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

I walked out of the house and jogged down the porch steps, rolling up the sleeves of my shirt and twisting my hair back into a bun. The screen door to the house sprung open, and I turned around to see Maggie jogging up to me.

"Hey," she breathed, eyeing the group towards the camp behind me, then faced me again. "Can I tell you something?"

I raised an eyebrow then smiled, "always?"

Maggie gently grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side, far enough where we weren't easily in sight. "Its about Glenn."

I crossed her arms over my chest and leaned my head to the side. "What about him?"

Maggie glanced over at the camp again, clearly seeing something or someone in the distance that caused her to smile. "When we, Glenn and I, went on the run, we —" I quickly stopped my sister by placing a hand on her shoulder and inhaled slowly. "Please tell me you two didn't have sex."

Maggie frowned, shoving her hands into her jean pockets. "Is that bad?"

I sighed, dropping my hand from her shoulder and shook my head. "Well no, you're a grown woman. By all means I'm not going to tell you how to live your life anymore. But you know how dad is—"

"Believe me, I do not plan on telling our father I had sex with a boy."

I rolled my eyes playfully, "I mean, he's not wanting to let these people stay. I don't want you growing attached to someone you might have to say goodbye to."

My sister released an understand sigh. The both of us simultaneously looked over towards the camp. I noticed Glenn standing with the others, adjusting his cap on his head. "Do you think dad will have a change of heart?" My sister asked and I wish I knew the answer.

So far, everything seemed to be going well. Rick and Hershel had agreements and if there was anything to disagree about, I was sure Rick would understand. But that's only from what I've heard. I can't seem to get my dad alone these days to have a serious talk with him. He's too busy trying to keep us safe.

I turned back to Maggie, taking her hand in my own and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "For now, let's just try to help them find this little girl."

She nodded knowingly, "I can't imagine what their mother is going through. I mean, if this were Beth?"

I inhaled heavily through my nose, not allowing the thought of losing our little sister to cross my mind. "Please don't plant that image in my head. I won't categorize our sister as someone that can't handle herself all alone — but the thought of having to spend endless hours searching for her — I can't stomach the idea."

"Let's make a pact — right now." Maggie turned to me, our heights equally matching, and her hand squeezing my own. "Anything happens to either of us — we won't stop looking for each other no matter what."

"Okay," I promised softly with a single nod.

We made our way towards the yellow truck were the map was still perfectly placed where we previously left it the other day. Dale was holding onto a black bag that read 'Sheriff' on the front.

​​​​​​"I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this bridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid." Daryl was adjusting his shirt over his body, wiping his fingers across his chin while examining the map. "If she's up there, I'll spot her."

T-Dog looked over his way and nodded, "good idea. Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too."

I took a stand next to Jimmy, tucking my hands away into my back pockets with an eyebrow raised. "Chupa,— who?"

Dale picked out a shot gun from the bag, setting it down on top of the truck's hood while explaining. "You never heard this?" I shook my head. "Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra."

Jimmy snickered from in between Rick and I. Daryl's head quickly turned over at Beth's boyfriend, "What are you braying at, jackass?"

"What even is a Chupacabra?" I raised my eyebrow curiously at the older guy. He lifted his hands and motioned them in a moving manner — trying to paint a picture for all of us. "It's like a dog, but nastier — small head, large pointy ears, and razor sharp teeth."

I removed my hands from my jeans, leaning my palms against the hood of the truck, and looked over at Daryl curiously. "So — instead of walkers, you think there's a vicious dog walking around?" Daryl nodded his head as I laughed. "And what? You think it preys on the bodies of the molding ones trying to kill us?"

Rick chuckled beside me, shaking his head. "You really believe in a blood sucking dog?"

Daryl shrugged his shoulders, "you believe in dead people walkin' around?"

From beside me, Jimmy reached over and grabbed the gun that way lying across the hood of the truck until Rick softly took it from him. "Ever fire one of these before?" Jimmy looked over at me and I raised my eyebrow, shaking my head.

Jimmy sighed, "Well, if I'm going out, I want one."

Daryl swung his crossbow over the shoulder while rolling his eyes, "yeah. And people in Hell want slurpee's." He then walked off, leaving Jimmy's face to turn into a frown before walking away.

Rick suddenly turned towards the younger boy and called out to him. "Why don't you come train tomorrow? If you're serious, I'm a certified instructor."

Jimmy stopped in his tracks, turning to look between Rick and Shane who now stood out of the passenger side of the truck, leaning against the door. Andrea looked back at Jimmy and gave him a light smile, "for now he'll come with us." Jimmy smiled back and walked back over to the truck.

Both Rick and Shane went off in different directions from Andrea and T-Dog, searching the woods for Sophia and setting around  colored cloths against the trees to where they have already been searched. I stayed behind to help Lori and Carol cook dinner along side Maggie, Beth, and Patricia.

Maggie was currently setting out tables and chairs, while I was putting washed vegetables into bowls and getting chicken ready for the oven.

"Whats going on here?" I looked over at the other room seeing our dad and Maggie beginning to talk.

I took a baby carrot and walked into the room, "Carol and Lori are cooking dinner tonight. They wanted to thank us for having them here."

Maggie looked at me and smiled while setting a chair down. Hershel looked between the both of us, his voice dropping a lower octave so the other women wouldn't hear. "We need to be careful with these people. They're getting a little too comfortable here."

Maggie stared up at our father and sighed, "its just dinner."

Steven's original discussion about wanting these people off the farm lingered between my ears — a reminder where he stood on the topic of letting new comers stay or not. My fathers offense on the matter would at least shut him up for awhile longer.

I started placing plates around at every chair with a fork, knife, and spoon to the side. "Whats going on with you and that Asian boy?" My eyes slightly widened, taking a bite into the carrot as the crunch sound seemed to be loud enough to hear across the yard — like it was a knife cutting straight through the awkwardness in the room.

Our father glanced over at me before turning back to Maggie who shook her head. "Glenn," she corrected. "He's a friend."

He stared at her for a moment, his right hand leaning onto the chair. "I'd rather he wasn't. Bad enough I have to chase Jimmy and Beth around."

Maggie smiled up at our father, "well you don't have to chase me around,— I'm not 16."

"I know you're not, that's why I'm counting on you." He then looked over at me as I was already watching my father and sister talk. "Including you. I need you both to be the mature one's around here."

"I'm engaged," I reminded him softly. "I don't think this conversation applies to me anymore."

Maggie glanced over at the kitchen, seeing everyone hard at work before looking at our father again. "I'm a little too old to be having this conversation." She then passed by him while I quickly left the room, Maggie tagging along until he spoke up once more. "Don't get too close to them! They wont be around for long."

I nearly sighed out of relief when I stepped back outside. I've already had the conversation about boys with my father and our mother a long time ago. When Steven came into my life, they were thrilled — but nevertheless my father continuously reminded us that we needed to be smart.

Suddenly my fiance came around the corner of the house, grabbing my upper arm, and bringing me further away from lingering eyes.

"What are you doing?" Steven blocked my passage way towards camp, guiding me backwards towards the wall of the house. It was the perfect area where no one could see if you planned on being secretive.

Anxiety started gathering in my bloodstream and I nervously looked anywhere that wasn't Steven's face. "What are you talking about?"

His arms came up, his palms pressing firmly against the side of the house in attempt to cage me in. Our faces just a few meters apart and I could feel the warmth of his breath fanning my face. "I'm talking about you following that group around like a lost puppy."

"My father can't keep an eye on everyone in our family — let alone the eight strangers wandering around camp. I'm doing him the favor by keeping an eye on everyone for him." It wasn't technically a lie. Although I was enjoying the fact we had real company over to distract me from Steven, I was also doing my father a great favor by making sure everyone was staying out of trouble. The incident at the well was a minor set back — but everyone was getting along for the most part.

"I told you you should be convincing your father to get these people to leave."

"The boy is not ready for that, Steven." I reminded him with a gentle hiss — anger beginning to overcome me but I managed to keep it at bay so it wouldn't cause him to react. "He's still bed ridden — he will not survive out there like this, they need more time."

Steven suddenly held my jaw with his right hand firmly, the action so quick I didn't have time to react — but the fear that he would strike me out in the open, was growing at the pit of my stomach and nearly had me pissing my pants.

I prayed to God nobody saw us, but then I remembered he purposely had his large arm blocking my head — that if anyone was wandering around, they had no clue what we were doing.

The sound of footsteps drawing closer to us had Steven's jaw clenching, his thumb barely grazing over my bottom lip before he leaned close and pressed his lips firmly against my cheek. An act so subtle — anyone else would think we were having a moment.

When he finally pulled away, I forced back the tears burning my eyes and brought my attention towards the stranger lingering before us — nearly sighing in relief recognizing it was Rick.

Steven walked away, not sparing a single glance towards Rick as he made his way back into the house. I felt the heavy weight on my shoulders finally lift as I walked towards the older man, crossing my arms over my chest for extra comfort.

He smiled in my direction. "Do you want a quick lesson?"

My eyebrow arched immediately, "I'm sorry?"

"Guns," he chuckled.

I nodded, "Oh. Well if you're not doing anything?"

Rick nodded his head towards the yellow truck and I followed. He pulled out a pistol and handed it over to me. I took it into my grasp and carefully pointed it towards the ground while eyeing it closely. "How does it feel?"

I moved my wrist several times, acknowledging the weight of the gun in my hand. "Feels nice." I admitted. "I'll be honest though — my dad isn't going to like it. But I've trained with Otis before. He used to take me out and teach me how to hunt."

"It's a good skill to have," Rick agreed. "Do you feel confident with it?"

"Almost, just need more practice is all."

"Follow me," Rick nodded off towards the field and I followed right beside. "I want to respect your fathers wishes with keeping guns off the property. I hope he doesn't mind if I try to help train the others. It's how we're going to survive. Think of it as me giving back after he saved my son — I would hate for us to leave knowing all of you are left untrained."

"As long as it's away from the farm, I don't think he'll necessarily mind. This is all new for him," I explained. "It was just the seven of us. We held our own when things went down hill." Rick glanced over at me as we walked through the tall grass, making it as far from the camp as we could. "I remember seeing it on television, then hearing it on the radio. It was like everyone had just given up." I remembered it all like it had just happened last week. I tried so hard to keep a brave face for my sisters, and especially my father.

I remember being terrified, like I needed to go hide under my bed and wait for the monsters to go away. Steven didn't even bother comforting me — all he did was pace around the house. But I kept myself strong for Beth; she needed me.

When her mother died, I practically took Beth under my wig and raised her. We couldn't of asked for a better father, but Beth needed a mother in her life. Maggie and I work hard to keep her safe. Most importantly; alive.

"By now, we're just trying to keep our farm together. It's what practically keeping us alive," I shrugged. "I recognize our privileged, don't get me wrong. We're more prepared than others — we have water and crops growing. It's lasted us this long at least."

"We promise to help take good care of it — during the time being while we're here," Rick promised and I knew he meant well. I can see it on his face.

When we traveled far enough, it was at the oldest fence that kept us parted from the woods and the barn. My dad had stopped caring for these fences and kept the closer ones up. Every now and then, he goes out to fix any broken nails and fix any of the wood that has fallen off. Any wood that was broken down became our supply of fire wood.

"Go ahead and shoot the first one," Rick pointed out to the empty cans resting on top of the fence. "Look down through your sight. Keep your legs spread for balance. The gun's going to jerk, whole point is not get it in your face."

I nodded, fixing my stance before lifting the pistol up and pointing it towards the can while using both hands. I looked towards the sight, my eyes slightly squinting. Rick stood next to me with his hands placed on his hips.

I took in a slow deep breath before holding the trigger down and a bullet passing by the can without touching it. I pointed the gun towards the ground, removing my finger from the trigger and sighed.

"Damn it," I whispered to myself.

Rick came up behind me now, "here, lift the gun back up." I did as he said, pointing the gun towards the first can again. He placed his hands on my shoulders gently, "don't tense up. You should breathe in between each shot." I relaxed my shoulders while exhaling softly. "Have your elbow's slightly bent out, your body needs to be relaxed." He continued while his hands slid down my arms to my elbows and I slightly allowed them to lax. We both stood there in silence for a moment before Rick moved to the side and cleared his throat. "Alright, go ahead now."

I focused down the sight, my finger hovering over the trigger before pressing down and within a second, the bullet hit the can, causing it to knock to the ground. I quickly pointed the gun towards the ground and smiled. "How bad is it for me to say that it felt good?" I looked over at Rick as he laughed softly and stepped to the side as I moved over, repeating my current movements and hitting the second can perfectly.

I looked towards Rick and smiled, "thank you for this. My dad wouldn't of ever tau—" I stopped mid-sentence as both of our attention was turned towards camp once we heard Andrea yell out, 'Walker! Walker!'. We looked at each other for a split second before taking off.

In the distance, T-Dog, Glenn, and Shane came running towards the woods as we both caught up within seconds. Rick pulled out his gun and pointed it towards Daryl who was dragging his own feet with his crossbow in hand.

"It's the third time you pointed that gun at me!"

Daryl was covered in both sweat and blood, his breathing slightly hitched from the walk through the woods. "You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

I placed my hand over my chest, managing to control my breathing as I tilted my head at the man. "We thought you were a damn walker!" I spit out in disbelief.

Daryl clicked his tongue as he shot me a look. "Well I ain't!"

Within that moment, the sound of a gun shot rang through my ears and the bullet hit Daryl's head — sending him to the ground. My hand quickly flew against my mouth in shock, a small yelp escaping my lips.

"No! No!" Rick shouted, running towards Daryl and knelling down beside him.

I remained between T-Dog and Glenn as Shane quickly dropped beside Rick.

Shane examined the side of Daryl's head, seeing the bullet only grazed him. Both Rick and Shane grabbed his arms and pulled him up from the ground, wrapping his arms around their necks.

"I was kidding." Daryl let out a shaky breath before his head fell limp from passing out. Both Andrea and Dale came running up and I noticed the look of regret on Andrea's face.

"Oh my God! Is he okay! Is he dead?!" She practically shouted as we all started to quickly walk towards the house.

"Hes alright, the bullet just grazed him." Shane panted.

Glenn pointed out the ears that were dangling against Daryl's chest on a string. "What the hell is he wearing!? Are those ears?" I grabbed onto the back of Glenn's shirt out of comfort, anxiety returning once more as we followed the group towards the house.

"What the hell was he doing out there?!" I asked quickly as Rick looked at the ears and yanked it from his neck, and tucked the object away in his shirt. "We'll keep that to ourselves."

T-Dog was a further behind us, stopping us with his voice full of concern. "Guys,— isn't this Sophia's?" Everyone stopped, turning around to see him holding up a small ragged doll.

dylan
this part always makes me lowkey giggle. because andrea is like "i got this." but she in fact.. did not have it.