The Dead World

Four ~ Mission Find Merle

The group in the truck had made it back to the Quarry and found themselves parked behind Glenn's new found car that had made it there before them.

Rick threw himself out of the truck yelling for Lori and Carl who both started to cry while being held as tightly as possible by Rick, Phoebe smiled bittersweetly at the sight infront of her before moving to stand next to Dale so she could fill him in on everything while the group unpacked and distributes the new stuff they had managed to grab.

Phoebe handed Carol and Sophia the things she'd grabbed for them and Carol thanked her kindly before she left them to put her things away in her tent Shane walked over to Phoebe to try to talk to her but before he could get a word in she spoke first "you told me he was dead" her voice cold.

"I know Phoebe but.." he rubbed his neck finding no excuse to give the girl other than he though he was.

Phoebe shook her head "No, you told me he was dead! You should have told me there was a chance...I could have got him!" She had started to cry from the pain she was feeling of mourning her brother, to find out he was still alive and somehow that made her worry more as now she knew if he did die, she'd have to mourn him twice knowing he wouldn't make a surprise appearance again.

"You couldn't Phoebe I tried! I barricaded his door and barely made it out but they were checking the rooms, I put my head to his chest to find a heartbeat and I didn't find one, I don't even know how he survived!" He grabbed her pulling he into a tight hug not wanting to lose the girl he'd come to love as a sister and she was finding it hard to be mad having known Shane from school and knowing he loved Rick.

But a part of her wondered how his new relationship with Lori would pan out now Rick was back because there's no way in hell she'd let them continue until Lori broke things off with Rick and seeing how she clung to her brother, she thought that was highly unlikely.

"I thought he was dead" She whispered still in the shock of her 'dead' brother returning and he nodded trying to understand how she must be feeling because although he saw Rick as his brother Rick was Phoebe's blood.

That evening most of the group sat by the fire, a few scattered by their tents and Ed had his little family off to the side by their own fire. Rick had Lori pressed into his side head resting on his chest while Carl laid inbetween Ricks legs completely laying on his father not wanting to be away after so long.

"Disoriented, I guess that comes closest... Disoriented, fear, confusion... All those things but... Disoriented comes closest" Rick stated after Amy asked how he felt when he woke from his coma, he had just finished telling the group how he woke.

"Words can be meager things, sometimes they fall short" Dale helped Rick and Phoebe smiled gently at the old man.

"I felt like i'd been ripped out of my life, put somewhere else... For a while i thought i was trapped in some coma dream, something i might not wake up from ever" Rick adds.

"Mom and Shane said you'd died" Carl said looking up at his father.

"They had every reason to believe that" Rick added understandingly "Don't you ever doubt it" Phoebe watched Lori make eye contact with Shane before she tore her eyes away but Shane's gaze held true.

"When things started to get really bad, Phoebe came to the house and told us that she had called the hospital and they had told her they were gonna medivac all the patients to Atlanta" Lori stated "Shane was at the hospital and he said that never happened"

"I'm not surprised, after Atlanta fell. And from the look of that hospital it got overrun" Rick explained softly.

"And looks don't deceive, I barely got them out" Shane stated and Lori shook her head.