They can all feel when someone is coming.
They can't explain it, and they stopped trying to long ago. It's a warm feeling inside, a change in the strange atmosphere, in the air, in their very cores. They feel a yearning that has them moving towards the spot, eager, but weary. They usually stay quiet, waiting.
This time, they don't have to wait long. Usually when the death is prolonged, they have to wait hours. This death must've been quick, and for that they're glad that whoever it is didn't have to suffer long.
It's always equal parts sadness, because it means they've lost another one. But it's also parts happiness, because it means they'll see someone they love again.
They don't have to wait for the whole reveal. Lori gasps first when she sees those boots. Andrea feels her heart drop. No, no, no. How could this be?
Then the jeans.
It can't be.
The holster holding the python steadily in place.
How? He was supposed to outlive it all. How?
And suddenly Lori tries to run. Someone holds her back, Andrea suspects who, but she's too aghast to even think about it. In a way she's heartbroken for what this could mean. He was supposed to outlive it all; he was supposed to save the world. He couldn't be here, it couldn't be him.
But then he materializes, looking groggy and confused. Nauseous. She knows the feeling well. And when his eyes clear and he looks up. Lori calmly walks over and he stops, looking at her like he's seeing a ghost. Ironic, that that's always their reaction.
He takes a few steps back. Lori tries to reassure him by taking one step forward. He looks so sad and confused that for a moment Andrea also feels a deep pull, a need to walk over. But too much is happening, and suddenly he gasps out,
"Lori?"
Lori smiles. "Hi, Rick."
She's crying, Andrea can tell. But then he looks up at all of them, his eyes scanning them all, even her, and she feels like crying, too. They always feel those strange little lights inside of them, maybe not lights, they hadn't been able to explain. Maybe bubbles, maybe fluttering. She feels it strong, this time.
"What," Rick says, closing his eyes and pressing them shut as if he thinks he's having a dream. They all react like this. "What's going on?"
Lori continues to smile. "What happened to you?"
He looks at her again, his eyebrows furrowed. "To me?"
"You're here."
"Here?" he says, sighing and pressing a hand to his eyes, pacing in a small space. "What do you mean? This isn't... this isn't real. You're not here. I thought we were done with this."
Andrea's heart breaks, but Lori reaches for his hand and when he feels it, solid in his, he jumps away from her.
"Rick," she says softly.
"What's going on?"
"Rick," Lori repeats.
"Stop that," he says. He looks up at them again, and Andrea can see how it begins to settle in, what this means, what they mean. He looks at Lori again, eyes furrowing for an explanation. They very rarely give one. They very rarely have to, save when the deaths are quick. It's always painful.
"Something happened to you," Lori says, trying to be as gentle as she can, trying to qualm the bubbles inside of her.
"What?" he demands of her, acting like he's trying to convince himself he's not crazy. Andrea suddenly feels Shane walking over and she looks on. Next to her, Amy holds her hand and Andrea squeezes it back.
"Hey, man," Shane says and Rick's eyes widen with emotion. "It's okay."
"Shane, what's going on?" Rick rasps, his voice near tears.
"She's right," Shane says. "Something... something happened. Rick..."
Those words are always the hardest ones to get out. It's like a final confirmation, a last farewell to the old world. A lot of them accept it quickly. A lot of them...
"I'm dead?"
Rick surprises them all with the admission and doesn't wait for a confirmation. He takes one step back and Shane reaches for him, pulling him into an embrace. Rick stays still for a moment, but suddenly he reaches for his best friend, and the two stay embraced for a while. Andrea looks down, feeling that... feeling again. The tugging, the yearning for that old world. She watches as Rick steps out of the embrace and hugs Lori. Despite it all, the reunion is joyous. It always is.
"Rick," Lori whispers. "The kids."
"They're fine," Rick says and Andrea sees the tears in his eyes. But the sadness is gone and it's replace with something else. Relief? Peace? Some of them accept it too slow. Some, too quickly. "Glenn and Maggie."
"Good," Lori breathes serenely and Rick looks back at her, confusion in his eyes at her easy acceptance of it. She grabs his hand and guides him. "Come on."
Suddenly he's in front of the group, and Dale is the first one to step forward. The two men embrace, and it's joyful, Andrea feels it in her core. The two men pat each other on the back and suddenly Hershel walks up, and the reunion is just as merry.
"Rick," Hershel says with a worry as he steps back.
Rick smiles and pats the old man's cheek. "You have a granddaughter."
Hershel's joy is so big that they all feel it like the little lights in their stomachs. Beth walks up to embrace Rick, and next is Carol. Their reunion is a little sad, considering the circumstances of Carol's death. But Rick pulls back and smiles at her.
"He's still kicking ass."
Carol chuckles. "Of course he is."
He's in front of her, then, and she doesn't know how to react. She feels that weird feeling again, the one the rest of them don't feel. He stills it by reaching for her collar and examining the spot where she'd been bit, and when he sees that her skin is clear, he pulls her into an embrace.
She holds back tight, with a hand pressed to the back of his neck. She feels a sadness she knows she shouldn't be feeling, but also feels his smile pressed against the side of her temple.
"I'm glad you're here."
Andrea chuckles once and pulls back. "What, you think I was gonna go somewhere else?"
Rick grins as he looks at her. "You did have kind of a potty mouth."
Andrea rolls her eyes before he moves on to Amy, Jim, Jacqui, then Axel. All of the people he lost, all of the people he now found. As he moves through them, Andrea once again finds it odd that someone new is able to adapt so quickly. The wrinkles on his face are gone, his eyes are clear. So different from her welcome, so different from everything she went through and at the mere thought she starts to breathe fast. She feels a deep tug within her, it's coming for her...
And suddenly she's gone.
Back in her room with a book in her hands. Her finger still marks the sentence she'd been reading before she was pulled out there, and as she looks at it she sighs, beginning to read again.
to be continued
That finale was NOT okay. Really fucking not okay. I'm being generous. It was bull. But nothing's gonna stop me from writing these two. Bear with me on this one, it's a little flaky, and I don't know if it's gonna work. It's really corny, but I'm using it as therapy right now, because I can't deal with the fact that these two won't happen on the show.