I'm sleepy but guess what? I had some pancakes. Life is good.

Responses to the reviews will be at the end of chapters from now on, but real quick, I love my readers! You guys should have my firstborn!~


I woke up in the same position as before, feeling a little stiff. It was much lighter now, I think two or three hours passed. Actually, Rick should be the one going to sleep now.

"Hey, are you feeling better?" I heard him ask me.

"Hey yourself," I replied as I stretched and yawned, "Feeling a lot better, yeah, thanks for last night." Before he could say anything, I gave his shoulder a quick squeeze and continued, "You should go get some sleep."

"Just checking on ya," he said, "Are you su-"

I stood up and grabbed his arm to drag him off the bench, "Yes I'm sure, Rick." I kept trying to pull, but he wouldn't budge.

He put his other hand over mine and laughed, "Alright, alright, I'm going."

Rick was getting up and heading to the door, but I reached out to gently touch his forearm. He stopped to look at me, probably confused, and so I pulled him into a hug.

Yes, a hug. An embrace. Whatever you want to call it, I pulled him into a hug. And I enjoyed every damn second of it, especially when wrapped his arms around me and gave me a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks for everything." I mumbled into his shoulder, and I could tell he was smiling. I guess he really needed to know how much I appreciated him.

We let go of each other and I slid my hands down his shoulders to grab his hands, "Go to bed." I smiled and he rolled his eyes in response, to my surprise. I mean, yeah, he'll laugh here and there, but rolling his eyes? Unexpected but extremely cute, I'll have to admit.

"Fine, I'll go to sleep." He muttered, stepping into the room, "Wake me up if you need anything." He insisted, and I nodded and left the room to let him get some rest.

I plopped down on the bench again, enjoying some of the alone time, but feeling bored already. I don't have the slightest clue on how to waste the next five hours.


It's been about an hour.

Only an hour.

Look, I know this sounds stupid, but part of me really wants to check out the main house for anything valuable, books, food, maybe even clothes.

But that would make me a hypocrite, right?

I can handle myself though, I took care of that one walker. The house is clear now, the only thing that would stop me really is the scent of the decomposing bodies.

And that one room.

I think I can just avoid that one.

Besides, if I hear anything, I'll run my ass all the way back here.

I finalized my decision and got up to go back inside the guest house to check my bag for what we might need. I didn't have that much canned food left, so I made a little note to myself to look for some. It wouldn't hurt to look for a gun or two, and maybe some clean clothes. Oh yeah, and water, of course.

Before I headed back out I checked the clock, it was about six in the morning. I brought my eyes back to Rick's sleeping form and I felt a little creepy for just watching him sleep, but I really couldn't help it. He looked so peaceful when he slept. He already looked younger too! When I first met him he looked tired and worried, but I guess my company has really helped him keep his mind off of a lot of things…

I tip-toed out of the room to make sure he wouldn't wake up and quietly closed the door. I really hope he's not a light sleeper, probably is though. Actually, I think everyone is a light sleeper now, which sucks to think about. But hey, I said goodbye to a healthy sleep cycle the minute I decided to pursue a physics degree.

I treaded over to the house, getting ready to pinch my nose for the upcoming vile smell and slipped inside. It was much safer to be here now, since it was a lot lighter and for the obvious lack of walkers.

The kitchen was a little muddled, but I'm bound to find at least something good to eat. I checked the first couple of cupboards and there were several cans of soup, got a little annoyed that some of them were expired but stacked the good ones on the counter.

I know this is stupid, but I checked the refrigerator anyways. I was surprised that it didn't smell horrible, just a little sour scent from the spoiled milk. There were, however, a couple bottles of water, not cold, but who cares? It's still water.

There was a large pantry in the back corner of the kitchen, and to be honest I expected a dead body but that was because of all the horror movies I've seen. But nope, it was empty. I mean, there was some liquor…but nobody has to know about that. I grinned mischievously as I added the bottle to the pile of canned food, planning to stash it later for myself.

I avoided the living room as much as possible while going up the stairs, making my way to the master bedroom. I silently thanked a higher deity as I saw that there was nothing in the room waiting for me, a little messy like the kitchen, which was expected anyways.

I dug through the closet to find some extra pants at least, but most of the clothes were too big for me or Rick. I tried the dressers as well, but all I could find were undergarments and there's no way I'm taking those.

There was another room, aside from the fucked up one, which I assumed to belong to one of the kids'. Thing is, never been inside and never really noticed it before, probably because I was too busy panicking earlier.

I kept my hand on my gun as I stepped inside, keeping my ears and eyes open for anything.

But again, I was lucky. Nothing.

The room looked like it belonged to the farmer's daughter, I could tell by the pink and white striped wallpaper and frilly comforter on her bed. So she was the one who was locked with her brother.

Thinking about her last moments made me start to feel bad about going through her stuff, but hopefully she was the type of girl who liked helping people. I did the same thing I did in the parents' bedroom, started with the closet and made my way to her dresser.

Fortunately I was able to find a white v-neck, a little loose on me since I have a small frame, but it was airy enough for the Georgia heat. I also found a denim button down blouse, which fit a little better and wasn't too bad looking. Couldn't find anything for pants or shorts, guess I'll have to do with these dark wash jeans I was wearing. I'll live.

I wish I'd found something for Rick, but honestly if I'd found something he probably wouldn't wear it since he's so damn attached to his uniform and especially his hat (which I'm surprised he doesn't sleep in). I find it attractive though, so I won't complain that much.

Nothing else really appealed to me in the house, nothing was working either. I checked the bathroom and pulled some essentials out of there like shampoo, soap, and toothpaste – I already had toothbrushes so at least my teeth would look nice and white while the world is ending.

I walked out through the backdoor, carrying what I found in my arms and trying to find any potential melee weapons in the backyard. But all there was…was just land. A lot of land. Are all farms this empty?

The only thing worth mentioning was the stable with the horse in it, but I left all that to Rick since animals don't really like me. Probably the reason I have that faded bite mark on my arm…

The horse neighed at me and it nearly made me jump out of my skin. Was it hungry or something?

I stepped closer and the horse moved closer to the edge of the stable as if it were going to communicate with me. Umm…what do I do? Talk to it?

"Uhh…hi there." The horse just stared back at me and I fidgeted a little, do I feed it? To be frank, animals scare the shit out of me.

"A-Are you hungry?" I hesitated, since I know nothing about animals. I've only had one pet in my whole life, but I let my brother take care of it, not me.

The horse turned its head as if it were ignoring me, "Well fuck you too, then." I muttered, hoping it'd understand, and went back to the guest house. I hate horses anyways.

I snuck back inside to check the time and to pull my bag outside with me, I can be very indecisive and I didn't want to wake Rick up by going back in every ten minutes to grab something.

I was feeling a little hungry, so I popped open one of the canned peaches and dug in. So much better than that stale cereal I had yesterday. After, I checked my bag for what felt like the millionth time that day. I get so paranoid about my things, so I always have to make sure I have everything, or else I get very cranky.

I pulled out the notepad and scribbled some things down about the place, making sure to mention that there wasn't really much worth looking for in the house and that the guest house would serve as a safe place to stay for a while. I need to remember to leave this here when Rick and I leave.

I wonder how my family is doing and I frowned a little at the fact that I hadn't been thinking about them recently. They're probably safe, I kept telling myself. My brother is very protective of my mother and I know for a fact he wouldn't let anything happen to her, but it's technically my job to worry as a sister and a daughter.

If I could have anything right now though, it'd probably be to hear my mom's voice. I wouldn't want to see her right now, I wouldn't want her to see the shape I'm in right now and where I'm at. But I'd do anything just to hear her tell me everything will be okay and that she loves me.

I stared at my phone that lay on the seat next to me. Some would probably think it's dead weight, but I think it'd be stupid to just throw it away. I'm well aware that the chances of charging it or even getting service are very slim, but I'm not going to just get rid of. You never know what could happen. I could get to Fort Benning or the CDC and I could miraculously get a signal and be able to contact my brother – the dead are coming back to life, anything can happen, really.


I woke up lying down on the bed in the guest house…how did I end up here?

I rubbed my forehead and my eyelids fluttered several times, adjusting to the light. I grunted aloud when I shifted my position, fuck, did I make a stupid decision and decide to drink? I thought I learned my lesson after that one time I woke up in another country…

Rick stepped into the room with a bottle in his hands, looking very worried. As soon as our eyes met he nearly tripped as he stormed to my side with the bottle, "Drink this." He ordered.

I followed what he said and took several sips of the water before speaking, "What…the fuck happened?" I managed to sputter out.

"I woke up at around nine and I found you passed out on the ground. You were still breathing and I carried you inside." He paused and grabbed my hand tenderly, "Scared the hell out of me, Isabelle."

"I- what? I passed out?" I stammered, trying to compute what I was hearing.

"Yeah." He sighed, "You're dehydrated. That's why I'm making you drink this." He handed me the bottle again for me to drink, but I spoke again to thank him, "Holy shit. Thanks, Rick." Holy shit was the only way to describe it.

He shook his head, "Don't worry about it, just drink the water. I think we might to stay another day."

I shot his idea down, "No, no, no. We're not staying another day, we have to leave and find your sister."

"It can wait, Isabelle," he insisted, "We'll leave when you feel better."

I jumped out of the bed to show him otherwise, "I am fine!" But my body decided to give me a nice 'fuck you' and make me wobble a bit when I stood up, causing me to crash down on the bed. I'm way too stubborn for my own good.

Damn it, now I look like some weak girl who can't take care of herself since this will be the third time he's had to take care of me. Classic case of 'damsel in distress' bullshit…

"I don't want to sleep though." I nagged, throwing the back of my hand over my forehead, which didn't feel too warm. I wasn't sick!

"You don't have to, just make sure you're drinking enough water," he paused for a brief moment and then added, "and stop being so stubborn."

I smiled to myself at his little remark, "Rick?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."


When I finally dragged myself out of bed (I couldn't sleep), we both ate together outside and just hung out for a little bit to kill time. I was starting to feel a hell of a lot better, and I kept badgering him that we could leave but every single time he'd insist that we stay until I was at my best.

So we shared more about our pasts, I told him a lot about school and shared some other things about my family. It started turning into my sharing my random party stories, but I decided to keep the one about waking up in another country to myself, I'll have to save that for another time.

I told him about my interesting conversation with the horse earlier and he teased me about it before taking me to the stable to show me that they really weren't that scary. He tried to get me to ride the horse, but I told him that I'd rather drink lemon juice after chewing on shards of glass before getting on that animal, only for him to laugh.

"Come on, Isabelle, it won't be that bad." He said as he mounted the horse, trying to keep a straight face as the horse bucked several times before calming down, and when I saw that, my eyes were fucking saucers.

"No way in hell am I getting on, Rick." Although, I was perfectly fine with watching. There's just something sexy about seeing him being confident enough to mount a horse bareback.

The horse neighed and I raced the hell out of the stable, last time I heard that sound I nearly got rammed by a cow, not exactly the best memory to have.

I heard him snicker at my reaction, and he dismounted to come over to me. "Isabelle, the horse is our only mode of transportation if something happens," he said in a serious tone, "you're gonna have to learn."

Damn, he really did have a good point there. "I can run if I have to!" I joked, opening the stable to step back inside. "I'll only get on if you help me."

He looked shocked, "Of course I'm going to help you!"

I shrugged, "Well I didn't know."

Rick led me to the horse, and even if he told me this horse was a saint I still was going to be fearful, but I followed him to show him I was willing to learn.

We stepped closer and he pet its neck, "See? It's not that bad." He told me, so I tried to reach my hand out, only for the horse to snort, causing me to pull my hand back quickly. He gave me a reassuring smile and told me it was just curious.

I had to admit, I was still scared shitless, but having someone experienced there helped. I turned to him, "How do I get on?"

"Just try to swing up." That sounds really simple, but will probably end up being the most challenging thing ever.

I tried to remember the gymnastics unit from high school on how to mount a high beam, was it just swing your leg over? My first attempt was pretty sad, I tried to jump up and get on my stomach while to swing my leg over, but the horse bucked and I nearly fell off.

I tried again, and got frustrated since it tried to buck me off again so I asked him to help me. This time, as soon as I got my stomach on the horse, he kept the horse still and pushed my leg up to keep me balanced. It took a couple tries and 'fancy' language and we finally got it.

"Holy fuck." I mumbled after taking a deep breath, "Thanks."

"No problem. How does it feel?" He asked.

"Weird." Was the only response I could think of, "I've never been on a horse before."

Rick placed his hand on the back of the horses' neck to keep it calm, "There's a first for everything. Least now you're a little more comfortable."

"Yep." I'm still scared and I was itching to get off this horse, "Can you help me down now?"

"You sure? You're starting to get the hang of it." Was he trying to give me a heart attack?

"Pretty fuckin' please with cheese on top?" I pouted.

He chuckled, "Alright, just lean forward and try to swing one leg over."

I followed his instructions but kept wobbling and eventually chickened out. "I need help with this, Rick." I pointed out, and got back in my earlier position. He nodded and instructed me to lean forward again and to try to swing my leg over, while keeping one hand on my hip. As soon as I thought I was about to lose balance, he grabbed my hips and pulled me down on my feet.

Thank god for that.

"No more horses." I uttered, no matter how many times I get on a horse I'll never get used to it.

"You did a good job. At least you didn't cry." He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

I'll give him that, "Yep. At least I didn't cry…"

We both left the stable and went back to the guest house, it was getting a lot darker now and probably close to the time where I'd be going to bed. I'll admit that I was starting to feel better from Rick's persistence of making me drink water when I first woke up in the afternoon and during dinner.

He was inside cleaning his wound, so I waited outside, absentmindedly running my fingers over the delicate scar on my forearm. I started wondering about Rick's gunshot wound and crinkled my eyebrows together to see if I could remember ever asking him how he was…

I never did.

When he came back out, I decided to bring it up and if he doesn't want to talk about it then he doesn't have to, "How is your gunshot wound anyways?" I questioned and he nearly looked surprised.

He placed his hand over the wound as if I noticed he was bleeding through the gauze or something. "Fine, a little tender." He answered.

"What exactly happened?"

"Police chase basically, me and my partner Shane were at a road block, waiting for the driver to hit the road spikes. As soon as his tires blew, his car lost control and flipped over the side of the road. We thought he was a goner, or at least incapacitated. The door flew open and a man came out with a gun. I ordered him to put the gun down and he didn't comply so we took him down. He tagged me in the chest, but I was fine, scared as hell, but fine. I got back up and brushed it off, but another son of a bitch came out and shot me in the left side right under my shoulder." He finished as he pointed to the spot where he'd been shot, flinching a little.

"They got him right?" I was hoping the bastard felt everything he got.

"I don't remember," he hesitated, "I just remember Shane yelling for a medic and then passing out." I could tell this wasn't easy to talk about, and I seriously shouldn't have brought it up.

"I'm sorry for asking." I said faintly.

"You were just curious."

"And worried." I added, hoping I wasn't coming off as too strong.

"And worried." He repeated, "Now you know how I felt when I found you passed out."

I turned to face him in my seat, "I promise I won't let that happen again. I'll actually take care of myself from now on."

"And you weren't before?" He poked at my rather poor choice of words.

"Well." I cleared my throat and thought for a moment, "Let me rephrase that: I'll take better care of myself from now on."

I caught myself staring at his face, not in the cheesy way either, just trying to memorize all of his facial features. I had a feeling he was doing the same and I could feel myself melt.

"Oh the hell with it." I cried and leaned in to press my lips to his, this day could be my last and I was sure as shit going to enjoy it.


I'm such a comma and ellipses whore guys, I just realized that. Sorry for the lack of update on Christmas, but as a gift you guys get a longer chapter. Yay! Anyways, responses to reviews here:

EldestDurk: thanks for the Christmas review and hopefully you'll continue to share your feedback!

Leyshla Gisel: sorry for the lack of crazy action, just Isabelle rambling about everything, hopefully next chapter they'll be in Atlanta…

Padme4000: have my babies now

ChaosUmbrella: you may have my children as well, and Isabelle is happy that you say she isn't a mary sue

Chlexfan10: Rick is always so sweet and comforting, he says thanks and wishes you a happy and safe holidays

Guccileopard: I wish you were longer!11!

All my other readers and lurkers: Y U NO REVIEW?

Any questions? Feedback? Want to tell me how much you hate me? Drop a review then!

Also you guys should totally check out guccileopard's story: They Say, it's a DarylxOC fic and yeah I know I would rather chew glass, but hers is fucking sexy. So read it. Now. Open a new tab and do it right now.