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It had been a little bit since Sawyer had slept. More than a little bit actually. It had been about 4 days. She had been trying to ease ten into the night watch, not giving him too many hours, but she was a little too lenient about it and accidentally ended up only making him do 2 shifts while rob did 1 just for fun. It was better then her original schtick of just being nocturnal but when she had her first break she collapsed the moment she made contact with her bed. She had horrible night terrors. After that she steered clear of sleep unless absolutely necessary, unfortunately Sawyer doesn't see her own needs as necessary.
Her lack of sleep made her on high guard, closed off but most importantly ruin her mental wellbeing, atleast what's left of it. She had been having intense mood swings with no outlet to vent her frustrations on.
She was about to climb up to her usual rooftop to start her shift overseeing the town for the night, when she heard a familiar voice.
“Hey, I brought pink whitney.”
Said ten in a nonchalant tone.
Sawyer nearly fell off the ladder in surprise.
“Shit, Ten!”
She exclaimed with a sigh of relief.
“You know it's not your shift tonight, Right?”
“Yeah but my sleep schedules started to adjust so i figured i'd give you some company since i'm not all that tired.”
He replied nonchalantly.
She thought it over for a moment before shrugging and gesturing for him to climb up with her.
“So where's the dog?”
She mumbled tiredly as she reached the top of the ladder.
“Probably off summoning cthulhu or something.”
He replied casually as if that's a normal dog activity. She nodded in response.
After they both reached the top they simply scanned the horizon to make sure there were no hostile creatures on their way to the town. The sun had already set but the sky was just barely still beautifully orange and pink.
“What was your favorite videogame growing up?”
Ten asked out of the blue.
The pointlessness of the question took her off guard, she thought for a moment.
“I really liked Mario Kart Wii as a kid. I got super good at it.”
“I could totally beat you in it.”
“Like how you could beat me in just dance?”
“Ok well..”
“That's what i thought.”
The conversation droned on for another 10 minutes before eventually shifting topics.
“So yeah when i was little my dad was a school trip chaperone and a little kid threw up on his shoes, it wasn't even a kid in the school just some random kid that was there.”
Ten said as he took a swig from the bottle he had brung.
“Should've thrown up on the kid afterwards to prove he’s stronger.”
Sawyer replied unflinchingly.
“One time my dad went on a business trip and when he came back it turned out a spider had given birth in his old dress shoes. Can't tell if that's more or less interesting than your story.”
Sawyer said, distantly gazing off.
“Maybe some zombie out there has spider shoes now, that would be cool.”
“I'm sure your dad is still out there in spider shoes somewhere.”
Ten spoke reassuringly.
Sawyer simply looked down, a hushed silence falling over the two of them. She quietly took a swig from the bottle of whitney ten had brought.
“I wonder if this ever ends if the government will form some sort of program for everyone who was orphaned or to be reimbursed, or at least given therapy.”
“Who says the government will reform? Most of the politicians either got zombified or murked the moment this started. Maybe lawless cowboy towns will be made?”
Ten questioned, fiddling with some sort of pebble he had found next to him.
“Every orphan gets a horse and a gun.”
Sawyer replied jokingly, although still a certain sadness in her voice.
“I don't think this is going to be over anytime soon though so.. no horse for me.”
Ten nodded solemnly.
“We can be horseless and gunless together.”
“YOU can be gunless.”
She said, flashing her semi automatic strapped to her waist.
“Ok you get what i meant.”
“It was a nice sentiment though, I do ‘preciate it.”
She replied, taking another sip.
The bottle was over half empty at this point, sawyer being the main consumer.
“Honestly i really don't have a plan for if this all ends..”
she mumbled while rubbing her eyes, the exhaustion clearly taking its toll, if the eye bags weren’t enough of a hint.
“I dont know how i would take care of amber.. Id probably have to work multiple jobs, and not to mention the cost of repairs on the house..”
She spoke in a melancholy tone.
“I just.. i dont think im ready for the world yet.I dont have anybody to help me learn how to.. be alright.. anymore.”
She said, now resting her head on her knees, a certain murky hopelessness in her words.
Ten gazed at her as she avoided eye contact by looking at the concrete beneath her. He wasn't really sure what to do, he truely sympathized however, and so he quickly wrapped Sawyer into a hug, taking her by surprise.
“If i haven't died by then, i'll be there to learn with you.”
For a few moments there was nothing but silence between the two, but then Sawyer hugged back. Hard. As if he would disappear the moment she let go.
“..Thankyou.”
She spoke hushed but sincerely. When she pulled back it was clear that she was on the verge of tears, but not from fear anymore. A faint small smile visible if you squinted.
“I think you should take the night off, thinking too hard about anything after not sleeping for a while is never good. I'll look after things for tonight.” He said.
“You don't gotta do that..”
“But i'm going to.”
Sawyer looked him in the eyes for a moment before nodding.
“Thank you..again.”
She spoke softly, clearly feeling bad that ten felt the need to help her so much.
“Il stay here so you arent bored out of your mind.”
“Oh, thanks. Alright then just wait here for a moment while i grab some things. Any requests?”
“Bug juice?”
“Il stop by robs to get you one thats cold.”
“You’re a real one.”
After about 5 minutes ten returned with a giant bag.
“Christ you said SOME!”
“Yeah! I only grabbed a few things.”
He said unzipping the bag, revealing that the majority of the space was taken up by a blanket and pillow, some water, juice and snacks under them.
“I brought these just in case you wanted to rest on something other then cement.”
“Much obliged.”
She replied, taking the blanket and laying it down next to ten where she was sitting before. She layed on her stomach next to him, resting her arms on the pillow.
“Do you have any plans for when this is all over?”
She asked, feeling much better.
“Not really sure.. I guess it depends on how things reform.”
She nodded in response, a yawn escaping her lips.
“You don't have to stay up for me you know.”
Ten questioned.
“I'm not even tired..it's fine.”
She mumbled into the pillow.
“Whatever you say.”
Their conversation continued on for about 30 minutes, getting quieter and quieter. Eventually Ten had looked over and saw that Sawyer had drifted off, snuggled into the pillow contently.
The moonlight cascading off of her hair made her look nearly ethereal. He softly smiled at seeing the rare sight of her so peaceful. He carefully sealed her drink to make sure it didn't spill and set it back in the bag for when she woke up.
That was the first night in a while she was able to sleep without fear. Without fear for the future, her sister, or her town. She hadn't felt taken care of in quite some time.
God, she could get used to it.