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𝐱𝐢. endless roads ahead.







❪ 𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗟'𝗦 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗘 ❫

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖾𝗅𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
endless roads ahead. ╱ season five, episode two.





MINUTES AND HOURS blended together as the group of people stalked down the road, ignoring the blinding and blistering heat from the sun above them. Frankie lost track of how long they walked, she no longer saw the blackend gray clouds of smoke that had risen from Terminus. There was a relief when they were out of sight, knowing that they were decently far away from the harm that Terminus had to offer.

Occasional conversations were falling into the air, surrounding the small group. But the words never lasted long, fizzling out as energy began depleting. Walking in the humid Georgia air can only suck so much energy from them. There were moments when they all traveled off into the woods to catch a break. Every time that happened, Frankie ached to stay rooted on the ground, but they were off before she could even fight for just a few more minutes.

Everything in her body ached, her feet, legs, back. Nothing was giving her any semblance of peace. Even when she tried to escape just for a moment, just to put off her headphones as she walked. People around her had a problem with it, saying it was putting her safety at risk. Frankie rolled her eyes every time it happened, tucking her walkman back into her bag.

When moments like that happened, Carl found himself intervening and giving Frankie a distraction. She appreciated the attempts from the young boy, it gave her time to think about nothing and everything all at once. Their conversations were stupid and meaningless, but those meant the most to Frankie. Telling stories about their childhoods or what was left of them, gave them a chance to forget about the endless roads ahead. They knew people were listening to their conversations, it was clear by the occasional smiles that lightly lifted on their features.

Frankie was relieved when the sun began to set and Rick called it quits. Frankie was able to truly relax and let her bones finally have a break. The warm air began to fizzle into a nippy night breeze. Frankie couldn't help but further envelop herself in the jacket Charlie gave her. She was forever grateful for the act, knowing without it, she would've probably gotten hypothermia or something along the lines of that. She liked having it more than she'd like to admit, the earthy familiar scent of Charlie gave her a relief she couldn't quite understand. And she almost didn't want to admit it to herself.

The fire sizzling in front of her also helped significantly, other people surrounded it as well, talking softly amongst themselves. Even when there was tension about when their next meal was, people still found themselves connecting instead of fighting. Frankie enjoyed sitting back against the tree behind her and just experiencing it all. It had been quite a long time since she had been around this many people and it honestly felt like a breath of fresh air. She felt like she belonged to something, even if she didn't know how long it was going to last.

Since they left the cabin, she had successfully avoided Sydney and her apprehension. She wanted to hold off the conversation as long as she could. And with the way Sydney was sitting and talking intently with Michonne and Rick, made Frankie think that there might not be a conversation at all.

Charlie caught her attention a long time ago as she wavered her attention from Sydney. The boy was sitting next to his sister and Glenn. It was the first time the girl had actually seen the boy look almost happy. It was odd to see him actually smile when he was talking, he seemed so relieved to be in his older sister's vicinity. It wasn't long before Frankie's eyes diverted from the scene when the boy's gaze suddenly snapped to her's once he noticed her stare.

Frankie's eyes traveled along the group, looking for Gabi. The redhead couldn't help a small smile touch her lips at the scene of Gabi talking to Rosita. Not even thirty minutes ago, Gabi was planted right next to Frankie as they talked about nothing but the random thoughts that came to their minds. But the girl decided to make her leave, eyes transfixed on Rosita. She got up, mentioning to Frankie that she was going to go "shoot her shot". The idea of Gabi, a barely fresh adult, flirting with a woman who was so clearly in her late twenties and dating Abraham. It was comical, but Frankie said nothing, just wanting her friend to have some freedom for the first time in a while.

Her music had been playing since then, as she slowly fell into it. Melodies and meaningful lyrics traveled through her mind, making her feel even more at ease than she had before. She loved this feeling, loved the freedom of music. Just as she was about to close her eyes and fall further into it, a person found a spot right next to her. Pulling her headphones around her neck, she looked to her side and found Charlie staring right at her. Frankie went to open her mouth to speak but the boy interrupted her.

"I'm ready."

Frankie furrowed her eyebrows as she tilted her head in utter confusion. "For what?"

The boy rolled his eyes at her not understanding what he was saying, "I'm ready to experience your music or whatever."

Frankie couldn't help but let a smile beam from her lips, not actually thinking he would ever want to do that. "Seriously?"

"Yes," The boy snorted, giving her what seemed like a playful glare. Frankie tried to not show the happiness that she was feeling on the inside due to him opening up to her. "Don't make me regret it."

Frankie clapped quickly in excitement, apparently too loudly because it caught the attention of the others that occupied their little camp. She ignored the stares and immediately dug through her bag pulling out the options she had for music. "You seriously must be bored, if you're doing this."

"Who said I was bored?" Charlie replied, his tone deadpan as he stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh I was just..." Frankie paused, looking up and sending him a shy smile as she shook her head to ignore her thoughts of doubt, "Nevermind, what are you thinking?"

Charlie stared down at the options of CDs in her hands and just shrugged. "I'm down for whatever, play me your favorite song."

Frankie smiled at his words as she nodded, eyes scanning the music for the one she wanted. "You got it."

The girl quickly snagged the CD that stood out from all the others. She stared at it for a moment, the plastic rested delicately against her fingertips. The familiar case was scratched and warn from its years of use before the apocalypse even started. Her heart thudded in her chest, knowing the significance of the song that she was going to play. The moments of it were the background of her childhood.

"What does it mean to you?"

Frankie snapped out of her thoughts, glancing up at the boy at his words. With a small sad smile, she answered as she swiped her thumb lightly along the album title. "It was my mom's favorite song."

The boy didn't answer, his amusement faded into seriousness as he straightened up against the tree they were sitting in front of. He just watched the girl next to him. Her movements are quiet and focused as she clicks the CD into her walkman. She didn't bother handing the boy the headphones, she just turned and placed them softly on his head. Frankie went to the correct track and pressed play.

Charlie inhaled sharply at the sound of the beginning piano keys, something he hadn't heard in a long time. As he listened to the music, he got jealous of Frankie and the fact that she could listen to this any time she wanted. There was part of him that resented how desperately she tried to connect to the old world and keep some part of it alive. But a part of him also admired it, how no matter how bad things got, how altered her perspective was, the girl continued to do what she wanted.

Frankie couldn't stop staring at him nervously as he listened to the music intently. There was a part of her that was scared, nervous that any second he would rip the headphones off and belittle her for prioritizing something so stupid with the way their world was going. But he doesn't. He stayed silent, taking in the music she shared with him.

After the song ended, Charlie pulled off the headphones setting them in his lap. He stared at her for a moment, before his eyes fell to his lap. "Do you listen to that song a lot?"

Frankie sighed in thought, shrugging lightly, memories of her mom flashing in her mind like neon signs. "Only when I miss my mom, I guess."

"How'd she die?" Charlie blurted. The moment the words escaped his lips, regret seeped into his features. "You don't have to...ya know..."

"It's alright...my mom...she uh...killed herself."

The boy straightened up, coughing awkwardly at her words. His eyes darted from his lap up to her crystal eyes. "During or before?"

Frankie sighed, hating the sadness that tugged in her chest at the remembrance of her mom's passing. The quiet of their house. The bile rose in her throat as her father reached for the door. The unfamiliar rasp of a growl as they entered the basement. Frankie shook the thoughts from her head. "She had been diagnosed with cancer before it all happened. My dad was able to scrounge up the proper stuff for chemo. But that eventually ran out. We left to find more. She begged us to stay, but we didn't. We couldn't let her go. But in the end, it didn't matter. It wasn't her when we got back."

Charlie sat there listening to her story, noticing every fleck of emotion that erupted on her face when she was telling him what happened. It hurt her, the wound never healed. With the way the pain weighed down her shoulders, he immediately knew the wound would be open forever.

"I'm sorry."

She knew his simplistic words were all that he was able to say. She shook her head, smiling lightly, trying to shake off the sadness. "It's alright, it's life. She wasn't meant for this world anyway."

"I get that. My mom wasn't made for it either." Charlie noticed how his words made the girl's gaze lift from her lap to him. He already knew the questions that were bubbling to the surface. For the first time since his mom died, he openly told someone what happened. "My mom got sick with the virus that started all of this. And then turned, just like my older brother."

Frankie's heart ached, and she couldn't help but place a soft hand on Charlie's upper arm. The boy froze at the touch, feeling like his skin was set ablaze. But the girl was none the wiser as she squeezed his arm in an act of comfort. "I'm so sorry you lost both of them. It's hard to see the people you care about turn into those things."

Charlie shrugged, huffing to himself, "It's not them, I know that now. They were gone the moment they took their last breath."

With sadness in her eyes, she agreed with him. Frankie didn't like the despair that was hanging in the air between them, so she changed the subject and started talking about something lighter. Charlie sat there listening to her every word, interjecting when he felt like he needed to. It was an odd dynamic between the two, but it didn't bother them. Something was filling the air. Something was shifting, changing for them. There was no longer any annoyance that traveled between the two; a fondness was growing.

Others around the fire looked up from their conversations, shocked that the usual enigmatic Charlie wasn't like himself. He was present, interacting, and focused on everything the girl said to him. It confused them that someone he barely knew was able to open him up like this. Maggie and Glenn couldn't help but smile at the sight of Charlie's smile as he laughed lightly at something Frankie said. After their father, Maggie was scared that Charlie was gonna close off again, just as he did when their mom and brother died. But it was clear that this girl was changing that. And for that, Maggie couldn't be more grateful.


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AS THE MORNING sun rose from being the tree, the group quickly packed up and hit the road once again. Leaving the makeshift camp was hard, especially with how hard the morning hit Frankie. Sleeping on the hard surface of the forest floor wasn't ideal, but it was what was available. Dreams came to her in waves. One after the other, it was all never-ending. All were of the past, memories screaming at her to be free. But even with the crushing guilt that came with the dreams, the moment she opened her eyes, her chest felt lighter.

With her backpack tightly secured on her back, she trudged through the sticks and the mud with Gabi by her side. There was a change in the air and Frankie could tell. She watched how Sydney walked side-by-side with Rick, no doubt talking about their next move. The curly-haired woman had yet to come up to her, to talk to her about them leaving. So signs point to them sticking around for longer than she thought.

Frankie ached to be back on solid pavement, the up and down of the forest terrain was becoming annoying on her aching feet. From what she eavesdropped, it looked like they were only going to be in the forest for a little bit longer. So Frankie sucked it up, pushing on, ignoring the dull ache that pounded in her feet.

"So you gonna tell me about your little date?" Gabi asked, a smirk flooding her features.

"What?" Frankie's eyes widened, snapping her gaze to Gabi. Eyes jumped to her and the loud sound of her exclamation. She ignored the stares and sent Gabi a glare. "What the hell are you on about?"

Gabi rolled her eyes, finding her reaction amusing, "I'm talking about your little moment last night with Mr. Loner over there,"

Frankie's gaze couldn't help but wander over to the boy whom Gabi was referencing. The boy stood a good few feet ahead of her, walking in tow with Maggie and Glenn. The boy smiled at something his sister said, finding amusement in it. Not enough to laugh, but enough where a smile twisted at the corner of his lips. Frankie couldn't help but feel her chest warm at the sight, even if she wasn't the one who caused it. She quite enjoyed the boy's smile.

"See you're literally smiling at him right now,"

Frankie snapped her eyes away from the boy, sending Gabi a glare. "It's not like that, we're becoming kinda friends...I guess."

"Friends...right."

The redhead snorted at the girl's words, "I'm serious,"

"So am I," Gabi stated, looking at her with a knowing glance.

Frankie sighed, rolling her eyes at the braided blonde, "Gabi, we're just sort of becoming friends alright? I don't want anything to ruin it. So stop planting that stuff in my head."

"Don't think I have to, it's already been done." Gabi beamed, her triumphant grin getting the best of Frankie's annoyance.

"Genuinely shut up."

Gabi gasped in a faux offense and sent Frankie a knowing look. "I will never, you know that."

Frankie couldn't help the smile that twisted onto her features, "Yeah yeah, I-"

Her words were interrupted when a scream for help pierced through the air. The group immediately froze in place, hearing the consistent cries for help from a stranger in the distance. Frankie's body tensed as her eyes remained glued to Rick as he sent Michonne a look of question. The screams of panic never ceased as the group stayed still, waiting for instructions from Rick. But Carl was the one who spoke up, his begging eyes glued to his father.

"Dad, come on,"

The man in question paused, eyes uncertain as he watched his son attempt to convince him to save the person aching for help. Frankie's heart hammered in her chest when Rick finally agreed, quickly sending the group running towards the pleas.

When the group came to the source of the noise, many from the group stayed back, eyes zeroed in on the scene in front of them. A man dressed in all black wriggled in a panic on top of a large boulder as five walkers stood around the rock desperately grabbing onto his feet and pants. Frankie's features twisted into confusion when she recognized his outfit to be one of a priest. Why the hell was he wearing that still?

Carl, Michonne, Rick, Carol, and Daryl quickly went into action, all walkers were limp on the ground in a matter of a minute. Once silence filled the air, all eyes were glued on the man who was visibly shaking in fear.

"We're clear, keep watch." Rick demanded to the group waiting behind them. But his attention was quickly trained on the man who stared at him with a mix of intimidation and dread. "Come on down."

The man slowly slides off of the boulder, eyes bouncing to the people around him in curiosity and apprehension. Frankie grimaced when the man instantly keeled over, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the forest floor. Many people reacted the same way she did as they averted their eyes from the seemingly weak man.

"Sorry." The man wiped his mouth, sending an apologetic look to the group. "Thank you. I'm Gabriel."

Rick squinted at the introduction, his lips curling in an accusatory way. "Do you have any weapons on you?"

The man quickly laughed at the question, his eyes glancing around to see if the others were laughing. But he only got a mix of blank and deadpanned stares. "Do I look like I would have any weapons?"

"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like," Abraham replied, his stance domineering as he rested his gun on his hip.

"I have no weapons of any kind," Gabriel answered, his tone shakey as he stared at the group. "The word of God is the only protection I need."

Frankie sent him a look, her voice making the others around her glance at her. "Sure didn't look like it."

The man smiled at her comment, this grin making a feeling of unease wash through her. Before she could even comprehend it, Charlie appeared next to her, his body moving slightly in front of hers so the man's eyes would be on him.

Gabriel straightened up, his smile dropping when he was met with Charlie's dark glare. His eyes quickly drifted towards Rick and the other members of the group. "I called for help, help came."

There was an awkwardness that wafted off of him as he stared at the analyzing faces of the group around him. "Do you have any food? Whatever I had left, it just hit the ground."

Carl was quick to pull some pecans he and Frankie collected this morning out of his pocket. "We've got some pecans." Frankie smiled at the kindness that Carl exuded, he was always so giving.

"Thank you." Gabriel scooped them out of the boy's hand with a kind smile while Carl sent him a nod of acknowledgment. The coos from Judith caught Gabriel's attention, his eyes watching her wriggle around in Tyreese's arms. "That's a beautiful child."

No one replied to him, panic slightly washed over a few of them as he called attention to innocent Judith. Rick tensed up at the words, his stare calculating as he examined Gabriel. Carl's eyes jumped between his father in front of him and Frankie who wavered between Gabi and Charlie. He was curious about what she was thinking and it was clear with the apprehension swirling in her eyes that she didn't trust the stranger in front of them.

"Do you have a camp?" Gabriel questioned.

Rick glared at him, head tilting in examination, "No. Do you?"

Gabriel stepped back slightly when Rick got closer to him in an act of intimidation. "I have a church."

"Hold your hands above your head." Rick hissed, his tone filled with animosity. Gabriel instantly complied, eyes widening in a slight terror as he slowly raised his hands above his head. Rick quickly went to frisk him. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Not any actually," Gabriel uttered along with an awkward laugh.

"Turn around," Rick grunted, forcing the man in front of him to turn to the rock behind him. "How many people have you killed?"

"None." The priest uttered, turning to look at a slightly surprised Rick.

"Why?"

Gabriel sent him an odd look, "Because the lord abhors violence."

There was a silence that drifted into the air after Gabriel's words. There was a clear uncomfortable energy that washed over the group in waves. That kind of logic doesn't apply to the world anymore, and the fact that he couldn't face reality made Frankie even more uneasy than she already felt.

"What have you done?" Rick's question made Gabriel's face fall as if he was trying to push down a memory he ached to keep hidden. Rick was watching every inflection on his face. "We've all done something."

"I'm a sinner. I sin almost every day. But those sins, I confess them to god, not strangers." Even when dismissing Rick's interrogation, he was still polite about it. That almost made his comment even worse.

"You said you had a church?" Michonne offered, her words breaking through the tension that was thick between Rick and Gabriel.

Soon enough with a nod from the priest, the group of survivors was slowly following Gabriel as he led them in the direction of the church. Frankie stayed back, eyes watching the people in front of her slowly moving in the path Gabriel directed Rick towards. There was a hesitation bubbling in her chest, scared about going down another path with a stranger that could hurt them. After what happened with Terminus, she was nervous at the chance of his having nefarious intentions just like the cannibals that held them captive.

"Red, you coming?"

Frankie's thoughts were broken almost immediately as she noted the call of the familiar nickname. Looking towards the source of the call, she was met with Charlie a few feet away, staring at her with inquiry.

"Yeah."

Frankie quickly began making her way past Charlie towards the path that people were still retreating into. They walked in silence, falling in perfect sync with each other. While Frankie was nervous that this was all some trap, she felt better knowing that the group was all together. Together, she knew they could get through this.


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𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘:

HEY BESTIES GUESS WHO'S ALIVE!!

WE GOT SOME CHARLIE AND FRANKIE BONDINGGGGGGG

AHHHHHHH guys I'm so excited for the upcoming chapters, I HAVE SO MUCH planned for them. The church era is the peak farlie bonding so get ready.

I love them with all my heart and missed them so I had to FINALLY update.

Check out my TikTok I've got some fab Charlie and Frankie edits up and I love them sm

TikTok: @gardensongsswp

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