Hello!
Here's another chapter, not much to say lol.
Thank you to SilencEloquent for following the story! It means a lot to me :D
For some reason, I'm having trouble reading the review that was posted today, either it's because the user deleted it or this website is breaking on me. Anyhow, I'm going to respond to it nonetheless because it made me smile so damn hard.
Georgetteb321: Your comment is the reason I got the drive to write this next chapter. My writer's block has been quite bad recently and only now is it slowly starting to lift. I'm so glad you're enjoying Scarlett and how she's being written. It means the world to me that it's grabbed your attention enough with only 3 chapters out, so I dedicate this chapter to you, my friend. Thank you for kind words. I do, in fact, plan on writing this story all the way up to the most recent season, though it might take me a while and I ask that you all bare with me lol. In terms of there being a Lucille vs. Stella, all I can say is to stay tuned. ;D
Anyways! Here's the chapter. Enjoy~
"You have a choice. You can either take the wooden bat or Stella. I will not be offended if you choose the first, just mildly disappointed."
Morning had come not a moment too soon and it was mutually decided that they would take Rick out to show him how to kill a walker. He wasn't exactly thrilled, while on the contrary would have worried Scarlett that he were a serial killer and that she had failed to recognize this over the years she had known him. If she had missed this, what would that say about her investigation skills? However, he was luckily repulsed, which was the appropriate way to look at the situation from a first time experience like this.
Rick raised an eyebrow at her regarding her comment and she simply stared at him waiting for him to choose. Much to her content, he chose Stella.
With the metal bat in his hands, the four of them opened the front door and headed outside. The hoard of walkers from the previous night was all gone, with the exception being a single walker leaning against the neighbouring fence. With a mask to protect his face and Stella in hand, Rick was as ready as he was going to be.
"Are we sure they're dead?" He asked as they stood on the front porch. "I have to ask this one more time."
"They dead." Morgan assured him as they slowly walked down the steps onto the front walk. "Except for something in the brain. That's why its gotta be the head."
"Always the head." Scarlett echoed, pointing a finger at Rick.
As they continued down the front lawn, the lone walker had finally noticed them and a small moan had come from its mouth. Once it was stood up, the soft moan turned into an aggressive growl. Blood coated his teeth and lips, approaching them with a fast shuffle.
Rick walked and hit it over the head, but not hard enough. With barely any damage done, he tried again and again. It was like with each blow, he came to understand that it wasn't human anymore and he would hit it a little bit harder. Eventually left with a walker with a bashed in skull, the corpse collapsed to the ground and Rick fell onto his knees, clutching his stomach. Scarlett, Morgan, and Dwayne walked over to check on him and the state of the walker. Blood covered the front of Rick's white shirt and he gripped his wound through his shirt.
"You okay?" Scarlett asked, but when he failed to answer she sighed. "Okay, stupid question. I know bashing in something's head isn't good for the stomach, but you will get used to it eventually."
She leaned down and pulled up the side of his shirt, taking a quick look at his bandage. Seeing no spotting on the wrappings, Scarlett released his shirt, grabbing Stella from the grass and stood back up again.
"We'll give you a moment." Morgan said, to which she nodded.
Once calmed down and nausea free, the four of them made their way over to the Grimes' house. While Scarlett had already informed Rick of Lori and Carl's location, she knew he would want to double check just to make sure they made it out of their area safely.
Walking through the front door and dropping his face protector, Rick marched through the house with the rest of them following behind him.
"They're alive," Rick said, still breathing heavy from earlier. "My wife and son. At least they were when they left."
"How can you know?" Morgan asked. "While Scarlett did say they left, she didn't leave with them. After they left her place, we don't know what happened."
"What about the empty drawers?" Scarlett said, coming from the bedroom into the dinning room where the rest of them were. "Looks like they packed up some stuff. Not that much though."
"You know anybody could have broken in here and stolen clothes, right?" Morgan stated, knowing he had a point.
"See any framed photos on the walls?" Rick asked, pointing to the empty hooks that remained on bare walls. "Neither do I. Some random thief take those too, you think?"
To prove his argument, Rick walked over and opened up one of the cabinets to reveal a few large black books.
"Our photo albums, family pictures, all gone." He continued as Morgan began softly laughing to himself out of disbelief.
"Photo albums," Morgan said to himself, still chuckling as he sat down at the table. "My wife…same thing. There I am packin' survival gear and she's grabbin' photo albums."
Scarlett could tell that he was trying to keep himself together and all that was keeping him from losing his calm composure was a single thread at this point. It was hard to watch. He would probably relive every moment that he could remember with his wife until the day he died, especially the terrible ones. Those would be the freshest in his mind.
"They're in Atlanta I bet." Dwayne spoke up after a moment.
"That's where they told me they were headed." Scarlett nodded, turning her attention to Rick.
"That's right." Morgan breathed out, trying to regain his self-control.
"Why there?" Rick asked, looking between the faces that were in the room with him.
"Refugee Centre. Huge one they said before the broadcast stopped." Morgan explained, his breath still coming in short bursts.
"Military protection, food, shelter, you name it," Scarlett threw in. "They told people to go there, said it would be the safest option."
"Plus they got that disease place." Dwayne spoke up and Scarlett nodded at his words.
"Centre for Disease Control. " She clarified, continuing to nod as she fell into thought. "I'm sure they're working on a cure for this thing."
Rick appeared lost in thought as well as he turned from them and walked into the other room. Opening a cabinet and grabbing a pair of keys, he returned to them and Scarlett knew immediately what he was thinking.
"The station?" She asked, her eyes lighting up.
"The station."
"Rick Grimes, you're a damn genius."
A part of her was afraid to even get her hopes up at the thought of there being some decent equipment at the police station. The chance of other officers taking everything or someone breaking in to claim the supplies as there own was plausible. With that in mind, Scarlett remained quiet for the majority of the trip to the station. There were only a few infected around and all four members of their small group had a weapon to protect themselves. Scarlett let Rick take out the occasional walker, knowing he needed the practice. It would be difficult to get used to for him and hell, she wasn't even used to it herself. She just hoped that someone would come up with a way to fight this infection sooner than later.
Upon their arrival to the station, the single floor building looked abandoned. The lights were off inside and it felt wrong looking at the place in the state that it was in. Even the police had taken off while they could and Scarlett didn't blame them for it one bit.
Walking inside the deserted building was a whole other story. Being paranoid out of her mind, Scarlett listened carefully for any shuffling or movement as they made their way to the back of the station. Rick pulled open a heavy door, which lead to the kitchen, lounge, showers, and of course, the equipment. With a few flashlights in hand, they walked down the narrow hall, past the kitchen and into the locker room, which had multiple shower heads lined up. Being the only spot in the building where natural light came pouring in through the windows above them, they placed their things down and Rick walked over to one of the showers. He reached out, turned the handle and Scarlett, Morgan and Dwayne all watched as water came shooting out of the head.
"The gas lines have been down now for maybe a month." Morgan explained, looking at the water in awe.
"The station's got it's own propane system," Rick said, placing his hand under the running water and smiling. "Pilot's still on."
The looks on their faces were priceless. While Scarlett had showered yesterday, she didn't know when she'd be able to actually bathe herself again after this and she didn't want to take her chances.
"Scarlett, the women's showers are just down the hall." Rick pointed out and she gave him a nod before grabbing her stuff and heading to the showers.
Even before she stepped into the water herself, Scarlett could hear the men letting out cries of relief and soft praises to God. She didn't bother holding in her laughter, a wide smile on her lips as she moved under the stream of water and began washing her body. There was even a bottle of soap to use, which she had found on the bench beside the showers.
When she was all washed up and dirt free, she stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. Scarlett decided to throw her old clothes back on, considering that they weren't that dirty to begin with. After wringing out her hair as best as she could, she packed up all her things and exited the showers, only to meet up with the boys near the gun storage.
"Shopping time?" Scarlett questioned with a scoff as they all moved towards the metal cage.
Placing a key into the lock and removing the chains, Rick opened up the weapon cage for the four of them.
"Lot of it's gone missing." Rick stated, grabbing one of the rifles off its rack.
"I'm surprised that there's even stuff here to begin with." Scarlett mumbled as she placed her hands on a Mossberg 500.
She looked around at what was left of the contents of the cage and was genuinely surprised by the number of weapons left. There were multiple handguns to her right and she recognized some of them. A few Glock 17s, a Browning BDA, two different Smith & Wesson models, and a Colt were the names she could remember.
"Daddy, can I learn to shoot?" Dwayne asked, looking up at his father. "I'm old enough."
"Hell yes you're gonna learn," Morgan replied as he rolled up his sleeves, turning his attention back to his son. "But we've gotta do it carefully, teach you to respect the weapon."
"That's right, it's not a toy," Rick indicated, the same rifle still in his hands from before. "You pull the trigger, you have to mean it. Always remember that, Dwayne."
"Yes, sir." The boy responded, and Scarlett knew he meant it.
"I'm going to grab all the ammo I can fit into the few bags here." She spoke up after a moment, nodding her head in the direction of multiple sheriff's bag in the corner.
"Throw in about a dozen handguns if you can, and keep in mind we have to fit a few rifles and shotguns in them, too." Rick commented, to which Scarlett nodded.
Dwayne helped pack the ammo while Scarlett focused her attention on the guns, grabbing the one's she had listed off earlier, including a SIG-Sauer P226, and a Bruni Olympic 6. Rick handed her the shotguns and rifles that he had decided to take with them and she quickly stuffed them into the bag. Before she knew it, they had cleaned out the locker and headed out into the back area of the station.
"Conserve your ammo, it goes faster than you think," Rick stated, now fully dressed in his uniform and the bag of guns in his hand. "Especially at target practice."
They all marched toward the vehicles that were parked in the back lot. Rick was headed towards one of the police cruisers while Morgan sent Dwayne over to another car further down the lot.
"I've decided to head to Atlanta while Morgan and Dwayne stay here for a while," Rick explained to Scarlett as he loaded the bag of guns into the back seat of the police vehicle. "I assumed you'd be coming with me, but your sister-"
"She won't be coming back," Scarlett cut him off as he turned his attention back onto her. "At least not anytime soon. As pathetic as it seems, I don't really want to be alone anymore, and most certainly not alone in that house. I think it would be better if I came with you."
Rick stared silently at her, his eyes full of sympathy, as he understood, to a certain extent, what had happened in that house. He had known that her father had been a horrible man, even before her mother had passed away. While the loss had seemed to send him into overdrive, it had not made him the cruel person he was. Scarlett believed that he was born with evil in his bones, and Rick didn't dare question her.
"I probably would've dragged you with me, even if you had planned to stay behind." Rick admitted and Scarlett smiled softly.
Hearing the car door shut from across the lot, both Dwayne and Morgan walked over to the cruiser, obviously ready to go.
"Are you sure you won't come with us?" Rick asked, his face hopeful.
"A few more days," Morgan explained with a sigh. "By then, Dwayne will know how to shoot and I won't be so rusty."
Nodding his head at Morgan's decision, Rick moved back and opened up the passenger's seat door. Reaching into the bag and pulling out a small black device, he came back and placed it into the palm of Morgan's hand. A walkie-talkie.
"You got one battery," Rick explained, causing the other to nod. "I'll turn ours on a few minutes every day at dawn. You get up there? That's how you find us."
"You think ahead." Morgan observed.
"Can't afford not to. Not anymore."
Scarlett felt more than a little blue at the fact that the father and son were staying behind. While they had only been with them for roughly twenty-four hours, they had helped both her and Rick for many different reasons. For the both of them, they had given them food and shelter. For Rick, they had taken him in and brought him to light on the new horror that was their reality.
For Scarlett, they had been the first people she had seen since everything had gone to hell and their hospitality had given her a little hope mentally that things would end up okay. They had trusted Scarlett without much going for her and allowed her to patch up Rick in a safe environment. They were a saving grace in this whole nightmare and Scarlett found it difficult to let them go.
"I have something that belongs to you." Morgan spoke up, bringing Scarlett back to attention when she realized he was addressing her. The man reached into his belt and pulled out the gun Shane had given her when they had left her behind.
"The Colt?" Rick questioned, a small smile on his face. "You were always good with that gun. While the others were okay, you did enjoy having that one in your hands."
"Shane gave it to me before they left for Atlanta," Scarlett explained before looking up at Morgan. "Thank you."
The man nodded at her appreciation, turning his attention to not just her, but to the both of them.
"Listen, one thing, they may not seem like much one at a time, but in a group all riled up and hungry? Man, you watch your ass." Morgan warned, something Scarlett knew a little too well from her encounter yesterday but was thankful that he had brought it up to Rick.
"You too." the sheriff's deputy replied, reaching out and shaking the other man's hand.
"You a good man, Rick. I hope you find your wife and son," Morgan stated firmly before reaching out to shake Scarlett's hand as well. "And you, Scarlett. You a smart woman, watch out for each other."
"Will do," she replied, shaking his hand securely. "Again, thank you, truly. I hope our paths cross again soon."
The man nodded in agreement, taking a step back as Dwayne slowly approached both Scarlett and Rick.
"Be seeing you, Dwayne," he said, shaking the boy's hand. "You take care of your old man."
"Yes sir."
"Good luck with learning the ways of the gun," Scarlett said as the boy reached out to shake her hand as well. "It'll be frustrating at first, but you'll get the hang of it. We'll see you two again real soon."
"Thank you." The boy replied, a small smile on his face as he moved beside his father.
Watching, as the two were about to turn, Scarlett heard a faint moaning sound coming from a ways behind her. All four pairs of eyes turned to spot a walker dressed in police uniform clawing at the fence that separated them. His walkie-talkie dragged on the ground behind him and his growls got louder the longer he stood there attacking the fence.
"Is that…?" Scarlett questioned, the contorted face of the walker looking vaguely familiar.
"Leon Basset?" Rick mumbled, apparently recognizing the face as well.
The four of them watched as the walker continued to tear at the fence, his mouth wide and gaping. His teeth would occasionally clash, making a rather horrific noise to the ears.
"Didn't think much of him." Rick admitted, letting out a breath. "Careless and dumb, but…I can't leave him like this."
"You know they'll hear the shot." Morgan stated eyebrows furrowed.
"Then let's not be here when they show up." Scarlett said, nodding at Rick to go take care of his coworker.
"Let's go, son. Come on." Morgan said as the two of them jogged off towards their car.
Scarlett decided to get into the police cruiser and wait for Rick to finish. They'd need to get out as soon as the shot rang out if they wanted to avoid coming into contact with a wave of the infected. She fiddled with the colt in her hands and checked the chamber for rounds, quite content to see that all the slots were full with ammunition. Using a bat or anything that didn't make the noise like a gun did was what Scarlett preferred, knowing she could get in and get out without bringing too much attention to herself. While guns were useful and required much less physical effort, she would use Stella over a gun any day.
The shot finally rang out and Scarlett turned just in time to see the walker fall down, one of it's hands still holding on to the metal fence. Blood dripped down from its forehead where a bullet wound remained and Rick quickly ran back over to the car and got in.
Once moving, Morgan's car turned right onto the road and gave a few honks. Rick and Scarlett's cruiser turned left, letting a few rings of the siren go off as the two cars went their separate ways. They drove for a little, not much being said. It was only when they pulled over near the park Scarlett had ran through the day Rick was shot that she turned to him in question.
"I need to do something real quick, you don't need to come with." Rick explained as he cut the engine and stepped out of the car.
Scarlett furrowed her brows in confusion but nonetheless got out of the cruiser as well and followed behind Rick with Stella over her shoulder. She knew right away that he was looking for something, but she didn't have a clue as to what it was. Deciding not to question the man, she kept her eyes peeled instead, watching for any sort of threat. Thankfully, it seemed as though barely any infected where in the park and Scarlett guessed that the majority of them had headed in the direction of the shot Rick had set off ten minutes ago.
Noticing the slow in Rick's step, Scarlett looked down and saw what he had been looking for. A few feet ahead remained the upper half of a walker, which was attempting to crawl along the grass using nothing but it's arms to drag itself around. By the way it moved, it was slow, even for a normal walker. She could tell it was weak and that the reason they had come all the way here was for Rick to put it out of its misery.
The both of them had stopped once beside the walker, Rick kneeling down as the walker let out a wheeze. It looked like girl, not that old either. The thought broke Scarlett's heart.
The walker finally glanced up to see the two and looked at them pleadingly. Whether it was the hunger or the suffering that she reached out for, Scarlett couldn't tell.
"I'm sorry this happened to you." Rick said, the genuine empathy clear in his voice.
The walker continued to stare at him as he reached into the holster on his belt and pointed the gun at its head. Reaching out a hand to him as another moan left its mouth, Rick shot the walker in the head and it fell lifeless into the grass.
Scarlett could tell that this walker in particular was special to Rick in the way his face morphed with pain and sadness. She didn't think it was anyone he knew, but it could have been the fact that it was only half a walker as well. Not having a clue, she placed a hand on his shoulder and the man looked up at her.
"Come on, let's get out of here." She whispered to him, watching him stand up and the two walked off in the direction of their car.
Walking at a brisk pace, the two managed to get into the car without any trouble, the weight of killing the walker still obviously a bit heavy on Rick's shoulders but Scarlett remained silent; she didn't want to pry into his thoughts, those where his alone.
"That was the first one I ever saw." Rick spoke up after a few minutes of silent driving.
Scarlett nodded, the statement making perfect sense.
"You felt a responsibility to put it down." She sighed, knowing she had hit the nail right on the head when Rick glanced over at her.
"What was your first encounter?"
"Without counting all the infected at the hospital, the first walker I saw took a bite out of a guy wearing full riot armor," Scarlett said, looking out the window shield. "It ripped him apart like it was nothing. The entire thing was horrible, I'm glad you didn't experience it."
"What happened at the hospital?" Rick questioned and she knew she had to give him a full answer.
"Both Shane and I had gone to see you. We'd heard helicopter's flying above the hospital but we didn't pay it much attention," Scarlett explained. "The military was rushing all the nurses and doctors out but shooting all the patients, thinking they were all infected. To be fair, a lot of them were, but not all of them. You being one of the exceptions."
"But they didn't shoot me."
"Something had been dropped on the hospital and all the power had gone out," she continued, trying to explain it all. "Shane didn't hear a heart beat and your monitors wouldn't turn on so the military thought you were dead regardless. We did too, but we closed your door and put a gurney in front of it just in case the infected tried to get into your room."
"That was you two?" Rick questioned, glancing over at her.
"That was us," Scarlett replied, a sad smile on her lips. "We thought you were dead, but we couldn't bare to leave you without some sort of protection. Even if it was as useless as a closed door and a gurney."
"Thank you." Rick said clearly, his words sincere. It made her smile; knowing he didn't need to thank her but took the time to anyways.
"You're welcome."
Silence had fallen once again in the car and Scarlett continued to look out the windows at either the road or the trees that stood tall on either side of them. She traced the wrappings around the base of her metal bat, something she did when she was bored or in need of calming. The wrappings helped her hold a better grip on the heavy bat, but she was so used to swinging it now that it felt as light as a feather.
Scarlett remembered the day she'd received the bat. It was about a year after her father had left both her and her sister alone with the house. Since she was nineteen, she worked hard to balance her part-time job, university, and raising her little sister. Being lucky enough to ride through university on a scholarship, the only money she had to worry about was reserved for the mortgage and the food. It was around that time, drained out of her mind and struggling to stay afloat, where the Grimes had stepped into their life. Not only had they given her a bit of money to put towards food and other things, they provided the emotional support that she'd needed to keep herself moving forward.
They'd even spent Christmas day together that year and Scarlett had managed to scavenge up a bit of spare money to get gifts for everyone. While they were small in size, they were meaningful gifts and she could tell this by the twinkle of their eyes and small 'o' their mouths made out of wonder. It made her happy, seeing the people that supported her smile. What she wasn't expecting, however, was a gift in return.
She had told everyone that she hadn't wanted anything and that their company was enough. Of course her wishes were ignored and Victoria had handed her a long rectangular box wrapped in dark purple paper.
"It's from everyone." Victoria had said to her, placing the gift on her lap.
At a loss for words, Scarlett had slowly but carefully torn the paper away from the plain white box underneath. She had no clue as to what it could've been at the time, but when she opened the box to reveal the metal bat she swore that her heart had grown three times its size.
While to most people, it would have appeared to be a simple metal bat, it meant so much more to her and she would carry it with her till the day she died.
"There's a gas station up ahead, could use a top up on gas." Rick stated out of the blue, startling Scarlett a bit.
The man was right and Scarlett watched as the cruiser came to a slow stop just outside the station. Cars were abandoned all across the lot and street, making it almost impossible to pull the car up to the pump. Scarlett figured that Rick had an alternate proposal and purely followed him out of the car. Grabbing a gas canister out of the trunk, Rick slowly made his way forward to the station with Scarlett by his side.
Cars of all makes and sizes were laid out before them, a path of destruction leading to the gas station. Windows were smashed in, old blood dried on car doors, the occasional dead body sat unmoving within it all, and not to mention the eerie silence that surrounded them like a fog. Walking further into the gas station proved to only worsen the devastation. Small tents had been set up that were now abandoned and littered with trash. Ripped clothes were strewn about like someone had torn violently through their suitcase. There were even toys scattered about, such as a small bike and a few dolls that made Scarlett's skin crawl.
Rick peered into one of the windows of the vehicles; the sound of flies buzzing reaching Scarlett's ears well before she looked inside the car as well, only to reveal two dead bodies with the skin rotting away.
Taking a few steps further, Scarlett's eyes fell upon a handmade sign that rattled against the wind, it's message of NO GAS making her sigh.
"Why am I even surprised?" She mumbled as Rick came up beside her, noticing the sign too.
Prepared to head back in the direction of their car, the soft shuffling of feet touched Scarlett's ears. By the way he had frozen, she knew that Rick had heard the noise as well. Figuring out that the sound was coming from their left, the two of them got down on their hands and knees to look under the car. A pair of small legs could be seen, the person's feet covered with bunny slippers. Coming to a halt, the little girl came to a stop and slowly reached down to grab a teddy near their feet, shuffling off again once the bear was in hand.
Rick immediately shot up and began walking in the same direction as the young girl while Scarlett remained causiously by his side. The child had turned down another row of cars and was heading away from them, her long blonde hair hanging down her back.
"Little girl?" Rick called out, walking into the same row as her. "I'm a policeman. Little girl."
With the way the child had paused at the sound of Rick's voice, Scarlett knew something was up. She stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm.
"Rick, I don't-" She began, only to be cut off.
"Don't be afraid," Rick continued speaking to the child. "Okay? Little girl?"
When the young girl had turned around and showed them her blood stained shirt along with her torn-up mouth, Scarlett felt her stomach drop. She felt Rick freeze under her grip as well, his hand reaching for his gun as the little girl began moaning and moving towards them.
Scarlett didn't allow her mind a minute to think, knowing the sight of the child would disturb her thoughts more than they already were. Taking Stella firmly in her fists, she took a small step forward and swung her bat across her body. The end of the bat came into contact with the young girl's temple, completely decimating the right side of her face. Scarlett decided to take an extra swing just to be certain, bringing it down on the fallen walker's head and watching as it crumpled in on itself.
Unable to look at the sight much longer, Scarlett looked back at Rick, who had pulled his gun from his belt but remained staring at the child on the ground.
"No point in wasting bullets," she managed to say, her own stomach turning around uncomfortably. "Let's get out of here. We'll just have to make due with the gas we have."
"I could have dealt with it." Rick stated as he walked with her through the maze of cars.
"Yeah, but I wasn't about to let you kill a walker around the same age as your own damn son," she replied, trying to rub the blood off of her bat. "I don't think so. Not today."
Rick remained silent and she knew that she had a point. It would have messed him up even more and while he should be trying to expose himself to killing more walkers, Scarlett wasn't comfortable with him dealing with something as saddening as killing a walker that once was a child. Not when he had a boy as his own. With Scarlett, her baby sister was way older than that now and wouldn't have the same difficulties that Rick might have had. Of course she was trying to forget what she'd just done, but she had a feeling that little girl would haunt her nightmares for the next few days.
Chapter complete!
I hope this chapter made sense, I'm half asleep right now so I pray that it comes across as somewhat understandable lol. Feedback is always welcome!
Next chapter, Scarlett and Rick head to the big city and get swarmed. I'm assuming you know what happens after that...
Will update soon,
- GuiltyCalamity