passed camp ten minutes ago and didn't even stop,"

Quinn takes a deep breath and lowers the gun, glaring a hole into the back of Rosa's head as she moves to stand in front of Aurora. "Don't mind her, she's got the brains of an ant. You can come back with us, she isn't going to do shit,"

"You can't invite strangers to stay at our camp! We don't even know this girl's name!" Quinn exclaims.

Rosa rolls her eyes. "What's your name, new girl?"

"Aurora," the brunette responds.

"Excellent. Now myself and Aurora are going back to camp. Feel free to join us when you learn how to have basic human decency,"

Rosa grabs Aurora's wrist, nodding to Dylan to grab the girl's bag, and pulls her along to camp all whilst ignoring Quinn's loud protests behind her.

NOTE!

So we have some new characters and a slight insight into Aurora's life during those years she was away! I really love Rosa and I'm excited to explore her character further in more flashbacks! Next chapter we're back to the main storyline with Henry and Sam!

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!

sign of gif by fireandbloods