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

"Open the door, Andrew."

"This is stupid. I don't think you're comprehending just how stupid this is."

"I don't care." Kyle grunted while adjusting Sienna in his arms. Her sleeping figure caused her to become ten times heavier, occasionally slipping from his grasp until he readjusted his position and held her up higher.

Andrew opened the closest door, revealing shelves full of cleaning supplies and the empty flooring that left just enough room to hold a body.

He shuffled backwards, making space for Kyle who slowly carried Sienna into the small space. His left arm was hooked under her knees with his right hand tightly holding her arm — all of her weight leaning directly into his body.

He carefully kneeled down and placed her down on the ground but when his hands brushed across her stomach, he felt the baby shift and it forced me to visibly pause.

"What is it?"

He reeled his hands back but remained on his knees in front of her unconscious body. The feeling of her stomach moving caused him to grow deadly still. 

"Kyle."

"I felt it," He quickly responded before slowly standing back up. "It's still alive."

Andrew grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him out of the cleaning supply closet forcefully. "I don't give a fuck if it is or isn't. What are we going to do about her?"

With Kyle's gaze still centered on Sienna, he slowly shook his head with realization taking over him. "We know they're coming. It's our chance to use her as a bargaining chip."

Andrew dragged his hand slowly down his face. "Okay. What is Negan going to do to us if we don't have her?"

His partner finally turned to him with a brief flash of concern washing over his face before he shook his head again. "What is he going to do to us if we do have her?"

"There's no way they'll give a fuck about this girl." Andrew turned to Kyle, stepping closer to his partner with his voice dropping down to a whisper. "You've heard — seen the things these people have done to our people. They're animals, whether they take her back or not, they'll still kill us."

"She's pregnant," Kyle repeated more sternly. "Which means she belongs to somebody."

"And what if they're dead?"

Kyle gripped Andrews shoulder and shoved him out of the way before closing the closet door. "Doesn't matter, I'm changing my mind. And even if we do die — I'll die knowing she'll go back to where she belongs with this baby."

"Maria wanted a family with Jim," Andrew muttered.

Kyle stared blankly at his friend. "And now they're both dead so it doesn't really matter anymore does it?"

Gun fire echoed in the hallway and both men stood at attention immediately. Rick, Daryl, and the others arrived quicker than the previous compounds. The sound of an all out war was happening right outside the walls.

Kyle turned to Andrew. "We give up their guns and offer an exchange. There's still a chance both of us make it out alive, so don't do anything stupid." He firmly pressed his finger against Andrew's chest with his gaze hardening. "If you do — I'm not saving your ass."

Andrew breathed heavily through his nose, not agreeing to his statement but not denying it either.

They carefully moved out of the storage room and Kyle shut the door behind them. The gunfire continued, and when two strangers appeared with a vendetta – Kyle and Andrew immediately jumped into a separate room.

Daryl and Rick immediately noticed the figures jumping to safety but they still fired at the direction in which they went with intentions of killing them directly.

Kyle pressed his back firmly against the open door. Andrew was on the opposite side of him against the wall. Kyle inhaled deeply through his nose then spoke aloud towards the men waiting in the hallway.

"We're tossing our weapons in the hall and we want to make a deal with you!"

"Not a fucking chance," Daryl shouted back.

Andrew shot Kyle a pointed look, who ignored him entirely by grabbing both of their weapons and quickly chucking them onto the hallway floor. "We know what you're here for!" Kyle continued. "We had no part of this — our friend Maria, she was being reckless — "

"Nobody gives a shit!" Daryl responded.

"You're not going to stop until you get what you want. We understand that — we also want to walk out of here alive. So how about we make a deal? A life for a life!"

Rick furrowed his eyebrows, briefly looking at Daryl before nodding down the hallway with a gesture of his hand. They both slowly crept up towards the room the boys slipped inside of.

"Come on out first." Rick insisted.

Andrew quickly turned to Kyle and slowly shook his head. Kyle nervously ran his tongue along his lower lip. "How can we trust that you won't just kill us?"

"Guess there's only one way to find out." Daryl spoke while Rick raised his gun higher. "If you don't come out of that room then we will kill you."

"I'm not doing this, bro," Andrew muttered.

Kyle shrugged his shoulders before slowly raising his hands in the air. "I've been ready to die for a while now. I'm getting tired of fighting." He carefully stepped out of the room with caution, hands still raised in the air which gave Daryl the ability to swing the strap of the gun over his shoulder and reach for Kyle.

Gripping the front of his shirt, he slammed his back against the wall next to the room and Rick repeated the same action with Andrew.

"Now tell us," Rick grunted low, "what are you talking about?"

Kyle brought his attention towards Daryl, giving him a single nod. "We give you the girl — you let us go."

Rick slowly glanced between Andrew and Kyle — furrowing his eyebrows with his grip of Andrews shirt tightening. "What? What girl? What are you talking about?"

"The girl!" Andrew spat towards Rick.

Daryl pressed Kyle against the wall harder, practically pulling the younger boy up on his toes. "What fucking girl!? That could mean anything!"

"The pregnant one," Kyle's voice shook slightly with anxiety creeping up his chest. Rick was much calmer than Daryl currently — but something in his gut told him that it was over before it even started. "She's from Alexandria — your group."

Rick's head whipped around. "W-What?"

"Kyle, it's not worth it!"

"Shut up, Andrew!" Kyle gritted his teeth together towards his friend and Rick turned back to Andrew, now pressing his forearm against his throat. "Where is she then? Huh?" His heart hammered so hard against his chest —  to the point he was convinced he was going to faint.

"Supply closest," Kyle breathed out heavily, now daring to remove his gaze from Daryl. "Down the hall. Three rooms down. One of the rooms we used for extra furniture — she's in there/ Closest is towards the back."

Rick's head tilted towards Kyle with tears clouding his vision. "Tell me right now — is she dead?"

Daryls grip on Kyle tightened as he waited desperately for the answer. The younger boy slowly shook his head with his tension in his shoulders releasing. "She was alive the last time we checked."

Rick dropped his grasp on Andrew and stumbled backwards. "Daryl — watch them." His best friend pulled away from Kyle but pulled his gun backout and directed it towards both of the boys.

The sweat dripping down Rick's forehead continued with the sudden anxiety building up in his system. We followed Kyle's direction and headed towards the room down the hall.

Daryl took one single step backwards and carefully flickered his gaze between both of the boys. He opened his mouth to speak with his voice lowering "That girl — she's like my little sister. If something happens to her — I mean anything, I'm going to rip both of your spines directly out of your backs. I'll make your death so painfully slow you'll beg to see God."

Rick's shaky hand reached for the closed door, returning his gun back to his grasp with his other hand. His heart continued to anxiously beat against his chest and no matter how much he chanted in his head — pleading that by some miracle it wasn't Sienna, he couldn't get himself to calm down.

The door slowly opened and he quickly checked all the visible corners. Behind large pieces of furniture and metal shelves that carried smaller objects. There was another door at the corner of the room, just like the boy said there would be.

Blood stained finger prints coated the edge of the door frame and Rick's breathing grew heavier.

One foot placed in front of the other led him towards the supply closet. He had to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to see and the tears hanging on by a thread were going to spill.

He aimed his gun at the door in his dominant hand while reaching for the doorknob with his left. One steady breath inwards and he swung the door open — his gaze slowly faltering towards Sienna's body that remained on the floor.

He quickly tucked his gun away and kneeled down on the ground in front of her, reaching out with a shaky hand. "Sienna?" Her name rolled off his tongue with a sob threatening to release. Once he touched her shoulder, he carefully rolled her over onto her back and her tired eyes immediately met his.

Hearing Rick's voice brought her back — the one sound she held onto the entire time to keep her alive.

His mouth fell open seeing her eyes stare back at his and he immediately reached for her face — cradling it gently in his hands. "You found me." Her soft voice cracked and he bobbed his head, tears now falling onto her face. "I'll always find you."

"I can't feel anything," she whispered tiredly.

"I'm going to get you out of here — I'm — " The words got trapped in his throat and his head threatened to hang with the amount of tears rushing out of him like a tidal wave.He turned his head briefly towards the door of the room and called out to his friend. "Daryl!"

Daryl grabbed both Kyle and Andrew, hands gripping their backs and guiding them back towards the storage room.

Upon entering the room, Daryl shoved the boys forward and Rick turned around with his gun in hand — shooting both boys in the head without hesitation. Their bodies dropping to the ground with a harsh thud and forcing Daryl to take a single step backwards.

He turned back to Sienna, put his gun away, and carefully tucked one arm under her neck and the other under her knees. Her body voluntarily rolled into his embrace but not without wincing in the process.

She recoiled against him when all her weight settled into his arms — as if her body was now aware of the movement and caused a painful cry to escape her lips.

"I know baby, I'm so sorry," he whispered into her hair before pressing a kiss on the top of her head. "We're going to get you out of here." When he turned back to Daryl, his face immediately hardened and broken tears turned into angered ones. He didn't give himself a chance to process her entire appearance — nor the child in her womb. Between the obvious abuse displayed on her face and the blood still seeping from her thigh, it was enough to send him through a rage.

"How do we — " Daryl nervously gestured towards her stomach, swallowing the thick lump down his throat in the process. "What if — "

Rick turned his head to his friend, "I'm saving her no matter what. If there's a choice I'm saving my wife." The words rolled off his tongue without hesitation and he nodded towards the door. "We have to keep sweeping until we know the outside is clear. Aaron will tell us when it is."

"You want to keep looking for those guns?" Daryl questioned.

He nodded once. "We have to keep moving forward. Morales already called them to come back."

"Alright, let's keep moving. You stay behind me."

They started traveling through the hallway with Daryl in the front, checking every corner, and Rick carrying Sienna in his arms. No matter how tired he was, he didn't let her body slip from his grasp, not even a second. But she kept moving in and out of consciousness — worrying Rick that if they didn't move any faster, she wouldn't make it.

The next hall they went down, Daryl was the first to move out into the open before the saviors rushed in and started blowing bullets in their direction.

Daryl jumped across the hallway into an empty room, immediately letting off rounds in the direction the saviors were hitting from.

Rick cursed under his breath and turned back around, carefully settling Sienna down on the ground behind him in a different room. He pulled the gun off his back and began recklessly shooting at the saviors. Anger coursing through his veins just thinking about what they've done to Sienna. Even if it wasn't an entire group effort — they all came from the same place and they've reached the point of exhausting all his patience.

For a split second he did consider letting Andrew and Kyle walk away, but when he saw that it was Sienna lying on the ground completely torn up — it was the color red that was all he saw.

When the first gun clicked, telling him that he was officially out of bullets, he dropped the gun by his feet and pulled out a different handgun. He quickly gazed back at Sienna, who was barely coherent to the issue — anxiety pulling at his chest.

"Hey! Hey!" Daryl shouted to Rick across the hallway, dropping his voice lower. "I'm out!"

Sienna painfully shifted against the floor, regaining consciousness momentarily as she tried calling out to her husband. "Rick?" His name was barely audible over the sound of gun fire and she didn't have the strength to roll over and see what was happening. Warm tears formed at the bottom of her lashes, the taste of blood lingering in her mouth as she called out his name louder the second time. "Rick!"

He kept his focus on shooting back at the saviors, but his chin turned slightly to respond. "Hold on, baby!" He shouted over the gun fire that was coming from both directions.

He paused his movements, allowing the saviors to waste more of their bullets by continuously shooting at the wall. His head raced with adrenaline and his eyes landed on a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall across from him — an idea blooming in his head.

Rick carefully peaked around the corner, calling out to Daryl. "Hey!" He held up three fingers before shooting at the red object. Large clouds of smoke filled the air. "Come on!"

The gunfire continued but the smoke gave Daryl the chance to dart across the way to where Rick and Sienna were.

They both hid behind the door frame until the saviors finally stopped shooting and Aaron called out from across the hallway. "Teams of four, sweep the offices!"

"Aaron!" Rick shouted. "We're by the elevator!"

Daryl tossed his crossbow over his back and ran towards Sienna, who once again slipped unconscious. "You're gonna be alright," he promised her with a whisper. He mimicked Rick's movements from earlier and carefully scooped her up into his arms with a low grunt. Having Sienna in his arms unresponsive briefly gave him the painful memory of carrying Beth out of the hospital — but that wasn't going to happen again. He was going to bring her out of this alive even if it killed him.

dylan
this sucks and it was definitely rushed but this is my TRIO. MY FAMILY. it's also not staying in third pov the rest of the story, it was just for this chapter. more crash out rick to come... him shooting kyle and andrew without hesitation actually made MY jaw drop and im the one that wrote it. i unfortunately can't promise this is the end to siennas pain because this entire season is so important to her character development SO EVERYONE STICK WITH ME. KEEP HOLING MY HAND. KEEP MOVING.