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

I was sitting in the seat behind Glenn while he drove the smaller car. Rick was sitting in the passenger seat while Aaron sat on my right.

Abraham was driving the RV behind us with the rest of the group.

After traveling on foot for so long, it makes you appreciate vehicles. The AC may not always be intact, and sure the radio wasn't podcasting anything — but it brought to places a lot quicker than hiking would.

Rick was mindlessly looking through the glove compartment from the passenger seat. He pulled out a metal license plate and Aaron sat up, smiling. "I'm trying to collect all 50 states."

There were several others in the compartment in a neat stack. "You collect them?" I asked curiously, with a small smile.

Aaron turned me and nodded proudly. "I put them all on a wall in my house."

My eyes slightly widened with disbelief. "You have your own house?"

He gestured towards the bag on the floor of the car. "See for yourself," he smiled.

I graciously reached over and hauled Aaron's bag onto my lap. "Which pocket again?" He nodded to the front of the bag and I eagerly opened it to retrieve the photos. I started flipping through the pile, taking each photo in with a smile lingering on my lips.

The picture quality was poor but still gave me quite the imagination. The community — it almost looked like something straight out of a dream. It was almost too perfect.

When I reached the last photo in the stack, I turned to him, my eyebrows lifting curiously. "No photos of your people?"

He lifted his gaze to meet mine. "Oh, I took a picture of the whole group, but I didn't get the exposure right. When I tried to develop it later, it just.."

My stare flickered towards Rick, who was silently listening over his shoulder. When our eyes locked, I slowly tucked the photos back into the bag. "Did you ask him the questions?"

Rick slowly shook his head. "No."

I held the bag in my grasp before placing it back on the floor of the car. "How many walkers have you killed?" I asked Aaron, tilting my head to the side with a soft gaze.

I didn't want to intimidate him — but it was a question we asked strangers often. It helped us decipher as a group what kind of person you were.

I once asked Rick how many people he's killed after the outbreak. Steven was my first. The question just sort of stuck after time went by.

Aaron blinked rapidly at my question. "I'm sorry — what?"

"How many?" I repeated calmly.

He looked over at Glenn and Rick then looked at me nervously. "I don't know. A lot?"

I pursed my lips, "how many people?"

"Two."

"Why?" I followed with another question as quickly as he answered.

"Because they tried to kill me." He stated honestly.

My eye sight shifted towards Rick as I watched him pull out something else from the glove box. "You were listening to us?" He asked angrily.

"already said I was watching you! Yes, I was listening." Aaron admitted as Rick shoved it back into the glove-box after waving it in the air. "It means his people could have one, too. They could've heard our plan. This isn't safe!"

Suddenly the car jerked forward then sideways — making me instinctively reached out to grab onto the front seat.

"Shit!" Glenn called out, gripping onto the wheel as the car began hitting walkers. Blood splattered on the windows, bodies hitting against the car with thumps.

"Glenn!" Rick shouted out.

"They were right behind us! They would have hit us! But — now they can get out." He spoke nervously, keeping his foot pressed down onto the gas as we kept speeding on by, more and more bodies hitting the windshield and the windows beside us.

Glenn then turned the wheel harshly and the car came to a screeching stop when he hit the break, making my head whip to the side and hit the window.

I let out a small yelp before quickly holding the side of my head with my hands — forcing my eyes shut my tightly.

"Are you okay?!" Aaron questioned with panic lacing his tone.

I kept my eyes squeezed shut and nodding my head briefly. I waited for the throbbing in my brain to subdue before reopening my eyes. "Ow." I muttered angrily towards Glenn, who quickly spat an apology before climbing out of the car with Rick.

They returned back inside the car after a solid two minutes. Rick pulled out the map and hovered it over his legs. "All right, we can take a left a couple of miles up 23. Jefferson Avenue."

Glenn tried turning on the car again but it stalled with several spluttering noises coming from the engine.

I groaned annoyedly, opening the car door and climbing out. "Let me check."

"Sienna, stay put — !" Rick's voice was cut off when the door shut.

I continued to rub the side of my head before shifting in front of the vehicle. The headlights illuminated my body and I quickly unlocked the hatched underneath the lip of the hood before lifting it.

Several arms stuck out of the engine, followed by a random leg and my face scrunched with confusion how this was even possible. But nevertheless — I've seen far worse things in this world.

"Okay!" I shouted to the boys. "Try it again!"

Glenn turned the key in the ignition — giving her some juice to start back up. Once she roared to life, I slammed the hood down and out the corner of my eye — a red flare shot up into the sky.

I practically snapped my neck in the direction the flare was coming from. My eyes widening before I rushed back over to my side of the car and yanking the door open. "Did you guys see that?!"

Aaron kicked the door further open, causing the object to smack against my body and shove me to the ground.

I quickly rolled over and watched the man, hands still bound, head into the woods without another word. "What the fuck?" I muttered while Rick grabbed my upper arms and helped me to my feet.

"We need to go after him!" I turned to Rick and Glenn, gesturing to the woods.

"Leave him!" Rick shouted. "We have to find our people."

Before he could turn away, I quickly grabbed the front of his shirt in fistfuls while anxiously shaking my head.  "If they saw that flare — they'll think we shot it. This is how we find them!"

The three of us ran straight into the woods. I pulled my gun out of the holster and immediately started firing quick rounds at any walker that stood in my way.

It was pitch black outside — which made our odds getting out of this alive slim but never zero.

Rick and I stood back to back. Glenn was gone — leaving us both to defend each other against the horde of walkers that surrounded us. Bullets kept flying — every time they got close I put a bullet through their head, but it wasn't enough to help us survive.

I felt Rick shift behind me, reaching for another weapon. I glanced briefly over my shoulder while he shot a walker with our own flare gun directly in its mouth. It gave us the time to search our surroundings, only for a few minutes, but it still didn't change the fact the numbers in walkers were growing.

I fire the last round and my gun clicked — indicating I was out of bullets.

Humiliation and panicked settled in my chest. I thought this was the end, for a split second I thought we were both gone — until rifles went off behind our heads, making us duck quickly before we could get hit.

Rick wrapped his arms protectively around my shoulders, purposefully keeping me secured to his chest in case of the worst.

When the gunshots stopped and bodies stopped dropping with heavy thuds, we both slowly got back up to our feet.

Glenn appeared out of nowhere with Aaron at his side. "If you really want to tie me up again, that's fine, but hurry up." Glenn, clutching his rifle in his hands, briefly looked at Aaron before shifting his gaze to Rick and I.

"No time. We're going that way." Rick ordered.

Once we returned back to the road we got off on, Rick turned to Aaron. "Where are they?"

Aaron only shook his head, his breathing still heavily. "I don't know."

"If this is a trap to get us back where you want us, your people are going to die tonight." Rick spat before turning, walking a few steps ahead of us then stopping. "The flare was towards the water tower." He pointed out and I nodded.

When we got to the water tower like predicted, the rest of our group was waiting patiently outside beside the RV that was park between two buildings. I ran up to my sister as Rick ran to Carl. Glenn was the second to run over as Aaron suddenly disappeared into the building.

"Are you okay?" Maggie whispered and I quickly nodded my head, pulling away from our embrace. "Yeah — yeah im okay. We're all okay." I gave her a soft smile, placing my hand on her shoulder before dropping it.

I then turned around, my eyes scanning desperately amongst the group find Judith, seeing her in Carols arms and relaxing immediately. "Don't worry," she spoke softly to me as she put an arm around my back just as I leaned down to kiss Judiths head.

Aaron returned moments later and Rick was at my side immediately with Carl and Judith.

"Excuse me. Excuse me, everyone." Aaron spoke up over the small chatter, gaining everyone's attention once it died down. "Thank you. You saved Eric — I owe you. All of you. And I will make sure that debt is paid in full when we get to our community. When we get to Alexandria. Now, I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather not do any more driving tonight. Maybe we can hit the road tomorrow morning." He ended with a soft smile and a chuckle.

"That sounds fine." Rick nodded. "But if we're staying here for the night, you're sleeping over there." I mentally rolled my eyes, looking over at Rick with my eyebrows knitted together.

"Rick." Maggie, lifted her hand as she spoke. "You really think we got to do that?"

I watched Rick shift on his feet as he nodded once more. "It's the safe play. We don't know you."

Aaron stood a little straighter now, pointing towards the area he just came out of. "The only way you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me."

I slowly smiled, nudging Rick with my elbow before shifting myself between Aaron and him. "It's fine — we're fine. We're together again and that's what matters. No more fighting."

"She's right," Glenn added. "He told us where the camp is. And he really was only travelling with one other person. They're both unarmed — one of them's got a broken ankle." I turned slightly to look at my brother-in-law, giving him a single nod when his gaze flickered to meet mine. "I want us to be safe, too. I can't give up everything else. I know what I said, but it does matter."

I took Ricks hand in my own, rubbing his knuckles with my thumb before turning to Aaron fully. "Let's rest, regain our strength — allow Eric to recover, then tomorrow we set out for Alexandria."

"Thank you," Aaron smiled politely.

I was in the passenger seat of the car while Rick drove. Our hands intertwined, locked tightly with the subconscious fear one of us could easily slip away. Occasionally he raised our hands and kissed the back of mine without taking his eyes off the road.

When we pulled up to the front gates of Alexandria, I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned to Carl in the backseat. Judith was lying on the cushions with her blanket and bunny — not a single in the world around her.

"Ready?" I asked softly. Rick turned in his seat next to me at the same moment Carl looked up from Judith.

"What if it doesn't work out?" His small hand stilled over her stomach, gently caressing her while she occupied herself with the stuffed animal.

I glanced at Rick, sending him a quick but gentle smile before turning back to Carl. "One more move — just one more. We see how it is here and if it's not good for us, we'll leave. You tell us if you're comfortable." My words hung in the air, both son and father exchanging glances.

Rick nodded in agreement out the corner of my eye.

"Really?" Carl questioned.

I nodded. "If anything goes wrong, if you get a bad feeling — someone even looks at you funny, then you let us know. We'll leave together until we find another place. And we'll fight just as hard to find a home." I looked over at Rick now, my gaze softening when his blue eyes flickered over towards mine. "There isn't a single thing I wouldn't do to make sure all three of you are comfortable."

Rick leaned over and kissed a firm but soft kiss against my forehead. I closed my eyes briefly, allowing the tender affection to consume me entirely.

"Come on," he encouraged us to get out of the car.

I stepped out of the vehicle just as the others began piling out of the RV behind us. The gates were tall, made of pure steel — just like Aaron promised. I didn't notice any guards, which caused me to move forward with caution and my fingers twitching towards my gun. But when I heard the echoes of children laughing — the entire community sharing blissful conversations on the other side of the wall, I lowered my hand.

Rick appeared at my side with Judith in his arms. Carl stood on the other side of me and I immediately wrapped my arm around his shoulders.

The sound of laughter consumed us — in the most peaceful way possible.