The World of the Walking Dead

Disclaimer: I do not own AMC's 'The Walking Dead'. If I did, the former Sherriff's Deputy would have been a bit more sceptical about the supposed fall of Fort Benning. I really don't know why they trusted the word of a stranger, in a bar, that was willing to kill them.

This will be another chapter from the point of view of Officer Grimes.

There was so much blood. His little boy was turning white as a ghost and staining the undergrowth a horrid crimson.

Not even a second ago they'd heard a gunshot and Rick ran to the source. The sight that greeted him had him on his knees and by his son in a heartbeat.

"Carl? C…Carl? Can you hear me son? CARL?! What…W-W-What…Help! HELP ME!"

A man had rushed to the clearing, shotgun on the back of his shoulder.

"Oh my God! I…..I didn't know he was here, I swear! I wouldn't have taken the shot. Shit! Here, put pressure on the wound."

Rick did what was asked of him, holding his son close and applying pressure.

"I'm on a farm not too far from here. Quickly! Pick him up an' follow me. We've a doctor there. He'll be able to help!"

They were running off to farm in no time at all. Please don't die baby boy. We're nearly there. Rick was praying to whoever would listen to him as they ran.

"How much further?!" Shane yelled to the man, keeping pace with Rick.

"Not too far. We're almost to the paddocks."

''

He was a fucking wreck. He couldn't understand what had happened; what was happening. His son, his fucking son, had been shot and his life now hung in the balance. He watched on as the older man tended as best he could to his son, watched as the sheets turned a ghastly crimson, watched as his world started to fall before his eyes.

"I need those towels, Maggie! Quickly!" The man assessed the damage as best he could. "I'll need an IV. Do we have any blood bags in the basement? No, no don't worry. I can't use them anyway." He prepared the area that he would have to operate on.

"I'll do a preliminary check; see just how bad the damage is. I'll try to remove what I can of the bullet. Hopefully it remained intact. What's his blood type? I'll need to perform a transfusion before we start. Thank you Patricia." He addressed the blonde woman as she handed him an IV.

"Could you get him ready? He's going to donate some blood."

It felt like forever as Rick sat there, a needle in one arm, praying that everything would be alright.

''

He comforted Lori as best he could, trying his best to remain calm and strong for the both of them. Shane had volunteered, along with Otis, to go to the nearby school which had acted as a temporary FEMA shelter, to try and find some crucial equipment.

The bullet that had entered Carl had fragmented inside and a piece had nicked an artery, causing Carl to bleed internally. Unfortunately, without a respirator, Herschel wasn't even entertaining the idea of working on the boy. The respirator, along with any other medical equipment and medicine they could find, was what the two men were after.

''

Tension had reached its breaking point and hope was dwindling as Mr and Mrs Grimes sat by their boy, talking to him and reminiscing times of old. Lori was about as optimistic as a rock, accepting that her son might not make it through, to save her the heartache later on. Rick, however, would not be so easily accepting.

"They'll be here. They have to be here!" He told both Herschel and Lori.

"I need you two to make a decision. He won't last much longer without me operating. Do you want me to go ahead, without putting him under?"

"They'll be HERE!"

"Look, Mr Grimes, I need to start, now. Do you want me to try or do you want to wait around for your friend and Otis while your boy dies?"

Rick turned to Lori, silently asking her what they should do, his face displaying nothing but despair and desperation. He saw the hesitation, saw the indecisiveness and turned to Herschel.

"Do it. Just, please, help my boy!"

Herschel called to Patricia and the two got to work on Carl.

On that night, nothing short of a miracle happened. As Herschel brought a scalpel to the boys' abdomen, Patricia and Maggie trying their best to keep the child still, Shane barged into the room, respirator in hand and a backpack hanging from his shoulder.

''

With Carl now stabilised, but in a critical condition, Lori retired to the spare bedroom that Herschel had offered the two. Rick opted to stay next to his son, resting in an armchair by the bedside. The two had kept to the inside of the farm house, not wanting to venture any further in case their boy needed them for the entire day.

''

Rick vaguely remembered Herschel coming in and informing him that his group had come to the farm and set up camp out front. Initially confused by Zee's presence, Rick shook his head and almost collapsed in the arms of his confidant.

Zero held him, gently rubbing his back, telling him that everything was alright, that it would get better and that Carl was a fighter just like his Dad. He could hardly manage to stand let alone string a proper sentence together.

"I…I thought he….and when I saw the blood…..He almost died. I almost lost him."

Saying that out loud, accepting what had happened shook Rick to the core. The reality of no longer having his son was more than he could take and he held tighter to the woman, not wanting to lose himself to the feelings of grief, of guilt and of fear again.

Zee, as usual, knew exactly what to say. Her tone of voice, choice of words, everything was comforting. He felt exhaustion now. He believed every word she was telling him and now that he was certain Carl would survive, he felt tired.

Zero guided him to Herschel's room and placed his hat on the end of the bed.

"Take your shoes off, take your belt off and lie down. If you don't, you'll be sorry. You hear me Officer?"

Rick did as she said and went to lie down on the bed. He was half way to La-la land when he heard Zee.

"Bloody hell Rick. You have to look after yourself as well."

He heard her walk back to bed, felt her place a kiss on his forehead and heard her attempts at being quiet as she made her way out of the room.

"Sweet dreams Officer Friendly."

''

Rick woke from what had to have been the best sleep he'd ever had since the apocalypse started and was brought a plate of food that his Little Lady had cooked for everyone. He sat and ate by Carl's bedside, hoping to see his boys' brown eyes but was disappointed.

"His body still needs to recover from the shock of being shot and operated on, Mr Grimes."

"Rick, please. You've done so much for me, for us."

Herschel nodded at the man and continued on.

"I'm hoping he will wake up tomorrow. Now, I don't want you to raise your hopes by taking my word as gospel, but he's shown signs of improvement and I wouldn't be surprised if he were to wake up."

''

"HERSCHEL! He's awake!"

The old man made his way to the room, Patricia tagging along behind him and immediately went over to the boy, checking him over.

"Well you gave your father here a right scare young man."

Rick was crying again and so was Lori. Their son was ok. He was alive and awake and he'd live to see another day. He was okay.

"Scared us baby. Gave us a good scare." He repeated as he went to hug his child, Lori joining them within seconds. "Never do that again, got it?"

Carl nodded his head, slightly disorientated still and soon fell back asleep.

''

"Where on Earth did you get those?" Rick asked, spying the amount of candy wrappers poking out from under the sheets.

"Magic?" Was the uncertain answer from his son, who was grinning madly, chocolate coating his two front teeth.

"Huh, and does magic stand about this tall and answer to the name Zero?"

"She told me not to tell! She didn't want me to get in trouble for eating sweets before our meals! Don't tell her I told you! Please?"

Rick just laughed and stole a chocolate from his sons' hoard. Where in the hell did she find all these? How have they not melted? He resolved that he'd ask Zee himself a little later on.

''

"Wait, what happened?" He asked T-Dog and Dale.

"Your wife slapped Zero." T-Dog replied. Rick was unimpressed at the moment. They'd been at the farm for a few days now and after the CDC, the walker herd and Carl being shot, Rick wanted nothing more than a few days of peace. That obviously was too much to ask for though.

"Why?"

"It's been obvious to all of us here, Rick, that Lori isn't exactly fond of Zero," Dale began, "and I suppose this really wasn't all that surprising. She was very angry."

"Said some nasty things man." T-Dog continued. "Called her a stray whore. You need to talk to your wife man. If she'd said that to anyone else, she'd be the one needing a spare bed to recover."

Rick was hoping for a nice, calm day but of course that wouldn't happen.

"Where did Lori go?"

''

"She gave him some chocolate? So what, Lori, you hit her?! He deserves something doesn't he? He loves Zee! She's a big sister to him. What's so bad about that? Tell me, please, help me understand."

"Oh my fucking God, it wasn't about the chocolate! Did you not hear what I just said Rick? She implied that I was a bad mother. She said I was!"

"Nothing you just told me implies anything of the sort!"

"Of course you're going to take her side! I'm your wife, why aren't you being supportive?!"

Rick put a hand to the bridge of his nose. Well maybe I'm on her side because she didn't do anything! Dale and T-dog had both witnessed and heard the incident and both had claimed Zero had done nothing. She hadn't even raised her own voice while Lori was screaming at her.

"Look, this isn't about taking sides Lori. What was really said? You hit her, for fuck's sake. What could she have possibly said that would make you hit her?!"

Lori glared up at her husband knowing nothing short of the truth would have him believing that Zero deserved what she got. But of course, Lori couldn't tell Rick without confessing that the reason she was so angry was because Zero knew the truth about her and Shane.

Needless to say, Rick spent hardly any time with his wife during the next few days. He was busy making plans to properly secure the farm.

''

It had been a good 9 days since he spoke to Lori about what happened between her and Zero. He thought that they had reconciled but his assumptions were completely obliterated when he was called over by Dale and Glenn.

"She what?"

"She's setting up her own camp down by the woods."

"W-Why? Oh for God's sake!"

"Your wife hit her again."

Rick looked at Dale then Glenn. You've got to be kidding me, he thought.

"She was trying to apologise. Lori lost it and hit her again. Oh Rick, you can't tell me you haven't noticed the looks your wife's been sending her. She tipped Zero's dinner on her the other night. Didn't even pretend it was accident!"

That was it. He was going to talk to her. He had noticed Zero growing distant from nearly all of the group. Except for the hunter, he thought wryly. She was always around the man. What was even worse, at least in his opinion, is that Daryl would call her over himself; kept her by his side as much as possible. He even took her hunting!

Again, Rick could come to terms with being jealous. He liked Zee. He had found her before the apocalypse, lived with her and worked beside her. Lori was pushing her away and in turn she was allowing herself to move to the side, interacting with people only when they initiated social interaction. This just wouldn't do.

''

"Why have you moved down here?"

"I'm almost certain that Dale and Glenn caught you up on the going-ons of camp, Officer Friendly. Don't try to play dumb."

"You don't have to move all the way over here, Little Lady. This is ridiculous. Have you talked to Lori? I know she isn't the most agreeable person but, really, is moving close to the woods a good idea? No, it's not."

He didn't want to lecture her or treat her like a child but sometimes….She wasn't thinking straight and was making rash decisions while she as angry.

"I know it's ridiculous, Rick. You think I don't know that? I'm sorry but I am not going to subject myself to your wife's childish behaviour. I tried to talk to her, and you know what? I got hit, again! I'm perfectly content staying right where I've chosen to, okay. You don't have to like it. You don't even have to approve it because, contrary to popular belief Rick, I am a grown woman and you've no right to tell me what I can and can't do. I'm not you're your daughter, I'm not your wife, I'm not your anything, okay, so just leave."

I'm not your anything. Not my anything?! Rick's eye twitched. He could see her patience thinning but he was going to make her listen to him.

''

Okay. It couldn't have gone any better than that, he decided. He was still standing in the abandoned campsite and had been there, staring off into the trees hoping to spot Zero for the last 15 minutes.

He was angry. He really was. Zero was one of the smartest people he knew and she'd just stormed off into the woods, by herself. He hesitated before he ventured into the woods, hoping to spot some sign of where she'd gone. Unfortunately he was not a tracker, nor was he a hunter, so all he managed to do was little more than aimlessly wondering around before heading back to camp to tell them what happened, if they hadn't been told by whoever was on watch.

''

She wasn't back yet. Rick decided to do something relatively constructive while she was out in the woods and, stupidly, had decided that he would have a word with the hunter about the new sleeping arrangements seeing as how the hunter was practically bunking with his Little Lady but that went about as well as you could imagine. Daryl had told him to fuck off and threatened him.

"'S none of your business, Officer, so fuck off back to camp. Zee wants to stay out here, she can fuckin' stay out here. I wanna stay out here, so I'mma fuckin' stay out here too. I ain't need your permission, Officer, and neither does Shortstuff."

Having been sufficiently told, Rick headed back to camp.

''

The next day had Rick's heart sinking. Daryl had returned last night, throwing a line of squirrels onto the dirt floor of the camp and stormed off back to his and Zee's new little camp site. Zero wasn't in camp and it looked like she hadn't been all night. Daryl couldn't find her. No wonder he was pissed.

"Fuck you. Don't even think of speakin' ta me ya no good pieces o' shit. I'mma go find her. Stupid fuckers. Can't do fuckin' anythin' right."

Daryl stalked off into the woods once again. The rest of camp knew that he wouldn't be back until at least dusk. Rick didn't mind. He wanted to join in the search for Zee but one glance toward the hunter had him rethinking even breathing in the same air as the man.

The man was tense, coiled and ready to attack. Waves of pure anger radiated from him and no one was stupid enough to even try and approach him at this point. Rick decided it was best to leave the tracking to the hunter and pray that he'd find the woman.

''

He was having real trouble at the moment. He made sure there was, at the very least, an arm's length between him and Daryl. The hunter eyed Rick, watching his every movement, sizing up his prey, then he lunged, knuckles of his left hand connecting with the former Sherriff's Deputy's' jaw.

Rick was seeing stars and trying to make out what just happened as Daryl pulled him up only to throw him back to the ground. Shane and T-Dog ran as fast as they could and held Daryl back, though he did nearly throw them off as well; he was in a rage.

"Get the FUCK off of me!" He screamed, finally getting out of T-Dog's and Shane's hold. "I'm gonna fuckin' KILL YOU!"

He went to punch Rick again but was tackled by Shane. The two scuffled; throwing punches and trying to kick the other as T-Dog tried to intervene with no luck whatsoever.

By the end of the fight, the two Officers were looking real bad, having not been able to match the strength of the angry Dixon. Both had to be patched up by Herschel who was surprised only by the fact that the hunter hadn't actually killed one of them.

''

"Please let me see her Herschel. I need to know she's alright."

"And I've told you, Rick, that she is. I don't know why you keep insisting on seeing her."

"I don't need much time."

They were standing in camp. Herschel had come to tell them that she was alright but told them no visitors. Seemed there was one exception though as some of the group noticed Daryl returning from inside house, looking calmer then he had been the previous day.

"Did he get to see her?" Rick asked the farmer.

"Yes."

Rick went to make his way to the house but the hunter met him halfway.

"Could you step aside please?"

"You ain't goin' near her. She don't wanna see ya, hear ya or talk to ya. Best go back to camp, Officer, 'less ya wanna repeat of yesterday."

Didn't want to see him? Oh come on! This was childish. They were all adults!

"Move. Please."

"You really wanna do this, Officer. 'Cause I'm willing to oblige."

They stood there for a moment longer.

"'F I hear you been up there we're gonna have a problem."

The hunter walked off, leaving Rick standing there to consider the consequences of going to see Zee.

Fuck, he thought, I've screwed up. She doesn't even want to see me. This hit the man hard. He was losing his Little Lady and he wasn't sure if she'd ever come back. He couldn't lose her. Uh-uh that just wasn't an option.

''

Authors Note: Okay, so this was an absolute nightmare to type up and to read through but I've had writers block. I know exactly where this fanfiction is going but my goodness, I can't seem to write it up the way I imagine it and I've getting distracted by writing up an Avengers fanfiction (technically I'm writing three: One for the wonderful Dr. Banner, one for the good old Captain and, because you can't dismiss such a gorgeous Norse God, another for the one and only Loki).

I do apologise for this chapter as it's definitely one of the, uh, crappier ones I've posted but hey, better an update of some kind then nothing at all right?

Thank you for reading ~