Hello again!
These past few days have been devoted only to writing, and thankfully my main focus has been on this fic. Compared to my HP fic that I've been working on, I feel as though I've kind of been neglecting this one a bit. For some reason, my attention has been completely captivated with the plot of this story and I wrote on it for a solid five hours. in other words, I managed to pump out this chapter and another for a future update. :)
A big thank you to hrodenhaver for favouriting the story! I appreciate the support.
As for comments,
FAIRY4LIFE: my apologies for the cliffhanger but here you go! :D
Thank you guys for your support and feedback on this story! I hope this chapter holds up to your expectations.
Enjoy~
The uneasiness that Scarlett had been so desperately trying to fight off was slowly sinking into her skin. The group had made their way up to the roof, putting as much distance between the herd of walkers and themselves as possible. They needed a plan, and they needed it now.
She was leaning over the edge of the building beside Rick, whose eyes were peering through a pair of binoculars that Glenn had brought with him. Scarlett's own eyes gazed down at the street below, staring at the undead figures as they slowly shambled along the road and sidewalks aimlessly. A good majority of them were probably making their way towards the herd that was pounding at the building's front doors.
"That construction sight," Rick spoke up finally, handing the binoculars over to Morales. "Those trucks, they always keep keys on hand."
Taking a quick look through the binoculars as well, Morales let out a sigh.
"You'll never make it past the walkers." He declared.
"You got us out of that tank." Rick replied, bringing his attention to Glenn.
"Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted." He stated, giving Scarlett a sad look.
"Can we distract them again?"
"Right. Listen to him," Merle spoke for the first time in a while, much to Scarlett's and everyone else's discontent. "He's on to something. A diversion, like on 'Hogan's Heroes'."
"God, give it a rest." Jacqui demanded, looking absolutely tired of the man's shit.
"They're drawn by sound, right?" Rick said, bringing everyone back to the topic at hand.
"Right, like dogs. They hear sound, they come."
"What else?" Rick continued to push, but his attention this time was directed at Scarlett.
She quickly closed her eyes and began to think. Sound was obvious, hence the situation they were in. Sight was another, but clearly not as vital as sound. Touch and taste were second hand senses, once they had something to eat.
There was only one other sense that she could think of.
"Smell," she stated. "We must smell different than they do. I mean, they smell dead and we don't. So…"
"So?"
Scarlett had an absolutely horrible idea, but it was the only idea she had.
"Do you think those walkers you took out in the alleyway are still there?" She questioned, eyeing both Morales and T-Dog.
"Probably, why?"
"We're gonna need them."
In a bit of a trance, Scarlett stood up and sprinted over to door, throwing it open without looking behind her to see if anyone was following her. The sound of multiple footsteps hitting the metal stairs behind her quickly answered her question, pushing open the door at the bottom and running into the department store.
"What is going on?" Andrea asked, slightly out of breath as the entered in behind her.
"Grab a few pairs of gloves and a few of those white coats," Scarlett replied, looking around at anything else they'd need. "Maybe some duck tape too, not sure if we'll need it but it's better to have it just in case."
"Scarlett, please tell us what you're thinking!" Glenn whined, nervously eyeing her.
"Smell has to be their strongest sense other than sound," she explained, finding some gloves and tossing them to Rick. "We get rid of the smell and…"
"We become invisible to them." Rick mumbled, everyone clueing in on what the redhead was getting at.
"So you want to do what?" Jacqui questioned, not liking the idea one bit. Realistically, nobody looked like they were happy with the plan.
"If bad idea's were an Olympic event, this would take the gold." Glenn mumbled as Rick shoved a pair of gloves into his hands, obviously on board with Scarlett's plan.
"He's right, just stop," Morales spoke up, looking between both Scarlett and Rick. "Okay? Take some time to think this through."
"How much time?" Rick questioned, grabbing some of the white coats just off to his right. "They already got through one set of doors, that glass won't hold forever."
As soon as Rick tossed both Glenn and Scarlett a white coat, the redhead began making her way towards the small storage room in which they had entered the building earlier.
Dressed in one of the long white coats and rubber gloves covering her hands, she looked back at the others with a determined gaze.
"I think one body will be enough," Scarlett concluded, placing her hand on the door as Rick and Morales prepared to go outside. "Okay, go."
Throwing open the door and watching as the two men made their way over to one of the dead walkers, Scarlett fixed her gaze nervously at the end of the alley, where two other walkers remained roaming around. It didn't take the two men much time to drag the body inside thankfully and as soon as they were in, she slammed the door closed.
The dead walker was dropped to the floor and the group let out some nervous breaths. Scarlett glanced over at Rick, who had attached a face guard to his head. Taking the crowbar and smashing it through the glass box beside him, Rick took the red axe from its case and approached the body.
Holding up a hand to Rick, Scarlett kneeled down beside the body and reached into the walker's pocket. Thankfully, her gloved hands fished out a wallet and she eyed the group closely before opening it. All clothed in long white coats and rubber gloves just like her, Scarlett glanced down at the wallet as Rick squatted down beside her.
"Wayne Dunlap," she stated, reading over his ID. "Georgia license. Born in 1979."
Scarlett passed the ID over to Rick, who passed it to Morales so everyone could have a look. Already feeling a bit of a lump in her throat, Scarlett gave Rick the wallet. Her idea had sounded like the best they had, but now she was having doubts. She hadn't even worried about having to cut into a walker, forgetting that it was originally a human like they were. The fact that she had overlooked something so fundamental made her stomach overturn in self-loathing.
"He had 28 dollars in his pocket when he died," Rick continued, observing the wallet closer. "And a picture of a pretty girl. 'With love, from Rachel'."
"He used to be like us," Scarlett mumbled half-heartedly, unable to meet the eyes of everyone around her. "Worrying about bills or the rent or the next sports game. I apologize for not seeing the horrendous nature of this plan when I thought of it. Not just to all of you, but to Wayne."
Feeling Rick's hand on her back, Scarlett shot the man a look. He was gazing at her kindly, obviously bothered by the situation they were in but was nonetheless showing her the same sympathy he had been giving her for years. He knew she had a few dark things lurking in the corners of her mind, but he never judged her for it. Scarlett's lips softly trembled as she gave him tense smile.
"It's a plan, and if it works, you will have saved our lives," Rick began. "If it doesn't, at least we gave it a shot. When and if I find my family, I'm going to tell them about Wayne and how we got out of here because of you."
Pulling Scarlett up with him, Rick grabbed his mask and picked up the axe from the floor. A sigh escaped her lips as pulled at the gloves on her hands.
"It was my plan, I'll deal with the guts." Scarlett stated, regaining her composure.
"We'll still help." Andrea replied.
"It's going to be bad."
"What, you've chopped up a body before?"
"No, but I've seen my fair share of insides on duty."
"I doubt it'll be like this."
Scarlett shrugged slightly. She wondered if she would vomit at the sight, but prayed that she wouldn't. She didn't have much in stomach to lose.
"One more thing," Glenn spoke up, eyeing everyone with the ID still in his gloved hands. "He's an organ donor."
It was ironic, to say the least.
"Well, at least its consensual." Scarlett mumbled.
A pause followed, and she was sure that the piece of information that Glenn shared had eased some nerves amongst the others. Before she could even speak up once again, Rick was already swinging his axe into the dead walker's body.
"Oh God!"
Rick had driven the axe into the rib cage and was already taking another swing, except this time he hit the lower leg. Everyone was groaning and holding their breath, but all Scarlett could focus on was Rick's swings.
"Aim for the stomach, Rick." She called to him.
Thankfully, he obliged. His next few swings managed to tear open the walker's stomach and its organs began spilling from the opening.
Rick had paused, obviously fighting back the urge to vomit, just like everyone else in the room. Wiping away at the sweat on her forehead, Scarlett couldn't help but stare down at the body.
"Keep chopping." Rick stated, passing the axe and his headgear over to Morales, who quickly took over.
After a few more swings, Scarlett had to look away. Her stomach was starting to convulse unpleasantly and her throat was beginning to close up from suppressing a gag.
"Oh, I am so gonna hurl." Glenn groaned, bent in half and breathing hard.
"Not on the body, please." Scarlett replied, to which he glared at her.
"Later." Was Rick's only response as Morales continued chopping into the body.
Out of breath and looking pale, Morales finally stopped before looking over at Scarlett and Rick.
"That should be enough." She muttered, slowly kneeling beside the body and hesitantly peering inside it's stomach.
"Everybody got gloves?" Rick questioned. "Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."
"Skin should be fine. I think as long as it doesn't enter into your system through any openings or cuts." Scarlett spoke up, slowly sticking a hand into guts with a disgusting squish.
Everyone kneeled down and began reaching into the stomach, groans of repulsion leaving everyone's mouth, especially Glenn's. The three that would be going out into the herd would be Rick, Scarlett and Glenn. Gazing down at pile of insides that remained in her hands, Scarlett hesitantly rubbed it over the chest section of her long white coat. The others got to helping Glenn and Rick cover themselves with the walker's insides. Jacqui had thankfully helped Scarlett with her own gut body painting.
Finishing faster than the other two, Scarlett had given Jacqui a quick thank you as she heard Glenn's groans get louder. She could only watch as a string of intestines were hung around his neck.
"This is bad. This is really bad." Glenn moaned, eyes shut tight in order to concentrate on not throwing up.
"Just think about something else," Rick spoke up, face pale. "Puppies and kittens."
"Dead puppies and kittens." T-Dog threw in, which appeared to be the last straw for Glenn, because he quickly bent over to the side and hurled.
"That is just evil, what is wrong with you?" Andrea questioned, looking at T-Dog in bewilderment as she rubbed Glenn's back.
"Next time let the cracker beat his ass." Jacqui said, eyeing both Rick and Scarlett.
"I'm sorry, yo." T-Dog apologized to Glenn, who was still hunched over and breathing hard.
"You suck." Glenn replied simply.
Figuring that was as much as Glenn was going to reply with, Scarlett looked down at her own body. Every surface of her long white jacket was now covered in dark, chunky red insides. She was pretty sure that she had grabbed one of the walker's kidneys, which was now in bits and smeared along her left sleeve.
"Do we smell like them?" Scarlett asked after a moment.
"Oh yeah," Andrea replied right away before looking over at the form beside her. "Glenn, take this. Just in case."
Much to Scarlett's surprise, Andrea held out her gun to Glenn. It wasn't like she considered the blonde to be a bad person, but Scarlett knew she wasn't on the best terms with her. Seeing her do something kind was something the redhead had not seen as of yet, so it surprised her.
"While the three of us venture out, the rest of you wait by the loading dock and be ready," Scarlett explained. "We'll bang on the door when we've got the truck."
"What about Merle Dixon?" T-Dog asked, the unpleasant tone in his voice evident.
Reaching into the front pocket of his jeans, Rick fished out the small set of keys he had used to handcuff Merle to the roof. He quickly tossed them over to T-Dog and the man left.
When everyone knew what to do, the three of them that were covered in guts approached the door that lead out into the alley. Holding Stella lazily in her hand and with her gun tucked into the waistband of her jeans, Scarlett was as ready as she would ever be.
"Let's go." Rick muttered and the three of them stepped out into the alleyway.
Thankfully there were only a few walkers in the alley, so they could test if the plan would really look before walking into a herd of the undead. The three of them gazed at one another anxiously before they began shambling down the alley like the dead that were waiting for them.
Scarlett held her breath as they approached the first two walkers. The grip on her bat tightened as the walkers observed the three of them. They didn't make any movements to attack them and once they passed the first few undead, Scarlett knew that her plan had worked.
She didn't have any time to celebrate, because as soon as they left the alley by crawling under the bus and out into the street was when the real challenge began. Dozens of walkers roamed the streets and their moans made Scarlett's skin crawl. It was almost like a broken record was playing the same eerie sound, but multiplied by a hundred. The three of them stuck close to one another, occasionally sharing a worried glance. The plan had worked so far, but Scarlett couldn't help but wonder when something would go wrong.
As they continued down the streets at an unbearably slow pace, the crowd of walkers only seemed to get thicker. There were a few times when the occasional walker would get a bit too close, but it would turn away as soon as its interest had been grabbed.
"It's gonna…work," Glenn mumbled through clenched teeth. "I…can't believe it."
"Don't…draw attention." Rick muttered back.
Before Scarlett could scold either of them, she saw a walker slowly draw closer to Glenn. The panic was obvious in his eyes as the walker let loose a few curious groans, to which Glenn replied with some very fake sounding moans of his own. Much to everyone's surprise, it worked and the walker shuffled away.
Scarlett gave Glenn a look that could be interpreted as "shut the hell up", which he thankfully did.
It was only then that Scarlett began to register the loud rumbling of thunder above them. Much louder and closer than it had been before, her eyes quickly glanced up at the sky to see that the clouds had darkened into a deep grey. If it rained and washed away the guts from their clothes, they would be in serious trouble.
It was almost as if Mother Nature herself had read her mind, for Scarlett felt the first few drops of rain hitting the ginger strands on her head. Slowly turning her head in the direction of Glenn and Rick, she gave them a panicked look.
"Faster." She whispered.
As they continued shuffling a bit faster, within minutes the guts had began to wash away from their coats. With the way the rain was beginning to fall, their scent would soon leak through and their cover would be blown.
And they were almost at the fence to the construction sight as well.
Looking around, the walkers had already started switching their attention to them in what appeared to be curiosity or confusion.
"The smells washing off. Isn't it?" Glenn muttered, looking between Rick and Scarlett nervously. "Is it washing off?"
"No it's not." Rick replied.
"It is," Scarlett countered. "Just stay calm, we're almost there. We just need to keep our cover a bit longer."
The growl of a walker came from behind them and she knew their cover was blown. Rick turned and drove the axe into the walker's head. Every walker in their vicinity knew the truth and they needed to make a break for it.
"Run!" Scarlett yelled, swinging the end of the metal bat into the head of the walker in front of her.
The three of them began sprinting, growls and groans following behind them at an alarmingly close rate. Glenn with his crowbar, Rick with his axe, and Scarlett with Stella, they were all swinging away at the few walkers that blocked their path. Once they reached the metal gate, they all chucked their weapons over the top and began climbing. Just barely missing getting dragged back into the herd, they all landed on the other side, where they stripped themselves of their gloves and coats.
"Come on!" Glenn shouted as Scarlett picked up Stella and began racing towards one of the trucks.
It was only when she heard gunfire that she turned to spot Rick firing at the walkers that were attempting to climb over the fence. Glenn, on the other hand, broke open the green box holding the keys to the trucks open.
"Rick!" He yelled, tossing them to sheriff.
The three approached the truck and both men got inside the front. Scarlett heard an approaching walker and turned, swinging her bat and taking a chunk out of the walker's head.
"Scarlett, let's go!" She heard Rick calling, to which she sprinted over to the truck, threw open the passenger side door and crawled inside. Evidently, right on top of Glenn.
"Ow! Ow! Watch it!" Glenn yelled, as Scarlett was pretty much sitting on him.
"Rick, drive!" She cried, and thankfully he started up the truck.
Driving backwards, Scarlett watched as the metal fence gave way and the rush of walkers broke through. The truck reversed through another metal fence before coming to a halt and turning down another road.
It was only on the highway that Scarlett managed to get off of Glenn and crouch between the two seats.
"Oh my God! Oh my God! They're all over that place!" Glenn cried, looking at Rick and Scarlett in a panic.
"You need to draw them away," Rick replied. "Those roll-up doors near the front of the store. That area? That's what I need cleared."
"But-"
"Raise your friends," Rick cut him off. "Tell them to get down there and be ready."
"And I'm driving the geeks away how? I-I missed that part." Glenn stammered, looking at the two of them nervously with the radio in his hands.
"Noise." Scarlett answered for Rick.
Coming to a halt on one of the side streets, the three of them came across a red car. They jumped out, Rick with Glenn's crowbar in hand. When they approached the vehicle, Rick drove the end of it through the front window and a loud, annoying alarm began ringing through the streets.
"Oh God." Scarlett muttered, covering her ears as she watched Rick unlock the driver side door.
"Your picking would come in handy right about now," Rick stated, looking over at Scarlett. She only gave him a confused look. "Oh, come on. I know you pick locks. It's not a secret."
"Victoria told you, didn't she?" Scarlett questioned, surprised and mildly offended. "Plus, this is a car! I've never-"
"Just, do your thing, please?"
With a huff, she crawled into the front seat of the car. Asking for and requiring a screwdriver from Rick, Scarlett got to work on the car. It wasn't as difficult as she had thought. She'd never hot-wired a car or anything like that. She only did small things. Cabinets, doors, things like that. Never something as big as a damn car.
But somehow, she managed to get it to start.
"You're gonna go with Glenn, okay?" Rick said to her as she got out of the front seat.
"Why? Won't you need my help?" She asked, a little worried.
"You need to cover him. Walkers are gonna be coming after him, so don't be afraid to fire away if you need to."
"But Rick-"
"Trust me okay? I've got to go back for the others."
She hated it and she hated him for coming to this conclusion. As much as she could understand where he was coming from, she didn't like not being by his side. However, they didn't have the time to argue over it, so a frustrated sigh left her lips instead.
"You better come back in one piece, Rick Grimes." She said, pointing a finger at him before jogging over to the passenger side of the car and getting in beside Glenn.
Before she could even get her seatbelt on, Glenn hit the gas and they sped off in the direction of the department store. His sharp turns and speed were making her nervous, her eyes flying wide open in nervousness.
"I know it's a nice car and all, but-"
"Yes, I need to go this fast." Glenn cut her off and she looked over at him. Even though they were in a bad situation, she could tell he loved the feeling of being behind the wheel.
She let out a scoff and he looked over at her, nervousness in his eyes as he scowled at her.
"You'd do the same, don't even pretend you wouldn't." He countered, turning a sharp corner. Scarlett raised her hands in defeat, as they got closer to their destination.
Grabbing a tighter hold of the radio in his grasp, Glenn spoke into it quickly.
"Those role-up doors at the front of the store facing the street. Meet us there and be ready."
Passing the radio over the Scarlett, she placed it in her lap before turning her attention to her Colt. Counting the number of bullets she had, she knew she could spare a few if she really needed to.
Rounding another corner, they came across Rick's truck and quickly passed him. Scarlett didn't bother shooting a gaze to him through the window, too focused on slowing her heartbeat and recalling all the times Shane and Rick had taken her shooting. She only hoped the practice would help her now.
They drove for a few more blocks before coming across the one where the department store was.
"There!" Scarlett said, as Glenn almost drove past the turn. Quickly reversing and turning to face the street, all they could see were walkers. Scarlett looked through the back window to see that they were, in fact, gaining the attention of almost every walker in earshot.
Many of them approached the car and began banging on the front dash as Glenn quickly reversed down the street. Loading her gun and eyeing Glenn's open window, Scarlett kept an eye out to see if any walkers got too close.
"Come on, come on!" Glenn shouted, looking behind them as he continued to reverse.
They had a whole herd of walkers following them now and they were most certainly getting way too close. It made Scarlett's throat tighten out of nervousness and she just barely was able to voice her thoughts.
"I think that's most of them!" She said to Glenn, who nodded and quickly hit the gas.
The red car shot backwards at an even faster speed, gaining some distance between them and the walkers. Hitting the brakes and turning the steering wheel, the car skidded and turned so that they could drive normally once again. It was almost like something out of a movie, and Scarlett was thoroughly impressed.
Looking behind them, Scarlett watched as the walkers followed them around the corner and away from the department store.
"Now that is what I'm talking about!" Scarlett yelled, grinning like an idiot at Glenn, who looked just as relieved and surprised as she felt.
The two drove through the streets for a while, the herd of walkers still following them but were slowly fading into the distance. They managed to get onto the highway in which Scarlett and Rick had entered the city, the car flying down the highway at ungodly speeds that made her heart beat rapidly.
"Yeah!" Glenn yelled in celebration, pounding his hands on the wheel.
All Scarlett could do was laugh as he held out his hand for a high-five, which she gladly returned. It had been years since she had laughed that hard, and it made her heart soar with adrenaline and overall content. Glenn's childishness only added to it as he laughed and let loose some more celebratory yells with her.
After a few miles, Scarlett spotted Rick's truck off in the distance and relief washed over her aching bones.
"They made it!" Glenn grinned as he hit the gas, the distance between the truck and their car diminishing quickly.
As they got closer, Glenn quickly switched lanes to pass them. Rolling down her window, she stuck her head out to gaze up at the window of the driver seat. With Glenn letting loose more happy yells, Scarlett caught Rick's eye as they passed the truck, sticking a hand out to give him a thumbs up. When he returned it, she was relieved, but she swore she saw a bit of distress in his eyes.
"I might try and stop the alarm," Scarlett said after rolling up her window and watching the white truck grow smaller behind them. "Wish me luck."
"Just don't unplug anything we need." Glenn replied wearily.
"Can't make any promises."
"What? Have you ever done this before?!"
"No," she stated, opening up one of the compartments and finding a bound set of papers, which she assumed was the manual for the car. "But on the bright side, if the car breaks down, we got Rick and the other's behind us."
Glenn let out a sigh and continued driving as Scarlett flipped through the pages of the manual to try and find the fuse box. She didn't know very much about cars, what little she knew came from her father, believe it or not. Before everything went to hell with her family, she used to sit in the garage and watch him mess around with his prized car, which he took when he left. She liked the car, but was glad that he had taken it. She didn't want anything near her that reminded her of him.
After scanning through the manual, Scarlett spotted something on the fuse box, which was found on the passenger side of the car. Looking down in front of her, she spotted what she could only assume to be the box. Without much of a thought, Scarlett placed the manual down and ripped the plate covering the box away from the car.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Glenn questioned, looking a bit annoyed.
"Trying to figure that out as we speak." She replied, staring at all the little coloured fuses that remained in the box.
"Great, wonderful." He replied, bringing his attention back to the road ahead of them.
With the angle she was sitting at, Scarlett knew she wouldn't be able to do much with the fuses. Knowing it wasn't exactly safe, she undid her seatbelt, and moved the seat back as far as it would go before placing herself on the floor of the car. Scarlett grabbed the manual once again and began reading through the instructions regarding the fuse box.
After digging around in the car for a pair of pliers that was required to removed the fuses, all Scarlett came across was a pair of tweezers. She was lucky to find anything, let alone tweezers, so they would have to do the job. Nose deep in the manual to try and figure out which fuse controlled the alarm in the car, Scarlett didn't really know where they were in terms of surroundings. She only looked up at Glenn when sharp turns of the car grabbed her attention.
"We're almost there." Glenn replied without looking down at her.
"How many people are at your camp?" Scarlett questioned, looking down at the manual again while trying to keep herself from flying into the door due to the turns Glenn was making.
"About a dozen."
Nodding to herself, Scarlett concluded that was a decent amount of people. Maybe they had food, water, and other supplies to keep them going for a while. She could only hope.
A few more minutes of reading were completed and all Scarlett could do was come to the conclusion that it was either one of two fuses. With the pair of tweezers in between her fingers, she finally gathered up the courage to pull out the fuse. The alarm was still going off, even though she had one of the fuses in her grasp. A sigh slipped from her lips and she felt the car slow down before rolling to a stop. She didn't move as Glenn got out of the car, anxiety flooding her system at the idea of meeting new people. She was never good at meeting others, and while she'd gotten along with everyone at the department store, this was a different situation. They had been trapped there and forced to work together, but this was a voluntary meeting.
"Holy crap, turn that damn thing off!" She heard a man's voice shout down to Glenn as she put the fuse back in the box. On to the next one.
"I don't know how!" Glenn yelled back.
"Pop the hood, please." Another voice asked.
"My sister, Andrea. Is she okay?" A different voice asked, a female one this time.
Overwhelmed with the amount of conversations that were going on at once, Scarlett pulled the other fuse from the box. Much to her content, the alarm finally shut off.
"Oh, thank god!" She cried, leaning back against the seat, her ears getting a chance to relax for the first time since they left the city.
"Hey, you got it!" Glenn yelled happily, looking into the car. "About time. Come on out and meet everyone."
"What do you mean 'about time'? Who was the one complaining about me breaking the car on the way here?" She grumbled, throwing the fuse at Glenn, who flinched away from her, before getting out of the car herself.
"Ah, sorry. Bad choice of words." He laughed, obviously happy to not have to listen to that godforsaken alarm anymore as well.
As she got out of the car, Scarlett couldn't help but breathe in the fresh air. They were up in the mountains outside the city, trees green and air as clean as it could be. They had chosen a great spot to set up camp. Not just because of the beautiful scenery, but because they were just on the outskirts of Atlanta, where the majority of the walkers would be in the city rather than outside.
About to state just how smart they were, she was cut off by a familiar voice.
"Holloway?"
It was odd, for someone to use her last name. There was only one person who referred to her that way, which caused her heart to stop mid-beat. Turning her gaze towards the person standing at the hood of the car, Scarlett couldn't help but feel her eyes widen and her jaw go slack.
"Holy shit." She mumbled as she ran forward to give Shane Walsh a hug.
She'd never even considered it, finding him with the other half the group had spoken about. It was almost a miracle, a one in a million chance. How he managed to survive, she didn't know, but it was only when she remembered who he had left with that she pulled away to look at him.
"Are Lori and Carl with you?" Scarlett questioned, her eyes wide as she stared at Shane.
"Yeah, yeah they are," Shane said, his hands firmly placed on her shoulders. "Did Victoria…?"
"No," she answered, but gave him a smile. "But I found-"
"Scarlett!"
Looking over Shane's shoulder, she spotted both Lori and Carl jogging over to them. Scarlett met her half way and gave the woman a hug.
"I can't believe you made it." She whispered, crushing the redhead in her tight embrace.
"I'm so glad you guys are okay," Scarlett replied as she stepped away, bringing her attention to Carl. "And you! I'm so glad you're safe too!"
Carl gave her a wide grin and Scarlett couldn't help but pick the young boy up in her arms and spin him around, to which he let out a soft squeal.
"How did you get into the city?" Shane questioned as she placed Carl back on the ground.
"Road on horseback, got saved by Glenn," she replied, nodding at her friend with a smile. "But listen, I wasn't alone."
"What do you mean? I thought Victoria…?" Lori began, only for her words to drift off as the white truck came into view and pulled up behind their red car.
"I wasn't talking about Victoria." She smiled, watching as a few of the people ran out to great the others coming out of the truck. It made her heart swell.
An older man with a fishing hat and a rifle had caught Scarlett's attention, his white haired beard stretching as he smiled at Morales, who was approaching from the truck.
"Well aren't you a welcomed sight," The older man said as Morales gave him a large hug, the two of them laughing softly. "I'd thought we'd lost you folks for sure."
What warmed Scarlett's heart even more was the sight of Morales with his wife and daughter. While there hadn't been much time for talking about families, it was nice to see everyone reuniting. Andrea had been embraced by what looked like a younger version of herself, most likely her sister. Everyone was content, and that's when she realized she didn't see Merle.
"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane questioned, looking over at Glenn.
"New guy. He got us out," Glenn replied, waving a hand in Scarlett's direction as he spoke. "Along with the redhead, whom I assume you already know from your friendly exchange."
"New guy?" Shane questioned and Scarlett let loose a smile.
"Yeah, crazy Vato and her just got into town," Morales said with a smile as he turned his eyes away from her and back towards the truck. "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello! Guys a cop, just like you."
The expression on Shane's face when Rick rounded the car and came into sight was that of bewilderment and pain. At first, Lori and Carl hadn't noticed, but it was the young boy who spotted him first.
"Oh my God." Rick mumbled, eyes watering.
"Dad! Dad!" Carl shouted, sprinting off towards his father as Lori stared in disbelief by Scarlett's side.
With his son in his arms, Rick had let loose a few sobs as he fell to the ground. Scarlett was fighting back a few tears of her own at the sight in front of her. What were the chances of them being reunited? It was too good to be true. Getting up as quickly as he had gotten down, Rick swiftly walked over to Lori and embraces her as well.
Though Scarlett didn't miss the odd eye contact between Shane and Lori when it happened.
Familiar faces and new problems, yay!
More canon characters will be introduced and brought into the story in the next chapter, so I hope y'all are ready. Meeting up with the rest of the group means meeting up with the younger Dixon. Can't wait to write the interactions to come.
Feedback is always welcome here! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story as a whole and going forward.
Anyways, see you in the next update,
- GuiltyCalamity