Hello everyone! Thanks so much for giving this fic a chance! This is my first multichapter story and I'm still fairly new to writing, so feedback would be much appreciated! Enjoy!
"Hey, Uncle Ed!"
"What?"
"Where did all the beers go?"
He rolled his eyes at his niece who was in the other room down the corridor, "You drank them all, remember? The whole 'it's the end of the world, I don't give a crap' stuff the other night?"
Back in the kitchen, Leia let out a sigh and slammed the fridge door shut. She walked over to the cupboards, opening them to find they were almost bare. She pulled out the decaying crackers from the shelves, that's when she decided, "I need to go get some more supplies."
"Alright," her uncle called back, "Just, be careful, ok?"
She didn't reply, frustrated that her uncle couldn't even be bothered to leave his office and speak to her face-to-face. He was so wrapped up in his work nowadays it felt as though he had almost forgotten the situation outside. He was obsessed. Especially ever since her aunt turned into one of those things. That was when he almost completely blocked her out. But, she supposed she had to be grateful that they were safe. That's what mattered.
"Ok, I'll be back before sundown," she called out as she slipped on her boots and grabbed her backpack.
"Stay safe!"
She walked to the door before suddenly cursing, remembering what she had forgotten.
Running back into the kitchen, she grabbed her baseball bat off the counter and hurried back to the door. Taking her time to assess her surroundings before walking out into the open, she headed for the city.
Leia had been to the city plenty of times since the outbreak. All the local stores had pretty much been completely emptied and so the city as the only option left for her and her uncle. She knew what she was doing – stay quiet, stay alert and stay safe. Over the past month she had found many ways in and out of the city that allowed her to avoid any major streets, just in case. Leia always found herself dealing with a couple of the living dead every now and then but nothing too major. She knew how to handle them, though. Working in a bar gives you plenty of experience with hungry corpses. So, entering the city, she found a small garbage truck to hide behind so she could evaluate her options.
Peering around the edge of the truck, Leia could see a small crowd of biters all walking to the top of the street, leaving it practically empty. It was quiet; too quiet. Despite her suspicions, she took the opportunity anyway and began to run along the sidewalk. Her bat, as always, consistently held it tight by her side.
As she neared the end of the street, she could hear the familiar groaning of the dead. Keeping close to the walls of the buildings, she carefully glanced around the corner of the street. A herd of around seventy deadheads, as she referred to them, were frantically stumbling over each other. Their skeletal limbs were fumbling to reach a tank that sat in the middle of the street. A smaller gathering enjoyed feasting on some sort of animal corpse to the left of the tank. Leia had never seen the corpses so frantic before. What was so fascinating to them about a tank?
That's when she could hear someone behind her. A voice. Her heart, which has been beating violently against her chest, stopped. She turned around to see where it was coming from. Leia couldn't make out words but it definitely wasn't the usual mumbling of the dead. What the hell was someone doing in the alleyway? Did they know about the swarm of the walking dead around the corner? Were they in danger? Or maybe they were dangerous? With a frown and letting curiosity get the better of her, Leia neared a small alleyway that led off the street. Keeping out of sight, she listened to the voice of a young man.
"Ok, jump off the right side of the tank. Keep going in that same direction," Glenn couldn't believe this. How could someone be so stupid as to get themselves trapped in a tank? And now, thanks to this dumbass, he was putting his own life in danger. Wait; doesn't that kinda make him a dumbass?
He heard the voice on the other end of the communicator reply. Glenn nodded to himself, "Right, ok, there is an alleyway just off the street at, maybe, 50 yards. Be there."
Glenn let out a frustrated breath. Great, now he was definitely in deep shit. He could hear gunshots going off and cringed. Damn it. That was going to attract way too much attention. Why was he doing this again?
He didn't have time to find the answer as a man rounded the corner of the alley. Glenn stepped forward grabbing him by the collar, pulling him in further. The man reacted by quickly turning and holding his gun up to meet Glenn's face, who held his hands up and pleaded, "Woah, not dead! Not dead!"
The man, wide eyed, noticed his mistake and turned back to the swarm of the undead following after him. One particular corpse had its fingers outstretched, attempting to grasp at his neck. Glenn watched as he raised his gun to shoot- when suddenly the geek was on the ground, head beaten in and oozing black fluid.
Glenn looked back up from the corpse to see a girl facing the geeks, heavily swinging her baseball bat at them. She was easily taking out any of those who got too close. Where did she come from? He continued to watch in amazement as she used one hand to grab a geek by the lapels of its lacerated coat and slammed it against the wall, its face eventually meeting the end of her bat. Another three were taken out with one single swing. Glenn looked over to the man to see his own awe reflected in his expression.
She turned to them at that point, still swinging her bat at some geeks, with a small, incredulous frown on her face, "What the hell are you staring at?!"
Glenn shifted awkwardly, lost for words, as she continued to yell at them, "Move! Up the ladder, quick!"
As she turned back to the geeks with determination, he looked up at the ladder she had indicated to. Hitting the arm of the other man to get his attention, he began to climb. Once he was at the halfway platform, he looked down to see the officer and the girl still fighting.
Back down in the alleyway, Rick decided to help the girl fight them off. They just kept coming. He tried to persuade her to climb but she kept cutting him off, "Go on, go, you first!"
He didn't think of arguing any longer as he gripped onto the ladder and began to climb. She followed quickly after him; taking one last swing of her bat and watching as some more corpses fell to the ground in a pool of thick, black blood. The two eventually joined Glenn on the platform and took a moment to recover their breathing. Leia looked down at the remaining swarm of living dead below as they clawed up at them.
Glenn turned to the officer who was currently trying to comprehend what had just happened, "Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood."
Leia found herself smiling slightly at the young stranger's remark. Glenn continued, "So, what, you the Sherriff that's come in to clear up the town?"
Leia noticed the older man's cop uniform for the first time. The officer shook his head, "That wasn't my intention."
"Yeah, whatever, you're still a dumbass," the younger man muttered back.
The officer held out his hand, "Rick. Thanks."
He took it, "Glenn. You're Welcome."
"Leia. Also here."
The men turned to look at the girl. Rick nodded at her, "Thank you, also."
"Yeah, thanks," Glenn agreed.
She smiled and shrugged, "Don't mention it."
"Don't mention it? You just full on Milla Jovovich'd those geeks!" Glenn exclaimed.
Leia felt a smile stretch its way onto her face and some pride swell in her, "I guess that was pretty badass."
Rick looked up at where the ladder continued to the roof. The other two followed his eye line.
"On the bright side," Glenn said, "It'll be the fall that kills us."
"Glass half full kind of guy, huh?" Leia quirked. The corners of Glenn's mouth rose a little before he began to climb first.
"No, you go next. Stop being such a gentleman," she said as Rick turned to her, motioning to the ladder, "Besides, eyes front soldier!"
The officer paused at what she was implying and looked at her as she smirked, "My eyes are always front."
Once he had climbed up a little way he heard her say, "Mine aren't."
He looked down at her and saw the playful glint in her eyes as she winked up at him. Was she flirting with him after a life-threatening situation? He guffawed a little before following Glenn to the roof. As Leia reached the top, Rick held a hand out for her and pulled her over the roof's edge. She smiled at him to say thanks as Glenn turned to her, "So, your name is Leia, like the princess?"
"Yeah, except I have better hair," she teased. The three shared a smile as they began to walk over the rooftops.
"Was it you who barricaded the alleyway?" Rick asked the other man.
"Nope, but someone did. What the hell were you doing inside that tank anyway?"
Leia paused, "Wait, what did you just say? You were inside that tank?"
She gave Rick an incredulous look as he turned to her, "Yeah, only place I could find to hide from those things."
"What were you doing out on the streets?" She asked, still dumbfounded.
"I was looking for my family," Rick said, turning back to look at the floor as he walked.
Leia hesitated, unsure what to say and simply nodded in response. They walked for a little longer in silence as Glenn looked for an exit.
"So, Leia," Rick began, "What are you doing in the city?"
"Oh, supply run. Well, that's what I was supposed to be doing, anyway," she gave him a fake look of annoyance as if she were blaming him.
Rick held his hands up a little, "sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it, it was inevitable I was going to get in trouble somehow," she admitted.
Rick smiled at the girl. He was surprised that she was in the city alone. But she wasn't vulnerable. It had been made clear to him she was capable of looking after herself back there in the alleyway. He glanced at the bat that she was holding in her hand, swinging it slightly as she walked. He turned back to Glenn, "Why did you help me back there?"
"I guess I thought that if I did, someone might do the same for me. Suppose that makes me an even bigger dumbass than you,' Glenn said as he ran over to a shaft, yanked it open and began to climb down. Rick looked back at Leia, who shrugged and followed after him.
After descending the ladder and many other staircases, they reached the back of a department store. Unfortunately, two geeks, as Glenn called them, stood in the way of the door. Leia raised her bat, ready to fight, when two people dressed in some sort of home-made armour came bursting through the fire exit and began attacking the two living corpses. Glenn ushered them both past and through the door. Rick and Leia both released a heavy breath of relief – only to have it caught again when a blonde woman grabbed Rick by the collar, forcing him against some boxes. She took out a gun and pointed it into his face. Leia stepped forward to do something but hesitated as the woman began to speak, "Son of a bitch, I am going to kill you!"
Rick looked at the woman, unsure as to why this stranger was so furious with him. A man who was stood behind the blonde spoke next, "Come on, Andrea. Just back off."
"You're kidding me, right?" She never looked away from Rick, fury and fear in her eyes, "We are dead because of this stupid asshole."
Leia frowned, as did Rick. What did she mean? What did Rick do?
"Listen, Andrea, just ease up," a woman to Leia's right stepped forward.
"Ease up?" Andrea turned to the woman with shock on her face, "We're dead. All of us."
She stepped away and lowered her gun, almost crying hysterically. Leia watched as she raked her shaking fingers through her grimy blonde hair and looked sharply at Rick, "and all because of you."
Rick remained stood near the boxes. What had he done?
"I don't understand," Leia spoke up.
The others turned to her. Andrea turned to her but pointed a blaming finger to the officer, "Him. Running around like some madman. Every geek from miles around heard him!"
Rick continued to frown, despite the explanation. A man grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the front of the store. Leia followed closely behind, not trusting what the man would do next. As they reached the front of the store it became clear what the problem was. The doors of the store were overwhelmed with corpses clawing at the glass. The glass was cracking. There was no way out. They were trapped.
"Get the picture now?" Andrea spat at the pair.
Leia rolled her eyes as the blonde pushed past her. She continued to watch the door, afraid that at any moment they could be overpowered. She looked to Rick who stood beside her and they shared a worried glance.
"Hey, T-Dog, can you try and contact the others?" Someone asked the man behind her as he pulled out a communicator.
"Others?" Leia asked.
"At the refugee centre?" Rick asked next.
"Sure, the refugee centre," the other woman sarcastically replied, "bet they have some nice warm cookies baking in the oven for us."
Leia turned to look at Rick again and noted the bewildered confusion on his face. She began to get the feeling that he hadn't experienced this new world for long.
"No signal," explained T-Dog, "Maybe we could try the roof."
At that moment a gunshot could be heard from above them. The group paused, some groaned.
"Oh no," Andrea looked to the others with her eyes wide, "was that Dixon?"
"Who?" Leia asked, frowning.
They ignored her and instead ushered her and Rick to the stairs. Once they reached the roof, they stepped outside to see a man standing at the edge, shooting at the biters in the streets. What the hell was he doing?
"Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?" one man shouted.
The man, Dixon, laughed and turned to them as he reloaded the gun, pointing it towards them, "Hey, you better be more polite to a man holding a gun. It's only common sense."
He jumped off the ledge and strutted over to the group as T-Dog stepped forward, "You're wasting bullets that we ain't even got, man! Just hold it!"
"Woah now. Bad enough I got this taco bender on my ass all day," Dixon motioned to the other man, "now I'm taking orders from you? Ha! That'll be the day."
"That'll be the day? You got something you wanna tell me?" T-Dog squared up to him.
"Hey, T-Dog, just leave it. It ain't worth it. Now, Merle, just relax, ok? We got enough trouble," said the dark haired man, desperate to stop the pair who looked disturbingly prepared to tear at eachother.
Rick turned to Glenn beside him, silently asking if he should intervene. He'd had enough of this asshat already. Glenn caught his meaning and quickly shook his head. Leia couldn't believe that in the space of one sentence, this Merle guy had made two racist slurs and was now gearing up for a fight. She was quickly getting a pretty clear sense of his character.
Merle ignored the man and stepped closer to T-Dog, "You wanna know the day? I'll tell ya the day. It's the day that I take orders from a nigger."
Before the rest of the group could even process what the man had just said, T-Dog had leapt forward and a fight broke out. Leia stood and watched as the two men tore at each other, shouting numerous curses and profanities. She felt useless, much like the others, and so stood to the side and let it be dealt with. Rick moved almost immediately between the two men. He was used to hooligans and street fights. After all, it was his job - before all this, anyway.
Between delivering punches to T-Dog's cheeks, Merle turned to Rick, his fist connecting harshly with his jaw. The officer fell straight to the floor as the fight continued. Leia let out a small cry and ran over to him. She gently grabbed his upper arms and helped steady him from the floor. She ignored what was going on behind her, worried more about the violent bruise beginning to form on Rick's jaw, "My god, are you alright?"
He looked at her and nodded. He removed his hand from his mouth and saw a little blood, "I'm fine."
He diverted Leia's attention as he looked behind her to the rest of the group. Merle was now straddling T-Dog with his gun out. He'd obviously delivered numerous heavy punches to the other man's face as it was now bruised and bloodied. What the hell was this guy's problem? The others stood around them and watched in anticipation at what the madman would do next. He was out of control.
Merle hesitated with the gun before spitting on T-Dog's shirt and stood facing the group, "Alright, we're gonna talk about who's in charge."
The others began to pull T-Dog away and check his injuries. Merle continued talking, "I vote me, anyone else? Show of hands. All those in favour?"
Merle raised his free hand and hesitantly the rest of the group did too. Merle grinned, "That means I'm in charge, right? Anybody else?"
He turned to Leia, whose hand was still gripping onto the end of her bat. He raised his eyebrows, expectantly, "you gonna raise your hand, sweets?"
Leia rolled her eyes and just raised her middle finger into the air in his direction. Merle chuckled before turning back to the others, "Anyone else?"
Leia hadn't even noticed Rick had moved from beside her until she saw him stood behind Merle, "Yeah, me."
As Merle turned around to look at him, Rick pulled out his gun and slammed the end of it into his face. The redneck fell to the floor instantly, where Rick took out his handcuffs. Once Rick had pulled the man to some pipes and securely cuffed him, he grabbed the foul man by the collar and sat him up. Merle shouted, "Who the hell are you, man?"
"Officer Friendly," Rick quipped.
The corners of Leia's mouth began to turn up a little at that comment. This recent acquaintance was definitely an interesting character. She watched as Rick continued to talk to the thug.
"Listen here, Merle. Things are different now. There are no niggers and there certainly ain't no white trash, inbred, dumbass fools neither. Only dark meat and white meat. There is us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."
"Screw you, man," Merle spat.
Rick shook his head, disappointedly, "I can see that you love making the habit of missing the point."
"Oh yeah? Well screw you twice."
Rick turned away from him in frustration before taking out his gun and put it to Merle's head.
"People should be nice to a man with a gun," he mocked, repeating Merle's previous words, "Only common sense."
The others in the group were silent. No one had ever stood up to Merle like that, not even his brother. And yet here was this stranger, taking complete control. Leia was impressed too as she watched the officer. And this was the dumbass that hides in tanks to get away from zombies, huh?
"You ain't no cop," Merle remarked.
"No. I'm just a man looking for his wife and son. And no one is going to come between that." There was an apprehensive, stunned silence as they waited to see what the officer would do next.
"Leia," Rick called. She stepped forward, "Will you help me search his pockets, please?"
Leia nodded, passing her bat to Glenn, before kneeling on the other side of Merle, reaching her hand into his jacket pocket.
"Why don't you try slipping your hand down my trouser pocket there, sweets?"
She looked up at him, expressionless as he smirked. Then she felt something. Of course. What else would she expect? She pulled out the small bag of powder and looked up at Rick. He took it from her as she turned to Merle, narrowing her eyes, "You've got some on your nose there."
She flicked his nose before standing up to see Rick throwing it over the edge of the building.
"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?! That's my stuff!" Merle yelled.
Rick ignored him and moved to look out towards the city. The others turned back to T-Dog and his wounds. He looked to Leia as she approached to stand next to him. She was still surprised at what he had done back there. It was impressive. She raised her eyebrows, "Wow. That was- That was something."
"Yeah? Well, it is kind of my job," he held back a smile.
"You aren't the regular Atlanta PD, huh?"
He didn't know how to respond to that and so shook his head, "Could you help the others with T-Dog?"
"Yes, Sir," Leia dramatically straightened up and saluted, before running over to the others, only just catching the smile that appeared on the officer's face.
She reached the others and knelt down beside T-Dog, noticing that they had managed to clear up most of his injuries, "Hey."
Glenn smiled at her and cleared his throat, "Everyone, this is Leia."
They mumbled their replies as Andrea turned to her, "Look, about earlier, I am sorry. I was just a bit upset. I didn't mean to shout at the two of you."
"It's fine," Leia said, honestly, "Don't worry about it. I completely understand."
Andrea nodded, "It's nice to see some new faces anyway."
"He's… interesting," the other woman said, looking at Rick.
Leia turned to face him too as he talked with the dark haired man, "Yeah, he certainly is."
"Did you know him before all this?"
"No, I've literally only just met him. I'm as impressed and confused as you are," she explained.
"Jacqui, by the way," the woman introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you; all of you," Leia sincerely explained. Andrea was right; it was nice to see some new faces. It had been at least a month since Leia had seen anyone besides her Uncle and it was slightly, slowly driving her a little insane - particularly because he wasn't the best company anymore. It was reassuring to see people working together to survive (except for Merle) and so, well, alive.
"That man over there is Morales," Jacqui explained and began listing them off one by one, "T-Dog, Glenn, Andrea and, of course, Merle."
Leia looked over to the man chained to the pipes, shouting curses at the sky. She sighed, "Charmed."
T-Dog pulled out the communicator as Rick rejoined them, "How is that signal?"
"Like Dixon's brain; weak," he joked, to which Merle replied with a certain hand gesture.
"Just keep trying," Rick ordered.
"Why?" Andrea questioned, "There is nothing they can do."
"Got some people outside the city, that's all," Leia stood and moved by Rick as Morales explained to him, "There is no refugee centre; it's just another pipe dream."
"Which means that we are on our own," Leia said, noting the troubled glance Rick sent her way. His whole demeanour changed, as if all his hope had just been diminished. It was obvious that he had really believed there was a refugee somewhere and that life in this new world was going to be that easy. He really didn't know what their situation was, did he?
"Good luck with that," Merle quipped before turning to Andrea, "Hey, sugartits, how about you get me out of these cuffs and we can go off someplace? Go and bump some uglies. We're gonna die anyways."
"I'd rather," was her reply. Leia laughed, earning a cold glare from Merle, before settling herself down by the wall as the group dispersed.
Rick came and sat beside her, his elbows resting on his knees. He rubbed his hand down his face and shook his head slightly, as if trying to comprehend everything that was going on. After a while he turned to her, curious, "So what did you do, before all this?"
Leia turned to him, surprised by this question. It had been so long since she had a regular, small-talk conversation with someone. She hadn't spoken to anyone other than her uncle in a very long time, and even then it was minimal conversation, "Oh, I worked at a bar. Not that respectable, I know, but it was a job nonetheless."
"What else would you have done? If you weren't a bartender, I mean."
Leia thought about it, "Not really sure. I mean, I studied Literature at University so probably something to do with all that. Never really thought of anything else. What about you? Have you always wanted to be a cop?"
Rick was quiet for a moment, watching as she mindlessly fiddled with the string on the handle of her bat, "never really thought about it, either."
They chuckled. It was nice to talk to someone about life before all this. It was as if thinking back was a reminder that regular life did actually, genuinely happen. Leia believed those memories were important to sustaining a hope that things could go back to the way they were.
Leia thought back to why he was in the city, "So, what are your family like? They must be pretty special if you go riding around in a tank searching for them."
"Aren't all families special?"
"Not always," she spoke quietly, turning her attention to her bat again.
"Story for another time, right?" he asked sympathetically. He wouldn't pressure anyone into sharing anything too personal. Besides, he had only just met her. She nodded in response.
They were quiet for another moment before Rick remembered what she had asked him, "I'm looking for my son, his name is Carl. My wife, Lori, too."
Leia looked up at him as he continued to speak, "I didn't even know what was happening until a few days ago when I met a man and his son. They tried to explain it all to me of course. I saw things. I got the picture soon enough. They said my best bet would be trying out the city and we went our separate ways."
"Yeah, it sounds so clichéd but I thought it was all just some bad dream or something. It was as if I was having one of those out-of-body experiences, like I was in a coma." Leia smirked despite having difficulty finding words to describe that realisation of how things actually were now,"So how come you didn't know what was happening until recently?"
"Well, I was in a coma."
Leia laughed, thinking he was just mocking her previous comment. After noting the sincerity of his expression, her smile dropped, "You're serious?"
"Yeah," Rick nodded with a small grin on his face. He could see her sending him a curious, questioning look, as if begging him to elaborate. So he decided to continue his explanation, "I got shot when I was on duty. Woke up. World had gone to shit. That was about three days ago, so I'm fairly new to all this."
"Wow," Leia took a moment to take it all in, "Huh, that certainly explains a lot though."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, now I understand why you were dumb enough to hide in a tank to get away from deadheads, and then run around the city, shooting your gun like a madman," she watched as Rick fought back a smile, shaking his head as she nudged his shoulder with her own, "Welcome to the apocalypse, rookie."
Another silence fell between them.
"You'll find them. Your family. I know you will," Leia commented, a sad smile on her face.
He reached out and placed a hand on her knee, "Thank you."
"Streets ain't safe," Morales cut in, "Now that's an understatement."
They needed to get away from the city. They needed a plan. Leia thought about what he had said for a moment, "What about under the streets? Have you tried the sewers?"
There was quiet for a moment as they processed what she had said.
"Oh, man," Morales said as he turned to Glenn, "hey, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"
Glenn ran to the edge of the roof and looked down. As he did this, Rick looked over at her and exclaimed, "You are a genius."
She couldn't stop the pride that swelled in her or the blush that crept to her cheeks as he said that. However, Glenn turned back to them and shook his head – demolishing that feeling.
"So much for genius," she pouted.
"What about the main streets?"
"Where the geeks are? They'd be too hard to get to."
"Maybe not," Jacqui began, "Old, large building like this one, built in the 20's, often used to have drainage systems in case of flooding."
"How do you know that?"
"It's my job. Well, was," she explained, "I worked in the zoning department office."
The group had managed to find an entrance to the systems, Glenn and Morales were currently checking it out. Rick, Leia and Andrea were in the stores, waiting for them to come back with good news. Leia watched as the deadheads, or 'geeks', scratched frenziedly at the doors, the glass cracking more and more every minute. That's when she thought about what would happen if they did get out. Would she stay with these people? She needed to get back to her home, but would that mean completely leaving them? She had only just met Rick, and Glenn too, but she found herself caring about these people. She wanted them to be safe. Could she really just leave them after this was over?
Just then, the sound of glass smashing broke her from her thoughts. The biters had managed to collapse the first set of doors and it would only be a matter of time before they did the same to the second. Rick and Andrea ran to her side as she took out her baseball bat. Her heart was pounding. Rick raised his gun too just as Morales and Glenn came into the room, "What did you find down there?"
"Not a way out," Morales regretfully replied. Leia silently cursed to herself. How the hell would they get out of this alive?
They gathered again on the roof and tried to devise a new plan.
"We need to distract the geeks so we can get to that van over there," Rick said as he pointed down the street.
"Sound attracts them, right?" Leia wanted to confirm.
Glenn agreed, "yeah, like dogs, our smell does too."
"Our smell?" Rick frowned.
"They smell dead and we don't. It's pretty distinct," Andrea spoke up.
Rick thought for a moment and then sighed. This was crazy but sometimes, crazy works.
"Ok, here's what we gotta do…"
Morales and Jacqui had managed to drag one of the geeks they killed earlier inside the store. The others began to grab all the necessary equipment they would need from the shelves.
"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold."
Leia rolled her eyes at Glenn before shoving a pair of gloves into his hands. The group hadn't seemed too impressed with Rick's plan, but Leia though it was ingenious. Risky, yes. Disgusting, of course. But ingenious all the same.
Rick smashed the glass for the emergency axe. They all made their way to the back of the store where the rotted corpse was. No one could speak as they looked at it. This was wrong. But they had to do it. It was the only idea they had. Rick looked to the girl by his side as he picked up the axe. She tried to smile at him in reassurance but she was sure it was unconvincing. He took a deep breath. The others moved out of his way. It was now or never. He needed to do this. Lifting the axe he charged for the biter- but stopped.
He let out a frustrated breath as the others relaxed a little. Rick bent over to pull out the biter's wallet. He read it aloud, "Wayne Dunlap, born in 1979."
He handed Leia the card. She had almost forgotten what they were. Those creatures. They were human. People. You would think of all of them, she should be the one to remember that.
She looked down at the photo on the card. The man smiling up at her was now lying cold at her feet. His face distorted. His head battered in. His limbs tangled.
"He used to be like us," she explained.
The group took a moment to reflect on what she said.
Rick took the card from her, "Yeah, just like us. Worrying about bills, love, the Superbowl. He was a person. When I find my family, I'm going to tell them about Wayne."
He looked to the floor as he placed the wallet to the side. Slowly reaching down for the axe, he thought about what he had to do. But he couldn't afford to think about it. This had to be done. So, he started hacking.
Leia and the others watched as black blood oozed from the corpse. Skin and guts were spilling onto the floor. This was wrong. But it was also their chance at survival. That's what this new world was about; survival.
Once Rick had finished, they began to lather the gore over him, Leia and Glenn. Leia had volunteered – Glenn was not so enthusiastic.
Even though she had only just met these people, she felt as though it was necessary to do all she could to keep them alive. Perhaps, it was in the hope that if she ever found herself struggling, someone would repay the favour and help her to overcome it. Or perhaps it was a concept on more of a wider scale than that. Over the past few weeks, Leia felt as though she had developed the mindset that all human life was precious (well, of those that were actually alive) and that it was their duty as a race to work together to preserve what was left.
Leia closed her eyes and took deep breaths as she tried to think of anything other than what was happening. She had never been one to cringe at gore – but having it smeared all over you was a whole new experience. She heard Glenn retching beside her. She could also hear Rick murmuring something about 'puppies and kittens' but that only produced even gorier and depressing images in her mind. Finally, after a while, it was done.
Rick, Leia and Glenn opened the back door of the store and took a reluctant step out. Down the alleyway were a few stray geeks. The three took hesitant and slow steps, ensuring that they didn't attract any unwanted attention. Passing the first few geeks, Leia realised that this plan might actually work. The geeks paid no attention to them as they walked by. However, she reminded herself to stay calm – well, as calm as you can be covered in guts and walking through a crowd of the living dead.
As they continued down the main street, Leia almost forgot about the intestines hung over her shoulder as she became too preoccupied in the dead surrounding her. It was working! The plan was actually working! As they carefully made their way down the street, Rick looked to the greying skies. Leia followed his eyes and cursed. She felt a drop on her cheek. Damn it. More drops. Crap. Then came the heavy rainfall. Shit.
The three continued walking despite the increasing danger. The guts were washing away. She caught Glenn's eye and saw the evident fear on his face. They needed to keep going. They needed to get away.
Leia's grip on the handle of her bat tightened once more, if that were even possible. Her heart wa sin a frenzy. The hungry corpses around them began turning in their direction, taking slow steps towards them. They were starting to smell them. She turned to Rick for reassurance, only to see a geek right behind him, ready to grab at him. Her eyes widened as she lifted her bat and swung for it. The geek fell immediately to the floor as Rick shouted, "Run!"
So they did.
As they ran to the gates, they fought of any walker that came too close. Luckily, they were almost at the gate and so did not have too far to go. Once they reached the gate and climbed over, they hastily removed their bloody jackets.
They ran to the vehicles ahead of them just as Leia acknowledged the nagging thought at the back of her mind, "Rick!"
She called for him but he didn't turn around, deafened by determination, "Rick!"
Once they reached the van, he finally turned as she gripped onto his upper arm, "Rick, listen, I can't go with you."
Rick's eyes darted to hers, searching for some kind of explanation, shaking his head slightly, "What do you mean? Come on, we need to g-"
"No, Rick! I need to go home. My home."
He couldn't do anything but look at her. What was she saying? They needed to leave. They needed her. He needed her help.
"Leia? What's happening?" Glenn anxiously called from the truck.
"I'm sorry but I can't go with you. Save the others, get them the hell out of here," she pleaded.
Rick turned to her fully, "But what if they get y-"
"-I'll be fine. Just go, quick. You need to leave."
Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was just going to leave on her own? She could get hurt? What if something happened to her? How would she find them?
"Rick! Go!"
The geeks had gotten closer, they needed to go now. He reached out for her wrist as she started to turn away. She faced him with a desperate, confused expression. He spoke, "Just, be careful. If you need anything, Morales said their camp is just outside the city. Find us."
She nodded, about to move again but he kept his grip on her wrist before adding, "And thank you."
"You're welcome," She tried to smile despite the overwhelming panic, "Now go, quick!"
Rick let her go with a nod and got into the van as she ran down the road. But before he drove away, she called back to him, "Nice meeting you, Officer Friendly!"
Rick would have smiled if he was not so worried about her. He knew she could take care of herself and trusted her to do so. But she was now on her own. He had been on his own too, and nearly got himself killed! But she had earned his trust throughout the day. Rick watched as she ran down the highway; bat in hand, as Glenn pulled the truck away. He was sure they would meet again – someday.
Leia hadn't stopped running from the city until she had finally reached home. She opened the door and walked in, slamming it behind her. Dragging herself over to a seat, she slumped down and caught her breath.
Just then, her uncle walked in, "Where the hell have you been?"
She rolled her eyes and sat up, still trying to catch her breath, "I told you. Supply run."
"Right," he looked at her sceptically, "So, where are the supplies then?"
"…Shit."
This chapter's purpose is to introduce you to Leia's character - what do you think of her so far? I promise that the story will become more creative and interesting as we get into the seasons! Also, my main theme of this story is friendship, however I am seriously considering adding a romance to it between my OC and someone in the group - as the story goes, make sure to let me know who you think would suit her best.
