Note: Sorry it's been so long, followers. I usually update the story on Tuesdays since they are the only days that I don't have classes, but life did what life does and it got in the way. My dad had a heart attack- it was mild and he's currently okay- so the scare kind of took my attention away from writing. Besides that, midterms were last week and I've been working through my spring break. And, besides that, I am REALLY excited about writing what's to come; so much so that I am struggling with writer's block for the current storyline, if we're being honest. The good news is that in my absence, you had season 7 to keep you entertained!
"Is everyone okay?" Glenn asked, twisting to get a view of the backseat. Exhausted yet relieved groans of affirmation were uttered in reply. Mila had landed in the floorboard of the car, sandwiched between knees and the front seats, when Ant snatched her inside, and she struggled to pull herself upright. Josh helped her by supporting her elbow with the hand of his good arm, and she squeezed in sideways into the few inches of space left on the seat between him and the door. Mila banged her forehead on the window softly.
"You're okay, aren't you?" he asked, a concerned expression plaguing his face.
"I dropped the medicine," she whispered shamefully.
He patted her knee and rolled his bottom lip inwards, raising his eyebrows encouragingly. "Not all of it, remember?"
Glenn, who had been listening from the passenger seat, looked at Mila from between his headrest and his door. "We might be able to go back for it, after the walkers have had time to clear out," he said. Mila nodded with gratitude at his reassurance, but felt no less guilty over having left behind such valuable commodities. She had still had bullets in the gun- and one in the chamber- she should have shot the walker holding her back rather than slipping the bag; the illogical move marked her second condemnable blunder of the day.
"What held you guys up so long?" Sasha inquired suddenly.
"There were more up the road before we got to the car; not a herd but too many to take on," Glenn explained. "We had to take a detour through the woods, but it got pretty thick in there. It took us a while to get through all the brush."
"What happened to your face?" Josh asked, inspecting Ant on the other side of the backseat. Mila leaned forwards and, for the first time, noticed the thin, ragged scrapes extending from the tragus of his ear to halfway to his chin.
"There were a lot of thorns in that brush," he answered, annoyed, narrowing his icy blue eyes.
Josh nodded slowly. "You come across any more gnashers after all that?"
"Mhm. Just two. We put 'em down."
They spent the next five minutes in silence, shaking their heads whenever the car bounced on the old, uneven road. With five people in the backseat, the ride was worse than uncomfortable. Ant and Zach had settled into a light doze. Ant's legs were stretched into a straight line in front of him and his body was turned sideways to accommodate resting his elbow on the rear dashboard. Zach had doubled over and leaned the crown of his head low on the back of the driver's seat headrest. Sasha had laid her head back with her legs tightly crossed and arms folded. Josh's ankles crisscrossed one another in the floorboard and he propped his arms behind the girls. Mila's legs and back started to cramp from being in their awkward position. She grimaced and shut her eyes as she readjusted subtly and tried not to disturb her fellow passengers with her movements, but her discomfort did not escape Josh's notice.
"You uncomfortable?" She nodded slightly and sighed with her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she stretched her right leg.
"I'll be glad when we make it back to the other car," she said with a grouchy frown.
"We could talk," Josh shrugged. "It might make the ride go by a little quicker. Besides, you still haven't told me what kind of music you like." Josh gave her a good-natured nudge with his elbow and she shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Oh, come on." She pretended to ignore him. "Well, I like the oldies. I'm a big fan of Marty Robbins," he announced to her in an impressive voice, grinning.
Though she tried, Mila could not hide her amusement. "'Out in the west Texas town of El Paso . . . '" she finally sang with a snort.
"You know Marty Robbins?" he asked with giddy incredulity.
"Of course I know Marty Robbins. I was raised on his Wild West ballads: 'They're Hanging Me Tonight', 'Big Iron', 'The Strawberry Roan', and- my personal favorite- 'Utah Carol'- were the sounds of my childhood."
"I'm impressed." He paused. "But do you know 'The Master's Call', 'cause it would be a shame if you didn't."
Mila ducked her chin with a devilish grin. "'A miracle performed that night, I wasn't meant to die. The dead ones formed a barricade, 'least six or seven high, and right behind it there was I, afraid but safe and sound. I cried and begged for mercy, kneeling there upon the ground.'"
Glenn chuckled as he turned to join the exchange. "How do you know so many songs? I don't think I've ever heard one mentioned that you didn't know."
"I made it my business to know them. Especially the ones people considered classics of any genre. I'd turn 'em on in my car and sing along to whoever was unfortunate enough to be my passenger. I used to joke that I was culturing them."
"What else do you know, then?" Josh asked, cradling his head in his hand.
"Most anything you could name," she challenged.
"Okay. We'll start with something easy and get harder as we go. Sing a phrase from something by The Beatles."