AN: Dear lord, sorry everyone for the very late update! I was on vacation for about 10 days and I just got back on Sunday! I had some writers block for this chapter so it took me a while to think something up... but I think it turned out pretty good!
Anyways, this will be the last original chapter from me and chapter 8 will delve into season 3! Finally!
Review and enjoy my lovelies :)
A harsh wind barreled through the forestry around the Blackwood compound, snow pounding up against the side of the house. Another storm brewed on the horizon and by the look of the clouds rolling in from the intense whirlwinds, it wasn't too friendly. Trunks of the standing trees swayed back and forth like velvety dancers on a ballroom floor, their branches stroking one another for some type of comfort. The leaves rustled relentlessly with annoyance as they knew they weren't going to get any type of relaxation in the night that quickly approached.
A loud horn sounded through the air as the Hyundai sat behind the black gate, the main male members of the group waiting patiently in the vehicle. Finally, after a few moments and a couple more honks of the horn, Hershel and Maggie walked out of the depths of the garage and the two Greene's manned the rope just outside. They pulled with their combined strength and with ease, the black gate lifted and the Hyundai slowly made its way inside. Once the vehicle was clear, Maggie and Hershel gradually dropped the gate under it landed with a barely audible thud against the snow crowded in clumps on the ground. The father and daughter duo stepped out of the comfort of the garage as the Hyundai came to a stop, their hair whipping around in their faces courtesy of the snooping wind.
Rick's boot was the first thing to make it out of the driver's side of the SUV as he fully stepped out of the vehicle, taking a look around the compound instinctively. Daryl was out of the passenger's seat not far behind Rick and Glenn and T-Dog pulled themselves out of the back. Daryl narrowed his eyes against the harsh wind, the flaps of the poncho Reagan had given him snapping against his legs while he grabbed his crossbow. Rick shut his door and shouldered the AR-15 in his hands, noticing T-Dog and Glenn already had the back door to the SUV open and retrieving their scavenged supplies.
"How was the drive?" Hershel eyed Rick as he walked up to the older man, Hershel looking past Rick briefly to see Daryl shouldering a backpack.
"Tiresome. These storms just won't let up..." Rick said as he stared up at the sky, the wind desperately trying to smack his face through the thick scruff that had grown on his jawline. Rick saw Maggie rush forward and he assumed she was moving to either help the others in the back of the vehicle or hug Glenn for being safe.
"I'm sick and tired of these damn storms." Daryl scoffed as his deep brown hair tickled his face, "It ain't helpin' us much with this snow pilin' up. Pretty soon we won't be able to leave this place."
"We'll prepare for it." Rick reassured him as he looked at his right hand man, "We've got plenty of supplies to deal with this winter. All we gotta do is ride it out the best we can."
"Did you get the fuel?" Hershel asked and Rick's eyes returned to the older man,
"We managed to get a couple cans worth of diesel. It took us a while... but I suppose it was worth it." Rick turned halfway once he heard the back door to the SUV close and T-Dog, Glenn, and Maggie all stepped towards them. Daryl was already making his way to the garage and Rick nodded at his crew,
"Let's all get inside and get started on evening preparations. We don't know what this storm is gonna bring us."
With that, everyone retreated to the comfort of the garage and T-Dog close the garage door behind them, the dark room only illuminate by an oil lamp in the corner. Rick followed Daryl into the house with everyone else in tow behind him, Lori and Carol greeting them as they entered. Rick rested his rifle on the wall and turned to meet his wife, his jaw tightening sternly at the sight of her. Her hand rested over her stomach unconsciously, her blue doe eyes staring into his with a bit of relief.
"I'm glad you made it home before the storm got too bad." Lori said in a soft tone and Rick pushed it aside,
"Yeah well we had our share of difficulties out there." Rick's blue eyes scanned his surroundings and his eyes narrowed, "Where's Carl?"
"He's been in the room for a few hours..." Lori sighed and looked over her shoulder as if trying to spot the injured housekeeper, "He got upset with me."
"With what?" Rick asked and Lori's eyes moved back to her estranged husband. There was a bit of hesitation in her face, but ultimately, her lips breathed out her words,
"Reagan took him out today. Shooting..." Lori rested her hand on the counter in the open kitchen, "He said that she took him out to kill some Walkers as moving targets. When he came back he had a cut on his head... he was bleeding. When I told him not to leave my sight he got mad at me and he's been in the room ever since."
"She left the house with him? In her condition?" Rick asked a bit skeptically and Lori only nodded in reply to his question. Rick looked past Lori and his eyes fell on the room in which Reagan was set to dwell. Without another word, Rick pushed past his wife and Lori followed his movements all the way to her room.
Rick placed his hand on the knob but stopped for a moment, lifting his other hand and knocking on the hardwood softly, but firmly with his knuckles. He waited patiently for a response and heard a rustle on the other side of the door accompanied by a profanity hissed along with a groan. "Come in..." He heard Reagan's muffled voice say from the other side and finally with her permission, Rick turned the door handle and stepped in.
The first thing he saw was Reagan's tense shoulders, her arms shaking lightly under a black long sleeve shirt clasped to her small frame. Her hair was pulled to one side and slowly, her head turned over her shoulder to face him. Her golden eyes had been muddled by dark rings under her eyes, Rick knowing that she must've been coming down from the high of her pain medication.
"What do you want?" Her raspy voice asked and she was showing clear signs of fatigue and anguish. Rick stood with purpose and his blue eyes stared at her,
"Why did you take my son out of the house?" He watched Reagan's eyes narrow at him and he continued, "In your condition... you could've gotten yourselves both killed."
"You gonna come in here and bite my head off like Lori did?" Reagan scoffed and Rick took a couple steps forward, "I'm not stupid."
"Humor me."
"Don't come in here and patronize me. I'm in no mood to deal with any of you people."
"You're gonna deal with me when it comes to my family." Rick stepped in front of her challengingly and Reagan glared up at him while gritting her teeth,
"I offered to take your son out to help him better his shooting since you won't do it."
"Excuse me?" Rick asked while raising an eyebrow and Reagan laughed under her breath,
"All he wants is to be around you... to help you when you go out. He also wants to better himself with his shooting... so I went out to help him." Reagan continued to glare up at the familiar stranger standing before her, "If you don't start helping your son, teaching him how to survive in this world, then he's gonna end up just like my son did. Dead."
Rick's body tensed up at the word and even the mere thought of Carl's life being taken away from him made his breathing shallow. Reagan stood to her feet with the aid of her cane, "That still doesn't excuse what you did." Rick wasn't easily faltered and Reagan rolled her eyes,
"I understand your concern for the boy, but he's alive, isn't he?"
"Things can happen."
"And things do happen." Reagan's blood began to boil and she stared at him through her blonde bangs, "You already know that I won't let anything happen to you all under my watch, so why come in here and poke the bear and accuse me of mindless shit? Just be lucky I let you stay here in the first place."
"You keep bringin' that up." Rick narrowed his eyes and nodded his head, "Let me know when it makes you feel better." Rick watched Reagan's jaw tighten and he could hear her teeth grinding under its tenseness, "It wouldn't have matter if you showed up that night... I would've found a way out!"
"You keep telling yourself that idiotic prick!" Reagan shouted at him and it caught Rick off guard for a second, "I should've thrown your asses out the morning I brought you all back here! You all walk around here not knowing what to do with yourselves, half of your people are lost causes!"
"We do what we can to get by!" Rick hissed back and stepped towards her imposingly, "There is nothing wrong with my people you're just too simply minded to accept us how we are!"
"I don't care! The only god damn reason why I let you assholes stay here in the first place was because Carl was with you!" Reagan balled her hand around the handle of her cane and her chest wound began to throb violently from her outspokenness, "And then I saw that your wife was pregnant... I just couldn't make myself toss you all out in the cold."
"Oh, how sweet of you." Rick said sarcastically while walking past her. Reagan growled in her throat and turned after him,
"I want you all gone by tomorrow night..." Reagan said and Rick turned halfway to face her, his eyes not taking her demand into consideration,
"What's goin' to happen if we don't?"
"I'll make you." Reagan grinded her teeth together once again as she heard Rick laugh under his breath,
"In your condition? You can't even swat a fly."
"People that have stayed here before..." Reagan took a step forward as if trying to intimidate him, but it backfired, "They didn't leave with their lives when they refused to heed my word. You have no choice."
"Oh... I do." Rick nodded and looked over, seeing her scythe resting against the wall. He swiped it up in his hands and glared back at her with burning blue eyes, "I'll be taking this as well as your guns."
"Don't you fucking dare, Cowboy."
"I appreciate what you've done for both me and my group, putting your life on the line for us, but if you're goin' to threaten us then I have no choice but to make you a prisoner in your own home." Rick yanked the door open and Reagan's eyes widened, her hand pressing against her painful chest, "We're here to stay and you're goin' to accept that whether you like it or not."
"Hey!" Reagan shouted and stumbled forward as Rick slammed her door shut. She gasped when her body rammed up against the hardwood entryway, her hand balling into a fist. The lock on the doorknob turned and she stared at it with wide eyes, taking a deep breath and pounding her fist against the door.
"Let me out god dammit!" Her hand pounded frantically against the door as her mild claustrophobia began to set in. Irritating pain in her knuckles fluctuated under her skin, causing her hand to stop briefly, "You're going to regret this!"
Reagan stepped back, her hand dropping her cane as she fell to the floor. Her mind tumbled in different directions as her eyes stared blankly at the door as if almost waiting for Rick to pop back in. But after a few moments of strict silence, she clenched her eyes shut upon hearing nothing on the other side of the door.
Reagan then cursed her foolishness for letting her mouth run rampant and land her in yet another unmanageable situation.
.:o:.
The wind thrust itself up against the boarded windows of the quiet house, its violent whistles managing to symphonize the room with its tunes. Reagan sat awake in her bed, her strained breathing and grunts exhaling from her lips from the pulsating pain in her chest. She lied there for hours, in what she assumed was late into the night, wallowing in her anguish. Maggie had brought her some dinner and locked the door again, once she left, under Rick's command. Reagan refused to eat.
The storm wandering about the skies outside almost made her wish that her window was unbarred, both for the point of trying to escape the room in her wounded state and for seeing what kind of war was being waged outside. She curled up under the blankets of her bed, her muscles clenching tightly in attempts to rid of the misery she lied in. Reagan's hand wiped the lightly coated cold sweat off her forehead and she clenched her eyes shut, trying to get them to glue together with tiredness. But with the door locked behind her, the anxiety boiling in her chest slowly seeped into her brain and caused her to lie wide awake.
Reagan took a deep breath to calm her mind, rolling over on her back and staring up at the completely black ceiling. She couldn't even remember what color the ceiling was or what the light fixture looked like. Her mind dwindled in imagination at what type of things were in the room, even if she knew what furniture kept her company in the small space. But alas, imagining things were keeping her mind away from the locked door.
"Mom..."
Reagan's eyes popped open and her heart suddenly burned with fright at the sound of an all-too familiar voice. A hard lump of insecurity rolled down her throat and her eyes desperately tried to strain through the darkness as if trying to look for a the young voice.
"Why did you stop talking to me?"
She heard the childish voice call again in the darkness and her gold eyes tried to light up the room. Her hand reached out and turned the switch to her bedside lamp on, the dim light barely lighting up the entire room. Reagan's eyes darted around each corner and possible crevice of the room, but she saw no one in its depths. Reagan's hand gripped the sheets around her body tightly and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to try and clear her mind once again. She was just hearing things.
"I get so lonely now... it's not fair that you left me again."
"I didn't." Reagan soft voice replied before she could stop her tongue, her eyes opening. Her body froze and her lips drew into a thin line upon seeing the face that belonged to the young voice. The light brown orbs situated on her face softened,
"Corbin... just don't hate me..." Reagan softly added as she stared into her son's equally brown eyes. His dark brown hair cradled around his face just above his ears and his thin lips drew into a smile,
"I don't, mom. And I never will." He looked exactly the way he did the last time Reagan had saw him before he was mauled by his undead foster parents. Corbin took a couple steps forward and stopped at the edge of her bedside, Reagan still not moving a muscle, "I just get lonely, is all. You used to talk to me all the time before those people came here."
"I know, baby. I'm trying to get rid of them."
"Oh don't do that." Corbin shook his head and his hair bounced back and forth in his face, "They're nice people. I kind of like them."
"But now I can't be by myself..." Reagan reached her hand out and touched his cold cheek, "And I won't be able to talk to you as much."
"But you like them too, mommy." Corbin pouted and rested his hand right spot on her chest wound that dwelled on her skin, "And they saved your life because you're a big dummy."
"I know..." Reagan smiled softly and rested her hand on Corbin's as it continued to press against her bandaged wound. Surprisingly, his touch didn't her like her own, "It's just getting really hard for me."
"These people can help you... you just have to let them try."
"Corbin... why do you like these people so much?"
"Because they're the first ones that haven't tried to kill you." His lips parted into a small, white smile, "And they're really nice, too, especially that Rick guy. I know some of them annoy you... but you can't be a dummy anymore."
"I know, babe. I just..." Reagan's voice trailed off and her golden eyed gaze fell to the floor. As her eyes closed, she felt Corbin's hand brush up against her cheek and her head leaned into it, the invisible force somehow keeping her steady, "I love it when you're here... you always come when I need it the most."
"That's because you're my best friend." Corbin laughed under his breath with a smile and Reagan opened her eyes, staring at her son. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes and watched Corbin pout through the veil of cloudiness in her pupils, "Oh mom. Don't cry... you get emotional when you cry."
"I know... sorry." Reagan smiled and wiped the ball of her hand against her eyes, "It's just been a few weeks since I talked to you and I missed it."
"I missed it too." Corbin smiled and leaned down, placing a kiss on her forehead. He then stood to his small feet and looked around the room, his face becoming oddly disturbed for a young boy. Reagan's brow knitted over her forehead as she stared at her long departed son,
"What is it, Corbin?"
"Mom. You have to get out of here." Corbin turned to face her and his ghostly brown eyes became wildly alert, "You have to get out of here or you're going to die!"
"Corbin-!?"
A loud, explosive crash sounded throughout the house and Reagan felt her bed rumble under her body. Another blast detonated just outside her door and Reagan dove out of her bed, grunting when she hit the floor hard. She gasped and her vision blurred under the agonizing stress that took over her body, Reagan's hand clawing against the floor. Her lamps light retreated into the darkness as soon as the second explosion sounded, causing her eyes to strain through the darkness once again. But just as she lost hope to see in the darkness, a bright orange light radiated out from under the crack of the door, flickering off the laminate of the hardwood floors. Reagan huffed and scrambled, hissing when she felt the pain of her chest bite back at her attempts to move.
She gritted through it and landed on the edge of her bed, her fingers searching desperately for her cane. Her ears picked up the frantic voices and footsteps of Rick's group throughout the house, but the intense crackles of an unknown source drowned them all out. Reagan pressed herself to her feet and staggered towards the door, slamming back up against it in the same manner she had before. Her hand pounded against it frantically, her voice hoarse from her pleas for help.
"Help!" Reagan shouted and her hand latched onto the doorknob, her fingers jiggling it violently, "Help me! Please!" Her hand slapped against the door so hard that it stung deep into her skin. She jolted back and panted, feeling an abrupt heat filter on through her room. Reagan had a slim idea of what waited for her beyond the door.
Taking no time, she shoved her feet into her boots lazily, not bothering to tie them as usual. Reagan gritted her teeth and took a deep breath, closing her eyes and mumbling inaudible nothings to herself. Her eyes then popped open and she stared at the door with undying determination. Bearing all her weight equally on both feet and ignoring the biting aches of her damaged ankle, Reagan took a deep breath and ran forward.
Her cane bounced out of her fingers as soon as her good shoulder smashed against the door, Reagan bouncing back and screaming in pain. Her fingers clawed at the bullet wound in her chest and tears streamed down her cheek as she stumbled back away from the door. She sobbed more from the torture she put herself through rather than the fact that she might die where she stood. But Reagan was determined to go down with fight instead of just lying in her bed in wait to be put out of her misery.
With one last loud shout of her endless willpower, Reagan ran forward and rammed all her weight and strength into the door, hearing it crack under the pressure. Reagan found herself crashing to the ground once again, her vision jarred in a blur once her head bounced off the ground. Her mouth gaped open and all she could see in the blur of her vertigo was an extremely bright invasion of orange. Reagan's hand pressed against the hot floor and her weak arms struggled to lift herself as she stared at the unsettling sight before her.
Unimaginably large flames overtook the entire living room of the house, the savageness of the heat instantly causing Reagan's body to break out in a sweat. Reagan tossed her arm over her face as one of the flames grew in size and jumped out towards her to eat her up. Panting, her breathing became strained from the black smoke that hovered overhead and it caused her to cough violently. Her eyes watered under all the intensity that crowded around her and her heart faltered as she knew it would take everything she had to get out of the dire situation.
More shouts sounded over the wall of flames and Reagan could make a few of them out as Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog's voice. Reagan took in a deep breath to shout for help, but a black cloud of smoke assaulted her lungs and she choked out for some type of clean air. Her arm wiped over her wet eyes and she climbed to one knee, her gold eyes attempting to search for some type of safe route through the wall of the bright inferno. Reagan then saw her backpack sitting on the table next to her and with one swipe she tossed the straps over her shoulders, knowing that there were critical supplies still crowded in its depths.
It was so hard to breath. All the smoke, all the heat, and all the commotion made all her sense hard to grasp. But Reagan took as deep a breath as possible and lurched up, stumbling towards the wall of flickering flames. With one leap of her legs, her long limbs bounded the rest of her body over the inferno.
Her bad ankle snapped out from under her and her knees hit the floor, her arms catching her from hitting the ground. They shook violently from the panic and adrenaline pounding through her veins, Reagan's shallow breathing burning through her lungs. Her wounds became numb from all the movement and whatever pain that tried to eat at her was easily kept at bay with the help of her pounding heart. Her dirty blonde hair hung in her face as she frantically looked around to make her next move. Flames had consumed most of the downstairs area by now and they were moving faster than she expected. In no time at all, the flames would overtake the entire house and it would crumble into pieces, crushing Reagan and burning her alive.
She spotted the familiar kitchen counter and she could feel her adrenaline slowly draining from her body. Taking the chance as quickly as possible, she jumped to her feet and moved fast as her mind strained for her next move. Her lungs struggled to breathe in fresh air as more and more black smoke piled into the house, her eyes slowly clouding from the veil of blackness. Reagan tossed her shirts collar over her nose and desperately tried to create some type of ventilated mask, but to her dismay, it didn't help in the slightest.
As Reagan bounded around flames and tried to continue her destined path to the garage door, her mind whirled with faintness and she felt her body toss to the side. She grabbed something to steady to herself, but her eyes shot wide went her skin sizzled and burned from landing on a smoldering desk. Reagan waved her hand as fast as she could to rid her burning skin of its pain, her mouth shouting out a hoarse scream as she fell to the floor again, this time, adrenaline not lending her the strength to get back up. She stared at her shaking hand and saw the bright red skin blistering from the burn eating away at her soft flesh. Sweat dripped off her forehead and off her jawline as the heat blistered as if Reagan were sitting in a huge oven. Her chest heaved in strained, panicked pants and she stared into the flames slowly crawling towards her.
"Mom! get up!" She heard Corbin's voice echo in her head but she didn't bother to see if he had manifested in her sight. Reagan's eyes softened and she coughed violently, her lungs refusing to breath in anymore hot, black smoke.
"Get up, god dammit!" The next voice she heard was louder and deeper than before, Reagan's eyes narrowing at the sound. It wasn't anywhere near Corbin's tone of voice.
Suddenly, a hard set of hands grabbed her shoulders and hoisted her up, Reagan clenching her eyes shut and shouting out in pain. Her arm was tossed around a taller figure next to her and a hand wrapped around her ribs, gripping her tight. Her vision pounded as black circles pulsed around her pupils, Reagan trying to desperately grasp onto her surroundings.
Suddenly, a wave of crisp, cold air rushed against Reagan's skin, bringing her nothing but relief. Reagan could feel small kisses of the cold smacking against her face to keep her from losing her consciousness. Her cloudy vision picked up the flickering brightness of snow underneath her, and sooner than she knew it, she realized that someone was helping her carry herself outside and into the safety of the snow.
Reagan felt her body jolt forward and both she and her counterpart slid against the snow, Reagan feeling the wetness of the melting freeze clawing into her thin clothing. Reagan's hand balled up and she coughed violently, swearing her lungs were heaving out chunks of black smolder. She sucked in as much clear air as her mouth allotted and opened her eyes, seeing the struggling figure next to her lifting itself to its knees. With the help of the light of the burning house behind her, Reagan finally got to see the rough face of her savior and the very same poncho she had parted with a few days prior.
"Let's just say we're even now, cripple." Daryl grunted as he lifted himself to his feet and stumbled over to her. Her grabbed her by the arm and ignored her soft cries of pain, Reagan finally getting back to her feet and hoping to stay there. She was getting quite sick of falling to ground.
"Wh-what happened?" Reagan asked wearily as she looked into his blue eyes, her hair flickering around her face from the animalistic wind surging through the air. Daryl moved to look at the hastily burning house,
"The damn wind knocked a tree down and it hit the generators." Daryl's voice was loud in her ears to make sure she could hear him over the loud flames, "Damn thing exploded and the house went up! You didn't see it when you were walking through the room?"
Reagan tried to recall seeing the tree through the broken part of the house, but by the time she had broken through the door of her room, most of the house was already eaten away. The wind was so strong that it was no wonder why the flames were burning so quickly through the two story building.
Reagan stepped back and tossed her arms up as the second story windows exploded, sending glass shrapnel careening through the air. As her eyes looked past her arms, all she could see was her beautiful safe haven being destroyed in an untimely demise.
