He needed to go home. He needed to see his family. That was the only thought racing through Rick's mind as he felt his stomach curl as the helicopter made a quick descent. He was floating in and out of consciousness and what was happening came in brief flashes. He sees strangers looking down at him, as they rush him inside. He smells anti-septic products as all he takes in is bright white light, the combination reminding him of a hospital which seemed impossible. There were no more hospitals functioning, there haven't since everything went to shit.
His eyes grow heavy and he is once again surrounded in darkness, hearing a distant familiar voice before he falls unconscious "He's a B, please save him."
When he wakes, the first thing he notices is a dull pain in his side. It's the same pain he experience after he had his appendix out years ago, it was a post-surgical pain. Wherever the hell he was, they had surgeons and they had saved his life. He looked down at his now bandaged side and frowned, not being able to comprehend what has happened. He had died, he had thought he would die after that explosion but now he was here, recovering.
"Hey." A voice sounds from next to him; he turns his head slowly, feeling groggy from the drugs that were being pumped through him. He makes out that it is Jadis or Anne as she is called now. His throat is dry and he can't find the energy to speak, all he can do is look at her questioningly.
"It's okay, just heal Rick, they fixed you up, you should be up on your feet in the next week, I can tell you what's going on but for now, you need to rest." She whispers and he feels himself being dragged under once again.
As promised, he was up and about within the week and Anne told him what had happened. How she had found him washed up on the river bank after the explosion and had made a deal with these people to save him. These people who she works for apparently. Anne says she is a collector, she brings them people that they need for something, something to secure the future and that's all she knows.
"Well as grateful as I am, imma need a helicopter ride back home, now that I'm feelin' better." He announces to Anne. A frown and aversion of his eyes is all he gets from her. He's about to ask her what is wrong when he is interrupted.
"Rick?" A vague familiar voice comes from behind him and as he turns he comes faced with someone he thought long dead.
"Heath?" He questions surprisingly, taking in the man before him. Heath smiles and moves to greet Rick with a strong unexpected hug. He is confused but returns the embrace before Heath pulls back with a sigh.
"Sorry, it's just been a long time and you are the first familiar friendly face I've seen since I got here."
"What?" Rick asks "you've been gone for over 18 months. Why didn't you come back?"
Heath looks past Rick to Anne for a moment before shaking his head. "You don't know do you?" He grabs Rick's arm and moves him to a more secluded spot away from the dozens of people who all look lost in canteen like room. "Rick, I was taken and I want to leave, I have tried to leave but they won't let me, no one is allowed to leave." Heath informs him and Rick feels a mixture of dread and anger swell within him. He wasn't going to allow that, he needed to get home to Michonne, his daughter, his brother, his family no matter what it takes. He turns toward Anne who had quietly followed them.
"Did you know this?" He asks angrily and she tenses in defence.
"Yes, but it was the only way to save your life. I had to, you are my friend." She states and Rick sighs nodding his head before looking between Anne and Heath.
"We need to come up with a plan to get out of here."
Before he can say anything else a large noise startles the 3 of them as the metal doors swing open, 4 large guards come rushing through, escorting an older man in a white lab coat who was pointing directly at Rick. "Him, his blood work came back, he is an A. Take him to station 1."
Anne and Heath's panicked faces give him enough warning to engage a defensive mode and he manages to throw an right hook to one of the guards, knocking him to the ground before he is swarmed by the others, tackling him, catching him in a head lock as he is dragged away. He is dragged through numerous corridors and he fights each movement, slowing the guards down before he is knocked over the head.
He comes around with a groan, his head throbbing and as he tries to lift his hand to his head, he finds he can't due to the restraints on his wrists and feet. He feels a pressure in his left arm and looks to see 2 empty tubes connected to his veins. He follows the tubes with his eyes and meets a machine with another 2 tubes leading to the bed next to him, not yet connected. His attention is brought to a young woman who is escorted in and to the bed, lying down without complaint.
"Miss?" Rick tries to get her attention but fails and she stares lifelessly at her hands. "Miss! Are you okay?" Rick asks louder with concern at her extremely pale complexion and hollow eyes. She looks to him slowly, her eyes filled with sadness and hopelessness. The moment is interrupted by the guy with the lab coat from before.
"Okay, Rick is it?" He asks and Rick stays silent, watching his surroundings carefully, watching another lab coat guy insert the other tube into the sickly looking girl who doesn't even flinch.
"Hmm, not a talkative one are you?" The main lab coat asks, laughing slightly. Rick cocks his head, glaring at him.
"And who the hell are you?" Rick snarls and the man raises an eyebrow.
"I will tell you who I am, only if this works, otherwise there is no point in a dead man knowing my name." He says calmly before nodding to his assistant who turns on the machine that connects Rick and this woman together. Suddenly his blood is drawn from his body into the machine via one tube as blood from the woman beside him he guesses, goes into his veins. He feels an uncomfortable burning sensation and starts to feel drowsy.
The next thing he knows, he is being unplugged and a walker's head is being brought into the room. It snarls and snaps its teeth together, and suddenly guards are holding him and his arm out towards the walker's mouth. He tries to resist but he feels the sharp painful teeth sink into his skin, ripping through it as he gasps in pain. A knife makes its way through the walker's head and its hold on Rick's arm is gone. Rick feels a blind sense of fear, he was bit, he was going to die and it was going to be a horrible death. Thoughts of a pale feverish and weak Carl fills his mind and tears spring to his eyes. He was going to die. He thought he had accepted it when he blew up the bridge. He had accepted it, he had found his family and he had saved him, he was at peace with that. Yet, this was bad, he was going to die so far away from his loved ones, in a strange place with a fever that will burn through his very skin and wait painfully as each organ shut down. So he waited. Waited for the pain, for the fever and maybe the hallucinations but they didn't come. 12 hours past, then 24 hours, 36, 48 and after 72 hours he felt fine. Completely fine. He didn't die.
"Ah, another success, perfect. Well Rick, I did promise, I am Dr. Carlton and we are going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on." He smiles brightly yet Rick feels dread fill him. "Shave him and mark him." He tells one of his assistants who obliged and shaves his head to a buzz cut as well as beard. They hold him down as they tattoo the letter 'A' on the back of his neck.
For the next 4 years, it was a repeat of that day. He would get a blood transfusion and then bit and he still survived. The young woman who kept giving him her blood had told him her name was Ellie. She didn't speak too much, she was always drained but when she did, she talked to him about her old life before this and he shared the same curtsey. He told her about Michonne and his daughter Judith, how much he missed them and the rest of his family and how he couldn't wait to see them again. Ellie was always shocked when he said this; shocked that he was still hopeful that he could escape. There have been moments when he nearly lost it, he had tried numerous times to escape, had killed guards with his bare hands and made it to a certain point until he got caught and punished for his attempt. In those times, he hears her voice, telling him once again why she loves him, because he is a fighter and he knew he had to keep fighting.
It is on one of his lonely nights in his cell where he would stare at the four walls and let his anger simmer, yet his love for his family would wash it away and keep him going, though he has no idea how to get out of this hell. He hears his name in a whisper through his door. He gets up and approaches it, whispering back a questioning hello.
"Rick, it's Anne, I don't have much time but know Heath and I haven't been idle these past 4 years. We have a plan, a rebellion of sorts, it's coming together but we still need a key person to help us, one of the scientists, we need to suss out if any of them will be willing to help." She pauses for a moment. "Rick I am sorry but I have to go now, just hold out hope a little longer, we will get out of here and get you back to your family." Anne finishes and Rick feels a new wave of hope fill his chest and he smiles to himself as he hears her retreating footsteps, he just had to hold out. It would be hard, to just wait, but it was his only chance to get home. He had to just have faith.
That was easier said than done, Rick thinks to himself as another 2 years pass him by, where the experiments on him get more extreme. They increased the amount of walker bites, trying to see how much the blood flowing through him could hold off a large amount of the virus. It left the skin on both his arms marked with scars of each bite. Some were barely visible, others were pink and some were still scabbing over. He didn't know the science of it all; all he had learnt was from what he had overheard. That the combination of his blood type and DNA with Ellie's blood type and DNA, which was extremely rare, caused an immunity to the virus that had destroyed the old world.
Even through this torture, he held out hope, but he was not being idle either. Anne had said they needed a scientist on their side so he had been observing if any of them showed guilt, remorse or even sympathy but none had so far. That was until 6 months ago when a new young scientist was brought in to do tests on Ellie and Rick. He was a young guy, similar age to Ellie and he was kind to both of them. He noticed as the months went by that Ellie spoke a lot to this guy, learnt his name was Dean and he was actually a decent human being. He began to see an increase of guilt and sadness in Dean's expression as the months go by and today solidified the fact that Dean was their guy. He knew this because Dean was looking at Ellie with a look that he knew. It was the look he gave to his Michonne. He passes the message to Anne on one of her silent visits to his cell. He tells her Dean is their guy and she tells him she will confront him.
It seemed like another normal day of torture, him and Ellie in the lab, getting ready for another transfusion, with Dr. Carlton reading some charts before glancing at Rick. "Well, it seems your hair needs another cut Rick, and the beard. We have to keep you sterile after all." He laughs, moving towards the razor on the desk until Dean came running in; announcing to the guards that a massive riot had broke out. The guards went quickly to the scene and when the room was empty; Dean pulls out a gun and throws it at Rick who catches it. Dr Carlton shocked, turns to Rick with wide eyes.
"What are you doing?" He shouts indignantly, fear showing in his expression. Rick cocks his head to the side as he aims the gun at his torturers head.
"I would tell you, but there's no point telling a dead man my plans right?" Rick drawls and Dr Carlton's eyebrows rise as the familiar words sink in. Rick pulls the trigger and Dr Carlton falls to the ground in a crumbled heap.
"Let's go, we don't have much time, that rebellion is going to get pretty explosive soon if you catch my drift." Dean announces, smiling at Ellie who smiles widely back. He puts his arm round her waist, gun in the other, and escorts them both down winding corridors. Rick has his gun aimed in front of him as he turns a corner to come faced with 2 guards. He lets off two shots, one each in the head as the 3 make their way through the establishment with Dean shouting directions.
He nearly runs straight into Heath before he catches himself.
"Hey Rick, good to see you." Heath smiles and Rick nods, as they exit the building, followed by Anne closely behind and a dozen other people just making it out of range when the ground shakes and an explosion rips through the air, sending Rick and company crashing to the ground. He looks up at the damage, the whole building was destroyed and Rick felt glee at the fact.
He hears shouting from the guards, who begin shooting at him and the others. Rick, Heath and Dean manage to kill them before running towards the 3 helicopters at the entrance.
"The other guards were in the building so we shouldn't have any more trouble." Dean shouts as the come into the clear of the helipads. "Alex, you take 4 others on chopper 1, Emily you take the rest on chopper 2. Go now!"
The others nod and run onto the helicopters, some injured and bleeding but seemingly safe which Rick was grateful for, these people helped him escape after all. He looks to Dean who is helping Ellie up into the last remaining chopper.
"Dean, tell me you know how to fly one of these." Rick asks, almost dreading the answer being no. Dean turns to him, a manic smile on his face. "Of course. Now get on."
Rick doesn't have to be told twice. Him, Anne and Heath join Ellie in the helicopter as Dean starts up the engine. Soon enough they are flying away from the place he had been tortured, experimented on and imprisoned in for the last 6 years. Rick leans his head against the window, his eyes closing after a while. "I'm coming home." He mumbles.