❛ ❪ disoriented. ❫ ❜

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MOONEE DIDN'T WANT to seem egotistical, but she had always thought she knew better than others. Not all the time... but the majority of the time.

People often make dumb decisions. She wouldn't ever voice it, although she tried her best to speak her mind.

Moonee tried to keep her mouth shut— not wanting to receive the backlash for anything she said. She also didn't like people getting upset with her.

So, when her father told her that they had cuffed Merle to the roof of a mall, she almost laughed— but swallowed her amusement down, not wanting to receive a scolding.

Then he said that they planned to go and get him, which was odd because Merle wasn't a good man. And that wasn't her being mean, because he wasn't a good man.

"Why don't you just leave him?" she asked her father, as they sat down at the small plastic table.

Moonee wouldn't hurt a fly if she didn't have to. She's killed only one geek, but guilt haunted her.

So, she didn't genuinely believe that they should leave him to die, but mainly just to be in some kind of solitary for a bit, to learn from his actions towards T-Dog.

Marcus shook his head sending her a scolding look, "We don't do that, Moonee." he used her name— so she knew that this was a serious issue.

"Not to die." she said immediately, "Just..." she thought for a moment, "jail time." Moonee finished off her sentence.

"Well, it's been long enough." Marcus replied, "Plus, he's probably shitting his pants because the place is practically infested with walkers."

walkers?

"What's that?" his daughter asked, "A 'walker'?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows at his words— or, slang.

"A geek." he answered and sighed, "Rick calls 'em that," Marcus informed— getting the man's name right.

Moonee nodded, and looked around the camp, to see Rick laughing with Carl, while Lori smiled admiring the two she loved the most.

"I'm gonna talk to Rick." Moonee said, pushing back her chair, before standing, "He saved your life." she said, "I gotta at least thank him."

Marcy gave her a confused look, before looking over his shoulder at Rick, then looked back to his young daughter, "Okay." he nodded, "But I think he's gonna be my new best friend, so don't embarrass me." he sarcastically scolded.

Moonee rolled her eyes, and then walked past the table and approached the family of three. Her eyes watched their laughs and smiles, their movements and joy.

"Hello!" Moonee enthusiastically called out as she approached the three who happily conversed in the afternoon air.

Rick looked over and gave the girl a hesitant smile, and she smiled back— although hers was larger and goofier.

"Moonee!" Carl rushed over a large smile on his freckled face, "Come and meet my dad." the name rolled flawlessly off his tongue as if it knew he would use the term again.

Moonee nodded at the boy, her gray-blue eyes lighting up at his excitement. She liked seeing her best friend— or she considered him her best friend— happy.

Carl grabbed her hand— which made Moonee's emotions and skin tingle— and began to drag her back to the man who had his deputy's hat in his lap.

He rushed back to his father and mother who sat side by side, their hands interlocked, as they spoke to one another with smiles and fondness absolutely glistening in their eyes.

Rick glanced over at the two who now stood in front of him, their hands also intertwined and a smile on both of the children's faces.

Rick glanced at their hands then back to their faces and his smile grew a tad, "Who's this Carl?" he asked, his southern accent hanging over his words, "This your little girlfriend?"

Moonee and Carl immediately grimaced at the word, and pulled from each other, their hands ripping from the other's, as a hint of red began to creep up their cheeks.

The iffy feeling blossomed in Moonee's veins. The emotion so unfamiliar, and scary in a way. feeling clung to her skin, making her cheeks slightly flushed, burning at her cheeks that were slightly freckled.

Lori let out a small laugh at their reaction, and gave Rick a sarcastic knowing look, before glancing back at the two kids.

"No! Dad!" Carl grimaced again, "This is Moonee." he introduced the girl, glancing at her with an awkward expression.

"Oh." Rick let out a small laugh, "Sorry, son." he apologized, "And hello, Moonee." he looked over at the brunette girl with a smile.

"Hello," Moonee spoke up, an awkward smile on her lips, still not liking the nervous feeling that ran through her veins every time she glanced at Carl.

"I'm Rick." he introduced himself, "Carl mentioned you quite a bit," he informed the girl who still had a hint of flushed pink on her face.

"Yeah?" she asked, and glanced at the boy who made her stomach feel fluttery, then immediately back to Rick, "Well, my dad says I'm 'a character', but I don't know what that means."

Rick let out a small chuckle, "And that you are." he replied, and glanced at his son again with a small smile, then back at Moonee.

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Everyone in camp was sat around the campfire as crickets chirped— making the ambiance comforting in a way. Moonee was sat by Sophia, and her father on the other side of her.

Rick was telling his story while holding Carl in his lap, and Lori leaning on her long-lost husband. Lori pushed some of Carl's hair from his face, as Rick spoke, and everyone listened.

"Disoriented." Rick said, "I guess that comes closest." he said in a low tone, as he shook his head— everything was very overwhelming for the man, "Disoriented." he repeated the descriptive word.

"Fear, confusion— all those things but..." he trailed off, his words dying on his tongue as thunder rumbled— a storm starting to brew in the air, "Disoriented comes closes."

"Words can be meager things." Dale spoke up as he set his cup down next to his foot, "Sometimes they fall short."

"It felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else." Rick paused, as Moonee stared at the fire— taking in his oddly descriptive words, "For a while, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream— something I might not wake up from. Ever"

Lori continued to stroke Carl's hair as the boy stared into the sky— but the stars were asleep and were tucked in by the blanket of clouds, putting the twinkling things in space out of sight.

It was quiet for a moment, and Moonee glanced over at Carol Sophia with a smile, and Carol and Sophia smiled back at her.

Moonee glanced over at Carl. Before, she used to look at Carl and feel somber emotions, but now she looks at him, and he practically looks brighter— like his demeanor had changed into this illuminated one.

Carl looked up at his father, taking his eyes off the dark and gray sky, "Mom said you died." he spoke in a quiet voice, and Rick looked over at Lori, then down at his son.

Rick smiled at Carl— the two shared the same set of dazzling eyes, "She had every reason to believe that." he said, and smiled down at his son, before brushing his fingers through his hair along with Lori, "Don't you ever doubt it."

Moonee looked over at her father who smoked a cigarette that he usually shared with Daryl, but he wasn't around at the moment— and whenever he would come back around, he would most likely be pissed about Merle.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta..." Lori's voice was barely over a whisper, "and it never happened."

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick responded and Lori nodded her head, whispering in agreement, "And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't decide. I barely got them out, y'know?" Shane spoke up suddenly— a hint of some kind of arrogance ( ? ) in his tone.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." Rick thanked the man who had been playing husband to Lori while Rick was supposedly dead

The children of the camp were oblivious to everything. Moonee not Carl understood that Lori and Shane were doing things they shouldn't have during the fall of the world.

Marcus almost let a scoff out at Rick's words, but held it back, glancing at Shane with a small scowl before looking back over at Moonee and smiling at his little girl.

"There go those words falling short again." Dale spoke up again with a smile, "Paltry things."

It went quiet again, and Moonee looked up at the clouded sky, watching as the moon tried to peek through. Moonee then immediately let her eyes dart back to the fire when Ed tossed a piece of wood onto the fire, causing embers to fly upward and light up Moonee's features.

The wood crackled loudly, as the embers died out mid-air. Moonee's blue-gray eyes faded back to their gloomed color, the embers quickly dying out right in front of her face.

Ed sat back down on the log he was sitting on, and Shane immediately looked over in the direction of the man.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane asked, as more warmth poured onto Moonee from the growing fire that was in front of her.

Everyone looked over in Ed's direction and Ed leaned back and relished in the heat of the fire, "It's cold, man." he said, although he knew how strict Shane was.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane asked, and Rick looked over at Shane who had some kind of anger flickering in his brow eyes.

"Keep our fires low, just embers. So we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Shane said with a warning tone, his stony eyes looking over at Ed.

"I said it's cold." Ed shot back immediately, his southern accent thick over his words, "You should mind your own business for once."

At that, Shane immediately got up, and sauntered over to the fire, "Hey, Ed..." he said in a calm tone— which meant he was pissed, "Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane's tone was soft.

Moonee looked over at her father, he just shook his head at the scene before looking over at his daughter and ruffled her hair a bit to ease her anxiety.

Ed paused, and sighed, before scratching his ear, "Go on." he dropped his hand to his lap again, "Pull the damn thing out." he avoided looking at Shane.

Shane didn't move for a moment, "Go on!" he spoke again in an annoyed tone, his voice raising a bit.

Carol immediately got up, and Sophia sadly looked down at her shoes. Moonee looked over at Sophia with a smile and tugged on her shirt— trying to distract her from the moment.

"Christ," Shane muttered in a scoff, as he shook his head at Ed, Carol went around the pulled the log from the fire, and Shane stomped on the log that she pulled from the fire.

Carol went and sat back down, and Shane sighed. He got on his knees to be at their level and looked down at the ground for a moment.

Shane looked up at the two, "Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" he asked in a whisper, seriousness in his tone.

"Fine." Carol said while nodding, "We're just fine." she spoke in her usual sweet voice, then looked away from
Shane— embarrassed by her husband.

"Okay," Shane responded back, in the same whispered tone.

"I'm sorry about the fire." Carol apologized, before sighing and shaking her head, looking back over at Shane.

"No, no, no." he shook his head at her apology, "No apology needed." Shane dismissed, "Y'all have a good night, okay?" he gave them a quick smile and nodded.

Sophia looked away from Moonee and fumbled with her blanket that was laid on her lap, "Thank you." Carl whispered back with a small smile and nodded.

Shane sighed again, before getting up and walking past Ed, mumbling; "I appreciate the cooperation." his tone was firm and annoyed at the man.

Ed didn't respond as Shane walked over to where he had sat before. Shane sat back down, and Moonee looked over at him for a moment. She then took her gaze away from the man, and back to the fire in front of her that was barely even considered a fire.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dal suddenly asked, "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." he pointed out what they all knew.

"I'll tell him." T-Dog spoke up, "I dropped the key. It's on me." he said honestly and looked over at Dale.

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick spoke, not wanting T-Dog to get killed by a redneck man, who was attached to his brother.

"Guys, It's not a competition." Glenn spoke up, "I don't mean to bring race into this, but..." Glenn looked over at T-Dog and Rick, "it'd sound better coming from a white guy."

T-Dog swallowed and looked up into the sky for a moment, "I did what I did." he nodded with his words, "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie," Moonee spoke up, budding into a conversation that wasn't even hers. Marcus sent her a scolding look— based on what she had talked to him about earlier.

Everyone glanced over at Moonee for a moment, but Marcus spoke, "Or we could tell the truth." he argued with Moonee, who gave him a 'really?' look, while he took the cigarette from his mouth, "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed."

Marcus looked over at Lori, "Your husband did what was necessary." he told her, "And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's." he put the cigarette back into his mouth.

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked Marcus with a questioning look— knowing how the man is, "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" he looked over at Moonee's father.

Marcus took the cigarette from his mouth and sighed, puffing out smoke, not even knowing how to respond. What could they tell the man? He was always so unpredictable.

Hell, Marcus was friends with the man and he still scared the shit out of him.

"Word to the wise— we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt," Dale said and moved his gaze back to Shane since he was the boss around the camp.

"I was scared and I ran." T-Dog informed, "I'm not ashamed of it." he said honestly and looked over at Dale.

"We were all scared." Andrea said, she and her sister wrapped up in a blanket together, "We all ran. What's your point?" she asked.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door." T-Dog responded to her question, and Glenn looked over at him, "The staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time."

"It's not enough to break through that. Not that Chain— not that padlock." T-Dog explained and looked over at Rick who was already looking at him, he then looked back over to Andrea, "My point— Dixion's alive. And he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

T-Dog then got up and left the campfire. Rick watched him leave with almost a strained expression.

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-- 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 :
hello hello !!

i litch have this whole entire fic planned the way i want it, but i literally don't have any motivation to write !! i also have like all my other fics i'm working on, and i just am not in the mood to write

but i think it's cuz im back in skl and i just don't think that's helping, but YOLOOOO i get random spurts of motivation so.

also how we feeling so far ?? be completely honest like idc if u tell me it's shit.

but like lmk if u want me to maybe change something— but i can't guarantee anything bc i do wanna keep some things the same as they are in the show, mainly bc i feel it affects other characters.

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