REMEMBER ME HAPPY | r. grimes

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— PART THREE  of  THREE —
REMEMBER ME HAPPY

– "CAN I DRIVE?" EMERSON SMIRKED. Rick glared at her.

"Do I need to remind you of what happened last time?" Rick asked her, raising an eyebrow as he slid into the drivers seat.

"Oh, you mean, when you didn't do the one thing I asked you to do? When I was trying to come save your sorry ass?" She retorted in a matter-of-factly tone.

Rick scoffed. "I never asked you to do that."

"And I never asked you to come with me. In fact, Maggie was all set up to go with me."

She was referring to the run they were about to make. The weather had been horrible over the last four months, causing the group to be unable to drive anywhere most days. Which meant food supply was low.

This was the worst Georgia winter Emerson had ever seen.

"Yeah, well. . ." Rick trailed off.

They were headed to a town that was about two counties over from where the group had been staying. They left the red pickup with whoever stayed behind incase they had to leave, and a copy of the safe houses listed in the area they would go to should they need too.

They drove in silence for the entirety of the two hour journey. Emerson didn't have anything to say, and seemingly, neither did Rick.

Emerson threw a pity party for herself most nights. She was in disbelief that she had let Lori and Shane win. They had destroyed what her and Rick had.

Then other nights, Emerson felt sorry for herself. Believing that it was all her fault. Not just Lori, but their baby too.

She kept these thoughts to herself and tried to make them all believe that she was fine. That losing her child hadn't affected her.

However, from the moment she found out, Emerson had been overjoyed. Little did anyone else realize, but Emerson had always wanted to be a mother. To wear matching outfits on Christmas or Thanksgiving.

But now she wouldn't ever have that.

And that was something she had to be okay with.

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Rick had grown tougher over the last four months. Not only had he lost his best friend, but he had also lost the one person who understood what he was going through.

Emerson understood and instead, Rick pushed her away. Continuously, he pushed her away when he knew she needed him and he needed her.

As Rick pulled into the Big Spot parking lot, he put the car in park with a heavy sigh.

Emerson grabbed one of the bags they brought and headed towards the front entrance. Rick was swift to follow her and watched as she began pounding on the door.

"Think I might find some nail polish?" Emerson asked. "Maybe blue. Goes with my eyes, don't ya think?"

Rick chuckled at her statement. "Let's just worry about getting outta here alive."

After a few minutes, four Walkers came to the door.

"We open one door to try to keep them contained. Then we'll drag 'em over there." Rick explained.

"Aye aye, Captain."

With that, Rick opened one of the two doors and immediately one of the Walker's came out.

Emerson pulled her knife out and got the job done, as did Rick. Once they finished, they dragged the dead over a few hundred feet.

Once they were inside, Emerson began to look around with the flashlight in her hand as Rick barricaded the door to stop any intruders, dead or alive, from coming in.

"Meet back here in an hour. Then we'll head to the housing community down the road."

"Why?" Emerson asked, scrunching her nose.

Rick stared at her. Why does she always have to question what I say? He thought. That's just who Emerson was. She was argumentative in every aspect of the word.

"Because it looks untouched and we can syphon some gas while we're there." He answered as he walked away.

The two of them found Big Spot to be mostly untouched. Emerson scanned her list and found the medicinal aisle. She tried her best to read Hershel's chicken scratch. She grabbed cold medicine, ibuprofen, and other pain meds she found.

Rick, on the other hand, had decided to pile up four cases of water by the front doors. He knew these would be awful to travel with from place to place, but he needed his people to keep their strength up. He couldn't afford for any of them to be dehydrated or going hungry.

Within that hour, they found coats, boots for Carl as he was outgrowing the ones he wore, tons of canned food, water, and even gallon jugs of water so they could feel somewhat clean once they got back to the safe house. Along with the medicine, both Emerson and Rick found the trip to he successful.

After piling everything into the bright green Ford Escape, snow began piling down on the two of them.

"Think we can make it to the housing development?" Emerson asked as Rick started the car.

"We're gonna have to."

What should have been a five minute trip, took the two of them twenty minutes. The snow was coming down hard and the road to the development became icy fast.

Once they reached the first house, the two of them quickly ran inside with their bags. Luckily, the door wasn't barricaded or locked.

"Looks like we're havin' a sleepover." Rick announced.

Emerson rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna grab some water from the car. You're bathing tonight, you smell like death."

END OF PART ONE