Y/N sighs as she sits down in a chair near Carls bed. He's asleep.
Her shoulder is killing her. She should've taken Maggie's advice and left the sling on.
Their plan didn't work. Even with her getting the rope around the walker, it was too heavy. It's entire body split in two chunks, completely contaminating the water with its blood and guts.
Maggie and Glenn went on a pharmacy run a couple minutes up the road. Daryl's still out looking for Sophia.
She looks over at Carl. He looks so small. Peaceful. Like he wasn't just shot days ago.
Suddenly the door creaks open and she looks over, eyes meeting with Ricks.
"Hey." She says.
"Hey. Can I talk to you?" His face is laced with something. Concern maybe? Anger?
She nods and follows him out of the room with the sleeping boy. They walk outside to the porch. It's quiet. He paces slightly.
"What's wrong?" She asks.
He stops pacing and looks at her. "Are you out of your damn mind?"
She eyes him. "Excuse me?"
"Glenn told me about the well."
She sighs. "Okay?"
He crosses his arms. "You could've died."
"I'm aware."
"What would Carl do without you?" He lowers his voice as he steps closer. "What would I do without you?"
Her eyes widen the smallest bit as she takes a step back, bumping into a rocking chair. He walks closer, gently grabbing her wrist. "You mean so much to us. All of us."
She nods, her breath faint. "Rick..." Her voice is a whisper.
He leans his head close to hers and she closes her eyes. Suddenly she pulls away, breathless. She removes herself from his grip and walks toward the door.
"Y/N-"
"You're married, Rick. You have a family." She says softly, not looking at him.
With that, she walks back inside the house, leaving the distraught sheriff behind.
————————————————————————
The next morning, a group stands around a truck.
Shane nods at everyone, not even sparing Y/N a glance. She rolls her eyes and glances at Daryl who's watching her quietly.
He tilts his head and nods toward Shane but she shoots him a look and he looks at the map instead.
"All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far." Rick says.
Y/N avoids his gaze as she glances at the grid.
"Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me. Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse." Shane says.
"Anybody includes her." Y/N says.
"I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her." Daryl says.
"Good idea. Count me in." Y/N says.
"No."
"No."
She rolls her eyes. Daryl and Rick both shake their heads.
"Why not?"
"Dangerous." Daryl shrugs.
Rick nods. "Your shoulder."
She huffs. "My shoulder is just fine."
T-Dog, who stands near Andrea, speaks. "They're right, Y/N. You've done enough risky things lately. Best to sit this one out."
Y/N huffs again. "Fine. I guess i'll go play housewife with Carol, seen as that's all you people seem to think about me."
She walks off as the others try to dispute.
She knows that was rude. She feels a little bad. At the same time though, her whole life people have dismissed her. Maybe it's because of her looks. Maybe it's because she's a woman.
It's something that she can't shake. Ever since she was little. "You can't do that." "You can't do this." "Let me handle that."
No. She's tired of letting others do the hard work. She can care for herself.
————————————————————————
Y/N stands in the kitchen with Carol, Beth, Patricia, and Lori.
Carol hunches by the sink as she scrubs some vegetables. "I never thought i'd be so happy to see a potato."
Lori nods. "I'm just glad we're not roasting squirrels over a fire in the woods."
Carol turns to the older of the two blondes. "Thank you, Patricia, so much for letting us into your house."
Glenn suddenly walks into the kitchen. "Hey, Y/N, can I borrow you for a sec?"
Y/N nods, setting down the celery in her hand. She follows him outside and Glenn pulls her to the far end of the porch.
He rubs his arm as he tries to find the right wording. "Are you... are you on your period?"
Y/N's eyes widen. She's taken aback. "What?"
"I'm just asking because all the women are acting really weird. And I read somewhere that when women spend a lot of time together, their cycles line up and they all get super crazy hormonal at the same time."
She bursts out laughing and has to hold her chest as her breathing returns to normal. "Yeah, I recommend you keep that theory to yourself, bud."
He nods, with an embarrassed smile.
"Who else is acting weird?"
"Maggie. She started off being mean to me. Then she wanted to have sеx with me. And now she's being mean to me again. And I don't even want to know what's going on with Lori."
Y/N tilts her head. "What's going on with Lori?"
"Nothing. I don't know." He says nervously.
"Okay... Let's go back a second. How do you know Maggie wanted to have sex with you?"
He scrunches his face a little and Y/N's mouth drops open. "Glenn. You didn't." She laughs again but then it fades when suddenly Andrea shouts from the RV where she was keeping watch.
"Walker! Walker!"
Glenn and Y/N glance at each other before rushing off the porch.
Just in the distance, on the edge of the property, is a walker. Wait... Is it?
Andrea aims her gun at it as Dale tells her to put it down.
Y/N, Glenn, T-Dog, Shane, and Rick all book it down the field. As they get closer, Y/N gasps.
It's Daryl.
He looks awful. The horse is gone, he's covered in dirt and blood, he has a wound in his torso, and a necklace of... ears?
He looks up at Rick. "That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?"
Rick lowers his gun when suddenly a shot rings out and Daryl collapses to the grass.
"No!" Y/N screams.
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YOU ARE READING
Sheriff's Lover ||| Rick Grimes x Reader (TWD x Reader)
Fanfiction32 year-old Y/N was all alone on the streets of Atlanta when a man in a sheriffs uniform trots down the road on top of a horse. She decides to join him on his journey to find his family because she doesn't want to be left behind. The two run into a...
