#rickmymanrick

[rickmymanrick]

one rule | chapter five

[rick grimes x original female character slowburn]

series masterlist

summary: glenn and rick try out a new technique in order to survive and reunite with the rest of the group. back at camp, daphne and shane reach an understanding.

notes: god i’m so irritated with my writing in this series. i have the tendency to write too many little details but that changes after this chapter istg. so the style of writing might be a bit strange after this part but if you'd like an idea of what it'll be like, check out my star wars au i'm writing on my main acc. and sorry for the long ass wait. enjoy.

“I’m going to throw the fuck up,” I breathed, trying to control my gag reflex. Rick groaned in response, pushing harder and I gagged again.

“Stop doing that,” Glenn whined. “You’re going to make me throw up.”

“I’m sorry,” I said with watery eyes, trying not to breathe in the scent of rotten guts filling the air. We were all standing before Rick and his axe— staring as he cut a walker’s body in half.

Rick gave one last chop before handing it over to Morales. I did my best not to look at the mush of guts spread all over the floor.

After a heated discussion with Glenn, I’d agreed that it would be safer if I stayed behind, despite how badly I wanted to join him on Rick’s suicide mission to escape Atlanta. So I stayed silent, helping them spread intestines all over their coats with two layers of gloves on.

I’m sure my face was turning violet from how long I was holding my breath but it was either that or vomit all over the place. The texture of the flesh was lukewarm; this walker probably wasn’t even dead for long.

Glenn was beginning to hyperventilate.

“Think about something else. Puppies and kittens,” offered Rick with a grimace.

“Dead puppies and kittens,” T-Dog added in disgust.

I flinched, bracing myself. Glenn whipped around in horror, hurling over his shoulder instantly.

Andrea rolled her eyes and pulled away from Glenn. She fixed T-Dog with a glare. “That is just evil. What is wrong with you?”

“Next time let the cracker beat his ass,” snapped Jacqui.

“I’m sorry,” T-Dog backed away guiltily.

Rick cut in. “Do we smell like them?”

“Hell yeah,” I answered.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you take a single breath in the last five minutes, Daphne.”

I squinted my eyes at Rick.

“It’s a wonder you’re still standing,” he mused.

“Unless you want me to throw up on you and everyone in the vicinity, I’d rather suffocate in silence,” I said stiffly.

“Glenn," I turned around to find Andrea handing off my gun. "Just in case." I didn't argue, knowing if she had returned the gun to its rightful owner, I would've done the same thing. Still, I gave her a glare.

“If we make it back, be ready,” said Rick firmly.

“What about Merle Dixon?”

Rick fished out the keys from his pocket and tossed them to T-Dog.

“Give me the axe,” sighed Rick. “We need more guts.”

After another agonizing round of gut scooping, the two were ready to head out. Glenn glanced back at me with a terrified look. I tried to give him my most confident smile, but inside I was sort of dying too.

I shared one last look with Rick, imprinting both of their faces in my mind just in case. How is he still so handsome covered in guts?

‘You got this,’ I mouthed at Glenn and then Morales promptly slammed the door in my face. I rounded on him angrily.

“We couldn’t risk the walkers seeing us,” he shrugged apologetically.

I sighed, glancing up the stairwell and suddenly remembering Merle’s crazy ass was still up there. Suppressing a groan, I forced my way past Andrea and the others and decided to wait on the rooftop for a better view.

And somehow between the sudden rain pour that fell over Atlanta and Andrea accusing Rick and Glenn of abandoning us, the plan actually managed to work.

I was practically biting my nails, sprinting back down the stairs I came from, leaving Merle and his yelling in the dust. I couldn’t bring myself to give a single shit, only focused on trying to push myself the fastest I’ve ever gone, just so that by some miracle of God I could intercept Glenn before he took off.

He was leading the horde away, distracting them so that we could all get into the van Rick had managed to steal.

I diverted from the course, ignoring Morales and Jacqui’s frantic questions, urging them to meet Rick at the rendezvous. Over the frantic pounding of my heart, I could hear the siren of Glenn’s stolen car, getting closer and closer as I sprinted down a dark hallway, seeing the daylight pouring through the crack of the emergency exit.

With a shoulder shove, I burst through the door, fully bracing myself for a fight against any walker that was in the vicinity...

But it wasn’t the dead that attacked me.

It was Glenn Rhee, slamming into my side hard enough to send me flying towards the pavement feet away. My ears rung a bit and I had to blink a few times to gather my wits, but then I suddenly heard Glenn’s yell and growls getting closer and I forced my body to jump into action.

I swayed a little on my feet, gaping at Glenn who was hanging halfway out the car, staring at me like I’d grown two heads.

Walkers rounded the corner suddenly.

“Holy shit! You crazy fucker!” I yelled, swinging my body to the passenger’s side. I was more than ready to get the hell out of dodge.

“Holy shit,” Glenn repeated, but I could barely understand over his ridiculous guffawing. There were tears streaming down his face, his cheeks bright pink from how hard he was cracking up.

“You hit me with a car. Har har. Hit the fucking gas pedal, chuckles.”

His laughter was contagious, doubled over the steering wheel and I momentarily forgot that Rick and the others were depending on our corny asses to survive.

“Glenn,” I wheezed through suffocating laughter. God, my fucking side hurts but I can’t stop. “Glenn! We got—gotta GO!”

A loud bang made us both jump. Nothing kills the mood quite like a decaying corpse snapping at your car window.

Finally, Glenn hightailed it, sending the car flying with a deafening squeak. I gripped at the overhead handle. As we turned the corner, I barely caught a glance of Rick’s truck, now speeding away from the building.

I slammed my hand into the dashboard twice. “They’re out. Let’s go!”

Glenn didn’t need to be told twice, pushing the car even faster than I thought possible. Impulsively, I rolled my window down and felt the wind cut through my hair hazardously.

Soon, Atlanta was in the rearview mirror and a feeling of elation rushed to my head.

“We’re alive,” Glenn said suddenly, as if he read my mind.

“Cause of you,” I admitted in a rare moment of complete honesty with this asshole.

A sly smile spread across his cheeks and I whipped my head to face him fully. “I take that shit back. You almost killed me back there. I think you broke my hip, Glenn!”

“You look fine,” he denied.

“What do you know? My hip is in fragile condition! I may never be the same.”

“Should’ve looked both ways before you crossed the road.”

“Dude—” I fixed him with a murderous look.

Glenn glanced at me from his peripheral. I stared at him a few seconds longer. We were speeding down the highway, on lanes that were vet eerily empty. But the other side of the highway was a complete other story. I refused to look that way.

A few more seconds of death glaring Glenn satisfied my pettiness and so I began to rummage through the compartments of the car. A nice silence filled the car, just rushing wind and the company of the person who meant the most to me in this fucked up world.

All I could find were old receipts and registration papers. I sighed, “do you think they had any cds— FUCK YES.”

“What?” Glenn demanded quickly.

I flipped the cd around and practically shoved it in his face. He swerved a little— it’s not like there’s anyone to crash into.

“Put that shit on!” He yelled, beginning to smile uncontrollably.

I shoved the disc in and blasted the volume, drowning out the stupid alarm.

“Everybody look at me, me! I walk in the door you start screaming!” We both chorused loudly, feeling the spirit of Nelly Furtado and countless nights at the club fill our veins.

When we finally arrived, speeding over hills and around curves, we clambered out of the car, exhilarated from the drive and feeling the post-high of our near-death experience.

The giddiness rushed to my brain, making me a bit lightheaded as I gave Glenn a playful shove when I made my way to his side.

This feeling nearly made me forget my very pressing issue here at camp.

He came rushing over with a scowl. “What the hell?!” Shane growled at me.

“Holy shit, turn that damn thing off!” Dale yelled, stomping over with his white bucket hat lodged firmly over his hair.

“I don’t know how!” Glenn said, leaning over to fidget with the dashboard in the car.

“Pop the hood please,” said Shane a little more gently than he’d spoken to me.

I gave him a side eye.

Glenn and Dale kept yelling over each other in a panic. An anxiety began to creep over me when I realized just how loud the alarm was. It bounced off every tree; its echo could probably be heard below the cliff we were camped on.

I leaned closer to Glenn. “Hey, pop the hood—“

“Pop the damn hood!” Shane snapped suddenly.

The hood of the car finally popped open and I jerked back to glare at Shane. He was turning away from me, his head shaking and I could tell he was mumbling something under his breath.

The asshole pulled a wire out and the siren stopped.

“Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?” Shane leaned against the car with an agitated look.

“I think we’re okay,” said Dale.

“You call being stupid ‘okay?’” Shane asked.

“The alarm was echoing all over these hills,” explained Dale. “Hard to pinpoint the source.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled. It’s nice to see someone still has functioning brain cells in this group.

Shane turned to glare at the three of us, hands on his hips, a scowl planted on his face.

“I’m not arguing. I’m just saying,” Dale told him defensively before spinning on both Glenn and I. “It wouldn’t hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?”

“Sorry,” Glenn shrugged. “Got a cool car.”

“Has some good cds too,” I chimed.

“Nice to know you put us at risk for some cheap music,” replied Shane unnecessarily.

I opened my mouth, ready to fire back—

A rumbling could be heard from a distance. Amy rushed forward, shielding her eyes from the sun, a desperate look on her face. “Is that them? Where’s Andrea?” She turned toward me suddenly. “Is she okay?”

“She’s okay, Amy. We just had to take two cars, s’all.” I reassured.

We squinted against the glare. In the distance, a white truck was rapidly approaching.

“That’s not our van,” observed Shane lowly.

Obviously. I didn’t spare him a glance. I only stared ahead, hoping everyone except Merle was in that damned van. I knew it was wishful thinking though, that man was like a fucking cockroach.

In my peripheral, I saw Glenn glancing between Shane and I awkwardly. “Yeah, um, we had to leave it behind. Found a bigger truck though.”

Maybe I should mention the fact that Rick Grimes was driving the truck and that his partner was alive but my stubbornness kept me silent. And it was only at this thought that a memory resurfaced in my brain.

“Did you see Rick?” I asked quietly, observing Lori and Carl from where I sat on the rock. The pain in my thigh had dulled just a bit.

Shane glanced up from my leg, looking through his eyelashes briefly before quickly directing his gaze down again. He continued to wrap gauze around my wound.

“I did,” he said hoarsely. I waited with bated breath, but he said nothing more.

“Did they transfer him to Atlanta General?” I asked, not sure I even wanted to know the answer. The horrific sight of the dead on the highway was seared into my brain. The screams stopped hours ago; now all that could be heard was silence and a faint growling from the deserted highway.

“He’s gone,” Shane stated stiffly.

��He’s…?”

“Dead.”

I stared over at little Carl Grimes who sat next to his mother silently, observing how to light a small log fire. A lump formed in my throat, but I cleared it with a sniffle. There was no going back to the way it was before. I had to toughen up and accept it.

“Okay,” I lamented, forcing the grief back into the depths of my mind.

Shane finally looked up, brown eyes looking intensely into my own. “Okay.”

Hours later, I sat alone, like I did most nights I couldn't sleep, legs pulled up to my chest and staring at the dark outline of the city. It was brighter than usual this night, a full moon hanging high over our heads.

I traced each building I could see, wondering if Merle was atop one of them, cursing each of us to hell.

This evening was... eventful, to say the least. The Grimes family reunion went as expected, full of tears and embracing. I had to look away after a few seconds, feeling that stupid guilt churn in my gut, especially when Lori kissed Rick on the crown of his head.

And then I saw Shane, acting stranger than usual, a forced smile on his face after the shock of seeing Rick had worn off. He'd glanced at me the second it had processed in his brain who was driving the van, a mixture of shock and something else behind those brown eyes.

I imagined he felt betrayed I hadn't spilled it to him as soon as Glenn parked the car. Maybe it was a bit petty but his behavior towards me was setting me off. We hadn't worked so hard to make a living, just for a misunderstanding to destroy the bond we had.

I scoffed at the thought, glaring at the dirt.

Slow footsteps in the grass crunched behind me and I curled my fingers around my knife.

"'You barely got them out?'" I said monotonously. At the campfire just about two hours ago, Rick had expressed his undying gratitude to Shane. After Shane explicitly pointed out that he'd saved them. He was the reason the Grimes family was whole again.

I heard a sigh and Shane rounded the corner, his eyes meeting mine for the first time since last night. "It was a lot to explain."

"We had time," I pushed a little stone I found in the trunk around. "I'm not asking for credit. I would do what I did without hesitation if I had to again. But you haven't acknowledged me once since last night."

It was silent. I refused to look back up, tired of his mood swings.

"I...I haven't been fair to you," said Shane quietly. "I'm sorry. I just-- I've been working through some things. Feelings. You didn't deserve the way I'd been treating you."

I hated that confrontation made me overly emotional. I tried to swallow down the sudden lump in my throat. That's the thing-- maybe I did deserve it.

I wanted to say something, speak up for myself, maybe yell at him for giving me such a goddamn headache. But the lump in my throat kept me painstakingly silent.

“…Daphne?” Shane asked very quietly. It was barely a murmur, but my trained ears caught it.

I cleared my throat and whispered, “okay.” Outrageously angry at myself for not finding the strength to give him a piece of my mind.

It was silent for a few long moments.

“I’ll..." He cleared his throat and puffed out his chest a bit. "I'll take the night shift. You go get some rest. You’ve had a long day, Lara Croft,” he tried to joke awkwardly. I didn't laugh, so conflicted on my feelings for him.

On one hand, he’s the man who has been with me since before the fall and even through it. We’ve been forced to fight and survive together. Fight for each other. Other than Glenn, he’s the only friend I’ve got.

But god we fucked it up so bad last night. I fucked it up. I could sense his apology was sincere and life was too goddamn short to hold onto grudges.

And my back was starting to kill me after getting smacked around by Glenn's stolen car.

“Thanks,” I whispered, accepting his offer and hopping off the jeep. I looked at his fluffy brown hair and his eyes that were suddenly much lighter than they had been in all day, despite the darkness of the night.

The anger was still there, simmering and bubbling in the pits of my stomach, but with one deep sigh, I spun on my heel and made my way to Glenn and my tent, deciding to just deal with it tomorrow--

A whisper traveled across the path.

"For what it's worth, it's always been you."

I froze, straining my ears to convince myself I hadn't just made it up.

"I don't wanna fight. But it's your call. Daphne, I need you... and-and I'll take you however I can have you, Ayala."

An even larger lump formed in the base of my throat. My lungs burned furiously and I realized I'd been holding my breath all this time. I willed myself to respond.

"I need..."

What did I need?

I frowned in confusion. My heart was telling me one thing, but my brain was convincing me of another. There's no reason to deny myself this attention, this man who has clearly pined after me for so long. And because of my silly crush on Rick Grimes, I'd never given him the time of day.

Now Rick's back and I have to co-exist with his family.

I turned my head to glance at him over my shoulder. He was standing by the jeep still, a hand on his holster and another scratching at his scruff.

Maybe... I should've given Shane Walsh a chance so long before the world went to absolute shit.

Maybe... maybe I can give him a chance now.

My stomach turned with the possibility of just allowing myself to be loved. But my anger very much still brewed silently.

"I need time," I said honestly. I forced a small smile. Not a yes, but certainly not a no.

A puff of air left his lips, I heard it even from this distance away.. It was full of a flattering sort of relief and I found myself shocked that my ears began to tinge with heat.

Spinning away before he could say anything else to fluster or anger me further, I rushed back to my tent, that tight lipped smile slipping into an easier one.

The next morning, I woke up earlier than I expected, my anxiety at an all time high.

Glenn was still snoring on his side of the tent, flat on his back and his mouth hanging open just a little.

I took the opportunity to change into a fresh set of clothes and brush my teeth quickly before trekking into a part of the woods I'd discovered a week ago. It wasn't too far, a few minutes into the trees, but far enough to be able to take a breath of air without someone lurking about.

The trek had a greater purpose though; within its bushes, a patch of blueberries grew untouched. I'd been going back to check on it every morning and now, I was hoping it was ready enough for picking. The thought of surprisingly Carol and Sophia with some jam put a little pep in my step.

So I began my slow search, carefully inspecting each berry to make sure they were edible.

My peace was interrupted sooner than I expected. There was a major scuffling within the trees and my heart leaped to my throat, freezing in place as I tried to calculate who it was coming from and where.

I was hunched over, ready to leap and attack a walker if need be. The footsteps got louder and I steadied the grip on my weapon.

"Merle was a danger to us all," I heard Shane's voice travel across the trees. My heart jumped to my throat. I'd been avoiding the thought of him since I woke up.

"You don't know what you're talking about," grumbled the voice of Daryl Dixon. Through the low bush, I saw a group of three approaching.

I held my breath, surprised Daryl hadn't throttled Rick already.

"What I did was not on a whim," said Rick. "Merle does not work and play well with others."

“He’s my brother,” Daryl insisted, more angry than I had ever seen him. Maybe, he did throttle him. Shane must've pulled him off because there was red marks from a struggle on his neck.

My cheeks burned, my heart stupidly fluttering just because I'd finally come to terms with allowing myself to feel something for him. I realized a tiny smile started spreading across my cheeks and quickly shut that shit down. I glared at the ground to gather my bearings.

Now was not the time for girly high school shit.

Shane shook his head. “I understand that this is difficult but—“

“No, you don’t understand. Y’all don’t have a brother here!” Daryl threw his hand up and began to storm away.

“I do, Daryl. I do.” Rick said. Daryl turned around with a sneer, and Rick glanced back at Shane fondly.

I became confused when Shane’s face twisted into an uncomfortable expression, more of a grimace than a brotherly smile, a tense nod given to Rick in return.

Daryl scoffed.

“Oh really? Does a brother fuck your wife?”

OHHHH SHITTTTT. unedited as fuck btw

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