Nicole's head pounded. There was ringing and she could feel her pulse inside her head. She could taste iron in her mouth and feel it on her lips. Nicole tried to reach her hand up to cradle her head, but it was stunted.
The blonde woman's head spun as she lifted up her head. Her blurry vision made out the ropes that bound her to a chair. "Shit."
"Nikki, you awake?" a voice said from beside her. It shot through her head like a bullet, causing her to groan in pain.
Nicole uttered out, "Yes." She looked up to the source of it. Her eyes met the brown of the one and only Glenn Rhee. "Heya, peach."
"Oh, thank god. I thought you'd never wake up," he praised. "You all right?"
Nicole shut her eyes for a moment. "Dunno. My head hurts," she muttered.
"Isn't that expected when you get hit in the head with a gun?" he questioned.
She opened her green eyes and tried to focus on her friend's face. It kept blurring in and out. "That's what happened?" Nicole asked as she put her head onto the back of the chair. "That sumbitch must've hit hard."
Nicole shut her eyes again. "Nicole, stay awake." Glenn pleaded.
"It's getting hard too," she uttered.
"Hey! Someone get in here!" Glenn yelled. Nicole cringed as his voice went through her eyes.
"Hush, child," she hissed out as her head pounded. The door into the room opened and two men walked in. Nicole kept her eyes shut, trying to cut the pulsating pain that was shooting through her head.
"What're you yelling about?" one of the men asked.
"My friend," Glenn's voice rang out, "I think she has a concussion."
"Felipe, check her out," the same man said.
Nicole could feel her restraints getting cut. Once they were, she groaned as she lifted up her head. She cradled it with her hands.
The man, which she assumed to be Felipe, bent down in front of her. He looked at her and held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up, amiga?"
Nicole looked up. Her vision was blurry and still swirled a bit. "Uh, two?" she hesitantly answered. Felipe placed his hand on her leg and stood up. He walked out. "Glenn, what just happened?"
"Nikki, he held up three fingers. Not two," He responded.
"Shit," she uttered.
Nicole looked up to the remaining man. Though her blurry vision she could see he was shorter in stature."If I cut you loose, don't attack, okay?" he said to Glenn. Glenn nodded and the man bent down and cut him free.
"My name is Guillermo. People here call me G, though," he spoke as he leaned back against the desk.
"I'm Glenn. She's Nicole." Glenn spoke up as he rubbed his wrists.
G smirked as he watched Nicole lean forward into her hands. "You put up one helluva fight. I'm sorry that my man knocked you out, though."
"What'd I do again?" she questioned.
G chuckled, "Bit the hell out of him. He needed stitches."
"That explains the iron taste in my mouth," she complained as Felipe walked back in.
He opened up her hand and put three aspirins in it. Nicole looked at him curiously. "To help with your headache and dizziness," he said as he handed her water.
Nicole chucked the pills into her mouth and chugged down some water. "Thank you," she murmured.
"You're welcome," Felipe said quietly, "You have a mild concussion. Make sure to stay hydrated and don't do a lot of running."
Nicole laughed sarcastically, "Kinda hard to not do the latter in this world."
Glenn gave out a laugh, "Nice to see that your sarcasm didn't fade."
The blonde woman looked over her friend, "Never, peach."
The two friends gave slight smiles to each other before a man ran in. "G, they're here."
"Sorry, that we have to do to you guys." G and Felipe grabbed the two and pinned their hands behind their backs. Nicole got a wave of dizziness as she got pulled up. Their hands got duct taped, as did their mouths. Pillowcases were thrown over their heads and they began getting pushed from the room they were in.
Nicole tripped going upstairs, both from not being able to see and the fact that her head was spinning again. She heard a door creak in front of her and she got yanked backward.
She could feel her knees start to buckle as her body swayed. All she wanted right now was to sit down. Nicole's knees buckled when a voice yelled from below them. She got pulled up and pushed forward. The bag got ripped from her head.
Nicole's eye slammed shut from the sudden sunlight. When she opened them, she saw the seemingly perilous drop below her. She whimpered as the possibility of her fate. She whimpered at the possibility of never seeing her daughter again. She whimpered about leaving her daughter alone in a world like this.
Nicole felt a tear stray from her left eye. She watched the group below her talk. Eventually, G started to walk back inside and the men pulled Glenn and her back into the building.
When they got back inside, G personally pulled off and cut the duct tape from the two. "I'm sorry about that. Show of Force," he apologized.
Nicole didn't say anything before she sat down. "How's your head?" he asked.
She scoffed, "Fantastic. Almost being thrown off of a roof helped a lot."
G chuckled, "You'll be fine."
"Let me know if you need anything. If not, come join everyone," G started to walk out.
"Wait," Nicole shot up. She regretted it when the room spun. Glenn rushed to her side to help her side back down. "I know this is a lot to ask, especially since our group is at odds right now," she paused looking up to the man.
"What is it?" G questioned, placing his hands on his hips.
"Prednisone. Do you know if you have any?" She asked as she grabbed onto Glenn's hand on her shoulder.
"May I ask why?"
"My daughter has an autoimmune disease. She's out of medicine," Nicole responded in an almost pleading tone.
"I'll talk to Felipe. See if we have some to give to you," G said in a gentle tone.
"Thank you." Nicole gave him a smile.
"No problem," he said before he walked out. Nicole looked down to her red wrists and rubbed them. Glenn adjusted his baseball cap, and Nicole gazed down to her feet. She realized that she only had one shoe.
"Glenn," she began, "where the hell is my shoe?"
The Korean started to laugh at his friend. Nicole started laughing after him, "I'm serious. I need that." The two couldn't keep a straight face after that. Nicole's head was still pounding and her vision got blurry from time to time, but she didn't let it completely stop her.
Sooner than later, the two found themselves outside of the room with some elderly people and few Chihuahuas. Nicole had to use Glenn as structural support every now and then when she'd get a dizzy spell.
Nicole realized the number of elderly people that resided in this place; she couldn't believe that they lasted this long. These people -- young and old -- were surviving together, bound to each other in the worst of times. This gave her hope. Hope that someday, things would return to normal.
Everything was going fine. Glenn and Nicole were playing some cards and talking with these joyful, optimistic people. It brought a genuine smile to their faces. That was until one of the elders, Mr. Gilbert, started hyperventilating. "He's having an asthma attack," Nicole stated.
One of the other men, Carlito, rushed to try to find an inhaler. "I can't find it!" he yelled.
"Mr, Gilbert," Nicole shakily bent down. It was a really shitty time for the dizziness to come. "Breathe with me and count 1, 2, 3," she encouraged.
"C'mon, repeat after me," she spoke softly, "one,"
"One," Mr. Gilbert mimicked, as he tried to catch his breath.
"C'mon, two." She set her hand on his knee as she tried to help him.
"Two,"
"You're doing great, Mr. Gilbert," Nicole praised, "three,"
"Three,"
Mr. Gilbert managed to catch his breath a little bit. Luckily, Felipe ran over with an inhaler and helped him get his breath back.
Nicole glanced over, seeing Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl walking over. She stood up, probably way to fast. "Woah, easy, Nikki." Glenn grabbed ahold of her as she lost balance.
"What the hell is this?" Rick asked as Glenn held onto the dizzy girl.
"An asthma attack. He couldn't catch his breath all of a sudden," Glenn told him.
"I thought you two were getting eaten by dogs," T-Dog exasperated.
Nicole chuckled, gazing over to the dogs, "Those mutts? Totally." The group glanced over to dogs, which started barking.
"Can I have word with you?" Rick pulled G aside. "You are the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met. We walked in here ready to kill every last one of you."
"I'm glad it didn't go down that way," G said.
"And if it had, that blood would be on my hands," Rick responded, gazing back at Mr. Gilbert.
"Mine too. We'd have fought back, wouldn't be the first time we've had to," G retaliated. "Protect the food, the medicine -- what's left of it." Nicole suddenly felt guilty for asking for some medicine for her little girl. In fact, she felt guilty for needing some herself. "These people, the old ones -- the staff took off, just left 'em here to die."
"Me and Felipe were the only ones who stayed," G finished.
"What are you, doctors?" Rick asked. Nicole clutched onto Glenn's shirt. She felt her stomach turn with nausea. She didn't want to tell anyone though.
"Felipe's a nurse -- special care provider. Me, I'm the custodian," G replied. Nicole did not expect for Guillermo to be a simple custodian. He held an authority stance that could have taken years to develop, but here he was. End of the freaking world with a sea of followers at his disposal.
"Let's go somewhere else," G suggested before walking away. Rick immediately followed, so did T-Dog. Daryl looked back to the girl holding on to her friend.
"What happened to 'er?" he asked, motioning toward Nicole.
"She bit a guy and got knocked out," Glenn said in a nonchalant voice. "She's got a small concussion."
"Yeah, and I have one less shoe. That's great too." Nicole complained, lifting her foot up slightly.
"You're still more worried about your shoe than your head?" Glenn questioned as he looked down at her.
"Well, obviously." She smirked at his reaction.
Daryl sighed and pulled something out from the tuck of his jeans. "I grabbed this before we ran." It was Nicole's dainty shoe. "Ain't gonna hold much longer. Gonna need to find you some boots, girl."
Nicole grinned and grabbed her shoe from his hand. "Thank you, Daryl." She said as she slid it back on.
The trio followed the rest of the group into the back room where G and Rick were talking. "Where is the rest of your crew?" Rick asked. Glenn let go of Nicole. She leaned on the wall for some support. Daryl decided to stand close to her in the chance she needed some extra.
"Some vatos trickle in to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay. It's a good thing too. We need the muscle," G told Rick. "The people we've encountered since things fell apart, the worst kind -- plunderers, the kind that take by force."
"That's not who we are," Rick stated, giving G a sympathetic look.
"How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage -- appearances."
"Guess the world changed," T-Dog stated.
"No. It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken," G paused, "so we do what we can here. The Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves so that's just a dream."
Nicole felt tired. She leaned her head against the wall and shut her eyes -- hoping the faint pounding would completely go away. She began tuning out the conversation between Rick and G. When G yelled for someone named Marco, it scared her half to death.
Her bloodshot eyes opened as the man, she assumed was Marco, entered. "Go and grab this woman's bag." G told him. Marco nodded and walked off.
Nicole saw that Rick was setting down guns. She was confused. Had she really dozed off that much?
Marco walked back in with the familiar indigo. Nicole noticed the bite mark on his hand as handed it back to her. "I'm sorry," she uttered out, "I panicked and I'm sorry."
Marco nodded in understanding, "We all do what we have to in order to survive. You put up one hell of a fight." Nicole smiled and took her bag from him. Marco walked out of the room.
"I had Felipe put a couple of bottles of what you asked for in there -- what we could spare," G told Nicole. "It's not a lot, but hopefully it will be enough for your little girl for a while."
"Thank you, G. I'll repay the favor one day," she smiled as dug through the bag for her .9mm. Once she found it, she tucked it into her jeans and pulled the straps of the backpack over her shoulders.
"You repay me by getting those meds into that little girl of yours," he told her as Rick zipped up the bag. Rick gave them as many guns as he could spare without risking the camps life.
"We've got to get going," Rick sighed as he pulled Nicole's bat from the bag. He then strapped the remaining guns across his back. "It was a pleasure, Guillermo."
"Likewise." G walked the group to the door and opened it. "You guys take care of yourselves."
"You too," Rick said as G shut the door.
The group began walking away from the Vatos and Nicole felt her nausea start getting worse. Glenn stood by her in case of a dizzy spell that would cause her to fall. "Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat," Glenn joked.
"Don't tell anybody," Rick chuckled.
Daryl scoffed, "You've given away half of our guns and ammo."
"It was not half, Daryl," Nicole shot out softly as she placed her bat on her shoulder.
"For what, a bunch of old farts who are going to die off momentarily anyhow?" Daryl continued to shoot at Rick. "Seriously, how long do you think the got?"
"How long do any of us?" Rick questioned.
The group reached the end of a broken down bus near the train tracks the parked at. "Where the hell's the van? Please tell me I'm hallucinating," Nicole begged.
"You're not," Daryl quipped out.
"Who the hell would take it?" Glenn asked, worriedly.
"Merle," Rick stated.
"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp," Daryl told Rick.
"I guess this means we're walking then," Nicole groaned.
"No, this means we're running. C'mon," Rick stated before he started jogging away. Nicole watched as T-Dog and Daryl followed after him.
"Fantastic," Nicole groaned before she and Glenn started jogging too. "I'm not supposed to be doing this," she grumbled.
"We've gotta get back in a hurry," Rick called out and continued on.
The sun was setting fast. It was about as fast as the bile that was coming to Nicole's throat. The group was running up the hill close to camp. "I can't." Nicole stopped, bending over.
"C'mon, Nicole. We can't stop," T pressured.
"Give her a moment. We can catch our breaths a sec," Rick said with a sigh.
Nicole's vision swayed as she bent over. Felipe was right, running with a concussion was something she shouldn't have done. Nicole felt the bile press against her throat. And eventually, she emptied the little amount of food she had in her system. It was watery and contained the remnants of the bag of chips she ate a Guillermo's.
"You okay?" Glenn asked, placing his hand on his friend's back.
"I'm fine," Nicole stood back up straight. Her head was swaying as she wiped off the vomit from the corner of her mouth. "Let's go."
The group glanced to each other before continuing to run up the hill. Nicole was getting more and more tired by the second. The fact that night had finally fallen made it much, much worse.
Then the screams and gunshots erupted. "Oh my god," Rick muttered out. The whole group ran impossibly faster to get to the camp. Nicole forced herself to keep going regardless of how tired she was.
When they got to camp, all hell had broke loose. Walkers were everywhere. Nicole pulled out her gun and started shooting. When a walker would get to close, she'd swing at it with her bat.
When she noticed that the others had the rest within a few shots of being clear, she called out for her baby girl. "Cheyanne! Cheyanne!"
"Mama!" the little girl's cry erupted as she ran to her mother. Nicole scooped her up and hugged her with all of her might.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Nicole sobbed into Cheyanne's shirt. Nicole didn't notice Daryl protectively standing behind her as it waiting for another walker to make its way over to them.
Nicole noticed Andrea leaning over someone. It took her a moment to realize who it was. Nicole's heart broke. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her eyes filled with tears and they fell from her green orbs. "Oh my god," she murmured, before burying Cheyanne's face into her shoulder.
Amy was dead.
She was really dead.
hey y'all! i hope you had a great day and i hope you enjoy this chapter. my day was anxiety ridden. my mom and i went to an awkward dinner with my father (who from now on i will refer to as sperm donor, k?) who walked out on us after i confronted him about the verbal abuse he's put my mom and i through. it was horrible. i mean, i got free food but still. anyway, not important. i hope you guys have a great rest of your day/night. say hi to a stranger, tell your parents you love them, give a homeless person some money. i love you all, be safe and make smart choices. i'll see you on monday! peaceee -erin