While You Were Sleeping
Chapter One: You Can't Go Home
Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead.
"I'm telling you he's a deader," said Elsie kicking her feet up on the dash, her boots leaving yet another dusty smear on the grey plastic.
"And I'm telling you he's not," countered Theo as they crept down the road, still a few car-lengths behind the guy in the boxers and hospital gown that was staggering down the street at a fair clip, "I'll bet you five bucks."
"We don't have five bucks," Elsie complained even as Theo put a little pressure on the gas and they pulled up alongside the man, rolling down the window just enough to talk.
"Hey!" Theo called to get his attention, "You alive?"
The guy turned and frowned at them a bit as if he thought the question was stupid, "Looks like it," he answered finally.
"Are you bit?" asked Theo noticing the bandage on his side and the thin rangy, look of him.
He was pale, underfed and slightly ill look and if the fever was burning through him there was nothing they could do for him, Theo had learned that one the hard way.
"Bit?" parroted the guy, looking more confused than ever.
"Yeah, y'know, chomped, munched, chewed on, even scratched," said Theo in a light tone.
"No," said the guy as though Theo was crazy for asking, "If you'll excuse me."
The guy turned to keep walking and Theo was quick to chase after him, "Wait, wait a second, hold up!"
"Look, I'm just trying to get home," said the guy, sharply.
"It's not safe to wander around the streets alone," said Theo seriously, "You're the first live one we've seen in days so we'll give you a lift."
The guy hesitated but a glance down the street seemed to convince him that getting in the truck was a better idea than walking, not that Theo was surprised by that seeing as how the guy wasn't wearing any shoes and already looked pretty footsore.
"Where're we headed?" asked Theo as the guy climbed into the back.
"Straight down this road then hang a left when you get past the park," the guy instructed.
"Alright," Theo said, starting off down the road at a more normal speed, "I'm Theo by the way, Theodore Aldridge, this is my sister Elsie."
Elsie flashed the guy a smile and a small wave.
"Rick Grimes," the guy said.
His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't been using it for a while, and he winced a bit as he leaned back in his seat his hand straying to his side.
"How'd you get that?" asked Elsie turning around in her seat to study the man.
"Got shot," Rick answered.
"That sucks," said Theo with a wince, "But it looks like they fixed you up alright, were you staying in a refugee centre?"
"What do you mean?" asked Rick.
"Well, you've obviously had some proper medical attention," said Elsie, "And since the hospitals around here were all overrun with deaders weeks ago…"
"Deaders?"
Theo and Elsie shared a glance at the confused tone, "So you don't know what's been going on then," she said, her blonde ponytail swishing over her shoulders as she shook her head.
"I think, I've been in a coma, or something," said Rick, "I woke up in the hospital, and outside—there was a whole field of bodies, they were piled into trucks and loader—there were tanks and jeeps and helicopters. You two are the first people I've seen alive since then."
"Well," said Theo, "I don't know how to tell you this but while you were sleeping the world kinda up and ended on us."
"Thee," scolded Elsie, "You're too blunt."
"Sorry, but it's the truth, sugar-coating it and beating around the bush isn't going to help anyone."
"I'm not sure I understand. The world ended?"
"Well, that's probably overdramatic to say," Theo admitted, "After all, the world is still pretty much here it's just—"
"It started a few months ago," Elsie explained, "Nobody knows for sure how but the dead started getting back up and walking around, and they attacked living people and then anyone who was bit died of the fever and then they got back up and so on."
"That's—"
"Crazy," interrupted Theo, "We know, trust me we do, but we've been living through it so we know that it's true. Nobody believed at first. It was only a few reports, some shaky footage on the news, so people dismissed it as a hoax, but then populated places started being overrun with deaders, they called out the military, the police, the national guard, red cross, you name it. They set up a bunch of refugee centres around schools, libraries and smaller medical or community centres, there's supposed to be a massive one in Atlanta proper but the emergency broadcast went down a few weeks ago now and we haven't heard anything since."
"We were staying in a motel off the highway for a while and one of the guys there got bit—it was a slaughter. Ever since that Theo's been paranoid about getting caught up in a place where there's that many people though so we've been on the road, holing up in empty houses during the night and scavenging supplies."
"Hey Rick, is this the right street?"
Rick looked away from Elsie's serious blue gaze taking in the overgrown yards and familiar houses of his neighbourhood.
"Yeah," he croaked, fear making his throat tight and his already weak voice catch, "This is the place."
It was a pretty house with a half-decent yard and a garden that looked like it hadn't really seen much attention even before the dead started walking around. Rick was out of the truck and up the front steps with more vigour than Theo or Elsie would have given him credit for and they followed more slowly, giving the man a chance to see for himself what they already knew.
There was no home for him to go home to.
AN: Hope you all enjoyed! This is my first time writing for TWD so please review and let me know what you guys thought!
