<div style="text-align: center">《 Ezra 》<br/>
<i>Location: KOA campground <br/>
Addressing: Anise, guards, Rebel</i>​</div><br/><div style="text-align: justify">His heart pounded with adrenaline, thrumming wildly against his sternum like the space was entirely too small. Ezra couldn't think. His brain was cloudy and vision foggy with overstimulation and the faint whispers of terrorizing fear. It was only when he heard his sister's cry and felt her soft hands grasping his that he blinked away the fog. Ezra wrapped his arms around her petite frame, holding her tightly against his body with a reassured exhale. He held the back of her shirt until the emergency siren in his head quieted and he was able to hear the small voice in his head. Anise was okay. <br/>
<br/>
"What the hell were you thinking?" Ezra questioned, holding Anise by the forearms. He wanted to shake her, tell her how fucking stupid she was to put herself in danger. "Don't do that shit again. Tell me you need help. I would have looked in the building. I would have made sure it was okay." His fingers tightened their grip on her thin arms, not enough to bruise but enough to tether him while his panic ebbed and flowed. "We don't know how many more there are. We need to get moving." <br/>
<br/>
"Fucking bitch," he jested, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "don't scare me like that, especially when you're not strong enough to dig a hole to bury my body by yourself." <br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
The caravan continued their trek on foot, not a peep amongst. Ezra kept his arm around Anise's shoulders for a portion of the trip until they neared the camp. He was still unsettled, which was truly a common feeling for him since the end of the world. He knew his attachment to protecting his sister wasn't healthy, but at least Anise understood his cues and the way his brain worked. <br/>
<br/>
They stood in a small gathering, listening to Dan's explanation of the campground. He gestured to Anise and glanced over to Rachel. "What do you think about bunking with Tobias and Rachel? It might be nice to have another girl to talk to." Ezra looked onto the structures and nodded absently to himself. They were big enough for four if Tobias wanted to join them inside. He wasn't about to stick everyone into one building. It caused him enough stress to monitor Anise and now Rachel, out of gut instinct, even though he could tell that she was more than capable of going up against the boys. <br/>
<br/>
Ezra dropped his gaze from one of the cabins and found Armando pointing at him. The guards were speaking with each other again, their body language visibly hostile. His brows dipped and he put his hand on Anise's forearm. "Stay here, please." He glanced at Tobias and Rachel and stepped over to the men, joining the small group with his arms crossed loosely over his chest. Armando finished his response to the argument that only seemed to be daring to grow in intensity. <br/>
<br/>
"What is the point of having you here if you are only going to bicker amongst yourselves? Put the goddamn yardsticks away and get to work." Ezra addressed the guards before pinning his attention on Rebel. "You. I thought I warned you." He stepped forward, approaching the guard as the others fell all but away, their frames just in his peripheral. "I thought I warned you not to interject where you don't belong and here you are," Ezra gestured flippantly to where they stood, "bringing up the same shit that got your ass handed to you back at the church." <br/>
<br/>
"You are a disgusting piece of shit that deserves nothing more than to work under Hale's thumb. You don't care about these people. You didn't care as you argued with Rachel under the guise of free will. You didn't care as you sent Evelyn and the others to their death. You never once offered to clear the church, you only argued that they were free to pray if they wanted." <i>Anise was right</i>, Ezra thought. He felt his blood boil as he thought about the situation that had recently happened. The situation that could have had a graver outcome. "The church was convenient for you, wasn't it? If the miscreants want to pray, let them. Let them meet their God at the hand of a walker or outlaw. My sister was inches away from being scratched by a walker because of you." <br/>
<br/>
Ezra's voice turned cold with realization. "You wanted them to go inside the church because then you could blame Rachel, my sister, Kennedy. You could blame them for not trying hard enough if they felt they were right. You could blame them for listening to you in the first place because, after all, you're not really law out here, are you? You were going to let people die." He laughed darkly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But no one did. Because of me. Not because of you. Or Armando or Dan. And now you're causing more trouble in hopes that we will turn on each other. Or better yet, Armando will turn on you. You want Armando to disappoint Hale and you're struggling to make that happen. You're insecure. You're blaming the horses on Armando. Your fight with Kennedy. Me punching you. You're blaming it all because you want to build up your argument for King Hale because you want to be in his pocket."​</div>