The Lost Dixon // The Walking Dead

Ch. 40

The Lost Dixon

Ch. 40- Return of the Ghosts

Reece's Point of View:

I leaned against the wall of the small room we used to place Rick in. He was unconscious, bandaged up and sleeping. Standing here, watching him sleep, making sure he was okay, while waiting for him to wake up, made me realize something. I haven't seen Daryl in a few days. It almost panicked me for a moment until Rosita reminded me that Aaron got Daryl to be his new recruiter partner. They've been out the past few days looking for people to recruit. I guess it's good. It's good for Daryl. But I know all I'm gonna do is worry nonstop about him. Like right now. For all I know, Aaron could come back here and tell me he died out there. And I know what's gonna happen next. I'll fall into the pit of darkness and lose my mind completely.

I hear Rick let out soft groans before his body began moving. He opens his eyes, pulling himself up. He looks down at his hand, seeing it bandaged up. He lifts his good hand, touching the parts of his face that's bandage up. He then lets out another groan and lays back down. Seconds later, a smile forms over his face and he begins laughing. I tilt my head to the side, frowning at him.

"What's so funny?" I ask him. He lifts his head up and turns to my voice, finding me leaning against the wall.

"You were here the whole time?" He asks.

"All night." I nod. "What's so funny?" I repeat. He pulls himself up, letting out a small wince. 

"It's-It's like the train car." He says. "After the whole thing, I'm still there." He leans against the wall, remaining on the mattress.

"Deanna wanted you in here, calm things down." I explain his environment. "Rosita patched you up. Carl came by for a while. I sent him home." I inform him. I pull myself away from the wall. "Rick." I walk over to him, kneeling down to his level. "What are you doing?" He lets out a sigh, looking away from me. I look down. "We put Pete in another house. You could've told me what was happening. I was gonna talk to Jessie." I say.

"It moved fast." He explains. "And then Noah." I nodded. "I couldn't tell you about the gun." I knew Deanna was okay with us carrying our guns, but every night, we'd have to turn them back to Olive. Rick had an extra one, one that I wasn't aware of. 

"No, you couldn't." I say.

"Oh, you wanted this place." Rick shrugs.

"We had to stop being out there." I argue. 

"Well, we're here." He says. I scoff at his words.

"Well, you just said you weren't." I say. The door opens and enters Glenn and Carol and Abraham. "Where'd you get the gun?" I ask him.

"You took it, right? From the armory?" Carol asks. "That was stupid. Why did you do it?" Rick waves his hand up.

"Just in case." He says.

"Deanna's planning to have a meeting tonight." Glenn informs. "For anyone who wants to..."

"Kick Rick out?" Abraham asks.

"To try." Carol says. I let out a sigh. I was afraid of that.

"We don't know that." Glenn says. "Maggie's with Deanna right now. She's gonna find out what it is."

"At the meeting, you say you were worried about someone being abused and no one was doing anything about it. You say you took a gun just to be sure that Jessie was safe from a man who wound up attacking you. You say you'll do whatever you want them to. Just tell them a story that they want to hear. It's what I've been doing since I got here."