In the Sound

The ride back to Herschel’s was a long one.

As the moon flickered behind tree tops, I couldn’t help but wonder how long we must’ve walked out. The wind whizzed by, the rattled engine hummed in my ears. Kit’s nose was curled around the side of my hip, his body squished up on my lap. When I glanced down at my legs, all I could see was a dark and swirly caramel coat.

Rick and Herschel were murmuring in the front seat, their voices drowned out by the whirring car. The bound boy was huddled in the middle seat, bumping against my shoulder every time we hit a stray hole in the road. I knew he was awake. His head was no longer lulling over his chest, but resting against the car seat.

If he could see, I knew he’d be eyeing the windshield.

I glanced over at Glenn, whose face was poked right up at his window. The reflection of his face glinted through the glass, his face soft and sombre. Deep in the crevice of his thoughts.

My lips parted slowly before I snapped them shut again. Tongue wriggling uncomfortably in my mouth, I tried again. “We haven’t been introduced. ‘S Glenn right? You okay?”

Glenn gave a jittery jump, his shoulders tapping against his seat. Slanted lids awkwardly meeting mine, and a forced smile thinning over his dry lips. He seemed tense.

“Yeah,” he tested cautiously. “It’s been so hectic lately I haven’t had the time. Rough night I guess. Sort of froze up at the shootout. It’s Nora? And-” his voice trailed off when he nodded towards the heap in my lap. His tone ran at a fast pace, his breaths short and quick.

Typical Asian.

“Kit,” I confirmed.

There was a moment of hush. We both turned back and glanced out of our windows absently. Shadows danced over the forest line, hiding brushes and whatever slumbered inside. Freckles of stars were scattered across the inky sky. Musky clouds drifting here and there below them.

Glenn shifted in his seat, tanned lean fingers toying with his leather seat belt. “So you’re joining us then?”

I felt the sigh sift from my chest before I had a chance to stop it. Hooray. Part of the group.

“I’m sure you’ll like it with us,” he fumbled hastily. I glanced to the front seats. Rick and Herschel were still mumbling, Rick’s hands laced along the top of the wheel. “Have you spoken to anyone yet?”

“Rick,” I whispered immediately. “Um. Daryl, Lori, Dale, uh Carl. The guy with the cap-um Shane. I think that’s it-oh and Carol.”

Glenn’s brows knotted neatly, a saddened swirl deep in his dark bulbs. “Sad isn’t it? What happened to Sophia?”

It wasn’t a question.

He didn’t wait for me to nod, just twisted his chin back out the window and sighed. I leaned forward to eye him, bulbs skimming just over the boy in between us. His chest was growing and falling so softly.

“Daryl’s been pretty good to her lately. Weird though, he’s normally a bit of a struggle.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” I agreed, wedging my teeth into my bottom lip.

I thought I heard Glenn choke in the slightest scoff. “I guess it’s normal to go pretty sour after what happened to his brother.”
My bones froze. Ears twitched. Eyebrows folded in confusion.

I croaked out, “brother?”

Daryl having a brother changed everything. Changed every little thing I thought about him. Did they live together? Was he older or younger? Was he only a prick because his brother was dead? My stomach churned uncomfortably, chugging around and choking me up.

There was no way I could face Daryl now. It’d be too mortifying. After the way I’d treated him, kissed him, made such a fuss about leaving. Only to come back with my head bowed. The damn fool didn’t want anyone kissing him. Hell, his brother just died.

Stupid redneck didn’t seem like the stupid one anymore. The stupid one was me.

A bitter taste lingered in my mouth. Damn bitch was right all along. Carol.

“Yeah, they were with us back in Atlanta,” Glenn paused. “He went on a run, went kinda crazy at T-Dog- Rick had to handcuff him to a roof. Geeks filled up everywhere so we had to get out, and when we came back all that was there was his hand.”

Glenn’s eyes were riddled with something I wasn’t sure of. I pressed my lips hard together, face frosted in white. His palm slid across the leather seat belt, perching just over his thigh.

His throat grumbled nervously, “Merle wasn’t much though, but I wouldn’t want that to happen to my sisters. My Mum. Maggie.”

“Are you and Mags-?” I intercepted, desperate for new direction.

Nose scrunching up, Glenn flinched at the words. His shoulders tight and tense under the belt, black hair slicked back neatly. Slanted eyes squinting even more. “First thing I do when I get back is tell her how I feel.”

A smile tickled at my primrose lips. Lingering just for a second before it was swept away. Swept away by the uneven, southern chuckling of the boy huddled between us. A laugh I knew well.

Randall’s laugh.