The Black Rose

Chapter Thirteen

Rose's acute hearing could pick up the group settling in through the stone walls while Hershel disinfected her wound. He was still not walking yet. Hell... they're both still immobile. But T-Dog found him a wheelchair to get back and forth from Rose's cell which had been moved downstairs for easier access. Rose, on the other hand, still laid in her bed recovering. Hershel began to pour alcohol over her wound, no longer expecting her to flinch or shout out in pain. He knew that his actions must've stung the hell out of her.

Yet her face remained unmoving. It was unnerving sometimes. However, the scars on her body told a different story. Hershel was now aware of the psychical abuse that Rose had undergone in her past and knew that she probably suffered worse before. This wound was nothing compared to what she had suffered before. He could see that nearly every single bone had been broken. Her beautiful porcelain skin was marred by thousands of little scars, scrapes and scabs. Rose had put her body through the wringer and Hershel didn't like it.  

Hershel finally decided to strike up a conversation with Rose. She knew that he's been searching for something to say towards her. They had just spent few minutes in silence as he continued to clean her wound. "You know. Human bites are the nastiest. Even before this outbreak. So we've got to keep an eye on that Rose."

"Okay," Rose's eyes narrowed onto the elderly man, unnerving him again. No matter how often he had seen these eyes, it still shocks him. He'd seen heterochromia in animals often but had never seen them so dominant in a human. "Well I'm going to get up today. I hear them clearing out the courtyard."

"Take it easy. I'm assuming that once you get up, you're not coming back to rest. Just make sure you come to see me tonight to change your bandages." Hershel scolded, making Rose feel like one of his daughters. She chuckled and awkwardly took a grasp of Hershel's hands as if she was assuring him that she would try and listen to him. He wondered when if this girl would ever stop surprising him. She had definitely grown attached to this old farmer. Hershel was a fighter and that pleased Rose so much. Rose forced herself to get up but felt the mild protests her body gave as she took a long stretch. "Well wheel me to my room, Aurélien... do you mind if I call you by your first name?"

Hershel glanced up, meeting Rose's eyes. He was curious to see how she would react to her first name being used. It was a nice change for Rose. She was always considered Project Rose. It was... nice to be called by her first name like most people were. The elderly man seems so worried that he might've pushed the boundaries too far. He feared that he'll just end up pushing Rose away and making her shut down; she had already done that to the rest of the group, including Daryl. Her voice came out gravelly, "Yeah you can call me that Hershel."

"What does that mean by the way? Your name?" Hershel got slightly bold as they turned into his room. Rose stepped back to resume her usual position. 'That leaning against the wall with nothing behind her' position. Hershel called it her predator position. He had seen Rose do it too many time and observed how her eyes would scan the area and remain silent like a lion watching its prey.

"Golden. Aurélien means golden. Emerwen means princess and Rose means... well a rose," Rose slowly explained, feeling strange to reveal so much to this older male. "Golden Princess Rose. My...-"

The female warrior faltered, not sure how to explain the person who named her or even if she wanted to reveal that to him. The fact that a person created her but wasn't her father. He just happened to be an extraordinary scientist that was obsessed with "Lord of the Rings," and creating her. Rose was the center of his research that took decades to create. He was just a young prodigy that stumbled across one of the government's oldest experiments and began the journey to create the ultimate human being with only best qualities. That very same scientist called her his golden princess. The ultimate rose. Hershel watched as a soft but sad smile made its way to Rose's face. She was really extraordinarily beautiful in a sharp exotic sense.

Suddenly Rose kneeled down on her knees and her soft hands were now encapsulating Hershel's. The sad smile was still evident on Rose's lips as Hershel met eye contact with this extraordinary woman. He saw the storm that were churning behind her eyes. Rose was fighting a battle inside herself. So many secrets. "Aurélien... don't reveal what you don't want to reveal yet. I can only hope that in time, you'll find yourself comfortable enough to tell somebody."

The sun felt amazing on Rose's skin as she emerged through the narrow enclosed stairway into the courtyard. Maggie and Glenn were stacking up the bodies, looking slightly ashamed. T-Dog, Daryl, and Rick were moving bodies aside as Carol continued to move cars. It was clear that Carol was starting to step up and pull her weight. Rose assumed that Carol felt some sort of responsibility because she knew that Rose was incapable for a few days. Needless to say, Rose was pleasantly surprised how well the group had functioned without her. Maybe they weren't idiots after all.

Rick glanced up, trying to locate the bright glare out of the corner of his eyes. The redneck saw him getting distracted and followed his line of sight and his heart skipped. Rose's presence had put a complete halt on everybody's action. It was hard to miss how the shimmer from the sunrays hitting Rose's blazing red hair made it seems like she was on fire. Carol caught Daryl's eyes and then winked as she teased him. Daryl rolled his eyes, knowing that Carol knew that he had a crush on Rose. Well everybody did. But none of them knew that it was more than a crush... he was really in love with this female warrior.Rose took long strides towards the group, appearing as if she wasn't near death only days before.

But suddenly Rose noticed something she didn't like. Alright. She'll take back her previous comments. The group were a whole bunch of idiots. The prisoners were hanging out by the automobiles. "Want to explain to me why the hell these prisoners are here in OUR courtyard?"

"They showed up. Said their cell block is spooky," Rick explained, trying to remedy the situation. "I was pissed too. Kicked them out of the prison. But T-Dog here wants to give them a second chance."

"They either stay in their cell block or take their damn chances out on the road." Rose redirected her intense stare onto T-Dog. Her voice sounded mild but there were an underlying tone of danger. As if she was daring T-Dog to defy her or disagree. But luckily T-Dog agreed silently, happy with the remote possibility of a second chance for the prisoners. "Now get the degenerates out of my sight."

Glenn and T-Dog went ahead, beckoning the prisoners over and took them to their cell block along with other supplies. Rick was grateful that Rose could be "the bad guy" in this situation. It was good to have her back. Rose had given the rest of the group a scare when she showed up bleeding.

He remembered Carl crying every night and sitting outside of Rose's cell endlessly waiting for her to wake up. They wanted to visit Rose and see how she was doing. The poor elderly man who was still recovering from his leg being cut off had jumped up immediately to aid Rose. But that didn't surprise Rick. Everybody here in this group considered Rose as one of their own. No matter how complicated she was and how she kept everybody at an arm's length from her, she was loved. However Hershel had forbid them to visit stating that Rose's wound was pretty deep and he was afraid of the risk of infection. Rick also had a sneaking suspicion that Hershel kept people out because of Rose. She wouldn't appreciate many people coming in and out in moments of her weakness. She wasn't trained to show fear or weakness. 

But it was definitely a relief to have Rose up and aware of everything that's going on. Rick didn't like the burden of all the responsibility weighing on him. Half of the time, he didn't know what the hell he's doing. His number one priority was his son and his pregnant wife. Neither one were too happy with him. Rose provided stability. She provided an opportunity for dictatorship. There's no such a thing as a democracy in this world anymore. Rose didn't allow stupidity or any form of protests. It's either her way or the highway. She's a phenomenal warrior. Rick liked it that way. He liked that she made decisions and he's the one to "break it easily" to the group. They worked together well. Rick smiled, meeting Rose's eyes, "Good to have you back Rose."