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— PART TWO  of  THREE —
THERE IS NO HOPE ANYWHERE

TWO MONTHS LATER

– RICK AND EMERSON HAD GROWN CLOSER since the youngest Scott sibling passed. They became Leader and First Lady in a matter of weeks.

Emerson confided in Rick and he did the same. She might have not been herself, but with Rick, and her friends by her side, she was overwhelmed with comfort.

Lori hated this. In fact, she became undeniably jealous of the relationship and friendship that Emerson and Rick had. Her and Rick never had that. Instead, they got pregnant and married young, which caused a damper on the rest of their relationship.

She even blamed Rick for her affair with Shane.

Over the last month, Lori had become almost obsessed with Emerson Scott. Rick made it clear his heart was no longer Lori's, but Emerson's.

So instead, Lori watched them together. She and Shane plotted against Emerson and Rick the only way they knew how.

Like Rick quickly realized, Emerson would now see it too. Death isn't the only demon, but Lori Grimes was the other.

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That morning, Emerson and Rick had both unknowingly slept in. Emerson woke up before him, like usual. But this time, as she went to get up, Rick's arm tightened around her waist.

Emerson smiled at this. It felt good to finally be with Rick. She frequently thought back to her memory of when he told her he loved her. The two of them were sitting in the field together. They were discussing what to do with Randall, the boy Hershel had fixed up two months prior.

"Maybe we should just let him stay." Emerson reluctantly suggested. "I'm trying to think what Silas would have wanted and I think he would want us to give Randall a chance. Whether that was here with us, or out on the road. He doesn't deserve to die. Either way, it's inhumane to throw him out there after the kid almost lost his leg."

Rick nodded in agreement. "How are you holdin' up?"

Emerson shrugged. "Seen better days, but it's getting easier to get up in the mornings."

Silas had died a month before at the hands of strangers. For the first week or two, Emerson didn't leave her bedroom in the Greene house. Hershel forced her to get up and walk around to build her strength, but when she refused to eat, walking around the farm didn't do her
much good.

Maggie and Glenn would try to talk to her, but she always pushed them away. Sometimes she even locked the door so no one would come in.

She let Carl in, however. Carl would read her comic books that Jimmy had given him.

Now, marking the one month of her brother's death, Emerson had slowly began to let her walls down. She moved into Rick and Carl's tent, after Carl had begged her. She was honestly grateful. She didn't want to be alone.

So now, as the two of them sat in the comfortable silence, Rick looked to Emerson and smiled. She returned the gesture as he grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with hers.

"You know I'm here for you." Rick asked her quietly.

Emerson just nodded and turned her head away from him. "I know. Thanks, Sheriff."

Rick sighed and pushed himself closer to her. "I love you, you know that right?"

Emerson turned her eyes back to his blue eyes and met his gaze. "Yeah, Rick. I know. I love you too."

And that's all that was said. She laid her head on his shoulder and his arm instinctively wrapped around hers.

"I'm not a rebound, right?" She joked.

"Shut up." Rick laughed.

Now, a month later, Randall was still in the shed and none of them knew what to do with him. The answer was unclear. He was still in recovery, and if Emerson was honest, she was grateful. She felt bad for the boy.

She tried a few interrogation tactics, but none of them seemed to work. He was a teenager, 16 at the earliest.

For now, they would discuss what to do with the young teen. Everyone seemed so keen on killing him. Emerson wanted to keep him alive. To drive him out farther than last time.

Now, as they sat around the living room in the Greene household, they had a decision to make.

It was a kill or be killed world they now lived in and the right decision was a vile one.

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NOTE:
hey, i'm back from the dead.

hopefully with regular updates ❤️

thank you all for your love & patience!

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