___
Carry on, my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
___
Elaina hugs Carl tightly in the backseat as Rick drives down the dark roads.
He's scared. She knows he is. Even if he doesn't say it.
Hershel is silent. He stares out the window. He just lost his home. He doesn't know if his family is still alive.
Elaina's stomach churns. She thinks about Shane. How she shot him. She sinks into the warmth of Rick's jacket.
It smells like him.
She finds a little comfort in that.
After a while of driving, the four make it back to the highway where Sophia went missing.
It wasn't that long ago but it feels like years. So much has happened since then.
They get out of the car. Carl searches frantically. He turns back to Rick. "Where's mom? We- we gotta go back for her."
The sun is starting to rise. Jesus. Has it been that long since the search for Randall?
Rick bends down to his son. "She'll be here. Okay? She has to be."
Hershel looks at him. "Rick, you've gotta get them to safety. I'll wait here for my girls and the others. I know a few places. We'll meet up at one of them later."
"Where is safe? We can't split up." Elaina asks.
"Please, keep that boy safe. I'll hide in one of the cars. If a walker gets me, so be it. I've lost my farm. I've lost my wife and maybe my daughters."
His voice breaks Elaina's heart. Rick shakes his head. "You don't know that. They'll be here."
"And you don't know that."
Rick sighs. "You're a man of God. Have some faith."
___
Time slowly ticks by.
No sign of the others.
Hershel glances around. "I don't know how much longer we can stay here."
Carl looks at Rick and Elaina. "I'm not leaving here without mom."
"So, we're just gonna walk away? Not knowing if our people, his mother, your girls, are still out there? How do we live with that?" Rick asks Hershel.
"You've only got one concern now... just one..." Hershel says motioning towards Carl.
Rick glances at Elaina. "More than one." He mumbles.
Suddenly Elaina hears the distinct sound of a motorcycle. Daryl's motorcycle. She stands up from her crouched position behind a car.
Daryl is on his bike with Carol. The blue truck from the farm pulls up. Inside is T-Dog, Beth, and Lori.
Behind that car is another one, with Maggie and Glenn.
There's no sign of Andrea or Patricia.
Everyone gets out of the cars. Lori runs up and pulls Carl into a hug.
Elaina hugs Glenn, Maggie, and T-Dog. Daryl nods at her. She rolls her eyes, pulling him in for a hug anyways.
The reunion is short-lived as Glenn asks a question. "Where's the rest of us?"
YOU ARE READING
Sheriff's Lover ||| Rick Grimes
Fanfiction"Are you trying to get me drunk, officer?" "What if I am?" Thirty-two-year-old office worker, Elaina Heart was all alone on the streets of Atlanta when a man in a sheriff's uniform trots down the road on a horse. She decides to join him on his miss...
