The Reaper ⚔︎ Rick Grimes

08 - No Curse

When the sunlight hit me, the amount of blood covering me became apparent. My pants and shirt were soaked. There were splatters in my hair and on my face. I tried wiping my hands off on a cleaner section of my jeans, but I ended up just smearing it around.

The rest of the group gathered in front of me. They were watching the dust clouds created by the governor and his men fleeing.

I started stepping forward but hesitated. I was a mess. I know there would be questions. Ones I wasn't ready to answer. I swallowed hard before joining everyone. Eyes widened when they noticed me. I looked away, trying to avoid the concerned expressions awaiting me.

"What happened to you?" Glenn asked, the first to break the silence.

I glanced up at him. "I..."

Rick stepped forward. "We were ambushed," he said for me, a gruffness in his voice. "It got bad. Jolene did what she had to."

That answer seemed to satisfy the group. It surprised me that Rick did that for me. He didn't necessarily lie, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either.

Rick nodded at me. Within that gesture he was telling me not to worry about what he did for me. That he had my back. To say I was confused was an understatement but I didn't have time to question him.

I followed everyone to the gate that led to field.

"We did it. We drove them out," stated Rick.

"We should go after them," Michonne suggested.

"We should finish it," Daryl agreed.

Maggie became frustrated. "It is finished. Didn't you see them hightail it out of here?"

"They could regroup," Michonne shot back.

"We can't take the chance. They're not going to stop," Glenn said angrily.

"They're right. We can't keep living like this," said Carol, out of breath from the previous events.

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury?" Maggie questioned. There was fear in her face. "We barely made it back last time."

"We got them on edge and took out some of their people," I said. "This might be our only chance."'

"Yeah," Rick breathed. There was a hint of hesitance in the short response but not enough to to turn him away from the fight. "Let's check on the others."

-

I had changed my clothes. I had peel them off because the blood was ready drying. I also cleaned off most of it from my skin, but not all of it. If the other man that attacked me was still alive, I wanted him to see his friend's blood on me. I wanted him to know what I did before I did it to him too.

I went outside to see Rick kneeling down in front of Carl. It was a serious conversation and both parties were not happy. The kid stood and rushed past me.