53 S2E53 - Budding

[Two Days Later]

My hair now sits just below my shoulders for the most part. I have to put the top into a ponytail; however, as it was cut a little shorter than the bottom. Currently, I'm cleaning my DMR on one of the tables outside of Hershel's house. Hershel's been seemingly getting more antsy lately. Someone probably tried talking him into letting us stay because they think it's safe here.

As I finish off putting the gun back together, I feel a pair of eyes on me from behind. It's funny. Usually, I don't notice stuff like this unless… The person has bad intentions…

I turn around, looking towards the clothesline set up by Carol. Sure enough, peeking through between two shirts…

"Hello Lori."

She stares at me for a second doing that bug-eye thing she did in the show before answering,

"Penny."

I turn back around and focus on my gun, but keep speaking to her. I speak calmly, despite her "threatening" gaze,

"Y'know, I could get Rick or Shane to teach Carl how to shoot. He's gonna need to know at some point."

She walks out and answers me sternly,

"No, I think he's fine."

I begin to put my gun back together, while continuing on,

"I plan on having one of them teach Clem and Sophia. As much as I wish they could all have a normal childhood, that just isn't possible anymore. I ain't gonna force you. But, think about what would happen to them if they're caught out alone and don't know how to defend themselves?"

I see her face turn slightly red as she speaks to me with thinly veiled anger,

"I'll think about it."

As she begins to walk away, I stop her and continue putting my gun back together while I speak,

"Ah! Lori, let me be clear. I don't wanna have conflict with you. I don't know what I did to get you to hate me as much as you do, but I'd really prefer if we could be friends."

Lori rubs her nose and stands with her right hand on her hip before saying,

"It's not that I hate you. No, quite the opposite. I thank god that you're here every day because I'd you weren't, it's likely Sofia woulda died. What I do hate… Is the fact that we're all just going along with whatever you say. You're a kid Penny."

I look at her with furrowed brows. After putting the gun back together, I pull back the charging handle and then put the gun down on the table. I sigh and speak to her,

"Alright. First of all, I am nineteen years old. That is hardly a child. Yes, teen may be in my age, but that means next to nothing. Second of all, you guys aren't just going along with what I say. Everyone has free will. People listen to me because they agree with what I say. I won't pretend and act like I'm perfect, obviously not, but I'd say I'm doing a damn good job considering you can go to sleep holding your husband and son. Not all of us are lucky enough to have our family with us."

Images of my family pass through my mind, but I quickly square them away. I never was too close with them anyways, but it does hurt knowing I'll never see any of them again. One image that does stick; however, is Regina, my friend from before I died. I sigh and put the mag back in my gun before slinging it over my shoulder. I look up to see a slightly apologetic Lori looking back at me. But, I know that this won't last. She's power hungry. She wants either her husband, or a lover to be in power. She got that with Shane, and Rick when he was a sheriff. Now she wants it again.

I say one last thing before leaving,

"I'll see you around, Lori."

I start to walk off, heading towards the tree line. I've set up patrols around the tree line, watching for any walkers or people. As I reach the tree line, I hear another voice speak up. A sweeter one,

"Wanna talk about it?"

I turn around to find Amy walking behind me. I rub the back of my head and say,

"Ah, you were listening?"

She nods her head and walks up beside me, keeping my slow pace,

"If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine. But know that I'm here for you. It's the least I can do since I've been nagging you like a housewife."

I chuckle and shake my head,

"Heh, nah. You just want me to be safe. Trust me, my mom was a tradwife, I know what nagging is."

I see the look of confusion on her face and say,

"Traditional wife. She believed in the old traditional gender roles in relationships. Basically, husband does whatever he wants and works while the wife stays at home taking care of the kids. She tried to get me to be like her, but there's one major issue with that…"

Amy tilts her head in confusion, causing my heart to skip a beat with how cute she looks. I smirk and lean towards her, getting right up by her face,

"I'm not really into dudes."

I see her face get flushed and begin to laugh,

"Pft! Hahahaha!"

She slaps me on the shoulder and speaks with feigned anger,

"Jeez! Don't tease me like that! Gosh, what an awful joke!"

She starts to pout, crossing her arms and facing away from me. I see that she has a genuine look of disappointment plastered on her face for the world to see. I smile at her cute antics and… Almost feel as though I lose control of my body. I look at her before putting a hand on her arm, and speaking with a more gentle tone,

"What if I wasn't joking?"

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