Connor tried his best to give Murphy and Emily space, he was happy for his brother. He was out in the backyard of the new house they'd found. Boston was going to have to wait, it was getting cold and traveling during the winter was close to suicide. They needed somewhere they could hole up and stay warm. It was going to be tricky with the three of them stuck together in such a small space.
They brothers always had trouble keeping women, before their calling, it was jealousy. Women hated being in second place and no matter which brother you ended up with, second place was all they'd ever be. Then they had found their mission and second place became third, then there was being wanted by the cops. Connor let out a deep breath, he always believed that they were not meant for that kind of love, but Murphy would never buy into something like that. Murphy never ran from living his life to the fullest, even if he was just running into a brick wall.
He dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. He really hoped he was wrong, some of those issues were gone now. They didn't have to hide from the authorities and the mission was just one more dangerous thing in an insanely dangerous world, but Connor was always going to be number one to Murphy, just as Murphy would always be number one for Connor. To the twins, a brother wasn't just a brother, a brother was life itself.
Connor looked up at the sky, it was covered in stars, and where he used to see only a handful before now there were thousands.
"Fuckin' beautiful." He murmured. "Now we can see your work, dear Lord." He knelt down on the soft grass and kissed his rosary.
"Please God, don't let her know, don't put us to the test. She is fragile, you sent her to us for a reason." He looked up to the endless sky.
"Please don't let it be the reason I'm thinking." He crossed himself, kissed the crucifix and stood up. A growl coming from his right side caught his attention. He peered into the trees behind the house and his eyes widened in fright. A horde of the dead were coming their way.
Murphy and Emily had just finished making love and were almost completely dressed when Connor burst into the bed room.
"What are ya doin' Con?!" Murphy stood in front of Emily as she quickly pulled her shirt on.
"We gotta go! They saw me Murph! Gotta be at least 50 a them!" he raced around the room gathering their supplies.
"A herd?" Emily asked nervously as she ran around helping Connor.
"Ay and a fuckin' big one at that." He answered, smacking Murphy upside the head. His younger twin finally snapped out of his frozen confused state and began helping.
They ran out the front door grateful that the dead hadn't made it to the front yard yet. They had managed to get themselves a small car a few days back and right now it was a God sent. Connor jumped into the driver's side and floored it. He did his best to shake off the feeling that God had answered his prayer and that, that answer had been no.
"You've seen a herd before Emily?" Murphy asked as they sped down the dark quiet street.
"Yes," she answered in a shaky voice, before looking out the back window. "Once when I was with the Dixons. They were good, never let anything sneak up on us but one time we almost drove straight into a sea of them. It was the only time I ever saw Merle look really scared, that's how I knew we were in trouble." She turned back around and sat down. "they surrounded the truck so fast….it was just a fluke that nobody was on the motorcycle. Merle usually was and I rode with him but on that day we were all in the truck cause it had been raining." She looked down at her hands. "We barely got out."
"How did you get out?" Murphy asked quietly.
Emily laughed a little, "I don't think I know. Merle drove like a maniac as far as I could tell, he was even laughing and somehow we reversed out of it and down a dirt road."
Connor scratched his eyebrow with his thumb, she'd been through quite a bit with those two. His mind kept wandering back to the older Dixon and what he'd observed at camp. Murphy's focus had been on Emily almost immediately and that had skewed his opinion on the matter and if Connor was honest he had let Murphy's bias skew his own opinion. Now Connor was thinking and remembering. He was remembering how Merle's eyes were always searching for Emily, even as he wooed a certain mouthy blond and he was remembering how there was anger etched into the older man's face from the moment Murphy started paying attention to Emily. Connor had written it off as Merle being a greedy asshole but then there was how his brother, the one that looked too much like Murph, kept watching his older brother in confusion and how that same brother had questioned them extensively when it was made know that Emily would be leaving with them. Perhaps there was more to the Dixon's and Emily's relationship.