Being late evening, the inhabitants of the prison were shuffling into C Block a few at a time. They had begun to settle in on the steel stools around various tables in the room where they ate together, having taken their dinners of stewed vegetables from the large, communal pot on the wire-framed table in the corner. They listened to their own disharmonious symphony of clinking spoons scratching against bowls without speaking. Beth's eyes began searching the room from one of the center seats sheepishly, a modest smile lighting her countenance, and everyone looked up as she began to sing.
"This is the sound of one voice,
One spirit, one voice.
The sound of one who makes a choice;
This is the sound of one voice."
Her alto voice lilted through the melody like a leaf carried on the wind with a clarity of tone that seemed unparalleled by any other in the world, Before and After. Mila, who was sitting at an adjacent table, listened intently, realizing that she recognized the lyrics. Beth looked as if she was unsure as to whether or not she should continue, but her eyes met Mila's in a moment of unspoken edification. With her confidence bolstered, she sang the next verse a little louder as Mila joined in chorus.
"This is the sound of voices two;
The sound of me singing with you-"
Hershel had only just hobbled in on his steel crutch and taken a set near Hosea. He glanced at his fellow father who was enthralled in the canticle of their daughters and grinned. Mila had taken the tenor harmony. Her voice had a dark, full tonality, and, while, by itself, it was not quite as pleasant to listen to as Beth's, it blended perfectly with the melody, melding it into a rich attunement.
Daryl observed the impromptu concert from the doorway of the room, his shoulder supporting him against its frame, his hands holding his bowl and spoon ever so still. He thought to himself how he had never heard anything quite so beautiful and pure. The lyrics were extraordinarily simple, but somehow they were equally meaningful and heartfelt. He quickly found himself lost in the rendition.
"- Helping each other to make it through,
This is the sound of voices two."
Gina, the Woodbury refugee who had given Mila her bedsheet curtains, aided in the third verse, hitting the harmonic soprano notes articulately.
"This is the sound of voices three,
Singing together in harmony.
Surrendering to the mystery,
This is the sound of voices three."
Maggie laid her bowl in her lap quietly and gently intertwined her fingers with Glenn's as she rested her head on his shoulder. She could not imagine a more peaceful moment in time. Pride for her what her sister had effected in the crowd welled up in her. She softly sang the melody to herself with Beth as her husband watched her with adoration.
Carl gently bounced Judith in his lap to the slow rythym. He wished his mother had been here to sing lullabies to her. He cast a wistful glance at the ceiling, hoping that wherever she was, she might be singing, too.
"This is the sound of all of us-"
Carol debated as to whether or not she should allow herself to be absorbed into the hyper-emotional atmosphere that she felt was engulfing the room. Her child was not here to hear the singing. She would never again enjoy the company of friends or the warmth of life. Carol's chin dipped down bitterly. It was not the sound of 'all of us'- just the sound of those who had made it this far. She wiped her nose with her sleeve and turned away, stirring the stew coldly.
"-Singing with love and the will to trust.
Leave the rest behind it will turn to dust,
This is the sound of all of us."
Rick was not a sentimentalist, but he felt grateful for the small stretch of time in which his people were given a reprieve from their daily hardships. They needed this moment of unity, a time to reflect on what had been gained, not just what had been lost. He swirled his spoon in his stew serenely and breathed a small sigh of hard-won contentment before taking the next bite.
"This is the sound of one voice,
One people, one voice.
A song for every one of us,
This is the sound of one voice.
This is the sound of one voice!"
The song came to an unequivocal conclusion, the last line delivered in a tempo that had been a bene placito, but the room remained silent. The three main vocalists smiled affectionately at one another before returning to their meals buoyantly, satisfied that if even for just a few moments, everyone within earshot had been spiritually joined to one another.
Note: Well, this is the first (and possibly only) time that I have shadowed what's going on in the minds of anyone other than my OCs. (By the way, there's still a lot to be said between Hosea and Mila.) The song is by The Wailin' Jennys, and the title of the chapter is the title of the song. This one was written as if a camera panning around the room pauses to zoom in on one individual at a time.
Inspirations for the character's reactions came from various places. For Hershel, it was the sheer sense of love for the girls who started the song. Daryl's coverage was done after the duet because of the relationships that he has with Beth and Mila (along with Carol, they are the females he is/gets closest to). I thought of the scene in the show when Carol talks to Daryl in season 5 just after Beth died, telling him that he 'needs to let himself feel it' and that she can't for the same reason that he must. That's where I drew his reaction and Carol's. Carol is steadily learning to be callous so that she can keep going. I wanted to give credence to that. Maggie got a coverage because of her special relationships with her 'sisters'. Carl is still dealing with the aftermath of losing his mom, and he's growing up by being responsible for Judith and experiencing a wider range of mature emotions. While Rick is 'taking a break', he is still unequivocally the leader of the group, so his coverage attempts to illustrate that, especially by being done after the 'sound of all of us' line is delivered.
I actually had a lot of fun writing this one, and it just kind of spilled out into the page. I hope you liked it. Let me know what you think!