meanstreak
rick grimes 𝘹 fem!𝘰𝘤
© WANDARYEN ──── 2024

I was sitting close to Daryl's legs from where he stood, helping Maggie apply pressure onto our father's wound.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl questioned the men as they still stood in the next room, watching the scene happen right before them.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the men challenged back.

Rick bent down near Maggie, "Put pressure on the knee! Hard! Hard! Push, push!" Maggie followed his orders as Daryl stood his ground, keeping his crossbow pointed at the prisoners. "Come on out of there. Slow and steady."

As the prisoners started to walk on out, I grabbed Rick's gun from his holster — his gaze snapping up at mine as I stood to my feet next to Daryl. "Nice and easy, boys," I encouraged them.

A man walked out first from the room, a beard and long hair pulled into a ponytail. "What happened to him?" He gestured towards my farther.

"He got bit." Daryl deadpanned.

"Bit?" The man suddenly took out his own gun and T-Dog quickly stepped up with Daryl and I, now pointing a gun as well. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy now! Nobody needs to get hurt." Another prisoner held up his hands with caution.

"I suggest you put that away," I spoke sternly.

"You got medical supplies?" Glenn got up from Hershel's side and rushed to the room the men were standing in without even asking. One of the prisoners declined, "Whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"Who the hell are you people anyway?" The prisoner with the ponytail spoke up again. "Don't look like no rescue team." Another commented.

Rick was trying to lift my father up off the ground while he was still unconscious. "If a rescue team's what you're waiting for, don't!" Glenn came rushing out of the room with a metal table.

"Come on, we gotta go! Now! Come on, I need a hand here!" Rick shouted out.

Daryl and I remained still in our spots — one crossbow and one gun pointed in the direction of the prisoners. My gaze was heavily glued on the one with the gun.

"T, the door!" Rick ordered somewhere from behind us.

Daryl nudged my arm with his elbow, jutting his chin at me to circle around him from behind so he was the last man in the room to follow us out.

I cautiously stepped around him, the gun still pointed in the direction of the prisoners before I charged out of the room and chased the group back towards our cell blocks. Daryl's heavy feet were behind me not shortly after I had left.

The reality of our situation struck me in the chest like a bullet and a rush of tears blurred my vision. If it weren't for Daryl helping me find our way back to our people — I would've been lost and taken the wrong turn, putting me in a bad position.

If anything, he was utterly brilliant for using spray paint to indicate which direction to follow through the long hallways. I would have to thank him for that later.

"What happened?!" Carol's cries carried Daryl and I straight back to the prison block.

My shoulder nearly crashing into the wall with how much adrenaline pushed me to sprint down the hallway. I stopped abruptly seeing my father's body still lying on the table out cold — Beth and Maggie standing beside him with their owns sobs fighting to overpower each other.

I pressed myself firmly against the wall — putting as much distance between my family and I as the entire group helped one another to put lie him down in bed.

When I caught a glimpse of his leg again, the aroma of the wound burned my nose and I was forced to run out of the room. I purposely put myself into a corner with a trashcan as I violently began to throw up.

My fingers gripped the sides of the metal tube and my hair started falling over my shoulder — a few strands getting caught in the crossfire of my own vomit.

"Sienna?"

I felt a hand on my back before my hair began to get pulled from my face. It was Rick, once again comforting me during another trying time, and I was beginning to believe I was a lost cause with how much devastation I was experiencing in a single year.

When the vomit stopped flowing and my stomach finally managed to unclench itself from overworking — I reached up and used the back of my hand to wipe my mouth.

My eyes burned with the amount of strength I was using to hold back the string of tears threatening to flow.

I turned to face Rick and my eyes immediately lifted to catch his own worried gaze. "I'm fine," I whispered, lying straight through my teeth.

His eyebrows furrowed and his expression seemed at a loss. His hand, that was now resting on my shoulder, shifted to hold the side of my neck with his thumb caressing my jaw.

"I'll be right back," he whispered a promise. "I need you to help your sisters — to look over your father. I have to go back out there and grab medical supplies that'll help him."

"What if — "

Rick took a stride closer to me and held my face within both of his hands, tilting my head backwards. "Don't say it — don't even think it. I'm going to be back as quickly as possible, no matter what happens — you wait for me."

I slowly nodded my head, my eyes shifting across the room to stare at the cell door.

His warmth disappeared and suddenly Daryl came out of the prison block with T-Dog hot on his trail. The three men left as quickly as possible to go back into the chaos that lingered in the rest of the prison.

Glenn came out of the cell and rushed towards me, his arms wrapping around my neck with a tight embrace. "Are you alright?"

I nodded once and allowed our embrace to linger a moment before I pulled away, using the back of my hand to wipe my face. "I'm okay."

He looked at me worriedly but I smiled lightly, walking past him and moving straight towards the cell my father was kept in.

"If we can get him through this—" Carol spoke as I entered the cell, hearing her comment but quickly cutting her off. "When we get him through this." I corrected gently, earning a glance of sympathy from Carol.

She stood up from where my father laid and we pulled each other into a hug. I released a shaky breath and placed my hand on her shoulder, looking down at my father. "We'll need crutches."

"Right now, we could use some antibiotics. Pain killers, some sterile gauze. There's gotta be an infirmary here." Lori instructed as Carol kneeled back down beside Hershel and Maggie slowly stood up.

I grabbed my sisters hand and pulled her close to my side, placing a kiss on the side of her head before holding her face in my hands. "You did good," I told her softly.

She silently nodded her head and leaned into my body frame just as I reached out to hold onto Beth's shoulder from where she was kneeling.

"If there's one, we'll find it. You gotta be worried sick about delivering the baby." Carol spoke. I looked down at Lori, seeing she was silently thinking to herself before shaking her head. "Look at me. Do I look worried?"

"You look disgusting." Carol commented.

They shared a laugh together before Lori turned to our father, softly rubbing his forehead with a cloth. "So do you." As Lori looked down at Hershel, she softly smiled and whispered to him, but loud enough for us to hear. "We'll get through this."

Maggie squeezed my hand and stepped out of the cell with Glenn following behind. I leaned my back against the wall tiredly before I watched Beth leave the cell and I quickly followed behind her.

I noticed her slip into her shared cell with our father, my arms slowly crossing over my chest as I stepped past the bars. "Beth?" She was sitting on the floor with a pair of our fathers jeans, cutting off the bottom half of one of the legs. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "what are you doing?"

"He's gonna have a hard time walking around with one side of his pants dragging on the ground." Beth glanced up at me, "you know, he could trip or something."

I nervously swallowed the lump in my throat before getting down onto the floor with my youngest sister. "Beth—, there's a chance he might now wake up."

She quickly looked up at me with furrowed eyebrows, "why are you so eager to give up on him?"

I shook my head, "I'm—I'm not giving up on him."

"Sure sounds like it!"

I took a deep breath, and watched as my sister clutches onto the pant legs. "I don't want you to get your hopes up too high. We're not equipped to deal with something like this. It's going to take more than a few stitches."

Beth shook her head in protest, "We have Carol."

"She's not a doctor. Dad only taught her a few things to help when the baby arrives." I pointed out.

"She stopped the bleeding," Beth shot back as she finished breaking the pant leg before showing it up to me. "These will do just fine." She set the jeans down on the bunk as I pressed my lips in a tight line, slowly nodding my head.

"Foods here!" My heart perked up at the sound of Ricks voice. I looked down at my sister then pointed towards the open hole of the pants. "We'll stitch this up, keep dirt and dust from hitting his wound." Beth looked up at me and smiled, then nodded her head in agreement.

I stood up from the floor and exited the cell, seeing Rick and Daryl spread out the food on the table on the other side.

I entered the cell my father was in and noticed the handcuffs on his wrist connected to the pole of the bunk. My heart pulled at the sight but it had to be done in case of an emergency.

I nervously wiped my hands against my jeans, turning to the crowd surrounding my father. "Would it be alright if I sit with him? Alone?"

Carol and Maggie nodded their heads. "Of course you can," Carol smiled.

Maggie squeezed my shoulder as she exit the cell with Glenn following behind her. He gave me a small smile before they disappeared, leaving me alone with my father completely.

I slowly kneeled down beside the bed my father laid on, unconscious and weak, but sleeping peacefully. I reached over and gently rubbed his arm, propping my elbow up on the bed then leaning my hand into my palm.

Looking at him had the familiar tears flowing into my eyes, my lip quivering from the fear that was flooding inside my mind but I forced it back.

Out of the oldest between the three of us, I knew I had to be the strongest. I have to pull myself together in order to be there for my sisters; and the rest of the group.

I slowly licked my bottom lip and inhaled slowly before opening my mouth to speak. "I know—I know you're hurting daddy, you've held on for so long. But I'm telling you now that you don't have to stay." More tears glossed over my eye sight, making it blurry for my view. "If you feel like you can't fight any longer, it's okay to let go. You can set yourself free." I clutched his arm with my hand and swallowed thickly. "I'll protect Maggie and Beth, I'll make you proud I promise. We started as a family and we'll end as a family too. Just—Just don't force yourself to live on in pain if you can't." My words were coming out more as a stutter now, several tears dropping onto his arm. "You can let go," I whimpered, slowly leaning my head into his chest. "It's okay now."

I tried to keep my sobs as minimal as possible — avoiding others from hearing me cry outside of the cell. It was almost embarrassing to have someone constantly catch me crying all alone.

I could still feel my father's chest slowly rise and fall against my head. There was still so much I wanted to talk to him about — so many things I wanted to do with him and even if he was ready to go; I wasn't.

He always said no parent should out live their own children. But that doesn't mean a parent should die so early in their child's life.

"I need to be selfish," I muttered softly, raising my head slightly to gaze at his sleeping face. "Please, don't go — not yet. I'm not ready. I don't know how to take care of Maggie and Beth all on my own. I don't know how to be a leader. I don't know how to find love after losing Steven — there's so much you need to teach me."

I quickly wiped away the stranded tears lingering on my cheeks but no amount of wiping could clear my blurry vision. "Please — don't go," I silently begged. "Not now, not for a long time."

I sat like this for a while with my head resting on his chest to listen to his breathing until my crying finally stopped.

The tears turned cold on my cheeks and my eyes were weak and tired. I felt myself slowly drifting off into a sleep — due to the endless crying in the past hour before I heard footsteps outside the cell.

"Sienna?" I lifted my head and saw Maggie standing there with Lori behind her.

I quickly cleaned my face with my arms and stood up, wiping my hands on my jeans. "He's still breathing, he hasn't said anything yet."

Lori nodded, entering the cell as Maggie took her place beside me. The woman slowly kneeled down beside our father, placing her hand on his chest in silence. I looked over at my sister and gently smiled until Lori shifted and quickly placed her ear over our father's mouth.

My eyebrows twitched together worriedly. "What is it?" I asked.

"He's not breathing," she whispered and I quickly stepped forward as Lori placed her hands on his chest, immediately reacting to giving him CPR.

"Lori," I quickly hovered my hand on my gun and took a step forward — my other arm blocking Maggie from getting closer.

Lori was blowing air into our father's mouth until he suddenly reached up and grabbed onto her hair. She gasped loudly as I yanked the gun out of its holster, her hands grasping at his arm until he had finally let go and she backed away.

His eyes were wide — staring back at us as if he was surprised to be awake and untouched by the infection.

I hastily put my gun back into its holster and quickly kneeled down, looking my father down in the eyes before pressing the back of my hand to his forehead. "No fever. No sign of infection." I swallowed thickly then slowly smiled, "you're okay." I looked behind me and nodded towards Lori. She nodded in response and Maggie helped her to her feet.

Carl and Beth came into the cell with Rick trailing behind them. "Daddy?" Beth asked, kneeling beside our father as I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

I then stood, moving back for Maggie to get a place beside him. I looked over at Rick and smiled as he entered the cell, placing a hand on my shoulder that slowly drifted down my arm until he leaned over and clasped his hand with my father's.

Hershel smiled up at everyone, his tired eyes blinking several times from the sun peaking through the windows. Rick helped him out of the handcuffs and tucked them away into his pocket. I exhaled slowly and leaned my back against the wall, watching my sisters as they held close to our father for comfort.