𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗰𝗸?

000.     𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗟 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘 we're about to go on a run. Ivy was offered to come but she politely declined and said she would stay and watch over Rick.

  Ivy stood in front of the bathroom mirror and re-braided her hair. She finished up the two loose braids and looked around the bathroom for anything that could hold them. She grabbed two elastic bands that she found and tied the ends.

  Ivy walked out of the bathroom and downstairs. She took notice of no one being instead, so she walked through the open front door and out onto the porch.

  There stood Rick, Carl, and Michonne. They were all talking but stopped when Ivy walked out. Ivy smiled slightly at Rick and Carl, her eyes focusing mostly on Carl. She still couldn't shake how they had left off a few hours ago, but it seemed Carl was perfectly fine.

  "How long are you guys gonna be?" Ivy wondered, crossing her arms as she swayed back and forth on her feet.

  Carl practically jumped to respond. "Not long. Just gonna fill a couple bags." Carl answered almost immediately. Ivy nodded her head vaguely and walked back into the house.

  The three all looked at the sulking girl. Yes, she was usually sad, but it wasn't usually this bad. "Keep an eye on her." Michonne spoke with concern.

  Carl sighed, looking between his father and Michonne. "I'm worried about her." Carl expressed in a slight whisper, not wanting Ivy to accidentally overhear the conversation. "I'm scared she might..... Do something."

  "Like what?" Rick inquired. Michonne and Carls eyes met and Carl sighed.

  "I'm scared she might hurt herself." Carl concluded. Michonne pressed her lips into a thin line. "She's lost so much... I'm just worried that she's losing herself too."

  "She's a tough girl. She can take care of herself." Rick patted Carls shoulder.

  Inside, Ivy was wondering the house. Inspecting places in the house she had never seen. She looked through cabinets, rooms, and finally the bathroom.

  Ivy went through all the drawers. She found a whole lot of nothing, leaving her to see and try and find some more things. She looked all through the medicine, finding pain killers and other sorts. It took everything in Ivy not to open a bottle and down it. Ivy bit her right cheek before taking three bottles and throwing them in her bag.

  Ivy exited the bathroom and walked downstairs. Rick was sprawled out on the couch. The man groaned and sat up once he saw Ivy. Ivy sat down next to Rick and laid her head on his shoulder, which made him tense up a bit.

  He sighed and loosened his shoulders. It triggered Rick a bit. Ivys head on his shoulder made him think of his little girl, and how he would never get to watch her grow.

  "Ivy... are you alright?" Rick asked. "And, don't lie to me. Please."

  Ivy lifted her head up to look at Rick. "I'm fine." She lied straight through her teeth, her voice cracking a bit which gave away her lie.

  Rick shook his head and sighed. "I don't believe you. We're all worried about you." Rick stated softly. Rick knew Ivy. Anything would set her off, so it was better to be sweet and soft than harsh. "Carl especially. He really cares about you."

  "I'm fine. I don't need y'all worrying about me." Ivy said, rolling her eyes as she stood up. She began walking out of the room, hopefully ending this conversation for good.

  "Beth would want us to worry." Rick whispered, but Ivy heard. Ivy stopped dead in her tracks and turned on her heel.

  "Well she's not here, right?" Ivy spat.

  "She's probably worrying right now." Rick got up and stepped closer to Ivy.

  That was the hopeful thinking that made Ivy livid. Usually, she would agree with Rick, and say that hopefully the rest of the group was safe, but at this point, she was sick of the wishful thinking.

  "She's probably dead! Just like the rest of the prison! Everyone is dead!" Ivy yelled.

  Rick shook her head as he pursed his lips. "Don't say that!" Rick yelled back.

  "You know it's true! And I understand that you have hope, but let's take a look at the other possibilities!" Ivy placed her hands on her hips and paced around the room. Ivy stopped to look at Rick as he sat back down on the couch.

  "Has Carl ever told you that you remind him of my old buddy Shane?" Rick asked, which made Ivy rolled her eyes.

  "Shane tried to kill you. He also told your wife that you were dead and then fucked her. I can assure you I am nothing like him." Rick could tell that made Ivy angry. She never knew Shane. She had heard good stories about him from Carl but not so good stories from Beth. "I mean, are you serious, Rick? Are you fucking stupid?"

  Ivy knew about Lori and Shane. Carl had never really brought the affair up to Ivy, and Ivy never brought it up to Carl.

  Ivy didn't want to be anything like Shane. From the stories Ivy had heard, Shane wasn't a good person. He was unhinged and way to obsessed with Lori Grimes.

  Ivy didn't really mean to say what she said, but she needed to get her point across.

  "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." Ivy spoke lowly.

  "Nah it's ok. I shouldn't have brought up Beth. Sorry." Rick apologized. The two sat in awkward silence for a few moments.

  "Um, you should probably get some rest. I'll take you up to the master bedroom. The bed is super comfy." Ivy explained awkwardly before walking to the couch, holding a hand out to the injured Rick.

  The Grimes man nodded. "Yeah, okay..." Rick replied softly, a small smile playing on his lips. "You'll be down here?"

  Ivy nodded, toying with her fingers a bit. "Yeah..." She smiled. "I'll probably just be reading a comic. Carls been bugging me to read them."

  Rick chuckled and nodded, patting this girls shoulder. "Holler if you need anything." Rick assured her softly. Ivy agreed slightly and the man nodded back at her as he made his way upstairs.

001.     𝗜𝗩𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 a very comfortable spot on the couch, curled up tightly as her eyes scanned over the comic book pages. She had found a tad bit of interest in the books. Maybe it was just the fact that Carl liked them, or maybe she did like the comics.(it was definitely because Carl liked them.)

  As Ivys eyes burned into the pages of the book, her eyebrow raising as she tried to figure out why the two superheroes were fighting. Something about justice and vengeance— some batman knock off, of course. As she sat there, she heard a creak on the outside porch.

  Ivys head shot up immediately. Her thought immediately went to walker, which didn't make her budge, but she didn't hear snarling. She looked towards the window, hoping to see Carl and Michonne returning.

  Her eyes widened extremely. Instead of Carl and Michonne, she was met with the sight of men she did not know. Luckily, they were just getting onto the porch so they couldn't peer inside the window. She quickly shot up off the couch, moving slowly back towards the stairs to not make too much noise.

  Once she backed against the stairwell, she gripped the railing tightly and dashed up the steps. She turned a sharp corner and pulled herself into the master bedroom where Rick resided.

  He was sleeping so peacefully— she really hated to ruin that. It was probably the most sleep Rick was going to get in a while, and now she had to wake him about the scary unknown men making their way into the house.

  Ivy shook Rick awake ever so slightly, which was enough to stir him awake. He shot up and looked at Ivy worriedly. "Someones in the house." Ricks eyes basically popped out of his head.

  He mouthed to go under the bed and Ivy obeyed. Ivy rolled under the bed and Rick ran to the bedroom door. After a few seconds, Rick also ran under the bed.

  Ivy was quite scared in the moment. She was weak and defenseless. Sure, she could fight a bit, but not a full grown man. The only full grown man she had ever fought was the governor, but he was also shot and a bit weakened due to Ricks recent attempts to kill him. Neither her or Rick had weapons.

  If these people were to find them, they'd be screwed.

  Ivy tried to calm herself down but she couldn't. What if Carl and Michonne were to come back? What if they killed Rick? What if they took everything we have and left?

  Ivy's life was the least of her concern like always.

  Ivy grabbed Ricks hand out of instinct. She just need something to hold onto. To distract her from the fear, even. To not feel alone.

  Rick let go after a moment though to retrieve something off the nightstand but was quickly stopped by the man walking in the hallway. Rick hid himself fast enough. The man walked into another room and Rick grabbed what he need to.

  Rick placed a bottle of water in the middle of the two. Ivy mentally groaned. She was hoping it was going to be a gun or knife but her dreams were crushed, per usual.

  A man stepped into the room and started looking around. He kicked stuff out of his way which made Ivy and Rick flinch. The man laid on the bed and the bed sunk down a bit, which made Ivy bit her tongue in attempts to hold back some noise.

  Rick and Ivy had heard voices from downstairs. They were simply out numbered and couldn't do anything about it. The man above them fell asleep sooner then later and Rick signaled to get out from under the bed.

  Suddenly, footsteps were heard walking up the stairs and into the room.

  "Yo." The man spoke. "Comfy?" Ivy tightened her grip on Ricks hand.

  "You waking me up to see if i'm comfortable?" The man from the bed said. Ivy gulped and closed her eyes, trying to regain her senses incase something happened.

  "I want to lie down." One of the men said.

  "Two other bedrooms up here to choose." The man on the bed answered.

  "Them's kids' beds." The man argued. "I want this one." The man started walking closer to the bed.

  "It's claimed."

  "I didn't hear it."

  "You gonna have to lay claim somewhere else." The man said. The man on the bed jumped off and they started fighting. Ivy mentally sighed.

  Why are men so immature?

  Rick looked at Ivy and Ivy did not seem one bit amused. One of the men fall onto the ground which sends Ivy and Rick into a state of panic. The second the man actually looked at them, it was too late. Luckily, he was getting the life choked out of him.

  "Len! Len, stop!" A man yelled. The choking man held eye contact as the life left his eyes. Ivy put her hand over her mouth to stop her screams.

  It wasn't even the death that disturbed her. It was the eye contact. It was watching this man die and not being able to help him. Ivy felt sick. The eye contact made her extremely uncomfortable.

  An array of 'stops' were yelled.

  The man passed and Ivy felt like throwing up. The other man simply hoped onto the bed without a care in the world.

  "My bed now, jackoff." The man laughed.

  After a few minutes, the man knocked out. Ivy motioned her head towards the left and Rick nodded. Ivy and Rick slipped out slow and carefully. As Ivy slipped out, she hit the sleeping man's foot. She gasped lightly but went on when she didn't get a reaction.

  Ivy stood up and Rick was quick after her. Ivy took a quick look at the sleeping man but was sent into panic when she heard more voices.

  "Tony, Len, get your asses down here." A man yelled from downstairs. Ivy and Rick ran out of the room. There was a man walking up the stairs, but luckily had his back turned towards the two. Ivy and Rick hid behind a wall for a moment but slipped into one of the kids rooms.

  They hid behind another wall as the same man walked into the room. He began throwing a tennis ball not far from Rick and Ivy. Ivy's breath hitched and she felt like she couldn't breathe. The man walked out and Ivy felt like she could finally breath again.

  Rick tried to open the windows but none of them would open. Rick grabbed Ivy's arm and dragged her towards the dresser, which had a trophy. Rick handed it to her but she pushed it away.

  "You're weak right now, keep it." Ivy whispered into his ear.

  "Where's you're gun and knives?" Rick asked.

  Ivys face fell quickly. "Shit, they're in the bedroom on the left." She said in a low hush.

  Ivy and Rick heard the men talking about two women. They assumed that two girls were here before.

  "That looks like teenage clothes." One of the men laugh. Ivy heart dropped when she realized they were talking about her.

  "Good pussy is still good pussy."

  Rick looked like he wanted to go downstairs and kill every single one of them. Ivy felt sick to her stomach. Rick grabbed her hand and began to move. Two men walked near the door.

  "What you hollering bout?" The man, presumed to be Len yelled.

  "Found their shirts. And a pair of pants." A man laughed. Not only did Ivy feel sick, so did Rick. Rick and Ivy moved out of the room quickly.

  Ivy was more scared than before. If those men found her or Michonne, they wouldn't kill them. They would use them. Their bodies, for horrible things.

  Rick saw two men walk down the stairs and he hid behind a wall again.

  "You found shirts, they could be miles away by now." The man said. Once the men were out of sight, Rick and Ivy went back into the master room but quickly back out when another man came up the stairs.

  Rick cursed under his breathe and grabbed Ivy, running to the bathroom. Rick closed the bathroom door and Ivy stood beside him. Ivy turned and saw man on the toilet. Ivys eyes widened at the sight. The man looked shocked as well and Rick quickly pushed Ivy out the way. Ivy stepped into the shower to move out of their way.

  Rick started to choke the man. Ivy sighed knowing this is going to be the second man she sees get strangled today.

  The man tried to grab a pair of scissors and Ivy punched him in the mouth. Ivy winced at her pained knuckles. She looked down at the bloody bite marks and tried to whip some of the blood off.

  She hissed. "Asshole." She muttered as she suck on one of her knuckles, trying to slow or halt the bleeding.

  Rick and the man fell back. Ivy noticed a gun in the man's waist when his shirt lifted up. Ivy showed a sassy look of disgust when she realized it was her gun. Ivy grabbed her gun and stomped on his stomach.

  "That's my gun." Ivy spat. Ivy cocked her gun and pointed it towards the man, just to scare him a bit. Finally, the man's life was cut short when Rick tightened his grip on his neck. Rick stood up and grabbed his gun.

  Rick opened the door which left Ivy confused.

  "The hell are you doing?" Ivy whispered. Rick went out and grabbed a jacket. Rick came back in and threw their stuff out the window.

  Ivy jumped out the window and Rick was right behind her.

  "The fuck was that?" Ivy muttered to Rick.

  "It's cold— I know we're all tough but I ain't need anyone catching a cold." Rick explained. Ivy cocked her gun and smirked a bit at Rick.

  "Yeah, I'd say we're pretty tough." Ivy laughed jokingly. Ivy looked over the ledge of the roof and smiled. "Not that far of a jump."

  Rick scoffed with a slight gasp. "What- not- not that far of a jump?" Rick whisper-yelled like she was crazy. "That's suicide."

  "Are you fucking stupid? We'll survive that." Ivy spat. Ivy moved with her stupidity and starting carefully sliding off the edge. Rick went with her just incase.

  Ivy fell onto the porch and onto her feet. Rick was next. Rick fell onto his feet but stumbled a bit. Rick made a lot of noise.

  "Jesus christ, could you be a little louder?" Ivy asked sarcastically. "Let's go." Ivy ran down the stairs, her gun by her side.

  Ivy and Rick ran around the side of the house and stopped by the front porch. Ivy raised her gun and stood beside Rick.

  Ivy froze when she heard the door open. Rick grabbed Ivy by her arm and held her close. The same man with the tennis ball sat on the ledge. He bounced his ball without a care in the world.

  Rick raised his gun up to the ledge but Ivy quickly lowered it. Ivy shook her head no and tried to talk to him with her eyes but Rick didn't understand.

  The man spit right near Ivy and she silently gagged a bit. The man whistled for a short bit, which was quite stupid. Obviously he wasn't too worried about attracting walkers.

  Ivy noticed Michonne and Carl on their way back, almost to the house. Ivy pointed to them for Rick to notice. Rick began to stand up. He was going to shoot the man, which that wouldn't help because then more of his men would come out.

  Suddenly, Ivy heard a walker snarling and the man jumped up in alert. He ran inside the house. Ivy and Rick ran towards Carl and Michonne.

  "Go! Go!" Ivy whispered yelled. They all started running. After a bit of running, Ivy stopped to talk a breathe.

  "What the fuck? Why does this shit always happen to us?" Ivy yelled and ran her hand over her face.