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.
*** Get ready folks, a BIG point of contention is going to be discussed. Hope you like how I resolved it. Much love!
**** The reviews have been OUTSTANDING! Thank you all so much for taking the time. I am so so sorry it's taken so long to update, hopefully this makes up for that in a small way. It's been nuts around here for me lately. Anyway, thank you again, and I appreciate your time and kind words.
*** Time to move on. Hope this makes up for the lack of a ton of action lately. We're getting ready to see the &%$ hit the fan in the coming chapters...
Rick slept deeply, and no dreams bothered him that night. It could have been a blink of an eye when he sense the sunlight begin to lighten the room and his eyes opened, and yet he felt completely rested. Rested, but slightly sore in that wonderful way you are the morning after, he realized when he moved against the mattress.
Ruby was standing at the vanity, her jeans hung low on her curvy hips and no shirt to speak of. Instead, miles of perfect olive skin graced his vision and he couldn't tear his eyes away. The strap of her blue bra shown slightly under the curtain of hair that hung down her back as she looked into the mirror, washing her face and neck with a washcloth from the water basin. He laid there and watched her peacefully for a few moments while she remained unaware he'd woken.
She put the cloth down and began to run a brush through her long dark tresses, her eyes finally crossing the glass to him. He smiled at her and she chuckled.
"Morning." She whispered, putting the brush down and going to the foot of the bed. She reached for a black tank top and he leaned up quickly, grabbing her hand before she could put it on.
"Not yet." He murmured as he pulled her over the bed and onto his chest, and she relaxed against him, her hair tickling his chest.
"We have to get going. I already heard people up, probably going to march right in here soon. If they didn't already hear us last night." She grinned.
He shrugged, leaning in for a kiss. "Ask me if I care. I'm going to keep you here all day."
"Mm.." She said as their lips disconnected. "That'll go over well. Come on, Rick. Get dressed."
He let her pull him up and she stood, putting the top still clutched in her hand over her head. "Fine." He stood himself, getting dressed quickly and moving to the door. When he let himself out to go to the bathroom, she pulled her hair up into a messy bun on her head and went to find Paul.
Rick hurried, dressed in the cool bathroom, and went back downstairs to find her. She was in the kitchen, but he was surprised to see her not engrossed in her friend. Instead, she was chatting with Carol by the sink, her bottle of water to her lips. The kitchen table, however, was full. Paul sat surrounded by people, the closest of which was Beth. She sat looking up at him with a small smile as he spoke, and he kept directing his attention back to her in return. He interrupted the gathering with a sharp cough.
"Hey, you all ready to go?" He asked and Ruby snapped to.
"Yeah, but don't you want to eat first?" She tilted her head to the side questioningly.
He shook his head. "Nah, I'll do it when we get back."
"Well, let's do this, then." Paul stood and smacked his hands together, rubbing them quickly.
"Hey, Rick? Glen and me are gonna stay. Beth didn't get a chance to go last time." Maggie leaned back in her kitchen chair and spoke a little louder than usual. Rick noticed Beth give her a stern look, but Maggie just smiled a little.
"Alright then." Rick said and motioned for Beth to follow. Ruby leaned down and grabbed the stack of baskets and bags next to the door, following him outside.
"I'm glad you're coming." She grinned at Beth and the girl fell into step to her right.
"Maggie said it was great, I wanted to see it for myself."
"Here, Starlet." Paul said from behind her, sweeping the baskets away from her and putting them in the back of the truck they had taken to the garden last time. "Beth, you want to ride in the back?" He asked and the small girl's face lit up for a moment with a bright smile.
"Sure." She said and Ruby went to Rick at the door to the driver's seat as Paul picked Beth easily up off the ground and planted her in the bed of the truck. Ruby slid into the cab and Rick got in next to her.
"We need the blankets and things from the house, don't forget." Ruby said as Rick pulled the truck around and went for the front of the house.
"I won't forget." Rick watched the road carefully. Daryl came from the trees to the left of the little road as they entered the trees. Rick pulled the truck to a stop and the man leaned into the window, his crossbow over his shoulder and his eyes narrow.
"Nothin out there now, but watch your back."
Rick nodded. "Will do. Be back in a little while, you got this place?"
"Yeah, no problem, man." Daryl said, his eyes flicking over to Ruby before going back to the bed, with Paul and Beth. "Find me when you get back now, you hear?"
"Yeah, I will." She grinned back at him and Rick pulled off toward the highway.
"What was that?" He asked as he drove.
She chuckled a little, looking out over the sunlit woods. "Cheering him up, Rick. That's all."
He let out a breath as he pulled onto the wide highway and around a couple abandoned cars. He wanted to laugh and joke with her like he usually did, but he was concerned with being out here. The second time. The first had treated them well, but there was no telling what today would bring. Also, he thought about leaving the confines of the house and heading just this way. What that would mean to the whole group. The truth was, not all of them would make it to their next destination, wherever that may be.
Ruby turned in the seat next to him and looked out the back window at Paul and Beth. They were sitting with their heads tilted toward each other to be heard over the noise of the rushing wind and the engine.
"He likes it here with us." She said, turning back around and sitting a little closer to him.
"I'm glad." Rick leaned forward and scanned the side of the road for the little pathway to the garden's farmhouse. Spotting it, he pulled the truck a little to the left and slowed. He was about to turn when Ruby grabbed his arm tightly.
"Look, Rick." She blurted and he whipped his head around to see what she saw. Way down the road was a stumbling figure, tiny in the distance, and he pressed his lips together.
"Too far away, probably can't even see us from here." He said, ducking the truck into the trees and speeding down the driveway to the farmhouse. It was all the same, still laying quiet and broken in the large yard. Pulling the truck around like he did before, he stopped it between the garden and the house and turned it off.
"You see that walker?" Paul asked, hopping lightly down from the bed and helping Beth down after.
"Yeah. Keep your eyes open, and move fast." Rick said, grabbing his Python and holding it at his side tightly. The mood wasn't destroyed, but it was markedly quieter as they went about gathering more food from the field.
Beth followed Ruby's finger to one side and she and Paul, each with baskets, started to fill them with vegetables. "Rick, relax. We'll see them in enough time out here." She said as Rick followed her to the other side. She wanted to see where Maggie and Glenn had gathered before.
"Get enough for the road. I don't think we'll be back." Rick said softly, trying to ease a bit.
"Do my best." She said, putting potatoes covered in light brown dirt into the basket. She frowned a little hating knowing this was the last time she'd see this place. It had the capability to feed them for a long time, and finding another wasn't going to be easy.
Tomatoes, fresh off the staked vines in the ground, turnips, it all looked wonderful and soon she had a full to bursting basket before her. She grabbed a bag and began to fill that too.
"Watermelons. Maggie didn't tell me they had these." She said, delighted, as they neared the end. Rick glanced back down at her, reluctantly tearing his eyes from the trees and yard around the field, but when he looked at her he felt his heart speed up again in a much more pleasant way that it had been. He knelt down and moved his hands to hers, digging through the soft dirt and pulling out a partially buried melon.
Their heads bumped a little and she laughed lightly, looking at him through her long lashes. He felt his heart thump loudly in his chest, but his gaze was broken by movement from his left. His python was almost out again when he realized it was just Paul picking up Beth's basket and taking it back to the truck. Leaning back on his haunches, he put his hands on his knees and watched.
"Looks like they filled up already." He said and she followed his gaze.
"Well, let's join them, then." She grinned and picked up the now full bag. He grabbed the basket she'd already filled and they went back across the field to the two already there, chatting amiably.
Beth was wearing a wide smile when they got there, turning it to Ruby and Rick. "Got some watermelons." Ruby said and Paul grinned appreciatively.
"Great. What's next?"
Rick listened carefully for sounds of walkers through the conversation. "Why don't you two stay out here and get more apples. Get as much as you can. We'll go get a few more things from the house, but if you see anything, get inside."
"Ok." Beth kept her smile and she and Paul wandered back to the trees lining the edge of the field.
"Come on, let's do this." Ruby said, putting a hand on his arm and taking his attention away from them. He followed her to the house, but took a protective stance in front of her at the back door. Gun pulled, he pushed the door opened and quickly scanned the kitchen.
"Check if they have any garbage bags. We can use them for the blankets." She whispered, and when he saw the rooms were clear before him he went to the sink. Opening the cabinet below, he found a couple pieces of black plastic balled up underneath. Pulling them out, he handed them to her.
"Stay close to me until we've cleared the whole place." He instructed and she nodded, moving to his elbow. They moved together through the first floor, ears perked, and when they reached the second floor, she moved behind him to the first bedroom.
"Help me fold them." She said, going to the bed and taking the intricately embroidered quilt from the bed. He went to the other side and they had it in the bag in a few moments. "Next bedroom, then. I think we got everything from here."
They moved to the second bedroom and found three blankets there, and she grabbed a few more articles of clothing she'd left last time. She looked up into his face as they moved to the last bedroom.
"You're making me nervous, Rick."
He felt his grip on his python loosen at her words. Of course he was, he'd been more on edge since the highway than he could remember. Forcing a smile, he put his arm around her and kissed her hair.
"I'm sorry. I just don't want anything to happen to you."
She grinned and stepped away, pulling the last blanket off the bed. "Got you and Paul here with me. Now, give me hand."
He helped her and soon they were taking the bags down the stairs and out to the back door. When they reemerged into the sunlight, they could see Paul and Beth still at the trees. They were finishing up, and he hoisted a couple bulging bags over his shoulder and walked back toward them.
"I think Beth and Ruby should ride in the cab. That walker from before should be a lot closer." Rick said, sitting the bags into the bed.
"That's a good idea." Paul said, his hand going to his sidearm and his eyes scanning the yard around them. Ruby slid into the truck and Paul helped Beth up beside her as Rick started it up. Paul locked the door, shut it behind the girls, and hopped lightly up into the bed of the truck, perching on the wheel well.
Ruby pushed the tiny slide window open and pressed her face to it. "Be careful, Paul."
He smiled back at her. "Always am, Starlet."
They got to the highway and Rick stopped the truck just before the road, looking around intently at the pavement as far as he could see on either way.
"Here we go." He said darkly and turned toward their homestead.
I don't see anything, Ruby thought, but she didn't say a word. She knew better than to tempt fate like that. Her leg was pressed close to Rick's and she increased the pressure in a reassuring way. He flicked his eyes over to her and took his right arm off the wheel, wrapping it around her shoulders tightly.
"Do you smell that?" Beth curled her little nose up and grimaced just as it hit Ruby.
"Ugh, what is that?" She said. A sharp tapping on the hood of the truck made her head whip around to look back at Paul, and he reached an arm in to tap Rick on the shoulder. He pulled the truck slowly to a crawl and leaned out the window. His heart had picked up, the smell was one he'd smelled before. Dark, smoky, meaty. It was the smell of burning flesh.
The highway was deserted, but as Rick stopped the truck and Paul hopped down, they could clearly see a haze in the air that hadn't been there before. Rick opened the truck door and pointed back for Ruby and Beth to stay put as he joined Paul on the roadway a few steps ahead. They could hear faint noises in the distance, in the woods on the opposite side of the road from where they'd came, and Paul looked back at him with narrowed eyes.
"Sounds like somebody's having a party." He said and Rick could immediately pick up on the sounds of whooping and cries through the trees.
"And why would they be burning bodies?" Rick responded grimly.
"So that's what that is, huh? It's not pleasant, is it?" Paul put a wrist up to his nose and coughed lightly.
"Let's get the girls out of here. We can come back with Daryl and T-Dog." Rick took a step back and turned to the truck. His eyes rose to level just as the charred remains of a walker stumbled across the yellow line and hit the back of the vehicle and Ruby and Beth jumped visibly.
"God damnit." Rick growled and pulled his Python, raising it and aiming for the burned out left eye of the thing.
"Wait!" Paul almost yelled, grabbing his shoulder. "The noise, it's just one." He said, pulling a knife from his belt and jogging around Rick to the slow, shambling figure. He aimed and jerked, sending the blade up through the chin into the brain, and the thing paused, relaxed, and fell to the ground as Paul pulled free with his weapon.
Ruby hit the window and dropped from the cab of the truck in a mere second, coming to stand between Paul and Rick, looking down at the walker on the ground. It was black, charred, no telling if it had once been man or woman. The teeth were bright even in their decayed way against the crispy skin of the face, and the smoke from whatever fire it had been in was still rising off it in tendrils and wisps.
"What the holy hell happened to it?" She murmured in awe, her face concerned.
"I guess the fire wasn't enough to kill the head." Rick said, his lips pressed tightly together. "Get back in the truck. Paul, get in with us. We'll come back later when we're prepared."
The four of them went quickly back to the cab, Rick and Ruby sliding in one side and Paul helping Beth up on the other side. The smaller girl ended up on his lap, and Rick started the truck back up and headed down the road.
They reached the driveway to their house and he pulled down in quickly. Coming to a stop behind the house, Rick got out and helped Ruby down as Paul did the same with Beth. He left the keys in and they went to find Daryl. He was sitting in the front room, watching out the front. He gave no acknowledgment that he had seen them pull up though, but no one had time to worry about that.
"Daryl, can you come with us? Where's T-dog?" Rick asked, marching through the house to the dining room. He stopped at the table and checked his weapon for ammo, sticking more in his pockets. The house came alive when they saw the serious looks of the four of them, and Beth went immediately to her sister when she spotted Maggie and Glenn coming down the stairs.
"Right here, man." T-Dog said, coming down after them. Paul was beside Rick at the table with his gun as well, and Rick's eyes went from the two of them to the stairs.
"Good. Need you to take watch, keep a sharp eye. We have to take care of something out there, and you and Glenn gotta hold the place down."
"Yeah, no problem. We got this." T nodded, his hand going to his sidearm, like the others, as he turned and went back up the stairs.
"Keep everybody inside, Glenn. Nobody steps foot out that door until we're back, got it?" Rick ordered, crossing the room again and going for the back door.
"Yeah, sure." Glenn nodded and took a place watching at the living room window. Maggie and Beth went to the couches, Hershel, Lori and Carl descended from the second floor to join them as Daryl dropped out of sight at the back door.
"What are you doing? Go back in." Paul said as Ruby followed him and Rick right out the back door.
"You're going, I'm going." She said and Rick turned quickly.
"Oh no, you're a good shot, we need you here." He said, not saying what he really thought. That is something happened to her he'd pretty much die.
She gave him the first stubborn, stern look since they'd met. "No, Rick. I'm not getting separated again, forget it."
Rick pressed his mouth into a deeper frown and looked to Paul. The man was standing there, his brows furrowed, and he and Ruby seemed to be engaged in wordless conversation.
"Well, you comin or not?" Daryl poked his head back around the house and gruffly interrupted the exchange. Paul glanced up at him before returning his gaze to Ruby.
"You stay between us, and don't do anything crazy." He said and she nodded quickly. He looked up at Rick and let out a deep breath as the three of them followed Daryl around to the front of the house.
"Why aren't we taking a truck?" Ruby asked from her place between Rick and Paul.
"It's not far, and we can hide in the trees better." Rick said, his eyes on Daryl's back several paces ahead. He hated having Ruby walk into god knows what like this, but the thought of being away from her was just as painful, so he tried to quiet it. He had enough backup, he hoped...
"Somebody's having a barbeque." Daryl said in a low voice as they made their way just down the tree line and toward the increasingly intense smell. The smoky haze was thicker now as they walked, and they all quieted as the sounds they had heard before drifted back into earshot.
"Stay behind me." Rick put his free hand around Ruby's wrist and pulled her close. Paul got up behind her, trying to shield her further from anything they might see. Daryl even slowed, and soon, the four of them were in a kind of triangle moving through the trees.
The sounds got louder, and individual voices began to be discernible. The heat from a fire was evident even before they could see it.
"Whoo! Yeah, man! Get 'em!" A high pitched voice reached their ears. They emerged into a partial clearing and could see a house just beyond the trees. Whatever was happening was on the other side, and Daryl led them back into the trees to flank it on the right. After a few moments of movement, they had a fairly good view of the front of the house.
There was a large bonfire made in the grass on front yard of the dilapidated and broken down farmhouse. Large tree branches and wooden posts could be seen in the flames, but that wasn't what caught their attention. There were burnt bodies and parts in the fire and laying just outside the lapping embers.
"Stay close, get low." Rick said, shielding his face from the smell, as did the others. They crouched there in the underbrush and watched several forms dancing around the fire, chattering loudly and drunkenly cheering. Walkers had been brought in and were being fed to the bonfire like kindle, and the participants lifted beer cans and bottles to their lips with grubby fingers and soot streaked grins. They were large men, most of them, with bellies rounded by too much alcohol and bad food.
"That's disgusting." Ruby whispered through the fabric of her tank top. She'd pulled it up over her mouth to cover from the drifting ashes.
"Good ol boys, all of 'em." Daryl said grimly. He knew the type- they all did. If they got found here it wouldn't be pretty. "Let's get out of here, worry about keepin' them away from the house."
"Yeah." Rick nodded but Ruby put her hand on his back as he moved.
"But they aren't getting rid of them. You saw that one on the road, they're too drunk to even realize the walkers are getting loose."
Daryl turned on her, his brow furrowed. "Girlie, you don't want no part of that, I'm tellin' you."
Her eyes met his and she could see the truth there. "Yeah, you're right." She said and Paul looped his finger in the belt loop on her jeans, pulling her low and back the way they had come. She felt Rick behind her and they reached the back of the house quickly. Straightening back up, Ruby shot a look back at Rick and Daryl.
"Who does that?" She asked with a shake of her head.
"You ain't feelin' bad for the walkers, now, are ya?" Daryl drawled as they walked.
"Well, no, but it creeps me the hell out. And that smell pretty much kills any appetite I'm ever going to have." She coughed lightly, unable to get the feel of ash from her mouth.
"It is pretty sick." Paul agreed from behind her.
"What if they come near the house? Or a crispy critter gets away again?" Ruby asked, stepping over a fallen log. The sun was high in the sky and it shone down through the trees prettily. You never would have known there was a human roast a few hundred yards away by just looking at it.
"We won't have to worry about that much longer." Rick said and she looked back at him.
"What do you mean?"
"He means we're movin' up our move out date." Daryl answered. "That about right?"
Rick nodded. "Tomorrow. It's as good as anything else."
"Gotta say, I'm not going miss this place." Paul said.
Rick didn't agree. This was where he'd really found Ruby, and the house wasn't going to be easy to walk away from. Cold shower or not, running water was running water.
The highway looked deserted when they got back to it, but as Daryl's feet hit pavement they caught movement from the right side. He raised his crossbow and dropped a walker that was heading toward the fire. It collapsed in a heap on the grass next to the highway, and he spotted another behind it. That was was also quickly dispatched, and Rick put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, leading her on as Daryl retrieved his arrows. Paul held back a little to watch for the man to return from the bodies, and in a moment they were back behind Rick and Ruby.
"You realize the noise they're making is going to draw every walker in the area." Paul said as they moved through the trees toward the house.
"And probably get themselves killed, too." Rick agreed grimly.
"Bastards would deserve it, being stupid like that. I'm all for killin' those things, man, but that's just... well, that's just fucked up." Daryl said.
"Yeah, you could say that." Ruby said as they emerged into the front yard of the house. They walked around to the back and jogged into the house, locking up behind themselves.
"What happened?" Glenn asked as the others descended the stairs to get report.
"Found a bunch of drunk idiots down the road making a walker bonfire." Daryl said, going to the living room couch and looking out at the street.
"Are they coming here?" Carol asked from the kitchen door, her eyes fearful.
"No." Rick answered firmly. "But we're staying in the rest of the day. Pack your stuff up, we're leaving in the morning."
With the discovery of not only the bad group Paul had spoken of but these new men so much closer, no one thought to argue with Rick. They scattered to spend their last night in the house.