We come across a bike a couple of feet away from one of those things. I'm farther back than Rick is due to my limping and dizziness. Rick notices and picks up the bike and looks back at me expectantly. "Here, hop on." He offers.
I chuckle humorously. "I can hardly walk, what makes you think I can ride a bike?" I ask him blankly.
"I'll push you, just hop on, we'll get there quicker." He tells me. We agreed we'd go check his house for his wife and son, Lori and Carl, as he'd told me. With great reluctance I walk over to him, once I reach the bike we're startled by movement of the thing.
It begins to growl at us, snapping its teeth. Shocked, Rick takes a step back falling over on top of me. I hit the ground hard, hitting my head on the curb. I feel my wound start to bleed again and my head won't stop spinning. I'd probably be sick if it weren't for my empty stomach. Fear is all I can feel as my world turns black.
When I come to I immediately notice I'm not at the hospital anymore, my arms and legs tied to a bed. I look to my right and notice Rick along with another man and a child. I feel my breathing start to increase and my eyes widen.
What the hell is going on? Why am I tied up? Tears start to flow freely down my face as I struggle to get out of my restraints. I see Rick put his hand up as to calm me down but it does the opposite. "Mason!" I scream out for my brother, knowing he can't hear me I shut my mouth immediately.
The other man takes a knife and puts it against my neck. When Rick tries to stop him the boy puts a gun to his head. He puts his hands up in surrender, meeting my eyes guiltily. I look back over at the man, more so his knife. "Take a moment, eh? Look how sharp it is? If you don't stop screaming I'll be forced to use it. Understand?" He asks sardonically. I look over at Rick pleadingly.
He nods his head. I slowly look at the man and nod my head the same, trusting Rick. "You try anything and I will kill you, don't think I won't." And with that he cuts my ropes. "Come on up when you're able." And with that him and his son leaves the room.
Rick looks at me. "How did I get here?" I ask him suspiciously. He sits down next to me.
"I put you on that bike and pushed you till I got to my place." He pauses looking away in thought.
"Are they dead?" I ask him hesitantly, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, referring to his family. I sure hope he didn't find his dead family on his own.
"No, no. They were just gone." He looks down to hide his tears. I shake his shoulder a bit.
"We're going to find them Rick, along with my brother. Everything is going to be okay." I reasure.
When he looks up he's not crying anymore but he still looks perturbed. "When I left my house, they hit me upside the head and knocked me out. I woke up here, same as you." He explains, his voice in a low draw.
"How's your wound?" I ask, pointing. He looks surprised for a moment before recovering.
"Better. Thanks again, it'd be ten times worse if not for you. How about you? How are you feeling?" He asks me, concern on his features.
"Oh me? Good as new." I lie with a smile. It hurts like a bitch with every breath I take but I don't need anyone concerned with me. It'll heal soon enough. He looks at me skeptical but nods his head anyway. "Let's go meet these people formally, shall we?" And with that we leave the room.
I sit at the table while the man, I learned his name is Morgan, serves us food. I'd usually be more reluctant to eat something a stranger gives me but I'm in no predicament to deny myself food. Rick stands by the window getting ready to look outside. "Don't do that." Morgan orders. I noticed he does that a lot. I also notice Rick looks awfully familiar to me but I shake it off. We live in the same town after all. "They'll see the light." He clarifies.
"There's more of them out there than usual. I never should have fired that gun today." Gun? Rick never mentioned anyone getting shot! My heart rate picks up and I feel myself tense up. "The sound draws them, now they're all over the street. Stupid, using a gun. It all happened so fast, I didn't think." I feel to confused and hungry to even question what he's talking about. I can only think with my stomach right now.
"You shot that man today." Rick accuses.
"He what?" I shoot off at Rick.
Morgan cuts in before he can explain, "Man?" The word seems to make him hostile.
"That weren't no man." Dwayne, Morgan's son, cuts in. Morgan reprimands him for his grammar.
"You shot him. In the street, out front, a man." Rick explains accusingly.
"Friend, you need glasses, that was a walker. Come on. Sit down, before you fall down. Here. Eat." With reluctance Rick does as he's told. What did he call the thing he killed? A walker? Maybe those things we seen at the hospital aren't human at all.
I'm about to happily take my first bite when Dwayne interrupts, "Daddy, blessing." He reprimends his father for not saying grace. Dwayne and Morgan hold hands and Dwayne holds his hand out to me expectantly. I shakily hold my hand in his. I haven't prayed since before my parents passed. My parents were religious but I never was, one of the many reasons they didn't accept me.
When we're done they say amen, "Amen." I mutter quietly. Morgon looks at the two of us as we dig in.
"Hey, do you people even know what is going on?" He asks us, already knowing the answer.
"I woke up today, In a hospital. She was sitting in my room already." Rick looked at me looking puzzled for a moment. "What's your name?" He asks me.
"Coraline. My names Coraline Brumms. I was at work when everything happened. Saw the military drop a explosive of some sort on the city. I drove to my house to find my brother but he was gone when I got there. On the way I got into a car crash. A large piece of metal impaled me so I drove myself to the hospital. When I arrived there was no one there except for the people already dead." I then look towards Rick to talk to him.
"I saw a room with a bed in front of it so I went in there. I found you there. After I took care of my own wound I decided to camp out in your room until you woke up. I changed your bandaged and drip bag daily for three weeks. Eventually I ran out of food but luckily that's when you woke up." I finish my story with a sigh.
"But y'all know about the dead people, right?" He asks with urgency.
"Yeah, I saw a lot of that." Rick says.
"On the loading dock, hauling trucks." I finish for him.
"No, not the ones they put down. The ones they didn't." He states ominously. The ones they didn't? Is that what he was talking about when he said walkers? Those disgusting creatures are people? How can that be possible? "The walkers. Like the one I shot today. 'Cause he would have ripped into you. Try to eat you, take him some flesh at least. But I guess if this is the first you're hearing, I know how it must sound." That's the understatement of the year. Or a lifetime. I feel fear pulse through every vein in my body.
"They're out there now, in the street?" Rick asks Morgan with suspicion clear in his voice.
"And they eat people?" I mutter.
"Yeah. They're even more active after dark sometimes. Maybe it's the cool air or Hell, maybe it's just me firing up that gun today. But we'll be fine long as we stay quiet. Probably wander off by morning." I feel my head start to spin again and my face has probably lost all color. I look over at Rick and notice he doesn't look worried. His calm exterior is what keeps me from jumping out of my skin.
"Well, listen One thing I do know Don't you get bit! We saw your bandage and that's why we were afraid of. Bites kill you. The fever burns you out. But then after a while You come back." As a walker. As a human, flesh eating monster. I think about my brother and hope he's not one of them.
"Seen it happen." Dwayne says somberly.
After we had gotten done eating I find myself in one of the bedrooms looking for clothes to wear. The women who lived here before must have been one of those skinny suburban moms because all the clothes are sizes to small. I squeeze into a pair of skinny jeans that come up to far on my ankles, showing off my long striped socks. I find a grey baseball t-shirt that I can fit into that shows a bit too much cleavage for my liking but beggars can't be choosers.
I look into a full length mirror and immediately don't recognize myself. I already look skinnier and more sharp. My eyes are hollowed out and dark around the edges despite my translucent skin. I let out a sigh before making my way to the living room to find Dwayne, Morgan and Rick settled in. "My coat." I stare blankly. If I have to wear these tight clothes I at least want something I'm comfortable wearing.
Morgan nods his head towards the pallet of blankets laid out next to Ricks pile. I notice my lab coat lying atop them. I nod my head in thanks and sit down on the blankets. I pull it on and inhale the scent. It no longer smells like my house, much to my disappointment.
"Did you ask him?" Dwayne asks Morgan. Rick looks over at Morgan questioningly. Morgan chuckles to himself.
"Your gun shot, we got a little bit going. My boy says you're a bank robber." I was wondering that myself. How does one find themself in the position of getting shot?
"Yeah that's me. Deadly as Dillinger Kapow." Rick jokes. I giggle quietly to myself. When Rick catches me I stop though. "Sheriff's Deputy." He states. That makes a lot of sense actually.
Morgan looks at me expectantly. "And what about you? What's with the lab coat? You a scientist or something." He asks me.
I smile knowingly before turning my back to them to go to sleep.
"Or something."
We decided we're moving along to Atlanta where there's a refugee camp. Hopefully we'll find our families there. I shower and dress after the men are done. I make it as speedy as possible, still not knowing what kind of men they are. It feels great to wash all the blood that caked onto my scalp down the drain. I giggle to myself in joy.
When I get out I dress in my same tight clothes as before. My lab coat has blood on it but I can't bring myself to leave it behind. Rick is dressed in his police uniform. I've never like policemen, never had good experiences with them. But Rick seems like a good man, the trustworthy cop. He smiles softly at me when I get out. "Feel better?" He ask me, already knowing the answer.
"Much." I reply with a grin.
We head to the gun locker to load up. My heart hammers at all the deadly weapons. I already know how to shoot because of my father who was a big gun man. He would take my brother hunting every so often. He tried to take me once but I got upset when they killed the deer and tried to resuscitate it. After that I never used a gun again. "A lot of it's gone missing." Rick states.
Dwayne asks his father if he can learn to shoot. "Hell yes you're going to learn. We gotta do it carefully, teach you to respect the weapon." Well at least he's teaching him gun safety.
Rick cuts in, "That's right. It's not a toy. You pull the trigger, you have to mean it. Always remember that, Dwayne." I keep that in mind as well. He hands Morgan a large gun. He then turns to me.
"You know how to use one of these?" He asks sceptically. I nod my head slowly. He gives me another look I can't place, probably doubt. He hands me a 10mm handgun after showing me the basic works of it. I was used to a shotgun but this'll be easy to carry.
I put it into the thigh holster I found and nod at Rick when he stares at me surprised. I pack a bunch of ammo into a bag and bring it outside.
"You sure you won't come along?" I question Morgan.
"A few more days. By the end, Dwayne will know how to shoot and I won't be so rusty." He reassures.
Rick reaches into the car and pulls out a walkie. "You got one battery. I'll turn mine on, a few minutes everyday at dawn. You get up there, that's how you find me." He instructs Morgan.
After we had ran out of gas we decide to go on foot to a barn to get more gas, hopefully. "Hopefully everyone is as nice as Morgan is." I say with fake optimism. "Although with you dressed like that I don't think anyone will fuck with us." I grin at him. He looks over at me amused and shakes his head with a small laugh.
Approaching the house Rick calls out, "Hello? Police officer out here. Can I borrow some gas? Hello? Hello? Anybody home?" No one answers. I go around to look through the windows as Rick knocks. Inside I see two dead bodies with their skulls wide open where they had shot themselves in the heads.
I can't tell if I gasp or sob but when I step back I fall. Rick then comes around and see me on the ground. He runs over to me, thinking I'm hurt. "What happened, are you alright?" He asks me frantically. I shake my head and point to the window. He gets up and looks. I don't see his reaction but I feel him tug on my arm to get me up.
Rick walk over to the truck to see if he can find the keys, with no luck. I look off to the side and notice a brown horse. "Rick." I get his attention. When he looks over he gives me a defeated look and I just grin. He grabs some rope to saddle the horse up. He looks back at me before opening the fence. "After you Texas Rick." He rolls his eyes. Within no time he has the horse in reigns.
He walks it over towards me. I clap sarcastically, "Good job, now we just have to get on it." I say to him.
"I'll help you." He reassures with a smile. I nod at him unsurely.
"I know how to ride a horse, but getting on will be a problem." I tell him, still not convinced.
He stops and looks back at me with a grin. "Didn't I tell you not to worry?" I shrug in response. "Trust me." I already do but I'm not gonna tell him that.
Once the horse is saddled up I look nervously at Rick, "Animals don't like me." I say. He just rolls his eyes in response. Rick then comes up behind me as I put my right foot into the place for my feet.
He put his hands on my waist and I'm shocked by how big his hands are on them. I hate that I enjoy the feeling of his slim fingers on me, he may have a wife but there's nothing wrong with enjoying the innocent moment.
He helps me jump up onto the horse with easy. He looks at me in satisfaction. "I told you so." He states with a smirk. Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. And with that he get on up behind me so he can see over my head.
"You might wanna hold on." I joke with him, "I haven't done this in years." And with that we take off quickly. I feel Rick hold my hips in a bruising grip. "You're not afraid are you Rick?" I yell back at him. When I look back I notice him grinning widely.
We finally reach the city so I come to a slow trot through the city of Atlanta. I feel confused for a moment because if there was a refugee camp here wouldn't there be signs? I feel my skin crawl and I feel paranoid. As we continue through the city I notice there are a couple of walkers along the sides of the road that begin to notice us. Rick must feel me tense up because he squeezes my waist to get my attention.
"It's just a few, nothing we can't outrun." I can't find my voice to answer him back so I just nod stiffly. Suddenly there's a noise that I never thought I'd hear again. A helicopter. I pick up the speed of the horse towards the direction of the helicopter.
"They might be going to the refugee camp!" I yell back to Rick gleefully. Rounding the corner I was not prepared for the large group of dead covering the whole street. There has to be over a hundred. "Rick!" I yell out in fear.
"Shit." I hear behind me but It's just background noise to the ringing in my ears. The horse kicks back up on its hind legs and I feel scared that Rick is going to fall off so I grab back on the reigns and begin to go back in the direction where we saw a tank. When we go past there are even more walkers in the direction causing the horse to freak again, this time knocking Rick totally off.
The walkers begin to surround the horse and before it can kick me off I climb from the horse to the top of the tank. I assume Rick will follow me but I see the horse buck Rick off the horse. My heart beats faster and my throat closes. The walkers begin to climb on top of the tank causing me to jerk back. I quickly open the hatch to the tank and get inside clumsily. I notice a walker in the corner of the tank so I stay as quiet as possible.
I have to think quick or Rick is going to die. I notice a hatch on the floor and crawl slowly towards it on my hands and knees. It take me a couple of shaky tries but I finally open the hatch just in time to watch Rick crawl up through. I feel relief immediately flood through my body. He backs up as far away from the hatch as possible in panic mode. I close the hatch behind him, successfully blocking all the walkers from following. I look up just in time to watch Rick take the gun from the body of the walker, he's about to say something to me but I notice the walker moving.
Rick must see the fear in my eyes because he looks over and before I can yell at him not to shoot he's doing just that. The consequences are immediate for me, and my vision blacks out along with my hearing. It takes a couple moments but I feel Rick's hands on my shoulders shaking me. When my vision comes back I see Rick shaking me frantically. He might have thought I'd passed out again; and for all I know I might have. It takes a couple moment but finally I can hear again. I feel my body start to function again and start to nod my head towards Rick to tell him I'm alright but I'm cut off by interference on the radio.
"Hey, dumbasses in the tank, cozy in there?"