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

The one man I was counting on to trust, Lamson, only turned out to be a coward and a liar. But I should've known — my trust in people was dwindling at an alarming rate and everything I held onto to be a good daughter was slowly slipping.

He managed to trick Sasha and run away. Rick chased him down with one of the cop cars, but when he had returned without Lamson — I knew what he had done and the thing was, I wasn't even mad at him about it.

I sat on a stool, my elbows on my thighs with my hands covering my mouth anxiously. Daryl and Rick were discussing the situation — Sasha and Tyreese had guns pointed at the two other cops while Noah stood beside me in silence.

When Daryl and Rick had finished speaking, they turned and walked over to stand in front of both cops.

Shepherd looked up nervously at Rick, "he was a good man." She stated. "He was attacked by rotters, saw it go down."

I looked over at Shepherd, my brows furrowing slightly in confusion until it rang in my mind that she was saying what would be told to Dawn. Rick stood there in silence, eyeing the woman before humming with a nod. "You're a damn good liar."

"We're hanging by a thread here," she continued. "He was attacked by rotters. That's the story."

"You said the trade was a bad idea. What changed?" Daryl asked.

"Lamson was our shot." She spoke to her, her voice a bit stiff. "So, it's this or you go in guns blazing, right? You don't want that." She spoke with her head shaking slightly as Daryl stepped up to her, motioning towards his head with his hand. "If this is some bullshit you're spinning and things go south — "

"I know." She cut him off quickly before her gaze quickly found mine. "Your silence is telling — is one of them your family?"

I slowly nodded, "Beth. She's my sister."

Shepherd's gaze drifted towards her lap, silence filling the room until she looked back at Rick. "I know the good ones from the bad. Let us help you."

Rick stayed silent, his eyes drifting down then looking towards the male cop, pointing his finger at him. "What about you? You wanna live? How much?"

The man let out a breath from his nose, gazing up at Rick. "Dawn's afraid she'll look weak in front of us. Thinks it'll tip things against her. Hell, it will. She'll see this trade as a rip-off if she thinks you took out one of our guys. So it's a good thing Lamson got aced by rotters." Rick turned his head towards Daryl who nodded his head in approval.

I slowly moved off the stool, Noah's gaze burning into the side of my head when I moved closer towards the cops and kneeled in front of the woman. My tired eyes met hers with no anger — just pure desperation to get my sister back.

"I know you don't want to die," I spoke softly. "My last hope went out with Lamson, so I'm not going to sit here and beg for you to hold up your end of the bargain." Her eyes flickered around my face, nervously leaning backwards in case I was suggesting any harm. "But if you are the kind of woman I think you are — you won't let this end badly. You want to live, I can sense that, so all I'm asking is for your help."

She didn't respond, but I knew by the look in her eye she understood me. There was a silent mutual agreement — we were equally exhausted, we've lost people, and all we're trying to do is survive.

The plan was finally set in motion, the six of us including the two cops were standing on the top level of a car parking lot. I was standing next to Tyreese and Sasha with a sniper, adjusting my sight and making sure it was intact for when Rick went down on the lower level to catch two other cops and bring up the proposal.

I had my eye locked on the sight, squinting slightly as I aimed the sniper at a few cars. "At the church," Tyreese spoke up beside me, making me lift up my head and look at him. "That guy you killed — Martin." I slowly nodded my head yes. "You called Judith your daughter, you killed him to protect her — to protect Carl and Rick."

I nodded once more as he continued. "You told me before that she wasn't yours — not by blood at least. But I see how you are with her, how she always clings to you — she anticipates when you're going to hold her again." Tears began blurring my vision and I quickly looked away from Tyreese to keep myself from crumbling. "Even if you didn't give birth to her — you're all she's ever known."

My chest heaved heavily as if the words took a blow to my chest and I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. "Thank you Ty," I forced myself to meet his gaze again, my eyes briefly flickering towards Sasha who smiled with a single nod.

Behind us, Rick snapped his fingers with a whistle, gaining our attention then pointing out below us as a cop car appeared. He quickly went down to the lower level as Tyreese went to stand by the others with Sasha — Daryl now beside me with his own sniper.

As the cop car came to a stop just a few feet before Rick, who had his hands up, I kept my eye locked in on the sight. I couldn't make out what he was saying but I knew he was going over the deal with the two men.

From behind the two cops, there was a walker strolling up to them slowly and I took the chance to shoot it in the head in silence thanks to the silencer.

After the next few moments, Rick waved his hand in the air, giving us the signal that it was time to go.

Daryl and I both lowered our guns, stepping away from the edge. He turned to me and I got that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach as I looked up at the man who has become my best friend. "Wait for us out front. We'll make it as quick as possible."

I nervously nodded my head as he placed a hand on my shoulder then turned to walk away. I quickly followed after, tossing Sasha my gun then grabbing my rifle, pulling the strap over my shoulder then pulling out my hand gun.

I let the five of them head down first to follow the two other cops before I disappeared to the front of the hospital.

I waited right by the entrance, shifting on my feet nervously. My hands were trembling while I held my gun tightly, my palms growing sweaty.

The plan continuously played inside my head over and over — I was beginning to count my steps while I paced back and forth. Then I imagined being reunited with my sister, a small smile creeping on my lips. I wanted to take her back to the church and tell her all about Rick and I.

I wanted her to see Judith again and see how big she's already gotten over the past few weeks. I wanted to hold her tightly one night if she'd let me. It's been so long since I've held her when she was little.

My pointer finger tapped against the side of the gun as my chest tightened — anxiety continuously building in my chest.

I chewed on my inner cheek until I heard the sound of a truck turning the corner then screeching to a small stop. I quickly lifted my rifle — aimed forward with the intention to attack anyone that tried entering the hospital.

Nervously glancing back at the hospital doors, I shifted on my feet and started carrying myself towards the giant Fire-truck that made a sudden appearance.

My eyebrows furrowed questionably, my grasp on the gun tightening with anticipation until Maggie was the first to jump out of the truck. The wind was knocked out of me when I watched Glenn climb out next, followed by Tara, Rosita, Abraham, and Eugene. What surprised me more was seeing Michonne and Gabriel stepping out of the truck afterwards — Carl must've been inside with Judith.

I ran towards my sister, shaking my head in disbelief, nearly dropping my gun when I threw my arm around her shoulders. "I thought — you were going to Washington?!"

She grasped my hips cautiously, laughter blooming in her chest and I was forced to pull away to meet her gaze. "We'll talk about it after, promise." I nodded eagerly and she grabbed my hand. "Where's Beth? Is she here?"

"They're bringing her out, we're — " I gestured towards the hospital behind me and started backing away. "Just come! She'll want to see you too!" I spun on my heel and began jogging back in hopes the others were walking out finally.

"Sienna, wait up." Maggie gently laughed.

I could only walk faster as I tried to race towards the front of the building again, shoving my rifle over my back. "Sienna, wait!" Glenn called out.

I heard his footsteps come up to my left as he took down the walker. My feet were still quick as I came back to the hospital, the entrance only a few feet ahead of me.

I watched as Rick was the first to walk out, my eyebrows furrowing when I remembered him specifically stating he would be the last. Sasha followed slowly after him, then Tyreese with Carol sitting in a wheelchair.

I stopped abruptly, the smile on my lips slowly dropping when I counted everyone's expression to be in pure distraught. I tried to catch Rick's gaze but his eyes looked everywhere but my own.

Maggie screamed from behind me — my entire body visibly flinching like a gunshot went off right beside my head.

My gaze flickered back towards the hospital doors as Daryl finally appeared with Beth in his arms.

I anxiously started shaking my head, peeling the gun off my back and allowing it to slip from my grasp and hit the ground with a thud. "Beth?" I called her name as softly as possible and I slowly started making my way towards her.

A small choked sob left Daryl's lips and my pace quickened, desperate to reach my best friend who carried my youngest sister in his arms like she was a baby. "No, no," fresh tears clouded my vision and before I could reach them, Rick quickly stretched his arms out to grab me.

"No!" I shouted, pushing his arms away forcefully and rushing up to Daryl. "Beth!"

I saw the blood on her beautiful blonde scalp but chose to ignore it by cradling her face in my hands, a shaky smile stretching across my lips. "Hey! Hey." I replaced Daryl's arms with my own, her limp body immediately weighing me down, and causing me to drop to my knees.

Her head bounced against my arm and I thought it began to rain with the amount of water droplets landing on her face. Maggie's cries were slowly drawled out when I carefully took Beth's face in my hand. "Beth," I whispered softly, nodding my head firmly. "It's okay — you're okay, it's okay."

I could hear Daryl's sobs as he stood by me. "Sienna, I'm so sorry."

More tears gathered with the reality that things were in fact not okay and she wasn't going to wake up. It was like being struck by lightning, or having someone bash something against my chest to break my ribs open. The pain was unbearable.

"Please — please don't," I cried out, clutching her body closer to mine as I began to rock her. "Please don't do this. Don't do this to me!"

I felt someone touch my shoulders and I immediately looked up to see Rick staring down at me with bright blue tearful eyes.

"Rick," I continued to cry, anxiously shaking my head, "I don't know what to do! She's — " The moment I looked back down at my sister was when it truly hit me. Nobody was saying a word and instead of hearing painless white noise like I normally did during a deadly situation — all I heard was cries from everyone in the yard.

I clutched onto her tighter, allowing my head to drop into her chest with a painful choked cry. My throat burned without having any air to flow through. I continuously held my breath trying not to cry any louder but the tighter Rick held onto me, the more tears came and the harder I sobbed.