Hey all! I hope you enjoy my story! Its an AU but loosely follows the events of the series. In the first couple chapters it will follow more closely but as it goes on, it'll stray further away from the series. Anyways, read away!
Disclaimer: I don't own the walking dead
Abigail King rushed from the guest room, her and her husband had been staying in, to the master bedroom where her sister in law hurriedly packed clothes and photo albums into a suit case as tears silently trailed down her cheek.
"Are you ready, Lori?" Abby asked softly as she dashed her own tears away.
Only a few minutes earlier, Abby's brother's partner came banging on their door. Told them that Rick was dead and they had to pack up immediately because something really bad was happening and everyone was being evacuated.
Lori cleared her throat as she zipped the bag up and dashed her tears away. "Yeah." She croaked then cleared her throat again. "Can you check on Carl? Make sure he's in the car. I'll be right out."
"Yeah sure." Abby turned and walked down the hall to the boy's room and found him sitting on his bed, staring at a picture. It was of him and Rick, Rick with one arm slung around Carl's shoulders in a one-armed hug. Rick was in uniform but had a ball glove on one hand and a ball in the other.
"We really got to get going slugger, are you all packed?" She asked as she sat down beside him.
He nodded sadly as he stuck the picture into his backpack then stood up and walked out. Abby followed him down the hall and out of the front door, as he threw his bag to Shane. Shane caught the bag from Carl and threw it into the back of his Jeep.
"Come on! We should be outta here by now! Where's Lori?" Shane growled as he looked around frantically.
"She's coming. She just got told her husband's dead, give her a break!" Abby growled as she followed Carl and climbed into the back seat of the jeep. As Carl closed the door, she heard a pair of footsteps on the porch, then heard the front door slam shut as she turned to see Lori and Abby's husband Martin, trot down the steps.
Lori went to the passenger side door while Shane hopped in the driver seat while Martin threw their last bag into the back and went to sit on the other side of Carl. When everybody was in, Shane peeled out of the driveway and drove like a maniac through town, heading for the highway that led out of town.
Week's later, Abby and Martin sat side by side in front of a fire while Abby sewed on a button onto Martin's shirt. Across from them sat two young blonde ladies that Abby now shared the camping space with. All around them people buzzed around them doing their various chores that made sure their new "home" continued to function.
Abby looked up from her needle work when she felt someone staring at her and saw Amy studying her. Abby smiled "What?"
"You know Shane, right? Like from before?" She asked as she continued to study Abby.
Abby looked at her quizzically. "Yeah, since I was like six. He was my brother's best friend, then they became came cops and have been partner's since." Abby looked down suddenly. "…or at least until he died."
Abby noticed Amy's sister elbow her in the side. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't know about your brother!" Amy said looking frantic.
Abby looked up and forced a smile on her face. "It's okay. Why do you ask about Shane?"
Amy hesitated for a second then decided to continue. "Has he always been so…?" She hesitated again not knowing which word to use.
"Arrogant? Pushy? Cock-sure? A royal pain in the ass?" Abby supplied and the two ladies laughed as did her husband. "Yup. I never got why Shane and Rick got a long so well. Him and Rick were polar opposites but they were like brothers. I doubt Shane would've become a cop if it weren't for my brother."
Suddenly Shane's loud voice boomed as he walked towards the fire. Speak of the devil and he will come, Abby thought to herself. "Everybody, gather around!" He shouted in his 'Deputy Walsh' voice. He stood by the fire with his arms crossed over his big chest and waited patiently while everyone but the Dixon boys slowly walked over.
"Alright, everyone" Shane started once he was satisfied that there were enough people listening to him. "Now we're starting to run low on supplies and Glenn here," Shane pointed to the young Korean kid who'd been doing all of the supply runs so far. "He can't get enough stuff on his own to support the entire camp. So, I need some volunteers to go with him. Four or five should do."
Immediately three hands shot up. Andrea, T-Dog and Abby. Shane nodded appreciatively at the first two but frowned when he looked at her. "Uh, hell no! Who else."
Abby heard Martin sigh in relief which only pissed her off more. Abby shot to her feet. "Now wait a second!" She growled trying really hard to keep the stereotypical Grimes' cool head. "You can't just shut me down like that, I could be of great help!"
"There's no way am I intentionally putting Rick's baby sister in harms way!" He said to her then turned to look at the group again.
"Besides, Honey, its too dangerous for you!" Martin said as he gently tried to pull her down beside him.
Abby wrenched her hand from his grasp. "I ain't no delicate flower!" She growled at him then looked up at Shane once more. "Next to you, I know the most about weapons! Heck, I know more than you! I've actually fired guns and rifles at people before!" She looked at the group that had gathered around. "I was just honorably discharged from the Marine two weeks before shit hit the fan, I was a Master Gunnery Sergeant. I did several tours in Iraq, out of anybody here I should be on this!"
From behind everyone came a loud appreciative whistle. Everyone turned as Merle Dixon got to his feet, "Well I knew there was something about ya I liked besides that fine perky ass. If G.I Jane's going, then so am I."
Shane glared at Merle momentarily then looked back at Abby, then dropped his chin to his chest and rubbed the back of his head. "Fine. Once a Grimes got something in their head, there's no changing it. And a sniper might come in handy." Satisfied Abby sat down once more. "I need at least one more." Shane said as he lifted his head and looked around once more.
Reluctantly two more hands went up, a man by the name Morales and a woman named Jacqui. "Alright, its settle then. The seven of you, that is if you truly intend on going, Merle."
Merle cackled "Bet yer ass I do."
"Then, you'll all leave first thing in the morning. Abby, come see me by the truck." Shane instructed, ignoring Merle's comment.
Abby handed Martin his shirt as she stood up and followed Shane, ignoring her husbands worried look. Once Shane got to the back of the SUV, he opened the hatch and pulled out a hunting rifle. "I know its not as fancy as the high-powered rifles you've used to but in your hands, it should be pretty damn lethal."
He looked a little guilty as he studied her as she took the rifle from him and inspected the scope. "Are you sure you're ready to go back into a warzone? Because that's basically where you're going. Rick said you were having a real hard time adjusting to civilian life. And I've heard you wake up screaming a few times in the night."
Of course, Rick told him. She thought gloomily to her self. She sighed as she slid the rifles strap over her shoulder. "I'll be fine, I'm going to have to face that shit one way or another. Might as well do it now on my own terms."
Shane nodded, then handed her a box of ammunition for the rifle.
The next morning, they all piled into a eighteen passenger van and zoomed down the highway towards Atlanta. Abby leaned forward in her seat to see out the front windshield, to watch the grim scenery roll by while Merle was at the wheel and Glenn sat in the passenger seat.
"So where too, kid?" Abby asked.
"Well there's this huge department store that's not to far into the city. It's probably our best bet. I've gone there a few times but I can only take back so much stuff. There's this huge herd of geeks at the far end of the street but if we park a few blocks away we should be able to get to it easily with out being seen or heard by them." Glenn looked like he was calm but Abby could tell he was nervous.
"Is there access to the roof?" Abby started making plans in her head.
"Yeah but the build is only five stories high. Why?" Glenn looked back at her.
"One of us should keep an eye on that herd. I got a half decent scope on my rifle, if things go south then maybe I can clear a path to the van." Five stories would be pushing the range of her scope but she'd make it work.
"No good. Geeks are attracted to sound, if you start firing that thing then it'll only attract more. Were you really a sniper for the military?" Glenn looked at her wide-eyed.
Abby forced a smile on her face. "Yeah I was. Maybe I can set up a nest further down the street closer to the…what did you call them, geeks?"
Glenn smirked, then frowned. Beside her T-Dog spoke up. "What happens if you have to cause a distraction? We can't just leave you there."
She smiled at T-Dog "I hope you won't." Then turned back to Glenn. "You're supposed to know the city really well, right?" Glenn just nodded. "Tell me where there's a good fourth or fifth story window or a roof that I can keep an eye on the department store for you guys but can easily make a quick escape. We can set up a meeting point and if it all goes to shit you can wait for me there."
For the rest of the way the two of them made a plan and by the time they rolled to a stop, they all knew what to do. When they exited the vehicle, Abby went down one side of the streets while the others went down the other. The journey to her destination was relatively quiet only having to dodge a few walkers notice and only killing one that had been in the building where she'd be set up.
Once settled, she scanned the buildings down the street looking, for signs of Glenn. The others were to scavenge the department store while Glenn went further down the street, closer to the walkers, and check out a pharmacy. She sat there for a good hour watching the street and even though the walkers were further up the street from the last time Glenn had been in town, they seemed relatively docile at the moment.
Suddenly a familiar thumping sound caused Abby to look up at the sky in time to see a helicopter disappear behind a building. That's when she heard the walkers start to moan and shuffle, at first going in a direction that didn't matter to Abby but then a loud clip clopping of a horse's hooves on pavement drew Abby's attention down the street. She looked down her scope to see a man in a sheriff's outfit, on a horse, looking up at the sky, trying to chase down the helicopter. She watched as he slid to a stop as he nearly rode in to the rear end of the herd of walkers. The man wheeled the horse around and took off back down the street, the way he'd come, unfortunately leading the herd directly in front the department store that her people were in.
Suddenly her radio crackled and Glenn's voice came on. "Abby, are you seeing this?"
"If you're referring to the cowboy, then yeah. Maybe he'll lead them far enough away…" Just as she finished saying it, the cowboy got swarmed.
"Oh shit, I think they got him." Glenn said sadly.
Abby continued to watch as the cowboy got thrown from his horse. He must have a lucky horse shoe shoved up his ass, she thought to her self as she watched him land on the ground in a space where no walker was presently occupying.
"Not yet they don't. They're too focused on the horse, I'd shoot the poor thing if it didn't cause to much noise." Abby loved horses and it tore her up to see it suffering. She watched as the man scrambled away at first in one direction and then scrambled underneath the tank, parked in the middle of the street.
Suddenly a quick succession of five pops went off. "Shit!" She growled out. Might as well send up a flare! She thought to herself. A few minutes later, another pop went off but this one sounded like it'd come from inside the tank.
The radio crackled again. "Was it me or did that last shot sound like it came from inside the tank?" Glenn asked.
"You might be right but there's no way he's getting out of there. He's surrounded." She radioed back.
"Hang on, I'm gonna change the channel and see if I can talk to him!" Glenn said enthusiastically.
"You're gonna what? Glenn…Glenn! Dammit!" Abby clipped the radio back to her belt and watched the tank.
Three minutes later Glenn came back on. "Okay he's gonna make a run for it maybe you can cover him! He's suppose to come towards me, do you see me?"
Abby scanned down the street to where the pharmacy was and saw Glenn standing behind a chain link fence. "Yeah I see you. Don't do anything stupid, Glenn. No ones close enough to save you!"
"There he goes!" Glenn said excitedly.
Abby focused back on the tank and watched as the cowboy, no longer with his hat, started running towards Glenn firing as he ran. Abby focused on his head a moment, there was something familiar about that dark wavy hair but she couldn't place him with the poor range of the hunting rifles scope. Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, she started clearing a path in front of him. When he reached the back alley that Glenn was in he momentarily pointed the gun at Glenn, realized that he was still living then looked back over his shoulder in her general direction, then quickly followed after Glenn. She tried to take as many down as she could as the flowed in after the two.
Once she lost sight of them, she quickly reloaded her rifle, slung it over her shoulder and hoped she could still get out. She headed for the fire escape, looked down to the bottom at the alley, when she saw the coast was clear, she went down the ladder. She quietly ran to the end of the alley and looked out onto the street. Walkers were every where but surprisingly thin where they had been a moment earlier. She almost had a clear shot to the other alley that lead behind the department store.
A sharp whistle caused her to look up to see Merle standing on the ledge. "Com'n sugar plum, I got ya'!" He put the rifle to his cheek and shot the nearest walker in the head.
Abby glared up at him, dumbass…oh what the hell! She pulled out her pistol pointed it in front of her just in case and started running down the street to the other back alley. She had to admit, Merle was a pretty good shot. Not once did they get within arms reach of her.
She quickly popped one shot as she entered the alley, at the walker that was immediately in front of her, then ran as hard as she could to the back door of the department store. She made it to the door with out further incident and managed to get inside. Once inside, she did a quick scanned to make sure that it was clear, then slumped against the door. After she caught her breath, she realized no one from her group was around.
Quietly she moved forward, gun drawn and headed for the front of the store. When she reached the front, she stopped dead in her tracks. The entire front of the store was lined with walkers and at least five to six deep. Abby looked around and saw a sign that led her to the stairs to the roof. More than likely that's where they'd retreat.
She ran up the stairs, taking two at a time, then picked up her pace even more when she heard yelling. She burst through the door, with her gun raised. To the one side every one but Merle were crowded together, just out of sight Abby could see the top of a dark head which Abby assumed was the cowboy and Merle seated on his ass with a hand cuffed to a pipe.
Abby pointed her gun at the man. "On your feet! Hands in the air!" She shouted at him.
"It's okay Abby, he just helped us! Merle was getting out of…" Glenn stopped as the man's head snapped up at the sound of her voice, then slowly stood up.
"Abigail?" The man croaked.
Abby blinked hard a few times, thinking that she was hallucinating but when he didn't disappear; Abby shoved her pistol into its holster and ran forward. She practically launched herself at her older brother but he only staggered back a few steps as he caught her and they hugged each other.
"So, you know each other?" Morales asked, stating the obvious.
"What are you doing here? You were supposed to be in Seattle!" Rick choked out.
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?! Shane said you were dead!" Tears started to blur her version as she buried her face into his neck, she presently didn't care how sweaty he was.
Suddenly she straightened up and shoved him hard. "You, dumb jack ass! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed…again!" She rubbed the tears from her eyes.
Rick chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "He said he heard a helicopter, started chasing it." T-Dog said with a grimace. "Probably hallucinated it."
Abby shook her head. "No, he didn't I saw it too."
"I don't mean to break up your family reunion but it'll have to wait until we get out of here." Morales said as he stood up from where he had been leaning against the ledge.
Abby finally processed that Merle was cuffed to a pipe, T-Dog looking bloodied up and being looked after by Andrea and Jacqui and Morales held his hand to his abdomen in pain. "The idiot's high and attacked the others, its best that he stays there until we have a plan." Rick grumbled
"Hey sweet ass. Why don't you tell your big brother, officer friendly here, what I did for you?" Merle laughed but his face was full of mirth.
Rick looked back at her. "I was the one clearing the path for you to Glenn." Abby started.
Rick rubbed the back of his head. "Figures."
"After you were out of sight I decided I needed to get out. When I got street level, I looked down the street to see if I could get to you guys. Merle must've saw me, caught my attention and indicated he was gonna clear a path for me and he did." Abby shrugged.
"Merle was actually being helpful?" Andrea exclaimed in disbelief.
"That's right sugar tits, now uncuff ol' Merle and I'll show ya how good I can be." Merle smiled at Andrea then looked back at Abby and winked. "Although you'd more likely be my type, ev'n if you ain't no blondie. I bet you're a real wild cat in the sack."
Rick pulled his fist back, about knock the lights out of Merle but Abby grabbed his arm. "Don't Rick, he's just full of hot air and shit." Rick Grimes had an infinite amount of patience in most things, except when it came to men making depreciating remarks about his baby sister.
Merle cackled in delight. "Oh! Officer Friendly is a little touchy when it comes to his baby sister, eh? I'll be sure to r'member that!"
Rick pulled away from her and walked to the ledge and looked down. Morales followed Rick and she heard them talking but Abby ignored them for the moment and studied Merle.
"You know Merle, if you keep that big mouth shut, Rick'll likely let you walk off this roof without the handcuffs. He's reasonable man but it's all up to how you handle things."
"Well ain't you different from camp, all au-thorative, miss G.I Jane. Back at camp you was to busy suckin' yer sissy man's dick an' playin' house…"
Whatever Merle was going to say next was cut off by Rick suddenly spinning around closing the distance between him and Merle in two strides and putting his whole weight into punching Merle in the jaw, knocking him out cold. Abby glared at Rick as he shook his hand.
"That was a little excessive, wasn't it?" Abby crossed her arms over chest while the others looked at him in shock.
Rick smirked slightly while holding his hand, then with a shrug turned to the group. "We need a plan."
Morales looked at T-dog. "How's it coming? Any signal?"
"It's like Merle's brain…weak." He replied weakly.
"The streets ain't safe." Rick said mostly to himself as he looked over the edge once more.
"Now that's an understatement." Morales said cocking an eyebrow.
"What about underneath the street?" Rick asked. "The sewers?"
"Oh man." Morales turned and looked at Glenn. "Hey Glenn check alley! You see any man hole covers?"
Glenn ran to the other side of the building, looked down at the alley and rejoined the group. "No. Must be all on the street where the Geeks are."
"Maybe not." Jacqui said speaking up for the first time. "Old buildings like this, built in the 20's…big structures often had drainage tunnels in to the sewers, in case of flooding in the subbasements. "
Everyone looked at her, shocked. "How you know that?" Glenn asked.
"It's my job…was." She replied, then looked at Rick. "I worked in the city zoning office."
"Well it's a start of a plan." Abby said with a shrug.
"How can you be so calm?" Andrea asked mystified.
"I've been in tight spots before." Abby said with another shrug. "Don't have bullets or RPG's flying at my head, I count that as a positive. They're also slow, both physically and mentally, so this ain't over yet."
"Abigail's right, we can still find a way. We just have to keep looking." Rick said looking at each on of them in turn. "Abigail, T-Dog, say up here and keep an eye on our friend here. The rest of us will see if we can find that drainage tunnel downstairs."
"The guys out cold, I'm pretty sure he ain't gonna wake up any time soon. T-Dog'll be fine on his own." Abby gave a less then pleased look.
"I know but I want you and that scope up here watchin' things down there. Maybe that crafty brain of yours will come up with somethin'." Rick said looking at her seriously.
"You ain't pullin' some big brother crap on me, are ya'? Because I'm pretty sure I'm more capable of taking care of myself than you are." Abby eyed him suspiciously.
Rick chuckled then kissed her on the forehead. "Wouldn't even dream of it." Then turned and walked away followed by the others.
Abby walked over to where Rick and Morales had been standing, then noticed the rifle on the ground. "Son of a..."
It was much nicer hunting rifle, border line sniper rifle, better than the one Shane had given her to use. The scope was twice as nice as the one she had and could see twice as far. If she'd been using it, she'd have probably seen that the man on the street was her brother.
"You and your brother are pretty close, huh?" T-Dog asked from behind her.
Abby turned around and smiled at him. "Yeah most of the time, sometimes it looks like we hate each other when we fight."
T-Dog chuckled then grimaced. "Isn't that how it is with all siblings?"
Abby chuckled. "I suppose."
"Well I'm glad your brothers alright, he seems like a good man." T-Dog said earnestly.
"Yeah, he is, much better person than I am." She said quietly. Then turned back to inspecting the streets below her.
About ten to fifteen minutes later, everyone returned to the roof. "You find anything Abigail?" Rick asked as he came up beside her.
"Depends on how suicidal your feelin'?" She replied with a sigh.
"That doesn't sound good." Glenn said with a tired sigh.
"I'm guessing the sewers are a no go?" Abby asked studying their bleak faces.
"Not going that way." Morales said coming up on her other side. "And the Geeks are starting to come through so we need a plan fast. What's your idea?"
She handed Rick her scoped rifle and Morales the binoculars, then pointed at a construction site. Rick nodded his head starting to understand where she was going with her idea.
"The construction sites always keep keys on hand." Rick started.
"You'll never make it passed the walkers." Morales said looking down.
Then Abby pointed further up the street. "There's a cube van, we can get everyone in it and make a get away."
Rick looked at Glenn. "You got me out of that tank."
"Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted." Looking at him is disbelief, then dread.
"Can we distract them again?" Rick asked as he studied Glenn carefully. "They're drawn by sound, right?"
"Right like dogs. They hear a sound, they come." Glenn said starting to sound a little anxious.
"What else?" Rick asked.
"Aside from hearing you?" Morales asked. "They see you. Smell you and if they catch you, they eat you."
"They can tell us by smell?" Rick asked.
"Can't you?" Jacqui put in.
Abby nodded, not at what Jacqui said but at what was crossing Rick's mind and hers. "Guts, we need their guts."
"Excuse me?" Glenn asked looking at her shocked.
"No Abigail's right." Rick said with an appreciative nodded.
"We basically look like them, and if we don't move abruptly they may not notice us. The guts should be able to disguise our living smell. Make 'im disinterested. Basically camouflage, blending in." Abby said looking at her brother.
"That's so disgusting, it might work." Andrea said with an appreciative nod of her own.
"So, let me get this straight, you want us to cover ourselves in Geek guts and walk through a pack of them and hope they don't eat us?" T-Dog said in disbelief.
"No, not all of us just two of us." Rick turned on his heels and headed for the stairs. Every one followed him down into the department store. When they reached the main level, Rick grabbed a pair of rubber gloves and handed them to Glenn.
"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold." Glenn said fear making its way into his voice.
"He's right. Just wait, okay." Morales said as he followed after Rick. "Take some time to think this through."
Rick looked at Morales. "How much time? They already got through the one set of doors, that glass won't hold forever."
"I'm with you Rick. If you need someone to go with you, you know I'll be there with out a moments hesitation but I think I'm better on the roof top. If things go bad for you, then hopefully I can clear a path and distract them away from you." Abby felt bad for her brother, putting himself in harms way for her idea.
"I know you'd be Abigail but you're right. You'd be best on the roof, watching our backs." Rick nodded at her appreciatively.
He turned and headed for the back alley. Everyone followed, no longer able to protest. Morales and Rick put on some long coats and rubber gloves as the reached the back door. The two of them rushed out the door, picked up a dead walker and dragged it inside while Glenn and Abby guarded the door with bats.
They dragged it further into the room and everyone gathered around. Rick grabbed a face protector and put it on his head and picked up a crowbar. He paused a moment when he saw something on the wall then tipped protector down and walked over to an emergency case holding an axe, smashed the glass and took the axe from within.
He put the crowbar down and walked over the dead walker and let out a deep breath. He steeled himself then rushed forward like he was going to swing but suddenly stop and dropped down on his knees beside it. He searched his pockets then pulled out a wallet and looked through it.
"Wayne Dunlap. Georgia License. Born-in 1979." He said then handed the license to Glenn. "He had $28 in his pocket when he died…and a picture of a pretty girl. 'With love from Rachel'" He read off the back of the picture he held in his hand. He used to be like us—worried about bills or the rent or the super bowl. When I see my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne." Rick looked back at Abby for assurance.
"They're fine." She said. "I can do it for you, Rick."
"No." He said firmly as he put the face protector back on and picked up the axe.
"One more thing…" Glenn said as Rick stood up. "He was an organ donor."
There was a brief pause, then suddenly Rick was swinging the axe into the walker's abdomen. Everyone flinched or turned away as he continued to swing. Abby just watched Rick and it tore her apart. With each swing, it tore at the thread of Ricks soul.
Finally, he had enough and took of the face protector and handed it to Morales. "Keep chopping." He told him.
"I'm gonna hurl." Glenn said weakly as Morales swung the axe down at the man.
"Later." Rick told him. After a few more swing Rick looked at everyone. "Everyone's got gloves? Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."
Everyone hunched over and grabbed a scoop of innards and started smearing them on Rick's and Glenn long white coats. When they were nearly done, Rick looked over Abby.
"Get to the roof, by the time we're done I want you watching our backs." Rick said to her.
"Got it." Abby took off her coat and gloves and turned to go but stopped and looked back. "Don't do anything stupid, 'kay? I can't just get you back only to lose you, again! I love you, you big dumb ass."
"I love you too, baby girl. I'll do my best now get out of here!" Rick smirked despite the fact that he was covered in a dead person's innards.
Abby turned tail and ran to the top of the building as fast as she could. She unslung her rifle and pointed it down the back alley that Rick and Glenn would use, then waited. With in a minute or so the door opened up and out came the duo shuffling slowly like the walkers.
She held her breath as Glenn walked within inches of a walker, Abby trained her gun on the walker hoping it would ignore them but prepared in case it didn't. It watched Glenn for a second but then continued on. Abby let out a slow breath of relief but continued to watch perspicaciously. She retrained her gun on another walker that was uncomfortably close to her brother then waited while he passed. Thankfully it too only watched for a moment before continuing on.
She watched as the crawled underneath the bus and momentarily lost sight of them as the others burst onto the roof. They ran up beside her but she didn't look to see who was next her, finally she caught sight of them. Behind her she heard a groan.
"Looks like sleeping beauty's awake." She heard someone say. There was a conversation happening behind her but she was too focused on what Rick and Glenn were doing to pay them any attention. When they were half way to their destination, the sky began to rumble, making Abby curse under her breath and pray that it didn't rain.
Suddenly a walker started staring at Glenn intently, she trained her sights on it but then it put itself on the other side of Glenn, making it impossible for her to shoot if it decided he looked like a meal. Thankfully it moved on but little more than a minute later, Abby felt a rain drop land on her nose and this time cursed loudly. And just like that the clouds opened up and began to pour.
She tensed even more knowing full well that shit was about to hit the fan…again. At first, they still didn't seem to notice them, apparently, they'd load a lot of guts on themselves but slowly the other walkers started to turn towards them. Slowly a couple started to follow them but then one them lurched towards Rick and he spun around and put his axe in its head.
They immediately turn and started running. She couldn't get the ones closest too them, in fear they might get hit by her bullet instead, but she could clear the ones a couple of meters ahead of them. She fired as quickly as she could, getting head shot after head shot. Thankfully there were far fewer in front of them then there was behind them and thanks to her well-placed shots they barely had to swing at the walkers after the first few. They made it to the fence with a fairly sizable gap in between them and the walkers but they were still closing quickly.
Once they were over the fence, they shed their guts cover coats and gloves. Abby kept firing trying to keep them from climbing over the fence but Rick had also stopped to clear the top of the fence until Glenn found the keys. The two quickly ran to the cube van, climbed in and raced off in reverse. Abby let out a big sigh. There was nothing else she could do. She watched as the fence collapsed and the herd surged forward as Rick did a quick turn and sped off.
"Wait where are they going? Are they leaving us?" Jacqui asked frantically.
"No. No! Come back, Come back!" Andrea said equally frantic.
Abby put her back to the ledge and slid down. "They ain't leaving, they have to circle back. There ain't no way they can come back the way they came. Rick would never leave me." It was a statement, she didn't doubt for a second.
Suddenly the radio in T-Dog's hand crackled. "Get down to the door, we'll be there as quickly as we can. We just need a distraction."
"Whatever you're planning, hurry it up." T-Dog responded.
Everybody rushed to grab their gear and started to head for the door. "Hey wait! You can't leave me here! Morales! Abby!" Merle called.
T-Dog pulled Abby to a stop. "Should I?"
Abby shrugged. "It's up to you, it was you whom he beat up. Just remember he's got Daryl back home and he won't be happy if we leave him behind."
Abby turned to run after the others leaving T-Dog to make the decision. As she made it to the door, they all grabbed the chain and waited. At first, they heard the screeching of a car alarm and a minutes later T-Dog ran up as someone banged on the door. They all pulled the chain and the door opened to reveal Rick squatting in the back of the cube van.
"We gotta go!" He said urgently reaching out. Rick grabbed a couple of bags and threw them into the van before running back to the front of the van. Once everyone was in side, Rick peeled out of there as the walkers rushed for the open back door but Morales closed the door blocking the view of them following.
Abby looked at a tearful T-Dog as did the others. When Rick looked back and didn't see Merle, he didn't say anything but a look of worry and grief spread across his face. T-Dog glanced at everyone guiltily.
"I dropped the damn key." He said breaking the silence.
Andrea looked around and suddenly realized someone else was missing. "Where's Glenn?"
Rick smirked slightly. "He's fine, he'll probably make it back before the rest of us."
When the reached the cities limits, Morales told Rick to pull over and let him drive. Rick didn't argue and once he pulled over he climbed into the back with the rest and plunked himself down beside Abby. Abby wrapped her arm around his arm and put her head on his shoulder. In return, he grasped his hand around hers tightly and put his head on top of hers.
The further they drove from Atlanta, the worse she felt. They should have never left Merle, no matter how big of an ass he had been. She should have taken the key from T-Dog and released him her self. Daryl wasn't going to be happy and might even feel betrayed by her and she was shocked with how much that upset her. Despite Merle's and Daryl's strained relationship, they both seemed to love each other in their own twisted and unhealthy way.
"You okay?" Rick asked her softly. As he kissed the top of her head.
"Just feelin' bad about Merle." She replied equally soft.
"Nothin' we can to do about it for now." Rick said with a sigh. They were quiet for a moment, then he spoke again. "Tell me what happened after I got shot, tell me it all." He said softly.
She lifted her head with a sigh, then went into everything that had happen since he'd fallen into his coma. By the time she had finished, Morales pulled on the last road that led to the camp.
Rick shook his head in disbelief. "I can't thank you and Shane enough. You looked after my family!"
Abby nudged him gently in the ribs. "You forget, they're my family too."
"Still, thank you!" He squeezed her shoulder.
"You'd have done the same." She said leaning into him more. Damn, she missed her brother. Despite her unhappiness for leaving Merle behind; a part of her was really happy to see him again, for Carl to have his father back. They had a bit of a funny relationship. Most of the time they were the best of friends, sharing everything with each other but there were times when they absolutely hated each other.
For the remainder of the trip the two sat quietly, leaning against each other. When Morales finally pulled to a stop, Abby straightened up and looked at her brother as the others got out.
"Are you ready to see your family?" She asked as she stood up and offered him her hand.
"Damn straight!" He said as grabbed her hand and stood up.
Carl saw his father almost immediately. "Dad! Dad!" He shouted as he raced to Rick's out stretched arms. Rick practically collapsed in relief, hugging his son tightly. Lori stood in shocked disbelief as Rick picked up Carl as he clung desperately to him and walked over to Lori. She wrapped her arms around her son and husband and cried as she buried her face into Rick's neck.
Abby dashed a tear away as she turned from the happy scene in front of her, to receive a hug and a kiss from her husband. Martin shook his head in disbelief as he watched the tearful reunion.
"I can't believe Rick is still alive, after everything that's happened! Then you find each other in the middle of Atlanta! What are the chances!" He said in awe.
Abby watched as her brother talked with Shane and some of the other campers. "One in a million." She said softly.
I hope you liked it! R&R! I love reviews! They make my day!
-Shockra
