CHAPTER 2: Why Oh Why Did I Do That?
Tempting Sin

The hospital was empty. Well it should have been empty. There were a few of the shufflers here and there, but all in all it was a ghost town. It was eerily quiet due to the generators being cut off and she found herself thankful for it.

It was easier to hear something or someone approaching.

Easier to avoid them.

Honestly, she wasn't someone who liked confrontation. She had never been. She liked to keep things calm and quiet, absolutely hated when things got out of control. She had always been the mediator. Always been the peacekeeper with her two sisters.

Her sisters. Talk about a bunch of fighting heathens.

She didn't want to think about them though. Not now. It won't change anything. It won't keep her safe. Memories are dangerous. No use for them.

The broken machete in her grip she had found a few weeks back was down, just like she was, crouched behind one of the nurse's stations to hide from view as she heard the sound of what seemed like an approaching shuffler. She hated this. Because she would have to kill it. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice. She would kill it and it would be dead and it will not hurt anyone because she was too weak.

Sin swallowed thickly, adjusting herself from her crouched position to the more aggressive lunge that would enable her to jump out and accurately land her weapon directly onto the skull. She would have to hit hard, her arms were sore and her back stiff – but life was life and she was going to survive this.

Damn, she was good at pep talking herself.

When the shuffler came into view, however, she hesitated. There was something different about this shuffler. He seemed….she squinted. Shit he was alive. His hand clutching his side and his body hunched in pain. The look on his face was of pure confusion and she could tell, by the look of him, he was weak and most likely dehydrated.

He was not her problem.

She tried to convince herself but damn it all to hell she knew that if she left him, and he died…not that she would know he would be dead, but the odds were most decidedly not in his favor. Sin glared at him and relaxed her tensed body as if it was his fault she was having this damnable debate in her head.

She didn't know him. He could be a crazy person!

Watching him make his way to the outside hallway she knew he was about to leave the hospital. Damnit. Why would he do that? Didn't he know what the hell was out there? And then, like a bucket of fucking cold ice water she understood. His confusion. The pale and strange way his face seemed to sink in. Only wearing a half-open hospital gown, Sin determined this man must have been in some sort of coma.

Left for dead by the doctors and nurses.

Left for dead by his family.

He wouldn't know.

He didn't know.

Oh God – that poor man. Cursing herself and shaking her head, she decided then and there that she would follow him. Just to make sure he got somewhere safe. But she would not talk to him. He didn't look stable enough to talk to.

Last person she had spoken to ….well it didn't matter now did it? Once again, shaking her head of memories of the past, Sin focused on the present.

Memories are dangerous. No use for them.

Carefully and quietly, Sin extended her legs and rose to her full height. Of course, her broken machete was still at the ready in the event any of the shufflers come callin'.

Sin trailed behind him at such a distance she was secretly hoping she would lose him.

She didn't though, the man was moving at a snail's pace. He was in a daze and she could sort of understand why. It wasn't until he went into a long abandoned house did she hear him scream. His voice was dry, cracked, and raspy from God knows how long of no usage. It sounded like a name, two names, and pain radiated through her heart when she knew who they must be.

Family.

She stepped towards the house and crouched low by one of the windows, eyes wide as she surveyed the street just waiting for a shuffler to come along now that the nearly naked man was wailing. Unknowingly drawing attention to him. If he kept this up, there is no way this guy survives more than a week.

More wailing.

It was more than wailing, it was sounds of terrified, emotional, and downright heart wrenching sobs of despair and confusion.

"Is this real?" She barely heard him whisper.

She turned to peak over the windowsill to see him looking at his hands and then watched with a slight grimace as he hit himself on the temple and pounded on the floor. He was all snot and tears, bright red from the intensity of his episode and she wanted nothing more than to tell him it was going to be okay.

But she didn't.

She couldn't.

It would be a bold face lie.

Nothing will ever be okay again.

Instead, she sighed softly and crouched back down, briefly closing her eye. Knowing that he would either manage to pull himself together or he would be another one of the casualties.

It took an hour.

Or she guessed considering the way the sun was now, but she heard him walk out of the house and she was thankful that the man had found some kind of clothes. Not that seeing his naked rear through the opening of the hospital gown had been all that unpleasant, still it was more decent and she felt less perverted.

God she really couldn't stop thinking things could she? The end of the world and here she was…fuck.

He was calling out again.

"Does he not know how to shut up?" She growled lowly to herself, gazing around their area should any shufflers be drawn to this noisy man.

From her crouched position, she could see no shufflers, but instead a young kid holding a shovel for a weapon.

Sin was in shock. That is the second actual live person she had seen in just one day.

After nearing a month without seeing anyone.

She almost wanted to laugh in delight as she rose and started to make her way towards the two people but stopped dead cold when the boy hit the man over the head with a shovel.

What the….?

She dived to the ground quickly, hiding behind the siding of the house as she peaked around the corner and watched as an older man ran to the young boy gun up, killing two walkers and then yelling something to the battered man on the ground.

"Carl…" the hurt man muttered before the blow to the head made him succumb to unconsciousness.

Yet, that name utterance saved his fucking life. The idiot.

The dark man kept his young son from stomping his head and instead, she watched from her hiding spot as the older man, obviously his father, issued an order to his son and the two lifted him to take him away. It wasn't easy to carry all that dead weight, she pondered from cover. The father was taking more of the other man's weight as the son tried to juggle his two long legs and his shovel simultaneously.

Sin began to panic, breathing a little heavier and shuffling her feet as her body wanted to spring into action but her brain was telling her to stay put.

Should she say something? These were the same people that just knocked him out!

"Wait!" She half screamed, half whispered.

She flinched violently as she instantly regretted getting involved even further than she already was.

Her broken machete was held up by both hands over the shoulder as if it were a baseball bat. Sin stepped from around the house, from her safe place of cover, and glared at the father and son duo currently trying to cart away an injured man.

"Drop him." She ordered. Her honey colored eyes flashing angrily with what only she knew to be an empty threat of violence.

"Girl!" The father warned and pointed his weapon directly at her.

Shit.

"I said drop him!" Sin screamed again, no longer mindful of the shufflers. Her broken machete cocked back as she feinted a possible swing. What the hell was she doing?

Although the man holding the gun clearly had the upper hand in this standoff, it was also guaranteed to attract more attention than either party could afford.

"Okay…okay…calm down, we ain't gonna hurt him," he said, his stainless Taurus Model 85 still glaring at her, the sun glinting beautifully off the barrel.

In an effort for peace, he removed his left hand from its position of being wrapped around his right hand, steadily holding the gun. He raised his hand, palm facing outward making a show of it being empty before slowly releasing his finger from the trigger and replacing the weapon behind his slightly dirty pants.

"Seems to be the situation here." He spoke softly with both empty hands raised, trying to placate the young woman to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed.

"He needs help, and I can give it to him." He assured her.

Glaring, she quickly studied him and his young son.

Her eyes shifted from man to son and back to man, "If you take him, I am going with."

He nodded rapidly.

"Well then if you are coming, we need you to help. Grab that bag of supplies there," he gestured to the abandoned bag that he had been carrying before he rushed over to his son.

"Follow us." He commanded with a nod toward the direction they would be heading.

She watched as the two of them turned back around and began making their way up the street with her charge being clumsily supported between them. Her charge?! She huffed and stomped towards the bag, grasping it and, veritably annoyed with herself for ever deciding to get involved, followed the three.

As irritated as she had been following them here, Sin could not bring herself to regret the decision any longer. The Jones' were nice. The little boy was a bit naïve. His name was Duane and she couldn't help but think that he wouldn't survive if he couldn't keep his shit together. He was all about calling for his dad's help. He seemed a bit too old to be this way, but she knew that it was the generation gap.

The kids now days never even played outside and now here he was - forced to fight hell alongside his pops. Who, though tired and obviously bitter, was surprisingly kind. He had fixed her something to eat instantly and even smiled warmly at her when she complimented the way he had spiced the beans.

"Learned it from my momma," he had grunted with a shrug, "Best cook this side of Atlanta."

She only smiled to him politely and accepted his hospitality. Georgia people were always so proud of their food.

Their booze.

Their women.

But they just did not understand anything about any of it when it came down to it. Here they thought they were the best, when she was from Texas. Best thing about being a Texan, is one didn't need to prove their state was amazing. It just was.

"Compliments to her then," she appeased and continued eating.

He was sweaty. That was something she noticed. And it was hard to see the two of them in the dark, but she figured that was better than sticking out like a sore thumb. Perhaps she should try to find some darker clothes, she thought looking down at her four day worn attire.

"Dad!" Duane hissed, "He's waking up!"

Sin didn't see the point in following, she was hungry and they could handle it. Morgan seemed perfectly capable of explaining the situation. Truthfully, she hesitantly found it comforting that she didn't have to talk to the guy she had practically stalked all day. It was probably for the best she only stays the night and head out in the morning. Being around this many people was causing her to feel uneasy.

Too many people to control.

Too many opportunities for someone to make a mistake.

"Your friend in the other room is safe and eating," she overheard Morgan say in his deep voice and she visibly stiffened, her spoon of beans halted halfway to her open mouth.

Putting the spoon back in the bowl, she quieted and strained her body to hear the conversation.

"Friend?" the baffled man in the bed responded.

"Young lady who was with you earlier." He informed and then chuckled, "Damn near chopped my head off for the way we knocked you out."

Although there was humor in his voice, Sin found the situation dangerous.

If the man denied her, she would be a liar.

No one trusted a liar.

Fuck.

Looking around in a panic, she rose to her feet and stole the other can of beans, loading it into her knapsack while heading for the door. No use waiting around for them to come out screaming and demanding her to tell the truth. She wasn't a threat. But, they didn't know that.

However, the answer from the injured man shocked her into stillness, "Thank God – send her in, please…" His voice ringed of relief.

What….

"Sin!" Morgan whispered from the doorway and beckoned her over with a head jerk.

He smiled politely and took his beans from her then strangely enough thanked her as if she hadn't just been about to take them from the house and bolt.

"He wants to see you. Now, talk softly," Morgan reminded. "– he don't have a fever, but he's not doing so hot."

She nodded, not making any eye contact, and entered the room to find the blue eyes of the man in the bed steadying on her immediately. With a strange acceptance of her fate she straightened her back and stepped further into the room and beeline to him. Reaching out she grabbed his much larger hand and squeezed it firmly, taking a seat on the edge of the makeshift bed.

"Thank God…" she breathed and furrowed her brows at him.

Hoping to any deity he would just let this tale be.

"I am glad you're safe," he told her almost smiling.

A look of knowing passed between the man and woman, belaying any notion of familiarity. To a third party, it would appear to be a reunion of two friends, happy, smiling, and relieved the other was safe.

His hand clutched her smaller one tightly once she gracefully attempted to let go. It ensured she remained locked on the side of the bed with him.

"And that you didn't behead our host." The smile was tight and false with no humor in his sunken blue eyes, but the laughter behind her made sure to reveal that he was joking.

For who's benefit, she just did not know.

"Yeah," she nodded uneasy and tried to removed her hand again only for him to grip it tighter, it was slightly painful.

"I just panicked I guess," Sin winced subtly and continued to avoid any eye contact during this little charade.

"Long day, going through that hospital and all." Murmured Sin, her honey eyes shooting to connect with his electric blues. The air instantly charged at their inside secret. And that was her way of letting him know just where she was from.

In his world – she was no body. In her own…he had been a mission in a world mission less.

"You were a little worse for wear all day, I am glad you are feeling better." Her tone was strong, concerning, but her body language was nervous; nervous he would not reveal her little white lie.

Sin took her bottom lip between her teeth, almost contrite, and released it quickly, jutting her chin in slight defiance. She wasn't wrong in following him. He was like a newborn baby giraffe in this new world of walking corpses determined to eat their way through the world population. He should be damn grateful, not making her feel like a scolded child who didn't want to admit they broke a glass.

He nodded sharply and gazed at her once again, his mouth set in a fine line before he looked over her shoulder and towards Morgan standing resolutely at the door smirking.

"If you will excuse us…" He asked softly, eye brows raised.

He had a deep gravelly voice. Hoarse from not drinking anything in who knows how long.

But it was not unkind. It was practiced. Like he had an air of authority and there was no way around it. Perhaps he was a teacher or a principal or maybe a cop or something. He just had that way about his words. She watched as Duane and Morgan left the room and it wasn't until the door clicked closed that she slowly turned her attention back towards the man who still clutched at her hand.

"Who are you?" His hard voiced questioned lowly so as not to be overheard.

Well – that is a nice place to start.

She nodded her acceptance of this question and answered with a shrug, "My name is Sin."

"What?" He frowned and squinted eyes at her curiously, the hard edge in his blue eyes still perfectly evident.

"My name is Lexsina Rockell, but people have always called me Sin," she explained, rolling her large brown eyes.

The typical response when someone asks her name.

Looking down, she noticed the two of them were still clasped at the hands and he judging by his steady grip, he was not letting go. If this continued, her fingers were going to be numb.

"You have been following me since the hospital?" He challenged. "You were at the house?" He continued when she nodded in agreement.

At this question though her face flooded red with embarrassment because, she nodded, yes she was.

He frowned deeply, "I am sorry you saw that. I am looking for my wife and son and…I was in a coma…" he trailed off and finally released her hand.

She jerked it back and tried to rub the soreness out of her fingers.

He glanced at them and sighed, "Sorry – it's been a rough day for me..."

"Well it's been rough on all of us…" she frowned, slightly off put by the way he had handled her. She stood swiftly now that she was no longer latched to his side and bit out, "Who are you?"

He looked up to her and she blinked at the clarity that showed in his eyes.

"My name is Rick Grimes." He answered firmly. "I'm a cop and I wanted to thank you for standing up for me today even if…" he trailed off and she solemnly nodded.

"Don't mention it," she shrugged nonchalant, her attention going anywhere but back to him.

"Why did you?" Rick queried, genuinely confused as to why a person would help a perfect stranger; especially now.

Ah, there it was.

The question.

The one she had no answer for. She didn't think he would believe her either. She looked at him; her honey colored eyes settling in on his bright blue and stared as she picked her brain for the right words.

None came.

With a shrug she just answered coolly, "It just seemed like the right thing to do."

The two of them stared at one another for a while then.

Both falling into a silence that was neither awkward nor comfortable. She was the first to shift away, but she did not move to leave. For some reason, it felt good to be by this man. She had seen him fight for his life, watched him grieve, watched him question reality and had seen him collect all of himself back into a tight package of collected calm. He was someone worth being around. And after a full month, she was so damned tired of being alone.

Perhaps she didn't need to be any longer.

Hey yall! Hope this week treated your right! Cant believe it is already Friday! Enjoy your weekend, I do not have internet at my house so my next update will not be until Monday. . I am hoping to fix that soon. Wish me luck! :D

-C