traded my life [TWD]

『118』

"Help! Help! Someone help!" I scream and cry.

I wait a moment. 

"Help! Please!" I shriek over Alexandria.

"Hyejin?" Rick calls, his footsteps just as loud as his voice as he runs to me. "Hyejin, what's wrong?"

Deanna was stumbling behind him and I mentally curse the irony. But, I can work with it. Luckily, Rick is much faster.

Rick runs onto the porch of the infirmary and grabs my arms. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I step closer to his chest, faking a cry.

My voice drops to a whisper. "He slit his wrists and I found him like this. Stay to the story."

Rick's hands hesitate on my back. I double over and release some more dramatic cries of shock.

"What's going on?" Deanna asks, panting as she runs up the stairs.

"It's.. it's.." I gasp, fighting through my 'sobs'. "It's Pete.. he.. I just came to.. to take my shift and he.."

Glenn and Maggie are next. They hurry over and Maggie runs up the porch.

"What?" Deanna asks.

I whimper and point weakly into the infirmary. I trip over myself and Maggie catches me as I lead them inside.

"I.. I was coming in for work," I try to explain.

Pete's walker form slams against his office door, leaving blood trails on the glass. Deanna flinches and covers her mouth with her hands.

"And he just.. I found him like that," I cry.

Rick was still caught up in trying to figure out my game. Glenn steps forward and opens the door just a bit, stabbing Pete. The body falls to the floor and Glenn opens the door further.

I look up at Rick. His eyes change a bit. He steps forward and pushes Pete's body onto his back. He looks over the body for a moment as if I didn't tell him exactly where the wounds were.

"Suicide," Rick figures, holding the limp arm to show Deanna.

"Out of nowhere?" Glenn asks.

Goddammit, Oppa.. I fight the urge to sigh. "He.. Is there a note?"

Deanna still looks frozen in her place. 

Rick goes into the office. He shuffles around a little before bringing back a piece of paper.

"'I'm sorry. Aiden's death has made it clear.. we're not safe. There's no hope'," Rick reads the note Carol wrote.

Deanna plucks the paper from Rick's hand, but she doesn't question much as she sees Pete's signature at the bottom.

"How do we tell his wife?" I worry. "His kids?"

Deanna sighs, the motion clearly taking a lot out of her. "Maggie.."

Maggie's head perks at her name. Deanna waves for Maggie to follow her and the two leave the house. Glenn sends me a comforting look before chasing after Maggie.

As the door shuts, I wipe my face on my sleeve and sniffle the tears away.

"What is this?" Rick asks.

I cough to clear my throat, my show over now.

"Hyejin," he calls, tone pleading with me to make it make sense.

"He was abusing his wife and kids," I explain shortly. "He was a drunk, abusive, low-life piece of shit."

"So, you kill him?"

I shrug. "What else was I supposed to do? Let him kill his wife and two kids? That doesn't sound like the right thing to do, does it?"

Rick pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales slowly. 

"Carol said you told her you understood why she did what she did to Karen and David. This? It's not much different.. but, it was easier. No one will miss the fucker. We solved it before it became a real problem."

"'We'?" he repeats. "You and Carol did this together?"

"I didn't write the letter."

Rick nods once. I can see the wheels turning in his head.

"These people only exile shitheads. You know just as well as I do what it means to send someone away in this world. They always come back."

"Yeah, they do," he agrees.

"Now, his family can bury him and move on. No fatalities. No collateral damage."

Rick is silent for a moment. Then, he nods more thoroughly. "All right. Then, it's over before it started."

I give a small smile, relieved to see him coming around. "You're welcome."

"I didn't say 'thank you'," he reminds.

"No. But, you are."

He gives me a look. Then, the corner of his lips quirk in a tiny smile. "Yeah. I am."

I look down at the body and Rick follows my actions. 

"How'd you get his signature on the note?" Rick wonders.

I swing my head to look up at him. "Seriously?"

"Humor me."

I scoff and roll my eyes. 

"Do you know how many times I forged your signature growing up to get me out of trouble in school and shit?"

Finally, I pull a small laugh out of him. "Yeah.. I figured as much."

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

dis just bc i love ri__writes