algor mortis | rick grimes

01

Amelia had grown very fond of the Greene family farm. In the few months she'd been there, she found some sense of normalcy in the midst of the end times. Something about feeding chickens and grooming horses took her mind away from it all.

Maggie and Patricia had gotten her well acquainted with how the farm worked at her request. Having grown up in a small town in Northern Georgia, she didn't have much experience with farm life and was especially surprised to find she enjoyed it.

Every other day she would go looking for Erin to no avail. If he had time, Otis would come with her citing that "he just wouldn't feel right if he didn't," which she appreciated. The world was unforgiving and if it couldn't be Erin to watch her back, she'd gladly take Otis.

The tally mark in her notebook told her it'd been exactly 65 days since she last saw Erin. It was futile at this point, to hope they'd cross paths. Even still, time spent out in the world was time luck might fall in step with them. Amelia would give anything to have Erin here at the farm, at her side pouring their wits out over her stupid car.

It was warm this particular mid spring day and Amelia was pouring sweat over the hood of her car. The engine had been knocking the last couple times she'd gone out, creating too much noise for her liking when she was preparing to stop. She hated to stray far from her means of escape.

She wasn't the greatest mechanic, she knew a couple things but found herself mostly just tinkering away and going back and fourth between the car manual and a mechanics guide she'd found in a local library.  Hershel and Otis had offered to help but their expertise both started and stopped with tractor repair.

Sweat dripped off the tip of her nose and she half wondered if it would sizzle against the car's interior. This wasn't the kind of work she was used to that was for sure. Maybe the old Pontiac needed to be retired. She felt like it'd taken her so far, it was a bit disappointing to think about.

Her and Erin had travelled thousands of miles in it, back and fourth across the state, looking for Erin's family at first. Then, just looking for Erin. The thought depressed her, she felt it weigh on her shoulders.

Erin was a terrible driver, thinking of the time she backed them into a ditch and they both had to get out and push it out of the mud. While she was out, she'd have to be on the lookout for a better vehicle. Not that she was entirely sure what a better one would entail. Just as long as it didn't make that god awful knocking sound- she'd be happy.

At least, she would have been.

"Amelia-" Maggie's voice came from behind her. The young woman had been perched on the porch swing, reading an old book. "There's people."

Her head snapped up so quickly she smacked it off the roof of the car with a harsh thud. Company wasn't good news anymore. She came around the side of the car to see what was coming at them.

"Two-" Maggie said, leaning over the railing with the binoculars held to her eyes, "No, three. Otis is with them, another man too." She dropped the binoculars to run to the door, "Daddy! Come quick!"

"That's a kid." Amelia gasped out, a revelation to herself before she managed to shout it, "It's a kid!" Her legs pushed her up the stairs and in the house so quickly she nearly crashed straight through the screen door.

Her feet carried her to the end of the hall to the closet she called home. Knees slamming into the floorboards, she was reaching under the bed for her kit and pushing herself up again.

"Please, help him. Please, please." A voice begged from Hershel's bedroom. She shot in the direction, nearly crashing into the doorframe as she did.

"We're going to do everything we can. Put pressure on the wound for me." Hershel promised, looking relieved as Amelia pulled up next to the bed. She tied her hair back loosely to keep it out of the way, "he's been shot." He told her.