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it wasn’t all too often that dream found himself using media to cope. even if that media was extremely important, or spoke to him in a certain way, it was rare that it became a part of his coping mechanics. that was until richie suggested on a late night of insomnia, that the two should watch The Walking Dead. they spent the entirety of that night watching the first, and half of the second season, before deciding it to be ‘their’ show.
around a month after starting the long series, the two boys were already galavanting through toward the end of the fifth season. the main characters had finally found a place, a safe one, where they could stay and live their lives at for the presumable future. it was a huge upturn in the show for the main crew, but it also implied the introduction of new characters. particularly a group of teens around the same age as the main character’s son, carl. one of the teens in particular caught both richie and dream’s eye though. not just because of his interesting background and family issues that they related to, but also the way he acted resembling their own behaviors.
the two joked about relating to him for a while as they wrapped up the fifth season. they discussed potential plots and lore surrounding his otherwise background characteristic arc. it seemed the directors wanted to pay more attention to the character’s family than him.
that began to change in the sixth season. as bad things began happening the sheltered neighborhood, characters were emotionally drawn, like they always were, to the main character, rick grimes, and his family. they looked to him for protection and he responded with that exact which was asked of him. as an ex cop, rick had no problem serving by and helping to protect the large group of civilians, especially if it meant he and his family got to remain safe behind the walls of the neighborhood.
during this time, carl began forming friendships with the group of teens at the neighborhood. he and enid, the only girl around his age there, were arguably closet. enid had a lot of experience on the outside, while most of the people inside the walls had never experienced the outside terrors. carl liked spending time with her since that meant he got to talk with someone who understood what he been through.
carl also took this friendship forming arc as an opportunity to make good ends with richie and dream’s favorite character, ron. it was going to be difficult, ron was one to hold a grudge and not only had carl’s father killed ron’s, carl was spending a lot of time with ron’s girlfriend, enid. of course most of his anger was seemingly driven by nothing, ron remained as stubborn as ever throughout the season. he got in multiple physical altercations with carl, once even trying to kill him.
the two had been in the garage of ron’s house, hiding from the walkers, or zombies, that were infiltrating the neighborhood. emotions seemed to blur his actions as ron pulled a gun on carl, leading to the two getting into a full fight whilst locked in the garage. even after almost getting him killed, carl lied about ron when rick asked about the yelling in the garage, explaining instead that the two were trying to make the garage safe from walkers. later in the scene, ron apologized, handing over his gun and spending the rest of the episode to help the grimes and his own family get out of the house alive.
‘i think thats enough for one day,’ dream yawned as he reached to turn the television off. it was almost one in the morning, and they might have plans in the morning, he didn’t remember.
richie had other ideas. ‘c’mon, one more?’ he pleaded, lip poking in a fake pout. ‘it’s the funny number dream.’ sure enough, the next episode was season 6 episode 9. he rolled his eyes, throwing his head back on the couch dramatically.
‘one more episode,’ dream groaned, allowing netflix to play the next one. ‘that’s it.’ richie thanked him repeatedly as it started.
the episode started away from the neighborhood, explaining where certain characters where and how they were getting back. the show did this a lot, switching points of view and timelines and from past to present to future. sometimes it was hard to keep track of, but normally it was done beautifully.
eventually the view was swapped to rick explaining that they should cover themselves in sheets that were drenched in walker blood so that they smelled like the dead things, that way they could get outside unharmed. ron’s family was rightfully hesitant, but it didn’t take them long to be convinced. even though it was disgusting, it was going to protect them and thats all that mattered.
they had made it out of the house safely and were onto the walker-crowded roads. carl’s baby sister was being carried under his own bloodied sheets, but as rick described their new plan, ron’s mom decided it be better if the baby was kept somewhere else, somewhere safer. gabriel, the priest that rick’s group has met in the woods, was quick to volunteer taking her to his church. rick agreed to this, and it wasn’t long before the two groups were separating and making their way back into the crowd.
dream would be lying if he said that the next scene didn’t make him bite down his nails to the skin. ron’s little brother, sam, had begun crying out for his mother, no longer feeling safe with all the dead things around him. she attempted to calm her son down, but the loud noises erupting from the smaller boy were enough to attract the walkers. they surrounded him, tearing him apart and biting down on any revealed skin. his mom was shocked, stunned to the spot, until she too began to scream. her yells only drew more suspension from the passing walkers, and they too surrounded her. ron watched this happen, hand locked with carl’s still from their chain of protection they’d created to get through the herd of walkers. in that moment though, all he could think to do was pull a gun on rick. deep down, ron knew it wasn’t true, but right then, all this seemed like rick’s fault and only rick’s fault.
time seemed to slow as the next scene played out. behind ron, michonne, one of the members of rick’s group, drew her katana from its sheath. neither richie nor dream could understand why she did what she did next, but boy did they feel it. her sword was plunged through ron’s chest and out near his shoulder, so he dropped the gun. she slid the blade back out, letting the boy’s body fall back to the walkers behind her.
a blinding pain washed through the body, as well as something, or someone, in the headspace pushing richie and dream away from the front. they could see someone, gripping onto the front, sobs echoing from their core as pure pain and dismay filled the headspace. even though they weren’t deliberately experiencing it, the two boys could feel the pain radiating from the new alter.
the door to the front was whipped open and maggie stepped into the threshold, eyes frantically moving from richie and dream to the boy trembling at the front. she motioned for richie’s help as she placed a caring hand on the boy’s back, helping him up and into her arms so she could guide him out of the front. richie followed quickly behind, making sure he could help her in anyway that was necessary.
dream caught his breath, pulling full front to turn the television off. sapnap had come rushing into the living room with a worried expression clouding his features.
“i heard crying.” he explained, walking over to make sure his friend was ok.
“i’m not sure what just happened,” dream’s breath trembled. “i think an alter just formed.” nick nodded sympathetically, sitting down on the couch next to him.
“you alright?” he asked.
dream nodded. “i’m fine. i’m not sure about them though.”
“you should rest, talk to them in the morning.” nick suggested with a weak smile. the older nodded again, returning the smile to his friend.
“thanks,” he murmured. “goodnight sap.”
“night dude, stay safe.”