Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 136

Author's Note: Over 100 people have made this story a favorite. I am still blown away by every person that makes it a favorite, or follows it, or reviews. I love and appreciate all of you. I thought Carol, Summer and Rick needed a chapter all there own. Please review!

Carol, Rick, and Summer's POV:

Summer got out of the back of the car when they stopped at the housing development. "Always kind of eerie when we come to places like this, deserted homes, cars, lives interrupted, kind of things that would spur Dean Koontz or Stephen King's imaginations," she said. "Something that I'd like to read, instead of living," she said as she got her bag.

Rick and Carol both looked at her. "Yet you like those kinds of books lately," Rick reminded her.

Summer smirked. "Surprisingly, it's still an escape from what we face everyday," she said as she held out her bow and arrow and walked up the road. "I mean the dead want to make us a meal, crazy men want to keep our heads in fish tanks for his own sick pleasure, a flu is taking us out one by one," she said as she stopped at the door. "If that isn't bad enough," she said as she paused and looked at Carol, "we've got to worry if we get sick, someone we trust is going to kill us and burn us. So, I kind of like escaping to the world of made up imaginations because it just isn't as scary as the real world right now," she said as she turned to the door.

Rick looked at Carol then at Summer. "Let's get moving, we need to get back to the prison before night."

"You didn't need me here, if you needed a third person, Merle or Maggie could have came," Carol told them as she got to the car.

"Someone had to stay back, watch over things," Rick told her. "Summer don't get to far ahead, stay back with us," he warned her.

Summer turned as she waited for the pair.

"Someone you trusted you mean? Never thought you'd trust Merle more then you do me," Carol told him. "Summer, I did it to protect all of us. They were suffering, I made it quick. We needed the bodies gone, needed to stop it from spreading. They were the only ones who were sick, they were a threat. I was trying to save lives, I had to try. Somebody had to," Carol said.

Summer took a step toward her. "You know that sounds a lot like the crap that the Governor was telling his people about us, that he was trying to protect his people from us. Right before he gunned them all down," she told the other woman.

Rick stepped in front of her. "Summer, I need you to calm down. We're here for a reason, we all need to be calm. Alright sweetheart? Can you do that for me? Just take a deep breath, and let's focus on getting in and out," he said as he kissed the top of her head.

Summer nodded. "Yeah, I can do that, Dad," she assured him. "I'm going to look down the road, I won't get out of your sight."

"We'll be right behind you," Rick told her as he gave her a nod before he turned to Carol. "I need you to focus on the job at hand too. She's worried, all she can see is her pregnant mother in a pile of ashes, the truth is that image is in my head too. But I'm pushing it out right now, for her. She needed to be out of the prison, to do something to keep her mind off that image. I couldn't leave you behind because then my daughter would be worried sick. Please don't say that you wouldn't do that if it had been Jewel, Carol. Right now I don't need to hear it, she doesn't need to hear it. Right now, we focus on getting in and out, getting things we need to help those back at the prison," he told her.

"Dad, come look at this, someone else has been here recently," Summer called as she looked at a car.

Rick nodded at Carol as they walked up to her. "Windshields clean, wiped down. Couldn't have been here more then a day maybe two."

"Means we may run into some trouble," Summer said.

"You think they're coming back?" Carol asked.

Summer glanced at her then back at the car. "Only reason a person leaves a car is no gas, or they get attacked by walkers'. If they are still alive, then we'll have to be alert. And if they did get ate by walkers', well, then we still need to be alert," she pointed out.

Carol nodded. "This is what this is right? I mean in case Daryl and the others don't come back."

Summer glanced at her. "They're going to get back," she told the older woman.

Rick put his hand on her shoulder. "This is to get supplies until they get back, medicine cabinets, first aid kits, anything that could help Hershel. We get in, we get out and if we can eat it we take it," he told Carol. "Let's go clear the first house," he told them. "Come on Summer. I'll go first, you two stay close."

"Want me to take the backpack?" Summer asked Rick.

"No, I got it, you got your bow and arrow," Rick told her as he opened the door and went inside being very quiet. He walked into the bathroom beside the kitchen and started going through the medicine cabinet as Summer started going through the cabinets of the kitchen. Carol looked around as Rick came back out of the bathroom. Rick and Summer both turned around at the sound of growling. "Carol!" Rick yelled as he pulled the woman back and out of the way of the walker falling down the stairs.

Summer and Rick both looked as Carol went over and stabbed the walker in the head. Summer looked up at the sound of the creaking door as she took her bow and arrow from her back and pointed it up. Rick pointed his python up the stairs.

A young couple came out of the door. "Woah, woah, we're cool," the man told them.

"We have fruit," the woman said.

"Yeah we got apricots, and peaches," the man said.

"Here, catch," the woman said as she threw the fruit.

Rick, Summer and Carol looked at them then the fruit then back up at them.

"Or you know..don't," the man said.

Summer motioned with her bow and arrow. "Easy does it, come down nice and easy."

Rick watched as they walked down, as he noticed the woman limping and the man being gentle with his arm.

Carol stepped closer to the man. "How did this happen?" he asked as she nodded toward his shoulder.

"The greenhouse around the corner, the roof's broken now and it's getting rain, so it's full of fruit. We were there for a day and the skin eaters showed up," the man said as he let out a low chuckle. "Kill joys man. Jackin' it up for the whole world. I thought everybody was an asshole before this all went down, but now I love people, well people that are alive."

"Some people are still assholes, this world just makes them worse," Summer said as she leaned against the wall.

"Summer, language," Rick warned knowing that Jewel would tell her the same thing if she was there.

"Sorry dad," Summer said.

The woman looked at the two. "That's your daughter? Don't look alike, except for the blue eyes."

"Takes after her mother," Rick simply answered. "You were telling us about your shoulder."

"When we were coming in through the door, I tripped crawling out the other side. Pulled the glass out but my shoulder it still hurts like a bitch," the man said.

Carol looked it over. "It's dislocated."

"Can you fix it?" the man asked.

"Lay on the table, scooch over to the side," Carol instructed. "Summer hold the other side down," she said as she waited for her to do it. "Now keep holding him," Carol instructed.

"What's your name?" Summer asked the man.

"Sam," he answered as Carol pulled his arm. He started to cry out in pain. "That hurts."

"Easy, don't move," Summer instructed.

"You seem like you've done this before," Carol told her.

"Grew up with nurses, and around a clinic, picked up a few things," Summer said with a shrug. "Easy, it'll all be over soon Sam."

"I can't," the man said.

"Easy," Carol said as she finished. "Sit up."

"Is it?" the woman asked.

"Yeah," Sam answered.

"It's going to be sore for a few more days," Carol told him.

"After the green house, you came here?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, we thought it was clear. We missed the deadie in the PJ's, so we dove into the bedroom," Sam said.

"How long did you hide up there?" Summer asked.

"Two days," Sam answered.

Rick looked at Summer and Carol then back at the couple. "But there was only one of them, and you have guns."

"Yeah but we only have about twelve bullets and it takes about six or seven to take one of them down," the woman answered.

"But you have knives," Rick said.

"To do what, stab it in the head?" Sam asked.

Summer and Rick both looked back at the body of the walker then at them. "Yeah," both of them said.

"We got separated from our crew about a week ago, been trying to play it safe since," Sam explained.

"We have to with my leg," the woman explained. "We were at a refugee center together and there was a fire. People were trampling each other, assholes. Sorry," she said in the direction of Summer.

Summer waived her hand. "Oh trust me I've heard worse from my Uncles, I've said worse. Some people forget that I'm not a kid anymore," she teased Rick. "What's your name?"

"Ana," the woman answered. "Sam saved my life. We didn't know each other before this. It didn't heal right, but it healed. And we found each other, it was worth it," she said as she kissed Sam.

"Glad to see my parents aren't the only one who fall in love at the end of the world," Summer said as she saw the couple look at her. "He's my step father, didn't know my mom until all this stuff happened."

"So you get it?" Sam asked Rick.

"Yeah I get it," Rick answered. "Where are you two headed next?"

"We just keep moving. We haven't waited around for things to get bad. I mean it's getting a little old," Sam said. "You guys look alright, what's your set up like?" he asked.

Summer looked at Rick and gave a short little shake of her head, the one he was used to from Daryl when he didn't think things was a good idea. "You seem like good people…and we know what it's like to be on our own, but things aren't exactly going good for us at the moment."

Rick nodded. "We're at a prison about eight miles north. If you come back with us, we can't guarantee your safety. There's an illness, a flu. It's bad, we lost a lot," Rick told them. "Kids too."

"Yours?" Sam asked.

"No thank God, but one of my girls got it," Carol answered.

"I'm sorry," Sam said.

"She's strong, she'll make it," Carol said.

"We've got a lot of people in quarantine, the younger ones, my brother, baby sister, my mom, she's pregnant," Summer explained.

"She's strong too," Rick said.

"This place got fences and walls?" Sam asked. "We're in."

"Yeah whatever you need, we'll do it," Ana said.

Summer, Rick and Carol exchanged glances.

TBC