The Cataclysm {Rick Grimes x Male! Oc}

Chapter 20: Reunited

After a long and impatient ride back to camp, everyone got out with immense relief to accompany them. Ben walked pass everyone without a word in order to get settled in while he could. Though, his true reason being he didn't want to be around Rick. Andrea wasted no time in running straight into her sister's eager arms, both of them crying joyously. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure." Dale said as smiles and hugs spread freely. 

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked, both curious and grateful.

"You'd never guess." they suddenly heard Arthur say; the massive grin he had being incredibly unrestrainable.

The moment they laid eyes on the once dead man, disbelief assaulted those he knew. "Dad! Dad!" Carl cried as he sprinted towards his father. Logan ran close behind with Lori following. Even Shane had tears in his eyes as he watched his best friend get tackled by his two boys and ex-wife. It was in that moment that it finally sunk in for him. He'd succeeded. His family was indeed alive, and he can again protect them the best he could.

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Once the sun had gone and the dangerous world was bathed in darkness, everyone was gathered around a warm fire. Though Ed, his wife, and their daughter had their own. "Disoriented." Rick began after having been asked to tell his story. "I guess that comes closest. Disoriented." Arthur laid his head on his love's shoulder as both Carl and Logan sat on his other side. "Fear, confusion-- All those things, but... disoriented comes closest." 

Dale nodded, "Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short." he mused.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream. Something I might not wake up from ever." he went on with a distant gleam in his eyes as he looked blindly into the fire.

Carl looked at his father. "Arthur said you died." he said quietly, wanting to know more.

"He had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt that." Rick reassured without a second thought or an ounce of blame. Something Arthur appreciated greatly.

"When things started getting really bad, we were told that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta. But it never happened." Lori said, still bothered by the traumatizing memories that surfaced. She remembered what Arthur was like after being forced to abandon his soulmate without choice. It was something she prayed to never witness again. Though such a prayer was now impossible to retain, no matter how lengthy their time together was.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell. And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." he replied knowingly.

Shane nodded in agreement with a dark gleam of disturbed remembrance over the horrifying ordeal. "Yeah, looks don't deceive." he muttered. "I barely got them out. Arthur near damn killed me when we had to make a break for it. Not that I blame him."

Arthur gave him grateful smile as Rick looked at his friend seriously. "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." he said sincerely.

 Before anyone could say another word, they were distracted by the sound of wood clattering as Ed threw in another log for his fire. The marine glared at him hatefully. "Hey, Ed. You want to rethink that log?"

"It's cold, man." came his only selfish reply. He couldn't give two shits if it put the others in danger. His needs and wants were outranking anyone and everyone.

Shane, too, watched the imbecilic man closely. "The cold don't change the rules, does it?" he then said pointedly. "We keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"