I don't own anything to do with Rick or any character from the Walking Dead. I own the OC character, Ruby, however, and I adore her.

Summary: Shane's been killed by Rick and the group doesn't trust him anymore. So what does Rick do? Snap. He finds a girl in the woods and takes out his aggression.

Yes, I know if you've read my other stuff you know that I am a Shane girl, but Rick is awesome, too. So I decided to play with him a little.

Rate and comment if you like! Thanks, and please, no flames. They are... unhelpful.

The sun had been gone a little while but the sky still radiated with the fading pinks and purples of the sunset. The moon was full, a bright orange on the horizon. It looked huge, and close enough that you might be able to reach out and touch it. He caught her looking at it as they walked and watched her dark features take on a dreamy quality. He face looked ethereal in the growing moonlight, her eyes turning into black pools under her long lashes.

One of the oil lanterns was on the small table in the living room, glowing softly when they got back in the house. Rick saw T-Dog had set his cot up in a corner away and out of the way, and he was kneeling at the fireplace trying to get the the flames to go out. The room was a little too warm for comfort as it was. Daryl was giving him a hard time from his place on the couch, laying back lazily, his arm over his face.

"There's another cot in the truck, if somebody hasn't grabbed it yet. I'm gonna set up here." He said as walked into the dining room and she glanced back at him.

"Ok." She spoke like she was asking him why he was explaining himself. Of course he would take a spot right in front of the only entrance and exit she had. "Goodnight." She went on into the bedroom and shut the door.

He worked quickly, triple checking the only entrance they had, the front door. He put the cot up against the wall behind the table and threw a blanket over it. Having nothing to do now, he decided to make a round through the house. The living room fire was out for the most part and T-Dog had turned over on his cot. He was snoring softly and Daryl was sharpening his knife by the dim light of the oil lantern on the couch. He glanced up and grunted as Rick passed him, going to the kitchen. Carol's door was closed and he could see a sliver of flickering candlelight from under the door. He grabbed a bottle of water from the counter and made him way past Daryl again and up the stairs.

Maggie was stepping out of the bathroom and nodded to him as she slipped back into her and Glen's room. All the other doors were closed already and he went to the bathroom before going back downstairs. Daryl had moved to the front window and was watching the night pass by, and the whole house had gone perfectly quiet. Rick glanced at Ruby's door as he walked to his cot, but the door was shut tight and he decided to leave her alone. Once in his own bed, he was blessedly asleep before he could start to really think.

It was almost as if he blinked and morning had come. He only knew it was because he could see through the hallway and to the far living room window. Slits of grayish sunlight peeked through the boards and lay in stripes on the floor. Rick swung his legs over the cot edge and stood up, stretching and yawning. He ran his fingers through his short brown hair and walked slowly to the kitchen, trying not to make the floor creak unnecessarily. T-Dog was still spread out on his cot and even Daryl had managed to catch a few winks. He was sitting halfway up on the couch, his eyes closed and looking almost comical.

In the kitchen, he saw Carol's door was still closed but he thought he could hear movement. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was 7:45. People were usually up by now, but he knew how tired they were. This was the first time they had actually really relaxed enough to sleep since the farm was overrun.

Rick grabbed a bottle of water from the counter and picked up a canning jar, looking at it absently. A movement from the corner of his eye made him look up and he saw Ruby in the doorway. She had on tiny sleeping shorts and a black tank top, and she'd put her hair up in a messy ponytail on her head. Her long legs looked even longer than usual, and she had pretty little bare feet. She was drop dead gorgeous, even right after waking up and unprepared for the day.

She yawned as she walked in and he held out the bottle of water he was drinking from. Taking it and nodding her thanks, she put down half of it in one big gulp. She handed it back and wiped the back of her hand over her mouth. "Make sure you save your bottles. We can refill them." She said.

"I will. Sleep ok?" He asked quietly, not wanting to disturb T-Dog in the next room.

"Yeah. You?"

"I was more tired than I thought." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Cot didn't treat me real well, though. You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

They looked up when Lori walked in. She paused when she saw them, and Rick thought he saw a sly rolling of the eyes when she saw Ruby's attire.

"Good morning." He said flatly, and she looked over at him like he was stupid.

"Is it? I was up most of the night making sure Carl knew you was still here, so I'm a little tired. But it looks like you were busy. Probably didn't notice." She said, getting a water for herself. When she said the word 'busy', she ran her eyes up and down Ruby.

Ruby looked at Lori like she'd lost her mind and Rick interjected quickly. "I don't think she's completely offended yet, Lori."

"I'll make sure I try harder next time." Lori said nastily.

"You got something to say, lady?" Ruby said, her voice going slightly higher. Lori looked over at her and this time she did roll her eyes and didn't even try to hide it. She marched out of the kitchen leaving Ruby a little stunned at her gall. "Bitch." She mused at the empty doorway and Rick rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. It wasn't going to be easy making this a good place for Ruby to be if Lori acted this way, and Rick desperately wanted Ruby to want to be here.

"I'll talk to her." He said wearily.

"Don't." She said, and he looked up questioningly. "I really don't give a crap what she says, she just caught me by surprise."

"You sure?" He asked, frowning. "Because that was completely out of line."

She laughed and he looked, again, curious. "I'm sorry. Can we go outside now?" She said, her final chuckles trailing off with her words. "While it's still cool enough to really enjoy it."

"Yeah." He said and she reached back and grabbed another water and a couple granola bars off the counter before following him to the front porch. They looked up into the blue sky as they took spots on the worn steps, Rick sitting a step below her by her left knee.

"You know, I meant what I said about not caring what Lori says. But why do I feel there's a lot more to the story than a little general bitchiness?" She said and he looked over at her. She stretched her long, tan legs out in front of her and crossed her ankles. "You guys know everything about me. Why don't you give me a little background here. Even the playing field."

Rick grabbed a piece of dried grass from his pants leg and tossed it into the dirt below. "How deep you wanting to go? This is a pretty long story."

"Mid range version. I'm not going anywhere."

"Alright. We'll start slow. Daryl is a tracker, hunts for us and feeds us pretty damn well. He's a hard ass, but he's got good sense, and he means well. T-Dog is a little friendlier. They're both good men."

"Ok, who else you got?"

He chuckled. "Maggie and Beth are nice, help around however they can. Glen is never far away when Maggie's around."

"I noticed. I bet they could share a kidney." She quipped.

"It's entirely possible." He grinned. "Then there's Hershel. He's a lifesaver. Things would be very different if he weren't around."

"Well, sure. It's always nice to have an on call doctor."

"It's more than that. We found his farm because one of his people was out hunting and took a shot at a deer. Didn't see Carl there, and almost killed him."

"Your son got shot?" She asked, her voice clearly displaying her surprise. "My god, he's what? Ten?"

"Yeah. Just about killed me, too." He put his knees up higher and put his elbows on his knees, staring into the grass in front of them.

"I can't even imagine." She said softly. "What's Carol's story? She's really nice but she seems to be... I don't know, sadder than everybody else."

"You picked up on that, huh? Her daughter was killed not too long ago." Rick said and she nodded, understanding immediately the emptiness that shone in Carol's eyes. "Sophia turned and we had to put her down in front of Carol."

"How old was she?"

"8."

"Jesus." She breathed out.

Rick paused, looked at his hands, and when he spoke, it was quiet. "I think there's something you should know, if you haven't figured it out already."

"What's that?"

"It's about turning." He began and she frowned. "Whatever this virus is, it's changed somehow. You don't have to be bitten. If you die, you'll turn. A doctor at the CDC told me, but I didn't believe it. Not until I saw it for myself."

"You were at the CDC? When? Are they working on this?" She sat up straight and looked at him with wide eyes.

"No. By the time we got there it was only Dr. Jennings, and he'd been pretty much driven crazy by that point. Tried to kill us by blowing up the building, but we got out. It's all gone. But he told me about the virus, and when Shane turned I realized he'd been telling the truth."

She got quiet, looking away at the trees. "So, we're all going to turn?"

"I'm sorry. But you needed to know if you didn't already."

She picked at her knees, scratching the denim. "I guess it doesn't really change things, how we behave."

"No," He agreed. "Not really." She clearly wanted to change the subject, he could see it in her face. He spoke quickly. "I don't know about the prison, Ruby."

"Why not?"

He raised his eyebrows and gave a light shrug. "Atlanta was overrun, the CDC was a bust, who's to say this won't be another in a long list of really bad ideas. I thought we should stay here for a while till I can get it figured out." He said.

She nodded and they sat in silence for a while. He was thinking about the way she'd taken the news he'd just told her. She was strong, she didn't overreact, and he really liked that. He felt like he could share his thoughts with her without feeling responsible for her falling apart like the others. She was so mature for someone so young. After all, she was still a little wary because of how she'd been brought here, but she was opening up.

"Do you have any more clothes in your bag that would fit me?" He asked after a while, and she nodded.

"I think there's another shirt, and there were a few pairs of pants hanging in the closet in my room. You want me to get them?" She asked.

"If you would. I want to get cleaned up. Somebody told me I smell like a walker." He said with a gleam in his eye and she chuckled softly, standing up and going back in the house. He waited, listening to the sounds of the birds in the trees. She was back in a few minutes, holding a few pairs of pants and another green military issue tee shirt.

"I think these should fit." She said, handing them to him and sitting down next to him on the top stair.

He held up the shirt. "These were Paul's, weren't they?" He asked gently. She nodded and he pressed his lips together tightly. "I really appreciate you giving them to me."

"It's fine."

"I'll be back in a few." He said, standing. "Come back inside while I'm showering. I don't want you out here alone."

"Ok. I have to wash some of my clothes anyway. Give me yours and I'll do them too." She said, standing and brushing herself off.

"You sure?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Might as well. It'll give me something to do, and I don't want to waste the detergent. Besides," She leaned in and whispered. "Lori sees and it'll really put a bug in her craw. After her little snippy ass remarks all I feel like doing is annoying the shit out of her. Is that going to be a problem?"

He chuckled silently, amused at her little conspirator stance. "You'll have no resistance here. Do your worst. There's a metal wash tub in the bottom of the kitchen pantry." He offered as they got up and walked back in.

"Awesome." She said and he headed up the stairs. He got to the bathroom and quickly stripped his clothes off. He turned the water on and was getting ready to step in when there was a knock on the door.

"I'm in here." He called out.

"It's me. Give me your clothes." Ruby said from the other side of the door. He grabbed the clothes he'd stripped off and stepped behind the door, cracking it a little and leaning around it. She stood there looking at him and he felt a twinge being naked so close to her, even if she couldn't see anything but part of his chest. He handed the small bundle to her and she pulled a faded ivory towel off her shoulder and handed it to him.

"Thanks." He said, taking it.

"No problem." She said, stepping off down the short hallway. He saw Lori in the room across the hell, sitting on the bed. She looked after Ruby, a furious look on her face. Rick was amused, and he grinned as he shut the door. He was so pleased by Lori's discomfort even the cold water felt good on his tired and stressed body.

He lathered up with a bar of soap someone had left on the tub, scrubbing the filth and sweat from his body and hair. The water around him eventually turned from the dark gray color to clear, and he rinsed one last time before shutting off the water. He grabbed the towel Ruby had given him and dried off quickly, getting dressed in the new clothes she'd brought to him. He brushed his hair with his fingers and threw the towel over his shoulder. He took it downstairs and went to Ruby's room, hanging the towel over the top of the door to dry, and went to the kitchen to check on her.

She and Carol were hunched over the wash bin, scrubbing articles of clothing on the ridged edges. They looked up as he entered, and Carol smiled.

Ruby squeezed the shirt she was holding out and tossing it over a chair they had pulled over by them.

"Find what you needed?" He asked and grabbed a glass from the cabinet and poured himself some water. He leaned against the counter and watched them work. Ruby's hair had come a little loose as she bent over the tub and stray pieces fell around her face. He found his eyes drawn the place on her thigh where the shorts stopped or her stomach where the tee she wore rode up as she moved.

He snapped to when she stood up and wiped her wet hands off on her shorts. "Found these clothesline pins in the closet, too. We can hang the clothes on the line in the backyard." She said, grabbing a small cotton bag on the counter.

Carol and Ruby loaded up the wet clothes in their arms and Rick grabbed the wash bin filled with dirty water, and the three of them headed out the front door. They waited while he dumped the water in the grass and sat the bin next to the porch, and he followed them to the long clothes line hanging between two trees close to the house.

"I went through the jars you brought up from the cellar." Carol said as Rick stepped forward and took the wet clothes from her arms. She hung the small bag of pins on the post and set about hanging the clean clothes up.

"Do they look ok?" Ruby asked, grabbing a few pins for herself and hanging a shirt.

"More than ok. They're wonderful. I thought we would have potatoes and corn, and green beans with the venison Daryl caught for dinner." Carol smiled wistfully.

"Sounds good." Rick said, watching as Ruby reached up and hung the pair of his pants on the line. Their eyes met and she gave him a small smile. He felt his knees go a little wobbly and he shifted on his feet.

"That should do it." Carol said, stepping back from the line after she hung the last pair of socks. "Thank you, Rick."

"Don't mention it." He nodded and the three of them began to walk slowly toward the house, enjoying the sunlight and quiet.

"What is that?" Carol asked, peering through the trees to a small concrete wall partially covered by foliage.

"I'm not sure." Rick said, taking a step toward it and narrowing is eyes to try and make it out. He looked at Carol. "We're going to check it out. Why don't you head on in and we'll be there soon."

"Should I get someone to go with you?" She asked, backing up in the direction of the front porch.

"No, don't worry about it. We'll be fine." He said and Ruby followed him to the treeline. He didn't bother to draw his weapon. The small building was close enough to the clearing that he didn't particularly feel threatened, but he stopped and waited for Ruby to get close to him anyway. He put his hand on her lower back and kept it there as they walked around the building, his other hand hovering on the butt of his gun. Her face registered slight confusion, like she was trying to figure out what he was thinking, but she didn't tense like he expected her to. His body, however, did not cooperate with him. When he touched her he felt a long slow burn start in the bottom of his stomach and spread lower, threatening to give him the beginnings of a powerful erection. She smelled amazing and her hair was so shiny and soft looking that he ached to run his hand through it.

There was a large wooden door on the front of the small concrete and wood shed, and Rick leaned down and took hold of a large fallen tree branch wedged up against it. He focused himself to stop thinking of her for a minute and get the branch away from the door. When he was finally able get it far enough away to open the door, he stepped in and tried to let his eyes adjust to the light.

He turned and took Ruby's hand again, helping her over the branch and down two stairs into the small shed.. It was piled high with broken tools and farm equipment, and they ended up pressed back to back as they looked around. "Can you use any of this?" She asked.

"The tools can always be used if they're not too broken." He said, peering past a set of shelves in an awkward place in the middle of the room. "Hey, look at that." He said, pointing to a small generator past the shelves in the corner. "I wonder if it works."

"Can you get to it?" She asked, grabbing his arm for support as she turned around in the tight space. He waited till she was situated before he put his long legs over the odds and ends scattered around the room and swung around the shelves and to the corner. The generator was maybe 35 pounds, so it wasn't bad but it was cumbersome. When he got it to the middle of the room he grabbed the pull cord and yanked. It sputtered and popped, but on the third try it roared to life.

"It's awfully loud." She said, grimacing, when he'd cut the engine and the machine quieted.

He bit his cheek and put his hands on his hips. "We'll keep it for emergencies, but I wish we could hook it up, use it for the fridge or something. Keep our food longer."

She tilted her head to the side, thinking. "Well, would the cellar work? We could try and muffle the sound."

He looked at her and ran his hand over his face. "That actually might work." He said softly and she chuckled.

"Try to not sound so surprised I have a decent idea next time."

He look startled when he looked at her, but his face broke out in a smile. "I didn't mean that." He said and picked up the generator, following her out of the shed and back through the trees to the house.

She opened the cellar doors for him and he went first with the machine. She was behind him when he put it in the middle of the dirt floor and started looking around for a place to rig it to the ceiling under the kitchen.

"We should turn it on, see how loud it is before you hook it up, right?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah, we should." He pulled the starter cord again, and the machine revved to life. They walked back up the stairs and shut the cellar doors behind them. "It's still too loud."

She frowned and looked around the yard. "It's definitely going to draw attention. Let's shut it off."

"So, what do we do with it?" She asked when he turned it off back in the cellar.

"Keep it for emergencies. We can take it with us when we leave." He said, following her back into the yard above. Daryl was walking out of the treeline with his crossbow over his shoulder, and they turned and waited for him to get close. "What'd you find out there?"

"Walkers. A lot of 'em, but they're stayin' close to the road. We stay quiet out here we shouldn't have too much of a problem." He drawled, his eyes going to Ruby. "So no loud singin', girly."

She realized he was kidding and she turned the corner of her mouth upwards, her eyes going to the ground. Daryl looked from her back to Rick and sighed. "Anyway, we're gonna be stayin' here we need to avoid the guns. A couple shots go off and we're gonna be overrun again."

Rick nodded. "Ok, we'll talk to everybody at dinner tonight. You going back out there?"

"Yeah, for a while." Daryl. He looked down at Ruby again. "What kinda shot are you, girl?"

She looked him in the eye. "Not bad."

"Can you use a blade?" He shifted and narrowed his eyes at her.

"I can, but I try to avoid close contact." She answered, and glanced at Rick. He frowned.

"She's not going out there, Daryl." Rick said, feeling like that was what was coming next.

"I'm not takin' 'er anywhere." Daryl said, a little defensively. "Just wanna know what our options are, man." He turned and walked away back through the tree line and toward the road. Ruby looked up at Rick a little concerned.

"What was that?"

Rick looked after the man. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." He walked around to the front of the house and up the stairs. Ruby grabbed the empty bottle they had left on the porch earlier and took it to the kitchen.

"Hi Carol." She said as she went to the sink and refilled the bottle.

"Hi. Was that you two downstairs in the cellar? There was the strangest commotion." Carol said from her place at the kitchen table.

"We found a generator, wanted to see if we could use it." Rick said from the door where he was leaning, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Will we be able to?" Carol asked.

He shook his head. "It's awfully loud and there's too many walkers. I doubt it, but we'll see. Where is everybody?"

"I think Lori and Carl are laying down, Maggie and Glen are still in their room, I saw her a few minutes ago. I'm not sure where the others are." Carol said, thinking. "But I'll have breakfast ready here in a few minutes so I hope they make it back here."

"Do you need any help?" Ruby asked, and Carol shook her head.

"No, I'm just doing fruit, so it doesn't have to be heated."

Ruby nodded and looked back at Rick, following him out of the kitchen. He went to the fireplace and got it ready to be lit again when they would need it. She brought a few branches and logs to him from the pile in the corner, and when he was done they sat back, wiping their hands on the seats of their pants.

"What's on the agenda now?" She asked, looking at him curiously.

He frowned, and looked around the room. "I don't really know. Looks like we're pretty good at the moment."

"Are you going to see your son, then?" She asked, and he cocked his head.

"Why would you ask that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, just seems like you might. Since I've been around you haven't really had a chance. Lori doesn't let him two feet from her."

He looked down at his hands, twisting a stick absently. "Yeah, makes things a little hard."

"And wrong. He was looking at you last night, watching you. I think he wanted to come over but she stopped him." She frowned. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about this. It's none of my business."

"No, it's fine. I doubt he wants to see me, though."

"I don't think you're right. Whatever happened, you're still his dad. I'm going to get changed, why don't you go get him?" She stood and brushed her hands off again, and he nodded, watching her walk away through the dining room. He walked up the stairs slowly, and found Carl in the bedroom he was sharing with Lori.

The boy looked up at him from the floor, where he was going through a bag of clothes. "Hey dad." He said almost cheerfully.

Rick leaned against the door and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Hey. Where's your mom?"

Carl peered around him. "Getting a shower."

"You wanna get some breakfast?"

Carl smiled and nodded, and Rick put a large hand on his son's head as they walked back downstairs. Carol was putting a large bowl of fruit salad on the table and they took places at the table, putting some out in smaller bowls for themselves. Ruby joined them a few minutes later. She had changed into tight faded blue jeans but left her black tank top on. The heat of the day had already begun, it was practical but Rick almost couldn't stop staring.

"Hey kid." She said with a smile when she sat down across from them and got some fruit for herself.

"I like your singing last night." Carl said, chewing. "I didn't know those songs, though."

"Thanks." She grinned, popping a piece of peach in her mouth. "What kind of music do you like?"

She shook his head. "I don't know."

She chuckled. "That's ok. You'll figure it out." She looked over at Rick, who was watching her closely. She seemed at ease around the boy, and he enjoyed the interaction.

"Carl?" Lori's voice came hard and fast as she skipped down the stairs and when she appeared at the door to the kitchen she put a hand over her heart. "My god, you scared me to death. Why did you leave the bedroom?"

"I brought him down to breakfast, Lori." Rick said, eying her.

She glared at him. "I'll take care of that, Rick. You have other things to worry about."

"Carl is the most important thing I have to worry about." He countered, sitting up a little. "And I wanted to have breakfast with my son."

"Carl, take your bowl back to our room. Now." Lori ordered and Carl shot a look at Rick before quietly picking his bowl up and leaving the room. Carol, too, seemed to find something to do in her room and she shut her door behind her, leaving Lori standing over the table Rick and Ruby sat at. She turned her eyes to Ruby and raised her eyebrows. "Can you leave us alone?" Ruby pressed her lips together and rose.

"No." Rick said firmly and both women looked at him, startled. Ruby lowered herself back down to her chair. "Anything you have to say, just say it."

"What the hell happened out there, Rick? You disappear all night and come back with her," Lori gave her a vile look before turning back to Rick. "She's got bruises and she never leaves your side. This is a whole new kind of weird here."

Rick saw Ruby's eyes narrow, but she didn't say anything right then. Lori paused, looking at the two of them. "Well?" She continued. "What do you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say, Lori? Because I've been talking for over a week and you haven't been listening."

"You are unbelievable. But you better start explaining yourself to the people around here because everybody thinks you're going off the deep end."

"Like Shane?" He asked quietly and she glared at him, stomping away. They heard her go up the stairs and shut the door hard, and he let out a breath and looked at the table wearily.

"Ok, now I think it's time you told me a little about her." Ruby said softly and he nodded.

They went back to her bedroom, and he felt a wave of fatigue wash over him as he went to sit down next to her. "When the outbreak came I wasn't with my family. My partner, Shane, got Lori and Carl out of the city, told her I was dead, and they started sleeping together. When I finally found them, joined the group they'd formed, he started coming apart at the seems. Unglued. He started making rash decisions, doing things that would get us all killed. He wanted my family, and he wanted to be the word everybody followed."

She raised an eyebrow and he could tell she was surprised he was opening up. "Keep going."

"She's pregnant, and either one of us could be the father. She loved him, she just couldn't admit it. She hates me for what I did, for how I'm leading the group now, and the rest of them are just afraid of me."

"Carol didn't seem afraid. She said you were a good man."

"I think I was." He said, standing and going to the single, blocked window and peering out through a crack in the wood.

"Why'd you take me, then? The way you did. If I met the guy I'm talking to now, I might've come on my own. So where did that come from?"

"I don't know. I was angry, I still am." He said, his voice low and steady. "Took it out on you and I shouldn't have done it. It's something Shane might have done."

"But not something you would have done."

"I'm doing a lot of things I wouldn't have imagined before." He looked over at her. She bit her lip and looked at the floor.

"The rest of your group is watching you pretty closely and I don't think they'd be doing that if this wasn't out of character or something. Besides, the way Carol talked about you was like you were some hero."

"You don't know that." He asked.

"Can I ask you a question?" She leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees.

"I think we're past asking." He said with a little smile, and she turned the corner of her mouth up for a second.

"When you were bringing me back to the group I asked you if you did this a lot."

He nodded. "I remember."

"You said 'not exactly like this'. What does that mean?"

"That's a very long story." He said, frowning and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"I've got time."

He let out a deep breath and went to the wall by the door. He slid down it and pulled his knees up, looking at her. "We were on Hershel's farm for a little while when we realized he'd been keeping walkers in the barn on the property, locked up. His wife and stepson and some friends and neighbors that had turned. He didn't look at them like they were monsters, still thought they were in there somewhere." Her face was already surprised but she stayed quiet, letting him talk.

"Anyway, Shane was already pretty far gone. He was angry at the world and he broke the barn open. We had to put Hershel's people down right in front of him and it tore him apart. Took off and ended up in a bar in town, and we went after him. We got attacked by a group of men that wanted the farm for themselves. We shot our way out but one of that group was injured. A young guy- Randall."

"What happened to him?" She asked, engrossed in his story.

"Impaled on a wrought iron fence. Went through his leg and pinned him there. He was walker bait, so we got him off, tied him up and brought him back to the farm. Shane was furious, thought I'd condemned everybody to die by showing him the farm. Turns out the kid knew Maggie from school anyway, and while we were trying to figure out what to do with him, Shane took him out in the woods and killed him."

"Wow." She said softly. "And this guy was your best friend?"

Rick frowned into his hands, nodding, his eyes on nothing in particular as he told his story. "He wasn't always like that. He was a good man, cared about people. Anyway, he busted his face up and got back to camp, told us Randall had attacked him and taken his gun. We split up to find him and that's when Shane came at me in the field. Told me he was taking Lori and Carl away. Had a gun aimed right between my eyes. He didn't realize I had my knife, and I had to do it."

She sat back and he could see the glimmer of understanding in her eyes. Her face was still and golden, he could see it even from halfway across the room. She looked like an angel. A sad angel.

"Rick, it sounds like you did what you had to do." She said softly.

"And you might be the only person here who thinks that." He answered, his eyes going back to the blank wall to his right. He felt her move and she came and sat down on the floor in front of him. He looked back at her concerned face.

"I know I don't really have the right to judge here, being so new to the situation. But it strikes me that your hand was forced over and over and you were betrayed by someone you trusted at a time when you needed him more than ever. Lori knows what he did? Everything he did in that field?"

He laughed bitterly. "Hell, she warned me he thought she and Carl were his. Told me he thought the baby was his, and that he wasn't going to let go."

Her face was suddenly very angry, a deep pink rising into her cheeks. "She knew he was going to do something crazy. What a bitch." He looked surprised and she frowned. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't say that about your wife to your face."

He shook his head. "No, that's not... I just mean I'm not used to someone telling me I was right."

"You were. What were you gonna do, Rick? Stand there quietly while he killed you? Do you feel like she pitted you and Shane against each other?"

"I think it was mostly Shane, but maybe. Sometimes, whether she meant to or not." He looked up at her from under his brow. "When he died, they all assumed he'd been bitten, because he turned. When I told her the truth, that I'd had to do it because he'd come after me, that's when things really fell apart. What you see now is how's it's been since that night."

"And you're still here, trying to keep them all safe." She said, searching his face with her eyes.

"It's still my family. And I can't say that I'm the same person I was either." He reached for her hand and pulled it toward him, looking at the blueish purple circles around her wrist, his face dark and brooding. She squeezed her fingers around his tightly.

"Look at me. If I'd gone through that I think I would have snapped, too. And honestly, your version of 'evil Rick' really wasn't that bad. I've seen evil out here, so have you. You had plenty of opportunities to really hurt me, but you didn't do it. Carol was right about you being a good guy."

"You've got to be the most understanding person I've ever met." He said incredulously, and she raised her eyebrow in amusement.

"I doubt that. Right now I want to bitch slap your woman." She said and he grinned, lowering his head. "Look, Rick, what I said about helping you get back at her was a distraction from the complete shit storm the world is in right now. But the fact of the matter is, if you were over Lori and the crap she's done, you wouldn't care if she was pissed or not. That being said, I can only assume at least part of you wants to work this out. Shane's gone, you guys might have a shot."

"Why do you think I want to work it out?" He asked, furrowing his brow. "She loved him, even if she did push him away when I came back. She wishes it were me instead, she all but said it outright."

"Fine. No make up. But what are you wanting to get out of all this?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. That she would get how I'm feeling, maybe."

"So, make her feel it."

"What?" He asked, furrowing his brow.

"As long as it doesn't take your attention away from the fact that there are things outside the door that are trying to kill and eat us, I say give her a taste of her own medicine. I'll help you."

"Help how?" He asked.

"She clearly hates me. I figure she was pissed because you weren't following her around like a puppy. We can work with that." She raised an eyebrow mischieviously at him and he chuckled.

"I don't think I've ever met anybody like you, Ruby." He said, amused at her youthful reasoning.

"Oh yeah, I'm one in a million."

"And I'm an asshole."

"You said it, not me." She grinned and he returned it. He felt such adoration for her at that moment he reached around behind him and got her gun out.

"What do you say we go find you some ammo for this, huh?" He said and she grinned widely, flashing perfect white teeth.