digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Days Gone By Part 1

   "Grimes, we're practically running on fumes." Winona tells the man next to her.
   "I know. There's a gas station up there...hopefully they've got some gas." He responds.
   "Wishful thinking, Sheriff." The woman sighs looking out the window.
   The cruiser stops in an intersection, the tank was completely empty now. The two get out of the car, grabbing the jerrycans out from the trunk and start to walk towards the gas station. When they get closer, they see abandoned cars covering the lot and piles of people's possessions. They walk past a bunch of little kid toys, it's a hard sight to see.
   As they go further in, they see all the dead bodies in the cars, too. The smell is overwhelming. They make it to the gas pumps, a sign is hung above, "NO GAS."
   "Told ya, Sheriff." Winona whispers, nudging the cop beside her.
   "We can probably siphon some gas from the cars around." As they turn around to head back up, they start to hear footsteps. Rick gets down and takes his hat off, he looks under a car and sees a little girl pick up a stuffed animal. He walks over, "Little Girl? I'm a policeman. Little girl."
   The girl stops, Winona begins to get nervous, "Rick... I don't think that's a good idea."
   He waves her off, "Don't be afraid, okay? Little girl." The girl turns around, her mouth covered in blood, she was a walker. She starts to limp towards them. "Oh my god." Starting to back up, Rick pulls his gun out.
   BANG
   The girl falls to the ground. Winona looks at Rick,
"That's 0 for 2, Cowboy, how many times am I gonna be right?"
   He lets out a soft chuckle, "Yeah yeah, I hear you." He jokingly rolls his eyes at her. The duo starts to head back to the squad car.
——
   Shane Walsh: a coworker of Rick Grimes at the King's County Police Department, soon enough, the two became as close as brothers. Shane's fiancée, Winona Graves, works at the King's County Hospital in the coma ward. Being his fiancée, she also became close with the Grimes' family; mainly with Rick Grimes' wife, Lori.
——
   Winona vividly remembers the day Rick got shot on duty. She happened to be just coming out of a patient's room when Shane quickly approached her; he was in shock, Winona knew how serious this was if he came to see her while she was working. He stopped in front of her catching his breath, "Rick's been shot, he's on his way here for surgery. God, Win, there was so much blood!" He ran his hand though his hair, "It was my fault, I shouldn't have put my guard down that fast. I don't know how to tell Lori. What will I even tell her?"
   She pulls her fiancé in for hug, comforting him,"Shane, you'll need to tell her the basics: he was shot, he needs surgery. Keep it brief, and you can tell her the rest on the way here, so she can see him as soon as possible."
   Shane leans into her embrace, he feels stable again and asks, "What would I do without you?"
   "Crash and burn," she jokes, "Now let me get back to my patients, I love you." Shane rushes out the door after saying their goodbyes.
   As she goes back to her nurse duties, the reality of the situation begins to sink in for her; on the outside she looks calm, but deep down she is extremely concerned and anxious, she knows how Shane considers Rick family, Lori's her best friend, and Carl is just a kid.
——
   Shortly after Shane came to Winona, he arrives with Lori and Carl. Winona sees them and runs up to her closest friend, pulling a sobbing Grimes in for a hug, "Oh God, Lor. I am so sorry. How are you doing? How is he doing?"
    "He was in surgery when we got here," the woman replies, "The doctors said he was in critical condition, they— they don't know if he'll make it." She cries into Winona's shoulder and pauses briefly to look up at her, "We got into a fight this morning before he left for work, it was pretty nasty... Oh God... What if that's the last thing I said to him?"
   "Hey, don't beat yourself up over something you couldn't control, I'm sure it was heat of the moment and he didn't mean it."
   "That's the thing, Nona, I was the one egging him on, he kept being reasonable and apologetic. I—sometimes I wish he would just flip out and tell me I was being a bitch, but..."
   "...But that's not how Rick is."
   "Exactly," Lori sighs, running her hand through her hair, "Carl is taking it pretty badly, I- I don't know what to do. Can you try to cheer him up?"
   Winona rubs her back, comforting her, "Of course, Lori. My shift is over in a few minutes, I'll come right back to be here with you and Carl." Lori nods and Winona goes to finish up her final tasks for the day.
——
   Carl sees Winona walking up to them, she doesn't even get a chance to react before he running towards her sobbing and hugging her, "Nona! Dad's hurt real bad!"
   "I know, Bud. I'm really sorry to hear... but I know your dad, and he's as tough as nails. If anyone is gonna wake up from a coma it would be him."
   She ruffles his hair, Carl wipes his runny nose and looks up at her with puffy eyes, "Yeah... you're right! My dad is super strong, he'll wake up! I know he will."
   "That's the spirit! Now let's head over to your mom and Shane." He nods and grabs onto her hand.
   When they reach Shane and Lori, Winona sees him hugging Lori to comfort her. When he sees Winona, however, he immediately stops. She shrugs it off and sits down by Shane.
——
   A few hours later, Rick comes out of surgery. The doctors told Lori he is in a comatose state but he was medically induced so they have some vague knowledge as to when he'll wake. There was more good news, Winona found out she would be his usual nurse on the days she works, she's glad to see him in stable condition.
——
   As the weeks pass, she got to see Shane and Lori more often since they would visit him and check up on him. Carl would stay back at the house or school, due to Lori deciding he was too young to see his father like that. After Winona would get off work, she and Shane would typically stop in to see the younger Grimes and hang out with Lori for a bit. However, when it was just Lori and Shane visiting Rick, Winona would see them constantly together. She began to notice how close they had gotten and picked up on their strange behaviors. "𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐝, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜é, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝'𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐢 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐚," she thought to herself.
   She brushed it off, but when a month of these behaviors had occurred, she started doubting the loyalty of the people she trusted most, she would pick up on little inside jokes they had, the whispers, how tense the room would get as soon as Winona walked in to check up on Rick. At home, Shane would be short with her and cold, and Lori started seeming tense and anxious around her. Becoming frustrated, she, too, started distancing herself from Shane, rarely talking to Lori either.
   She ended up starting to call Carl after work to check in on him. One night, in particular, when she  got home, she called him as usual,  "Hey, Bud!" she spoke, "How're ya hanging?"
   "Hey, Nona! I'm doing pretty good, mom got me a new comic on her way home from the hospital. How's my dad doing?"
   "Cool!! You'll have to show me soon. He's doing great, I say one or two more weeks and he'll be up and moving around."
   "Sweet!" the young boy shouted, he lowered his voice, "I really miss you, Nona. Why didn't you come over with Shane tonight?"
   She froze, her heart dropping, "Wait— he's over tonight?"
   "Yeah, he came over about an hour or so ago."
   "𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭," she thought to herself, "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧?"
   "Nona? Are you still there?"
   Snapping out of her thoughts, she replies, "Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. I got pretty busy with work tonight.  It's Tuesday today, so maybe I could convince your mom to let me take you out this weekend— since I'm off— to go comic book shopping... maybe the arcade? Would that make up for me not being there that often in the past couple weeks?"
   "Woah! Really? You'd do that?!"
   "Of course! I'd get to spend time with the coolest kid I know!! I haven't seen you in awhile."
   "Sweet!! I'll ask mom! Bye Nona!!"
   "Bye, Bud." Winona heard the click, indicating Carl hung up, she sighed, "God, I'm such an idiot. Something has to be going on between Shane and Lori." She started to get ready for bed and pack her things for work. Something in her gut told her to pack more clothes than usual, so she ended up throwing a few changes of clothes in her backpack, instead of one. She threw it in the back of her Jeep, ready for work the next day.
   It was a regular Wednesday morning at the hospital, Winona was doing her daily routine of taking care of Rick. There had been some gossip going around the hospital about a lot of violent patients who were attacking the staff who brought them in, but Winona just chalked it up to being silly rumors. Weird occurrences and cases like this were happening for the past week, she just assumed it was more of the same things she didn't need to worry about. As she was about to record Rick's vitals she was interrupted with a loud alarm from her phone.
   𝑩𝑬𝑬𝑷
   𝑩𝑬𝑬𝑷
   𝑩𝑬𝑬𝑷
   Checking her phone, Winona sees an emergency broadcast, stating all civilians should get to refugee centers, one was in Atlanta, Georgia. She thought nothing of it, but still kept it in the back of her mind as she continued to tend to Rick.
   Not even a few minutes later, Shane bursted through the doors, "We need to leave now, help me get Rick, we're not leaving him here." He turns to Rick trying to lift him, "I'm gonna get you out of here, Bud."
   "Jesus Christ, Shane, you can't just burst in here and scare me half to death," Winona said rolling her eyes, "If this is about that alert I'm sure it was just a fluke, why are you so worried?"
   "Win, listen to me, even the government doesn't know what's happening, I've heard things about a cannibalistic virus, that if you get bit you'll contract the disease. Those cases we kept hearing about, that I told you were probably just pranks, are actually real and shit has been hitting the fan. I don't know what's being done to prevent more cases, all I know is that I care about you, and that we need to get Rick out of here."
   Winona stopped. She started to process the information given to her, then her instincts kicked in and she immediately started telling Shane to disconnect Rick's IV's, while she was trying to find a wheelchair to put him in. When they tried lifting him, she couldn't tell if Shane was doing all he could to try and move him.
   All of a sudden, they started to hear boots thudding along the corridor of the wing, then came the gunshots and the screams. "Stay here, keep trying to move Rick. I'm gonna go see what's going on," Shane tells her. Winona, seeing how serious he was, proceeded to do what he told her, and not debate him, even if she was worried about his safety. Moments later, he comes back in, "They're coming, we need to go now." They try transferring Rick once more, proving the same results as the last few times. The stomps were getting closer and they could hear helicopters flying outside, Winona began to realize they wouldn't be able to lift Rick. Swiftly and quietly, Winona turns off the monitors that were showing Rick's vitals. "Shit...Shane we need to hide or else they're gonna come in here and shoot at anything that moves." She then rushes into the bathroom connected to Rick's hospital room.
   Shane doesn't immediately follow; so when he's about to move, the footsteps stop right outside the door, Shane drops to the ground and stays as quiet as possible. The soldier gives the room a quick scan and leaves. Winona comes out of the bathroom and sees her fiancé on the floor looking like a deer in headlights, she stifles a laugh. "I can see you trying not to laugh from all the way down here," Shane whispers, also stifling a laugh, "but we really need to get Rick out of here," he looks back at his unconscious friend, "Listen to me. If you're gonna wake up, I need you to do it now. Okay? Now." Shane was becoming frustrated, "Please, Man, you just show me a sign. Anything. Please, Rick—" An explosion cuts him off, in turn shutting the power off inside the hospital.
   Winona could hear the military retreating outside. She turns to Shane, breaking down and not caring about the pst few months, "Look, baby, you need to leave, I'll stay here. I'll take care of Rick."
   "No. No way in hell am I letting you stay here, especially with what we just heard out there and what I saw..." Shane stubbornly says.
   "Goddamnit, Shane, please just listen to me! Lori and Carl need help getting to safety. If anything, what we've heard should prove that I'll be safest here, they cleared it, right?" Winona counters, "Rick is almost out of his coma, I'd say give it a week or two and he'll be up and moving. Please, this isn't easy for me, either, but we need to help them."
   When Shane heard Lori's name, it was like something flipped inside him, "You're right, they need help. I'll see you in a few weeks, I love you. I'll be back to bring you some food, okay?" He said, giving Winona a quick peck on her cheek. She noticed how quickly Shane switched up once hearing Lori's name, she wanted to brush it off because this could be the last time she saw him, but that made the seed of doubt in her mind grow even bigger, especially with the information from Carl.
   "I love you too, see you then." She responds, hugging him. He stealthily slinks out the door, being cautious of any noise, Winona then heard him move one of the gurneys against the door so nothing can get in. Little things like these make her feel like she's just being paranoid about Lori and Shane's "friendship," he obviously still cared about her.
   His love, or what Winona believed was love, for her showed more, when he stayed true to his word, and came back to give her some canned food and water to survive on, he hadn't even questioned if she was still okay with staying. Shane dropped the food off, and he was out the door yet again.
   She looks at Rick, still unconscious, and bitterly chuckles, "Well, Grimes, looks like it's just you and me. At least I packed an extra change of clothes... wait they're in my car," she facepalms, "Son of a bitch."
——
   A week passes, Winona is still at the hospital, she keeps a low profile- being cautious- since she has no clue what's going on outside the door, other than what she heard when Shane left.
   "𝐀𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭," Winona thinks to herself, while she's changing Rick's bandage, "𝐈'𝐦 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐮𝐳𝐞," knowing that if she doesn't change Rick's dressing daily, it will lead to an infection making his healing process much longer than what was expected. She moves away from the bed and starts to gather the courage to leave, "𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐀 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞." She doesn't know what to expect on the other side of the door.
   Winona didn't know what she noticed first, if it was the stench of decaying flesh, or the bloodied hallway in front of her. "𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭," Winona, reasoning with herself, pushed forward.
   As she continued further down the hall, the odor got worse, and she noticed the walls covered in bullet holes. She made it to the nurses' station and she knew they kept gauze in one of the drawers in case of emergencies. She tries the phone first, but she heard nothing, not even a dial tone. Looking through the drawers, she comes across multiple boxes of gauze. "𝐘𝐞𝐬!! 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐆𝐨𝐝," she thought relieved, "𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬." There was just enough gauze for about a week's worth of dressing changes. "𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭."
   Moving just as cautiously as she did before, she eventually made it back, safely, into Rick's room, he was still unconscious, but that was expected. "Dammit, Grimes," She whispers to the man, "When you wake up from this, I'm gonna whoop your ass for the shit I've done for you." She changes his bandages and noticing that it was getting darker outside, she thought it would be best to try and get some early rest.
——
    A majority of her days went by with an unchanging schedule; wake up, monitor Rick, change his dressing, eat a bit of the food in the few cans she's been managing to save, and sleep. She was still worried about Shane, of course he was still her fiancé. The seed of doubt- however- was still growing every day, it seemed to get worse with him gone and with Lori. She missed her nightly calls with Carl, she hoped they were all safe and alive, but she knows that by now they've probably assumed that Rick and her are dead.
——
   Another week passed since Shane had left and a week since her last trek outside the room; again, she's running dangerously low with gauze but this time she also needs soap and hydrogen peroxide, since she had run out the day before. If she wouldn't get that, Rick's healing wound would become extremely infected. She hadn't anticipated him being unconscious for this long, "Come on, Grimes. I know you're stubborn, I need you to wake up soon. I don't know how long I can keep this up."
   "𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭," Winona hypes herself up before creeping out into the funk-ridden corridor. She would have to go past the nurses' station, and down a hallway, by the cafeteria, to get to the storage closet that housed the medical supplies Rick desperately needs.
   As she walks closer towards the cafeteria, she could see the two doors chained shut with the words, "DON'T OPEN DEAD INSIDE" spray painted on them.
   "Now who would do that? That makes no sense." She questioned to herself. It wasn't until she starts hearing moans coming from inside that she steps closer, and as she does, decaying hands reached through the gap between the doors, trying to grab her. Winona then came to the realization whoever wrote that was because those things were undead. She backs up away from the prying hands, running down the hallway towards the storage closet.
   "𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓. 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓. 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓. 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒?! 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃? 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐄  𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄?" These thoughts wouldn't stop running around her head even as she got to the storage closet, finally. She grabs what she needs and rushes back to Rick's room, not sparing a second glance at the doors.
   When she got inside, she collapses to the floor and starts to bawl. "𝐈𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐈𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐢? 𝐈𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥? 𝐎𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐝, 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥, 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝'𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤." Her mind is running a mile per minute, she couldn't quiet the doubts that everyone she loved is dead... at least she has Rick— even if he was unconscious it was still a comforting thought. She makes a promise to herself, that would be the last time she'd leave the room alone.
——
   Low and behold, she was right because a few days later, Rick woke from his coma.
   It was about late morning or early afternoon, Winona was in the bathroom getting ready for the day (as much as she can). Suddenly, she hears a familiar voice, "That vase— that's something special. 'Fess up. You steal it from your Grandma Jean's house?"
   Winona pauses, "𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬?"
   As if on cue, she hears his signature chuckle, "I hope you left her that spoon collection." She hears his laugh turn into coughing, she gets worried he might turn into one of the cannibals so she stays in the bathroom, still listening. "Shane?" She hears Rick call out, her heart twinges with sadness as she thinks of her fiancé. "Shane, you in the John?" Just as she is about to walk out, the room fills with silence, scared he was turning, she stays put.
   THUMP
   "Nurse! Help!" Rick grunts out.
   "𝐎𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐝." She facepalms and then proceeds to walk out of the bathroom, startling Rick, who is on the floor, she laughs at the sight, reminding her of her fiancé who was in the same position a few weeks earlier. "Easy there, Cowboy, you've been in a coma for about 3 months, so your muscles are gonna have to get used to movement," she tells Rick, who's squinting at her confused, while she helps him up. 
   "Winona? My god, it's good to see a familiar face, I thought I was alone for a minute there. Not to be rude and boss you around five minutes after just waking up, but could I get some water? My throat is kind of dry."
   "Of course," She rushes into the bathroom and grabs a disposable cup from under the sink and fills it up. "Here you go," she says handing Rick the cup.
   He accepts it and chugs it down, "Thanks, that was much needed," He looks around, as if looking for someone, "Hey..."
   "Hmm?" She asks.
   "Where's Shane, I could've sworn he was in here."
   Winona gulps, and starts to remember the events a few weeks back. He looks at her expectantly, Winona opens her mouth and began to catch him up to speed, "Well, Cowboy, you might wanna stay seated... It started with a news story here and there about people attacking other people, but Shane and I just thought they were pranks. Then more and more cases began popping up. The day when all hell broke loose was when there was an emergency broadcast saying how civilians should get to refugee centers, with one in Atlanta. At first I thought nothing of it, until Shane burst in saying we needed to go and to get you out of here, moments later the military started flooding the hospital, shooting it up. Shane and I were trying to take you with us but you were dead weight, too heavy— no offense— for just the two of us to carry. I had to convince—or practically beg— Shane to leave me behind so I could take care of you until you woke up. He was stubborn as a mule, not wanting me to be here alone but when I reminded him that Lori and Carl would need help getting somewhere safe, it was like a switch went off and he was out the door. Ever since then, I've been here, by myself, taking care of you, the hospital seems cleared so we're safe until you recover." Rick immediately tried standing again after hearing this, resulting in him collapsing on the floor once more, to which Winona laughs, "Rick, muscle atrophy is a real thing, at least take a day stretching the muscles before you try walking."
   Rick, being the persistent man he is, proceeds to stand up again, this time with better results,"Listen, Winona, I can't just sit here in the safety of the hospital while my wife and son are out there, and I know you're probably worried sick for your fiancé."
   Twisting her engagement ring, he was right and she knew that, she sighs, "Alright Grimes, let's go save the world."
——
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