digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Days Gone By Part 2

Rick and Winona had come to a compromise and spent an hour of him trying to walk around the room so his muscles would get used to movement. Winona had to help him walk at first but he eventually was able to hobble on his own, she would steady him every so often but surprisingly he was walking around by himself after a few tries.
"I think I'm good to go. What do you think, Dr. Graves?" Smiling, Rick looks at Winona for her answer.
"Okay Grimes, you look well-balanced, just tell me if you need to take a break, alright?"
"Yes, ma'am," he salutes. She chuckles at his response, walking up to the door and creaking it open.
"The coast is clear, we should be quiet just in case," she whispers to Rick.
"You never explained what's got everyone so worried. Or why civilians were encouraged to go to a refugee camp all the way in Atlanta."
She turns to him, "Shane said it's like this cannibalistic virus, if you get bit you turn into a cannibal too. That's all I know." She left out what she saw in the cafeteria because she, herself, doesn't want to believe the possibility that the cannibals are undead.
"I'm sure the CDC will come up with a cure in no time," he smiles at her, which she returns. Winona was happy, she finally has someone to talk to— other than herself, that is— and she finally gets to leave the hospital.
——
It's pitch-black in the hospital since the generator had stopped a while ago. Rick stops at the nurses' station and picks up a phone.
"That's not gonna work, Grimes." Rick sighs and puts it down. "I've already tried it," Winona glumly informs him. Rick reaches over the desk and grabs something, he opens his hand to reveal a pack of matches. "Nice job, Detective," she grins, he does too.
As they go further down the hallway, Winona starts getting more nervous, recalling the events that happened a few days ago. "Hey, you okay?" Rick asks, holding her shoulder, face full of concern.
Winona gets spooked from the unexpected contact. "Huh? Oh yeah. I must've spaced out. Sorry," she shakily replies.
He doesn't fully believe her but keeps moving anyways, until Rick sees the cafeteria door. He stops in front of it, about to inch closer. "Rick, I would advise staying as far away from that door as you can." Winona harshly whispers to him, not taking her eyes off of the chain and board that are keeping the undead cannibals from escaping.
"Whoever wrote this was obviously trying to pull a prank, right Graves?" He looks back to see her terrified, staring at the chain.
"Rick, don't get any closer. Please," she desperately begs him. But curiosity kills the cat, Rick approaches the door. As he does, the decaying hands reach through to gap, just like they did with Winona a few days ago. They gasp and jump back, she expected it but a part of her still doesn't want to believe it.
"What the hell?!" he asks Winona.
"I warned you, and what I suggest is that we get out of here. ASAP," she orders while pushing forward to the stairwell, Rick follows, still in shock from the scene that just unfolded.
The door swings open, it's unlit, not surprising, and the uncertainty brings Winona's nerves back, however, it's their only way out. Rick grabs a match and lights it, the match provides a tiny bit of visibility for them but Winona is still grateful for it. She holds onto his shoulder, as he leads the way down. They reach the bottom safely and push the heavy door, leading to the loading dock, open. The sunlight is almost blinding for them.
"Oh wow I've forgotten what outside felt like," Winona says happily but before she could even fully appreciate it, she is hit with such a foul odor that she began to gag. She recognizes it as the stench of decaying bodies, the heat definitely isn't helping the smell either. The potency of the odor is overwhelming.
"Winona," Rick stops, looking around, "What in the hell happened here?"
This is when Winona notices, all those white mounds are dead bodies. "Holy shit..." she mutters, "There must be hundreds of bodies out here."
They continue on through the lot, not wanting to stay any longer. The whole area reeks of death.
Breaking the silence, Rick says, "I need to go back to my house. I need to make sure Carl and Lori made it out."
"I agree, you should also get some clothes, maybe some shoes." Winona jokes trying to get their minds off of what surrounds them.
Rick laughs and nods, "You know with the last name of Graves, I'd assume these were your patients."
"Oh I see how it is, shall I remind you who kept you alive for three months, hmm?"
"Alright alright," Rick says chuckling.
"My car should still be parked in the employee parking lot, so let's go get it."
——
She finds her car and unlocks it with her keys, "Hop in, Cowboy." He chuckles getting in the passenger side, Winona begins to drive away from the hospital. Coming across a park, she slows down, "What is that??"
Rick looks over and sees a weirdly shaped mound on the ground, "We should check it out."
Winona nods, they leave the Jeep and start to walk over, when they hear a strange moan. They discover the top half of a decaying woman crawling on the ground, her bones and intestines dragging behind her. "Oh my god," Winona covers her mouth and choking back tears, "How is this possible? Shouldn't she be dead?"
Rick says nothing, unsettled by what he just saw, and heads back to the car. Winona follows after and jumps into the driver's seat.
——
Eventually, they arrive at Rick's home, Winona parks the car. The two begin treading carefully up the stairs and into the house.
"Carl?!" Rick calls out, "Lori?!"
"Hey, Grimes, maybe that's not the best idea," Winona tries shushing him, but to no avail. She watches as he goes from room to room.
"They made it out," Rick announces suddenly, walking back into the front room she was standing in.
"What?! That's great! How do you know?"Winona questions.
"Do you see any pictures on the walls? Some of their clothes are gone, too," Rick says.
"Oh thank god." Winona sighs, this is confirmation that Shane made it out, too.
All of a sudden, the reality of finding them will be much harder and the uncertainty of them still being alive comes crashing down on both Rick and Winona. Dropping to their knees, they start to cry, realizing they may never see their loved ones again. It hit Rick the hardest, he turned to Winona with a tear stained face, "Am I still in my coma? Are you sure this isn't some nightmare?"
"I'm sorry, Rick, it's real and I wish it wasn't." Winona says back. Rick walks outside, to go sit on his stairs, while she stays inside still softly crying. "𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞? 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞? 𝐇𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞," Winona contemplates to herself.
——
"Hey, Lady? You alright?"
She opens her mouth to reply but stops, "𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐤." Winona realizes someone else is in here.
She's about to yell for Rick when the strange man says, "Don't yell it will only attract them. The name's Morgan, what are you doing in here all alone?"
Winona is about to answer when she's interrupted by a little boy's voice, "DADDY! DADDY!" Morgan starts to run out the front door, Winona not knowing if she should follow. "Daddy, I got the sumbitch! I'm gonna smack him dead!"
Morgan rushes over and shoots the man in the street walking towards them. Winona rushes out after hearing a gunshot and is extremely confused at this point, not knowing why a little boy just hit Rick with a shovel, and who this random man is and why he just shot a man in the street.
"He say something? I thought I heard him say something." Morgan turns to the little boy.
"He called me Carl," the boy answers.
"Son, you know they don't talk." At this point Winona was at Rick's side trying to keep him awake, she can't tell if he has a concussion. "Hey, Mister, what's that bandage for?" he questions Rick.
"W-What?" Rick stutters, obviously confused.
"What kind of wound? You answer me damn you," Morgan demands, holding a gun at Rick, Winona is freaking out trying to tell him to stop, "What's your wound? You tell me or I will kill you."
"WOAH! Woah! No need for that," Winona is able to interject, right as Rick knocks out, "it's a gunshot wound."
Morgan looks at her and nods, putting the gun away, "You can never be too careful these days, one scratch or one bite and you'll be turned into one of those walkers."
"Walkers?"
"Yeah, you know, biters? Infected? Roamers?" Each name makes Winona more and more baffled. "Jeez, lady, where have you been these past few weeks? Living under a rock?"
"A hospital, taking care of that man," she points to Rick, who is out cold, the little boy poking him with the shovel, she snorts, "The name's Winona Graves, and if I remember correctly, you're Morgan?"
"Oh, yeah that's me, my boy is Duane," Morgan sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Do you got any clue of what's going on?"
"Something like a cannibalistic virus? That's all I know."
"My God, you must be so confused by these past 10 minutes. Alright, I'll take you guys back with us, it's getting late, and we do not want to be out at night. Will you help me carry him?" He asks looking at Winona, she nods. "Duane, grab the shovel, stay close," he says looking at the boy.
——
They make it back to a house, the windows are covered with blankets and boarded shut. Immediately after they walk in, Morgan boards the door shut. They were able to carry Rick into the Jeep, which confused Winona. "𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞, 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐤? 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫? 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐤? 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐢," she starts questioning her fiancé's motives.
They continue to carry Rick through the house. He is eventually put on a bed in the upstairs bedroom with his wrists and ankles tied to the head and foot boards of the bed. "What's that for?" Winona asks, stifling a laugh.
"In case he turns into a walker." Morgan simply and seriously replies. "If you're bit, you'll turn into one of those flesh eating monsters. I'll explain more once he wakes up."
"Oh, okay. Uh- Do you have any soap and water? I want to clean his wound, I wasn't able to this morning. I don't want it getting infected."
"Yeah let me go grab it." Winona thanks him as he goes to go get the supplies.
A few moments pass and Morgan comes back with some gauze, tape, soap, and water, along with a rag. He leaves to let her clean the dressing.
"Just like the old days, huh, Grimes?" Winona asks him, chuckling, even though he's unconscious. She notices the wound has reopened, "Oh well that's great," she sighs, rubbing her forehead, "but at least it's not infected." Winona ended up getting a suture kit from Morgan and stitched up Rick's wound.
——
Winona is sitting in a chair across from Rick, making sure he's alright, she notices he's starting to gain consciousness. Morgan and Duane come back up at this moment. "Winona? Where are we?" Rick groggily asks. "Why can't I move my arms and legs?" he asks starting to panic.
"Morning, Cowboy, that was perfect timing. Currently, we are in a random man's hideout. He tied you up, it was pretty funny, not gonna lie," she replies, laughing when she sees how concerned he is.
Morgan steps into view and Rick gets defensive, "Who are you? Why am I tied up?"
"Nuh-uh. That's not how we're gonna do things. I ask the questions for the time being, and you answer, alright?" Morgan demands.
"Fine," Rick sighs seeing that Winona seems comfortable with the strange man.
"Now, Winona here said that she changed your bandage and stitched your wound as well. When you passed out she told me it was a gunshot. Was there any other wound?" the man recaps.
"Gunshot ain't enough?" Winona can tell Rick is starting to get annoyed. She continues to listen while standing next to Duane, he seems like a sweet boy and she's sad he has to see this; however, she doesn't really understand why he needs a baseball bat while his dad talks to Rick. Morgan had briefly told her he just needs to make sure he wouldn't cause harm to him or his son.
"Look, I ask and you answer," Morgan is getting impatient, "That's common courtesy, right?" He leans down closer to Rick and questions, "Did you get bit?"
"Bit?" Rick licks his lips while he asks, he's confused and starting to get upset with these unusual questions.
"Bit, chewed, maybe scratched— anything like that?"
"No, I got shot. Just shot as far as I know."
Winona steps in and rephrases, "I was with him the whole time nothing got in his room without me knowing. I wasn't bit or scratched either."
Morgan nods and reaches to touch Rick who retracts back into the bed. "Hey. Just let me," Morgan gently says putting his hand on Rick's forehead, checking his temperature. He looks to Duane and Winona, "Feels cool, enough. Fever would've killed you by now."
"I don't think I have one. Right, Graves?" he looks to her for reassurance.
"He hadn't had one since he was shot, I checked his temp regularly," she confirms.
"Be hard to miss," Morgan simply states, pulling out a pocket knife, Rick flinches, "Take a moment, look how sharp it is. You try anything, I will kill you with it, and don't you think I won't."
Winona starts getting concerned for Rick and starts to move forward but Duane stops her, whispering, "That ain't a good idea, Miss, my daddy ain't gonna do anything unless the man tries hurting him." She nods and steps back. She watches as Morgan starts to cut off Rick's bounds to the headboard.
"Come on out when you're able," Morgan states as he finishes cutting the rest of the ties. Rick starts to rub his wrists where the bounds had irritated them. Morgan looks to Duane, "Come on."
They walk out the door leaving Rick and Winona.
She sits down in the chair and he rolls over, facing her. Rick sighs, "Do you trust him?"
"Yeah, he seems to only be overly protective of his son and is just trying to keep them alive."
"Did he explain anything to you? Anything about what's going on out there?"
"No, he said he'd explain more once you were up."
"Alright then, no use in just sitting here being confused." He smiled sitting up in the bed. Winona nods and helps him stand, she then grabs the blanket and wraps it around him.
"Don't worry we'll get you clothes soon." They laugh and start to walk out of the room to the downstairs.
——
As they head down they hear Morgan serving food. "Hey Grimes, looks like we'll finally have a warm meal," Winona says excitedly.
"Heh. Yeah, I guess so," Rick responds smiling.
They continue into the living room where they see a bunch of blankets and pillows scattered around. A majority of the blankets cover the windows, Winona noted that you couldn't even tell if it's day or night due to it.
They see Morgan and Duane setting a dinner table, she goes over to help while Rick continues to walk around. "This place— Fred and Cindy Drake's?" Rick asks.
"Never met 'em." Morgan responds.
"I've been here," Rick continues, looking around, "This is their place."
"It was empty when we got here." Morgan defends. Rick starts to walk over to the window to look out of it. "Don't do that. They'll see the light. There's more of them out there than usual." Morgan sighs, Winona raises an eyebrow, and he goes back to setting the table, "I never should've fired that gun today. Sound draws them. Now they're all over the street. Stupid— using a gun. But it all happened so fast, I didn't think." Morgan sits down as he finishes speaking, Winona does too.
"You shot that man today." Rick states.
"Man?" Morgan asks.
"It weren't no man," Duane interjects.
"What the hell was that out of your mouth just now?" Morgan turns his attention towards the boy. The woman holds back a laugh at this.
"It wasn't a man," Duane corrects himself.
"You shot him in the street out front— a man," Rick reiterates.
"Friend, you need glasses. It was a walker," Morgan says calmly. "Come on. Sit down. Before you fall down. Here," Morgan demands whilst dishing food onto Rick and Winona's plates.
"Come on, Cowboy, it won't do us any good with you just standing pretty," Winona says sympathetically. Rick complies and sits down.
Just as Rick and Winona go to eat, Duane interrupts, "Daddy, blessing."
"Yeah," Morgan agrees, they start to hold hands asking for Rick and Winona's. She nods and grabs Duane's hand and Rick holds her other hand. Her heart begins to flutter at this, she brushes it off as not having physical touch in a while. Morgan clasps Rick's open hand and begins the prayer. "Lord we thank thee for this food," he begins, "Thy blessings. And we ask you to watch over us in these crazy days. Amen."
"Amen," Duane and Winona say at the same time, Rick says nothing still confused as why Morgan shot that man.
They begin to eat, Winona chuckles and they all look to her, "Ah what a romantic candle-lit dinner." They all quietly laugh at her joke, glad to break the tension.
Morgan begins to ask Rick a question, "Hey, Mister, do you even know what's going on?"
"I woke up today in the hospital, came home and that's all I know. Other than what Winona has told me." Morgan turns to her, raising his eyebrow.
"All my fiancé told me was that this is some cannibalistic virus, one bite you'll turn into a cannibal," Winona clarifies, Morgan nods.
"But you know about the dead people, right?" Morgan questions, flashbacks of the hospital flood Winona's brain.
"Yeah, We saw a lot of that— out on the loading dock, piled in trucks," Rick answers. Morgan shakes his head.
"No, not the ones they put down. The ones they didn't— the walkers, like the one I shot today. 'Cause he'd have ripped into you, tried to eat you, taken some flesh at least," Morgan gives the run down, Winona shudders at the thought. "Well, I guess if this is the first you're hearing of it, I know how it must sound."
Rick still looks confused, "They're out there now? In the street?"
"Yeah. They get more active after dark sometimes. Maybe it's the cool air or — hell, maybe it's just me firing that gun today. But we'll be fine as long as we stay quiet. Probably wander off by morning," Morgan answers. "But listen, one thing I do know— don't you get bit. I saw your bandage and that's what we're afraid of. Bites kill you. The fever burns you out. But then after a while... you come back," Morgan states, Rick and Winona look at him shocked.
"Seen it happen," Duane states quietly. Morgan rubs his arm in support.
"Come on," Morgan says gently. They all begin to eat their food once more.
——
They're all sitting in the living room, it's been a few hours since dinner, Morgan and Duane had changed for bed. Winona is sitting on the couch and Rick sits on the floor in front of her.
"Carl— he your son?" Morgan inquires. Rick turns his attention to him. "Well, you— you said his name today."
"He's a little younger than your boy," Rick responds.
"And he's with his mother?"
"I hope so." Winona puts her hand on Rick's shoulder, he holds it for comfort— she assumes.
"Hey, keep your head up. They're Grimes, meaning they're stubborn as hell. We'll find 'em. Don't worry," she encourages.
Rick gives her soft smile nodding, "We'll find Shane, he, too, is 'stubborn as hell.'" They laugh.
"Dad," Duane says waking up.
"Hey," Morgan responds.
"Did you ask him?"
Morgan laughs and looks towards Rick, "Your gunshot— we've got a little bet going. My boy says you're a bank robber."
Rick chuckles with Morgan, "Yeah, that's me, the Deadliest Dillinger. Kapow," Rick jokes, "Sheriff's deputy."
"Uh-huh," Morgan nods. Without warning, a car alarm starts to blare. Duane jumps up, panicking. "Hey, it's okay. Daddy's here," Morgan begins to comfort him, "It's nothing. One of them must've bumped a car."
"Are you sure?" Winona asks, getting nervous.
"It happened once before. It went on for a few minutes. Get the light, Duane," Morgan explains while the adults stand up. Duane turns the lamp off and Rick turns off the other one. Morgan peeks out the window trying not to gain the attention of the walkers outside. Winona goes over to comfort Duane while Rick goes over to Morgan. "It's the blue one on the street, the same one as last time. I think we're okay," Morgan reassures them, Rick looks out.
"That noise— won't it bring more of them?" Rick asks the same question Winona is thinking. Duane and her move over to the window, too.
"Nothing we can do about it now. Just have to wait 'em out till morning," Morgan sighs.
Duane starts to look out in a smaller crack, he suddenly gasps, "She's here."
"Don't look. Get away from the windows," Morgan commands the boy. After he doesn't move, Morgan continues, "I said go. Go on." Duane turns and goes to bed, he starts to cry. Winona walks over to him and tries to comfort him the best she can, but she just doesn't understand. Duane's sobs get louder, Morgan comes over, "Duane. Duane, quiet now. Come on. Quiet now." Morgan continues shushing the crying boy, Winona goes to stand by Rick, he's still looking out the window.
She looks out and sees a female walker much closer than the rest, she notices that the walker starts to walk up to the porch. Rick walks over to the door, "Grimes! Hey! What are you doing?!" she harshly whispers at him. He continues, not responding to her. He looks through the peephole.
Winona hears Morgan still comforting Duane, "It's okay. Here. Cry into the pillow. You remember? Shh. Shh."
At this point, Winona can hear the footsteps of the walker on the porch, approaching the door. She sees Rick furrow his brows, then the door knob starts to rattle. They slowly move away from the door, back to where Morgan and Duane are. "She, um..." Morgan begins, "She died in that other room on that bed in there. There was nothing I— I could do about it."
"𝐎𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦," Winona thought to herself, her heart shattering for the boy.
"That fever, man, her skin gave off a heat like a furnace," Morgan describes, crying, "I should've— I should've put her down, man. I should've put her down. I know that, but I— you know what? I just didn't have it in me. She's the mother of my child," Morgan finishes venting. Rick turns to Winona, a sadness covered both of their faces. Rick looks past her to still see the door knob twisting and rattling.
Winona ended up sleeping on the couch due to Rick protesting that she deserved it more than he did. He had ended up sleeping on the floor, next to it, she wasn't happy with that, but he was determined to let her have the sofa.
——
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