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B R I G H T E R D A Y S

glenn rhee 𝔁 birdie hardaway

𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘞𝘈𝘓𝘒𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘋 — seasons ii-v

❝ . . . i know there's gonna be some
brighter days
i swear that love will find you
in your pain . . . ❞

WHEN THE WORLD ENDED, there seemed to be no hope to be had for the survivors. When the world ended, there seemed to be only darkness, only death. When the world ended, it was the living against the living against the undead. When the world ended, Birdie Hardaway refused to think like that. She would not sink into despair, she would not stop smiling, not stop hoping. She believed there were brighter days ahead.

TWO WEEKS AFTER THE WORLD ENDED, Birdie and the woman who kept her alive, Gen Vasquez, ran into a group of survivors out of Atlanta led by Shane Walsh. Two weeks after the world ended was the time Birdie, for the first time in her life, found love. Wasn't it funny? How she couldn't stop glancing at Glenn Rhee, smiling and laughing with him? Two weeks after the world ended, and Birdie finally had become the lovesick fool from all those teenaged romance movies. Two weeks after the world ended, and she still couldn't scrape up the courage to tell him how she felt. She had faith, after all, that there were brighter days ahead, and that she had time.

ONE MONTH AFTER THE WORLD ENDED, Glenn brought Rick Grimes home to his family. One month after the world ended, they lost Amy and Jim and Carol's husband, whose name Birdie never bothered to learn. The group left Atlanta (splitting from a few of their members) and found a hopeless scientist who nearly got them all blown up. They lost Jacqui, but it was her choice, and Birdie respected that, even if she didn't understand. One month after the world ended, and they were on the move, South to Fort Benning. South to hope. South to brighter days. Others had lost their hope, but Birdie hadn't.

THE WORLD ENDED, and Birdie refused to lose hope. Even when everyone else around her was swimming in grief and despair, she wouldn't let her faith in the light fade. The world ended, but she could see how her optimism warmed the hearts around her like sunlight in winter. Even if Shane and Andrea shunned the sunlight, she wouldn't falter.

But even the sun must set eventually. It was only a matter of time before the night sank it's claws deep into her heart . . .

❝ . . . i feel it in me like the
beating of life in my veins
i know there's gonna be some
brighter days . . . ❞

𝓓𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒 𝓟𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐄

❝ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀsᴛ ᴏꜰ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛᴇʀ ᴅᴀʏs ❞

𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘰𝘦̈ 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘻 𝘢𝘴
𝓔𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡 "𝓑𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐞" 𝓗𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲

❝ 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄 ❞
'cause new life's coming out, it's coming out of me. my dim light's gonna shine bright in the darkest street
(judah & the lion)

𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘴
𝓖𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐧 𝓡𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

❝ 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋 ❞
i see the light but never find the surface; i don't know if i can swim no more. white knuckles and wild horses, one day we'll wash up on mercy's shore
(needtobreathe)

𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘻 𝘢𝘴
𝓖𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝓥𝐚𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐳

❝ 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 ❞
oh, Lord, give me a sign. i've waited all night for my soul to rise...maybe if i gave it more time the stars would still be burning bright...
(the brevet)

ᴡɪᴛʜ
ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʟᴋɪɴɢ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴄᴀsᴛ ᴀs
ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʀᴇsᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀs

𝓓𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑
I don't own TWD, all rights go to AMC. Any and all recognizable plots and characters are not mine. This is a work of fanfiction, but I work hard on this stuff, so please don't steal it.

𝓦𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒
This story is rated Mature for canon-typical violence and gore, depictions and discussions of PTSD, drugs, guns, smoking, drinking, etc, along with some minor language and a whole lot of character death ;-;

𝓐𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝓝𝐎𝐓𝐄

I joined this fandom like two weeks ago and I knew I had to make a Glenn fic asap haha This will be mostly canon complacent, but will venture into AU territory. Super excited to dive into Birdie, my lil' ray of sunshine, and how she deals with this doom-and-gloom world. Girl is painfully optimistic and naive because she hasn't seen a ton of tragedy in her life (but we all know that ain't gonna stay the case for long)

𝓓𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒
To llxcifers , my bestie who got me into the fandom with her fantastic Daryl fic (go check it out 👀) She also made my intro gif, so thank you hun 💕
And to all the lovely readers who chose to read this story. I hope you enjoy it!

𝓢𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒
𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑：08 / 2023
𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑： —
𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑： —

𝓢𝐎𝐍𝐆
Brighter Days by Blessing Offor

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