The Little Things ~Rick Grimes~

The Beginning

My legs burn. My feet ache. My body is begging me to stop but my head is screaming at me to keep going. They couldn't be far behind me. 10, 15 at most. Not too many but enough for me to be scared. I could probably fight them off is I wanted too, but I don't want to risk it. If I die I want it to be of my choosing.
I turn the corner and am faced with a huge herd on walkers. Well, this is it. This is where I die. Before I can raise my knife to my head, I am swooped up and thrown on the back of a horse. What the fuck? The man in front of me, controlling the horse has a sheriffs hat placed in his head and a huge bag of guns on his back. I grab a small one out of the bag and start firing at some of the monsters behind us. Suddenly there are walkers in front of us too, taking down the horse within seconds.  The poor thing wails for its life as we fall to the street ground, the concrete cutting into my palms. Everything seems to be put in slow motion. Seeing all those things rip into the horse and seeing the man look for an escape.
He grabs my hand, pulling my under a tank and then up, inside of it. We close the hatch and sit back, gasping for air. What the hell just happened. No words are said between the two for a while. Just trying to regain our breathing and sanity in pure silence.

"Rick. My names Rick. Rick Grimes." He finally speaks up, seeming to have trouble with his own name.

"Didn't ask." I bluntly respond.

"Well, you're just peachy arn't you?" He says sarcastically.

"Oh, just the peachiest." I say back with a fake smile which rose a chuckle out of him.

"So do I get a name in return or..?" He trails off and I shrug.

"What's the point?"

"Well I mean it's common courtesy is it not?" He laughs again. I'm not sure how any of the situation we are currently in is funny.

"I don't see the point of giving away the one thing we have left to truly call our own." He nods his head in a understanding manor though I can tell by the look in his eyes that it isn't truly resonating.

"Well then peach, wanna help me search this guy?" He says, putting emphasis on the name he made up and then motioning to the dead army guy next to him. I just watch as he tries to take the guys gun but the monster comes to life at the contact. My reflexes I've gained from living in a zombie infested world kick in and I quickly grab my knife, stabbing it in the head. Rick let's out a huff of relief.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." It goes back to being quiet but now I can feel his eyes on me, like he's trying to figure me out. That or size me up so I turn to meet his gaze.
"Like what you see cowboy?" I ask him and he raises his eyebrow with a smile at the name he was given.

"Cowboy?" He questions.

"I mean not to mention the fact that you rode up on a horse, but your hat didn't help your case." I chuckle and I can tell that he's finding much entertainment in this conversation.

"I'll have you know that I've never ridden a horse before today! Poor thing didn't stand a chance. Wouldn't have gotten out alive without it though." I simply give a polite nod and the tank becomes quiet once again. God, this is torture.

"Do you have a story peach?" He says. Not sure how I feel about the name but I'm going to have to have something to refer to so it will do for now.

"Um, well my parents killed themselves at the beginning of it all, leaving me and my sister screwed. Fantastic start to a story, I know I know. But it was just the two of us for a while. Then Sydney, my sister, went out on a run for more food and just never came back. I like to tell myself she might still be out there but I know I'm just kidding myself. My mission for a while was to find her but I gave up so now I'm on my own." When Rick doesn't say anything back I have to continue with the conversation so we don't dwell on my problems.
"What about you cowboy?" I ask.

"Well I woke up in the hospital a few days ago to see the world had gone to shit. I have a wife and a son. They're out there, I know they are. I just have to find them."

"How do you know?" I ask him.

"I just have a feeling. Plus the fact that all the photo books in my house are gone. Lori wouldn't go anywhere without those damn things." He chuckles and lowers his head, his arm rested on his knee that's angled up in the air.

"I get it. Keeping memories of the good life."

"I don't know if I would call it a good life. I mean we fought all the damn time. I mean every damn thing I did was a problem. I'm finding my son though, I'm finding Carl." He says and looks me in the eye.

"Well it looks to me like I found my next mission. Operation father and son reunited." I smile at him and the tank goes into a comfortable silence this time, no longer feeling awkward and forced to speak. But the silence only last so long when a crackling noise comes from the radio.

"Hey you!" The radio speaks and we shuffle over to it.
"Yea dumbass." It speaks again.
"In the tank with the chick. Y'all cozy in there?"

••••••••
Yoooo what's poppin. This is the first chapter to my new book. Just an opening. Hope y'all liked it. Love y'all

-lily