The Reaper ⚔︎ Rick Grimes

11 - Friend

Meet me at the antique store!

Corpses began building a barrier between myself and the two red-headed girls in the SUV. I gripped the metal railing of the fire escape.

Blair stuck her head out of the driver's window.

Jo, be careful.

Get Dakota out of here. I'll be okay. I'll wait for you there.

The window rolled up and my sister crashed through the corpses blocking her way out of the alley. I watched as they made it out before climbing the stairs.

___

I gasped awake. I looked around frantically trying to figure out where I was.

A hand pressed on my chest.

"Woah, calm down, Jolene. You're okay," said Hershel.

The sound of his voice instantly made me relax. I was in the cell Hershel used to fix people up. There were blood stains on the mattress from various injuries.

"If you were asleep for another minute, I would have finished stitchin' you up," Hershel told me. "Give me your arm."

I looked at my right arm which had a deep cut on the backside of my wrist. I reached out and Hershel propped it up on his knee.

"This is going to hurt," he informed me. "But I'm sure it'll feel like a walk in the park after what you went through." Hershel got the needle and string prepped. "You ready?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said with a hoarse voice.

I winched as Hershel stuck the needle in my skin. The string was pulled through and I gripped the mattress. I took deep breathes to calm myself so he could finish fixing the inch long gash. Hershel cut and tied off the string.

"Anything else bothering you that I should take a look at?" Hershel asked.

I sat up in the bed. "As long as you got all the cuts I think I'm good for now. They didn't have the chance to do more damage."

"They still got you pretty good. Luckily your eye didn't close all the way. I'd recommend putting some cool water on it to help with the swelling."

I nodded. Hershel put some blood soaked rags into a bucket filled with others. I could tell he wanted to say something but was hesitating.

"Hershel, what is it?" I pried.

The old man rubbed his hands together. "I don't mean to offend you, but when I was examining you I found some older scars. A lot of them."

"The governor's men. That's where those came from."

Hershel simply nodded. He picked up his surgical tray and exited the cell.

"You can go in now," he said to a mystery person.

Glenn peered around the corner. "Mind if I sit?"

I patted next to me. "Sure."

Glenn came through the opening. He handed me a water bottle as he sat on the bed. I opened it and chugged about half.

"Thanks."

"How are you?" asked Glenn. "I know that's a stupid question. But I wanted to make sure you were holding up."

I shrugged. "It's not the worst thing I've been through. But I'm doing alright. I'll heal."

"I have scars too, you know. From Merle and the governor."

I smiled and laughed lightly. Glenn looked at me, confused.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I'm not laughing at you. Hershel sent you in, didn't he?"

"Yeah. But after he told me about what he saw I wanted to come," he said. "Maggie said you've talked with her. But you've also gone through something similar to me. And I know how hard it is. If you need someone who can relate, I'm your man."

I bit the insides of my cheeks. "Do you have nightmares?"

Glenn leaned his head up against the wall. "I do. But they've been more spaced out recently. Sometimes Maggie has to shake me awake or I'll start yelling out for her. But it gets better. Eventually."

"Do you dream about the people you've lost?" A tear fell from my eye as I stared forward.

"All the time. But I try to think of the good memories I had with them. What they taught me." Glenn smiled fondly. "Dale, a man we were with at the beginning, I think about him a lot. He gave me a gift before he died. I know how to fix things and I was completely useless before him. He always steered me on the right path. I try to remember that."

"When I first met Will, my husband," I started, "he came to watch his niece in the school musical— I had helped direct that year. He came on the first night and showed up every night after that. Front row. Every time I gave my little speech, there he was, smiling at me. On the last night he found me after the show and handed me flowers. He said that was the best high school production of Grease he had ever seen, he had to see it four times."

I chucked to myself.

"He was the most selfless man I had ever met. I try to think of those moments, but I always end up back in the same place. The place where he gets torn apart."

Glenn grabbed my hand. "You'll get better at it," he told me. "If you ever wanna talk about him, or anything, I'm here. He sounds like he was a great guy."

"He was." I wiped away my tears, my stitches rubbed against my face.

"Let me walk you to your cell. You probably want somewhere clean to rest," Glenn stated.

I nodded and Glenn helped me stand. I breathed out slowly as I took in all the pain. I had so much adrenaline running around yesterday I hadn't even noticed.

Glenn supported me all the way back to my cell. I hugged him when we got to it.

"Thanks. For being a friend," I said.

"Anytime, Jolene."