algor mortis | rick grimes

06

"Who are you?" The voice was soft, a little raspy with sleep and lack of use. Amelia had just been on her way out, old bandages in hand destined for the trash can. She halted when she heard the little voice turning to face the owner of the feeble voice. Carl had only woken up a couple of times, once before his seizures began and again yesterday evening.

"My name is Amelia." The blonde said gently, backtracking to his bedside. "How do you feel? Are you in any pain?"

He shifted slightly, "A little." Carl looked like someone put Lori and Rick in a blender. His features were light and soft like Lori's but his eyes were all Rick, "Can I have some water?"

"Of course." Amelia held the cup for him, guiding the straw into his mouth. She said, settling the glass back on his bedside. "You're tough as nails. I'd be whining if I were you."

The boy smiles a little, there's more colour in his cheeks than she's seen since he got here. "Are you a doctor? Did you fix me?"

"Hershel and I did." Amelia responds, "We're about as close to doctors that are left." She gives him a light smile, "Is there anything else I can get you? I'll run and grab your parents." He nods a little. "Back in a jif." As soon as she's through the doorway, she grumbles, "Why do I keep saying that?"

Amelia takes up a swift jog to cross the yard, the ache in her back doesn't approve but she pushes through it as best she can. "Is everything okay?" Shane calls out as she approaches.

"Yeah, sorry. Carl's awake." She tells Rick and Lori, "Sorry if I made you panic."

"All good." Rick replies, his hair looks a little crazy. She can tell he hasn't run a brush through it yet, it brings a smile to her lips.

"Thank you." Lori adds before taking off toward the house with her husband hit on her trail. Amelia watches them go for a moment before turning back to Shane who watched them go with less fondness.

"Question for you," Amelia says tucking her hair behind her ears, "Any of you good with cars by chance?" The knock in the engine of her little car was seriously starting to get on her nerves.

"I'm alright." Shane says, "Dale's kind of our resident fix it guy, though." The older man's head perks up at the mention of his name and he makes his way over.

"I drive a hybrid, so it's a pretty quiet car. Few weeks ago my engine started knocking. I can't figure it out." She explains nodding toward the little blue hatchback. "Would you mind taking a look? I want to put my head through the steering wheel every ten feet."

"I wouldn't mind at all. Let me grab my tools." Dale smiles. She hadn't gotten to properly meet everyone yet but she found them all to be quite polite so far. That'd do well against Hershel's scrutiny.

"I really appreciate it." She comments as she and Dale make their way toward her little car. At this point, the stupid little car is the most consistent thing Amelia has ever had in her life. The silly little vehicle was a wedding gift from Craig's parents. It was more faithful to her than he ever had been. While it would be easy to swap it out for any other car on the highway, she was a tad sentimental. Making a stupid dash into Atlanta, getting stranded, whatever happened, she always circled back for it.

"Have you changed the oil?" Dale asked, pulling the dipstick up to examine it.

"I've changed it a couple times. No luck." Amelia said, leaning against the fender.

"Have you cleaned the combustion chamber?"

Amelia pretended to think about it, "Didn't try that." She also didn't know what a combustion chamber was.

"Alright, well I can do that." Dale comments with a grunt as he twists something out of place. Amelia can only hope it's the chamber he's talking about because she knows next to nothing about cars and doesn't have a hope in hell at fixing anything on her own. He could rig it to explode right in front of her and she'd be none the wiser. "If that doesn't work, I'll try replacing the spark plugs for ya. I got a couple extras."

A warm smile graces her lips, "Thank you. I know I could pick up a new car anywhere but this shit box has been with me a long time."

"Hey, you're preaching to the choir." Dale assures, wiping some stray oil onto his hands. "Me and that RV have been in a love-hate relationship since well before the world ended. Leave it to me."

With Dale left to the task of fixing her car, she headed into the house with the task of grabbing her kit. She knocked softly on the door to the bedroom, greeting the Grimes family with an apologetic smile. "I didn't want to barge in, I just need to grab my bag."

"You can't barge in your own house." Lori notes as Amelia crossed the room, shouldering the black bag.
She wondered, briefly, if Rick had mentioned they'd talked the night before but she shook of the query just as quickly. It didn't matter.

"I don't consider this my house." Amelia responds with a shrug, "So I'll keep knocking."

"Everything okay?" Rick asked glancing at the bag.

"Oh, yeah." She affirmed, stopping at the threshold turning back to look at him. Her mind went blank for a second, just blue eyes and static, "I-I just want to get a look at T Dog's arm, keep infection at bay. I changed Carl's just before he woke up so probably," she kissed her teeth as she thought about it, "after supper, we'll change them again so they'll be fresh for the night."

"Thank you." Carl said a slight rasp to his little voice. Amelia just conjured a smile for him before she removed herself.

Her sneakers brushed through the grass as she made her way back over to the camp. T Dog's dressings were in desperate need of a change, just as she'd anticipated. "I'm sorry I didn't check on these yesterday." Amelia commented, wrapping the newly disinfected wound with fresh bandage.

T chuckled a little bit, hiding his wince, "Don't be sorry. It's not your problem." T Dog had a welcoming air about him, once he got past the initial distrust. His face was round and dotted with freckles, his smile punctuated by the slight gap between his teeth. Once he'd let his guard down, she found him to be just as lovely as Dale had been. It seemed Daryl was the only exception to the rule so far but she was sure that hostility was reserved for her.

"Maybe not." She allowed thoughtfully, "but I wouldn't have you losing your arm if I could do something about it." She tied off the loose end carefully, "It needs to be kept clean and wrapped for the next couple days until the stitches aren't so raw. After that, the air can start doing its job but for now it's gotta be saturated and clean."

"You must have been one kick ass nurse before. Don't tell me you were in an old folk's home or somethin'" He teased stretching a little when she began to tuck her equipment back into her bag.

"Y'know, I thought about it and then I realized how depressing that would be. Ended up in the ER where things are just as depressing but they're real quick about it." She offered a crooked smile, "Find me tomorrow if I don't have it on my radar to find you.

"Yes, mam." He responded with a little salute, "Thanks, doc."

Amelia returned the salute before she made her way back to the house. In the distance, she could see Hershel. Leaning against the post of the porch, she could tell from a hundred feet he had a frown on.

It wouldn't be an easy feat to convince him to take a chance on these people. Amelia was conscious that she was being a little naive— putting a little too much faith where it had yet to be earned. There had to still be good people in the world. The Greene's were still around, that was evidence enough. They had at least three weeks to prove themselves to be good, honest people after that they were at the mercy of Hershel's decision.

In all honesty, Amelia was a little excited about the extra company. As much as she enjoyed the Greene's, they had no idea what the world had become. All they knew, they'd seen on the news. None of them had step foot off the farm to discover the new world for themselves, not that she could blame them. Still, it was for that reason she couldn't help but invest her hope in this ragtag group. The Greene's were goodness left over from the old world, all she could do was hope that this group was proof goodness could persevere in the new.