Fight The Dead, Fear The Living (Rick Grimes)

Chapter 3

I woke up to shouting outside, I think it was Daryl and T-Dog.

"You cuffed him to the roof?" Daryl shouted, what is he talking about.

"Daryl, he was way out of order." I heard Rick say calmly. I walked out of my tent to see what the commotion was about.

"Daryl," I said while walking up to him, he turned around to face me, I always listened to him so he always listens to me.

"What's wrong? Why are you shouting?" I asked him, I really wanted to go back to sleep but since I have been woken up there is no chance of that happening.

"They left Merle handcuffed to a roof in Atlanta! I have to go and find him." He explained to me. My jaw is killing me and the group don't have any painkillers.

"Well, if you go to Atlanta, could you make a run for me?" I asked Daryl, he nodded and put his crossbow back on his back.

"What do you need?" He asked, I sighed and rubbed my jaw.

"Some painkillers would be nice" I smiled sweetly at him. He looked at me dumbfounded, he never knew about me and Ed fighting.

"I fought with Ed because he hit Carol and the Sheriff here says I have a small fracture in my jaw." I explained the story to him, he looked over to where Ed was sitting and had a look of anger on his face, I could already read his mind.

"Daryl no." I said, hoping that he would catch the fact that I knew what he was planning on doing. He looked over to me and looked at my eye, which had bruised and was still swelled.

"He hit you though." He said, glaring in Ed's direction.

"You should see his face," I said laughing a little, I looked around and saw nobody laughing with me.

"Oh, come on guys, don't make me laugh by myself." I said, they all just looked at me with no expression on their faces.

"Ok, lame joke I know. So, about them painkillers?" I asked, Daryl looked down at me, of course he was taller than me, most of the guys here were.

"Yeah, I'll get you some." Daryl said and hopped in the truck that got when they arrived from Atlanta. I smiled at Daryl and went to go to talk to Shane, I guess I need to sort things out with him considering the fact that we only have each other.

My family never lived in Georgia, I moved here when I thought I could get a better job than in South Carolina, I know I am right next to the state I used to live in but I didn't want to go too far away in case of any emergencies like a family member dying but I guess that won't matter anymore.

I found Shane when he was about to head into the woods.

"Shane!" I shouted, he looked over and walked towards me, I smiled sheepishly.

"I want to get back together, all we have is each other and the group in this world, I have no family and neither do you so I thought that we would still be a compatible match." I smiled as he pulled me into a hug.

"I missed you." I said, I looked up and he kissed me.

"I missed you too." He said, I guess I'll ask where he was headed then.

"What were you doing going into the woods?" I asked him, he looked a little alarmed, like he was hiding something.

"I was just going to, uh, HUNT. Yeah, I was going to hunt." He said, like he was reassuring himself, this is a little weird.

"Can I help you?" I asked him, he shook his head quickly.

"Nope, I need to do this by myself, it helps me clear my head." He said, I nodded but when I looked into his eyes I could tell he was lying to me.

"Well, okay then." I said as I walked away, I sat with Andrea, Amy and Jacqui. We were just waiting for the group to come back from Atlanta since we did the washing yesterday.

--

It was dark and the group still weren't back, I am getting a little worried about them. Shane hasn't come back yet either. Amy got up to use the bathroom, in the RV, I don't think she has ever been in the woods, they must scare her.

We were sat around a campfire, it was really quiet and we had to make sure that the fire didn't burn to high. I was staring at the flames the whole time, until I heard Amy scream. Me and Andrea ran to see what the problem was until we saw a thing biting into Amy's neck. This is too much gore, I went pale and I was dizzy.

I ran to the RV and hid in the bathroom, I can't handle a lot of gore all at once. I still felt dizzy and I eventually passed out.

--

I awoke with a soaking rag on my head, I opened my eyes to find Rick, I wasn't in the bathroom anymore but on the couch in the RV.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked me, I nodded.

"I just don't appreciate gore." I said, I wonder if Amy is ok, I know that the bite will make her change, because it infected her but I don't know if she is still alive so that I can say goodbye.

"Hey, is Amy still alive?" I asked, he sighed, looked down and shook his head. My eyes started watering and eventually the tears fell down my cheeks. Rick hugged me and afterwards I stood up, I grabbed onto the table at first but managed to keep walking.

"Was anybody else killed?" I asked, Rick nodded.

"Ed, the Walkers got him." Walkers? That is a name I could use instead of 'things'. I am going to have to get rid of my gore problem or else I won't survive.

"Hey, are there any walkers left?" I asked him, he shook his head.

"Not alive anyway." He said, I walked outside and saw the floor littered with Walker bodies, this made me feel sick. I gagged, and felt dizzy as I got closer to one. I kneeled down and looked over the body. It had blood all around it's torso. It was disgusting.

I was just staring until it opened it's eyes and grabbed me, I screamed and Rick ran over. Before he could drive a knife into it's skull I moved away and stopped him.

"WAIT! Let me do it." I said, I am nervous about doing this, my anxiety is almost getting the best of me but I want to survive in this world. Rick handed his knife over and I kneeled down. 'This isn't going to be pretty.' I thought to myself I held the knife above my head and slammed it into his skull. A bit of blood splattered across my face and that was the last of my bravery.

I ran around a corner and threw up, I felt a hand pull my hair away as I continued to vomit onto the grass. After I vomited for the second time I stood up, still feeling woozy.

"Thanks," I said to Rick, he nodded his head and started walking over to Lori.

"Don't mention it!" He shouted over his shoulder just before he reached Lori. Shane walked over and sat with me. He grabbed the rag that Rick used to wake me up and he wiped it across my face, getting the blood off it.

"Thanks." I said, this time to Shane. He just smiled and continued until my face was blood free.

"I'm proud of you for what you did, that was a big step." He said, I nodded cockily, I doubt I would be able to do that again.

"Since I took a big step, lets go back to baby steps." I laughed a little as Shane chuckled along. I looked around and spotted Andrea near Amy's dead body. I walked over to go and speak to her.

"Andrea I'm so-" I was cut off by her.

"I don't want your apology." She said, I guess she needed space, who wouldn't?

I got up and walked back to my tent, getting ready for my night's rest.