The Reckless and Forgotten (Rick Grimes)

Chapter 5

This chapter is dedicated to nutella_babie because she is an amazing person who cares about me. Feel free to go check out her story "Till the Last Breath"!

~Ginger's POV~

I had been helping Sasha in the fields. It was unusually hot and somewhat peaceful.

"Hey, pretty lady. Why don't you come over here and give us some sugar?" a crude voice called out to me, disturbing the silence.

I ignored them and continued to pull up vegetables from the ground.

The quiet was broken once again when someone started whistling and making kissy noises.

Rolling my eyes, I shoved the vegetables into the wicker basket that rested on the dirt in between Sasha and me.

Sasha glanced at the men and then at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Aren't you going to do something about that?" she asked me.

I scoffed in return, "Like what? I can't retaliate because I just got here. If I do anything to raise hell, I'll be thrown out on my ass."

She shook her head at me. The gesture reminded me of a disappointed parent and I felt a my hands clam up and begin to shake.

"I- I think I'm done. Can you finish the rest?" I asked, not really interested in her answer.

I left before she could respond and made my way up to the courtyard.

On my way up, I heard the crunching of gravel behind me.

"Hey," Nikolai greeted me cheerfully, "You doin' alright?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm okay. I'm just, um, hungry." I replied, half-assing my answer.

He nodded in agreement, "Me too. Want to get some lunch?"

I agreed and he led me to the cell block where Hershel was serving a small meal.

The portions were meager, only enough to quell the gnawing feeling in my stomach.

Since I didn't eat meat, I gave the dried pork to Atsuki who gratefully gobbled it down.

"So," Nikolai started, "I heard some guys were giving you shit today."

I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to talk about it.

"It was just harmless banter. Nothing I can't handle myself." I told him.

I could tell he didn't believe me, but he didn't get the chance to continue the conversation.

Rick had taken a seat at our table just as I finished speaking.

"Ginger, would you mind helping me at the fence?"Rick asked, although it was obvious he would only take yes as an answer.

Bidding Nikolai farewell, I followed Rick down to the fence in silence.

Our last conversation hadn't exactly ended on the best note, but there was no way in hell I would apologize or make amends for our petty argument.

Twitchers were clawing at the fence, gasps of hunger sounding in the air as they spotted Rick and me.