Solace (Walking Dead/Rick Grimes)

Noah

It was depressing walking through Las Vegas. I remembered times I'd visited the bustling mess of the strip, overflowing with tourists and bright lights, the city lighting up like a Christmas tree when the sun set.

Now it was practically falling apart. The streets were littered completely with trash, cars askew throughout the road. The shops and hotels that used to swarm with people were now ghostly empty, any small sound echoing through the street.

I wove around cars, holding tightly to Jesse's hand. Rick walked ahead of us, the rest behind. Jesse was sad because Carl had been in a bad mood, I'd told him to just let Carl stew it out alone. Now Jesse was in a mood of his own too. There was a CVS Pharmacy at the corner of the upcoming street Rick was inching towards. He slowed to a stop at the entrance until we'd all reached it. "Alright everyone has an idea of what to look for. Any trouble just call out ok?"

The store unsurprisingly was completely ransacked. The smell of stale food and blood wafted around the room. I led Jesse to the snack aisle. He let out a small yelp that frightened me half to death. It even resulted in Rick running over to see what was wrong. Jesse triumphantly turned around to wave the unopened box of Goldfish crackers. I was so relieved I had to laugh.

"Alright Jesse, you think you can hold back a yell next time?" Rick rubbed the back of his head, smiling at him then turning to me. "I'm gonna go look for what we agreed on?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me, flashing another grin.

"Alright, go on then." I flashed him a teasing smile. He saluted and turned around, disappearing into another aisle.

Jesse opened the box and tilted it to his mouth.

"Jesse." I attempted to scold him, but his earnest expression and him inching the box over to offer me some won me over. They were a little stale, but not too bad. I was just glad it had lifted him out of the bad mood he'd been in because of Carl.

-------------------------------------------

"I could talk to him."

"I honestly think that is the worst idea ever."I swatted Rick but he smiled and shrugged sadly. "I'm just going to give him a little time. Was I a little to blunt with him? Maybe, but he's grown he can handle it."

"He could be harboring a massive grudge against you as we speak." We heard a creak upstairs. This time Rick and I had volunteered to stay in the living room of the house we'd invited ourselves into. After not hearing anything Rick turned back to me, dropping his voice to a whisper.

"I believe I know Carl well enough to know he won't let himself get overly angry at this. He talked a little at dinner tonight so I'm counting that as a slow recovery. Watch, he'll be acting like nothing happened in no time."

"If you say so."

"I do. Now come on, look what I found." Rick shifted, digging his hand into the pocket of his jeans. We were sitting against the wall behind the couch, hidden from sight but still having a clear view of the stairs and the door. He produced two silver foil packets, twisting them in my face.

"Rick, we are not doing anything here in the middle of this living room." His mouth instantly turned down into a thin line. "Do you really want to explain to anyone who happens to walk down what the noises are?"

"Good point. Fine, until next time."

"There will be a next time ok?"

He looked at me. "I know. If you ever have your doubts though, don't hesitate to tell me." He trailed his fingers along the wood floor, his voice even smaller than a whisper now. "I know you're still worried about Lucas."