A new chapter begins for the group.

The University

The dawn approached with morning fog and vibrant yet sharp stripes of orange and red of the rising sun. Ryan walked under the willows, touching their curtains of leaves. They were dry, feathery even. Troy trailed not far behind her, not really paying attention, yet unable to look away from the distracted young woman. Mostly, it was the whole "nobody goes anywhere alone" expressed by Reed, and honestly, Troy didn't want to let Ryan out of his at all.

It seemed as if she wasn't totally present in her body. She was still recovering. They all were. He could tell she'd lost some of her wandering spirit though. There was a sadness in her eyes the way she looked around now. She was still incredibly thin, but she'd regained some color to her skin.

She spoke for the first time in hours, making Troy jump just a little. Her voice was soft as if she didn't want to spook herself. The buoyancy he'd seen when they first met, the nerve-tingling intrigue she had, was deflated. Still, there was a small spark there in her. Troy's eyebrows pressed inward.

"Tell me, Jack." She turned, tilting her head to one side with a somber, playful look. "Did you miss me? Feel sad that I might've been dead?"

Troy just stared at her for a long moment, having nearly forgotten that she thought that was a cute nickname. It wasn't. He didn't ever tell her to drop it though. Turning his head, he looked up at the trunk of the tree he stood next to and craned his head back, following it to its tops that swayed in the summer breeze.

"Not really," he said. Only a small lie. He did feel conflicted. "But it is good to see you're alive. I did figure you were dead. Can you settle for surprised to see you?"

Ryan smirked.

"At least you're honest, no matter how blunt," she said. "Surprised is always fun."

She wandered back toward him until she stood on the other side of the tree. She pressed her back to it, avoiding the roots sticking out of the ground so that she didn't trip.

"What were you thinking? Staying with people like that?"

It was strange. There was no venom or shame or anger in his voice. Just confusion. Still, she flinched. She clenched her shaking hands into tight fists. She thought she'd been safe. She thought that she'd never see anyone she knew ever again.

"People have a habit of hiding their true faces, even now. I didn't know that those people were like that. I should've expected it…but it didn't. After Kenny, I was just praying I got lucky."

"Are you hiding yours?"

Ryan snorted and shook her head, knowing he meant her true face. She smirked like it was kind of funny that he'd suggest her having nothing other than a true face.

"No. I was when I was dying. These days, I don't see the point," she replied.

She was right. Nearly dying could really bring out the honesty in people. He didn't lie to people before, but he also wasn't in his right mind. Lately, he was glad to not be like that anymore.

Ryan got that distant look again, her eyes glazing over with memories.

"I didn't know a damn thing until I saw them hang her." Her face crumpled as she forced herself not to cry. "I thought it was a miracle that I came across that place. That I had a fresh start after losing the people I cared about. It makes me so fucking sick. Like who does all of that!? Enslaving people? It's like a fucking flash to the dark ages."

Ryan was pale and Troy worried for a moment if she was actually going to vomit.

"I thought…I don't know what I thought," she finished.

"I did though," he said, barely above a mumble. He looked around the trunk at her, his stoic expression unchanging.

"Did what?" She stared up at the canopy.

"Miss you."

"Hm." A small smirk pulled at the corner of her lips.

They wandered back towards the camper after a while. It was a debate whether they should take it when they started moving again. Sophie was a-ways off but not out of sight, feeding and watering the horse. Ryan watched her. Sophie had gotten taller since The Canopy. It was unreal to keep being reminded that she was growing up. Meanwhile, the chatter among the group became nothing but white noise to her until she realized Reed was calling her attention.

"Huh?" she said, her eyebrows raised. She looked away from the ashen, smoldering leftovers of the campfire.

"What do you think?" he repeated.

She'd honestly only heard half of what he said. She shrugged.

"I say we travel. Better to be on the move for a while anyway," she said.

"I agree," Lindsey said. "Who knows what that fire will drag in or how far it'll spread. And it's too big for us to extinguish. It'll be Mother Nature's job to take back her world."

"So, we travel. And then what?" Strand said, aggravated and possibly hungover. His eyes were crinkled around the edges as the bright, yellow sun beat down on the encampment. He was definitely hungover.

"It's the great backpacking trek. Why not?" Ryan raised her eyebrows. "Gas prices are zilch. Taxes are zilch. Cost of living is negative zilch. We can go anywhere. That was the dream before all of this. So let's go anywhere—"

"—The wind takes us?" Alicia asked, shooting her a sarcastic look. Her eyebrows rose and her lips pursed, but there was no amusement.

"I was going to go with where there aren't walkers, but that's cool too."

"Trick would love it," Grant chimed in.

"I don't see what the point of having a set destination is anymore," Ryan went on. "Let's just walk. We'll find out where we're going when we get there."

Strand sighed. It was the most indecisive thing he'd ever heard and he didn't like anything indecisive. Yet, looking around, the others seemed to agree with it. Reed nudged his sister with a half-smirk like he expected nothing less from her. Sophie always agreed with her.

"I like the sound of that," Jasper said. "It don't make a lick of sense, but yeah, I like that."

"I've got nowhere special to be," Zane said. JD nodded in agreement.

Strand looked at Alicia for help. She only gave a half-shrug with a slight shake of her head, which wasn't helpful for him.

It was easy to read the amount of loss on a person's face. Alicia and Strand had lost more than the average. Alicia had grown stony, hiding it better than Strand who typically hid it behind alcohol.

"Sure," Alicia said blandly.

"Alicia," Strand barked low. "We should be out looking for your mother and brother."

"If you want to go looking for them then you're welcome to go," Troy spoke up. Strand threw a slighted glare at him. "You're not forced to stay."

Strand turned back to Alicia.

"After what you told me about him, you want to go on with them?"

Alicia appeared torn. Reed spoke up.

"People change," he said. He tossed a glance at Troy with a shrug.

"Wish I could believe that," Alicia said. Her eyebrows furrowed with sympathy. Troy was taken back by that but was careful not to show it. For Alicia, she just couldn't fully let herself believe that anyone was truly changed after doing horrific things like what he did, though he definitely wasn't who he once was.

The girls, Mary and Celia, the sole survivors of the plantation bonfire extraordinaire, were quiet during the whole conversation and had been watching with wide eyes, huddled together. Even last night when they'd stayed in the camper with Sophie, they were quiet, according to her. Ryan couldn't blame them. Their family was psychotic. So, if they were angry and filled with rage or scared then it was understandable. They were mere kids, close in Sophie's age.

Ryan watched them and a part of her, a part filled with hatred, wanted to string them up like Shay had been strung up right in front of her. It wasn't right to want that, but she couldn't deny the need for more revenge for Basil, Trick, Shay, and even for herself. She swallowed it back because they didn't do it directly though she nearly didn't care. It was their brother and his hideous mother who'd led that place to do what it did. But, it was gone. For good.

"Let's go abroad then," Troy said.

"Last time I went abroad I ended up fighten' for meh life," Grant tried to joke.

Ryan smiled. So did Reed and a few others, but there was no laughter. It wasn't that it was lost on everyone. It was just too soon for it. It would be too soon for the rest of their lives no matter how long or short that may be.

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