DARLIN' | d. dixon

02

𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝙾𝙽𝙴
"𝙸 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝." — william faulkner

‧⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧
TWO
"Rick motherfucking Grimes!"

TWO MONTHS LATER

ANDREW TYLER HAD his heart set on becoming a cop as soon as he graduated college with a Criminal Justice degree. He planned to work in the big city and one day, become a homicide detective. At twenty-one, he had his entire life mapped out.

That was until he met Eleanor during his final months of school. He was immediately smitten with the woman from a small town in King's County. So much so, that he threw his entire life plan out of the window and decided to build their life together.

Throughout their life together, he became no stranger to the odd miracle. When their first son was born, every and any doctor said there was a slim chance Eleanor would carry to term. Her body just wasn't fit to carry a child and that there was no reasonable explanation for it. While/ he always knew that to be a load of something awful, it wasn't until Matthew came out perfect that he realized miracles do exist.

As life went on, there were always little coincidences that made him wonder if miracles were caused by God himself or if it was just the way life worked out. But regardless of all of those little moments, this was a miracle far too big for him not to question the existence of God. Because before him stood Rick Grimes, the man they thought to be dead.

"Holy shit. . . Rick motherfucking Grimes. You're alive!"

‧⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧

Remmi would be lying if she said she wasn't scared. Not only for her brother's life, but for the lack of medical supplies that they carried. After they heard on the CB that the group they sent into Atlanta had been trapped, Remmi wondered what that meant for her family and the rest of the lives in their group.

Once they decided to leave King's County, Shane and Andrew led a small caravan to the outskirts of the city. To some campsite that was 30 miles from the highway. At first, it seemed as if none of them were going to get any sleep. The first couple of days, they all stayed awake, swapping war stories of times before this. Even of their hopes and dreams of what would happen when this apocalypse would blow over.

But that over 60 days ago. Life had moved on and during that time, the food had ran lower and lower. Luckily, they had a couple of hunters throughout the group that spent their days in the woods that surrounded them. The pair of brothers had even brought back a deer once, lasting them a couple of days.

Thus began one of their own making quick trips into Atlanta. He scavenged for food, clothing, medicinal items. . . Any useful thing he could get his hands on. Only this time, he went with a group. Remmi's brother included. She didn't really understand her brother's hero complex of trying to save everyone by scrounging up a couple cans of green beans when there were more than enough of them going into the city.

But still, she stayed quiet. Her selfish opinion hadn't mattered much as now, she was subjected to healing scrapes and heat rashes. She had connected well with the other ladies in the group, but for the most part, she stayed to herself. It was hard expressing herself to any of them when she wasn't sure who she was.

Even before the world ended, Remmi had a hard time knowing who she truly was. She felt like a broken shell of who she used to be.

Thus, she strayed from these thoughts and kept herself busy. She helped with chores, she helped keep watch over the camp during the times where Dale would need to catch up on some sleep. . .

She felt the days just lingered together now.

The same routine.

The same chores.

"Remmi?" She heard Eleanor call out. "You dozed off there. You okay?"

"Yes, sorry. What were we talking about?" She replied, arching a brow.

"I asked if you wouldn't mind watching over Matt for a few while I head to my favorite bathroom spot," Eleanor grinned. "He's sitting right on my bladder and it feels like I have to go all the time!"

Lori, who sat with the two ladies, laughed. "Yes, well, just think about the little life you're creating."

"The mean little life I'm creating," Eleanor snorted. "He's up all hours of the night, kicking my ribs."

"When did we decide he wasn't a she?" Remmi asked with a smile. She had been convinced since Eleanor found out she was pregnant that it was a little girl.

"Heaven help us if we've got another girl running around here. The ratio of men to women is already slim." Eleanor sighed, sitting up with her hand resting on her belly. She waved, telling the girls she'd be right back.

A few moments later, after Eleanor had finally come back, they heard a car alarm blaring in the distance.

"What do you see, Dale!?" Shane shouted, instinctively grabbing his shot gun.

"I-I don't know yet! Hard to tell."

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy, the little sister of the woman who went into Atlanta. "Could it be Andrea?"

Remmi turned to face her with a warm smile, "I hope so."

Once the red sports car finally pulled up, Glenn emerged from the vehicle. Almost immediately, Shane and Amy began barking at him. Wondering why he'd be so daft to drive the car up there in the first place.

"At least I got us a really cool car." Glenn shrugged, walking over to where Eleanor and Remmi stood.

"It is a pretty sweet ride. I've always wanted to have a sports car." Remmi chimed in as she admired it.

"Maybe we can take it for a spin." Glenn offered with a smile.

Before she could muster up any sort of response, a moving truck pulled up behind it. Andrea was the first one out, then Jacqui, then T-Dog and Morales.

Then finally, Andrew. He ran to greet his family, embracing them each in a long lasting hug.

"How'd you guys get out anyway?" Shane asked.

"New guy. He got us out." Glenn replied.

"Crazy vato came riding into town and saved the day." Morales grinned, his arm swung around his wife as he held her close.

Andrew then smirked, "You guys are gonna love this. . . Hey, helicopter boy! Come on out!"

And finally out came a dead man who was suddenly very much alive.