Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot. And that's not a lot, so I'm going to stop this rhythm because I rhythm so bad it should be a crime.
Summary: "Here, Walker, Walker! Come here! Come here!" Rick had never met someone so insane before in his life. Slight Rick/OC if you squint ONE SHOT (Inspired by my Uncle)
(Set PRE-SEASON THREE)
HERE, WALKER!
Rick Grimes had been through a lot. A lot more than any man, or woman, should have to go through. No home, no safe place. Nothing but survival. A little over a year, the zombie apocalypse had happened, and they could do nothing but survive. His footsteps were silent, Glenn and Daryl flanking his sides as they went on a foot hunt.
The town was quiet and still, frozen in time. Yards overgrown, cars abandoned on the road and not a soul in sight. Until…
"Here, Walker! Here, Walker, Walker!" A voice called barely more than a whisper. Rick halted, Glenn blinked and Daryl held out his crossbow warily.
"Walker! Here, Walker!" The voice came again, a little more desperate this time. "Come on!"
"Who in there right mind calls for Walkers?" Daryl hissed.
Rick narrowed his eyes, moving forward. His gun raised in the direction of the woman, warily. These last few months taught him to wary and cold. This woman could be a threat in disguise and he wouldn't let his group get harmed. The closer he approached her, the more he took in.
She was thin, almost to the point of emaciated and he didn't know how she was able to carry that bulkily bag on her shoulders. Her vibrant red hair cut to her chin, tangled and messy. Her clothes looked as worn and tired as she did. And her green eyes flickered around the town, apprehensively and so lost in her search that she didn't even notice them approach.
Rick made a displeased noise in the back of his throat. Absentmindedness was a quick was to get oneself killed and it made him angry that this woman, absentminded, lost, had somehow survived when someone careful and strong like Dale, like Andrea, like so many others were dead.
"Walker!" The young woman was obviously distressed. "Walker, where are you?"
"Hey!" Rick finally had enough. The young woman whirled around, a machete in her hands. Her green eyes wild and her body tensed prepared for a fight. "What is wrong with you?"
All tension seeped into confusion then irritation. "Excuse me?" She struggled to keep her voice down. "Is that how you normally greet a person? Guns pointed at them and ask what's wrong with them? You know what that makes you?" She pointed at him with her machete. "A rude little man."
Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught Daryl smirking while Glenn coughed trying to smother his cough. Rick glowered at her, but she raised an unimpressed eyebrow and turned away. She called out, "Walker! Walker! Come on!"
"What are you doing?" Rick snarled, his gun pointed at her. "Calling for those things?"
The woman turned to him, puzzled expression. Her eyes flickered towards his gun and she swallowed thickly. "Calling? For things? What are you talking about?"
"Them!" Rick pointed at the Walkers straggling through the streets. The young woman gasped.
"Oh, no!" She started backing away. "Walker! Walker!"
"Yes, Walkers! Move!" Daryl reached out, tugging on the young woman's arm.
She shook her head stubbornly, pulling her arm out his grasp. "Not without Walker!"
"You want one of those things?" Rick couldn't comprehend and pointed at the Walkers. She was insane. She had to be.
She looked at him, then glanced at the zombies. Realization flickered in her eyes, and she snapped, "Zombies? You think I want the effing zombies? What the hell is wrong with you? Are you stupid as well as exceedingly rude? I just want my Walker!"
A Walker was what she was going to get, Rick realized for one was coming up right behind her. It's mouth opened and Rick's did too, to warn her when the woman whirled around with an angry growl and severed the zombie's head from its shoulders.
Rick froze, realizing that his earlier assumption of her might have been wrong. It was wrong. His lips pulled downward into a frown as he looked over her body. Cut, burns and bruises covered her, and Rick thought that maybe…maybe she had been careful. Maybe she had been strong. Maybe she fought for her life and that's why she survived this long.
The walker's head rolled on the sidewalk, it's mouth snapping as it trying to still get a bite. The woman glowered and then kicked it like a soccer ball. It soared through the air before hitting a car about twenty feet away causing its alarm to go off. The Walkers paused before turning and heading towards the noise. The woman blinked in surprise and turned to them, "I really didn't think car alarms still worked. Ain't that neat?" A smirk curved her lips.
"Nice shot," Glenn muttered, appreciatively.
"Thanks," she grinned for half a second when her eyes locked onto something. Pure horror flashed across her face, and Rick tensed looking to see what she saw.
"Walker!" Her voice croaked as she held back the scream.
In the middle of the street stood a dog. A grey Great Dane by the looks of it, with a backpack on it's side. The dog looked up and saw her and made to go towards her but whined fearfully for between the dog and the woman was a sea of Walkers. And they turned noticing the animal as well. "No!" the woman cried, rushing forward.
"Hey! Hey!" Rick tried to stop her, but she slipped out from his fingers.
"Rick we should leave!"
Daryl was right, he told himself. But indecision filled Rick, watching the woman run no doubt to her death. He should just leave her to it. But he couldn't. She had survived, she had survived where Andrea and Dale and so many others didn't. Rick didn't want to see another person die. Rick started forward.
"Rick!" Daryl snapped before cursing, "Bitch is going to get us killed!" But he too rushed forward.
Glenn muttered, "Shit" before following.
The woman twirled the machete and slashed two Walkers head in half. The Walkers turned not even bothering look at their fallen companions and started towards her. Her feet shuffled as it just occurred to that she was severely out numbered.
But she straighten her back and raised her machete, prepared to go out fighting. Just like Andrea, like Dale, like so many others. Too many others. Rick's teeth gritted as he raised his gun.
She slashed one, it's face cut in half, but no deep enough to stop it. It snapped at her, causing her to stumble back over a random dead body, and she fell backwards on the asphalt. She looked up at the walkers towering over her and started crawling backwards, trying to get herself to her feet, but her feet slipped out from under her. Her heart was thundering in her chest and one walker made to lunge at her.
A scream caught in her throat…
And the walker's head exploded.
The woman looked over her shoulder in shock. Rick reached down and pulled her to her feet while aiming his gun again and taking out another Walker. Daryl pulled up his crossbow and shot one straight in the eye. Glenn popped the walkers off, like no one's business.
Rick aimed again when the woman's eyes widened. Her green eyes met his clear blue ones and she told him, "Duck!"
It a split second decision, Rick put his life in the strange woman's hands and ducked. He felt the machete sail over his head, and he turned seeing a walker's body collapse behind him.
Rick stood up and told her, "Duck!"
"Hell," she cursed, ducking down a split second after having the barrel of the gun in her face. Her ears rang as the gun shot the zombie whose fingers that had been inches from tearing into her flesh. She shook her head, pulling up and held out her machete before relaxing when Daryl shot the last walker.
The walker fell, arrow in its eye and the town became silent once more. Not a sound other than their labored breathing. Finally, the woman knelt down, and called out gently, "Come here, Walker. Come on boy."
The dog, Walker, slowly crawled out from under the car where it hid. The Dane, ran to the woman, it's tail wagging and it made little noise like it was crying. The woman gently ran her finger through the animal's fur, comforting, "Shhh…shhh…it's okay now…"
"We need to go," Daryl scanned the area with a tight expression. "That gunfire is liable to drawn more unwanted attention, Walkers' or otherwise."
The woman turned to them, a frown on her face. She asked, "Walkers?"
"The Walkers…the zombies," Rick explained, wiping the perspiration off his brow. The dog's head was snapping back forth at his name being called. Rick held back his amused and settled his gaze upon the woman. Despite saving her, he still was wary. He wondered what to do. If she was part of a group, she could put them in danger. But she hadn't done anything to prove herself a threat either, his conscious nagged at him. His lips turned downward, his jaw clenching.
"You named the zombies…Walkers?" The young woman asked, dryly.
"You names your dog Walker?" Daryl shot back.
"Hey," the young woman pointed a finger at him, "his name was Walker way before the zombie apocalypse!"
Daryl just rolled his eyes.
"You okay boy?" The young woman inspected the dog for wounds. The dog's tongue slide out, his back leg thumped on the ground when she found a good spot. "Good. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you!"
"He's just a dog," Rick looked at her like she wasn't anything he had ever seen before. And she really wasn't. Like a ball of multicolored yarn, the woman was a web of contradiction.
"And you're just a man. And I'm just a woman. Doesn't make us any less important," the woman stated, raising her chin stubbornly. Her green eyes peered through him, old and wary, but innocent. Full of innocence, it made Rick's heart hurt. Then she dropped her gaze, looking slightly sheepish. "Thanks. For back there. Not many folks would bother anymore."
"We ain't most folks," Rick agreed slowly. He tilted his head. He finally posed the question, "Are you alone?"
Daryl shifted, and Glenn paused.
The woman was silent for a moment before sighing and nodded. Her expression closed as she looked at all of them. "Have been for a while," the woman whispered and Rick felt the truth behind her words and the grief there in her voice. "Wasn't always. But that doesn't matter anymore, now does it?"
That left them in an uncomfortable silence. The young woman rose to her feet and looked at her dog, "You ready to go, Walker?"
Daryl snorted at the name earning a slight glare in his direction. Rick bit his tongue, wanting to ask her if she wanted to come with them. Her green eyes held a bit of humor as if she knew what he was about to say. "Maybe we will see around again," she said after a moment. "Thank you again, for the saving."
Rick after a moment nodded.
She turned, the Dane trailing at her side and was about to walk away when she paused and looked back. "Kael," she told him. "My name is Kael. Just want someone to…" her expression faltered slightly. "Just want someone to remember me."
Rick stared at her for a long moment before, "Rick." He elaborated when her expression became quizzical. "My name is Rick," he told her.
Kael smiled. "Well, I'll remember you, Rick."
Then she walked away, Walker right behind her and when they were out of sight, Rick wished he had asked her to stay.
Rrs are appreciated. I doubt I will expand on this, RL plus my other open stories, well I have a lot on my hands, but hey, if you like it and want to maybe take it and make a full length story just PM. Thanks again!