Dixon's Daughter

Chapter 2: Empty House

Third Person's POV

The light of the sun blinded Sadie and Rick as they walked out the door. Both put their hands up to block the light as they tried to adjust their eyes.

Sadie stumbled against the wall of the building as they started towards the steps down to the ground. Rick went first with Sadie behind him and when they got to the bottom of the steps, they couldn't believe what they saw.

There were bodies, hundreds of them, in body-bags on the ground. Some were piled on top of each other, some were not, but they all reeked and had flies swarming around them.

Rick and Sadie stumbled down a path through the bodies, both horrified and disgusted, wondering what the hell had happened while they had been unconscious.

Sadie couldn't form words as she looked between the bodies, disfigured and bloody from what she could see. Rick put a hand on one of her shoulders and she let him guide her past the bodies and through a doorway in the wall that surrounded them.

They stumbled up a hill and at the top they saw a helicopter and various bags and objects scattered around. They headed past that onto a street and started walking down it.

"I have to get to my house. I have a wife, Lori, and a son, Carl. I need to find them." Rick told Sadie, who nodded. "I understand. I need to find my family too. It's only my old man, uncle, and I." Sadie told him.

Rick nodded and continued frantically walking down the street, Sadie keeping up with him. "You can stay with me, if you want, but I need to get home to my family. I need to find them. Then I can help you look for your family." Rick spoke and Sadie looked up at him.

"I'd sure appreciate that." She responded and he nodded. That's when they noticed a bicycle knocked down on grass next to the road. The two quickly stumbled over to it and Rick started to pick it up, but froze when he saw what was beside it.

A body laid beside it. It was only half a body, the top half, ripped in the middle. It's skin was a grey-greenish colour and it was facing away from the two. Then it turned over to face them.

Sadie and Rick tumbled back in shock and Sadie fell onto the ground. It started reaching towards them, snarling and growling. Rick stood up straight and got onto the bike. Sadie followed his lead and jumped onto the handlebars.

Then Rick rode away, pedalling towards his house as fast as he could. When they got there, Sadie jumped down and Rick dropped the bike to the ground. Then he stumbled inside the house and Sadie followed.

"Lori?" He questioned as he entered the house. "Lori? Carl?" He called out again as he started going through the house. As he went through the rooms and didn't find them, he started shouting louder. "Lori! Carl! Carl!"

Rick fell to the floor, sobbing and crying out their names. As he sobbed, he crawled into a fetal position.

Sadie walked over to Rick and sat down beside him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Mr. Grimes, just because your family isn't here doesn't mean we won't find them. I believe we will. We're gonna find your wife, your son, my daddy, and my uncle. We will."

Rick slowly stopped sobbing and eventually looked up at her. "We will." Sadie repeated, smiling down at him comfortingly. He slowly nodded at her, agreeing. Although Rick still had welled up tears and red-brimmed eyes, Sadie stood up and guided him up with her.

They walked out the front door, Rick stumbling and Sadie trying to stabilize him. They got to the steps at the end of his yard, near the street, and Rick sat down. Sadie sat down next to him. Neither one spoke and a few moments later, a man started walking down the street towards them.

They watched as the man came closer. Then they heard a noise behind them and they turned around. Rick was met with a shovel to the face. "Carl." He whispered as he fell.

Quickly, Sadie grabbed the shovel before the boy holding it could have a chance to hit her. They struggled with it for a few moments before Sadie swiped her foot under his, making him fall. Then she twisted the shovel, making his arm twist until it was in a position he was forced to let it go.

"Daddy! Daddy!" The boy screamed and Sadie quickly turned around. She saw the man she assumed was his father shoot the man she had seen coming towards them earlier in the head before heading towards her.

He pointed the gun at her head as he approached her. "Drop it. Drop it now." The man ordered and Sadie had no choice but to drop the shovel.

"Can you speak?" The man questioned her, but Sadie stayed silent out of spite. "I said, can you speak?" The man demanded, stepping forward and aiming the gun closer to her head. "Screw you." Sadie spoke.

"Walkers can't speak. Your buddy here, I thought I heard him speak." The man said as his son stood up. "He called me Carl." His son answered.

"Miss, what is your bandage for?" The man questioned. "What's it to you?" Sadie responded, narrowing her eyes. "What kind of wound? You answer me, damn you. What's your wound? You tell me or I will kill you. And your buddy." The man told her and cocked the gun.

Sadie glanced down at Rick, who happened to just pass out. "It was an arrow. An arrow stabbed through my stomach. And he was shot." Sadie answered.

"You two need to come with me." The man told Sadie. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't know you and you just killed a person." Sadie responded, stepping back away from him.

"Not a person and your unconscious buddy there needs help. It looks like you both do." The man spoke and Sadie didn't respond, still hesitant. She just glanced down at Rick.

"Tell you what. You come with me and answer my questions and I'll answer yours." The man said and she finally nodded. He uncocked the gun and put it in his belt before leaning down and picking Rick up, carrying him over his shoulder.

Then he started walking away and Sadie and the boy followed. "I'm sorry about hitting him and trying to hit you. I thought you were walkers." The boy spoke to her. "I don't know what that is, but once he's awake again, I'll consider it." Sadie replied before looking straight forward again.

The boy couldn't believe that she didn't know what a walker was, but decided that he would leave that for his father to explain to her later.

Sadie wasn't sure if she made the right call, but it was either follow the man or possibly get shot in the face. Neither one of those options really tickled her fancy, but she took the option that she thought would be the best for her and for Rick. She just hoped she wasn't wrong.