Thank you so much for the reviews everyone! I honestly didn't know if I was going to get any feedback and I certainly didn't expect any this early. I hope you guys enjoy the story going forward. I know I'm enjoying writing it. :)
Rick opened his eyes. "Shane?!" he asked frantically "Shane?! Are you okay?!"
"Shane isn't here." the black face of a freedman appeared above him. Rick blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean Shane isn't here?" he asked.
"You've been asleep for a long time."
Rick struggled to comprehend what had happened, "How long have I been asleep?"
"Over a month."
Rick panicked, "How is that possible?!"
"You were shot in the head. Or grazed, a quarter inch to the right and you'd be dead." Rick raised his right hand to the side of his head. "The wound has closed up." the freedman told him, "But you haven't so much as opened an eyelid since it happened."
"How am I alive?" Rick asked, "I should have starved by now."
The freedman grabbed something off a table next to them. It was a funnel attached to a rubber hose. "I've been feeding you with this. You've been living off of a mix of eggs and milk for the last five weeks."
Rick stared at the contraption and looked back at the man holding it, "Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Morgan. It was my wife and kid who you tried to save."
"Are they alive?" Rick asked suddenly remembering exactly why he had been shot, "What about Shane? What happened to him?" he tried to sit up.
"Slow down." said Morgan pushing him back down on to the bed. "I don't know what happened to your friend. I was in the woods waiting for a chance to rescue my family when you showed up. After you got shot someone in the woods fired at the men but he only one shot off. Five of the Klansmen chased him into the woods. They left one to watch my wife and son. I shot him and cut them free. That's when we saw you were still breathing. I would have followed and helped your friend out but I figured we should get you to Newman for a doctor. So that's what we did. My guess is your friend figured you were dead and made a run for it."
Rick took a deep breath and nodded. He was silent for a moment. "Thank you." He said, "For saving my life."
"You saved my wife and son." Morgan, "For that I am in your debt. I just hope that your friend Shane didn't die as a result."
"Shane's tough, and he's smart. He's alive."
Morgan didn't respond to that; instead he said, "What's your name friend?"
"My name's Rick Grimes."
"Well Rick, as soon as you're ready you can go ahead try to stand up. We'll get you to the kitchen and I'll fix you some food."
It was only when he stood up that Rick realized how weak he was. He was able to get himself to the kitchen though and sat down as Morgan began to prepare some kind of meal. Rick suddenly had more questions.
"Why am I not at the hospital?"
"The doctor had to leave." Morgan said without turning around.
"Why did he have to leave?"
Morgan handed him a plate with meat and bread on it along with a cup of milk. "Eat. I'll explain everything once your stomach is full." Rick wolfed down the food. After he finished his second plate Morgan motioned for him to get up. Feeling stronger Rick followed his host to the door. Morgan handed him a pair of boots, "Follow me." he said. "Not long after you got shot the whole world went to hell." said Morgan, they walked down the street and rounded a corner. Rick gasped. There on the street lay nearly a hundred bodies covered in canvas.
"What the hell happened here?!" Rick demanded, "Please don't tell me the war has started again."
"No. Not the war. It's much worse than that." Morgan gestured toward the opposite side of the graveyard, "That's what happened."
Rick looked, a man was walking down the street. Except he wasn't really walking, more like stumbling, or shuffling. His arms hung limply off his shoulders and his head seemed to be cocked at an unnatural angle. The man turned, facing them, and that's when Rick saw his skin, it was gray as death.
"What in all of hell..."
"It's the dead." said Morgan. "They come back now. Unless you shoot them in the head they resurrect looking like that." Rick couldn't believe it. It had to be some kind of trick. The story was simply too fantastic to be true. "Watch." Morgan told him. He drew a pistol and pointed it at the walking creature and pulled the trigger. Blood spattered out of the man's chest and he fell to the ground.
"What the hell did you do?!" Rick demanded furiously.
"Look!" The gray faced man was getting up off the ground. The hole was still in it's chest and blood was puring out of it. It started to shuffle towards them now. Morgan shot it again this time in the head. It fell to the ground and didn't move. "Believe me now?" the freedman asked.
"How did this happen?" Rick was sitting back at the table in Morgan's kitchen. The man in question was sitting across from him.
"I don't know. Nobody knows. Just one day they were there and they were attacking people. Anybody that got bit or scratched turned into one of them. Nothing we could do about it."
"Is this happening elsewhere?"
"All over the country. Maybe further. We were getting telegrams from as far away as California saying it was happening there."
"Oh God." said Rick, "My family!" He stood up, "My family!" Morgan grabbed his arm.
"There's nothing you can do for them right now."
"I got to help them! I've got to see if they're still alive!"
"You will. But right now you're too weak. You'll fall over before you can get to them. Sit down." Rick sat down breathing heavily. "Where did your family live?"
"Glen-cove."
"Good that means they probably got the message to go to Atlanta."
"Atlanta?"
"Yeah. Well fort Mcpherson really. It's set up as a sanctuary. The U.S. government is protecting it."
"Blue-coats," Rick said, unable to keep to derisive tone out of his voice.
Morgan looked at him sharply, "Yeah bluecoats. Is that a problem for you?"
Rick took a deep breath, "No. If they're willing to keep me and my family safe I'm fine. But my wife may not have been willing to go. I need to check Glen-cove before going to Atlanta."
"We can do that."
"We?"
"Yeah. My wife and son went to Atlanta about two weeks after it happened. Most everybody else who was still alive did too. Doctor said it was too dangerous to move you so I stayed."
Rick stared at Morgan. "You let your family go on alone? Just so you could stay and take care of me?"
"My family's still alive because of you. So yes."
Rick, stared realizing the gravity of what Morgan had done for him. "So when do we leave?" He asked.
"Tomorrow. I've scouted around and found an abandoned farm with some mules and a wagon. You eat and rest up tonight I'll get the wagon tomorrow morning and we'll head to Glen-Cove."
"Alright. And Morgan."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. For ya know.. saving my life."
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