The Story of Rudy || The walking dead

43. France

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Carol had set sail towards France, while Rudy stayed with Rue below deck with Dog, who wouldn't leave Rue side either.

Carol had forced Rudy to leave Rue side for only a couple of minutes to get himself cleaned up and into a different set of clothing.

He was wearing cargo shorts with a dark grey t-shirt with a brown jacket, with his boots, his hat was abandoned by his side, as he leaned his side against the makeshift bed Rue was currently laying on, holding her hand in his, laying his head on his arm that went numb hours ago.

His body was exhausted, but he didn't dare close his eyes just in case something went wrong with Rue.

He needed to stay awake, but against his will, his eyes were slowly closing, only for him to Jolt upward as the boat rocked,

Rue let out a small whimper, "Shh, it's okay, you're okay." Rudy whispered to her, gently brushing her hair to the side, and Rue relaxed a little, and he sighed, standing up,

"Be right back. Dog bark if you need me." Rudy mumbled, petting Dog as he walked past him.

Rudy walked up the stairs, squinting his eyes as the sun shined down. He blinked his eyes to adjust to the brightness before he spotted Carol.

He walked over to her, "What was that?"

"There was no dock, so I had to park it in the beach." Carol replied, and Rudy went over, leaning over the railing and looking down, and he glanced back at Carol.

"How are you gonna push it back into the water?" He questioned, and Carol shrugged,

"I'll figure it out." She replied, and Rudy walked over to her as she got ready to leave the boat,

"I would say that I don't think you should be going alone, but you can handle yourself." Rudy told her, stuffing his hands into his pockets of his shorts.

"I'll see if I can find any painkillers for her, and maybe a radio." She said, and Rudy nodded, looking down at his boots as he cleared his throat,

"I want to apologize for crying like that.." Rudy was interrupted by Carol,

"You don't need to apologize for showing emotion, Rudy. Plus, it was days ago." Carol replied with a small smile, and Rudy chuckled before he frowned,

"..I lost a kid before, before my other kids, before rue, I lost a kid, His name was Matthew, or Matty, he liked Matty," Rudy quietly said, but Carol heard him,

She knew what it was like losing a child. Rudy sniffles, taking a deep breath, "he was only six years old."

"Almost the same age as Rue, it was like you were losing him all over again." Carol said, and Rudy lifted his head, looking at her, nodding his head.

"Yeah, um, just be careful, alright." Carol nodded, giving him a small smile.

"You too."

Rudy watched as Carol left the boat and watched her walk away. He let out a deep sighed, running a hand through his hair.

He brought a hand up to his chest, rubbing at his chest as he could feel it becoming tighter with each breath he kept taking.

He sunk down until he was sitting, keeping his head down as he took deep breaths, trying not to put himself in a panic attack.

Having a panic attack was not good at the moment.

He could feel his vision darkening and his eyes becoming heavier with each breath he took before his eyes closed, his body slumping against the deck with a small thud.

🪓

A scream made Rudy snap his eyes open, his heart beating rapidly in his chest, noticing that it was dark now,

He passed out, and he cursed at himself before he quickly stood up and ran towards the scream, only to pause as he saw men on the boat,

One of them was carrying Rue, who was screaming while another was carrying Dog, who seemed unconscious.

"..Rudy!" Rue screamed, and that's all it took for Rudy to snap out of it.

He pulled out his gun, "Hey! Let them go right now!" He shouted, and the men turned to him, guns raised, pointing at him.

"Let them go right now!" Rudy repeated, only this time in French.

"Rudy!" Rue reached out for him,

"It's okay, it's gonna be okay, don't move too much, you're gonna hurt yourself again," Rudy told her,

"She's hurt! Put her down, or you'll open up her stitches!" Rudy yelled in French, glaring at the men.

A man pushed through his men, glancing at Rue before glancing at Rudy.

"Put your gun down, and we'll put her down." The man told him speaking English.

Rudy lowered his gun and tossed it to the side, The man nodded at the other, and Rue was put down.

She cried out as she stood up and ran over to Rudy, wrapping her arms around his waist, hiding her face in his side.

Rudy wrapped a protective arm around her.

"The dog.."

"Is alive but unconscious." The man interrupted, stepping closer to him until he was standing right in front of him.

"You can call me Codron. What do they call you?" The man, Codron questioned, looking down at Rudy.

He was taller than him, but Rudy has met a lot of people like Codron before. He killed a lot of people like Codron.

"Rudy." He replied, simple and short.

Codron stared at him for a moment before speaking, "Is there anyone else on the boat?"

Rudy shook his head, and he let out a pain hissed as his hair was gripped tightly, his head pushed forward, his face inches away from Codron,

"I expect an answer when I ask a question." Codron firmly told him in French.

"No." Rudy gritted out, and Codron hummed

"Leave him alone!" Rue kicked Codron in the leg, making him let go of Rudy.

He glared at her, "You little!" He went to slap her, but Rudy stepped in, taking the smack meant for Rue,

He could feel his lip bleeding, but it was nothing to him. He took a hundred beating, a smack like that meant nothing.

He glared at Codron, who smirked at him.

"Take them!"

🪓

1050 words

I don't know how to write French, so I'm not even gonna try it because i might end up writing it wrong and saying something else. [Hope that's alright]

Thoughts?