the great war (r.g)

three

it had been roughly two weeks since rick and his group graciously welcomed cora and izzy onto their journey to...wherever they were going. two. long. weeks. two weeks of starving. two weeks of walking. cora almost regretted coming along. almost.

the people were nice. some were still a bit weary of ricks decision of bring them along. the others were nice. cora was becoming pretty friendly with a woman named maggie. she was the most nice and welcoming, even though cora could tell she had recently lost somebody

"okay i think i've connected the pieces," cora said as she laid on the ground next to maggie, who was leaned against the tree. the group was currently stopped on a bridge while some went off looking for food. "you lived in a farm house with your family when one day rick came running through the fields holding his son, carl, who was shot by one of your family members. some days later and your land is over run by a bunch of biters so you all are forced to flee. from there you come across a prison that seems empty until rogue prisoners try to take over. this is where your father lost his leg. fast forward a bit, you clash with another group. you fight. you win. you guys thrive at this prison until the governor? yeah, until he reined hell on you guys and here you are now. did i get it?" cora sat up and asked.

there wasn't really much to talk about after the world ends. before the "apocalypse", in the er, cora heard many stories from many people about many different things. she missed that. missed knowing and learning new things. stories were her favorite thing. maggie was gracious enough tell things to cora.

"yes. thats pretty much all," maggie said and smiled at cora. this is when she knew she had recently lost someone. her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"i dont mean to pry but, who did you lose?" cora asked. maggie whipped her head around to face her. she looked at cora like she had a few too many heads. "while i was working in the er i developed almost a sixth sense on how to read emotions.

maggie was quiet for a moment, thinking, before she said "my sister, beth. she was shot by a guard when we were back in atlanta, right before we met you and izzy."

"oh, maggie, im sorry," cora told her. "i also lost someone not too long ago."

"who?"

"my fiancée. our camp was raided by a group of survivors a few weeks before izzy shot rick. i don't know if he was shot or bit or taken. me and izzy looked for him for a while but we never found him."

"im so sorry," maggie said. "was he izzy's father?"

"oh, no. he is long gone. my fiancée, dan, worked with me at the hospital. we've were together since the beginning."

minutes after their conversation, rosita, sasha, and abraham came back from their trip mostly empty handed. they had nothing but a few handfuls of berries that no one was sure were safe to eat until eugene tried one.

now, cora was walking with the front of the group, next to rick, in silence. "so, how did you start the apocalypse. before meeting maggie."

rick looked over her, almost as if he was surprised to see her there. "what?"

"when the world basically ended, where were you? maggie told me her story. whats yours?" she asked again. "come on, im bored."

"i was in a coma. when i woke up i didnt know where my wife was. or carl. i met glenn a little later and we met up with a group right outside atlanta. thats how i met daryl and carol. then we got to the greene farm," rick revealed.

"coma? in atlanta?" cora asked. rick just nodded his head. "the hospital i worked at was in atlanta." rick just looked over at cora then back straight. obviously that conversation was over.

***

days later cora was walking through the woods looking for water with rick. the group had broken off into groups in different directions. cora was weary, at first, of splitting from izzy but she was with maggie and rosita, both of which cora trusted.

the pair had been roaming the woods for what seemed like forever. "no one has actually told me where we are going. does anyone have a clue?" cora finally broke the silence.

"we were supposed to go to d.c to find a cure. eugene told us he knew of a cure. turns out he was lying. we are still going there, though. seems like a place a bunch of people could be," rick explained.

"makes sense," cora said. after walking laps around the woods, cora found a pond. maybe more of a small lake. the water was behind a wall of large shrubs. "rick!"

rick came bursting through the shrubs, axe in hand, ready for a fight. instead, he found cora filling up one of her water bottles with the lake water. "i thought you were in trouble."

"oh. no, sorry. just a large pond of water," cora said, beaming up at rick. "come on, it'll be dark soon."