Chapter 4:
Rick followed Daryl, Sasha, Glenn and Maggie in to Paula's home, feeling agitated. He had collected his friends when Shane called him to tell him about their plans, but he was surprised to hear that Michonne was already there. He wasn't even aware that she had left his home.
Rocky wasted no time finding him as he walked into the living room, rubbing her body against his boot.
"Aww! She loves you", Maggie smiled as she looked down at the feline.
"Yeah", He smirked, dropping on to the couch. Glenn, Daryl and Shane stayed in the living room with him, while the girls left for the kitchen.
"You boys ready for boot camp then?", Daryl quizzed, emptying a bag of snacks on to the coffee table.
"More than ready", Shane grinned, "I don't want them going easy on me at all"
"I heard they're pretty tough on you over there", Glenn squinted at them, "And don't you have to be in bed by ten?"
"As long as my weekends are mine, I don't even care", Shane sat back in the chair and fished out his phone, "You know Jenny's having a little housewarming party next week? She got her own place"
"Yeah?", Daryl threw himself down near Rick, "She's older than us right?"
"By a year or somethan'...", Rick shrugged, his gaze hovering by the door. He could hear laughter coming from the kitchen, and it took nothing for him to suss out Michonne's.
"Maggie invited Lori", Glenn hissed, "I told her not to, but she did"
Rick rolled his eyes over to Shane with an evil grin, "Nice."
"No. Not nice. I ain't seen her since Pete's", His best friend groaned.
"Her dad's dropping her off later she said"
"I'll leave before then", Shane snickered.
Rocky jumped up on to Rick's lap, and he nearly growled when she decided to take a seat on him, her claws piercing through his black jeans.
"That cats probably seen more places than me", Daryl sniggered as he stroked her head, "Still going strong I see?"
"She's ruined my chair", Rick complained, "I have to throw it out and get a new one"
"I told you that would happen when you got her-"
"Hey guys", Michonne chirped as she stepped into to the room, "We're ordering the pizza so what do want on it?"
The room was silent, and Rick realised it was because his friends expected him to answer. He shrugged, looking back down at Rocky, "Anythan'. We don't mind"
She nodded, turning to leave the room. Rick looked up, and immediately noticed Shane staring at him. He knew his best friend was probably wondering what was going on between the two of them, as he never got a chance to elaborate after speaking to him in the diner. He wouldn't even know where to begin if he did go in detail.
"You know what I realised?... This will be our last night together before we all go off and do our own thing…"
Rick tore himself from his thoughts to look at Glenn, "Yeah?"
"We'll still see each other", Shane shrugged, "Just not everyday"
"Exactly. Think of all the things we used to get up to… we're gonna have to wait until we get time off to do something…", The youngest of the group looked at each of them, "I didn't think we'd end our last day of freedom like this"
Shane's eyes lit up, as he sat forward, "Then what do you have in mind Mr Rhee?"
Glenn pursed his lips as he thought, his gaze sailing around the room, "What's the wildest thing we've done?"
That question wasn't an easy one. Rick frowned as he went scrolled through his memories, "Streaked?"
"Nah. We've gotten naked more times than I'd like to admit", Shane shook his head as he massaged the back of his neck with his hand, "Blew up Mike's car? That's top three at least?"
They all nodded in agreement before Daryl spoke, "Broke into the school too. And the grocery store."
"Yeah… but we didn't really do anythan' bad in there… besides trash the grocery store", Rick bit his lip as he continued to think, "We haven't really done anythan' major. I mean we've blown up cars...but we would have done that when we were kids if we could have afforded it"
"What are you thinking, Grimes?", Shane grinned.
"I'm thinking… we need to think about a way to up our game if we're gonna do somethan' big tonight", Rick squinted at him, "But I want somethan' that's gonna let the town know"
"We need to leave our mark-"
The idea hit Rick like a lightning bolt, "You can still get those fireworks right?"
Daryl looked at him with raised eyebrows, "You know I can"
Rick flashed his friends his devilish grin, "Good. We're going out later"
"What are we doing?", Glenn shifted in his seat like a fidgeting child.
"You ever seen a mushroom cloud?", He raised his eyebrow at him.
Shane clapped his hands together as he laughed menacingly, "Yes!"
Glenn was beside himself, "We're blowing something big up?!"
"Ya damn right", Daryl snickered as he took out his phone, "Let me just make our order-"
"Nothing but big ones", Shane instructed, "We're gonna light this town up"
"Got it"
"Got what?", Sasha asked as she wandered into the room, followed by Paula, Maggie and Michonne. Rick's smile slowly began to fade.
"You girls want to see somethan' pretty tonight?", Shane tilted his head at Paula as she took a seat on the floor in front of him.
"Somethan' pretty? Like what?", Maggie questioned, looking from Shane to Glenn as she sat beside him on the couch.
"It's a surprise", Shane wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Michonne eyed Rick suspiciously as she took Rocky off his lap and sat beside him, leaving enough room between them for someone else to take a seat. Needless to say, that annoyed Rick beyond words, and so he didn't even attempt to look in her direction when she said to him, "You have to be up early tomorrow"
"I'm aware of that", He muttered, taking out his phone from his back pocket. He heard her tut, before sitting back in her seat, with the feline in her lap.
"This isn't something illegal, is it?", Sasha asked, taking a seat on the floor beside Daryl, causing him to look at Rick.
Rick shrugged innocently, "I think it depends on whether you get caught or not"
The boys and Paula laughed, while Maggie, Sasha and Michonne looked to each other with pensive expressions.
Shane sat back with a content sigh, "Don't worry girls, we'll be alright"
…
"I never got a chance to apologise… for what I did… I'm sorry. I was just a mess"
Rick dropped his gaze to his boots as he swung his feet, sitting atop the counter in Paula's kitchen, "Uh, it's alright"
Lori shook her head, her dark waves swaying back and forth over her shoulder, "No it's not. I should have done what I did and being drunk shouldn't be an excuse"
He withheld a sigh, "Alright. Thanks"
"Okay… I think I need to apologise to Shane too"
Rick's eyes sailed over to his friend, who was rummaging around in the cabinet for something, "Uh, sure. You might just get the same reaction as me though. It's not the first time a girl's gotten drunk and kissed us. Then regretted it"
Lori gave his joke a little chuckle, "That's very reassuring"
He didn't mean to make her laugh, and he quickly realised how the quip could have been misinterpreted, so he chose to just nod. She left him to go talk to Shane, and he dropped his head back and took his gaze to the ceiling for a moment.
"I'm staying here tonight"
His head rolled back up when he heard Michonne's voice. They had spent the majority of the day ignoring each other, and he assumed they would continue on with their game, so he blinked at her, "What was that?"
"I said I'm staying here tonight", She repeated, her arms crossed over her chest.
His eyes roamed the space around her, realising she wouldn't be there to see him leave. As far as he was concerned, it was another punch in the gut for him, and so he gave a little shrug, "Okay."
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "I hope you're not planning on doing something that could hurt your chances at the academy, Rick"
He sighed as he hopped off the counter, taking out his cigarette box from his front pocket, "If you're coming back with Paula then the two of you should ride together. She'll probably wanna ride with Shane so…"
Her brow furrowed at him as she took a small step back. He could tell the way her eyes darted all over his face that she was considering saying something to him, the words sitting on her tongue.
"I'm just making it easier for you", He offered, in a tone that came out much colder than he had intended.
She shook her head as she dropped her gaze to her shoes, "Fine. That's fine. I'll ride with Shane then"
He inched by her, "Alright"
The knot in his stomach only seemed to tighten as he left the kitchen, wishing to kick himself for being so dismissive towards her, but it was as if he just couldn't help himself. One part of him wanted so desperately to talk to her, but the other part of him still held on to so much anger, and he was too hurt to see past it.
"Ay man! We leaving now or what?", Shane called as he came sprinting out the kitchen after him, "We do have to get up early tomorrow"
Rick glanced at his watch as they stopped outside the living room, "Alright, let's go!"
Shane clapped his hands together, "Let's get this show on the road!"
Rick left the home first, taking his car keys out of his pocket. The air was still humid from the rain and the grey clouds made it appear darker than it was, and that was exactly what Rick wanted.
"Worse comes to worst, we split up", He called to Shane over his shoulder.
"Got it. We telling them where we're going yet?"
Rick scoffed, "So someone can talk us out of it? Hell, no"
He and Shane snickered together before heading off to their vehicles. With Michonne riding with Paula in Shane's car, he realised he was putting himself in an awkward position, as Glenn naturally went to Shane's car first, and Maggie followed him, leaving Daryl and Sasha to ride with him, as well as Lori. He could have kissed the other male when he got in the passenger seat.
"'Chonne riding with Shane?", Daryl near enough mumbled to him.
Rick nodded as he started the car, "Yeah, she's staying here tonight"
His answer seemed to puzzle his friend, but he still nodded as if it was a reasonable explanation, "Alright"
They first stop on their travels was the trailer park on the other side of town, where Daryl went to buy the fireworks after collecting the money from both cars.
Rick was beginning to feel something other than anxiety. It had been so long since he had gotten up to mischief with his friends, and he had almost forgotten how much he enjoyed the build up to their possible crimes.
"Are we leaving town?"
He glanced in his rear view mirror at Lori, "Near enough"
"Are you going to tell us what's going on now?", Sasha pressed.
"We're just gonna set off some fireworks. That's all", Daryl answered vaguely as he looked over his shoulder at her.
Rick has specifically chosen the old dirt road, as cars rarely ever used it, and the only reason he knew about it was because of his father's plan to set up a factory along that route.
Without warning he picked up speed, slamming his foot down on the pedal, causing the girls in the back to yelp. He smirked, spinning the wheel so his car spun around, then putting it in reverse as he drove backwards, so they were facing Shane's car.
His friend hooked at him, yelling out the window, "Show off!"
Daryl chuckled as he hung out the passenger window, "Jealous!"
Rick spun the wheel around again, so the car came off the road, then drove up beside Shane's car as his friend passed him.
"Oh my god", Lori giggled in the back seat.
"You done with the party tricks?", Shane teased, shouting over Paula, who was sat in the passenger seat in his car.
Rick grinned at him, before waving his hand for his friend to stop, "Right here!"
"Here?!"
"If you want your car to still have windows then yeah, here!"
They both parked on either side of the road after facing the cars back towards the town, as it would make it easier for them to leave.
"Y'all wait here!", Shane instructed, gesturing at the girl's, "You'll thank me later"
"Where are you going?", Paula questioned, crossing her arms as she pouted at him.
"For a little walk, so just sit tight"
Rick took one of the boxes of fireworks from the trunk of his car and Daryl took the other. He snuck a peak at Michonne, who was leaning against Shane's Car with Maggie. He, Shane, Glenn and Daryl began walking ahead, buzzing with excitement.
"You think we should have parked closer?", Glenn glanced back over his shoulder.
"Nope, and if this goes as plan then you better run like you've never run in your life", Rick warned, "You don't stick around for a close up"
"Got it".
The old gas station looked like something out of a horror movie, with dust and sand covering most of it. It was a small station, with only two pumps in the front, and a store the size of a two door garage behind them. They walked around the area first, making sure the site was clear of anyone and anything. Shane kicked the door to the store open and they all filed inside, though it was almost clear of any stock.
"We should light this place up first…", Shane suggested as he held up his lighter.
Rick peered around as he nodded, taking the lighter from him, "Go on, out!"
He waited for his friends to leave before walking behind the front counter, tearing away some of the faded wallpaper. He began to look around for something else, when he saw an old dusty bottle of whiskey under the counter. He shoved the paper in the top and set it alight, before hurling the bottle across the store. He heard the crash, then saw the orange glow coming from behind the shelves. He watched for a moment, wondering why he didn't engage in the act of setting things on fire more, before leaving the store.
Shane and Daryl were fussing with the pumps when he emerged, and they had rigged both pumps with the fireworks.
"We're gonna have to move fast then…", Rick remarked as he looked over their work.
"Nah, we just gotta light one fuse, the others will catch up", Daryl explained, stepping away, "There's a little bit of gas left in there so… we still gotta move fast"
"You done Glenn?!", Shane rubbed the back of his neck as he took the lighter off Rick.
"Done! Let's do it"
Shane took one fuse and Daryl took the other, as Rick and Glenn began to back up. It was only when they heard the familiar hiss of a lit firework that they all turned back to the street and ran. Rick's heart was thumping in his chest, and his lungs seemed unable to take in enough air, and he was sure that was because of his increased smoking habits.
"What did you do?", Paula prompted when they were close enough, "Where's the-"
The sound of fireworks could be heard, popping and whizzing, and Rick looked back to see that Daryl was right, and they were all going to catch light.
He began to smile, then stopped, "Get in the cars"
"Yep!", Daryl agreed, ushering Sasha back to Rick's car.
A bright flash of light lit up the surrounding area, and everyone looked back for a moment, before Shane yelled, "Move!"
Rick got into the driver seat, and waited for Shane's car to pull off first before he did the same. He checked his side view mirror, just as the larger fireworks started to explode, followed by an a bang that made his body shiver.
"Shit! Drive!", Daryl ordered as he looked out the back window, "This ain't like no car, man! Shit's flying everywhere!"
Just as Rick glanced back over shoulder, debris started falling around his car, "Oh shit!"
The sound of metal hitting his car rang out, then allowed crash, followed by Sasha screaming.
"What happened?!", Rick yelled back.
"Fuck! The damn window broke! Somethan' got me!", Daryl growled.
"He's bleeding!", Sasha called in panic, "It got the back of his neck!"
Rick slammed his foot on the pedal and pulled up along Shane, "Tell him I'm taking him back to my house"
Lori nodded, sitting in the passenger seat beside him, "Daryl's hurt! We're taking him to Rick's house!"
"How bad?!", Shane tried to look in the back seat of Rick's car.
"How bad is it Sasha?!", Lori spun around to look.
"I don't think a band aid will do it! He needs a hospital!", Sasha held her hand at the back of Daryl's neck.
Lori looked to Rick, and he peeked at his friend in the rear view mirror, "Alright, hospital"
"Hospital!", Lori called out to Shane.
"I'll take him then! You can't turn up with your car looking like that!", Shane barked, "Pull over!"
Rick did as he was told and slowed to a stop, and his friend did the same.
"Ay Rick, take the car to the garage, park it in the back. Tell Mickey I sent you", Daryl explained before getting out the car.
"Alright", Rick watched him walk around his car with Sasha still holding his neck, and waited for Michonne and Paula to get in his car, "Call me when you get there!"
"Yeah! Go on!", Shane ordered, waving for him to drive ahead.
He did, with his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. Adrenaline still coursed through his veins, and he had to remember to stop driving so recklessly when they were back in town. He didn't want to drive around with his car looking the way it did, but he wanted to drop the girls to their homes first.
Lori's house was first along the way, and the girl looked a pale, frightened mess, when she climbed out the car. He almost felt sorry for her, but he was still trying to calm himself.
He made his way over to Paula's home next, and that journey was a tense one. The girl was the only one talking, and Rick only heard Michonne answer her a few times. He imagined his girlfriend probably felt how Lori looked, though it wasn't the first time he'd blown something up in her presence.
When they arrived at Paula's home, the redhead thanked Rick before climbing out the car, with Michonne in tow. His hand hovered over the key in the ignition, when the passenger side door opened, and Michonne took a seat beside him.
He raised a questioning eyebrow at her, "What's up?"
He could see her chest was rising and falling quicker beneath her shirt, "Is this how you want to leave things?"
Rick sat back against the headrest, his eyes bouncing around his car as if he were looking for an escape, but he knew he couldn't run away anymore. He couldn't hide from her, and he couldn't hide from the inevitable.