"Rick. Rick wake up."
He startles as a hand shakes his shoulder roughly, his vision blurry as he wipes the sleep out of his eyes. He hadn't even realized they hand landed. Heath gestured for him to get out the chopper and they both jumped down onto solid ground. Rick observes his surroundings, finding a medium building with cars parked outside, and 2 other helicopters on their helipad. The others who escaped must have come here too, Rick thought to himself as Dean, Ellie Anne and Heath all made to move inside the building.
"We are in Phoenix; this facility here is a station of sorts, just were those who captured you would pit stop and keep the transport." Dean explained on their way to the building.
"Should we expect company?" Rick asks, fiddling with his gun that was tucked in the side of his sweatpants.
"No, only the sympathizers, the ones who agreed to do this the right way. So don't worry, you won't need that." Dean gazes at Rick's restless hand on his gun. Rick nods as they make their way through the building and into a giant room, filled with guns, ammo, med supplies, food, drink and keys to the cars outback. The others who had helped him escape the base were all sat around in the area and greeted them with smiles and nods of acknowledgement. Some were unfamiliar and he recognized these must be the sympathizers that Dean had talked about.
They all sat as they were attended to with food, water and to sort out any injuries. Dean came over to Rick after he had attended to Ellie, and patched up the fresh bites on his arms, stitching them so they wouldn't scar as badly as some of the others had.
"So Rick, because you have been on the blood transfusion every week for the past 6 years, now that you are not going to be on it anymore, it's highly likely you might have some… withdrawal effects." Dean says sheepishly and Rick sighs. This was great, just what he needed.
"What're the effects?" Rick asks.
"Symptoms will most likely be a fever, so sweating, the shakes and you also might be a bit disoriented at times, feeling dizzy and there could be an odd fainting spell. Vomiting and extreme headaches are less likely but still possible I guess. On the bright side, you won't die." Dean supplies with a shrug.
"Yeah, lucky fucking me." Rick groans. "How long will that last?"
Dean bites his lip, frowning slightly. "My guess is for a couple of weeks? Maybe a month until you are completely in the clear."
Rick nods his head in acceptance; he was willing to take that in order to get away from being a lab rat and having his family again. Rick watched Dean as he stitched the last remaining bites with concentration.
"Dean?" Rick asks. Dean hums in acknowledgement that he is listening. "Did we just destroy the only chance of findin' a cure to this thing?"
Dean chuckles slightly before shaking his head. "I urm, I kind of hacked into the system an hour before the riot and stole all the data onto a disk drive. I know these scientists in a low key facility up in Boise, they weren't as far ahead and there aren't that many of them, but they do it the right way, the humane way, so with this data maybe there is a chance."
"And what about us" indicating to himself and Ellie who approached the two of them with Heath and Anne following behind. "Do we get dragged along to that too? Because i gotta tell you, I'm not letting that happen."
"No of course not, it is totally your choice. That's what it's going to be from now on Rick, a choice." Dean says with strong conviction. Rick feels the tension in his body loosen at Dean's words before looking to Ellie.
"What're you gonna do?" Rick asks.
"I'm going to the facility in Boise." Ellie states without a second thought and Rick looks at her in surprise. Ellie chuckles. "I know you must think I'm mad, I get it, hell maybe I am. The thing is, once I knew I could help find a cure for this, I wanted to help. I just somehow became an object in their eyes and not a human being. Yet this place is going to be different, and I can help." She says determinedly.
"And so can i." Anne joins in, standing facing their small group. "I will still be a collector, I know what to look for, but I will give them a choice. They can volunteer or they can leave. Always their choice from now on."
"What about you Rick? It's your choice." Dean questions, though already knowing the answer and Rick chuckles slightly.
"I think I'll have to pass. You've got my data for over 6 years; I think I've given enough. I'm going home to my family."
Dean nods in understanding and gives him a genuine smile. Rick smiles back before turning a questioning gaze to Heath, who had not said anything.
"Yeah, I'm with Rick, I want to go back where I was from, back to my friends." Heath says.
The group finish getting stitched up and fed before Dean gives Rick and Heath holsters with some guns ammo and knifes attached. He also supplies them with 2 backpacks full of enough food and water and medication to last a week. The last things he gives are a key to one of the cars out front and a map which has all gas stations marked along the route to Washington DC, to Alexandria. Anne Dean and Ellie all come outside to say goodbye to himself and Heath, who are ready to go.
"I'm sorry we didn't have any spare clothes and you two still have to walk around in those." Dean speaks up, gesturing to Rick and Heath's grey sweatpants and plain white t-shirts with their patient number on it.
"We'll find somethin' on the road." Rick dismisses before pausing. "Just one more question, if I get bit, what happens?"
Dean's brows furrow and he shrugs. "I honestly don't know. Without the constant blood transfusion there is no way to tell if your blood has adapted and become immune. So just try not to get bit anyway."
Rick laughs "Yeah, I'll do my best." He looks at the watch he had found in the building and taken, indicating it was time they made a move if they wanted to use as much daylight as they could.
"It's a 35 hour drive barring any complications, we should probably get going." Rick says to everyone and they nod. Anne gives him a small wave goodbye which he returns.
He shakes Dean's hand and grasps it tightly, hoping Dean understood his appreciation.
Ellie came running up to Rick and enclosed him in a hug. He hugged her back and smiled. Ellie was technically his only friend for the past 6 years who he saw every day and even though he was beyond relieved they had gotten free, he was going to miss talking to her.
"Thank you, Rick." Ellie whispered before moving back from the hug, looking at him with tears in her eyes.
"For what?"
"Thank you for your stories. For how much you love your family, how much you love Michonne and Judith, how inspired you were by them to keep fighting, to keep having hope. Rick, hearing that gave me hope, so thank you, and goodbye." Ellie said as she took Dean's hand in hers and their small group waved as Rick and Heath drove away.
The drive was filled with comfortable silence, both he and Heath too overwhelmed that they were finally out of that hell and they had their freedom back. When they make a break at one of the gas stations provided on the map, they found a stocked clothes store right next to it. They cleared out the few walkers inside with their knives and took the clothes to the restroom to get changed.
Rick stripped out of the clothes until he was clad in underwear, looking into the bathroom mirror at his appearance. He hadn't really lost any body mass since they had fed him and made him exercise to keep up his strength after every transfusion. The differences came in the marks and scars on his arms, the shape of teeth covering over another mark and so on. He knew they would go eventually fade so they were less visible but they were always going to be there as a reminder.
His eyes move to his face and he is surprised to see he almost looks like he once did, just with a tiny bit more grey in his hair and beard. His hair had slightly begun to curl again with its length and it brings back memories of Michonne tangling her fingers through his locks. She always said how much she loved his curls. He smiled to himself before putting on the jeans. He starts to put the shirt, but the sight of part of a letter on the back of his neck in the mirror made him freeze. He had almost forgotten they had branded him. They had held him down and changed all he was to a number on a shirt and a letter on the back of his neck. It was just another reminder that would stay with him the rest of his life.
He sighed and continued putting the shirt on. Normally he would have the sleeves rolled up to his elbow but the sight of his scars was making him feel a bit sick, plus he didn't want to scare anyone, to make people think he was diseased. So instead he made sure the sleeves were down and covering his arms. The new clothes gave him a small part of his identity back but he knew he wouldn't fully be back to himself until he was home with his family, because that's just who Rick Grimes was.
He finished by wrapping the holster Dean had given him around his hips, placing his weapons in the holders and walked out the restroom and to the car where Heath was waiting in his own new clothes.
Heath took over driving for a while as Rick slept uncomfortably against the car window. His dreams and nightmares collided, both his family and his torturers were there but all of a sudden he was jolted awake followed by Heath cursing angrily.
"What is it?" Rick grumbled, feeling slightly dazed after the abrupt awakening.
"The engine is toast." Heath hits the steering wheel in frustration as Rick looks at the map then outside.
"Well, it looks like we are 16 miles out from Alexandria, that's about a 6 hour walk." Rick states, looking at the sun beginning to rise. "It's dawn so we have daylight on our side through this. C'mon." Rick gestures and he and Heath collect their backpacks and head in the direction of home.
As they walk, Rick's mind wonders into a place of serious doubt and negativity, especially as he was beginning to feel weak and slightly feverish. What if when he got to Alexandria, it was destroyed, over run by walkers? What if his family had moved on somewhere else? What if even more of them had died? He felt his eyes begin to fill with tears but shook himself out of it. He had held out hope for 6 years, he could do it for a few more hours at least.
It was around 3 hours into their trek that Rick and Heath had to divert from the road due to a dozen walkers, so they headed to the surrounding trees instead. After a while they came across something that left them shocked. They crouched down in the shrubbery as they observed a herd of walkers in a clearing moving around in a circle, almost like it was orchestrated.
"Did you ever see anythin' like this on your runs?" Rick whispers to Heath who shakes his head, looking disbelievingly at the heard. In that moment Rick thought his ears were deceiving him but he could swear words were coming from that heard. He moved closer to see if his hearing was correct when a few of the walker's heads turn in his general direction. Just as they start to move closer to him and Heath, a hand covers his mouth and drags him down into a mud puddle a few feet from where he was. He starts to struggle and fight back when a woman with wild hair came into his line of vision, shushing him with a terrified expression. He stopped fighting and she covered his face and clothes in mud as well as herself. He looked to his left and found Heath in a similar position with two other strangers.
They heard the footsteps of the herd shuffle through the trees and the distinct whisper of "Where are they?" Follow this way" reached his ears, clear as day and Rick felt a cold shiver run down his spine at the haunting voices, the terrifying realisation that the walkers could communicate made him feel nauseous. After a few minutes of horrific silence, the herd move past them, back in the direction Rick and Heath had come from. Rick looked over to the woman who had grabbed him but she shook her head, indicating to wait a bit longer. It felt like a lifetime but in reality it was a few minutes until the woman nodded and everyone got up out the mud. Rick turns toward the woman and her friends, staring at them for a few moments, wondering where to even start.
"What the hell was that?" Rick whispers harshly, fear still clinging to him.
"Whisperers." The woman replies, her and the 2 others she was with, a man and woman, start to move north. Rick and Heath share a look and follow them; since they all seemed to be headed in the same direction.
"Whisperers?" Rick inquires. The woman looks at him surprisingly, "You never had to encounter them before? Lucky."
Rick shakes his head in confusion, "Let me get this straight, walkers can talk now?"
"They are not walkers." The woman frowns at Rick, surprised at his statement.
Rick is beyond confused. He reaches out and holds her arm to stop her walking. "What do you mean they're not walkers? And who are you?"
"The ones whispering, they are not walkers, they are humans, though that's debatable. They cover themselves in walker skin so they fit in with the herds, even manage to lead the herd in any direction they want for some reason."
Rick looks at her incredulously, trying to wrap his head round that. The woman chuckles while shrugging.
"Yeah I know, it's hard to believe, and when you do believe, you realize it's fucked up." She pauses and starts walking again. "The name is Magna and this is Luke and Kelly. You and your friend are…?
"I'm Rick, that's Heath." He gestures.
"Well it's nice to meet ya, and it's a good job I did, being all curious over them whisperers nearly got you killed, how have you not even heard of them? They've been around these parts for at least, what? 6 months now." She looks at her friends who nod.
"We've kinda been away for a while." Rick tells her.
"Yeah? Well you got one hell of a welcome back party. Where are you going?"
"We're headed to Alexandria."
Magna laughs shortly, shaking her head. "Yeah, well good luck with getting in there."
Rick feels his heart drop to his stomach, dreading that something had gone wrong.
"Why?" He asks, trying to keep the panic and anger out of his voice.
"We were brought there a few months ago by this 10 year old little girl, she saved our asses. We thought we would be allowed to stay but the leader didn't trust us, well not enough to stay in Alexandria, she sent us to Hilltop instead."
Rick took a moment to catch up to the end of the sentence, too overcome with hope at hearing that a 10 year old girl saved their life and brought them to Alexandria, thinking they very well might have been saved by his daughter.
"Who's in charge of Alexandria?" He asks, his voice almost raspy from the emotion threatening to rise. "And who was the girl that saved you?"
"I was under the impression you had already been to Alexandria?" Magna asks suspiciously, eyes narrowing slightly.
"I have, but like I said, it's been awhile." Rick confesses, hoping she sees his sincerity. Magna nods.
"Michonne, and the kid was called Judith if my memory serves."
With that one statement, a giant magnitude of joy and relief flooded its way through his entire being and he couldn't contain the wide smile that overtook his face, followed by a laugh of pure happiness. Heath smiles from beside him, patting Rick on the shoulder. Magna raises a brow at his outburst of joy.
"I take it you know them?" She asks and Rick slowly comes down from his giddiness, but his smile remains.
Yeah, I know 'em. They're my family." Rick confirms, a lump starting to form in his throat.
Magna looks surprised but nods and gestures for him and the others to follow her. "Come on then, let's get you home."
They walk for a few more hours, washing off the mud on their faces with their bottled water and making light conversation. Yet, Rick wasn't really paying attention, he was too busy thinking about the fact his girls were alive. He was thinking how proud he was of his baby girl, who wasn't such a baby anymore, saving these people and kicking ass. He was thinking of Michonne and how she had took the lead, and how happy and content that made him because he knew she was the perfect one for the job, she was the only one who could. He was thinking what it will be like to hold them in his arms and never let go ever again.
His thoughts begin to get more distorted as they continue walking and he feels a bead of sweat drip down his forehead. He stops for a moment, feeling the world tilt on its axis as he balances himself on a tree trunk, taking a shaky breath. Heath notices and walks back to him, a concerned look on his face.
"Rick? You okay?"
The rest of the group keep moving, but at a slower pace, making their way out of the trees but still insight for Rick and Heath to catch up. Rick shakes a hand dismissively when Heath tries to help him.
"I'm alright, I just need a minute."
Heath nods, a look of understanding passes over his features. "Withdrawal symptoms huh?"
Ricks hums in agreement. "Yeah, I guess so." He adds a moment later, finding strength to carry on. He takes a few steps until he hears raised voices from the direction Magna, Jake and Kerry had gone. Him and Heath move forward to find out what is going on when a familiar voice echoes through the trees into Rick's ear. He finds himself stopping in his tracks as he listens.
"-fine, but why are you comin' to Alexandria's gates, your Hilltop." The gruff voice informs the group, catching the tail end of the conversation.
Rick makes his way to the group, feeling happiness as he got closer to the commotion, yet he couldn't see the guy who's voice he definitely knew as Magna's group and the remaining trees blocked his view.
"We were just escorting these guys who said they were from here." Magna reasons, scowling back at the man.
"No one from 'ere has gone out in the direction you came from!" The man raises his voice, clearly disgruntled with the group before him. Rick pushes forward, moving Jake and Kerry out the way, and coming to a stop a few steps in front of Magna.
"Brother." He breathed as he takes in Daryl, who hadn't changed in the 6 years since he last saw him. 6 years since Daryl had shot walker after walker to stop them from getting to him up on that bridge.
Daryl's mouth goes slack and his eyes widen, his crossbow which had been aimed slightly, dropping to his side.
"Rick?" Daryl whispers disbelievingly. He shuffles from side to side for a moment, staring at Rick before launching forward and bringing him into a fierce hug. Rick returns it with equal force, the intensity nearly crushing but he didn't care, he had found his brother. He heard Daryl's quiet sobs muffled into his shoulder as Rick patted him on the back.
Daryl pulls back, a hand remaining on Rick's shoulder as he shakes his head in disbelief. "You're alive?"
"Yeah. Yeah I am."
Daryl looks past Rick's shoulder and tenses, surprised before he questions what he is seeing. "Heath?"
"Hey, Daryl." Heath greets with a nods and Daryl shakes his head in astonishment.
"Man, what the fuck is happenin'? How are you both here?" He questions again.
Rick huffs a laugh "It's a long story, one I know I'll have to tell, but right now I need to see the rest of my family." Rick says. Daryl's face goes impassive for a moment, and Rick feels a slight moment of dread before he smiles and nods behind him.
"Michonne is out in the clearing next to the west wall, I'll take you there."
Rick feels a smile once again grace his face at the mention of his love and starts to move in that direction before stopping suddenly and turning to Magna and her friends. "Thank you, you saved our ass out there."
Magna smirks and bows her head in acknowledgement. Daryl moves closer to the group, eyeing Magna with uncertainty. "Can I trust you to take Heath to the front gates?" Magna raises her brow but nods, and Daryl grunts in acceptance before turning back to Rick and walking west.
"C'mon brother, let's go find her."
Rick follows and as they walk he feels Daryl's eyes on him every so often, making him paranoid. "What?" He asks him.
"Nothin'" Daryl says defensively, but continues with a lighter tone "Just, never thought I would see you again. I missed you man." He mumbles at the end.
Rick sighs before smirking "That's sweet."
"Shut up." Daryl snarls in embarrassment and glares at Rick.
Rick laughs before returning to a sombre mood, remembering those 6 years without his family. "I missed you too." Rick states, causing Daryl to grunt but he could see the small smile on his face. He smiles back before continuing. "I missed you all, how is everyone? How's my little girl?" Rick asks proudly.
"Little ass kicker is kicking ass, though she ain't so little anymore, man." Daryl supplies and Rick chuckles, feeling another swell of pride.
"Is she with Michonne now?" Rick questions, desperate to finally have his girls back with him as soon as possible.
"Nah, Judith is lookin' after- "Daryl pauses, avoiding Rick's eyes for a moment before mumbling out the rest "lookin' after one of the town folks kid while they are out on a run."
Rick frowns at Daryl's odd behavior but before he can question him about it, they come up to a clearing where the sight that meets him gives air back into his deprived lungs while simultaneously taking his breathe away.