Rick and Daryl fall in love
Rick jerked awake with a gasp, his vision blurred and shaky. He smacked his lips together but found them dry and cracked.
"Shane, get me some water, would you?"
He held up a hand, ready to take the cup, but no answer came. In fact, there was no sound at all coming from the room.
"Shane stop dicking around, would you? My mouth feels like cotton."
Still no response came. Rick blinked his eyes roughly for a few seconds, clearing away the blurriness and last remnants of sleep fog. As he gazed around the room, he became more and more confused. There was no lights on in his room, and what was even curiouser was all the monitors by his bed were black, a thin layer of dust gathering in the edges.
"Shane? You in the John?"
When still no reply came, Rick threw back the covers and stood gingerly on his feet. Besides some minor pain in his side he felt surprisingly fine. As he shuffled along the linoleum tile, his mind was racing a mile a minute. Questions like where is Shane? Where's the staff? And where's my damn pants? Raced through his mind on a loop.
But those questions quickly left his mind as he slowly made his way through the hospital corridor. Lights hung from the ceiling, blood smeared the walls, and bodies peppered the floor. Rick couldn't believe his eyes, had to hold a hand to his mouth to stop himself from heaving. Moans and groans could be heard to his right, and he thought finally. some people who can give me some damn answers. but as he rounded the corner, that hope quickly died. Because two doors were chained together, and almost as an after thought a board was shoved between the handles. don't open. dead inside. was written on the doors in what Rick hoped was paint. He decided he did not want to know what was behind those doors.
He all but fell down the stairs, needing to get the fuck out of the hospital and find some help. Rick shoved open the level one doors and raised a trembling hand to block the harsh outdoor light and stepped outside. He quickly wished he had stayed in the hospital. He couldn't believe his eyes at how many dead bodies were piled in rows. Some looked to be five people deep. He couldn't stay there long. All he could think about was getting home to his family, make sure they were safe, and then figure out what the hell was going on.
He stole a kids bicycle and raced home as fast as he could. Just as he turned onto his street, he heard a lone whistle pierce the air. Looking around quickly, he didn't see anyone. Unfortunately, he also didn't see the rock that was thrown in front of his front tire, which sent him flying over the handle bars onto the grass. The world spun as he looked up at the sky in a crumpled heap on the ground.
"Well well well. Look at what we have here. How the hell did you get outta the hospital alive, boyo?" A grizzled stranger stepped into Rick's eyesight, leaning over to look into his eyes.
"And why did not occur to you to put on some damn pants?"
