AUTHOR'S NOTE: Welp, it would appear I tend to get carried away when right love scenes, so I had to shorten this story where I did. But, because of it, you get an extra chapter after this before next week's episode! Enjoy! PLEASE READ & REVIEW! xoxo - Holly
"If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." — Woody Allen
Upwards of forty people were packed into Deanna's home, standing around; a few seated. None of them were there to casually socialize. It wasn't even a funeral breakfast type of event to remember Reg, who had been such an important figure in the community. No, everyone had been called there for one reason and one reason only.
To discuss the threat those thousands of walkers in the quarry posed to Alexandria.
When Rick, Georgie and Morgan had finished seeing to Jake's burial, they more or less hightailed it back to the walled community in under ten minutes. They returned first to the main house where most of Rick's group had congregated to have lunch together and Rick alerted them to the situation then. Maggie came with Rick and Georgie to speak with Deanna about it while Morgan remained at the house where Rick felt he could trust Daryl, Michonne and the others to keep an eye on him. Rick still wasn't sure what to make of Morgan just yet, probably because the other man's ways of going about things seemed so much different than his own these days.
Once they had sat down with Deanna to discuss the issue, they convinced her that a meeting with everyone in the community needed to happen to discuss what would be done. Spencer had been present for the meeting and went to knock on doors and let them know to come to his mother's home in an hour for said meeting.
During that time frame of waiting, Rick sat with Georgie in the living room while Deanna retreated into the kitchen to nurse a cup of tea in silence. She was still too distracted from the grief of losing her son and husband mere days apart. Her world had begun crashing down around her. Maggie offered some words of encouragement, sharing her story of how she lost her father and sister so soon after each other and how she lost them, but Deanna couldn't comprehend anything beyond her own grief. Anyone else's didn't really matter too much to her at the moment.
Rick and Georgie began talking about options in regard to the quarry with Maggie so that when the meeting began they knew what was going to be said and, if anyone asked any specifics on the plan of attack, they could provide some answers.
When the sixty minute wait was up, people began to trickle into the Monroe home. Glenn, Abraham, Sasha and Daryl had arrived first, claiming seats; Daryl taking the window seat to keep an eye out for whatever. The last to arrive was Carol because she had been seeing to putting Judith down for a nap while she left Carl in charge of keeping an eye on both his sister and Tristan alike.
Once everyone was settled in, Rick began to inform them what the meeting would be about, and about what he, Georgie and Morgan had seen in the quarry.
Heath, a dreadlocked resident of Alexandria who had only just returned that morning with several others, and who had been away for the last couple of weeks and therefore not formally met Rick's group yet, stood at the edge of the brown leather couch, near where Glenn sat.
"My team, we saw it early on, back when we were on one of those first scouts, finding out what was around here," Heath began to explain. Everyone just stood or sat in silence, listening to him speak. "There was a camp at the bottom. The people, they must have blocked the exits with one of those trucks back when everything started to go bad. They didn't make it. They were all roamers. Maybe a dozen of them."
"No one's been back since?" Maggie questioned, looking up at him from the couch.
Heath looked back at her and shook his head. "DC and every town worth scavenging are all in the other direction. And I never really felt like having a picnic next to the camp that ate itself."
"So all the while the walkers have been drawn by the sound and they're making more sound and they're drawing more in," Michonne deduced with her arms folded under her chest.
"And here we are," Rick muttered, glancing around the room. "Now what I'm proposing, I know it sounds risky, but walkers are already slipping through the exits. One of the trucks keeping the walkers in could go off the edge any day now. Maybe after one more hard rain. That exit sends them east. All of them. Right at us." He paused, glancing to his left, at Georgie. And on the other side of Georgie was Deanna, standing at a window, staring out. "This isn't about if it gives, it's when. It's gonna happen. That's why we have to do this soon."
"This is—I don't even have another word for it. This is terrifying. All of it," Carol spoke up, throwing on her meek little housewife façade that Georgie had found utterly amusing since they set foot in Alexandria. She looked over at Rick and at Georgie, and they read her like a book because their entire group had been in on her charade since day one. "But it doesn't sound like there's any other way."
"Maybe there is."
Beside Carol, an Alexandrian in his late thirties with a receding hairline by the name of Carter offered his own two cents. There was something about him defiant about him. The way he looked at Rick suggested there definitely was no trust there for him. He also seemed a bit nervous about everyting being talked about, which was understandable coming from someone who'd lived inside the walls since the beginning and never truly had to survive.
"I mean, couldn't we just build up the weak spots?" Carter continued, offering up an alternative suggestion to the plan Rick was proposing. "I could draw up plans. I worked on the wall with Reg. Construction crew—we can try and make it safe."
"Even if we could, the sound of those walkers is drawing more and more every day," Rick cut him off. "Building up the exits won't change that."
"We're gonna do what Rick says, the plan he's laid out," Deanna stated, still not turning away from the window."
"I told you all, we're gonna have Daryl leading them away."
"Me, too," Sasha offered. "I'll take a car, ride next to him. Can't just be him. I'll keep 'em coming, Daryl keeps 'em from getting sloppy."
Abraham spoke up next. "I'll go with her. It's a long way to white-knuckle it solo."
Rick locked eyes with the burly redhead and nodded, before looking around at everyone else again. "We'll have two teams. One on each side of the forest helping manage this thing. We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on. Rosita, Spencer, and Holly. So they're out. So who's in?"
"Me," Michonne announced.
"You know I'm in, too," Georgie assured, placing her hand on the small of Rick's back.
As everyone began looking around at each other, to see who would volunteer next, Rick turned briefly to his fiery-haired lover and lowered his voice for her ears only. "You're with me. I want you at my side."
"Where else would I be?" she smirked.
"I'm in," Glenn decided, after talking quietly with Maggie about something.
Gabriel raised his hand slightly. "I'd like to help as well."
"No." Rick shot him down without batting an eye. "Who else? We need more."
Carter shifted around nervously. "There's got to be another play. W-we can't just control that many."
Rick cut him off again, but maintained eye contact. "I said it before, walkers herd up. They'll follow a path if something's drawing them. That's how we can get 'em all at once."
"S-so, what? We're supposed to just take your word for it? We're all supposed to just fall in line behind you after—"
"After what?"
"After you wave a gun around; screaming, pointing it at people. After you shoot a man in the face. After you—"
"Enough!" Deanna shouted, turning around and glaring at Carter.
Rick looked somewhat shyly away, realizing a lot of the Alexandrians might have the same reservations about this plan because of his actions a few days prior. Georgie sensed as much when his shoulders slouched. She moved her hand which was still on his lower back and dragged it up to his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. He looked back at her with thankful eyes; glad to have her support no matter what.
"I'll do it," Heath offered.
Francine, the brunette who worked with Abraham on the construction crew, raised her hand. "Me, too."
"Whatever you need, I'm in," Tobin, who stood on Rick right, insisted without hesitation.
Georgie leaned forward to glance at the slightly older man and nodded to herself. Until now she hadn't known what to make of him, but his stalwart resolve to go along with Rick's plan made her respect him more. He had the ability to see sense, which was more than she could say for Carter, who seemed unwilling to see that Rick's plan was the only way to go.
"Now who else?" Deanna questioned.
What looked to be some hesitation and a silent back-and-forth with Glenn, Nicholas raised his hand. "I'll go," he offered. "We need to do this. I need to help."
Settling her eyes on her Korean-American friend, Georgie could see how unhappy Glenn was at this. She knew the twosome had butted heads a few times in the last week but she couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it. She supposed she could ask Maggie about it later. No doubt Glenn would've told her about whatever issue he had with Nicholas, and Georgie wasn't just anyone. She wasn't someone she would keep secrets from, no different than she wouldn't keep them from Michonne or Carol.
Glenn turned his attention to Rick, who Georgie determined might already know what the issue at hand was. Rick, in turn, looked over at Nicholas.
"You think you can handle it?" he asked.
"We need people."
Rick accepted Nicholas' answer with a nod and looked out at everyone again. "We'll make this work. We'll keep this place safe. Keep our families safe. We will."
Others nodded in agreement with him, but Carter seemed unconvinced still.
"The plan," he spoke. "Go through it again."
"Man, he just said it," Daryl bit out in his usual soft, but gruff, voice; clearly just as frustrated by Carter as Rick, Georgie and a few others seemed to be.
"Every part, again," Carter demanded. "The exact plan."
Georgie pulled her hand away from Rick's shoulder and shoved both her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. She took half a step forward and eyed Carter. "You heard the plan, verbatim, same as everyone else. If you need help understanding it, or some sort of visual aids, we'd be more than happy to explain it again." She looked briefly to Rick, and then shared a look with Carol. "I mean, if anyone needs to hear it again, then by all means. But anyone else, who is okay, can head home for the evening. Sit down and have dinner with your families and relax. The next few days are going to get hectic, so make the most of your down time now."
Rick tilted his head to the left and smirked. "What she said."
Everyone gathered began looking around at each other before starting to thin out. They bid each other adieu for the night and slipped out of the townhouse, heading home, but there were a few stragglers; Carter, included.
"Do you have a map we can look at?" Carter asked, stepping closer to Rick and Georgie.
Rick exhaled a breath and looked over at Deanna.
"I have plenty of maps. Let's take this out onto the porch," she commented. "It's getting stuffy in here."
Those that remained slipped out through the double doors in the dining room to wait outside for Deanna. In the meantime, Rick dragged a table over and the others began to circle around it; Rick, Georgie, Michonne, Heath, Carter, Morgan and even Eugene. After a few minutes, Deanna was among that group, setting a road map of the area down upon the table. Rick spread it out across the surface and pointed to an intersection.
"Marshall and Redding," Rick announced. "We force them west here."
"How?" Deanna inquired.
"We block it off so they can only go one way: west, away from the community."
"Block it off with what?" Carter was crouched down at the table, with his arms crossed upon the edge of it. He looked up from the map and eyed Rick.
"Cars," Rick replied. "We'll use the RVs, some of the bigger trucks, park them end to end."
"We'll be drawing them away," Michonne added.
Georgie locked eyes with the other woman and nodded in agreement as she then caught Rick's eye. "They're gonna keep moving," she assured.
"Yeah, but that many? Just bouncing off some sedans?" Carter stood up, still unconvinced. "And then when they start slipping through and the ones that walk away start distracting the rest and you stop drawing them away?"
"Man's got a point," Heath muttered.
"We got plates," Eugene spoke, stepping closer to the others, who turned to look at him. "The big-ass metal ones from the construction site. We can use them to fortify the whip wall. It'd help disperse the force of impact and direct the walkers clean. Like a pool table. Eight ball, corner pocket."
She'd had her issues with Eugene before, but Georgie couldn't deny really was an intelligent man. Plus, she was aware he had risen to the occasion and helped saved Tara's life. That alone had made Georgie see Eugene differently; not just as the annoying, mullet-wearing pain in her ass.
"That's an army out there," Carter barked. "And wh-what happens when this doesn't hold?" He leaned across the table and jabbed his finger at the center of the map. "And they push on through. The curve in this hillside is gonna send them right back east. Right back here. You seriously want to risk that?"
"No. So you need to help us to make it hold," Rick spoke in a quieter, deeper tone; pointing at Carter.
"These walls, you built them," Morgan added his two cents. "So you've already done the impossible."
Deanna looked at the obstinate man. "Carter. Please."
Everyone turned and looked at Carter, who seemed to have no other choice but relent. Everyone else was down for the plan. He was the odd man out.
"I swear, if he would've contradicted me one more time, I was gonna throw him over Deanna's porch," Rick muttered.
Night had fallen already and he was walking along the road between the wall and the solar panels with Georgie at his side; wearing his brown jacket, which Carol had cleaned up for him like some sort of miracle worker. His right hand was slipped easily into Georgie's left, holding it tight, as he caught a glimpse of movement up in the tower.
"I feel you on that, one hundred percent—"
"Which I am glad of, by the way."
"—but I'm glad you kept your cool and were the bigger man."
"I think I surprised myself," Rick admitted. "I really wanted to at least pistol whip him."
Georgie shrugged and smiled. "Well, there's still time for that."
Letting out a low chuckle, Rick looked down at the pavement and brought the back of her hand up to his lips, placing a kiss upon her smooth skin. When he dropped their still connected hands back down between them looked up at the darkened sky. "We should head back home after we loop around back up the main road along the pond."
"We do have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Georgie agreed.
"We could steal some leftovers from tonight's meal from the fridge and take it up to the bedroom. I didn't really eat much at dinner. My stomach's gurgling a bit; lamenting that decision."
"Eating a casserole in bed could get messy."
"Thought you liked messy?" he gave her a knowing look and a slightly shit-eating grin.
Georgie rolled her eyes. "I like you."
"Isn't that pretty much the same thing?"
"Well, you do tend to get very messy, so, yeah, I suppose so."
The both of them chuckled, and Rick stopped walking, causing Georgie to do the same since he still had a gentle, but vice-like, grip on her hand. Looking back at him and wondering why exactly he stopped, she raised a curious eyebrow at him, but all he did was continue to smile as he then pulled her up against his chest and encircled his arms around her waist.
Leaning his face down toward hers, Rick brushed the tip of his nose against the tip of her nose, and then settled his lips down completely upon hers. The scratchiness of his stubble against her chin balanced out the softness of his lips, which made her want to kiss him even harder. The stubble also made her think about the mammoth beard he was sporting just over a week earlier, and she thought about how that beard had tickled when they'd shared their first kiss in the woods back in Greensboro.
Georgie snaked her hands up his chest and then cupped either side of his face, holding his lips against hers as his tongue sought entrance into her mouth; entrance she readily gave him.
"You know just how to calm me down," he whispered into her mouth, bringing a hand up to tap the side of his head with his index finger. "You help me stop overthinking everything."
As they parted from their kiss, Georgie maintained her hands on his face, but kept him at a distance where she could get a good look at him while running her thumbs over his cheeks. "Whatever would you do without me?" she teased. She leaned up and placed a chaste kiss at the corner of his mouth before dropping her hands down upon his upper arms.
"Go crazy," he muttered. "Again."
"Again?"
"After Lori died giving birth to Judith, I kind of…I lost touch with a few things. I wasn't the man I should've been for my children, for everyone." Rick sighed and pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and just focusing on his breath and his proximity to Georgie. "I don't want to even think of what I'd do if I lost you, too. I don't think I can come back a second time."
"And you won't have to, because I ain't going anywhere," Georgie insisted with a smile. She tipped his head back up and kissed him once more. "I know there's the whole saying about making God laugh by telling him your plans, but sometimes I think we do have some say over our fates."
Rick nodded, casting a glance up the road in the direction of their groups' houses. From where they stood he had a decent enough glimpse of the house she'd been living in with Jake and Tristan, which still sat vacant. She knew she would never want to live there again, and it would go to other people to live in at some point, but, for now, it was empty. "Speaking of plans," he whispered.
Georgie studied his expression and then followed his gaze toward the vacant, blue house. "What's going on in that head of yours, Grimes?"
"I don't want you to have only bad memories whenever you walk by that house. I don't want you to not be able to ever set foot in it again because of what he did to you in it," Rick responded. "It was the person, not the house, so we should do something to make you think of the house in a better light."
"What exactly do you have in mind?"
"We'll never be able to be together anywhere we want in the main house or even in our group's second house; too many people coming and going. But, tonight, we could have that privacy."
Georgie giggled. "Anywhere we want?" she repeated.
"Anywhere," he confirmed.
"Like," she hesitated, sticking a finger through one of his belt looks and pulling him closer against her body, "on the kitchen floor, or maybe right on the kitchen table?"
"On the couch in the living room."
"In the garage."
"In every bedroom," he continued. Then, he amended, "Well, not every bedroom."
She knew he was aware Jake's room would be a no-go. "The kitchen counter," she insisted.
Rick tilted his head and smirked. "The kitchen counter, it is," he agreed with a nod of his head.
Taking her hand back in his, he threw a look over his shoulder, back up at the tower. Up inside, he saw that it was Rosita that was on watch now and they had noticed each other. She gave a small wave of her hand down at the pair, so Rick gave a nod of acknowledgement back at her. He then turned his attention back to Georgie and they body walked at a more rushed pace up the road, along the pond.
When they reached the intersection, they looked both ways; not for traffic, of course, but to make sure no one was out on their porches paying attention to where they were going. Not that it mattered, though. Technically, the blue house could still be considered Georgie's, so she had every right to go inside. Still yet, the two of them decided to go around the back and enter in through the garage instead of the front door. Rick closed the garage up after they were inside and stepped into the back hall with Georgie, closing the door that led into the garage behind them.
The house was dark and silent, and there was a slight chill to the air due to the fact that the front window had yet to be replaced, if it ever would be, so air was easily wafting in from the gaps in the blanket that had been strung up.
Georgie hesitated when they got into the kitchen, dragging her fingers along the edge of the marble countertop and chewing on her bottom lip.
Rick noticed the sudden change in her demeanor and reach out, placing his hands to her shoulders. "You alright?"
She nodded, but looked away from him. "Yeah."
"You're thinking about him, and what he did, aren't you?"
"It's hard not to. Being in here, looking around at everything, I just keep picturing where he was. Like, which seat at the table he would always sit in or which corner of the couch," she replied, gesturing toward the breakfast nook and the living room. "Where I was when he came at me."
Rick's jaw clenched unintentionally. The threat of her ever being hurt by Jake was over forever, but knowing he should've step up to the plate sooner to put an end to it all made him angry still, and sad for her. "He's not here anymore. You don't have to be afraid of him and you don't have to be afraid of this house."
"I'm not afraid of him. I never really was, not truly. I just can't help remembering the things he did."
"Where did he first hurt you?"
Georgie licked her lips and tried to recall that specific moment from nine days ago when she entered the house for the first time and began arguing with Jake over their situation and how he insisted the living arrangements would go for the sake of their son. She pointed near the couch. "Right there," she informed. "He grabbed my hair when he was using Tristan in order to guilt me into staying here."
Rick blinked his anger away and stepped over toward the couch, looking down at his feet for a moment and then up at her. "Right here?"
She shrugged. "Pretty much."
Nodding, Rick beckoned to her with a curl of his index finger. "C'mere." As Georgie obliged him and walked up to him, he smiled at her and reached a hand up to the back of her head. He then snaked his fingers through her locks and gently massaged her scalp as he pulled her in for a brief, but tender kiss. "There," he muttered, pulling away. "Now when you stand in this spot again, you'll only think of me running my hand through your hair and kissing you here."
Georgie grinned. "I think I can do that."
"Where else did he hurt you? The bruising on your neck—he tried choking you. Where?"
She snorted. "Which time?"
Rick tilted his head to the left and suddenly wished he hadn't shot Jake dead so he could go find him and beat him within an inch of his life and then kill him again. "It happened more than once?"
"Well, twice that I know of," she remarked, turning and walking off toward the fridge. "He might've tried choking me while I was unconscious upstairs. I don't know." She came to a stop in front of the fridge and turned around to find Rick had been following her over. "Right about here was the second time he tried it. It was when Tristan walked in on us, and went out to the garage where he knocked the tools off the workbench."
"The same day you and I went upstairs together?"
Georgie nodded, placing a hand on his stomach. "That's at least one good memory I have for this place."
Looking her in the eye, Rick leaned in and brushed his cheek against hers before slowly dragging his lips down along the side of her neck, laying kisses from one side to the other; taking half a moment to suckle on the skin of her throat. When he lifted his head, brushing his face on the opposite side of hers from where he started, he whispered in her ear, "Whenever you find yourself standing at this fridge again, remember me kissing your neck."
She smiled warmly, lifting her hands up to either side of his face and kissing his lips. "Oh, I will."
"Where else did he try to choke you?"
"The stairs."
Taking her by the hand, Rick led her out of the kitchen and to the back hall where he then pointed at the stairwell. "Whereabouts?"
"Halfway up."
He gestured for her to walk to the spot in question. "What did he do exactly?"
"He grabbed my ankle to stop me from running away from him. I fell down on my ass and he hovered over me, and then grabbed my neck," she explained, sitting down in about the same place she had fallen with Jake. She had never wanted Rick to know these things, knowing it would upset him and berate himself for not being able to do anything about it, all because she had been an idiot to keep it from him; thinking she knew how to handle Jake alone. Georgie looked up at Rick and frowned. "Tristan found us like that, but Jake had made up some excuse about me falling and him helping me up. I think Tristan might've believed it, partially because I helped perpetuate that lie as not to upset him."
Rick knelt down on the step two below where she was sitting, right between her legs and leaned forward; bracing his hands on another step that was parallel with her chest. Pressing his groin against her jean-clad crotch, he swiveled his hips slightly and brought his lips to her collarbone and suckled again at her neck.
What he was doing was working.
Georgie was quickly able to forget what Jake had done and all she could think about was what Rick was doing. She raked her fingers up his back and then up into his hair, holding tightly onto his curls as she urged his face up to hers. She wanted his lips on her lips like the desert wanted the rain. Feeling the fire for her starting to burn very hot, he reached his hands between their bodies and grabbed at the bottom of her shirt. Pulling it up her chest, he continued with it until he was completely off and set it beside them on the stairs. Next he slipped her bra strap down and kissed her bare shoulders while reaching his arms behind her back and unclasping the bra before removing it altogether.
Without warning, he took one of her pebbled nipples between his teeth, gently biting down before suctioning his lips around it. With a free hand he toyed with the other one as he swirled his tongue around the rosy bud of the first. Georgie tipped her head back on another step and bit down on her bottom lip as he switched breasts. He palmed them, suckled on them long and hard, which ignited a fire in her belly; wanting him to do more than just nipple play.
"Rick," she moaned, and he took the hint.
Leaning up, he reached for the button on her jeans and popped it open, and then pulled the zipper down. With her assistance of lifting her hips up, Rick was able to drag her pants down her hips. Once he had them pooled at her ankles, he stopped to remove her boots and set them aside before pulling her pants completely off. With a wink, he did the same thing with her panties; simple white panties that he could tell were already damp for him.
Licking his lips, Rick grabbed her legs and draped them over his shoulders as he pressed his mouth down against her soft, slick folds. He dragged he tongue upward, lapping up her juices, before swirling it around her clit for a few strokes. Her entire body seemed to twitch from the sensation, and as a reaction she gripped his hair with both hands, urging him on.
He didn't need any hints, though.
Rick covered his lips around her clit and sucked hard on it at the same moment he brought two fingers up and slid them inside her center, pumping them in and out, and twirling them around. He knew he was hitting the right spots by the way she wrapped her legs around his neck and dug her heels into his back. A lesser man would've buckled under the force, but he was up for the challenge. This place held more negative memories for her and he wanted to give her such a shattering orgasm that it would be the only thing she would take away from the house.
Thrusting his fingers faster and faster, he refused to let up on her clit. The sound of her mewls and whimpers and guttural groans were like the greatest sonata every composed. Then, as her body began to shake and shudder, he slowed down, but didn't stop completely until he knew the final spasms of her orgasm were ebbing away. When her body still, Rick licked her clean and then placed a soft kiss upon her mound. He left a trail of kisses up her body; working up from her mound, to her stomach, to the valley between her breast and up to her throat again before claiming her mouth with his.
Georgie tasted herself upon his lips and it made her want him more; if that was even possible. Pushing him off her so she could sit up, she grinned back at him and then clambered to her feet. Rick watched her as she stood up and turned, giving him a wonderful view of her bare ass. He enjoyed the way it moved as she ascended the remainder of the stairs to the landing and then continued up to the second floor.
Getting up off his knees, Rick stood up as well and began to undo his gun belt as he walked up the stairs a couple of feet behind her. He draped the gun belt over the railing and then worked on removing his regular belt, which he slid out of the belt loops and let drop to the stairs. Rick unzipped his black jeans first and unbuttoned them second as he followed her toward the room that had been Jake's.
He stopped behind her when she stopped in the doorway. A few feet away, off to the side was one of the chairs from the kitchen table. It was lying on its side with a broken leg from when he knew she had slammed her body against the door to break herself free, as the chair had been used to prop up against the door as a barricade of sorts to keep her in. Georgie's hands were bracing the doorframe on either side of her and Rick could sense her hesitation.
Sliding his hands up her bare back, he brought them to rest on her shoulders; using one hand to brush her hair out of the way so he could kiss the side of her neck, just under her jaw and near her earlobe. Georgie leaned into the gesture and closed her eyes.
"C'mon," he muttered against her skin. "We'll use the other bedroom; the one we used that day."
Georgie shook her head, causing her hair to move and tickle his face a little. "No. It has to be in here. This was the worst place and I need you to help me erase the memory of it by giving me a new one." Looking over her shoulder as he leaned back from it, she stared imploringly at him. "Please."
Rick stared her back in the eye and knitted his brow together. "You don't have to ask." Looking into the bedroom, he considered his next move and then held up a hand to her for her to stay put for a moment. "Wait here."
Stalking forward, he came to stop at the foot of the bed and gave it a quick onceover. There was a noticeable dark stain or two on the duvet that he believed to be her blood, which made his own momentarily boil. Hunching forward, he grabbed the cotton material and yanked it down until he had pulled the entire thing off the bed. Shoving it to the floor, he repeated the process with the bedsheet and the fitted sheet underneath that. Rick then made his way around to the side of the bed and threw the pillows off before bending at the knees and grabbing the mattress. Gritting his teeth, he hoisted the mattress up and pulled it closer to him. Making sure he had the room to work with, Rick flipped the mattress over and stood back a bit as he dropped back down upon the box spring.
Turning toward the door, Rick's eyes smiled at the sight of Georgie standing there naked; looking like a goddess to him. Smiling with his lips as well, Rick walked back over to her, placed a small kiss to the corner of her lips and then, without warning, scooped her up into his arms bridal-style.
Georgie let out a small giggle as he carried her across the threshold and into the room where he then laid her gently down upon the mattress. She didn't say anything; she just looked up at him and waited.
"What do you want me to do?" he inquired. "How do you want it done?"
She snickered at him. "So clinical."
Rick smirked and shrugged. "Sorry," he apologized.
"Just…" she trailed for a moment, trying to focus solely on him and nothing else. Georgie sighed. "Just fuck me so good I almost forget my name."
With a nod, Rick pushed his jeans down over his narrow hips and let them pool around his ankles. "I'll do my best," he quipped, stepping out of his pants.
Georgie's eyes focused on his erection and the way it was pushing at the thin material of his boxer shorts and it practically made her mouth water. Even though last night she made it all about him, and this night he was making it all about her, she still felt the need to take him into her mouth.
Later, perhaps.
When he stepped out of his boxers and that swollen shaft stood at attention for her, Georgie backed up slightly on the mattress as he knelt down and crawled up over her body. Then, for a moment, he hesitated as he considered the next move to make. He wanted to make her scream his name; although, not too loud that it alerted their people in the house next door and brought them running. He wanted her to see stars. He wanted her to look back on this night and cum instantly just from remembering it.
"Hands and knees," he said, making a hand gesture for her to turn over.
Without hesitation, Georgie rolled over to her side and, like the night before, got up onto her hands and knees for him. But this time was a little different.
"Grab the headboard," Rick urged.
Georgie did just that. She wrapped her fingers around the top of the headboard and gripped it tight as she used it to brace herself. Rick then scooted up behind her, running his hands down her back and over her hips. Not too hard, he slapped her ass. She bit her lip at the faint sting and instinctively stuck her ass out more toward him, so he did it again. When he next gripped her ass in his hands, he massaged the soft, pillowy flesh and leaned forward to rub himself against her; sliding his thick length along her slit as her juices began to drip upon him.
It was Rick's turn to bit his lip, wanting nothing more but to feel her clenching herself around him. Taking a hold of his dick, he tapped the head against her folds, slickening himself up and teasing her in the process. It was teasing them both really, so he didn't do it much longer so he didn't just cum right there.
"Rick," she groaned, growing impatient.
"Shh."
He slid himself from her throbbing clit, all the way along the crack of her ass, and back again; using her dampness to create a sheen upon them both. He then pried her legs open a bit wider and gripped her hip with one hand before pressing his tip against her moist entrance. Licking his bottom lip, he shoved himself all the way in without warning and then just held himself there. He listened to the way she gasped when he filled her up completely and smiled.
"Hold on tight, baby."
Georgie made sure her grip on the headboard was secure as he did the same with her hips. After a moment of adjusting to his length, she exhaled and was pleasantly treated to him sliding out halfway only to thrust back in all the way. His pace was slow at first, but each thrust was so delicious deep she thought his dick might go all the way up to her throat.
Even though he began to go faster, the depth in which he penetrated her warm center never faltered. He slapped her as a few more times, making her squeal slightly. He rolled his hips each time he drove himself into her and she rocked her hips backward onto him; the two of them finding their perfect rhythm. Reaching a hand around her waist, he let his index and middle fingers clamp down around her clit and rolled it around, which got Georgie inhaling and exhaling plenty of ragged breaths.
Just as he began to feel himself start to lose control and near his own orgasm, he pulled out, much to her displeasure. But it was done to prevent him from coming first. He stilled himself for a moment and then patted her bottom.
"Sit down," he commanded in a soft, but gruff voice.
Rick watched her drop her hips down and let go of the headboard. When she sat down upon the mattress, she turned around and looked up at him with anxious eyes. Rick responded by spreading her legs and wrapping them around his waist as he positioned himself at her entrance again. Reaching her hands up, Georgie gripped onto his shoulders this time and he was the one that gripped the headboard as slid back inside of her like a glove.
He delved deeper into her with each rhythmic push. Georgie arched her back, rising up to meet him as he drove down. The only sounds in the room were their respective puffs of breath, grunts, moans and the slapping of skin on skin.
As Georgie neared the apex of her orgasm, she cried out loudly; wrapping her legs tight around his waist and digging her nails into the skin of his back. Rick let go of the headboard and encircled his arms around her back, holding their bodies flush against each other. Placing his mouth down upon hers, he swallowed her forthcoming cries as they frantically kissed each other. Pounding into her in a fierce paroxysm, Rick was finding it too difficult to hold back his orgasm any longer.
"Cum for me, Georgie," he practically begged, removing his lips from hers and burying his face into her neck.
Focusing on how good he felt and the white heat building up inside of her at the base of her spine, Georgie closed her eyes and let herself become enveloped in the moment. With great shuddering, clenching spasms, her orgasm hit like a Mack truck into a brick wall; hard, fast and it left her shaken and dizzy.
Praising every deity ever worshipped, Rick finally let go. His body went rigged for a moment and his dick spasmed as he spilled himself inside of her.
A part of him felt sad that she'd been forced to receive a hysterectomy years ago after the problems she'd suffered upon delivering her daughter. He was sure this would've been the night that would've conceived a child; of that he was one hundred percent certain, and the idea of having a child with her that they created together would've been amazing.
Sadly that was never to be, but having her like this, in his arms, and buried deep inside of her was what heaven must feel like, and that was more than enough to make him smile.
Collapsing his entire weight down upon her body, Rick enjoyed the way she still clung to him; as if letting go meant she would lose him forever.
"So," he muttered into her neck, suckling briefly upon her skin, "have you forgotten the old memory?"
Georgie grinned lazily. "What old memory?" she teased, turning her face and biting down on his earlobe.
Rick lifted his face up and stared down at her with his own smile as his curls stuck to the sides of his face from sweat. "God-fucking-damn, I love you."
Dragging her hand up his back and into his hairs, she massaged his scalp and guided his lips to hers for a kiss. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and rolled it around with his. "I…" she began to reply, but then moaned when he accidentally rolled his hips against hers. "Uh…I love you, too. Sweet Lordy Jesus, I love you."
Smiling again, Rick pulled his mouth away from hers and then rested his face down into her shoulder again as he mumbled against her neck. "We should get back home soon."
"We will," she assured. "But first, we need to go again."
"Again?" he chuckled. "What do you think I am? A horny teenager? You gotta give me a minute, woman. Christ."
Georgie giggled and hugged him tight in her arms. "When you're ready, then."
Snickering, Rick let out a sigh and just laid there for a few moments. He really could've just drifted off to sleep right then and there, but Georgie was rolling her hips purposely against him in such a way that it began to stir the lower half of him back away. Lifting his head back up, Rick looked down between their bodies. She looked down too and suddenly felt him twitching inside her.
"Well, well, well," she teased. "Didn't take long after all."
"Guess I'm not as old as I think I am."
Georgie let out a hearty laugh and welcomed his embrace when he rolled her over so that she was on top.
"If only we had one of those bells from wrestling matches to indicate round two," she joked as he began to run his hands up her thighs while staring up at her.
"Ding," he muttered, and thrust upward.
The following afternoon, nearly every person that had been at Deanna's for the meeting were at the intersection of Marshall and Redding roads with trucks full of construction equipment for the temporary metal plate walls being put up to help divert the walkers when they were ready for them. The RV and other vehicles were already in position and posts were being dug into the ground on either side of the road for the sections of wall that extended off the road.
Digging one such hole in the ground for a post was Rick wearing his old, grey shirt which was good enough for him when it came to getting dirty. The sun was beating down on his arms and the back of his neck, causing sweat to drip from pretty much everywhere. It was barely past noon and he was already achy and tired, although some of that could easily be attributed to the night before and his co-conspirator in that was crouched down several feet away, digging her own hole for another post.
Glancing up, Rick squinted in the sunlight and looked over at Georgie. She seemed to sense his eyes on her and looked up in his direction. When they made eye contact, the two of them immediately smiled knowingly at each other. He watched the way she bit her bottom lip, her mind no doubt recalling their shenanigans in the blue house that had kept them away from the main house until after two in the morning.
When he forced himself to tear his eyes away from her, Rick discovered Daryl walking over toward him; his crossbow strapped across his back and pushing a wheelbarrow.
"Hey, what you said before about us needing to take care of ourselves? Going out finding more people: that is taking care of ourselves." Daryl dumped the soil in the wheelbarrow out beside Rick. "Your call, though."
As he turned and walked away, Rick watched after him with a slight frown, just as Carol sauntered up to him, still not dropping the quintessential housewife act, and holding a cup of water in each hand.
"Here," she offered one of the cups to Rick.
"Thanks," he replied, taking the cup.
"You know, I could come with all of you. You and Daryl have been teaching me how to shoot," she quipped.
Rick brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. "I think you got the hang of it," he retorted, flashing a smile up at her. "You should stay back; get a feel for how people feel now. We still got a long way to go with them."
"We'll get there," Carol assured with a slight nod. "She's in charge," she added, referring to Deanna, "but you're in charge now."
Rick chewed on that as Carol walked off; the burden that was placed upon his shoulders as usual. It wasn't that he had that position of authority thrust on him or that he necessarily wanted it. He was just good at leading, and no one else seemed to be able to rise to the occasion as he could. Even when he took himself out of that position, people would default to him for direction.
He wondered if he'd ever be able to pass the torch to someone else.
He wondered if he wanted to.
Bright and early the following day, construction recommenced on the wall.
Georgie had hung back in Alexandria for most of the morning because Tristan had had a nightmare the night before and had a hard time going back to sleep. It had therefore kept her up as well, which meant she didn't get much sleep and would've been of no use to anyone first thing in the morning.
Just before noon, though, Georgie was up, showered and fed and made her way back toward the Marshall and Redding intersection with Tara, who had also taken a bit longer to get moving for the day. Parking along the side of the road on their side of the blossoming wall, Georgie hopped out of the driver's seat of the old sedan she driven there from their community and walked up to Rick. He'd been watching as the car approached and waited for her to join him at his side.
"Afternoon, Constable Grimes," she greeted with a smile.
Rick cocked his head and made a face. "I don't know that that's really what I am anymore."
"So, just Officer Handsome, then?" she teased.
"I can live with that," he nodded, leaning in to complete their greeting with a tender kiss. "You didn't need to come back today. We got enough people to manage. You should've stayed with the kids, rested."
"I've done more with less sleep, and the kids are fine with Carol and Rosita," she replied, placing her hands on her hips. "Although, Judith did start crying when I left and, I know it sounds sadistic or whatever, but I enjoyed it. Not that she was upset and crying, mind you; that she was upset and crying because I was leaving. I haven't experienced that in years. Not since my Avery."
"It's 'cause she loves you," Rick deduced. "She gets that from me."
Georgie squinted up at him and chuckled. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." He was going to say more, but then he noticed Deanna walking over. As he moved to walk up to the older woman, Georgie came with him as the three of them looked upon those putting up the metal plates against the posts that had been mounted into the ground the evening before. "I haven't had a chance to say it yet, but I'm sorry about Reg," he addressed Deanna. "He was smart and kind. He was a good man."
Georgie nodded in agreement. She had said as much to Deanna a couple of days before. At the moment, she could tell the figurehead of Alexandria was trying to take everything in; to wrap her head around the immensity of how many walkers would pass through and if it would work. "It was the right call," Georgie commented, gesturing to the metal plates. "We need this."
Deanna looked at Georgie and then up at Rick. "What else? You need to tell me."
Rick sighed slightly. He knew what needed to be done, but he wasn't sure Deanna would go along with it. He gave Georgie a side glance and she seemed to understand what he wanted to say. It was something he had mentioned to their group since they first arrived. Looking back at Deanna, he said, "People need to be armed inside the walls. They need to be trained, everyone."
Twigs and branches snapping from inside the woods in front of them focused their attention while the banging on the plates to install them continued. Through the trees there was movement and it really could only be one thing. Deanna stepped away to see what it was, but Rick grabbed onto her arm and held her back.
"Stop," he insisted. "Here they come."
Instinctively, Georgie unsheathed her hunting knife from the left side of the gun belt she wore and just held it, pointing downward.
"Carter, heads up," Rick called out.
Carrying a narrow tree trunk with another Alexandrian, Carter looked up at Rick and then behind him at the walkers ambling out of the woods toward him. Rick's group came around with their own weapons at the ready; pick axes, shovels, Michonne's katana, and Daryl's crossbow. Rick held his hand out to keep them from doing anything just yet.
"Use your shovels. The guns will draw more," Rick advised.
Carter nervously lowered his rifle and stared wide-eyed back at Rick. "Help us."
"You can do this. You need to, all of you."
The man who'd been assisting Carter with the post kicked at one walker, which kept coming back at him, undeterred. Carter removed a knife from his pants and tried to get up the gumption to make a move. Another Alexandrian aimed a gun, looking anxiously over at Rick and his group. Basically they were fumbling, inexperienced idiots.
At least that's how Georgie was viewing them.
"Just stab them in their heads, Jesus fucking Christ," she mumbled.
Her comment wasn't lost on Rick and, if it no one else was around, he might've found himself laughing at it. But this situation didn't allow him the time to acknowledge the amusement he took from what she'd said.
More walkers stumbled forward from out of the woods, more than Carter and the people around him could realistically handle. Even Georgie had to admit that, but Carter and the others weren't even doing anything. They were barely making a move to defend themselves.
Morgan darted forward with his stick Michonne was close behind him.
"Morgan, don't!" Rick shouted.
Rick's group fell in after that, running down the slight incline off the road to take out the walkers Carter and the others were inept at. Rick, Morgan, Michonne, Georgie, Rosita, Abraham, Daryl, Glenn and Maggie took out each and every last walker present in no time at all with such fluid precision one might thing they had choreographed beforehand. All the while, Carter and the others hadn't moved an inch and looked around like children who had watched too many scary movies and were now too afraid to check the closet for the boogeyman.
When the walkers were dispatched, Rick shot a look at Morgan.
"You said you don't take chances anymore," Morgan bit out, looking a rather upset.
Rick's nostrils flared, clenching his jaw. He drew his attention away from Morgan and over toward Carter, who was still looking back at him with wide eyes. Gripping his own knife firmly in his hands, Rick stalked away from the tree he was standing beside and gestured toward the wall with his free hand.
"Let's finish up here," he barked; his nerve endings frayed slightly as he walked back up toward the road.
Shoving his knife back into its sheath, he placed his hands on his hips and scuffed at the pavement with the ball of his boot. He looked in the opposite direction from the wall, away from any faces that might be staring back at him as he chewed on his bottom lip.
"Don't do that," Georgie muttered, sidling up beside her.
Rick exhaled a breath through his nostrils, casting his eyes over at her. Just looking at her helped calm him a bit. He knew she understood him and she tended to see things from his perspective more often than not, as if they shared a brain. "Do what?"
"Chew your lip," she replied. She lifted a hand to his face and brushed her thumb over his bottom lip. "That's my job." With a small, knowing smile, she dropped her hand to his shoulder and gave it a squeeze before placing it back on her hip. "They'll come around eventually. Or, at least, most of them will."
"Carter won't," he remarked in a low voice for only her ears. "He's not the type to survive outside the walls. He's gonna get himself killed sooner or later."
Georgie shrugged. "Probably," she nodded. "But right now, he's alive and, as annoying as he is, I suppose we should give him the benefit of the doubt until the day he bites the dust."
Rick studied her face and then nodded as well. "We'll see."