3rd POV
Rick comes back only to be guilt tripped by Carol for leaving her daughter out there on her own. He stands up and walks away only for Andrea to run up to him. "Rick, we got bad news." She says as Daryl walks up to him.
"What?" Rick asks looking between the two.
"It's Ash...She's been bit." She says hesitantly and Rick freezes. No...
"W--what? Where...Where is she?" He asks slowly.
"In the RV." She says and points to the RV.
He walks over to the RV and walks up the steps slowly. He walks down the hall and sees a mess. It's trashed, everything is tipped over or on the floor and there's blood on the walls from the walkers hands. He walks into the back where the bed is.
The bloody and tattered blanket is on the floor and blood on walls. He looks to the bed to see Ash laying there with her shoulder bandaged but her eyes closed. She has blood covering her chest and face; looks like she headbutted the walker.
Rick gasps as he walks over to her and falls to his knees beside the bed. He grabs her hand to see if she's cold but her hand is warm and clammy. He puts his two fingers to her throat and can still feel a pulse. "How long?" He asks.
"When the herd came." Andrea says quietly.
"How?" He asks.
"I was trapped in the bathroom. It was going to tear the doors off and kill me but she called it over to her...She said it was to give me time to kill it." She says guiltily.
"She trusted you to kill it before it got her..." He whispers.
"Rick, I'm so sorry. I know how much she meant to you--"
"Stop. It was her choice. I'm not mad at you." He says as he tries to hold it together.
"You're not?" She asks hesitantly.
"No." His voice cracks. He clears his throat. "Excuse me, I would like a moment alone." He says in his slightly normal voice.
"Of course." She says and walks out.
"You knew?" Rick asks Daryl.
Daryl sighs behind Rick. "I found out while you ran after Sophia. I bandaged her up. She's gonna make it--"
"And you didn't tell me?" He asks as a tear slips down his cheek.
"We had to find the girl." Daryl reasons.
Rick sighs. "You're right. It's just..."
Daryl places his hand on Ricks shoulder. "I know. I love her too. She was my little sister."
"How'd you two meet?" Rick asks, hoping to hear that she had a happy moment in her life before everything.
"Her mom, she was a good woman. She was a coward, though. Wouldn't tell nobody what was happening, not even to save her daughter. Anyway, she knew my mom once upon a time and wanted to see how we were doin' I suppose. Ash was still in diapers and her sister, Grace, she was about four years old. I was about nine, ten years old." Daryl says as he tries to remember.
"So, you were close her whole life?" Rick asks.
"Yeah, you could say that. After her sister died, though, we saw each other a lot more. I would help her bandage her wounds and she would lift mine and Merle's spirits up. God, that's all she wanted to do." Daryl says with a light chuckle as a tear rolls down his face and he sniffs.
"What?" Rick asks as he wipes the blood from her forehead.
"To make us smile. She was so depressed and full of regret but all she wanted was to make me and Merle happy. It worked, you know. She made us laugh every time we saw her. She gave us hope." Daryl says.
"Hope? For what?" Rick asks.
"That the world will get better. Should've known the world would end once she was happy again. It's always her." Daryl shakes his head as he clenches his fists.
"What do you mean?" Rick asks.
"Everytime Ash would get a spark of hope in her, something terrible would happen. But when she became happy, the world ends. That's why she always smiles. The world is already gone, what more could it take from her?" He says.
After Daryl says that, both of their minds go to one thing. 'Her life.'
They both look down at the girl they love. "How'd you two meet, anyway?" Daryl asks Rick.
Rick chuckles fondly. "Found her sleeping in a car on the side of the highway. Had no weapon, scared the hell out of her with my gun to her face, though. I saw she was no danger and she just started to walk away like nothing happened. Told her I was looking for Lori and Carl and she just asked for their names and told me if she saw them, she'd tell them I was looking for 'em. I managed to get her to come along only if we made a deal." Rick says and he smiles as more tears slide as he remembers her falling on her butt falling out of the car.
"What kind of deal?" Daryl asks.
"That if she came with me, we would protect each other. But, I think to her, that meant protecting me and my family even if she died doing it. I guess she realized this whole group was a family and was protecting them..." Rick says as he looks down at Ash.
It's silent for a while until Rick spoke again. "Shouldn't...Shouldn't she be...Turning?" He asks hesitantly.
They look down at her to see she wasn't dead, she was just...sleeping. "Yeah..." Daryl said.
For the rest of the night, the two stayed by the bed and watched Ash sleep, believing that maybe she will survive somehow. But, that was just childish, wishful thinking and they both knew it. But still, they had hope that she would survive. They knew that once you were bit, you were dead. But, she wasn't dead quite yet.
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Sorry for the long wait! I went back to school and had less time to work on it. Thank you for all of you who are still reading this!!
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Into The Dark
Fanfiction[Currently Under Rewrite] She was lost. She was alone. She was scared. She was surrounded by the dead. Ashley Grant was thrown into the terrifying world of the dead walking the streets. All she wanted was to go to the grocery store but she ran into...
