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

Lazaretto

Author's Note: This is a friendly warning that the beginning and end of this chapter is not suitable for children. That being said, enjoy. And, as always, please read & review!! - Holly
"In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it." — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


Rick stood under the spray of the shower head as the water matted his hair down around his face and rolled all the way down his body. Taking a step forward, he reached for Jo, who stood just as equally naked in front of him with her back against the cool tile of the wall. He placed his hands on her hips and leaned down to placed her mouth upon the patch of skin where her neck and shoulder met and the tiny sigh that came from her lips was such a lovely and comforting sound to him.

With a slight bend of his somewhat achy knees, Rick hoisted Jo up in his arms and pressed her back up against the wall as lowered her down onto him so that their bodies could connect in the most primal of ways. His back hunch as buried his face in her neck and while she let him pound his frustrations out into her. All Jo could do was wrap her arms tightly around his neck and her legs just as tightly around his waist to hold on and keep from falling; all the while trying to keep her eyes from completely rolling into the back of her head from how deep he was able to go and how amazing it felt when he rolled his hips that way she liked.

The only issue about having sex in the shower at that particular moment wasn’t that anyone would walk in, because they had locked the door to the Shower Room from the inside, but instead because they didn’t have a condom on them and they weren’t ready for any new “developments.” So, when Rick was close, he had to pull out and finish the old fashioned way by taking care of it himself, and once he finished, he knelt down in front of Jo and orally helped her finish. When she did, Rick felt like she might rip his hair from his scalp just from how tightly she had her fingers gripping the wet curls on his head.

Afterward, Rick stared up at her with a smile and got back up to his feet, encircling his arms around her waist. The two of them just stood there, moving underneath the shower head to share in the water falling down over them as they reveled in their post-coital embrace.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to get on your knees because you wanted us to be equal,” Jo teased, her lips brushing against his jaw as she placed a few kisses there.

“Some things are worth kneeling for,” he replied, turning his face so that his lips met with hers in a hungry kiss that practically set his skin on fire.

“I couldn’t agree more,” she murmured into his mouth.

A moment later, they finally finished cleaning up, but it almost seemed pointless because they were low on clean clothes and had grabbed what they could on their way to the Shower Room. In fact, Jo wasn’t even wearing her own clothes. She was borrowing some from Karen so that she didn’t have to risk going into C Block. Rick stuck with the same black jeans and went commando again while finding one of his old, ratty shirts hanging up on a laundry line that someone had cleaned for him. Plus, there was the fact that it was so hot out that sweat began to form on their bodies no sooner than they were dried off from their shower.

As they made their way back outside, Rick’s path was blocked by Tyreese.

“Rick, you got a minute?”

“Yeah, I do, what’s up?”

“Karen’s sick now. I just brought her flowers and heard her coughing. We already lost twelve people today and I just found out from Dr. S that David and Mrs. Richards died of this infection in A Block. A couple others aren’t doing so hot either, and I can’t lose Karen the same way,” Tyreese spoke, his eyes wide and stern. “I don’t want to lose her at all.”

Because Tyreese had just come from someone already coming down with the infection and Jo having not been as exposed to it, Rick subconsciously stood between the other man and his soon-to-be wife, in some sort of attempt to keep her risk of getting sick low.

“I’m sensing you need me to do something?” It was both a statement and a question.

Tyreese nodded. “Well, yeah. The medicine we got here isn’t enough, and we only have Dr. S doing all the medical work, what with not having Bob around anymore, God rest his soul. We need help. Something we can do here alone.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I’m suggesting we go to Woodbury. They had another doctor there, they might have the kind of medicine we need for whatever kind of infection this is.”

Rick looked down at the ground and scratched at the back of his head. “I’m not so sure we’ll be welcomed back there. Last time we were at Woodbury, we took a third of their population and were expressly warned not to show our faces around there again.”

That reply didn’t seem to sit well with Tyreese. “If Jo was the one that needed that medication or medical attention you wouldn’t hesitate to go,” the larger man practically growled as he got closer to Rick’s face.

Holding his hands up to keep a distance between them and so that this confrontation didn’t escalate, Rick looked Tyreese in the eye and held his gaze. “Okay,” he muttered, caving slightly. “But we don’t exactly have daylight on our side anymore, and I don’t want anyone going outside these fences at night.”

“We did it the last time we went to Woodbury.”

“That was when we were under threat of attack.”

“We’re under threat of attack now!” Tyreese shouted. Then, lowering his voice slightly when he caught Jo’s eye, he added, “Except the threat is inside these walls and the help we need is out there.” He pointed out toward the direction of the woods beyond the yard. “You’re the leader here, Rick. Step up to the damned plate and lead us.”

Without another word, Tyreese stormed off, back toward A Block, presumably where Karen was now, but not before purposely bumping shoulders with Rick. Because Tyreese was the much larger man, Rick stumbled back slightly from the gesture and Jo’s hands went up to Rick’s shoulder blades, feeling as if he was about to fall back against her.

Clenching his jaw and pursing his lips together, Rick exhaled through his nostrils, which were flaring slightly from the slight altercation between him and Tyreese. He turned around and looked back upon Jo, placing a hand on her good shoulder.

“I think Woodbury might be a good idea,” Jo commented, catching Rick off guard. “It’s not the same there anymore. It can’t be; not with The Governor gone from there. They might be able to help us, but I also agree with you that it shouldn’t be done tonight. It’s getting late. But it should still be done.” Off Rick’s reluctant nod, she added, “We’ll wait until morning and see where we’re at with this infection. We lost David and Mrs. Richards, I think, because the medication we do have didn’t have enough time to get into their systems. But if we start early, at the first signs of even a cough, we could buy ourselves some time. And I doubt everyone who gets this infection will die. I mean, look at the world now. Not everyone died from the outbreak for God know what reason. Some people were immune to dying right away, even if we all happen to carry the infection with us. It hasn’t killed us and this sickness might not either.”

Rick nodded again. “You’re right.”

“I know I am,” Jo smirked. Placing her hands on either side of his face, she kissed him briefly on the lips. “You should get something to eat. It’s been a long, tiring day and I haven’t seen you eat or drink once.”

Despite the seriousness of the mood, Rick was able to find some humor as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “Oh, I think I had plenty to eat a little while ago.”

As soon as he pulled back, Jo slapped him playfully on the arm, and as he moved to walk away from her, she reached the same hand out and pinched his butt. Rick threw a look over his shoulder at her and she just remained there, smiling back at him.



Bright and early the next morning, Rick and Jo woke up together in Dale’s RV. In the front, on the table which had been lowered down into bed form, Daryl was snoring away.

The trio had decided to make use of the RV for someplace to sleep while avoiding C Block, and not wanting to occupy D Block, which was basically ground zero for the infection. And now, as sunlight broke through the blinds in the back bedroom, Rick blinked rapidly and rolled onto his back as much as he could without falling off the bed; an art he had mastered from sharing a twin-sized mattress with Jo for more than half a year.

“Morning,” Rick whispered when he felt Jo stirring.

“Morning,” she repeated.

“I gotta get up and check on how things progressed through the night,” he informed. “You can stay here. Sleep a little longer.”

“Nah, I’m up.”

As Rick sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, he reached for his gun belt and holster, and then began to put it back on as he stood up. Jo rolled over onto her back, now taking up the entire mattress by herself and stared up at him, just watching him in silence. Feeling eyes upon him, however, Rick turned and looked down at her.

“You feeling okay today?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a nod.

“Not feeling congested or feverish or anything like that?”

“No. Are you?”

“No,” he shook his head. Crouching down between the twin bed they shared and the other twin bed they’d left empty, Rick held onto her left hand. Turning it her hand over and looking at the black twist tie engagement ring he’d given her, he then brought the back of her hand up to his lips and kissed it. “I think we’re gonna be okay.”

“Me, too.”

“For fuck’s sake, shut up,” Daryl groaned from the front of the RV. “Ya’ll are like a goddamned Lifetime movie and some us took a late watch last night.”

Rick caught Jo’s eye and smirked. “Sorry, brother,” Rick remarked as he released Jo’s hand and stood back up.

As Jo got up as well, she followed Rick out of the back bedroom and into the front of the RV where Daryl was lying sprawled out with his right leg dangling off the side. Rick leaned forward and purposely swatted at Daryl’s leg and the archer pulled his arm from off his face from where it was covering his eyes to stare up at the couple staring down at him with grins.

“We’ll leave you alone to catch up on your beauty sleep, princess,” Rick quipped as he continued on for the RV door.

In response, Daryl lifted the same arm up and flipped Rick off. Only Jo saw the gesture, however, and she chuckled at it as she exited the RV with Rick.

Out into the early morning sunlight the engaged couple stepped, each simultaneously lifting their hands to shield the offending light from their eyes. They continued onward through the courtyard, noting more people braving it and coming out of their respective cell blocks to start their day; some attempting laundry and some starting to prepare some food at the outdoor kitchen. What truly caught Rick and Jo’s attention was Tyreese digging a grave out in the yard.

Fearing the worst, considering the confrontation from the night before, Rick made a beeline for the larger man and Jo was hot on his trail.

“Tyreese,” Rick called out. When Tyreese stopped digging momentarily and turned to look at the approaching pair, Rick asked, “Karen…is she—?”

“This isn’t for Karen,” Tyreese clarified. “Not yet anyway.”

“Who is it for?” Jo wondered.

“Ben,” he answered, returning to his digging. “He died an hour ago.”

“Is Karen doing any better?”

“She hasn’t gotten worse.”

“Do you still want to go to Woodbury?” Rick asked; his hands on his hips.

Tyreese stopped again. “I do,” he nodded, looking back up at Rick and Jo.

Rick nodded. “Alright. Council meeting in fifteen minutes.”

Stepping away from Tyreese, Rick gestured for Jo to follow as they made their way back into the courtyard. Carol was at the outdoor kitchen with Lizzie and Mika and he told her the same thing; meeting in fifteen, and to spread the word to the other council members.

As they made their way toward the direction of the library, where meetings were held, Sasha came stumbling out of D Block, coughing hard and looking considerably pale. They didn’t approach her and she just held up her hands. “I need to see Dr. S,” she informed. “I’ll be okay.”

She looked anything but okay as she slowly made her way to A Block. Rick and Jo watched after her with deep frowns, and as they turned back toward the inner courtyard, they practically ran right into Glenn.

“Hey, council meeting in fifteen minutes, alright?” Rick said to the younger man.

Glenn nodded. “We need to discuss doing more than just digging graves,” he remarked. “Walkers, people…we can deal with that, but this…we’re not prepared for this.”

“I know,” Rick assured. “And we’re gonna talk about our options so we can keep the grave digging to a minimum.”

After parting ways with the younger man, the couple finally made their way inside the prison and after a few twists and turns around some hallway, made it to the library where they took a seat at one of their usual tables and waited for the others to trickle in.

Carol arrived first and sat down, and was soon followed in by Glenn, Tyreese, Daryl, and even Shane, Morgan and Andrea braved it and joined; albeit the latter three wore scarves around their faces, to play it safe.

“How’s Hope?” Jo asked.

“She’s fine,” Andrea replied. “Lori and Sophia have been taking good care of her.”

“We’re all doing fine in C Block,” Shane commented. “We just want to know what’s going on. We’re in the dark over there. Who have we lost?”

“I checked in with Dr. S earlier,” Carol informed. “It’s spread. Everyone who survived the attack in D Block has come down with the infection. But we need to figure out what to do to stop this.”

“There is no stopping this,” Tyreese muttered. “It’s gonna run its course. We can’t prevent it, but we can treat it. I know we can.”

When Rick caught Tyreese’s eye, he spoke up, “Tyreese suggested to me that we reach out to Woodbury. Dr. S is doing all this on his own with no other help, and Woodbury has that other doctor. Who knows, maybe they have more by now.”

“We didn’t exactly leave that town on the best of terms last time,” Shane commented.

“I know that, but we’re desperate here. We gotta try anything.”

“We need better medicine. What we have left, Dr. S is using up,” Carol added. “I’m helping him where I can. Hershel taught me a few minor things that I’ve been able to put to use, but better medicine and better medical care in general would be ideal.”

“What if Woodbury won’t help us, or they don’t have what we need?” Shane questioned. “Hell, what if they’re all dead?”

“We’ve been through every pharmacy around here and then some,” Daryl said, sitting backwards in his chair.

“There’s a veterinary college not too far from here, at West Peachtree Tech,” Morgan piped up. “I noticed it on a map a few months ago. It might be someplace not to many people would’ve thought to raid for medication.”

“Animal medication?” Shane scoffed.

“I had a sick cat once, and the veterinarian I took her to mentioned that the medication most animals are on to combat their illnesses are similar to what humans take,” Andrea said. She shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

“So, we have two options,” Glenn commented. “Woodbury or a veterinary college.”

“That college is about fifty miles away. Too big a risk before, but ain’t now,” Daryl remarked, abruptly standing up. “I’ll take a group out. Best not waste any more time.”

“I’ll go with you,” Morgan said to Daryl, and stood up as well.

“Me, too,” Andrea offered.

“You two haven’t been exposed yet. Daryl has,” Jo noted. “You get in a car with him—”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Morgan remarked. “If I’m gonna die, it’s gonna be doing good in this world. And if that good is sticking my neck out to get medication for the sick people here, to give them a fighting chance, then I’m gonna stick my neck out as far as it can go. And if I do die, at least I’ll get to see my boy and my wife again, and I’m okay with that.”

“I was already suicidal once, why not a second time,” Andrea quipped.

Tyreese leaned forward and addressed everyone. “Aren’t we gonna try for Woodbury? Who’s gonna go there? I’m prepared to go.”

“Take Zach,” Rick offered. “It’s closer and it’s not as risky as going to the college.” He looked around the table. “We’re spread pretty thin right now. Merle’s out and we need some able bodies here to maintain this place.”

“You ain’t gonna come?” Tyreese almost seemed offended.

“He’s got a daughter in C Block he shouldn’t be leaving behind during this outbreak, and he can’t take her with him either,” Carol cut in. “I couldn’t leave either without Sophia, and I’m not in a position to take her anywhere with me right now, regardless of the fact that I’ve been exposed.”

“Fine. I can bring Sasha with me,” Tyreese suggested.

Rick, Jo and Glenn looked between each other.

“Sasha’s sick, too, Tyreese,” Jo spoke. “She was coming out of D Block a little while ago and went to see Dr. S.”

“And you’re just telling me this now?” Tyreese jumped to his feet and Jo leaned back in her seat as if she thought he might lunge across the table at her.

As if sensing the same thing, Rick did the opposite of Jo and leaned forward, placing the palms of his hands on the table and flashing an unyielding gaze with the larger man. “Whether we told you three minutes ago or at the end of this damned meeting won’t change a thing. Sasha’s sick and that’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing you or I or any of us can do until we can get the proper medication to combat the symptoms of this infection,” he spoke authoritatively. “Now, you’re gonna wanna reel yourself back in. I know you’re going through a rough spell with the two people you care most for in this world being in the way they are right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to jump down everyone’s throats.”

Tyreese looked down at the ground and nodded solemnly before sitting back down. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried.”

“We all are,” Jo assured.

Rick sighed and looked around the group. “There are other precautions we need to take.”

“Like what?” Carol wondered.

Rick looked at the grey-haired woman and leaned back in his chair, dropping his hands onto his legs. “There’s no telling how long it’ll be before Daryl and his group return. I think it might make sense for us to separate the most vulnerable,” he recommended. “We can use the administration building. Separate office, separate room.”

“Who’s the most vulnerable?”

“The children.”

“What about the old?” Glenn inquired.

Daryl frowned. “Are there any of them left? Didn’t we just lose Mr. and Mrs. Richards?”

“There’s a few left, like Ms. McLeod, for starters,” Carol replied, catching Daryl’s eye as she spoke.

“I think that question answers itself,” Shane remarked. “They’re old; they’re the weak link in the chain. If they die, and I’m not trying to sound like an asshole about it but, would it really be that great of a loss for us, in the long run? I mean, it’s not like they actually contribute to anything going on in this prison.”

“If you’re lucky enough to live to be their age, I pray none of the children grow up with the same mindset, or else you’re screwed,” Carol retorted, causing a smirk to appear on Daryl’s lips.

Shane eyed the woman across the table from him. “I’m just saying, I think our priority should be the children, and then the able-bodied, and then the old.”

“Let’s just worry about the kids first, shall we?” Jo spoke, standing up from the table but gripping the edge with her hands. “The two groups can go their separate ways in search for meds, and possible medical help,” she eyed Tyreese, “while the rest of us keep the wheels moving here. Shane, you can go back to overseeing C Block. Carol, you can continue to help Dr. S as best as you can, but make sure you’re taking precautions not to get too run down and wear a scarf over your mouth and nose or something. Glenn, I know it’s not your favorite task in the world, but we’ll still need someone on grave duty. I’ll wrangle up the kids who’ve been exposed but aren’t showing symptoms of the infection and take them to the administration building, and Rick will do oversee everything else.” Jo looked around at all the faces staring back at her. “Are we good?”

Carol smirked. “Yes, ma’am,” she replied and saluted.

Jo rolled her eyes and placed a hand on Carol’s shoulder as the older woman stood up to take her leave from the meeting. When Jo looked over at Shane, he looked as if he wanted to either get argumentative or laugh. She couldn’t really tell.

“Your woman knows how to crack a whip, Rick,” Shane jested, glancing amusedly at his oldest friend.

Rick reached a hand up and lovingly placed it on the small of Jo’s back. “Yeah, she does.”



A couple hours later, after Jo had taken the children to the administration building, she had joined Rick out in the yard to check the cistern.

“It’s getting low,” Jo remarked, struggling with pumping the water in.

“Let me have another go at it,” Rick suggested.

“The whole line’s mudded up. The end is dragging the bottom again. We’ll have to go out there and clear it. Set the bird, go out through the tombs, and swing around through the forest route.” Jo gestured toward outside the fences.

“We got enough for now. That’s tomorrow’s problem.”

“Probably doesn’t help that we wasted some water having sex instead of just outright showering,” Jo quipped. “We should probably stop doing that.”

Rick smirked. “Yeah, that’d be the responsible thing to do.” He kicked the pump gently with his foot. “This can wait, though.”

Jo shrugged. “I don’t think it can. I mean, five more people have come down with the infection since Sasha went in. There’s not a lot of us left. What if you get sick? What if I do?”

“What if we get in trouble out there and don’t come back?” Rick parried. “Let’s get this up to the people who need it. Let’s get what we have to get done first.” Picking up a metal bucket, he dumped the little bit of muddy water that was occupying the bottom, while Jo picked up a full, capped container of water that they would be able to use. “Jo.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Jo smiled back. “Love you more.”

“Highly unlikely,” Rick bantered; emitting a low chuckle.

“Wanna fight me over it?”

“Maybe later.” He stuck out a hand and slapped her ass. “Clothing optional.”

Jo let out a laugh as she shook her head and began to lead the way back toward the courtyard.

Considering everything going on, they were glad they could still joke around with each other; that they had something to smile and laugh about. That they still, God willing, had their health and the health of their daughter to keep them going. Also, that they had love; because love was a mighty fierce thing to live for and they sure as hell had plenty of it.



A short while later, as Jo was crossing through the courtyard with a scarf wrapped around her face and carrying a bucket dirty laundry, she spotted Carol coming from A Block, dressed similarly with a scarf over her face. When Carol pulled the scarf down and nearly collapsed onto the stairs outside A Block, Jo set the basket down and walked over to the older female.

“Carol, are you okay?”

“Physically, yeah.” She looked up at Jo and frowned and there were fresh tear stains on her cheeks. “Lizzie’s in there.”

Jo’s shoulders slouched. “Oh, God. Does Mika know?”

Carol nodded. “Mika sent her here.” Letting out a sigh, she added, “I just…after their dad died and Sasha put him down, I promised those girls I would take care of them, like they were my own, and now Lizzie’s sick and I feel like I’m failing Ryan already and it’s only been a day.”

Jo crouched down at Carol’s feet, placing her hands on the other woman’s boots. “We can’t stop this from happening. We just gotta do whatever we can and hope for the best,” she commented. “We gotta hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”

Outstretching her right arm, Carol placed a hand down on Jo’s shoulder and smiled appreciatively. And then, slightly amused, she let out a small chuckle.

“What?” Jo inquired, raising an eyebrow. She stood back up and leaned against the building.

“I was just thinking back to before the prison, when we were at Hershel’s farm and how Rick slipped back into his leadership role again after he lost his son. This was when he and Lori were still, more or less, husband and wife, and because of his position in the group, she was basically our First Lady to his president, if that makes sense.” Off Jo’s nod, Carol continued. “Now, I love Lori. I adore her and she is possibly one of my best friends here, but she could not light a fire under anyone’s ass if she tried. When she would attempt to rally us into some task, everyone would just sort of nod their heads but then do whatever it is they were going to do anyway. But, now, you’re a different story. It was like what Shane said earlier; that you know how to crack the whip. You speak and people will listen to you, and they’ll do whatever you ask them to without argument.”

“Well, after spending ten years teaching eight year olds, a few adults are no trouble,” Jo joked.

“Seriously, though.” Carol wiped something from her eye; possibly a dried tear, possibly dirt. “If Rick is our president, you are the First Lady. You’re the queen to his king.”

Jo shrugged. “Behind every great man is an even greater woman?”

Carol nodded. “Yes, definitely,” she chuckled. Then, after a few moments, she sighed. “Oh, it’s sure nice to laugh. We rarely get those kinds of moments these days.”

“Yeah. It helps, that’s for sure.”

Gesturing over to the basket Jo had set down, Carol knitted her brow together. “That all your laundry?”

“No, I went into D Block and gathered up all the dirty clothes I could find,” Jo replied. “I figured that whoever manages to survive this infection shouldn’t be able to return to their cells and have clean clothes waiting for them. Or they can have something clean to change into while they’re inside their quarantine.”

“That’s a nice gesture.”

“Yeah.”

“How’s your shoulder?”

“Better,” Jo nodded. “Though, I might need to have Dr. S giving it a once over to make sure it’s healing alright. I can manage putting on a new bandage myself later.”

Suddenly, Carol shook her head very rigorously. “You can’t see him.”

Jo frowned; confused. “Why not?”

Looking around, Carol leaned forward and replied in a low voice. “He’s sick, too.”

“Are you shitting me?” Jo questioned. “What are we going to do if he dies from this? We don’t have any other doctor.”

“He’s showing me as much as he can, while he can,” Carol explained. “I’m wearing this scarf and wearing gloves. I’m doing what I can to keep myself safe, and I know it’s a risk, but I can’t not help these people; especially now that Lizzie is one of them.”

“But what if you get sick?”

Carol shrugged. “Hopefully either Daryl’s group, or Tyreese and Zach get back soon enough with the medication we need.” After a moment, she added, “Can you not tell Rick about this right now? I don’t want to worry him with anything else just yet.”

Begrudgingly, Jo nodded. “Alright, I will, but you have to promise me you’ll let me know if things take a turn for the worse in there.”

“I promise.” As Carol moved to stand back up and return the scarf over her mouth and nose, she cocked her head to the side and pointed at Jo’s left hand. “What’s with the twist tie?”

Jo looked down at her hand and then smiled as she lifted it up. “It’s my engagement ring.”

Carol seemed dumbfounded at first, but then her blue eyes widened. Even though her mouth was hidden by the scarf again, her smile was evident in her eyes. “You and Rick?”

“Yeah,” Jo nodded, almost embarrassedly.

“When did this happen?”

“Yesterday evening.”

“Oh my God,” Carol exclaimed. “I’d hug you but you don’t need any more of a risk of getting sick right now. So, uh…” she threw her gloved hands up and wiggled her fingers. “Congratulations!”

Jo snickered and shook her head. “Thank you.”

“Well, I should, uh…get back inside,” Carol announced. “Tell Rick I said congratulations.”

“I will.”

Jo watched as Carol took her leave and ducked back inside A Block before turning back to grab up the basket of dirty laundry and return to the task at hand.



Some time after, Rick was walking through the administration building, checking on the kids when he passed Maggie looking particularly distraught.

“Maggie?” he called out as he was about to round a corner.

“Oh, uh, hey.”

“You alright?” Rick tilted his head, trying to get a better look at her in the dim lighting of the hall.

Biting her lip, she scratched at her arm, just above where the prosthetic latched on. “Glenn has it,” she replied. “He went to A Block a while ago, and I’m scared he won’t come out.”

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. There’s no need to be upset,” he assured. “Daryl’s group or Tyreese will come back with the meds and we’ll take care of everyone.”

“I can’t lose Glenn, Rick. He’s all I got left.”

“You have all of us.”

Maggie frowned. “You know what I mean. My entire family is gone now; my blood kin. Glenn is my husband, and if I lose him I think I’ll lose myself.” There was awkward silence between them for a moment, before she continued. “We never said any vows, you know; Glenn and I, that is. He put this ring on my finger and I said yes, and that was it. We became husband and wife right then and there, but we never came right out and said vows. I did always dream about my wedding someday and what it would be like, but never about whom I would marry. But then Glenn came into my life and the wedding was no longer important. He’s the only important thing to me. Being with him the rest of our lives is what matters. Everything else is just bullshit. That’s why I can lose him.”

“I wouldn’t say having a wedding nowadays isn’t important,” Rick contended. “I think we gotta hold on to as much of the world before as possible.”

“I dunno.”

“Maybe, when Glenn gets better, because he will,” Rick stressed, “you and him can join Jo and me for a double wedding. If anything it’ll give everyone else something to look forward to.”

Maggie knitted her brow together and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her right, and still only, hand. “Wait—double wedding?”

Rick nodded; a faint smirk toying at his lips. “Yeah.”

Her frown disappearing, Maggie’s spirits seemed to lift slightly. “You and Jo?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess congratulations are in order,” she remarked. “You both deserve to be happy, and I’m happy for you both.”

“Thank you,” Rick replied, gesturing to her. “You and Glenn will be happy to. We just gotta get over this hurdle.”

Maggie moved to fold her arms across her chest, momentarily forgetting she only had the one. When she remembered, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other and placed her hand on her hip instead. “Do you really think we’ll get through this?”

“I won’t lie to you and say I’m certain we will, but I sure as hell hope we do.”

Maggie nodded and looked to the ground for a moment.

“You gonna be okay?” Rick continued.

Looking up, she nodded again. “Yeah.”

“Good.”

As he began to step away, Maggie called out to him. “Rick?”

Stopping in his tracks, Rick turned and looked back at her. “Yeah?”

“You seem pretty okay, like, you don’t look like you’re gonna get sick at all,” she remarked. “Could I hug you? I need to hug someone right now.”

Frowning, Rick shook his head. “I’ll have to take a raincheck on that,” he answered. “I don’t want to take the risk of possibly sending you to A Block, but you can do something for me.”

Maggie nodded. “Sure.”

“Go back to C Block, find Hope and hug her instead, for me and Jo, and tell her how much we miss her and love her, and that we’ll come back to her as soon as we can,” Rick said. “Do that for us, if you will.”

“I’d be delighted to.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you.”



That evening, as the sun was almost completely set below the horizon, Jo was standing at a clothes line, touching her fingers to a shirt hanging there, testing to see how dry it was, as Rick came sauntering up behind her. As if she had eyes in the back of her head, she wasn’t surprised at all when a pair of hands found their way to rest upon her hip and pull her back against a taut torso. Instead, Jo simply smiled and dropped her hands down to cover Rick’s, pulling them forward to wrap around her waist.

“Laundry duty,” he murmured into her ear. “How exciting.”

“I’d rather laundry was the most exciting thing in our lives right now.”

“No, I know.” Resting his chin down on her shoulder, he looked straight ahead at the yard and how eerily quiet it was. Even the walkers on the fence were barely making any noise; but that was probably because there was no one in the yard to hold their attention. “I told Maggie about us.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Glenn’s in A Block now and she’s having a rough time of it. She’s worried Glenn won’t make it, so I basically told her to hold onto hope, figuratively and literally. I asked her to give Hope a hug for us. But then I suggested that she and Glenn join us in a double wedding.”

“If he survives this.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t say that to her. I told her when he survives this. She was already down and out. I wasn’t about to add salt to that wound.”

Jo nodded, turning around in his arms and lifting hers to rest on top of his; holding onto his biceps. “I told Carol about us, too,” she admitted. “She wants you to know she says congratulations.”

“Maggie said the same.”

“Carol also said that if you’re the President of this prison, then I’m the First Lady; the queen to your king.” Jo smiled as she looked up to him. “King Richard and Queen Joanna have a nice ring to it, right?”

Rick smirked and responded by kissing her warmly upon the lips. Instead of saying anything at all, he wrapped his arms tighter around her body, enveloping her as much as he could without cutting off her air supply.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Jo mumbled when they finally came back up for air a moment later. Staring up at his eyes, which were darkening with a volatile mix of love and lust for her, Jo bit her bottom lip and looked over toward A Block. “Before we get too distracted, I need you to know something.”

“Hmm?” Rick brushed his nose against the side of her cheek, placing a kiss along her jaw and then down to her neck.

Trying to focus on her train of thought, Jo said, “I promised Carol I wouldn’t say anything just yet, but I can’t keep you in the dark. There can’t be secrets between us.”

Lifting his face, Rick stared back at her with a considerably more focus of his own than moments before. “What’s wrong?”

“Caleb — Dr. S — he’s sick, too, and I’m not sure things are lookin’ up for him,” Jo informed. “Carol says he’s been showing her how to help take care of the others, as much as she can, and she’s trying her best to keep safe for her own health’s sake. I told her to tell me right away if anything drastic changes in there and she said she would.” Letting a sigh escape, Jo frowned. “I’m just worried; for Carol, for Glenn, for Lizzie, and Sasha and Karen, and everyone else in there. And I miss Hope and I want to hold her in my arms, and I’m getting tired of life seeming like it’s getting better for us, only for the proverbial rug to be pulled out from underneath us.”

Rick lifted his hands up and cupped either side of her face; brushing his thumbs along her cheeks. “We’ll get there someday. But, in the meantime, we just gotta make the best of the little moments we get here and there.” When she didn’t seem too convinced, he leaned his face down and held her gaze. “You and I — we’ll take a run tomorrow; a quick one. There’s a cul de sac not far from here I’ve been meaning to check out. We’ll go there and find some meds and maybe some water and food. I think it’ll do you and I a little good, and whatever we might find could tide all of us over if the others still aren’t back yet by then.”

Jo nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Smiling, Rick dropped his hands from her face but then snaked one arm around her neck and pulled her in for a hug and she responded by bringing her hands up to grip onto his back, inhaling the scent of his skin as she pressed her face into his neck.

“Do you need help with the laundry?” he asked when they finally took a step back from each other.

“No, it’s still damp.” She gestured to the clothes on the line. “It’s so humid out that it’s taking longer to dry. I’m hoping by morning they will be.”

Nodding, Rick placed his hands on his hips and looked around the courtyard.

It was empty, and it was silent.

No one needed him or her at the moment.

C Block was secure, the children quarantined in the administration were safe and knew where to find help if they needed it, and the sick in A Block were being looked after by Dr. S and Carol, as best as those two could manage. There was nothing else that could be done in the meantime until the others came back with meds.

It was just a waiting game now.

“C’mon.” Rick gestured toward the RV with his head. “Let’s call it a night so we can get an early start in the morning.”

Jo nodded. “Okay.”

Taking his hand, she let him lead her away toward the RV. When he opened the door, he let her step up inside first. He shut the door behind him, but didn’t lock it in case anyone needed to reach them, and quickly. Jo walked to the back bedroom with Rick following after and once they were inside, she reached forward and drew the blinds shut and he pulled the accordion door closed.

Before Rick had turned around to face her, he felt her hands on his gun belt; undoing it for him and dropping it to the spare twin bed to his right. Looking down at her hands, he stood there as Jo continued with removing his regular belt, slipping out of its belt loops and tossing it, too, to the spare bed. Just when he thought she was done assisting him, she undid the button on his jeans and then unzipped the zipper. Finally, he swatted her hands away so he could push his pants off his hips, letting them drop to the floor and pool around his ankles.

Sitting down on the same twin mattress they’d shared the night before, Jo began to pull her shirt off over her head and then unhooked the front clasp of her bra, letting her breasts fall free as Rick quickly pulled his own shirt off and tossed it aside. Shifting around, Jo was soon free of her own jeans and underwear, kicking them both off her ankles and watched as Rick reached back down for his pants and pulled a lonely condom package out of his back pocket.

“That’s not our usual brand,” she commented, staring at the black label and taking it from him. “Where’d you get this from?”

“Found it in a desk in the administration building,” he chuckled. “Someone was having a good time at some point in this prison before the world fell.”

Jo turned it over, checking for an expiration date. When saw it was safe to use, she raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s strawberry flavored, you know.”

“Is it really?” Rick grabbed it back and looked it over himself. “Makes things a little more interesting, I guess.”

Ripping open the small package, Rick pulled a very red condom out and Jo’s laughter quickly filled the back bedroom.

“Oh my God, I almost wish I had a camera.”

“And I’m glad you don’t,” Rick retorted.

Standing up, Jo took the condom from him and pushed him down onto the bed. “Let me,” she insisted. Kneeling down in front of him, she expertly rolled the red latex down upon his stiffening manhood and then spread his legs a little further apart so she could get closer to him. “Now just relax,” Jo whispered before sticking her tongue out and swirling it around the head of his cock. Pausing, she lifted her head and licked her lips and made a face.

“Does it really taste like strawberries?”

“Extremely artificial strawberries, but yeah.”

Winking back at him, Jo pulled her hair back over her shoulders and leaned her head back down to take the head completely into her mouth, working it with her tongue and a considerable amount of suction before sinking slower down.

Leaning back, Rick propped himself up with his forearms and parted his lips to expel a sharp breath as the vibration her mouth made around his cock as she hummed while taking more of him, inch by inch, made him feel as if he’d start seeing stars.

“Fuck,” he muttered when her head began to bob slowly, matched with the pressure of her tongue. Reaching his left hand up, he gripped her right shoulder and pushed her up off him. Rick shook her head as she looked up at him with confusion. “You do that really well, but that’s not how I want you right now.”

Smirking, Jo stood up when he patted his bare legs. She watched him move up the bed and lay back a bit and without waiting for a verbal invitation, Jo crawled up onto the bed over him, straddling his waist and sank down around his cock. She took him all, and all at once, without hesitation and his hands were instantly gripping her upper thighs. When she raised her hips and, sliding up his length and then sliding back down, they both groaned at the friction their bodies were creating.

Rick began the steady thrusting upward as she rolled her hips and ground downward onto him. They maintained a slow, languid pace at first but it didn’t take long for that pace to get very feverish. Jo hunched forward, draping her body over his, pressing her breasts firmly against his chest as she gripped the blanket on either side of his head. All the while, Rick began to pound mercilessly into her dripping core that felt like it was made for him.

With one hand, he gripped the back of her head and claimed her lips with his own while he rubbed her clit with the thumb of his other hand like it was his job. That gesture alone caused her to cry out into the cavern of his mouth.

As the pressure began to build at the base of his cock, Rick drilled up into her like a jackhammer and increased the speed and roughness in which he rubber her clit with.

“Unh…unh…ungh…” she groaned over and over.

Jo pushed herself back up, reaching a hand around to cradle his balls, which was all it took for him to finally peak. His release came hard and fast, spilling inside the strawberry-flavored condom as he rode out the rest of his orgasm until felt her inner muscles flutter around him and her entire body quaked.

Looking up at her with darkened blue eyes, Rick pushed himself up into a sitting position. He hunched forward and sucked at each of her flushed and hardened buds, as they continued to rock together a little bit more until they came down from their respective highs.

“Oh, God, I love you,” she whimpered, completely sated, as she gripped her fingers through his curls.

“I love you, too,” he replied as he brought his mouth back up to her lips. “But I ain’t done with you just yet.”

The night was still young, neither of them was needed by anyone else at the moment and he didn’t have just the one condom in his back pocket.

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