The Cataclysm {Rick Grimes x Male! Oc}

Chapter 13: The Beginning of the End

"We are not all in the same boat. We are in the same storm. Some of us are in yachts, some are in rowboats, and some are clinging to driftwood. We are in different boats in the same storm."
-- Damien Barr

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The race to the hospital was a short one. Even though Arthur wasn't the one behind the wheel, he and Anita still made it just minutes after the ambulance had arrived. Then came the torturous waiting game. The time before he could know if Rick had pulled through.

When Shane left the hospital to both pick up Logan from school and inform Lori and Carl, he couldn't stop thinking of what had happened. He couldn't stop picturing Rick covered in blood, Arthur's crazed and desperate devastation as he stabilized his one and only love. It was an image that would haunt him to his very grave. He couldn't even image the torment Arthur must be feeling.

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Time ceased to function. There was no discernable moment reality came to mean nothing. There was only actions that could act as markers that time was indeed passing. First, Anita received a call, though Arthur was in no state of mind to care or even completely notice. She then left only when Shane had returned to inform them of Logan being with Lori and Carl.

They sat beside each other for what felt like a drawn out eternity. "Ten years..." Arthur mumbled with a blank expression.

Shane looked at him with confused curiosity. "What?"

The veteran kept his unseeing eyes on the hard floors. "Ten years... In all that time, I've been through it all. The loss of friends, family. I've been kidnapped, held at gunpoint, survived bombings, drugged, stabbed, abandoned, betrayed... I've had to watch friends get shot down and killed just inches away..." His bloodshot eyes then met his friend's attentive gaze. "In all that time, after all that shit... I've never been this scared." he vulnerably admitted with an emotional crack in his words.

Shane nodded in nonjudgmental understanding. "Rick's tough. He's going to pull through. Just you watch." he tried to reassure, not quite aware of what should be said. Perhaps nothing would be adequate enough. 

Just then, they were approached by one of Rick's doctors. "How is he?" came Arthur's immediate and desperate inquiry.

"The surgery was a success. He pulled through just fine. Though, and I'm very sorry, but he'll be in a coma for some time." the man empathetically told them. In that moment, Arthur felt conflicting emotions thrash around within him. Relief mixed with sorrow. Joy and disappointment. Over all, however, was his yearning to see that Rick was indeed okay with his own eyes. He wanted to see Rick's smile, his laugh. He wanted to be in his embrace and know for certain. Know that Rick would undoubtedly remain by his side.

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Two weeks. Rick had been in a coma for two weeks until the world turned for the worst. Arthur was unaware of the severity involving the spreading virus through his consumption with Rick's well being. Within the first few days of corpses reanimating did the virus evolve and spread to the majority of the world's population. The day Shane and Arthur went to get their comatose soul bonded from the hospital was the day they knew nothing was ever going to be "normal" again. Life was evolving without them, humanity being eradicated along the way. 

Shane rushed into the room with heavy breathing. "We're out of time. We gotta go!" he quickly informed.

Arthur nodded, "Alright. Uhm... Go grab a nurse or something. We need a bed to roll him out of here." he said, then went to prepare Rick to be moved.

When Shane went back into the hall, no one would stop to even listen to his pleas for help. Thinking quickly, he then sprinted further down the hall to grab a bed himself. When he did, however, he saw soldiers shooting a line of both staff and patients to death. Once everyone was on the floor, they were then shot in the head. Within seconds of such a horrendous sight, a group of people came in a door behind them and began their mindless attack. Many more bullets flew, but Shane didn't delay any longer than those few seconds.

After running back to Rick's room, he parked the bed just outside and found a panicking Arthur. "I don't know how to safely unhook him!" he exclaimed as he quickly looked over the machinery once again. Unexpectedly, Shane then pulled him to the floor as a soldier came to briefly check the room. Once they were gone seconds later, the two men went back to their task. Outside was deafening fighting and the use of military grade weaponry and vehicles. "Rick! You gotta get up! Now! Baby, please!" Arthur yelled as true fear flooded his system like never before.

Just then, there was a ground shaking explosion that killed all electrical equipment. Time seemed to suddenly fracture, compress into stillness, then explode into bursts of speed. At first Arthur was overwhelmed with an unusual, disbelieving numbness. As reality gradually came back to him, uncomfortable tremors of unaware devastation began to torment him all over again. They could hear gunshots somewhere nearby, followed by terror and agony ridden screams. Unable to process everything they were being subjected to, denial quickly set in. "No. You're okay. You are not going to die. You are not going to die!" he yelled frantically.

But Shane knew otherwise. "We gotta get out of here."

Arthur, however, couldn't care less. "We have to get him out of here. Help me get him up!" With only a few seconds left, Shane then put his ear to Rick's chest. Though, seeing as their time had run out, he couldn't listen for too long. Seeing the defeat on his face, Arthur shook his head with tears already streaming down his face. Shane then had to practically drag him away. "NO!" he screamed desperately, though he knew there was nothing left to do. Rick was gone. And there was nothing he could do about it. "RIIIICK!!!"