Login with:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

Google

Yahoo

Aol.

Mibba

Your info will not be visible on the site. After logging in for the first time you'll be able to choose your display name.

We Can Change

Live

"Once I knew only darkness and stillness...my life was without past or future...but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living." — Helen Keller


That night, following the triple funeral, and after everyone had cleaned up and tended to any wounds, everyone sat or stood around the Common Room to eat something for dinner. The overall mood was somber and no one spoke as they ate and thought about the day's turn of events in silence. Considering how well the day had started, it was heartbreaking the way it ended. Granted, of course, the day wasn't exactly over, but it might as well have been.

Jo went to her cell afterward to nurse Hope in privacy while Andrea assisted Carol with cleaning up the dinner dishes, a task the older blonde usually lamented but, at the moment, cleaning was a nice distraction. Glenn and Maggie took solace with each other in their cell, mourning the loss of Hershel, while Lori and Shane did the same together in their own cell. Daryl had always respected and admired Hershel, and took mourning in his own way, by going off into the depths of the prison to be alone and possibly kill some walkers. Merle, sensing what his brother was about, chose to follow after him, partly to keep an eye on him so he didn't do anything reckless in his grief, while giving the younger man some distance. Sophia cried for a little while, but found comfort in letting the real world disappear for a while by returning to her Harry Potter book. T-Dog had gone to take watch, alone, ignoring Rick's claim that someone should go with him, but T-Dog just scoffed at the notion and said he doubted The Governor would come back for another firefight so soon after the other and, if he did, so be it.

Rick had frowned at T-Dog's response, but there was an air of truth to it. The Governor had clearly made his presence known and gotten his message out; that he knew where they lived and that they were harboring Jo. No one could deny that she was the one he was after, since there was no inclination The Governor was aware Hope had even been born. Jo's stomach was still quite swollen and would take time and exercise to decrease and tone up. From a distance, even if he used binoculars to glimpse her, The Governor would more than likely assume Jo was still pregnant. After all, she had given birth early.

Rick took some comfort in knowing that The Governor wouldn't want Jo dead as long as he still assumed she was pregnant, so if it came to actually having to sit down with that man to negotiate some sort of truce or ceasefire, Rick could keep that guise going. The Governor wouldn't try to harm Jo, but anyone else would more than likely be fair game. He would obviously declare he wanted Jo in exchange for the lives of everyone else in the prison, and a part of Rick felt like maybe some of his group might be okay with that; sacrifice one for the good of many. However, Rick could never agree to such a thing. He would find a way around it and, to be honest, he had no desire to sit down and negotiate with The Governor. Maybe before the attack he might've given it some consideration, especially with Hershel in his ear about it, but Hershel was dead now because of The Governor, and with him went that courtesy.

All bets were off now in Rick's mind.

Sauntering into the cell block, Rick leaned against the wall opposite the cells and slid down it to sit on the ground. He propped his legs up, bent at the knee and stared straight ahead at Hershel's empty cell. He draped his left arm over his left leg as he used his teeth to pick at the dirt under the fingernails of his right hand, all the while lost in some sort of daydream that had nothing to do with Hershel, if he was being honest.

It did have everything to do with the woman in the cell next door, though.

Out the corner of his eye, Rick could see Jo rustling around with Hope; lifting her daughter up to her chest to illicit a burp after the little one had been fed. He couldn't help but smirk when he heard quite the adult-sounding belch come out of such a tiny thing moments later.

Dropping his fingers from his mouth, he turned his tilted his head slightly and then made the decision to get back up to his feet. Slowly, he made his way over to Jo's cell and walked right in, but Jo didn't seem to mind one bit. She rather expected and preferred it. There was no unnecessary pretense between them. Not anymore. At least, not since he'd delivered Hope.

Jo had been right in alluding to how there was no need for him to be shy around her considering all he'd seen during the moments of the little girl's birth. Whether they liked it or not, they were bonded together because of it.

"I thought that sound came from a grown man," Rick tried to joke, in reference to Hope's burp.

Jo chuckled. "I know, right? My little peanut has a healthy appetite and shits like dock worker."

It was Rick's turn to chuckle. He hadn't heard that turn of raise in a long while. He was sure his father was the last person he remembered saying that.

He remained standing there, looking down at the baby girl in her mother's arms, smiling at how that little face made all the bad images in his head disappear for a little while. He was so distracted by Hope's face, though, that he barely noticed the change in Jo's.

"She has his eyes," Jo commented.

Rick brought his attention back to her and furrowed his brow. He immediately knew what and who she meant. It was something he'd been mulling over in his mind a few nights before. "Nah, they're your eyes. They just happen to be a different color," he insisted, to make her feel better.

"I appreciate that, but there's no denying it." Jo pouted down at her daughter. "I feel like such a terrible person for worrying about how I'll feel about my own child when she gets older. When she starts to come into her looks, and if she takes after him, will I resent her? Will I be able to love her wholeheartedly without being reminded of The Governor every time I look at her?"

Frowning sympathetically, Rick knelt down in front of her and placed one hand on her knee and one hand on one of her arms that cradled Hope. "Of course not," he assured. "You had something terrible happen to you, but you can't let it get the better of you. You can't let that bastard win, you understand me? What he did to you was wrong and unforgiveable, but try to focus on the fact that, despite what was done to you, you got this amazing little person out of it." Rick moved his hand off her arm to cup the back of Hope's head. "She's one of the good things to come out of what happened?"

Jo looked right at him and raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. "What other good thing could've come out of what happened?"

"You survived," Rick replied without hesitation, holding her gaze. "It's made you stronger, more resilient. A weaker person would've given up by now." Watching as she untucked one of her hands from under Hope and curl her fingers around his hand that was on her knee, Rick continued. "You're that dandelion that found a way to grow from between the cracks in the sidewalk."

Jo gave him a small smirk. "I always did admire those dandelions. A lot of people think of them as weeds."

"But they aren't. They're just flowers fighting to live in a cruel world."

"That's rather poetic."

Rick chuckled. "You should hear me reciting Shakespeare."

Jo knitted her brow together and looked impressed. "You can recite Shakespeare?"

"Nope," Rick replied, without missing a beat. "Nothing more than what I can just barely remember from high school English class. Something along the lines of 'shall I compare thee to a summer's day, something, something, the darling buds of May.'"

With a small laugh bubbling forth from her lips, Jo's smirk reached her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly how Shakespeare wrote it," she joked.

Rick gave her knee a squeeze. "See? You're smiling, you're laughing at my lame attempts at poetry and you got a beautiful daughter, regardless of who helped create her." He gave his usual head tilt. "I'd say you're gonna be just fine."

"I hope so."

Standing up, Rick smiled down at her as her fingers slid off his hand in the process. "I know so," he insisted, and then leaned down to place a kiss atop her forehead.

It was just a small gesture of caring, nothing like the kiss they'd shared in the Shower Room, which was still very fresh on both of their minds, but it meant just as much to her. Then, without another word, Rick just sort of nodded at her and took his leave from her cell while she remained with a small smile upon her lips, which she then looked down upon her daughter with.
A few hours later, once Sophia had gone to sleep, the adults congregated in the Common Room, either sitting at the tables or standing around them. Jo was seated beside Carol at one of the tables, holding a very awake Hope, who wouldn't go to sleep for anything at the moment. Rick, either subconsciously or on purpose, stood on the other side of Jo, with one hand on his hip and the other balled up into a fist and pressed against the tabletop.

They were all gathered there to discuss their next plan of attack after the events that had transpired that morning.

"As it stands right now, Shane, Daryl, Merle, Andrea, Jo and I are going to Woodbury. Glenn and Tyreese will stay behind to keep watch and keep Carol, Lori and the kids safe," Rick explained. "If something happens while we're gone and those of you staying behind need to leave the prison — if the gates fall or the cell blocks get overrun with walkers and being here any longer puts your lives at risk — you take the RV and you get out of here."

"Where would we go?" Carol asked.

Rick looked to Carol and then to Shane. After a moment, Rick decided. "The house where we found Jo and Sophia," he replied. "If we don't find any of you here, we'll assume that's where you've gone and we'll meet up there. And when we do leave for Woodbury, make sure the RV is already packed with your belongings — anything all of us would need. We should be prepared for the worst, and ready to go at the drop of a hat, just in case."

Everyone seemed to nod in agreement.

"We still need more weapons," Andrea commented. "We used up most of what ammo we have left this morning."

Rick nodded. "We're gonna need to make a run to get more guns, ammo and other essentials, and I know just the place, but it's a little ways out; at least an hour away." He looked directly at Shane again, who caught on and knew exactly where Rick was talking about.

"Count me in." Shane fiddled with his fingers in front of him and shot Lori a side glance before letting his gaze linger back to Rick.

Rick nodded again. He knew Shane would be most helpful. They both knew the place in question like the backs of their hands.

"Why so far though?" Lori asked, reaching her hand up and giving Shane's a squeeze.

Rick noticed the gesture but it didn't bother him in the slightest. He'd be a hypocrite now even if it did, considering his feelings now lied elsewhere in the form of the blonde beside him. "Last time I was there, this place was fully stocked with guns and ammunition and I have a good feeling it's been left untouched."

"And what if it has been touched?" Merle questioned, half sitting on one of the tabletops, with one leg planted firmly on the ground and the other propped up on the seat while he leaned forward on the latter leg. "What then?"

"We can't exactly afford to waste all that gas for you to drive an hour out, both ways, only to come back empty-handed," T-Dog agreed. Both adversaries looked at each other with a slight sense of respect which probably surprised them as much as it surprised everyone else.

"It's a risk we need to take," Rick stated.

"I'd like to come, too," Jo offered, cutting into the conversation.

Rick looked down at her and shook his head. "No. You should be—"

"Actually, Rick, I think it's a good idea if she comes along," Shane interrupted. Off Rick's almost betrayed look and Jo's look of surprise that he agreed with her, Shane shrugged. "If The Governor has 'feelers' out there, if he's watching us still from a distance, bringing Jo with us can be a way of luring him away from the prison, and keep everyone safe while we're gone. And, if he still thinks she's pregnant, it'll be more of a reason for him to leave everyone else here alone. His beef is with her when it comes down to it."

"We're not bringing Jo with us as Governor bait," Rick said adamantly.

"I'm not saying we're gonna dangle her in front of him and put her in danger. You and I will be there," Shane insisted. "We'll just give her some extra padding under her shirt to make it look like she's about nine months pregnant and ready to pop." He looked over at Jo and gestured to her stomach which was primarily hidden by the way she was holding Hope. "No offense or anything but you haven't lost that baby weight yet, and we can use that to our advantage. From a distance, even with binoculars, she still looks pregnant, just not as far along as she was when she actually was pregnant. That extra padding will help give the illusion she is, and that's what The Governor is after."

"And what happens if and when The Governor or his men do follow you three away from here and he catches up to you and finds out she's not actually pregnant anymore?" Lori asked. "Who's to say he doesn't attack and kill the three of you and then come back here and attack us in retaliation for being deceived?"

"It won't come to that," Rick assured.

"You don't know that," Lori pressed, giving him a firm gaze.

"And you don't know that it will. Listen, we can go around in circles with all these what ifs, but we can't live like that. We gotta believe that things can work out for us, for the better," he said, looking upon everyone's faces, one by one. "I sure as hell would prefer to believe things will work out. After everything that's happened to all of us within this last year, it's easy to be pessimistic and think the worst is gonna happen. But we're survivors and we've come out stronger after everything this new world has thrown at us. We haven't given up yet, so why start now? Why not believe in something better being possible? You wanna live your life, however long any of us got, constantly fearing what's around the corner or having to always look over your shoulder? Sure, we need to be on our toes and be prepared to fight, but we don't have to do it with our noses to the ground. There's a big difference between living and just surviving, and I'd rather live."

Andrea smirked, folding her arms under her chest. "My sister was an eternal optimist, and so was Dale and Hershel," she spoke. "I think we owe it to their memories to be a little optimistic ourselves."

Maggie frowned. "My sister was an optimist, too, but this world took her spirit away and she took her life. Every optimist from our group is dead. What does that tell you?" she snipped at Andrea.

"You're grieving right now," Andrea remarked, "and I'm not trying to condescend to you, but being an optimist does not correlate to being dead. All of our numbers will be up eventually, but Rick is absolutely right. We shouldn't waste the time we have left living as if we're already dead. If that's the case, we might as well all just stick a gun in our mouths right now and pull the damned trigger."

"Let's just get this conversation back on track to the gun and ammo run, shall we?" Glenn suggested, stepping forward and more central among the group. He looked between both Andrea and Maggie, who easily backed down from any further debate or argument.

Shane agreed, clearing his throat. "If ya'll wanna have your philosophical discussions about life and death later, that's up to you. Right now is about tactics."

Rick nodded, thankful for Shane getting them back on topic. "We're going on our run tomorrow morning. If we're lucky, we can get back here before suppertime."

"What if you get killed leaving the prison? Or, what if you get killed while on your run? What do we do then?" Carol wondered. "What if The Governor attacks us again while you're gone?"

"If Jo is with us and if The Governor is watching, and sees her looking nine months pregnant, then Shane's right. The Governor will have no reason to attack any of you here." Rick looked at Carol and then down toward the ground. "If we don't come back right away tomorrow night, it could just as easily mean we got stuck and had to take shelter from a herd of walkers that crossed our path; that we're just waiting it out until it's safe to leave."

"We'll come lookin' for you," Daryl informed. "We ain't leavin' you high an' dry."

"I appreciate that, I do," Rick insisted. "But if we don't come back, if it's been days, then you can go ahead and assume we're dead, and you go on without us. You keep each other safe. You protect Sophia and Hope no matter what. Make their survival your first priority. If that means abandoning this place and finding shelter somewhere else, then so be it. You do what you need to do."

"There are too many hands in the pot," Jo remarked, referring to the conversation at hand and everyone talking over each other about this and that. She cradled her daughter closer to her chest as the infant gurgled a little; having some sort of little conversation with herself. "We're going on this run tomorrow, we'll be back tomorrow. When we get back, we'll take stock of the weapons and ammo we found and then we can talk more about the plan for going to Woodbury. Right now, though, we need to go to get some rest and we'll see what tomorrow brings."

As the conversation petered off, everyone seemed to agree to leave the conversation where it was, head off to their respective cells and call it a night.

Jo stood up, pulling Hope up to rest upon her chest and waited purposely until she was semi-alone with Rick in the Common Room. There was still Daryl who was puttering around near the cooking stand, grabbing some crackers to snack on. Whether or not anyone realized Jo was hanging back to talk quietly with Rick, she didn't much think on it and nor would she have cared.

Rick had walked over to the door to head outside and take watch alone when he realized she was still there. He stopped halfway up the steps and turned around in time to find her standing at the base of those steps, looking up at him. He took in the sight of her and her daughter and smirked a little before coming back down the steps and nodding at her.

"What's up?"

"You're going to take watch the night before the run?"

Rick gave a slight tilt of his head and shrugged. "That was the plan."

"You'll be exhausted in the morning."

"I've done more on less sleep."

"Rick," she admonished.

"I'll be fine," he insisted, placing a hand on her shoulder that sent what felt like an electrical current through both their bodies.

"Well, then, I'll join you," Jo offered, gesturing with her head down at Hope. "Let me put her down in her crib and ask Carol to look in on her."

As she made the move to walk off toward the cell block, Rick reached out and grabbed her shoulder again, giving it a gentle squeeze as he shook his head at her. When she glanced back at him and up into his eyes, he leaned in closer to her face and spoke quietly. "If something bad really does happen tomorrow, you're gonna wish you had tonight with your daughter."

"Talk about guilt trips," Jo quipped, a smile dangling off her lips.

Rick shrugged, trying to hide his own smile, but failing miserably. But, his face grew serious enough a moment later. "If my son were alive, I'd be spending tonight at his side. That's where I would be, 'cause you never know."

"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best?"

Rick nodded. "Basically."

Looking down at her daughter, Jo hesitated for a moment. She could feel Rick's eyes on her still and she could also feel Daryl's eyes had shifted toward them, but was trying his best to pretend he was engrossed in those crackers in his hands.

"You're the most important father figure Hope has," she finally spoke, bringing her gaze back up to Rick's face. "I know you love her like your own, so if something happens tomorrow, won't you have wished you hadn't spent your last night away from her, too?"

A heavy feeling took up residence in Rick's heart and he frowned. "Now who's guilt-tripping whom?"

Jo smirked. "I'm just saying," she shrugged. "I have a top bunk that's not being used and you're welcome to it tonight."

"Hey, Rick," Daryl called out. He stepped forward, licking some cracker crumbs off his fingers, lifting his crossbow up and throwing it over his shoulder. "Why don't I take watch tonight? You two and Shane need your beauty sleep if you got a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

Jo was now certain Daryl had been discreetly eavesdropping, and his polite way of cutting in and offering to take Rick's place in watch didn't go unnoticed by her. In fact, she appreciated it and gave him a look to express it. Daryl looked back at her and nodded his head before looking back at Rick, who couldn't really argue any of the points that had been made. And, honestly, the idea of sleeping in the same cell as Jo, even if it was only in a different bunk, was very appealing.

After a long pause of consideration, Rick nodded. "Yeah, okay." He patted Daryl on the back as the archer walked past him on the steps to head outside. "Thanks, brother."

"No problem."

Without another word, Daryl pushed the door open and exited out into the caged entrance that led into the courtyard. A slight breeze escaped inside the Common Room as the door opened and closed behind Daryl, fluttering the strands of Jo's hair that she kept tied back in a ponytail, as well as the bottom curls of Rick's own hair, which had grown a little longer since he'd first woken from his coma.

"Alright," Rick said, looking directly at Jo. "You twisted my arm."

Raising an eyebrow, Jo smiled. "Somehow I doubt that."

They were officially alone in the Common Room now, save for Hope who didn't exactly count, and it left them leeway to be more open with their conversation between each other. However, conversation was no longer necessary. With silent looks and the faintest touches, they leaned closer toward each other until their lips chastely met. It was a very different kiss than the one in the Shower Room and definitely much different than the small one Rick had placed upon her forehead earlier. This kiss was sweeter, gentler and more loving.

When their lips parted, they looked upon each other with heavy-laden eyes and small smiles. Rick then scooped up Hope away from Jo and into his own arms, cradling the little girl against his own chest. Jo didn't hesitate in letting him do so. She simply looked on with admiration and then silently led the way out of the Common Room and toward her cell.

Rick followed quietly behind her, listening carefully to the sounds of the rest of their group talking among themselves in their own cells, puttering around or already snoring from yet another draining day.

Having stepped inside first, Jo gave Rick enough space to come in as well and set a sleepy-eyed Hope down into her pack-n-play crib. Once the little girl was quietly nestled in her bed and soon to fall into her own little slumber, Rick looked over at Jo and stepped forward the needed space to close the gap between their bodies. He brought his hands up to either side of her face and kissed her again, only this time is was once more like in the Shower Room. It was deep and hungry, with a hint of lust.

The sensation of her soft lips upon his own was enough to set his skin on fire. He curled his fingers around the back of her head as she encircled her arms around his shoulders and moaned quietly into his mouth. When he realized he was letting himself get too aroused by the situation, and not wanting to place her in that position just yet, Rick pulled away and held her at arm's length while looking her over. He admired how flustered she looked, even in the darkness of her cell and how the force of their kiss had caused her normal somewhat thin lips to plump up slightly, and he was sure his looked the same.

As Jo brought a hand up to her chin where his stubble had pleasantly scratched her skin, Jo bit her bottom lip to contain her smile.

"One of these days," she began to say, but then stopped herself.

Rick tilted his head and leaned in a little more. "One of these days what?"

Jo simply shook her head. "We should go to bed," she whispered.

Moving between his body and the bunks, Jo sank down onto the bottom mattress where she always slept and just stared up at Rick, watching as he nodded back at her and stepped over to the small ladder. With little effort, he ascended to the top bunk and Jo lay back, staring up at the underside of it, watching as his weight caused the top bunk to sink slightly.

As Rick pulled his legs up and lay completely back upon the upper mattress, he stared up at the ceiling and just listened to the silence around them. After a few moments of getting comfortable, he rested his left hand upon his chest but then he let his right arm dangle down over the edge of the bunk. He wiggled his fingers a few times and then waited.

A moment later, Rick felt Jo's fingers reaching for his.

Briefly, their hands managed to entwine before they mutually pulled away.

Rick brought his arm back up and rested his hand with the other upon his chest. "Goodnight," he whispered down to her.

"Goodnight," she replied.
Sleep hadn't exactly been consistent for either Jo or Rick during the night.

At one point, probably only an hour after they both would've fallen asleep in their separate bunks, Rick began to snore. At first, Jo didn't even register what she was hearing. She'd heard plenty of people snoring throughout the cell block most nights, but they weren't as near as this. Her eyes darted open in the darkness and she looked at the underside of the top bunk and frowned. Biting her lips together, Jo shifted around and tried ignoring the sound at first, but after a minute or two it didn't seem like there'd be an end in sight. So, lying flat on her back, Jo lifted her right leg up and kicked up at the underside of the top bed, giving the mattress a quick jolt.

It was enough to stir Rick awake slightly. He grunted and cleared his throat and then seemed to move around a bit. "Wuh," he muttered incoherently.

"Rick, you're snoring. You'll wake Hope up," she whispered up at him. "Roll on your side."

"Nnnhh—okay."

Jo continued to stare at the underside of the top bunk and smirked as it creaked with his weight when he turned over. Whether it was onto his left or right, she didn't know. What she did know, though, was that the snoring stopped.

Another hour or two later, Hope woke up. It began as whimpering and fussing at first, and then turned into crying. With droopy eyes, Jo sighed as she sat up.

"Shh," she tried hushing her daughter to no avail. Getting up to her feet, she leaned down over the pack-n-play crib and lifted Hope out and then cradled her in her arms. "You hungry?" Jo almost laughed at the 'O' gesture Hope began making with her mouth.

Yup, she was hungry.

Sitting back down on her bunk with her daughter and lifting her shirt, Jo thanked her stars for the front-clasping bra she wore and then proceeded to nurse. The entire feeding process was already old hat for her and she could practically do it in her sleep. In fact, Jo just let Hope go to town while she kept her eyes closed.

When all was said and done, Jo pulled her shirt down, not bothering with her bra just yet, as she grabbed the spit up rag and draped it over her shoulder so she could rest her daughter upon her chest and try and burp her.

After one tiny belch, Jo smirked and kissed Hope's little face, watching how her blue eyes fluttered and drooped. Her stomach full and feeling content, Hope easily slipped back into dreamland and Jo was able to put her daughter back to bed in her pack-n-play crib.

She remained standing, though, with her back to the bunk beds, so she could latch her bra back together and so she could adjust her shirt a little better before lying back down to sleep. As she attempted to get comfortable again, she heard Rick's body shift a little on the top bunk and she didn't think much of it.

What Jo didn't know was that Rick he woken as soon as Hope began to cry, but he laid there with his eyes clothes, just listening.

It was such a comforting sound, oddly enough; the sound of a mother tending to her child in the still of the night and it brought back memories of those times he had to be up in the morning for an early shift, so it was on Lori's shoulders to take care of Carl when he needed to be fed or changed. Rick would lie there in bed, trying to sleep while Lori paced back and forth in Carl's bedroom, trying to get him to eat or just go back to bed so she could sleep as well. Some nights Rick would hear Lori reading to him, but it wasn't really any sort of children's book, it was usually whatever trashy romance novel du jour that Lori had been interested in at the moment. It was fine, though. Carl didn't understand what she was reading because he was too young. He had simply found comfort in the sound of his mother's voice and she was able to pass the time until he fell back to sleep. It was a win-win.

Rick smiled at the memories, and then, for a moment, he was sad. His smiled faded; thinking about Carl being gone again. However, he had this second chance of sorts to do a better job at protecting the children in his life. As the smiling face of Sophia and the small, gurgling face of Hope entered his mind, Rick allowed his smile to return.

He had turned his head just in time to see Jo placing Hope back down in her pack-n-play crib and mess around with her bra. He couldn't see anything with her back to him, but he had enough imagination. Turning away just in time as she returned to the bottom bunk, Rick held his breath and waited until he could sense she had gotten comfortable again to release the air from his lungs.

When he did, he rolled onto his right side, staring at the far wall of the cell and slowly closed his eyes.

What seemed like mere minutes later, an abrupt tug at Rick's foot jerked him awake. Pushing himself up, he looked toward the entrance of the cell to see Shane standing there in the doorway with a raised eyebrow and curious grin.

"Rise an' shine, Sleeping Beauty," Shane quipped. He leaned forward, more into the cell, and reached out to pat Jo's leg. "Hey, time to get up."

"Is the sun even up?" Rick questioned with a groggy voice from not having spoken in hours.

Shane smirked. "It is, and it looks like it might be a scorcher out there today."

Rick looked down at the watch on his wrist and fought to adjust his eyes to see the time. It was either six or seven in the morning, the usual time he woke up most days, but the interruptions to his sleep made it feel like he hadn't slept long at all.

The bottom bunk creaked and Jo stood up, finding herself looking up at Rick who was reaching his legs out for the ladder. Stepping out of the way, she let him climb down and then stretch his arms up above his head while cracking his neck.

"I already loaded up the car," Shane informed. "I figure we could take mine."

The green, Hyundai Tucson had been deemed his vehicle ever since he found it and replaced the battery on that highway just after they'd lost Sophia.

Rick nodded and looked over his shoulder at Jo. "I'll let you get ready."

Shane let Rick slip out of the cell and then looked over at Jo, as well. "Lori's up. She'll look in on Hope for you once we leave."

"Thanks," Jo replied.

Once she was alone in her cell with just her daughter, she spent roughly ten minutes changing into a different shirt, but settling on the same pair of jeans she had thrown on after her cold shower the night before. Even before the world went to hell in a handbag, she would wear a single pair of jeans multiple times before washing them. She knew she wasn't alone in that; that a lot of people had the same feeling about jeans. They were just more durable and never seemed to get as dirty, as quickly. And, these days, there wasn't the luxury of having innumerable clothing items. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail, which had become a little mussed from tossing and turning in her sleep, and brushed through the few snarls she had with the comb Andrea had found on a run with the guys weeks ago. After putting her hair back into a new ponytail and applying some deodorant (a rarity that had been found in a supply closet near the infirmary, which everyone had benefited from), Jo slipped her boots back on; zipping them up to the tops of her calves.

Leaning over Hope's pack-n-play crib, she smiled at how the little girl still slept so peacefully, but wondered why she couldn't sleep like that during the night instead of during the day.

As she stepped out of her cell, Lori was just approaching with a small smile.

"Is Hope still asleep?" she asked.

Jo nodded. "She is, yeah."

Lori placed her hands on her hips and let her eyes wander over toward the Common Room. "I'll go prepare a bottle for her then," she commented. "Hopefully she takes to it."

"Yeah," Jo agreed. "I guess if I had one of those pump machines it would be easier to keep her fed on my own supply, but then again we don't exactly have the luxury of refrigeration anymore to keep it fresh."

"Well, it's better at room temperature anyway," Lori said with a shrug. "Everyone loves a warm meal."

Jo snickered and walked ahead of Lori to join Shane and Rick in the Common Room where they gathering up a few last minute supplies. Shane was even delving into a box of Pop-Tarts that had a questionable expiration date on them. He tossed one silver package from inside the box over to Rick, who dropped it because he hadn't realized it was being thrown at him. When he glanced down at the package on the ground, he looked over at Shane and then picked it up and set it down on the table with a nod of appreciation. Shane then threw a second package over to Jo. She caught it, but just barely, and was understandably wary about opening it up.

"Are these even good anymore?" she asked with a smirk.

"Beggars can't be choosers," was his only answer as he popped one of the two Pop-Tarts in his own package into his mouth. As Jo watched him bite down and chew, he made a face and shrugged. "Well, it's better than nothing," he added with a mouthful.

"Alright, let's head out," Rick announced, tossing the small bag of extra supplies over his shoulder. He looked over at Jo, completely blocking out the image of Lori approaching Shane to kiss him goodbye because Rick was more engrossed with Jo sauntering over toward him as she opened her package of Pop-Tarts. "What flavor are these anyway?" he asked her as they headed out the door to the courtyard.

"Stale frosted strawberry," she answered after taking a small bite.

Rick smirked at her reaction and then glanced at Shane who was finally joining them as they went outside. "Breakfast of champions," he quipped.

Shane nodded and smiled. "Most important meal of the day."

The three of them chuckled a little as they stepped out into the sunshine and headed for the car. Daryl, who had been in the main tower, was waiting at the gate to let them out and, apparently, Merle was up as well, and waiting at the main gates to move the RV out of the way and then back in place after the trio left. After tossing the extra bag of supplies into the back of the car, Rick walked over to the driver's side and hopped in and Jo moved to take the back, passenger side seat. Shane stopped her once she had the door opened and gestured to the front seat.

"You go ahead; take shotgun," he offered.

Shane wasn't stupid. He had already figured out something was brewing between Rick and Jo. He just wasn't sure if anything had actually happened between them yet or not but, considering he had, in a sense, taken Lori from Rick, in a way, Shane felt like he owed it to his oldest friend to make up for it somehow by assisting a new love to blossom for him. He just needed to fan the flames he could tell were already there.

Sliding into the backseat, Shane glanced at Rick's reflection in the rearview mirror as Jo climbed in. Both men made eye contact and Shane just grinned in response. In that moment, Rick could put two and two together that Shane was aware that he had serious feelings for Jo.

Letting out a muted sigh, Rick turned the car on and waited as Daryl began to pull the gate open before driving out of the courtyard and down the curved, gravel road. He slowed down long enough to give Merle time to move the RV forward enough for the Tucson to slip through the decimated main gate. Briefly bringing his eyes back to the rearview mirror, Rick watched as the RV returned to blocking the opening into the prison yard and then returned his focus to the road before them.

And just hoping everything remained uneventful for the others they were temporarily leaving behind.
Fifteen minutes into their trip, which had been silent thus far, the trio was traveling down an abandoned country road, scattered with dead leaves as well as the occasional dead body. It would never be a sight to get completely used to, but it was a sight they had come to accept. It was the way of the world these days, after all, and there was no end in sight to it. There was only the hope that they could make it a little better; that they could live their lives and not just survive.

A little ways up the road, a figure appeared along the side of the road. It was a young man, somewhere in his late twenties or early thirties, wearing an orange, canvas backpack and waving them down to stop. The hum of the tires coasting along the leaf-littered pavement and the windows of the Tucson being rolled up muffled the shouts and cries of the man as Rick kept his eyes glued ahead of him as they drove on by without hesitation.

Rick had not been blind to the man's plight, but he had his own people to worry about and a specific task at hand. He could not think of an outsider's issues at the moment. He might have reconsidered stopping if it was just a regular run for supplies and there was not a threat of further attack from The Governor at hand.

You can't save them all, Rick thought to himself as he looked at Jo briefly.

She seemed to be biting her tongue, as if she wanted to say something, but she held her head high and eyes forward on the road, saying nothing. Rick wondered if she would've stopped the car if she were the one behind the wheel. He chanced looking back at the man on the road in the rearview to see the man was running toward them as if he could somehow catch up, waving his hands in hopes they would change their mind and turn around. But it was to no avail, of course.

Rick wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop.

He did catch Shane's eye in the rearview, though, and his oldest friend's nod let Rick know his motives to not stop were understood and supported one hundred percent.

There was an ounce of guilt building in Rick's gut, though, but he would push it down to that place he pushed all the other terrible things he'd had to do since he woke up from his coma. He would push it down and move on. It was all he could do right now. There wasn't time to be weak and wallow.

"How would you rather die?" Shane's voice cut into the silence of the drive.

Rick and Jo both turned their heads slightly to acknowledge his question, while waiting to see where he was going with it.

Leaning forward, Shane placed a hand on the backs of both their seats. "Shot in the head by another person or bitten by a walker?" he asked, looking between the pair.

"Is this really a topic of conversation to have after what we just went through yesterday?" Rick wondered, a little cynical.

"What, like we don't live in a world where this shit don't happen on a semi-regular basis?" Shane looked at Rick's profile and then over to Jo, giving her shoulder a nudge with his right hand. "You have an opinion on this?"

"On how I'd rather die?" she inquired.

Shane nodded. "Yeah."

"And those are my only two options; shot to the head by a living person or walker bite?"

"Yeah."

Jo sat silent for a moment, feeling Rick look at her as he waited to see what she would say, along with Shane who was just as curious. "Would there be a chance of surviving if the spot where I was bitten could be cut off, like an arm or a leg, like Maggie?"

Shane shook his head and sat a little more forward. "No, it'd be like your neck or shoulder."

"So, either way, death would be imminent."

"Yeah," he confirmed.

"Huh, well," Jo began, "people killed each other on a daily basis before the outbreak, so it would be like the good ol' days in that sense." She kept her eyes forward but could see Shane smirk in her peripheral vision. "Plus, it would be quick; no pain. However…"

"However?" Rick was intrigued.

"There would be no time to say goodbye to anyone. A walker bite would hurt, sure, and it would be a slower death, but there would be some time to say things that you've always wanted to say before it's too late. Goodbyes, I love you's. Things like that," she rattled. "It's not exactly the deathbed vigil I would've wanted to have happen when I was in my eighties, but it's better than no goodbyes or I love you's at all."

"So is that your answer?" Shane asked.

"Yeah," Jo nodded. "Death by walker bite, but the moment I took my last breath I would expect someone to put a bullet or a blade in my head so I didn't come back."

Shane smacked her shoulder gently with his hand. "If I'm still kicking, if that ever happens, you can count on me."

Jo chuckled. "Gee, thanks."

Rick took his eyes off the road long enough to look at her. "Me, too."

Looking back at him, Jo held his gaze long enough before he had to look back at the road. "Thank you."

Shane looked between the pair again and then smacked Rick's shoulder as he sat back in his seat again. "What about you, Rick? Death by the living or death by a walker?"

Rick narrowed his eyes. "Neither," he answered and then smiled. "I plan to live forever."

Shane laughed and kicked at Rick's seat. "Asshole, that's now how this game goes."

"None of this is really a game, though, is it?" Jo asked more seriously.

Shane smacked his lips and shook his head, looking out the window to his right. "Alright, Debbie Downer; fair enough."

After a moment, Jo turned and looked at Rick and then turned around to look back at Shane. "Okay, then, how would you prefer to die?"

Lifting a hand to his head, Shane made a gun gesture and the sound of a gunshot with his mouth. "Bullet to the brainpan. Kapow," he answered. "I don't want to see or know it's coming. This world is bullshit enough. A quick death is a courtesy."

Turning back around in her seat, Jo looked forward at the road at the few cars on the road ahead of them, blocking them a little, causing Rick to have to go around them on the shoulder.

"On our way back we should check those cars for supplies or if there's any gas we can syphon," Shane suggested.

Rick just nodded his response as they continued on without any other major detours or delays.

Another forty to fifty minutes later, they came upon the beginnings of a small town, with a small road sign announcing a simple greeting.

Welcome To King County, Georgia.

Notes

Comments

I absolutely love this story. I love how you re wrote the whole story but still kept the basics and changed who dies and when. I absolutely love that you kept Sophia alive because I really wished they had left her alive in the tv show. I love what you did with Negan. Absolutely perfect.

AliKook AliKook
4/23/19

@Grimesgirl63 @Loul461

Thank you :)

The ending is perfect

Loul461 Loul461
7/7/17

Thank you so much for this wonderful story. I'm very excited to hear that you are planning a sequel, and will be working on "The World We Live In".

Grimesgirl63 Grimesgirl63
7/7/17

I know we are getting to the end but I just do not want this story to be over. This chapter was great as usual and I can't wait for the next update. Glad that your ankle is better and you are settling in with your grandmother. Now, if you could just get that "e" key to work again!

Grimesgirl63 Grimesgirl63
6/30/17