Author's Note: Here's chapter 4! I hope that you guys enjoy! It's a long chapter! :)
FanFicGirl10: I noticed that nobody has ever entered a character into the story from that early on, so I decided "Why not?" And thank you! I decided that adding a character with medical experience would spice things up. :) Oh, and if you don't like those characters, then you will be glad with who Olivia starts to dislike. :)
babydake93: Thank you! Here's your update! :)
Leyshla Gisel: Daryl is indeed coming soon! You will get to see him early next chapter, I promise! I just don't want to rush things. :)
Chapter 4: Introductions
Olivia watched the red car speed off in front of them, a ghostly smile on her face. It was nice to see people taking joy in the little things.
She could hear soft chuckles resonating from the survivors in the back of the truck and from Rick. When the red car was no longer visible, all went silent.
Olivia took the silence as an opportunity. "So, deputy."
The corners of Rick's mouth twitched when he heard the nickname Olivia had given him. "Yeah?"
"What's your story?"
The smile from his face faded when Olivia's question had registered in his mind. Thinking she had made a mistake in asking, Olivia softly apologized and turned back to face her window.
"No. Don't be sorry. It's just hard to believe, myself. I keep hoping that I'll wake up and it'll all just be a dream."
Olivia turned back to face Rick, who had his eyes trained on the road in front of him. She gave him an encouraging smile, although he couldn't see. "I know what it feels like. I keep hoping the very same thing. That all of this is just some twisted nightmare."
She could see Rick nod from the corner of her vision. She waited a while to see if he would say anything else.
"I woke up just a few days ago in the hospital. I was in a coma. Shot." Olivia watched as he gestured down to his side, the place he was shot. "He got the jump on me."
Olivia turned away from Rick to watch the road ahead of them, as he kept on talking. She figured that he needed this. Someone to talk to.
"When I woke up, I had no idea what was going on. The hospital was abandoned, and there were dead people everywhere. Military equipment just lying around." Rick shook his head from side to side. "I went home to see if my wife and son were there. They weren't. I knew they were alive, though. I noticed that our family albums and pictures were all missing. Some clothes had been packed, too."
Olivia quickly glanced at Rick, a sympathetic look on her face. When Rick noticed her looking, he hastily wiped away a tear that had been rolling down his face at the time. She turned back towards the window to give him his privacy.
"This man, Morgan, found me and took me in. He had a son. Duane. He reminded me of Carl." Olivia could hear Rick's voice break at the mention of Carl. "They told me what the walkers were, and how I could kill them. Told me they weren't alive anymore. We all went to my old police department and gathered all the supplies we could. We parted ways after I promised to keep him informed about Atlanta and the surrounding areas. He have me a walkie talkie, but it's in the bag of guns that I dropped."
There was silence after Rick finished telling his tale. It had depressed Olivia. Some people didn't deserve to live in the world the way it was now. They didn't deserve what was given to them, but they were forced to take it and deal with it.
"You'll find your family, Rick. I have a good feeling." Rick glanced at Olivia after she had voiced her comment, and softly smiled before turning back to face the front.
"What about you?"
Olivia tensed at Rick's question, keeping her gaze on the passing scenery outside. Rick looked at her to see the strained look on her face.
"You don't have to tell me. Just curious."
Olivia relaxed after a moment. She thought that if she was going to be traveling with Rick, the least she could do was open up to him.
"I've been alone for a long time. I've never traveled in a large group. Just with one other person."
Rick glanced at Olivia, silently asking her to continue. "My sister." Rick let out a breath, and turned back to face the road. If she wasn't traveling with her sister at present, he had a pretty good idea of what happened to her.
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. It's better than her having to live in this hell."
Rick remained silent for the remainder of the ride, silently contemplating Olivia's words.
(FF)
Pulling up into the driveway of the camp, Olivia could see the red car already there and parked. Glenn stood beside it, looking none too happy. There were several people standing around, waiting for everyone to exit the truck.
The survivors stood up from the back of the truck, and gathered their gear. Olivia could see Andrea jump out of the back and run to embrace a younger girl that looked similar to her in appearance. Probably her sister.
When Morales noticed Rick and Olivia's tense hesitancy, he stepped forward to place one hand on each of their shoulders. "Come meet everyone. It's okay."
Morales removed his hands from their shoulders before jumping out of the truck, and running to embrace a woman and two young children.
After another minutes hesitation, Rick and Olivia glanced at each other, each giving their own determined smiles and nods, before opening the truck doors and stepping out.
As Rick and Olivia were walking side by side into the camp, Olivia could hear Rick stop in his tracks. What happened next, Olivia could compare to a scene in a movie.
There was a yell from the camp, and Olivia looked towards the source of the sound. A young boy stood next to an astonished woman, a wide grin on his face.
"Daddy?"
Olivia stepped to the side to stand next to Glenn as she happily watched the young boy sprint to embrace his father. Rick wrapped his arms around his boy and fell to his knees. She could see that he was crying tears of happiness. She was starting to tear up herself. She never got to witness beautiful things anymore, and she believed that this miracle was categorized as beautiful.
She watched as Rick rose from his place on the ground, his boy still in his arms, and jogged the rest of the way into the camp to embrace the woman in a tight hug.
Olivia turned to meet Glenn's smile with her own, before wiping her face and turning to continue watching the scene before her. She watched as Rick kissed the woman, and pulled her and the young boy in for a group hug.
Olivia could see that she wasn't the only one astonished by what was taking place before them. Everyone else that stood around was watching the scene with surprised happiness. There was only one person Olivia noticed that didn't seem very happy.
He had dark curly hair, tanned skin, and a strong physique. Olivia narrowed her eyes in curiosity at the man. He looked slightly disappointed. He would smile every once in a while when Rick eyed him, but it looked forced. She looked back to the happy family, to see the woman, who had long dark hair and a skinny figure, sneak a glance at the man standing near them.
Olivia crossed her arms over her chest. Something didn't seem right.
(FF)
When Rick was done saying hello to his family and everyone calmed down, it was time to make introductions.
An older man wearing a fisherman's hat approached Olivia and Glenn, a wide smile on his face. "Well, what do we have here?"
Glenn laughed and patted Olivia on the shoulder before addressing the older man. "A newbie."
The man nodded and held out his hand in warm greeting. "I'm Dale. Nice to meet you."
"Olivia Harper. Likewise." She grasped his hand and eagerly shook it. Olivia loved to meet new people.
Dale retracted his hand and gestured to the camp. "Would you like a tour guide? I can introduce you to everyone."
Olivia smiled and nodded, before waving goodbye to Glenn, and falling into step beside Dale.
"It's always nice to add someone to the group. It's less lonely out here with more people." Olivia noticed that Dale was walking towards Andrea and the young woman that she had embraced when they arrived at camp. Dale stopped before them and placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.
"This is Amy. She's Andrea's younger sister." Amy smiled and held her hand out towards Olivia, who shook it. "And you already know this one." Olivia laughed as Dale reached up and ruffled Andrea's hair. She looked annoyed, but forced a smile anyway.
Walking away from the two women, Olivia could see that Dale was heading towards Morales and his family, but their trip across the camp was interrupted by the man that Olivia had noticed earlier. He came to stand in front of Dale and Olivia, an amused smile on his face.
"You going to skip me?" Dale looked aggravated at the man before him, but turned to look at Olivia, nevertheless.
"Shane, Olivia. Olivia, Shane." Olivia held her hand out to offer the man a friendly handshake, but instead he grasped it and brought it to his mouth, placing a kiss on the top.
"Nice to meet you." Olivia smiled to be friendly, but to be honest, something about Shane offed her. He didn't feel right, like he was hiding something. But she wasn't going to voice anything, yet.
"Likewise."
"Dale, I think I can take it from here. Doesn't the RV need some work?" Dale glanced at Shane but sent him a tiny nod, and placed a gentle hand on Olivia's shoulder.
"I'll see you later, Olivia." Olivia smiled at Dale as he turned back to head to the RV in the middle of camp.
"That man can be a handful sometimes." Shane turned around to lead Olivia back to the middle of camp. She smiled, but shook her head from side to side.
"He's friendly enough to me." Shane smirked before gesturing to Rick and his family.
"You want to meet them?" Shane started to walk towards the three survivors, but Olivia hesitated.
"He just found his family. Shouldn't we leave them alone for now?"
Shane glanced at Olivia and hesitated, but eventually nodded his head as he turned in the other direction to introduce her to the rest of the survivors.
(FF)
Olivia had settled in, and it was decided that for the time being, she would sleep in the RV. Andrea had told her that there was an extra space near the back that she could occupy. Dale had offered Olivia an extra sleeping bag that he had on hand so that she wouldn't have to sleep on the hard ground of the vehicle.
It was nearing nighttime when Olivia finally made her way back outside. As soon as she stepped outside, she was greeted by the smiling faces of Carl and Sophia. Olivia had finally gotten to meet everyone, and she was glad that there were kids in the camp. Olivia had always been good with kids.
"Guess what, Liv?" Olivia reached down to ruffle the eager boy's hair before bending down to be eye-level with him.
"What is it, Carl?"
"Me and Sophia got to help clean the kills for dinner tonight!"
Olivia laughed and stood up. "That's awesome! What're we having?"
Sophia spoke up, cuddling her teddy bear to her chest. "Squirrel!"
Olivia grimaced and looked at them with a disgusted look. This caused the two young kids to laugh. "Well, I guess beggars can't be choosers, huh?"
The kids giggled and followed Olivia as she went to sit near the fire. She sat there for a moment with them before they were called over by their mothers, Lori and Carol. She had met them earlier, courtesy of Shane.
T-Dog came to join her by the fire. "Dinner's almost ready! I'm starved."
Olivia nodded in agreement. "Me too! A little bird told me that we were having squirrel?" She turned her head to glance at T-Dog who had an amused look on his face.
"Yep. It's not as bad as it sounds, though. And it's the closest thing we've got to a five star dinner out here. We occasionally get to enjoy a deer, but it's not the right season."
Olivia nodded as she placed her hands closer to the fire, warming them. "Who catches all of this stuff?"
A distant look crossed T-Dog's face before he hesitantly answered. "Daryl."
Olivia looked towards the ground, the rest of their visit silent, until Dale walked over to the campfire, placing all of the food down next to it. Olivia looked to him and smiled as he placed his hands next to his mouth and shouted "Dinner!" So everyone could hear.
(FF)
Olivia sat on one of the logs surrounding the fire next to Glenn. She sighed and rubbed her stomach in content. She glanced around the circle to see Rick and Lori cuddled up next to each other. She smiled, and then snuck a glance to Shane, who was of course eyeing them. She would find out what was going on, eventually.
"So, Liv."
Olivia smiled as Dale addressed her. She liked the nickname they had given her. It was what her father used to call her.
"Yes?"
"Where are you from? And what do you do?"
Everyone went silent, waiting for her to answer.
"I came from Texas. I was a nurse."
Olivia took a sip of water as everyone around her let slip sighs of relief. Shane was the one to speak up.
"That's good. Now we have someone with medical experience." Olivia smiled and nodded to the group as everyone slipped back into their own conversations.
Olivia glanced over to where Carol sat with Sophia and a man named Ed. They stayed away from the bulk of the group, occupying a separate campfire. Carol didn't seem to talk much. It was like she was scared all the time. Olivia noticed how Sophia didn't seem to smile as much when she was around Ed. It was another mystery that she needed to solve. As she was watching the group, Ed stood up and placed another log into their fire.
Shane allowed an annoyed look to pass before he addressed Ed. "Ed? You remember the rules. We keep our fires low so we don't attract attention."
"Mind your own damn business."
The group seemed to tense as Shane stood up from his spot on the ground. Olivia turned her head away from the action to stare into the fire. A few minutes later, Shane joined the group again, having made Ed take the extra log out of the fire.
Olivia looked towards Dale when he started speaking. "Have you guys given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He's not going to be happy when he finds out his brother has been left in Atlanta."
Olivia could see T-Dog's face fill with guilt as he looked towards the fire. "I'll tell him. I dropped the key."
Rick shook his head at T-Dog's offer. "I cuffed him."
For the first time of the night, Glenn spoke up, addressing T-Dog. "Look, I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."
T-Dog sent a glare towards Glenn, who hurriedly looked away in the opposite direction. Amy suggested that they lie about what happened in Atlanta, but Andrea shook the idea away.
"No, we need to tell the truth. If Rick didn't do what he did, Merle would have gotten us killed."
Dale sighed loudly and shook his head. "And that's what we tell Daryl?"
When no one answered his question, Dale shook his head once more. "We're going to have our hands full when he comes back from this hunt."
The entirety of the group agreed with his comment, each of them nodding their heads.
(FF)
Olivia stared at the ceiling of the RV as she lay cuddled up in the sleeping bag that Dale had given her. She was restless and couldn't fall asleep.
Olivia perked up as she heard a rustling sound come from outside the RV. She stood up, brushed her clothes off, and grabbed her pistol from the counter.
Trying to be as quiet as she could, Olivia grabbed the handle to the RV door and pulled gently, peeking outside. When she saw nothing, she dared to take a few more steps to stand in the middle of camp.
She heard a crack from the direction of the campfire and spun around quickly to point her pistol towards whatever made the sound.
She sighed loudly and lowered her gun when she realized that it was just Rick. She supposed that he had offered to take a watch that night. Olivia shook her head and laughed as she placed her gun behind her, in the waistband of her shorts.
Rick joined her in her laughter while she took a seat on one of the logs across from him. "I couldn't sleep."
Rick nodded towards her and tried to warm his hands in the rapidly dying fire. "I told Dale I would take his watch tonight. Sort of a thank you gift."
Olivia nodded her head and leaned forward to place her head in her hands, her elbows on her knees. "Hey, Rick?"
"Yeah?"
"I wanted to thank you. Officially. You saved my life. If you hadn't been there on that street in Atlanta, I'm sure that pack of walkers would have caught up to me and I'd have died."
Rick nodded and sent a small smile her way, before staying silent and allowing her to continue.
"You didn't have to help me, and Glenn didn't have to help us. It's that sort of stuff that helps me believe that there's still some good left in the world."
Rick looked like he was deep in thought as he stared at the fire. Olivia sat there a moment longer, before standing up and starting back towards the RV.
After taking a few steps, though, she turned back around. "I'm glad you found your family, Rick. I knew you would."
Rick, once again, smiled and nodded towards Olivia. She returned his nod, and turned around to head back into the RV.
Olivia quietly slipped back into her sleeping bag, resting her hands behind her head. She thought about all that had taken place that day, and about all the new people she had met.
She was going to make a life here, with these new people. She just knew it.
Author's Note: Alright! I hope that you guys enjoyed chapter 4! I promise that Daryl will enter the story next chapter! I didn't want things to seem too rushed. Two chapters in one day! I'm on a roll! :) Next chapter should be out soon! Don't forget to review, please! :) I love the feedback you guys give!
