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Even before the world ended you were a closed off person, and you weren't going to suddenly change now that everything had gone to shit. And even if you wanted to, there wasn't even anyone to talk to now anyway, your family had been killed what felt like an eternity ago. At least before, you had your sister to talk to. But now it was just you and you intended for it to stay that way. Being close to people meant that you could easily lose them and you didn't want to go through that pain again. It nearly killed you when you saw your father and brother killed by walkers. The sounds of their screams still haunted you when you closed your eyes at night to rest.
You'd found an old school that you were currently holed up in, using one of the old classrooms as a shelter. Initially, you felt like it was too wide open to stay in, even for a short time, but when you were searching through one of the janitorial closets you came across an old padlock that had the key stashed in the lock. It wasn't a failsafe plan, but it was enough to give at least you some peace of mind at night so you could sleep. You had been eager to avoid others when you were first left on your own, but you could feel the loneliness that came from a lack of human contact.
Finishing your breakfast that consisted of an old can of corn, you grabbed your pack and left your shelter. Your supply of food was running low and you had been planning a scavenging trip to a nearby cabin you'd found in the woods.
The five-mile journey had been relatively quiet; there were a few walkers, but it wasn’t anything that you couldn’t handle on your own. You keep an eye out as you trek through the woods for any signs of activity, whether it be human or walker. Although these days, it was debatable which of the two was worse.
The cabin looks relatively untouched and you tap your hand against the window to lure any walkers inside, but you hear nothing. Opening the door slowly, you head straight for the kitchen. You’re able to find enough food to keep you going for the next couple weeks if you ration it well. Unfortunately, the rest of the cabin contains nothing of use and you gather all your things to leave. The sound of voices echoing through the woods stop you in your tracks and you scramble to hide.
“You sure she went this way, man?” A male voice calls; his voice faint from the distance, but you can still make out what he’s saying.
“Yeah, I saw her run off in this direction,” You curse yourself, you hadn't seen anyone following you, but they must have been watching from afar. They must have been far enough to where they didn’t see the cabin yet, or they were too stupid to realize that’s where you would have gone. You creep slowly to the back of the house into the bedroom, locking the door behind you.
You crawl over to the only window in the room and peer out into the woods behind the cabin. Once you see the coast is clear, you unlatch the lock, opening the window slowly before opening it. First, you drop your bag on the ground and then you crawl through the window, dropping onto the ground gently, trying to not make any noise. You can hear their voices at the front of the cabin and you grab your bag before running in the opposite direction.
Looking behind you, you can see the cabin getting smaller as you run farther away from it. But suddenly you feel a sharp pain radiate up your leg from your foot and you fall to the ground, crying out sharply in pain. When you look downward, you can see the jaws of a bear trap cutting into your foot. You reach down and try to pry it open, but you’re not strong enough. The sound of leaves crunching interrupts your anguish and you look up to see two men approaching you, guns raised.
“Well, well. Lookie what we have here. I told ya she went this way.” One of the men says as he crouches down in front of you. You flinch away from him as he runs his hand up your calf.
“What’s your name sweetheart?” He inquires, looking at you as if you were prey.
“None of your fucking business!” You spit out at him; a cruel smile crosses his lips at your words.
“Oooo, you’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” He teases and they both laugh.
“I like it when they fight,” The second man chimes as he moves a step closer towards you.
“You think we should free her foot?” You silently hope that they do so you can turn and run away.
“Nah, if we let her loose, it’ll be easier for her to get away,” A shiver runs down your spine in fear of what was going to happen next. But a loud noise rings out behind you and the man kneeling in front of you falls onto his back with a fresh bullet hole between his eyes. The second man lets out a small shriek as he turns and tries to run away, but an arrow pierces through his leg and he falls to the ground, crying in agony.
Turning around, you see two men standing behind you, weapons raised. One of the men is carrying a crossbow and the other has some type of revolver with a long barrel. The archer walks over to the whimpering man on the floor a few feet from you and raises his bow on him.
The other man walks over towards you and crouches in front of you, moving his hands toward your leg. You flinch away from him in fear and he raises his hands up to signal he means no harm.
“We’re not gonna hurt ya,” He says, his voice soothing and he reaches down and pries the teeth of the trap apart. You slowly pull your foot from it and you can see the blood running down your sneaker. That wound was definitely going to slow you down.
“Listen, we have a camp. You’re more than welcome to come back with us; there are other women and even some children there. There’s even a doctor there who can patch up your foot.” You look up into his eyes and see nothing but sincerity there. You nod your head slowly, signaling that you’ll go with them.
“Ask her the questions, Rick.” The other man voices from behind him, still keeping his bow focused on the man on the ground.
“How many walkers have you killed…?” He asks, his voice trailing off and you can tell he’s asking for your name.
“Y/N. And I’m not sure, I don’t really keep count.” You whisper.
“How many people have you killed?”
“Just one.” The man, now known as Rick, tilts his head at your answer and opens his mouth to speak again.
“Why?”
“He was trying to steal my supplies.” He nods at your answer and stands up, extending his hand down to help you up. You accept his offer and he pulls you to your feet. The sound of walkers coming through the trees distracts you; they must have been drawn to the gunfire.
“What should we do with this guy?” You hear the man with the crossbow ask.
“Leave him there, let the walkers have him,” The man starts screaming and you all turn and leave as the walkers descend on the man. You feel a cruel sense of satisfaction at the sound of his screams and a small smile crosses your face for a brief moment. It was obvious what they had planned to do to you so you felt that he deserved that.
You walk steadily for the majority of the journey to their vehicle, but the pain in your foot only intensifies and you stop to rest for a second. Rick turns his back towards you and crouches down slightly, telling you to hop on for the rest of the walk. You comply, wrapping your arms around his neck and jumping up, gripping his waist with your thighs and his hands rest on the underside of your thighs, supporting you. The rest of the trek to their car goes smoothly and then you’re all on your way to their camp.
This was all a couple of months ago. Rick and his group had been held up in a prison about thirty miles from where they had found you. They’d given you your own cell and you could finally get a good night’s sleep. Everyone there was incredibly kind and you socialized with them sometimes, but you mostly kept to yourself. You’d gotten along with Daryl the best, both of you were quiet and kept to yourselves. Some nights you would stand outside and pass a cigarette between the two of you, talking some, but never about anything deep or serious.
You had the night watch shift that night with Rick and you were dreading it. It wasn’t that you didn’t like Rick; it was actually quite the opposite, but you were afraid to let him get too close.
After dinner that night, you grab your rifle and head up to the guard tower, relieving Carol and Glenn of their duties. You sit down and prepare yourself for the long night ahead. Rick joins you about an hour later, but you both just sit in silence.
You can feel yourself dozing off, but you jolt awake at the sound of Rick’s voice.
“Do you even like it here, Y/N?” He inquires and you look over at him confused.
“Of course I do, Rick. Why?” You reply, turning in your seat to face him.
“You’ve been here a couple months now and you never talk to anyone. I always see you by yourself. Just made me wonder if you actually enjoyed being here or if you missed being out there on your own.”
“I’ve always been like this, Rick. I’ve never been good with people; the only person I’ve was ever able to talk to was my sister, but she’s gone now.” He nods sympathetically at your words before looking back outside.
“You could talk to me, you know. I know what it’s like to lose people, we all have.” He says softly, still looking outside toward the woods surrounding the prison. You don’t say anything, contemplating whether or not you should respond.
“It happened right in front of me, you know? We were trying to get out of Atlanta, but the roads were so jammed. My dad and sister were the only ones with me, my mom died when I was young.” A tear run down your cheek, you wipe it away with your finger before you continue.
“Everything just happened so fast, my dad had gotten out of the car to look walk ahead and see what was going on. They j-just jumped on him; my sister got out of the car to help him. I tried to stop her, you know, I told her there was nothing we could do, but she wouldn’t listen. She was always the stubborn one, and t-they got her too. The only reason I survived was because I did nothing, I just sat there! I’ll never forget the sounds of their screams. I decided from that moment that I wasn’t going to get close to anyone else. I don’t think I could survive another loss like that,” You sobbed before Rick turned to you and took you into his arms, rubbing your back to soothe you. You bury your face into his chest, soaking his shirt with your tears.
“Shhh, it’s alright.” He says as you sob against him.
“I know it’s hard to lose people; I’ve been there, but, you can’t turn people away. That’s not living. If we’re going to make through all of this we have to come together, not pull apart.” The meaning of his words washes over you and gives you a sense of clarity that had been muddled by grief for so long.
“I hope it’s not too late, I haven’t been very friendly with everyone.” You say, thinking of all the times people in the group had tried to talk to you and you’d been silent or walked away.
“I think once you open yourself up to people, you’ll be surprised at how much you were missing before….” You can tell that his words are laced with a second meaning and you look up into his eyes. The atmosphere becomes with tension as you both maintain eye contact.
Slowly, you take your bottom lip between your teeth, biting it nervously. His eyes drift down to your lips at the gesture. He slowly moves his face closer to yours before he seals his lips over yours. His hand slowly rises to your face, cupping your cheek. The kiss shifts in tone, becoming passionate as you part your lips to allow his tongue entrance. His arms wrap around your waist and pull you so you’re straddling his lap.
Pulling back, you reach underneath the hem of your brown t-shirt and pull it over your head, exposing your bra-clad torso to the air. You moan softly into his mouth when his hands travel up your stomach to grasp your breasts through your bra. Rick’s hand grasps you bra and pulls it downward, exposing your nipples to his waiting mouth. Your fingers rake through his hair as you cry out into the empty room at the sensation. But you need more; you can feel yourself aching from arousal. You grind your hips down on his slowly and gasp at the feeling of his stiff erection against your center. It's so good, but not enough.
“Rick! I need you.” You cry out as you pull his head away from your chest. His lips are swollen from your kisses and his pupils are blown completely, turning his once blue eyes into dark pools of lust. He rises from his chair with his hands under your thighs, holding you up against him as he moves towards the only table in the room. He places you down onto the surface as he begins unbuttoning your jeans. You’re fully exposed to his gaze when he pulls your jeans and panties down your thighs. You wrap your thighs around his waist, pulling him close before undoing his pants. His hand drifts down towards your opening, but you shake your head no.
“I need you now, Rick.” You say as you push his jeans down with your feet enough to expose his erection to your gaze. He wastes no time grasping it in his fist and lining himself up with your entrance. You throw your head back at the incredible feeling of him thrusting inside you. It was unlike anything you had ever felt before.
“Oh my god, Rick!” You cry out as he retreats before thrusting back inside you, establishing a rhythm. He kisses you hungrily, absorbing your moans as you rock your hips together. A knot begins to form in your abdomen and you can feel yourself approaching your release. He senses that you’re close and his hips quicken in response.
“Cum for me, Y/N.” He growls into your ear and your vision turns white as sparks of pleasure course through you. Your thighs tighten around his waist and your toes curl. Rick starts becoming more vocal, grunting into your neck as his thrusts deepen. You can tell he's getting close and you clench your walls around him to help push him over the edge.
“Fuck, Y/N!” He growls as he pulls out, cumming on your stomach. He rests his head on your shoulder as you both catch your breath.
“Mmmm, you were right Rick.” You tease and he pulls his head off your shoulder and looks down at you in question.
"How do you mean?"
"I really have been missing out." You tease as you tighten your legs around his hips, pulling him close as he leans down, hovering his lips over yours.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to make up for lost time." You grin at his statement before taking his lips with yours.