Things changed in Alexandria in the weeks following the loss of Reg and well, the execution of Pete. With that happening and the whole walker getting inside of the gates, there was little command Deanna had left. After all, Rick was the most experienced leader, he knew how to survive. His group knew how to survive. It only made sense for him to be the one calling the shots now.
In between helping Jessie out with anything she needed, Rose often found herself spending more and more time with the rest of Rick's group. They were slowly warming up to her, especially Michonne and Maggie. It used to sting a bit when she was first around them, since it reminded her of everyone she lost. But as she spent more time with them, she realized that she could eventually have a new family again.
It'd been about a month and a half since the incident, and everyone was now carrying guns or learning how to shoot. Rose showed numerous times outside of the walls that she was able to, in fact, handle a gun, so she would help in training the Alexandrians to shoot. She still had yet to join any of Rick's group with supply runs, which tended to be a whole other story altogether.
"Well, fuck me sideways, Jessie. It looks like you actually can shoot!" Rose playfully patted Jessie on the back as she made her way down the line. Her, Rosita, and Sasha had gathered a small group to practice some shooting, outside of the walls, of course. "Maybe you can come on a run at some point?" Rose yelled behind her, to which Jessie just rolled her eyes. There was no way that she was even close to ready to doing something like that.
As soon as Rose was about to wrap up, Michonne caught up with the group, looking for her. Rick, Glenn, and Michonne had been planning a supply run and figured it would be the right time to have her tag along. "How's it going?" Michonne asked, with her hands on her hips. She'd felt more comfortable lately now that she was able to always carry her katana, it was about time that Deanna came to her senses.
Rose sighed, "It's going, better than expected, at least." She could appreciate the progress the Alexandrians were making, it was going much better than in the beginning. Sooner or later they were going to need to not just rely on Rick and the rest of them for protection.
Michonne looked down the line of people practicing, making note of who would be able to come on the next supply runs and who needed more practice. Rose finished up fixing Ron's stance before leaving Sasha and Rosita to train everyone.
As they were making their way back to the walls, Michonne cut through the small silence between them, "So, Rose is your actual name?"
Rose let out a small chuckle, "It's a nickname, but my full name is Rosaline. My mom used to call me Rosa, but I just think Rose is easier, shorter, to the point, you know?"
Michonne smiled at her, "Yeah, I know what you mean." She pulled the gate behind them shut, "You ready for today?" She asked, wondering if it was the right time for her to come along in the first place. Rick seemed to take a liking to her the most, since she noticed how much time they'd spent together, which she found rather interesting but never said anything about it.
Rose holstered her small handgun on her hip, "Of course I am, should be fun."
Michonne shook her head, "Not sure if fun is the right word for it."
She frowned in response, "No, probably not. But it's better than sitting around in here."
Michonne nodded in agreement as they made their way over to the truck they were going to use, where Carl and Rick were arguing. Carl wanted to join the supply run, but Rick obviously didn't agree.
"Come on, dad. Don't leave me with these people!" Carl nearly shouted, clearly frustrated.
Rose butted in, "Hey, I'm one of those people!" She joked and then continued, "Besides, while your dad's gone, someone's gotta be in charge around here."
Rick agreed, "Carl, we need you to stay here and keep everyone in check." He put his hand on Carl's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, "Alright?"
Carl nodded quietly, "Sounds good, dad." He looked at the three of them, "Be safe out there, guys." He said before turning on his heel. Rick was right, there needed to be someone in charge while he wasn't there.
The four of them easily made it to their destination, getting out was another story altogether. There was the issue that the location, which was a large abandoned warehouse a couple of miles outside of Alexandria, didn't look to have too many supplies left. That alone made the trip feel like a waste of time. The other thing was that it was so run down that some parts of the roof had collapsed in some places, making it harder to make their way around.
The group had broken off into pairs as they searched the warehouse, making sure that there weren't any walkers lurking around in the dark. Once that was clear, they began the search for any supplies. Michonne tagged along with Glenn to search the left perimeter, which left Rose and Rick together to search the right side - which she was secretly more than okay with.
As they were making their way around the cluttered warehouse to look for some useful supplies, part of the roof suddenly collapsed, nearly hitting Rose. She ducked away in time and froze on the ground, waiting for any possible aftershocks. Too fucking close, she thought to herself.
Rick called out to the other two to let them know everything was good before extending a hand out to Rose, "You alright?"
She took his hand and pulled herself up, "Yeah, I'm good. Let's keep going and then get the hell out of here." The two of them resumed searching the area but weren't able to come up with much. There were a couple leftover cans of food, so Rose threw those in her bag. But what Alexandria needed was more medical supplies and they could always use more weapons or ammo, so this meant that they'd probably have to make another supply run soon.
"I don't think there's much else here, Rick," she said quietly as she tried scanning the rest of the small rooms in the warehouse, "A lot of it has already been taken."
"Yeah," he followed closely behind her, "Looks like you're right. But at least we got something to bring back." He smiled as he shone his flashlight on a desk in the room they were in, catching her attention. It was a chocolate bar, and not just any chocolate bar, but her favorite one. He remembered how she mentioned it offhand one night, how that was the one thing she wish she could have stocked up on if she knew that all of this was going to happen. He wasn't sure whether she was joking or not, but he knew that Milky Ways were her absolute favorite treats.
Her jaw dropped when she saw what he was pointing at and slowly reached for it. It'd been what, a year? Two years, maybe? She couldn't even remember the last time she found an intact Milky Way.
"I won't tell if you don't." He joked as she quietly snuck the bar into her bag, feeling slightly bad about hiding it. They don't have to know, she thought to herself.
"How can I trust you, Rick?" She gave him a playful smile before scanning the rest of the room.
"We can make a deal, I get half of the bar and no one will have to know." He shone the flashlight in her face to annoy her.
She gasped in response at the nerve of him, knowing full well he was aware of Milky Ways being her favorite candy. But she had to agree, "Fine." She replied, curtly.
He laughed in response and continued searching the room with her, but to not much avail. The pair then decided to meet with the other two to get out of there before it got dark.
"Anything?" Michonne asked as she slung her bag over her lean shoulders.
Rose shook her head, "Not much, just cans of food, which is still good." She looked over to Rick, hoping that their small secret would stay just between them.
"I guess we're going to have to look for another place to check out," Glenn began, "I'll mark this one on the map too when we get back." They had to keep track of all the locations that had been scouted out so that they didn't end up wasting time in going back to a place that wasn't worthwhile in the first place. Luckily for them, this warehouse was one of the few that weren't too worthwhile. The rest usually had enough supplies to warrant the trip.
"Great, let's get this in the truck and head back." Michonne said as she led her way outside of the warehouse, with the rest of them slowly trailing behind her. Rose was in the back of the crew, keeping the light shining in front of her so she wouldn't fall over, since balance was never really her strong suit. She also wanted to be sure not to miss anything on the way out.
The four of them were on their way out when another part of the roof above them suddenly collapsed, and this time Rose wasn't able to dodge it in time. She was instantly struck in the head and everything went black for her while more rubble crashed down from above. The roof was still mostly intact, but that was something that could change at any minute.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Michonne and Glenn followed Rick as he rushed to Rose's side, as she lay unconscious on the warehouse floor. It was hard to tell the extent of the damage, all he could tell was that she was bleeding from her head. They needed to get out of there and needed to do it fast, since the crashing sounds had to have attracted walkers in the area.
"Is she breathing?" Glenn asked, his tone laced with worry. This was the last thing they needed. Alexandria also no longer had a doctor since the whole incident with Pete, it was just Denise, who hadn't even treated anyone yet. They had no one else though.
"Looks like it," Rick carefully snaked an arm around her slim neck to offer support as he lifted her up, "Glenn, grab the bag." He ordered as he rushed outside of the warehouse, hoping they would be able to beat the possible incoming horde, which may have not heard the first crash but would surely be attracted to the second one. Michonne followed and started up the truck after throwing their bags in the back, while Glenn climbed into the front seat, gun at the ready in case of any incoming walkers.
Rick lay her down on the back seat, grabbing a rag to slow down the bleeding coming from the multiple wounds on her head. The main cut on her forehead didn't look too deep, but that wasn't the concerning part.
Glenn looked back from the front seat, "Jesus...I hope she's alright…"
"Just pass me another rag from the front," Rick said as he continued to apply pressure to her head wounds, not looking up from her. She's going to be fine, he tried to reassure himself. Glenn passed back another towel and medical tape, hoping that it would help placate the bleeding until they got back.
"Come on, Rose…." Rick said quietly to the unconscious Rose, having some hope that she could hear him. His hands were covered in blood as he continued to hold the towels to her wounds. With a clean rag, he used the medical tape to tie it on as best he could.
All Rick hoped was that Denise had the right training to treat this type of trauma, otherwise…
For the first time in a while, Rick didn't really have a plan. And that scared the hell out of him.
Denise managed to stop the bleeding, but with that out of the way, there was still the problem of Rose being unconscious. Without proper machinery, it was hard to tell the extent of the damage. It didn't help that Rick had been hovering around nonstop, hands still covered in blood, it also seemed that he didn't even check in with the rest of his group upon their return.
"Rick, you should head home and eat, get some rest." Denise tried to assure him, "I can take care of her." She said, hoping that it was actually the case. It wasn't that she was incompetent, it was just that it was the first time that Denise was the one calling the shots in terms of treating someone. You learned all of this in medical school, she thought to herself as she started cleaning the dried blood from Rose's face. Why did she have to be the one in charge? Denise was scared shitless about treating Rose, or anyone for that matter - but she didn't show it. She couldn't. Now was just not the time.
Rick paced back and forth in the room, as if he didn't hear what Denise had just said. He lost track of how long they'd been back already, all he was focused on was Rose getting better. Her waking up and being safe. That's all he wanted at the moment.
"Rick, did you hear me?" Denise looked up, slightly annoyed. He very clearly needed a break, and she didn't want to have to get Daryl or Michonne to drag him out of there.
He finally looked up, "What?" Denise noticed the dark circles under his eyes, showing the lack of sleep. Rick looked beyond exhausted, and he needed a break. But she could tell that that would be hard for him.
"Rick, she's stable for now." She was hoping that this would stay the case for the rest of the night. From what she could tell and from Rick's story, it looked like a mild to severe concussion. That could change however, depending on how long Rose would be unconscious for. But the only thing that she could really do at the moment was continue to monitor her vitals and just hope for the best.
"Good." He said before taking a seat by the bed, holding his head in his hands. He couldn't blame himself, he knew that, but that still didn't prevent him from wishing he could have done something different. If only he'd pushed her out of the way, or if she didn't go on the supply run in the first place.
There was a soft knock on the door, interrupting Rick's thoughts and the faint beeps of the heart monitor.
He slowly got up and opened the door, revealing a worried looking Michonne. She stepped in quietly and went to Rose's side, looking at the extent of her wounds. "How's she doing?"
Denise sighed, "It's hard to tell, really. It looks like a concussion, I just don't know how severe it is." She said with a slightly defeated tone, it felt that no one really knew the weight that was on her shoulders with her new position. "We just have to wait." She took a seat in the chair opposite of Rick, before adding, "I was just telling Rick that he should go get some rest."
Michonne shot a look over to Rick, knowing full well that Denise was right. It'd been a couple of hours since they'd gotten back from the supply run but Rick hadn't left the building at all. Michonne had faith that Denise would be able to take care of Rose the whole night, but had a feeling why Rick was still there this whole time. She'd been noticing the way he looked at Rose sometimes, in addition to how much time they'd been spending together. But again, that wasn't something that she was going to bring up anytime soon.
Michonne lay a gentle hand on Rick's shoulder, "Come on, Denise is right, you should get some rest."
He sighed and ran his fingers across his stubble, "I'm fine." He remained short in his reply, although that wasn't his intention. The truth was, he just didn't want to leave her side. He wanted to make sure that she was going to be okay.
Denise nodded to Michonne, who then lifted her hand from his shoulder. It looked like no amount of convincing would get him to leave, so she didn't try anymore. Michonne grabbed Rose's limp hand and gave it a small squeeze, hoping that the woman would recover quickly and well.
On her way out, Michonne looked back over her shoulder to see a worried Rick and equally worried Denise.
All they could do right now was hope.
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