𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 , the walking dead

[13] RV

RV
———

LUNGS ON FIRE. Heart beating out of his chest. Legs screaming at him to stop even just for a second. Elliott couldn't stop, he had to keep up with Rick even if he felt like he was on the brick of collapsing any second. He signed up for this, he has to be able to do it.

Rick didn't seem that much better, Elliott could hear him huffing and puffing over the sound of their feet slamming on the pavement they ran. The two of them didn't speak, it was like they didn't have the time between trying to breathe and staying up right.

The two were approaching a small group of walkers that were munching on whatever was their newest victim. Rick got their first, attacking without hesitation and killing the first two walkers, Elliott was just a few seconds behind and was able to kill the last two before they could get to Rick. Even though it was only 4 walkers and they have both dealt with a lot bigger, it seemed to take a lot of their energy.

Both men dropped to the ground. Rick rested on his knees, with his hands digging into his thighs to keep himself upright while Elliott laid flat on his back trying to take in as much as his lungs would allow him. He never wanted to get him.

"Shit," Elliott breathed out, lifting his head to look up at Rick who was looking up at him, "I should do more cardio or something. This sucks."

Rick shook his head with the smallest of smiles that Elliott didn't even notice. Then Rick started to gather things from ripped up dead man, things that the dead would have no use for. Once he was done with that, he stood up and made his way to Elliott to stand over him. Elliott didn't move at first, they just stared at each other but then when Rick put out his hand, Elliott knew that they didn't have time for this.

Sadly and tiredly, Elliott reached up and took Rick's hand and allowed to be helped up. Once Rick had pulled him up and they were both standing, they took off again having no time to waste. Rick took the lead again because one; Elliott couldn't keep up and two; because Elliott couldn't focus on anything making him not remember how to get there.

As they ran again, Elliott took notice of the blood trail he seemed to be following. His eyes followed it up and realized that the blood trail was being caused by Rick's bleeding hand. Elliott hadn't even noticed Rick injure himself until now, it had to have happened during the attack because there was no blood until afterwards. He just prayed on everything that it was anything but a bite.

Elliott knew that pointing it out would be an obvious mistake, Rick definitely knew he was injured and was actively deciding to ignore it. It reminded him of Maeve, how he knew that if she were to get injured in any way she would ignore it. Try to hide it even. Just to make sure that no one else would focus on her and stay on track with the mission. Just like Rick was.

The more Elliott thought about it, the more he actually saw the similarities between Rick and Maeve. They were both natural leaders but not by choice, they did it because they care the most about their loved ones. They'd do just about anything if they knew someone they loved was at risk, it can be scary sometimes. Elliott witnessed just how far Maeve would go, he wondered if Rick would go to the same lengths?

Elliott's mind had been taken up with all these thoughts, that he hadn't even noticed the RV that they were approaching. When his thoughts took over it felt like no time had passed but for his body it felt like he had been running for days and days on end.

Surprisingly, Elliott reached the RV first after getting a surge of energy once he felt like he could see the finish line. Since he got there first it allowed him to open the door just in time for Rick to run in first. After jumping in after Rick, Elliott made it a point to close the door. That's when Elliott watched Rick grab the keys from under the dashboard, getting blood on them and the carpet.