Chapter 289 - 118-122 (The walking dead)

The protagonist system: the walking dead

118 Dead Days Go Bye (The Walking Dead TV Show)

I felt the world form around me as I regained consciousness and groaned in pain, because my body felt terrible. I opened my eyes to assess the damage and saw that I was inside a hospital room. It was kind of dark, despite the sunlight coming through the window. That was odd, as was the complete silence.

My eyes darted to the IV attached to my arm and it was nearly empty, which meant I had been here for a while. The electronic leads taped to my chest were connected to a silent machine beside the bed and I realized there was no power going to anything in the room. I also saw a dried out bouquet of flowers on the nightstand.

I sighed at not getting the normal memory download and I had no idea what world I was in or what I had to handle. When I tried to move, searing pain in my side stopped me and I took several panting breaths to work through it. My shoulder was also extremely sore and I glanced down to see both wrapped in bandages.

I also saw that I was thin as a rake and emaciated, almost starving, and my stomach felt both empty and ravenous. That meant I had lost the divine body that Fate gave me at the start and I barely had any muscles, so I couldn't rely on always being fit and good looking. It was a disappointment and also expected, since I knew I would be made to suffer.

When I checked my inventory, I saw a severely limited version instead of my normal unlimited one. I could still feel that everything I had was still there, only just barely out of reach. I somehow knew that usage, effort, and time would let me access more of what I had and I would just have to deal with things the normal way for a while.

For now, I only had access to a normal sized room and it was filled with the year of MRE rations, my two guns, some ammo, my various swords, my two endless snacks, the endless water container, several changes of clothes, and the souvenirs I bought in the shop.

I also had a single rack of 30 potions instead of the huge store of them I had packed back in the Harry Potter world. It was only 10 healing, 10 headache, and 10 mana potions and that severely limited my options. I was only slightly confused that I also had access to one of the trunks of treasure for some reason.

I took out a healing potion and drank it, hoping the world didn't screw me over and made the thing almost ineffectual. I only had 9 left and would have to try and find some kind of substitute ingredients to make more. Either that or abuse my limited inventory to open the next 'room' and hopefully gain access to more of them.

The pain in my side abated by about half and my shoulder stopped aching so much, so I sighed and drank a second potion, reducing my limited supply even more. Then again, if I started out handicapped too much, I was pretty much screwed anyway. It was better to be fully functional right now and not have to wait to recover normally.

The pain disappeared completely and I felt much better as I sat up and pulled off the eletronic leads and then carefully removed the IV. I was still kind of thin and starving, however. The potions only healed me to a certain point and didn't make me buff or anything. Only time and working out would get me close to being like my previous self and I would have to be happy with walking around in a regular body.

I slid off the bed and stretched, as if I just had a great sleep, and took a single step towards the nightstand when I felt something like a burning lance was shoved through my mind.

"GAAHHHHH-AHHHHHHHH!" I screamed and screamed as 34 years of memories were very painfully forced into my head and I collapsed onto the floor in a tight ball to ride it out.

It took a very long ten minutes of torture before the flood finally ended.

I silently cursed and raged at both the system and Fate for making me go through that and I wasn't surprised when a popup appeared and it apologized and told me they had to re-calibrate the memory transfer protocols.

"Yeah, fuck you, too." I said and stayed there on the cold floor as I tried to recover. My head was pounding from the abuse it went through and I took out a headache potion. Thankfully, I only needed one to stop the pain and sighed with relief.

I now knew who I was and where I was. My name was Rick Grimes and I was a Deputy Sheriff in King County, Georgia. I had a wife and a son, too. I had also been assaulted and shot by a criminal several weeks ago and put into the hospital.

Unfortunately, this was where my own memories came into play. I knew this story. I had watched it eagerly in anticipation as the very first television show about the zombie apocalypse called The Walking Dead. I also knew there wasn't a cure after you died, no matter the cause or if you had been bitten or not. Bites just turned you much much faster.

Well, they'd turn other people. I was immune, thanks to Fate and Death buying me that. I thought and stayed on the floor for several more minutes, since I wasn't in any rush. I also had a handgun and a shotgun with unlimited ammo and they were going to come in very handy very soon.

I climbed to my feet and I didn't feel wobbly or dizzy, which was great. I tore off my bandages before I sat on the bed and took out an MRE to prepare it and eat it. I did this three more times and then took out the pack of endless potato chips and my container of water. Several handfuls of chips later, my hunger was sated and I felt full. I even topped it off with some liquid courage, namely tequila.

It burned down my throat and I felt better, even better than back in the last world. I paused and let the ache in my heart throb for several moments as I thought of the people I left behind, then I raised my container in a salute and took another drink, then let it revert back to water and put it and the chips away.

I went to the bathroom first and there was running water, so I spent some time taking a sponge bath. When I felt relatively clean, I went back out into the room and over to the dresser. I opened and checked several of the drawers and found my sheriff uniform, bloody shirt and all.

What I did not find was my old gun, my badge, myhandcuffs, or the holster that should have been there. The bulletproof vest was gone as well, not that it had helped me much, considering I had been shot right where it didn't cover.

I quickly dressed and felt more legitimate, even with the blood stain, and I took several deep breaths to prepare for what I was about to do. With liquid courage in my stomach, I went to the door of my room and opened it.

In front of it was a stretcher, which Shane had placed there to stop walkers from entering my room. If he hadn't become such a scheming bastard after I died, I would have thanked the guy for having the foresight to protect my body from being eaten.

I pushed the stretcher out of the way and closed the door, then put the stretcher back. It got it out of the way and also kept protecting the room, not that I ever planned to come back here. When I glanced around, I saw the hospital was trashed. I made my way down the hall to the nurse's station and tried the phone, even though I knew it didn't work with the power out.

An emergency generator must have still been functional or something, because there were occasional lightsflickering here and there. That could mean it's damaged or it's running out of fuel. Either way, I would find nothing there to help me on my quest and ignored it.

I continued on and looked through doors and windows, searching for my first target. I found a mostly eaten dead body in the middle of a hallway. Surprisingly, the head looked undamaged, so I didn't know why it wasn't up and about looking for food. I wasn't taking the chance it would, though. I went through the double doors and took out the 9 millimetre handgun and shot the thing in the forehead from a safe distance.

I checked each and every room if they weren't locked and cleared the entire floor as I searched for the stairs. I ignored the damaged walls, ceilings, the bloodeverywhere, and the garbage on the floor. My only concern was the dead and killing them before they killed me.

I found a pair of chained up double doors that had 'don't open dead inside' written on them in blood. I knew what to do to handle it properly, no matter how many dead were actually inside. I raided several rooms of their beds and put them in place in front of the doors, thanks to using my inventory, and I made a spot where only a single person could pass through.

Once I had my kill corridor ready, I didn't bother trying to pick the lock on the chain or tried to cut the chain. I inventoried it and ran to the end of the corridor I made. Barely a second later, the doors burst open and a flood of walking dead shambled out. Either they were hungry or they could smell anything living nearby and it made them energetic.

"That's right, motherfuckers! Come and get me!" I shouted and took aim at the closest walker.

The bark of the handgun was loud in the smaller area and the noise only drew them in faster. I kept shooting and they kept coming. It was almost too easy to go for head shots with them so close and I put each and every one of them down before they could reach me.

When the last of them had a bullet in her head, a nurse by the outfit she wore, I was almost numb to what I had done. The thing was, it had to be done. Leaving them there as a perpetual danger, was never going to end up as a good thing.

I entered the room, in case there were stragglers or something, and found it was a cafeteria. I almost laughed at what could have been a missed opportunity and made my way into the back. Several large fridges and a storeroom were full of food, the backup generators keeping things cold as a priority. I stored it all.

I went to the pantry next and stored everything I could after checking it to make sure it was still good and wasn't contaminated with blood or insects or anything. No other walking dead were around and I left there with a smile on my face. It had been dirty work and it had been more than worth it for the amount of foodstuffs I had acquired.

I found the stairs and saw it was dark inside. I sighed at not having the simple expedient of a flashlight in my inventory and took out one of the lightsaber keychains. It's glow was fairly bright in the complete darkness and I went down to the next level of the hospital. My workcontinued as I removed the stragglers that hadn't found their way outside already and I went out the exit myself when I reached the ground floor.

It was at the back of the hospital, so I had some protection from being detected right away. At least, I hoped so, because the back lot of the hospital was filled with dead bodies. They were spread out all over and there were also several containers filled with them. None of them were moving and the sheets covering them had blood near the heads, showing each of them had been dealt with properly.

I carefully made my way around the building and didn't see any more walkers, which was odd. I didn't question it, though. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? I went back around the building and up the hill and found an army camp and supply depot. There were two helicopters that looked partially stripped and six Hummers in desert camouflage colors.

Unfortunately, there were no weapons, food, tools, or anything else left behind. When I checked the vehicles, they had all been expertly disabled with essential parts removed. When the army left, they made sure no one was using what they had to abandon.

I mentally sighed at not being able to find a working vehicle and left the camp as I walked down the road. I had my handgun out and any walkers I saw I put down, even if they looked dead already. No hole in the head? You better put one there, just to be sure.

I found a bicycle and shot a rotted body nearby and rode the bike to my house. I didn't see any walkers along the way, which was weird, and I stopped in front of the house. I saw movement nearby and pointed my handgun at it as I brought out my shotgun to point it at the walker that just stepped out onto the street a few houses away.

"D-d-d-don't shoot, mister!" The dark-skinned boy said and raised his hands after he dropped the shovel he was using as a weapon.

"You can talk?" I asked and he nodded without speaking, which made me chuckle.

A black man stepped out from between two houses and walked over to the walker, pressed an older pistol to the thing's head, and pulled the trigger. I didn't lower either the handgun or the shotgun as he approached me. I also kept both people in my sights.

"We don't mean you no harm." The man said and lowered his weapon. He didn't put it away, though.

"That's a double negative, so that means you do." I said with a smile and lowered my own weapons, hearing a sigh of relief from the boy. "You need to be more clear about things."

The man smiled as well and tucked the gun into his waistband as he held his hand out to shake. "Name's Morgan and that's my boy, Duane."

"Sheriff Rick Grimes." I said as I shook his hand, embellishing myself a little. Technically, anyway. If everyone else was dead, I was in charge, wasn't I? It just wasn't officially documented.

Morgan's smile disappeared and he let my hand go as if it burned him.

I laughed. "Relax, Morgan. Martial law applies in this situation. I won't be disputing squatter's rights or kicking you out of somewhere safe you've found to hole up."

The man let out a loud sigh and nodded.

"I only came by here to get the keys to the station from my house here." I told him and hopped off the bike. "Feel free to keep that. Appropriated vehicle in an emergencysituation and all that."

Morgan smiled and Duane looked conflicted.

"As long as you stay in the yard with it." Morgan ordered.

Duane was no longer conflicted and hopped on the bike to ride it to the backyard.

"Thank you, Sheriff." Morgan said and we watched the boy have fun, probably for the first time in weeks.

"I'm not wearing the hat or badge, so you can call me Rick." I said and motioned for him to follow me into the house. I grabbed a picture of my wife and kid, went to the cupboard with tons of keys on it, and grabbed the spare set to the station and this house. "Give me a hand locking up the house, will you?"

"Sure, Rick." Morgan said and we spent several minuteslocking and securing the windows and doors of the place. There wasn't much we could do about blocking the windows unless we found a ton of wood from somewhere to cover them up.

"Thanks." I said and shook his hand. "I'm heading out, so you might not see me again for a while. I'm going over to Atlanta where a survivor's camp is to look for my son. If there are any spare weapons at the station, I'll come back here and give them to you with some ammo."

Morgan looked shocked at the offer. "Rick, I... that's more than generous and..."

"...you think I'm crazy for giving weapons away." I finished for him and he chuckled.

"With the way the world is going, it's soon going to be every man for himself." Morgan said.

"Or every man for his kid." I said as I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's always been thatway, only with a whole lot more of society's rules to abide by."

Morgan laughed. "Yeah, that's true."

I patted his shoulder and let it go. "I'll see you in a few hours."

Morgan nodded and I walked down the street andtowards the police station. I had some looting to do and some walkers to blow the heads off of.

119 Potential Rescue

The police station was empty of walkers. Either all of them had been out on call during the outbreak or they all succumbed to the virus and died. Honestly, it didn't matter what happened, because it was empty and that was all that mattered.

I entered through the back door and raided the picked over armory. Several long range rifles and the few shotguns left there, went right into my inventory and all of the ammo that was there. The normal guns were all gone, as were most of the ammo for them, so I didn't have much left to give to Morgan for his pistol.

The showers were working with hot water and I spent a stupid amount of time having a hot shower and enjoying it. I thought about taking both the propane tank and the hot water tank when I was done and realized that no one else would ever use it, so I disconnected them and stored them. I wasn't sure how I was going to produce power to run them and assumed I would find something in a hardware store with various connections for camping stoves and portable heaters, which should work in the short term.

I changed my uniform out for a fresh one, including the stylish hat, and went to the sheriff's office and found both a service pistol and a badge. I strapped both onto my uniform and made myself official by signing a paper on the desk, in case anyone ever came here and found it. I doubted it, since everyone would go either to the wilderness and spread out or would congregate in the cities, making it easier for the walkers to overwhelm them.

The storeroom had sets of handcuffs, bottles of pepper spray, zip ties, and several sets of walkie-talkies. I stored everything as well as the packs of batteries after checking if they were expired, then I went outside. The parking lot had several patrol cars parked there and I found the keys hanging behind the security desk.

I spent a few minutes hunting down a piece of hose and then siphoned off the gas from every other car in the lot. I filled my tank and several gas cans with the remains and wouldn't run out of gas anytime soon.

I locked the station up and drove the car back to where Morgan had set himself and his son up. I gave him one of the long range rifles and one of the shotguns, then a third of the ammo I had gathered. I also warned him about conserving ammo and limiting target practice, because killing walkers should take precedence over becoming a better shot. He thanked me for the advice and the guns before I left for good.

Using a map, I headed off towards Atlanta and towards where I was meant to go. Was I looking forward to what I was going to have to do? Not really. Was I going to do it anyway? Yes, I was. There were people to save and things to change, so I had to get there long before I was meant to. I had enough gas to not need to steal a horse on the way or waste so many days travelling.

I did stop on the way at any spot that had walkers and dealt with them, however. It would save me time later, I was sure. Removing the walking dead was a lofty goal that most people would have ignored or hoped they didn't have to do. I wasn't that naive. I knew I was there to deal with the threat it represented, because I was to entertain whomever had set me up as the protagonist.

With my Karma as far into the negatives as it was, I would have to do something worthy to counter it. Cleansing the dead as much as I could in an apocalypse world, should give me some leeway from my punishment. At least, I hoped so.

As I drove along the highway towards the large metropolitan city that was Atlanta, I didn't fail to notice that all of the traffic was going out of it and all of the vehicles were either abandoned or burned out, meaning there had been a huge altercation along the road and either everyone died or they became undead.

With a sigh, I drove into the city and fully expected to run into a mass of walking dead. It didn't take me long to prove myself right and I easily gained the closest one's attention with the noise of the car and my screeching tires. Before they started to move, I hit the police sirens to let them all know there was fresh meat to chase.

The mass of walkers rushed towards the car, just as I planned, and I quickly backed away in reverse and drove backwards until I reached a cross street and changed back to drive. I led the mass of undead all the way back to a smaller street clogged with abandoned cars and parked out of the way. I had a short amount of time to set things up and made a similar corridor as I had in the hospital, thanks to the large amount of debris that was nearby.

I used the shotgun this time as soon as the dead started to walk into the killing area and I unloaded into them without hesitation. The first few died easily, since they took the full blast of the shotgun. The ones on the outskirts barely flinched and crowded in instead of fleeing like they should have.

I kept shooting and they kept coming, just like in the hospital. The noise made more and more of them appear and I kept shooting and shooting at the almost never-ending horde of walkers that streamed towards me. I changed to the handgun a few times for a change of pace and even switched hands. I also never stopped shooting.

It took well over an hour before the last few stragglers stumbled over the piles of bodies and I easily put them out of their misery. Of course, this also meant the entire road was blocked by the mass of dead bodies and rancid blood flowed like a river from the piles and piles of remains.

Fortunately, I wasn't an idiot and I didn't try storing them to get them out of the way, because I was sure my system wasn't going to keep them separated from the food supplies I also stored. It would be a dick move I fully expected after everything I had gone through the last little while and I wasn't going to take that chance.

I spent half an hour driving around and looking for some kind of construction business. I found a small one near the edge of the city and they had a smaller backhoe that was easy to figure out and drive. I left the patrol car there, since I couldn't store it with my limited space available, and I drove the tractor over to the area where I had killed all of the walkers.

It only took a few minutes to scoop them out of the way and pile them off to the side of the road. It was a much shorter time than it took to drive the thing over to that spot and I drove it back to the small lot with the other construction vehicles. I really considered keeping the thing for later use and tried again to store the police car, only to get the same warning message that I needed more room.

The car was smaller than the tractor, so I knew I couldn't store the tractor either. Instead of wasting more time, I spent half an hour gathering up the diesel fuel from the various vehicles into the available barrels and stored them instead. I knew the fuel was more versatile than gas was and any larger generators used diesel as a main fuel, so having barrels of it would only help me later.

I hopped into the police car, without the siren of course, and drove back to where I first encountered the walking dead horde. I saw a large tank in the middle of the street and there were several Hummers scattered around, so I thought about changing vehicles and parked near one of the Hummers and checked it out.

Unfortunately, it was out of fuel and the keys were not in it. I also didn't see any soldier bodies around or had any clue where the keys could be. I checked the other vehicles and they were in the same state, unusable, and the tank was worse than useless without the command codes to activate the computers and the keys to start the engine.

Hell, even the ammo for the main guns was pretty much useless, since there was no similar calibre anywhere near any of the other military vehicles. It explained why someone else hadn't raided them, because they couldn't be used by a normal person. Even an army grunt wouldn't be able to use them without an officer's rating to unlock things for them.

It made me wonder if a warrant officer would count and then I dismissed the idea, because I would need to raid an army base to find both the codes and the instructions for unlocking things to be used. That wasn't going to happen in the current environment and I pushed the idea aside.

I had work to do and people to save, which meant I needed to check the radio frequency inside the tank. It was easy to get inside with both hatches open and I changed my walkie-talkie to the right frequency and climbed back out of the tank.

*

Glenn was back on watch on a nearby roof a couple of hours after that police car had mysteriously shown up out of nowhere and skidded to a stop, blared its sirens and alerted every walker within several blocks, then the car tore out of there with all of them following it. It was the stupidest and bravest thing he had ever seen and he wasn't sure if he should praise the idiot for clearing the place out or yell at him for being so stupid as to get a majority of the city's walkers chasing him.

Then again, Glenn wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, because his search for a safer way to leave with the horde surrounding the building they were holed up in had ended. They could now leave the way they came in and head back to the camp without worries. He just had to decide if he wanted to tell the others about the idiot that had saved them so much trouble.

At the time, Glenn had waited for half an hour before he decided that was long enough to see if any walkers returned or if the guy lived after such a ballsy move. He had made his way back to the building to let the others know that the way was clear and he still didn't decide if he should tell them how the way was cleared. Would knowing someone sacrificed themselves for them to leave, make them feel better or worse about things?

In the end it didn't matter if they knew, because as soon as he told them the way was clear, the group hunting for supplies had unanimously decided that they would stay much longer than they originally planned and would raid more locations for food and essential items. With the local walker threat pretty much neutralized, there wasn't anything else that they needed to be worried about.

Glen had done his best to not roll his eyes or called them idiots then, because he knew that with the main force gone, that didn't mean the danger from stragglers wasn't real. Some of the walkers might not have heard that very loud siren as it went through the city or bothered following the horde, even though that was usually their normal behavior.

Of course, with many more things to take back to the camp, they had to figure out how to get it all back there, which was Glenn's second task. Looking for something they could use to carry everything, like a small trailer that they could easily pull or something similar. As he searched with a pair of binoculars, the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt clicked twice.

Glenn pulled it from where it hung and clicked once back before speaking. "No, Andrea. I still haven't found anything to carry the stuff back yet. Stop bugging me every five minutes with the same question. Over."

A couple of seconds later, the walkie-talkie came to life and a man's voice he didn't know was heard laughing. "If you told them you would only call if there was a problem or you found something, she wouldn't bug you so much for information."

Glenn was very nervous about talking to someone that he didn't know that also had their radio frequency, so he didn't respond.

"Damn, I forgot to say over. Over." The man said and Glenn still didn't respond. A minute later, the man spoke again. "I'm pretty sure you can see me from wherever you are, so I'll let you know where I am. Look down into the street where the huge tank is. Over."

Glenn couldn't resist the temptation and hoped the guy didn't have a sniper rifle or something to pick him off. He crept over to the other side of the building and peeked over the edge at where the tank was, only to catch his breath at the nicely dressed sheriff standing on top of it and waving his hat around.

"Sheriff Rick Grimes." The man said from the radio. "Before you ask, under the rules of martial law, I won't be prosecuting certain crimes or keeping note of what people appropriate for necessary survival. Over."

Glenn let out the breath he was holding and double-clicked the speak button to send the man the signal that he had his attention.

"If you're looking for vehicles to haul things and to offer your group of people a more secure way to travel, there's an enclosed parking area about four blocks away with several moving vans inside." Rick told him.

Glenn again felt relief and wondered if the guy was going to solve all their problems so easily.

"I also found a mostly untouched cafeteria and raided their pantry of dry goods, all untainted, and I'm willing to share. Over." Rick added.

Fuck, he really did. Glenn thought with a chuckle. "Okay, cop-man. You bought my approval. I'll let the others know and I'll see if they accept, too. Over."

"I'll just sit here and wait." Rick said and put his hat on and sat down on the tank's main gun. "It's too bad this thing doesn't work. It would be fun taking it for a spin and crushing some walkers. Over."

Glenn laughed and made his way back over to the main building where the group had made a temporary base. "I checked the Hummers and they're disabled, too. I don't know how they did that in the middle of getting attacked. Over."

"I'm pretty sure it's SOP, or standard operating procedure, to never give up a working vehicle to the enemy. I went through a temporary army depot back in my home town and everything was out of order, not that they left much of anything when they bugged out. Over." Rick told him.

That was disappointing for Glenn to hear, because it meant they wouldn't be raiding any military bases in the future. "Going radio silent until I hear a decision from the group. Over."

"Copy that, over." Rick responded.

Glenn reached the building and went inside, greeting the two guards dressed in protective gear that had been waiting for him, in case he was followed and they had to disable any walkers. The three of them went into the break room and the rest of the group gathered there, except for Merle.

"We heard." Andrea said and held up the other walkie-talkie. "We've been discussing it."

Glenn nodded and sat down without commenting that Andrea hadn't told him off for what he said.

"What do you guys think?" The large black man named T-Dog asked.

"It's too good to be true." The black woman said. "He shows up out of nowhere, lures off all the walkers in the area, and offers food and a vehicle that we desperately need? It's suspicious."

One of the guards removed his face mask to talk. "He also knew what frequency we use for the radios."

"I was worried about that, too." Glenn said and everyone in the room shifted slightly and looked uncomfortable.

"So, what do we do about him?" One of the men asked. "He's got the only working vehicle in the area and turning down free food would be stupid."

"It would depend on where he stashed it, since I doubt he could pack much into a police car's trunk." Andrea said and a few of them nodded.

"I'll take care of it." Merle suddenly said and everyone jumped in surprise, because they hadn't heard him approach or knew he was nearby. He chuckled at them being so skittish and rested his rifle on his shoulder. "Give me five minutes alone with him and I'll have all the information the guy knows."

The others exchanged nervous looks and looked at Andrea, whom nodded approval.

120 A Rocky Start

I knew something was wrong with my plan to ingratiate myself with the group when it was Merle that came out the side door of the building and approached the tank. I held in my sigh at them sending the crazy nut out to meet me instead of Glenn, whom I had been nice to and thought I had established a good connection with.

"Hey there, fella." Merle said with a slight southern drawl. "Come on down from there so we can have a nice long talk about your offer."

Since I wasn't an idiot, I knew he was trying to get me close enough to attack and probably rob me, not to mention the implication he made about us talking that I knew he really meant interrogating. I carefully stood and walked over to the side of the tank and he took a step back, clearly not enough room for me to safely climb down without him being right there on top of me.

So, I did the only thing I could do. I jumped and drop-kicked him right in the chest.

Merle grunted with the hit and wheezed out of breath as we both fell to the ground. The rifle on his shoulder clattered and slid a short distance away and out of his immediate reach, which was great for me. I stood up, only slightly hurt from the short fall after making sure Merle took the brunt of it, and I straddled the guy's chest with my fist raised. The resigned look on his face let me know that he knew that I knew what his plan was.

I smiled and punched him as hard as I could, popping his head on the pavement and knocking him out. I looted him of his bullets for the rifle and heard the sound of running feet come from the alley where the side door was, so I quickly stood and walked over to the dropped rifle and picked it up before I rested it on my shoulder casually, just like Merle had when he walked over to the tank, and I watched as several men arrived.

They stopped about fifteen feet away and gave me angry looks as they held baseball bats threateningly.

"It seems my generous offer was rejected, if you're here to attack me instead of welcoming me." I said and the three men tensed up, ready for an attack. "I can clearly tell when I'm not wanted, so I'll graciously let you pick that asshole up and carry him back to your group instead of arresting you all for threatening an officer of the law while performing his duties."

Those words made them look a little pale and they took a step backwards.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" I asked and motioned to the unconscious Merle. "Go ahead and take the trash back inside and tell Andrea she made the wrong choice."

The three men exchanged worried glances before two of them stepped forward nervously and grabbed Merle's arms and dragged him back over to the third guy that had kept looking at me, as if making sure I wasn't going to shoot them. His eyes shifted from mine to the rifle on my shoulder and back to my face.

"Confiscating a dangerous weapon during a criminal act is well within the law." I said and rubbed it in their faces.

The guy winced and then sighed. He motioned for the other two to withdraw and they all walked backwards to keep me in sight and dragged Merle all the way down to the side door in the alley. Several other people came out to help carry him and they all went back inside together before the door was slammed shut behind them.

I walked over to my patrol car and put the rifle in the backseat, in case anyone was watching me from somewhere, and I hopped into the driver's seat and drove away. Hopefully, they took the hint and went to get one of the vans instead of ignoring all of my advice. Did everyone suddenly become less intelligent? Why would they choose to attack an officer of the law after he offered to help them? I had to shake my head at those questions.

The problem I had now was that I didn't know where the survivor's camp was. I had wanted to help the group and travel back to where Lori and Carl were, since they were there at the camp with Shane and the other survivors. My only hope now was to keep an eye out for any moving vehicles and then I could follow them at a safe distance.

Memories of stakeouts and tailing suspects floated up from the back of my mind and I smiled because they were going to be very useful. For the next few hours, patience was going to be a virtue.

*

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Andrea cursed and almost stomped around the break room as everyone talked about what just happened. She didn't know how the guy knew Merle wasn't going to be friendly with him or why he quickly disarmed him and knocked him out. Then again, in her mind, she knew it was the best way to deal with the borderline psycho.

"What do we do now?" The black woman asked when the conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"We've been away for a lot longer than we planned for already. We can't waste any more time without risking more walkers showing up." T-Dog said and looked at Andrea. "Did you call the camp and let them know we're okay now and not trapped?"

"Yes, and they cheered." Andrea said and sat down after burning off her nervous energy.

"Did you tell them about the cop showing up?" Glenn asked. He had stayed inside and didn't want to get involved with whatever the others were going to do to the officer. He was a gofer, not an interrogator or an enforcer.

"No, and neither are you." Andrea said and Glenn looked surprised. "They already questioned this mission from the get go. We don't need to give them proof that we could screw up something like that."

"We'll lose everyone's trust." One of the guards said.

"I wish we thought of that before letting Merle make a move." The other guard commented.

"We all supported it, too." The black woman said, remembering her opinion had swayed them.

"It should have worked." The other man complained. "How did he know not to trust Merle?"

Almost everyone shrugged and said they didn't know.

"Maybe he has a cop sense or something." Glenn offered.

Andrea took a breath and sighed. "It doesn't matter now. He's gone and we're still stuck with how to get everything back to the camp."

"We can use his idea." Glenn said and everyone gave him pointed looks. "What? It's only four blocks. I went further than that just scouting for this place and that was with all the walkers around."

"He's right. It's the best option." The black woman said, her hypocrisy matched her guilt.

"Glenn, can you handle it alone or do you need one of us to go with you?" Andrea asked.

"You offering?" Glenn asked with a smirk.

"God, no." Andrea said and shivered, because she could never do Glenn's job. "T-Dog?"

"Yeah, I'll go. I need to get out of here before Merle wakes up." T-Dog said and picked up a bat.

"Why?" The black woman asked.

"He's going to be pissed he was taken out so easily by that skinny cop and lost our only long range gun." T-Dog said and patted Glenn's shoulder. "Let's go."

Glenn nodded and the pair left before anyone else could say anything. With no walkers to avoid or run from, it didn't take long before the pair reached the rental place. It was enclosed with a chain-linked fence that was easily climbed and it had several vehicles inside that were perfect for their needs. Glenn and T-Dog exchanged guilty looks because they should have trusted the cop.

They easily broke open the key storage and grabbed the numbered keys that matched the number on the closest truck, checked the gas, and T-Dog drove the moving van with the large square back area out of the lot as Glenn opened the locked gate. He hit the close button and ran to the van, climbed into the passenger seat, and they went back to the building without any incidents.

They backed the vehicle up to the loading dock at the back of the building. They had been smart and had left all the things they gathered there and the rest of the group met them and were ready to help load it up. It didn't take long with all of them working, even without Merle awake, and they loaded him in as well.

T-Dog suggested tying the guy up with rope and the others decided against it, so he sat as far away from the unconscious man as possible. His reasons for being wary of Merle were still valid and he didn't want to suffer the man's anger when he woke up.

One of the guards drove and everyone settled down to relax for the ride back to the camp. With a reliable vehicle that offered a lot more protection than anything else they had, it wasn't going to take long for them to get back to the others. They also had enough supplies that they wouldn't have to go out scavenging for a long time.

Neither the driver nor the passenger noticed the police car trailing them from far behind, even with no other cars on that side of the road. Since they thought they were safe and alone, the driver didn't bother trying to mislead anyone that might be trying to follow them and drove right back to the camp with no deviations.

The sheriff actually following them was surprised that they had no situational awareness, despite being survivors in an apocalypse, and they led him right to their hidden base camp. It was nestled at the edge of the woods and slightly camouflaged, which was both good and bad, because people were not going to stumble across it looking for survivors and it was also difficult to defend if any walkers showed up.

The moving van came to a stop near the end of a driveway-like passage that had several vehicles already there, like a jeep, a motorcycle, and a van with many windows from a church youth group. Several people rushed over to greet the returning group and celebrated as they hugged and kissed their loved ones, like they were heroes.

Andrea hugged her excited sister Amy and whispered to her that she was fine, that everyone lived, and they had brought lots of things back for the camp. Nearly everyone was happy that they had survived and had returned unscathed, except for Shane. He was a little skeptical, because one update said they were surrounded and trapped and the next update said they were clear without any explanation.

While the others celebrated, Carl was almost in tears as he told his mother he missed his dad a lot. It always hit him harder when other people returned to the camp and it reminded him that he would never see his own dad again. Lori tried to comfort him as Shane asked Andrea and Glenn what had happened to change things.

Both of them were reluctant to speak, because they didn't want to explain what happened. Before they could make an excuse to avoid answering, another car pulled in behind the moving van. A police car. It gained everyone's attention, especially the returning group, and most of them cursed their luck at the cop showing up at their camp right after what they tried to do to him.

Out of all of them, Shane was the most nervous. He recognized the markings on the car as one from his hometown and he knew things were going to change for him if there was another deputy sheriff at the campsite. When the door opened and the man stepped out and hid most of his face with his stylish hat, Shane suspected the guy also knew things would change with him there. He was also clean and his uniform looked new, too.

The guard hugged his wife and child tightly as he stepped back and away from the newcomer, making a few of the people that stayed in the camp nervous, which really made sure that everyone was focusing on the officer, then the man stood up to his full height and moved his hat back to reveal his face.

The reactions were a mix of surprise, awe, trepidation, and shock. Surprise from the older man and a couple of the women in the camp, awe from Amy and another woman at seeing the handsome and clean man that looked great in a uniform, trepidation from the group that just returned, and shock was felt by both Shane and Lori, because they knew that face well.

"Dad?" Carl's voice asked, as if unsure. He took a stumbling step, then another, then he started to run towards him with his arms out. "DAAAAAAD!"

The sheriff beamed a smile at the boy and knelt on one knee to catch him as Carl leapt into his arms. They hugged and Carl cried as he held his father for the first time in almost a month. He normally wouldn't cry, because he was a big boy; but, he had his dead father back and a few tears were okay, just this once.

"It's okay, son. I'm here. I'm here." Rick reassured him and stayed kneeling.

Lori exchanged nervous and guilty looks with Shane and he couldn't keep his face blank like he wanted. He knew she would toss him aside, now that her husband was back among the living. It didn't matter if he thought Rick was dead when he left him at the hospital during the evacuation, because he was there now and everything would change... or so he thought.

When Lori started to walk over to Rick and Carl to join in on the family reunion, Rick held his hand up behind Carl's back in a stop motion. It gained everyone's attention, because he then wiggled his ring finger. His empty ring finger. The small band of whiteness where a ring should be, stood out like a beacon.

Lori's heart plummeted at the sight, her guilt almost crushing her because she also wasn't wearing her wedding ring, and Shane's heart stuttered for a second before it silently rejoiced. Maybe he wouldn't be shoved aside after all.

Andrea's sister Amy also felt really happy at the reveal, because it meant she didn't have to settle for either of the assholes that were still single in the camp. She hated both brothers, despite their skills at survival, and had hoped more people would eventually show up at the camp to give her some options besides bad and worse.

Rick let Carl go to stand up, or tried to, and Carl held onto him. Rick chuckled and scooped the boy up into his arms and stood, easily carrying the extra weight like it was nothing. Before he could do more than nod at Shane, there was an inarticulate yell from the back of the moving van.

The back door slid up and Merle stumbled out. "What the hell just... wait..." He stopped mid-rant and looked around, realizing he was back at the camp. His eyes saw Rick and he stomped over to him.

Everyone was prepared to witness a knock-down dragged-out fight and Rick tried to put Carl down, only he wasn't letting go. Merle reached them and raised his hand... then he burst out laughing and clapped Rick on the back.

"What... what the hell are we seeing?" T-Dog asked, shocked at the reaction.

"You gotta respect a man that can hit hard enough to knock me out long enough for you guys to drag my sorry ass all the way back here to camp." Merle said and kept laughing at everyone's shocked looks. He walked away from Rick towards his own living area at the campsite. "I'll look for you later to talk about getting my rifle back."

Everyone watched him until he disappeared from sight, fully expecting him to run back and tackle the sheriff. He didn't. Merle meant what he said and wouldn't cause trouble over someone getting the drop on him when he was trying to get the drop on them. Plus, he knew with a sheriff around, things were going to change within the group and he wanted to see what happened next.

"You're alive." Lori said, her voice soft and full of disbelief.

"I am now." Rick said, confusing her. "I'm pretty sure I died at least once back in the hospital." He said, shocking her and everyone else. "With no power and no nurses or anyone else taking care of things, I was left all alone when everyone else was evacuated."

Lori felt tears come to her eyes at his words.

"Hey, it's all right. I eventually woke up and made my way out and came here looking for Carl." Rick said and Lori almost choked on the sob she held back at being so easily dismissed. "We can talk about that later." He said and looked over at Glenn. "At least you didn't ignore everything I said and used my moving van idea."

Glenn looked embarrassed. "The group decided not to trust you and I wasn't going against that."

"What does he mean?" Amy asked and glared at her sister. "He's a goddamn sheriff!"

Andrea looked embarrassed, too. "He showed up out of nowhere with all the answers to our problems and even had our radio frequency. It was too suspicious and too convenient, so we discussed it and voted on it."

Amy's glare didn't lessen at all. "Really? His job is to protect and serve! He showed up to help and you decided to not trust him? What would he have to do to convince you he was being honest? Strip off and hand over his weapons?"

"No, Merle was going to interrogate me and find out where I stashed the supplies I found." Rick said and several people gasped, because they knew Merle wouldn't be gentle at all. "It's all right, since I handled him before he could handle me, and he apparently respects that."

"You also took his gun from him, so he's a little lost without it." T-Dog said.

"It's useless as a weapon in close quarters, anyway. The stock will only last a few hits before splintering and rendering it worthless for shooting afterwards." Rick told them and they looked surprised. "I brought five more with me from the police station, so there's plenty to go around if anyone else wants one."

They all looked surprised at the offer.

"I have some ammo for them, as well as a few shotguns. The handguns were all gone except for this one." Rick said and patted the holster on his hip. "I won't be handing anything over without some gun safety lessons first."

A few of the survivors chuckled at the qualification.

"Before any of that happens, who wants a meal of army rations?" Rick asked and they were surprised again. "I have a crate of them in the trunk of the squad car."

"Why not? I've always wondered what they tasted like." Amy said and stepped away from her sister and gave Rick a very welcoming smile. "You'll have to teach us how to prepare them."

Rick gave her the same smile back and motioned to the car's trunk. "Sure, it's really easy. Step into my office and the lesson will commence immediately."

Amy laughed and her hand went to his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "By the way, welcome to camp. It's really nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Rick said and shifted Carl to his hip and used the keys to unlock the trunk, then held a hand out to her to shake. "Sheriff Rick Grimes, at your service."

Amy took the hand and held it without shaking it as she smiled at him. "Amy Harrison, and I can't wait for you to service me."

A few people made surprised sounds and someone laughed loudly.

"I think you and I are going to get along just fine." Rick told her and smiled back.

121 Camping Is Fun

Amy was not subtle at all with her flirting as we all sat around the unlit campfire. It was kind of refreshing, to be honest. The playful banter with her as I showed everyone how to prep the MREs, actually made me feel a lot better about showing up at the camp right after the group returned, instead of waiting and pretending to find them later. The looks on Lori's and Shane's faces made it worth it, too.

With everyone around, neither of them could confront me about anything and they would have to wait until we were relatively alone, assuming I could get Carl to let me go sometime today. It made me chuckle how even with him right there, it didn't stop Amy's flirting even a little bit. Thankfully, a lot of it went over my son's head and only the adults near us understood what was really going on.

Amy was a good-looking woman with dirty-blonde hair and a nice figure. It was even better because she was sisters with Andrea, whom had declined my generous offer of help and Amy was pretty angry with her about it, pretty much cementing me as a means for her to tease and get back at her sister.

While everyone ate and enjoyed the much tastier MREs, the situation back in Atlanta came out and a few of the people at the camp were not happy with how the group had handled things. Then again, they also said they should have brought me in and watched me instead, then turned on me if I proved to be lying or was too dangerous to have around.

I agreed that would have been a better choice, mostly because it would have given them time to see that I was genuine with my offer and I wasn't trying to trick them. I did not call them out for keeping Merle and his brother around, either. Sometimes having dangerous people around during certain situations actually helped.

After the meal, the moving van was raided and emptied of everything as they dispersed it all to wherever it was needed the most. A lot of the food and things went inside the RV, the biggest vehicle they had, because it had a refrigerator and storage space for a lot of it. They had even drained the fuel from the other vehicles to keep the RV topped up for the small amount of power needed, as well for the CB radio and the small single person shower it had.

I offered one of my full gas cans from my trunk and a lot of the survivors thanked me graciously, because they had to use the shower sparingly with so many people around. Of course, being the idiot I was for not keeping my big mouth shut, I mentioned raiding the police station's huge hot water tank and a full propane tank. I was immediately bombarded with requests to go get them right away and to set them up.

My excuses of not having the power to hook them up or run them properly were ignored and I was pointed to a large generator that they didn't have any fuel for. Luckily, I wised up and did not mention the barrels of diesel fuel I had raided from the construction site and instead I promised to head out soon to go to my stash with the moving van.

Nearly everyone cheered and I was enthusiastically thanked, with Amy being the most thankful when her hand sneakily slid down onto my butt and her lips pressed to my cheek. The pleased look she gave me when she let me go, let me know she was very happy that I hadn't reacted negatively or said anything about the casual grope.

I debated returning the favor and decided against it for now, because I didn't want to be too blatant about things. I also didn't ask for anyone to come with me to help, since I didn't want to give away where my stash was. When I mentioned that and going alone for safety reasons, no one objected and a few of them gave me approving nods.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come along for some company?" Amy asked, suggestively.

I couldn't let that question go without an appropriate response. "You'd be coming along all right, only you wouldn't be much help in moving things. We'd be busy all night."

Someone made a snorting sound and softly laughed. I was pretty sure it was a woman this time, too. I didn't try to see who it was, though. Amy on the other hand, gave me a huge knowing smile and a look of anticipation. Yep, she was going to be a fun one.

"Carl, I need to hand you off to your mom..." I started to say and his arms tightened around my neck, almost choking me. "Hey, don't worry. I'm not leaving you."

The others watched as I stood and carried him over to the front of the squad car and pulled out a set of walkie-talkies. I turned both on, hooked one to my belt, and gave him the other one.

"I'll keep mine on the whole time and you can talk to me whenever you want to make sure I'm okay. All right?" I asked him.

Carl let my neck go and hugged it to his chest as he nodded.

"Just press this button twice to get my attention and wait a few seconds. Hold it in to speak, say 'over' when you're done, then let the button go. That way I know I can speak back." I explained. "Want to give it a try?"

Carl nodded again and tapped the button twice. The one on my belt chirped twice, as did Glenn's and the one Andrea had in her bag.

"Oh, right. They all match right now. You can change frequencies like this." I said and showed him how to put the channel onto the next one. I did mine and smiled at the looks the group from Atlanta had on their faces at the simple explanation of why I had the same frequency as them. It was a lie; but, they didn't know that. "Try it again."

Carl did so and only mine chirped.

I pulled the walkie-talkie from my belt and held it up close to my ear.

Carl pushed the button. "Dad, this is kinda fun." He said and let the button go without saying anything else.

"You need to say 'over'." I whispered. "I forgot that the first time talking to Glenn, too."

Carl laughed and it almost sounded like a giggle as he pushed the button. "Over!" He almost shouted and let the button go.

I waited a couple of seconds and pushed the button on mine. "Hi, Carl! I haven't heard from you since a few seconds ago. You must be at least ten years old by now. Over."

Carl pushed the button. "Daaaaad! I'm twelve! No! I'm twelve and a half!" He said and giggled. "Over!"

I laughed and hit the button again. "This concludes the demonstration of proper radio operation. Thank you. Over and out."

"Over and out." Carl said and let the button go.

"I won't be long." I said and walked around the people gathered and knelt to sit Carl next to Lori. "I think it's about an hour or so to get there?" I asked with a shrug. "The traffic's surprisingly clear on the inbound lanes and the speed limit is pretty much only a suggestion at this point."

That earned me a few laughs from the men and comments about speed demons from a few women.

"I'm not sure where the closest hardware store is, though." I said and stood.

"What do you need at a hardware store?" Glenn asked.

"Some essential stuff like piping, fasteners, and maybe some wood for bracing? I'll definitely need some caulking as a sealer." I said and almost everyone gave me confused looks. "I'll explain later."

Glenn stood and walked over to me as he pulled out a map of Atlanta. "There's a pile of ransacked and wrecked businesses along here, between Lake Avenue and Fourth Street near the outskirts of town." He said and ran his finger along a stretch of road. "I'm sure I remember passing a hardware store around there somewhere."

"Thanks. I'll check it out on the way back." I said and started to walk away.

"I'm sorry." Glenn suddenly said.

I paused to turn back to look at him as I gave him my best amused smile. "I'm not that big of an ass to blame you for not wanting to go against everyone on my behalf. We just met and trust has to be earned, right?"

"I... yeah." Glenn said and ducked his head slightly. "I'm just sorry I doubted you instead of giving you the benefit of the doubt."

I chuckled. "That saying sounds weird, doesn't it? What's the benefit of the doubt? Not doubting? Then why is it called a benefit of doubt?"

Everyone stared at me like I was speaking nonsense.

"Someone remind me later that we have to raid a library or something." I said and walked over to the squad car.

I climbed in and drove it back slightly before I pulled it off to the side just enough to get the moving van out. I took the rifle out from the backseat and locked the doors, then put the gun inside the trunk and locked it. They already had a crate of MREs and one of my gas cans and wouldn't be getting any more for a while. I slipped the keys into my pocket and went to the moving van's driver's side.

"Here." One of the guards said and I turned as he tossed me the set of keys.

"Thanks." I said and climbed in, started it up, and backed up slowly. I reached a wider area and turned the moving van around, waved at Carl, and drove off.

Barely a minute later, the walkie-talkie on my belt chirped twice to get my attention. I unhooked it and held it up as I drove with one hand.

"Hey, Dad! Is it working?" Carl asked and was silent for a few seconds. "Over!"

I decided to play a bit of a prank and pushed the button. "No, it's not working. Please leave a message and try again. Over."

There was a click a few seconds later and I could hear laughs in the background.

"Mom said you're being a dick." Carl said and there was some scrambling sounds, a lot more laughter, a shouted 'hey' from Carl, and another click cut off the sound.

I laughed and put the walkie-talkie on the seat beside me and within easy reach. Someone would be calling me back soon... right after Carl was told off for cursing.

*

"I can't believe he's funny, too." Amy whispered after watching the poor kid getting told off for repeating what his mom said. She watched as Lori pretty much dragged Carl over to their tent and they went inside, probably for some privacy.

The other survivors moved off to do their own things as well, with Shane and Dale on afternoon watch, and they left the two sisters sitting by the unlit campfire alone.

Andrea sighed. "Look, you know I love you..."

"I love you, too." Amy said with a roll of her eyes, because she knew her sister was going to rant at her about something.

"I wish you weren't acting like such a slut over a married man." Andrea said.

"Uhhhhh." Amy groaned and managed to not slap herself as she palmed her own forehead. "You saw how he acted when he first saw Lori."

"That doesn't mean they've broken up." Andrea said and Amy gave her a pointed look.

"Uh huh. He clearly saw the guilty looks Shane and Lori shared, then he showed off the missing ring on his finger. We all saw that." Amy reminded her and Andrea reluctantly nodded. "Everyone knows Shane and Lori have been getting it on for weeks now, despite how they think they're sneaking around and hiding it from everyone."

"His wife cheating on him doesn't give you the right to throw yourself at him every few minutes." Andrea tried to explain.

"No, no, no. You left out the best parts. She's cheating on the father of her son, her loving and devoted husband, with his best friend. And his patrol partner. And Shane saved his life after Rick was shot. And then left him for dead at the hospital when everyone evacuated." Amy explained right back.

"For fuck's sake." Andrea sighed and rubbed her face. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Amy gave her a tooth bearing grin that was worthy of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. "You heard what he said to her. He died back in the hospital. Do you understand what that means?"

"No." Andrea said and used as sarcastic of a tone as she could when she spoke next. "Why don't you enlighten me, oh wise and ancient one."

Amy laughed and punched her shoulder. "Their wedding vows, you idiot! What do they say?"

Andrea gave her a confused look for several seconds before her mouth dropped open.

"That's right. Til death do us part." Amy said, almost triumphantly. "He told them he died and pretty much gave Shane permission to keep his cheating wife. Rick can move on to the next best thing to ever happen to him without feeling even a little bit guilty about it."

Andrea closed her mouth and looked away from her very happy sister. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"You get it now." Amy said and stood up to grin down at her sister. "You didn't trust the hottest cop to ever show up, and probably messed up his plans, because he was coming here looking for his son anyway."

Andrea didn't say that wasn't why she was cursing. It was because she just realized she had ruined any chance she had of getting with the guy herself and had pretty much handed the most eligible bachelor over to her very horny sister without a fight. Hell, even the couple of women around the camp that were flexible with relationships, wouldn't stand a chance against Amy's brazen attitude.

"I think I'll go see if I can borrow something nice from Miranda and take a shower in the RV." Amy said and started to walk away as she muttered to herself. "I wonder if Dale would let me borrow his wife's lavender soap?"

Andrea watched her sister for a few moments before she stood and went to their tent. She might be disappointed in her sister for acting like she does; but, she also didn't want her feelings to be hurt if she was rejected. She pulled out a tiny bottle of expensive perfume from her backpack that she had found in the department store back in Atlanta.

Since she knew she could still do something about the situation, her sister was not going to smell like stale flowers when Rick came back to the camp tonight.

*

It was kind of freeing to drive at ungodly speeds on an open highway. I had to at least pretend to leave the area and would camp out for a short while, unload some of my limited inventory into the back of the moving van, and then head back. The ruse would be good enough to fool them, since I doubted they had the means to detect me from so far away.

The only hole in my plan was the distance the walkie-talkies could reach. I hadn't lied and said Carl could call me at any time to check on me, and he did. He just didn't know how far away I actually was. Actually, I didn't really know, either. I chuckled at that and came to a stop at a relatively clear stretch of highway on both sides, set up an alert ward around the moving van, and tried to take a short nap.

Surprisingly, I was out for about an hour and nothing showed up and neither Carl nor Lori called. I dropped the ward and cleaned up, then drove all the way back to Atlanta. I had a hardware store to check out and to see what I could find.

122 Handy Dandy Part One

It wasn't difficult to find the large hardware store. It was also half-burned out and torn apart, as if there had been something valuable inside and someone wrecked it all to stop other people from getting it. Most of the wood was gone to ash or ruined, so I had to pick through it all to find some good pieces. I didn't have the time to search for somewhere else to get wood to build what I needed.

It wasn't until I was cutting through the fifth partially burned 2x4 with a hand saw that my eyes landed on the metal shelves I was using like a sawhorse and I noticed they were bolted together and had multiple holes to screw things together in many different configurations.

I laughed and cursed at myself for being so stupid to miss something so obvious and gathered the few pieces of wood I did harvest into my inventory and then ran for the tool section. I loaded up on everything, including different hammers and things, then I grabbed the biggest socket and wrench set they had and ran back to quickly and easily disassemble a bunch of shelves and stored them.

With a good portion of my inventory in the back of the moving van, I had lots of room for other things. I answered Carl's call when he checked in on me and walked back to the front of the store to check the fronts of the aisles where they listed which items were in which aisles. I found where the camping supplies were stored and didn't have high hopes, because anyone trying to survive would have raided there first.

To my utter surprise, the area was almost completely untouched. There were several tents of different sizes, blow up mattresses, sleeping bags, camp stoves, small propane tanks for them, portable heaters, lanterns, larger barbecue grills, and the larger propane tanks for them as well. Thankfully, they were all still viable and hadn't leaked or were empty.

I stored everything I could, especially the replacement parts, then went to the aisle with plumbing supplies. I grabbed everything I could that I might need, and a few extras, including tools, taps, hoses, fasteners, elbows, sealing tape for pipes, and plumber's glue.

My next stop was the electrical section and I grabbed wiring, plugs, light sockets, a small electrical panel, fuses and circuit breakers as replacements, and then went to the automotive section. I grabbed all the car batteries still there, hookups for them, spark plugs, tools for engines, a smattering of oil filters, all the different kinds of oil they had for engines, and a few spare parts that usually needed to be changed in a car after a lot of general use.

Just for the hell of it, I popped by the housewares section and grabbed several kettles, a coffee maker, a microwave, and a toaster. It might take me a while to figure out how to rig something up to run it all, since I still had all of my general skills in the back of my mind, only they were all reduced to minimal levels. It would take practice and time to get my skills back up to normal.

Then again, I could also cheat a bit and set something fake up and then magic up the inside of the electrical panel instead to generate power. I still knew all the runes and enchantments in my head and only had to get back into the habit of carving them instead of just waving my hand or a wand to form the runes automatically.

I really miss having my full powers. I thought with a sigh and left that area. As I was walking by the next aisle, I saw the bathroom section and had a really cool idea. I went down the aisle and it was only slightly messed up, as if someone shoved things out of the way to get at something else. That was fine, because the larger items were too heavy to do that and had been left alone.

The three things I had in my mind to check were at the end of the row. A toilet, a pedestal sink, and a shower cubicle. All three of them were in boxes and only needed to be assembled, which was perfect, because I could set up a full-size bathroom in the back of the moving van with lots of room left over for a normal bed, a small couch, and maybe a television or fake fireplace.

The shower was great, because it was formed plastic on three walls with a plexiglass door. It could be easily attached to any surface, especially in a corner, and the large square base that came with a drain had enough room inside for two people.

Another stop at the plumbing section gained me enough piping to run the drain out through the side of the van, if I used the wood pieces I had to make a small platform and a metal shelf for the shower to sit on. It was perfect.

I grabbed some quick-setting caulking and sealer, so I wouldn't have to wait for a day for the thing to set, and ran over to where the large plastic containers for water storage were. None of them were large enough to work as reservoirs, unless I stacked them and connected them with gravity-fed hoses and sealed them.

That gave me the idea to grab water filters and one of the smaller sump pumps, which should let me connect the drainpipe back up to the top of the water reservoir. With that idea mapped out, I could then hook the reservoir to the hot water tank for it to draw on, in which it boils the water for use and would conserve a lot of water if it was a closed system.

I would have to leave access points for the filters to clean them, though. Then again, if I put them between each container on the connecting hoses and added valves, it would be downright easy to pop the filters off and clean or replace them. I nodded to myself and grabbed more filters and other things I would need, then left the store.

Two businesses down was a bed store and it had been ransacked as well. I knew the good stuff was always kept in the back, so I made my way through the store, stepping on ruined mattresses, and kicking a few broken frames aside, then I used a sledgehammer on the doorhandle to the back room.

I almost laughed at the near warehouse that revealed and figured I could surprise the people back at the camp with a few fresh mattresses and simple metal bar frames that were easily assembled. That's assuming they cared about it and wanted to use it. They barely used up any space anyway and I stored a bunch of them.

While I was there, I loaded up on as many pillows and bedding supplies I could before I found and stored the largest and most expensive wooden frame and matching mattresses. The deluxe model was three grand and I didn't feel guilty about stealing it, since it was going to be put to good use and as soon as possible.

After I grabbed piles of tarps, my supply run was done. I loaded up what I could in the back of the moving van, filling up the rest of the space with the expensive bed frame, and I stacked the ten mattresses on top of the roof, with five at the front and five at the back. I tied them down and secured them, then drove out of the city and watched to see if there was anyone following me.

I drove off the highway using a different exit and backtracked a bit, checked again for followers, and then made the loop and went back to the camp. No one was following this experienced cop back to his hideout, no sir.

*

Amy was almost beside herself with excitement when Carl had yelled out from his tent that his dad was coming back. It was a bit later than Rick had told them, and that was okay, because Carl had kept them updated with where he was and what he was doing. She wasn't sure where they were going to put up a bunch of metal shelving or what he wanted it for, though.

She pushed those thoughts aside and tried to not think about what was going to happen when he arrived. If she did, she was sure she would be concentrating on the wrong thing and her expectations were going to be too high for anyone to meet, let alone a man that actually understood her. At least, she assumed he did.

Rick had bantered with her like a champion and Amy had a lot of fun just hanging out with him, even with all the other people around them and with his son on his lap, and wasn't that really weird?

Amy's eyes went to her sister and she felt adoration for her, because she had given her some really nice perfume that made her feel extra pretty in Miranda's borrowed dress. The blue color really brought out her eyes and highlighted her hair, making Amy's opinion of the Latino woman go through the roof for somehow keeping the thing wrinkle-free after everything they had been through.

The sound of tires on dirt gained her attention and Amy held herself still to stop herself from fidgeting or to run over to where she knew he was going to park. She didn't want to seem too eager to see him and she also didn't want him to think she was desperate, even if she was. She hadn't had a good time in so long that she was sure she would be dry as a bone down there before anyone else saw it.

Some of the others saw the moving van coming and also stopped what they were doing to look, then they were all surprised when the van turned near the end of their driveway-like road and then it swung around and backed up towards the camp instead of driving in.

"Are those full-size mattresses on the roof?" Juan asked. He and his wife Miranda had walked over to watch Rick's reaction to seeing Amy all dolled up.

"They are." Dale said and walked over too as he dropped his binoculars around his neck. "I wonder why he put them on top with all the room the cargo area should have in the back?"

That comment had a few of the survivors at the camp wonder as well. What could be in the back?

The van's driver's side opened and Rick carried out a handful of tarps. "Can I get a hand spreading some of these out? I need to unload a pile of stuff to make enough room in the back to set up my bed."

"I love you!" Amy shouted and blushed a little in embarrassment.

Rick's eyes went to her and he took in all of her as he gave her a very warm smile. Amy's heart started to pound in her ears at that look and she blushed fully, because she knew he really liked what he was seeing. It was definitely worth the price of doing all of Miranda's laundry tomorrow to borrow the dress.

"I'll give you a hand if you hand over one of those mattresses for me and my family." Juan offered.

Rick looked over at him and nodded. "I've got the metal frames and some shelving for braces buried under the shower stall and toilet box, so we need to move those first."

"Honey, don't get mad if I tell him I love him, too." Miranda joked and her husband looked surprised, then he barked a laugh.

Rick chuckled and tore open the tarp packages and put one down at the side of the road. "Where's a good spot to store things temporarily and out of the way?"

"Right over there." Dale said and pointed to a relatively flat area past the parked vehicles. "How long are you going to leave the stuff there?"

"Maybe a day or two while I work on making the van livable and put up shelving." Rick said and handed half the tarps to Juan and they both walked over to the spot. "Who wouldn't want a tiny apartment on wheels with proper facilities inside?"

Dale chuckled, too. It was his RV everyone was using for washing up and it was a small apartment on wheels. He helped them spread the tarps out and the three of them walked over to the moving van. Rick didn't warn them before he pulled up the rolling back door and everyone gasped, because the thing was packed from floor to ceiling with stuff.

"Don't ask me how I got it all in there, because I don't really know myself. It just ended up this way." Rick said and started handing a few of the smaller things out. "Try to keep the boxes of plumbing supplies and the different pipes and taps separate. I need those to set up the full shower tomorrow and to hook up the hot water heater."

"What about power?" Dale asked and let them pile the smaller boxes in his arms.

"I have a pile of car batteries, wiring, and electrical things I need to figure out. I'll do it quick and dirty at first, just to get the thing up and running, then I'll make something that'll last a lot longer and fix it." Rick told them and pointed to where the batteries were stacked up.

"Goddammit, we didn't have half this amount of stuff after the raid and we had a whole crew." Juan said and pulled out one of the long pieces of wood bed frame.

"Leave that right here." Rick said and pointed to the tarp beside the road. "It's part of my bed frame."

Amy watched as they unloaded a ridiculously expensive looking bed that needed to be put together and two very nice mattresses were put on them. One was a half box spring and the other had a padded top that looked both firm and comfortable. Yep, yep, yep! It was definitely worth getting dressed up for a date if she could sleep on a bed like that!

A few of the other men came over, including Shane, and the unloading happened much faster with Dale directing them at the drop-off point. Of course, the two men also asked for the same payment as Juan and Rick agreed, if they could find a ladder, because he forgot to bring one. That made them all laugh, because he had pretty much brought everything else from the hardware store and forgot that.

When they had cleared out a good portion of the cargo area, about halfway to the front, they saw the things Rick himself had said he raided from other places. That included the dry foodstuffs from the cafeteria as well as all the different propane tanks stacked together off to the side. No one mentioned the small gun rack or the nice shotguns and rifles hung there.

"How the hell..." Shane started to ask when he saw the huge water tank and propane tank from the police station at the far front of the cargo area.

"Don't bother." Juan said and clapped him on the back. "He doesn't know how, either."

"I won't need help moving them around, since I'm going to build them in place." Rick said and the men gave him odd looks. "It'll cut off some room; but, I'm putting the bathroom and shower there anyway, so keeping it all at the front makes more sense than trying to do it here at the back and having it all in the way."

"Ha, I didn't even think of it that way." Juan said. "If you need a hand with it..."

"...call someone else?" Rick asked and he laughed.

"You're going to fit in just fine here." Juan said and picked up the four metal pieces to his bed frame. His wife Miranda called over their two kids and they helped her carry several metal shelves. "I'll be back for some tools and the mattress."

"And a ladder!" Rick reminded him and his chuckle echoed a little.

The other two men also grabbed the metal frame pieces and promised to come back for the shelves and mattresses, too.

Shane stood there and didn't say anything for several seconds, then he took a deep breath.

"Don't." Rick said without looking at him and Shane sighed. "I don't want to know."

"Rick, I..." Shane started to say.

"It's only been a few weeks and you both moved on already." Rick said and looked at his best friend with as blank of a face as he could. "I know where I stand and I know where you stand." He said and tried to not smile. "Lori chose to stand with you. Whether I was dead or not, doesn't matter. She chose you."

Shane tried to keep his face as blank as Rick's and he couldn't. His smug smile flickered to life before he could stop it and he didn't try to fight it anymore. "I really did think you were dead."

"I know." Rick said and turned away. He didn't comment that it took almost no convincing on Shane's part for Lori to spread her legs for him, probably because she wanted to make a more stable environment for Carl to grow up in. Being a single mother in the apocalypse was a daunting task.

"Do you need a hand with that?" Shane asked as Rick picked up one of the large bed frame pieces.

"No, thanks. I got this." Rick said and slid the heavy wood into the back of the moving van. "Let me know what the watch schedule is tomorrow and I'll try to take a shift or two this week."

Shane nodded and walked away, very happy with how things were turning out.

Amy watched in anticipation as Rick spent a short amount of time putting the huge bed together properly. He added the mattresses on top of it in the right order, the half box spring on the bottom, and then pulled out the pillows and bedding from somewhere. Had he hidden them or something?

Rick hopped down from the van's back and closed it, then walked right over to her. "Hi, Amy."

"H-hi!" Amy squeaked and tried to not look nervous with him so close.

Rick gave Amy that warm smile she was really starting to like and her heart sped up. "I'm a bit gamey, so if you can wait for a few minutes while I get a quick shower, I'll be ready for our date."

"Okay!" Amy said, excitedly. "I mean, sure. No problem. I can wait a bit longer."

Rick chuckled and leaned in to kiss her cheek briefly. "I'll be right back."

Amy nodded and watched him walk across the camp and over to the RV, her mind racing at all the possibilities the night might hold for her.

"Steal one of the pillows for me." Andrea said from beside her.

"AH!" Amy nearly jumped out of her skin at the fright. "What the hell!" She exclaimed and smacked her sister's arm. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Andrea gave her a deadpan stare. "I've been standing here the whole time."

Amy blinked her eyes at her, then blushed to a deep red from embarrassment. Rick had been so distracting that she had completely forgotten that her sister was right beside her.