Endured
As Rick charged forward, he knew he should have hesitated. Or at least given it some consideration before rushing in. But his horse was galloping at full speed as he pulled his six shooter out of its holster. He was ready to aim once he got close enough to hit any of the targets. Sweat began to bead on his brow under the brim of his hat even with the wind whipping past his face. The sun was high in the sky and the air was dry and dusty. Trees ahead would give him some shade but make threats less visible. But he still kicked his horses side to get there faster.
Shots rang out but not from his gun. He quickly searched the trees ahead and saw a brunette woman hidden behind a thick trunk return fire at the man that took a hold of a blonde woman. She was the one that Rick must've heard screaming. To the side, a third tawny complected woman had just dispatched a man near a wagon. She'd gotten the jump on him when he went to inspect the coach, surprising him with a rifle blast to the chest.
Rick slowed his horse for fear that the women may turn on him, thinking him with these men. Another long-haired brunette cut a man down as he attempted to run for his horse. But this last man still held the blonde that struggled in the center of the camp. An eerie silence fell over the atmosphere as the bullets stopped whizzing through the air.
The smell and smoke of gunpowder wafted to Rick when he raised his hands to the sky to show he was no threat. Rick hoped that would buy him a chance to explain instead of being shot dead. The one who killed the last man aimed at him as his horse stopped, with a fierce look on her face. The other two women had their sights trained on the man that held their companion.
"I just want Andrea back. That's all!" the man with the eye patch shouted with his arm clamped down around her neck and a gun to her head.
"Go to hell!" the one behind the tree shouted at him.
"Shoot him!" the blonde yelled while kicking at his legs clearly not afraid to die as long as this man went soon after.
"She was mine and that bitch had no right to take her. She knows she has to come home. I'll even promise I won't hurt her…too much." he smirked confidently as though he wasn't surrounded and outgunned.
"Fuck you, asshole!" the rifle woman yelled.
Rick carefully checked the woods to make sure there weren't any hidden assailants ready to turn the tables on the women.
"Stranger, if you help me with this situation, I'm sure we can come to some agreement." the man offered Rick.
The petite woman who held the gun on him stepped closer, her face more menacing than before, letting him know that wouldn't be a good idea if he was considering.
"Naw, I think you and your dead friends must've done something for these women to react this way. I want no parts of it. In fact, I was coming to help them."
The eye-patched man snickered. "Is that so?"
Rick nodded with his hands still in the air. He was trying to figure out what the women were waiting on exactly. But that's when he heard the galloping coming from the opposite direction from where he sat on his horse. The trees rustled and seemed to part as a tan horse made way. A dark-skinned woman rode it. Rick couldn't make out her face as her hat sat low. She wore pants like a man but the delicate curves of her body said woman.
It all happened so fast, he and the man in the center could sparsely wrap their heads around it. The horse jumped the fire and, in the woman's, outstretched hand was a curved single-edged artillery saber.
"Now!" was the woman's only battle cry.
The woman, Andrea, used a dagger she must have had hidden in her skirts to jab the man in his upper thigh. The shock and pain of it had him drop his hand from her neck and she ducked to the ground. Before the man could even realize what was about to happen, the saber had sliced through him. It took a moment for him to reach for his own neck as the woman passed him, doing a one-eighty before calmly stopping her horse.
Time seemed to slow to a stop. The leaves no longer rustled, the forced heavy breaths of the horses quieted. Even the sound of Rick's own thudding heartbeat faded away, then a gargled sound echoed in the air. The man's raised hands had nothing to make contact with as his head slid diagonally from his neck slowly. Tumbling to the earth to land with a hard thump. Blood bubbled up from what was now the top of him before the body crumbled knees first and the rest soon after.
A flick of her small wrist had the remnants of blood on her saber being castoff as a mere annoyance. Rick sat stupefied, his hands dropping slightly but he put them up even higher than before when the other women turned to face him now. He let his gun drop to the ground, a further assurance that he meant no harm.
"That was a first good step, now get off the horse." the rifle woman demanded as she closed in on him while the blonde pulled her dagger from the decapitated man's body and joined the fray.
"Okay…but I'll need the use of my hands to do that." Rick reasoned.
The shoulder-length-haired brunette from behind the tree rounded on him and pulled weapons from him, tossing them to the ground. His other gun, his machete and his hatchet all laid in the grass before she nodded that he could move. He climbed down and promptly rose his hands up again, wisely moving away from the discarded items.
The woman still on her horse rode over to him, the clouds that now blocked out some of the sun's rays, coupled with the thick leaf-covered branches above made it even harder to view her face under the soft brim of the hat. His own brimmed hat, a nuisance as well.
Rick swallowed while he waited but no one spoke a word, even the horses were oddly silent. He thought about what his options were here after what he'd just witnessed. These women took down a group of men easily, he'd counted all the bodies that lay about. And the woman, that he assumed was their leader, carried from what he could tell was a forty-two-inch-long sword with a leather bond grip. He'd known them to be given to mounted cavalry which was very fitting. She wielded it like an expert, her training had to be long and from someone well versed in warfare for her to do so.
Another glance at each of the women's faces had him decide that speaking up may be the only way out of this. But he needed the right words to be precisely stated or he could end up like those dead dupes in the grass.
"I-I was just coming to help. Like I was telling that poor dead fool."
"Philip got what was coming to him. He should've had worst." Andrea snarled.
"I'm sure he did. And I'm sure you gals are right for what you did here. I can only imagine what you've had to endure to-"
A dry laugh emanated from the leader making him look back to her. "Endured? You can't begin to imagine what she's endured. What any of my girls have endured. What I've endured."
Rick wanted to say she was right, that the world was hard enough for an able-bodied man to handle. For women, and ones not receiving shelter and protection from men, at often times great cost, it had to be immensely harder. Him conceding to all that right now seemed foolish, silence was the better route.
"Women are not safe in a world full of men as you can see." she used her saber to gesture to the dead.
When the woman continued to speak he knew he was right to keep quiet. Something in him wanted to hear what she had to say. She seemed the type that didn't mince her words but didn't share them often either.
"I'm a negro, a woman and I run an outfit. That damn near makes me a unicorn." she grinned and he could see her pearly teeth shined past her full lips.
"Are you running for your freedom? Because maybe you hadn't heard it came some years ago." he offered teasingly, just to try and cut the tension.
She chuckled with no mirth. "No, not every one of us was a slave, contrary to popular belief. I was born a free woman and I always intend to stay one."
Her horse took a step, bringing her closer to him. "Enough about me. What's your play, cowboy?"
Rick smirked, more out of nerves than anything. "Truth be told. I didn't really have one. I heard what I thought was damsels in distress so I decided to lend a helping hand. Didn't even think about it before I kicked."
He waited for a thank you or some sort of reaction, but none came from any of them.
"My arms are getting mighty tired up like this. Yours have to be getting weary also keeping those guns trained on me."
The women quickly glanced to the woman on the horse and she subtly nodded then their eyes came back to him. Weapons were lowered but he could tell they were very much still at the ready. Rick rested his hands on his empty gun belt and adjusted his step to unlock the tension in his body before he continued.
"It was going to be a helping hand. One I see now that you clearly didn't need." he looked around. "So I'll just leave you to it."
"No, you won't."
"What?" Rick tipped his hat to try and get a better look at the woman cloaked in shadow.
"You just witnessed us commit a crime. We killed all of these men and you think we are just going to let you ride off into the sunset?"
"I was actually headed the opposite way, but yeah."
Rick could see her trying to hide the twitch at the corner of her lip that would have become a smirk.
"Sorry." she responded flatly but with a bit of tease in her voice. But it wasn't a joke, instead it let him know she thought he was being a cocky asshole.
All the women pointed their guns at Rick again and he immediately put his hands back up. "What do you exactly plan on doing with me then?"
"Well…that all depends on you."
The woman gave him a once over, but must have needed a closer look and she hopped off her horse. She put her sword behind her back in what Rick presumed to be a scabbard of some sort, since she didn't have a shoulder belt on. She walked right up to him assuredly. Even though she was shorter than him, he knew she wanted him to know she was unafraid.
With the height difference and her hat, he really couldn't see her face at all. But her hips sat out nicely, her thighs shapely so one could assume her backside was full also. She wore a woman's long sleeved top that dipped slightly at the chest but still hid her cleavage. The vest on top and her belt cinched her waist and pushed up her breasts.
She reached a hand up gradually to grasp the edge of his hat. Rick would've been offended if anyone else had done this but he wanted to gain her trust. For some reason, he wanted to know what her inspection of him would feel like. He didn't move when she pulled it off, pivoting to place it on his horse's saddle.
His damp hair flopped from under the hat to rest on the sides of his head but a few curls landed on his forehead. He hadn't shaved in a few days and his beard had grown in quite a bit. From his travels, he knew his skin had tanned some but he hoped his eyes were showing that he was steadfast and worthy. He didn't know for what exactly and he adjusted his stance out of anxiousness.
She'd finally gotten her fill and she imperceptibly nodded, again the women lowered their firearms. She lifted her hat from the sides and a thick braid released to fall free landing some ways past her shoulders. Smooth, rich dark brown skin glowed when the clouds magically shifted and the rays of sun came beaming down on her. Her soft lips were heart shaped, nose wider than his own but fitting perfectly between her high cheekbones.
All of these stunning attributes were ones that some bigoted idiot may overlook, but her eyes were the key. Arched eyebrows and long lashes accentuated her deep chocolate brown eyes. Once Rick locked his on to hers, he couldn't look away. He didn't want to. Her eyes were telling him a story and he wanted to hear every word, read every page, digest every chapter.
He was almost startled by the jolt that ran through his being. He'd never felt anything like it before. He swiftly recognized the same blow must have occurred for her too when she willfully looked away. Even in this brief encounter, Rick knew she was not a woman to back down but something in their eye contact unnerved her. But he didn't take his eyes off of her, taking in her beautiful profile as she pivoted.
"Rosita, tie him up."
Rick could only blink as the dirty blonde grabbed his own rope from his saddle bag, passing it to the Mexican girl. He didn't put up a fight and placed his wrists together in front of him while he watched the intriguing one walk away. Smirking to himself when his assumption about her ass was correct. He winced as the ropes were pulled tightly, drawing his attention back to what was happening to him.
"Maggie, tether his horse."
The brunette got to that task while the lighter brown skinned woman helped her search the men's bodies and the compartments of their saddles for anything worthwhile keeping, selling or trading. After they pulled the saddles off the horses, they gave them slaps to set them free. It was smart to not keep them in case they ran into any of their dead men's friends in the future.
A slight shove prompted Rick to walk to a log near the fire. A look from the one that worked with leader told him sitting was not a request. From his seat he could see what used to be Philip. The eyes still open in shock of witnessing their demise. The body still oozed blood that the soil greedily soaked up.
When the day started, this was certainly not what Rick had in mind. But he could do worse he guessed, then to be held prisoner but a group of pretty ladies who knew how to protect themselves.
"We have to either bury or hide these bodies." Andrea huffed.
"Yeah, I really don't feel like digging four graves." Maggie sighed.
"Six." the leader corrected. "I got the one that chased me into the woods and found another waiting to ambush."
Rick realized then that he could be of use. "I could help with that."
The women looked to him with a couple incredulous faces and two positive pondering ones.
"And why would you, our prisoner be willing to dig all these graves?"
"The way I see it is…you don't trust me for seeing you kill these men. If I help dispose of the bodies, that makes me an accomplice." Rick shrugged.
"That is true." the rifle wielder replied.
"Fine. Sash, get him a shovel and yourself the short arm. If he tries anything, shoot him."
"Rosita, give him enough slack to work."
"But I just tied up the pendejo."
"And you'll tie him up again, after he's done."
The slightly younger woman came back to him to do as she was told.
"Maggie and Andrea, help me get the rest of the stuff we are keeping hidden in the wagon."
Speaking more freely with him around either meant they planned on killing him or letting him go at some point. Rick hoped for the latter. But the names to faces were established now. All but the one he really wanted to know. He watched her move about while his ties were loosened then handed a shovel.
He walked to a spot away from tree roots where the dirt looked softer. He took a glance at the one that captivated him before he got to digging proving she still observed him too. He stood up straight as his bowed legs allowed but relaxed his stare.
"In case, you wanted to know my name, it's Rick. Rick Grimes." he waited for an acknowledgement.
But she tilted her head as though he was odd to her and he coughed but went on and asked his question. If she chose not to answer at least he had tried he figured. "What's yours?"
She took a minute looking to the trees above her before she finally made eye contact with him again. "Michonne."