02 • the sheriff

THE WALKING DEAD- a rick grimes fanfic story -

EDITED: 4/6/24 & 11/16/24

GREENE FARM 📍

season 2, episode 2

  It had been over a month since the world ended. And so much had happened since I joined the Greene Farm, and thankfully, they've let me stay in a guest bedroom ever since I appeared. It was as if time hadn't passed between us. 

For the past month, I've only grown a larger bond with all of them, we're all sharing time together to make up for all the years we had apart. 

The Greene Family was my second family, whenever my mom, my dad, Myles, and I lived next door we would hang out together almost every day. Hershel was practically a second father to me, Maggie was a sister that I've always begged my mom for. Along with little Beth, of course.

Every day since everything started, since my 30th birthday. I've had the same dream, over and over again. Every night the same dream happens, and every time I wake up wanting it to continue. I'm always so filled with curiosity, who is the man in the sheriff uniform? Why does he show up in my dreams each night? Does this mean something?

I let out a deep sigh as I continued to stare at the ceiling, it was about eight in the morning. Every morning I'd wake up, and spend an hour staring at the ceiling at a total loss on what to do. 

Although I am happy I found the Greene family and that they are all okay, I still can't help but shake the fact that my parents aren't here with me, Myles isn't here. Even in a house filled with people, I feel utterly alone.

My eyes closed tightly, my head slowly shaking as I tried to forget my thoughts. I pulled myself out of bed with a stretch, I then stood to my feet and opened the door, making my way down the long staircase. 

As I made my way down the stairs I smelled food being cooked, I took a quick look around and walked straight to the kitchen. Maggie turned her head around while she cooked eggs, and she offered me a soft smile which I gracefully returned.

I turned my head to see Hershel, Patricia, Beth, and Jimmy (Beth's boyfriend), all sitting at the table talking to each other. I slowly made my way to an empty spot at the table, silently sitting.

My eyes glanced over the table to notice another empty seat across from me, the seat Otis would usually sit. I froze in worry, my stomach lurching up. Millions of thoughts crossed my mind, where is he this early? Is he okay? Was he bit?

"Where's Otis?" I questioned aloud, trying to hide the fact that I was worried. Ever since the world had gone to shit I've grown more cautious about what happens to others around me, scared to lose anyone else.

"He's out huntin', just left a few minutes ago," Patricia replied as she took a sip of her drink.

 My anxious heart slowed at her response, my hand that was once clutched onto my heart sliding to my lap.

 Ever since I went back to Atlanta a few weeks ago I've been on my toes, I haven't slept normally. Going back to Atlanta was a mistake, a nightmare. 

But we needed more supplies, we needed more food, medicine, anything just in case. And of course, I went for my reasons as well, which I didn't even want to think of.

I'm pushed out of my thoughts when I notice a plate of food being placed in front of me, the seat beside that was once empty now filled. I turned my head to see Maggie in the chair beside me with a tight smile, a fork in her hand as she began to dig into her food, gesturing me to as well.

 Lately, I've been very thankful for Maggie. Not a day goes by where I regret coming to this farm, being reunited with Maggie has made me realize I'm not alone.

I took small bites of my food slowly, zoning out as everyone else had discussions about Otis out hunting, about needing more supplies, and thanking Maggie and Patricia for helping make breakfast. 

I zoned myself back into the discussion once I heard a chair screech, causing me to look up from my plate. I watch closely as Beth quickly stands to her feet, grabs Jimmy's hand, and stomps out of the Kitchen.

"What happened?" I whisper to Maggie in confusion, the green-eyed woman looks at me and sighs, "She wants to go on a run to the city with Jimmy, daddy said no. Unsafe." Maggie discloses. I hum in response, taking my fork and stabbing another piece of egg.

"Don't know why she'd wanna go out there in the first place after everything I told her," I muttered, Maggie awkwardly cleared her throat and didn't say anything else. 

I look around the table and see everyone staring at their plates, no words or sound coming from them. All I could do was huff under my breath, suddenly and quickly standing to my feet, causing the chair to screech against the hardwood floor.

"I'm gonna get cleaned up. Do some chores." I announced quickly, snatching my plate from the table and placing it in the sink. Everyone quietly stared at me as I brushed past them quickly, my teeth tightly clenched together. 

Tears leaked from my eyes as soon as I leaned against the bathroom sink, staring at myself in the mirror. 

Memories of my last run in Atlanta flash through my mind. I brought my hands to my eyes and rubbed them, removing any evidence that I had been crying. To try and get my mind off of things I turned the shower on, took my clothes off, and stepped into the shower. Letting out a long and relaxed sigh as I felt the hot water on my skin, I thoroughly washed my body and hair.

•••

   Outside of the shower, I tied my black combat boots on my feet tightly, quietly sighing and looking at myself through the bedroom mirror. I pulled up the sleeves of my red shirt and readjusted the knife on my belt before walking out of my bedroom and out of the house. 

My eyes glanced down at my watch to see that it was 11:04 am, I smiled to myself and quickly made my way towards the horses.

There was a soft smile on my face as I fed and watered the horses, rubbing their noses and softly talking to them before moving on to the chickens. I grabbed any eggs from the chickens, giving them food and water.

 After I finished feeding the horses I made my way to the porch, seeing Maggie sitting in a chair with a book in her hand. She looked up from the book as she heard me walk up the steps, smiling at me to which I just offered her a nod. As I took a seat next to her she let out a deep breath, put her book down, and scooted up in her seat.

"Look, Nola... I'm sorry--" I effortlessly cut her off.

"No," I whisper, clearing my throat before continuing, "You don't have to be sorry about anything." I give her a soft smile, I watch her as her eyes soften. 

But from that look alone, I knew exactly what she was thinking, cause she gave me that look weeks ago after I came back from Atlanta. I shook my head and looked away from her, my voice cold, "You need to stop lookin' at me like that, Mags."

Maggie let out a breathy laugh, sending me a confused look, "Look at you like what?" her accent stronger than ever. 

I rolled my eyes and let out a scoff, standing from my seat. My finger pointing right at her. "That-that look! Like I'm a kicked dog! I-.." I spit out angrily, but I regret my words as soon as they come from my lips. I pulled myself back, taking a deep steady breath. 

"Mags," I call out, "I am fine, you don't need to be worryin' 'bout me. I. Am. Fine."

The both of us stay silent, Maggie looking at me with wide eyes. "You don't seem fine, Nola. I'm just lookin' out for you, wanna make sure you're okay." Maggie said calmly, I let a frustrated sigh escape my lips, my hand rubbing over my face.

"You don't need to look out for me Mags, I'll be fine. I promise."

Maggie opens her mouth to reply but before she can, her head turns towards the field, her eyes squinting. 

In confusion I turned my head in the same direction, my eyes squinting as well, I even brought my hand up to cover the blazing sun but I still couldn't see what Maggie was. That's when Maggie quickly stood up, grabbing binoculars from the ground and moving down the steps of the deck.

"Maggie? What is it? What do you see?" I asked, desperate for answers.

"Go get Dad, Go, Go!" She yelled demandingly, I flinched back and quickly ran into the house.

"Hershel! We need help!" I scream out into the house, my voice cracking. As I turned and walked towards Maggie I finally saw what she saw, and I gasped.

I watched as a man carried a small boy through tall grass in the field, the young man grunting and crying out as he quickened his pace towards the house, noticing Maggie and me. 

My hands began to shake as I observed the limp child in the man's arms, the worst coming to mind. Maggie and I continued to stare out into the field, as the man crossed the gate is when Hershel, Patrica, Jimmy, and Beth all walked out as well.

The man is near the steps of the house when I can finally make out his face, and I feel my heart drop down to my ass as I see him. Holy Shit. My breathing stopped completely in pure shock, my body frozen as he stumbled towards the house.

The man was tall, he had bright blue eyes, the bright blue eyes. He had a hint of stubble on his face, and a sharp jawline along with it, he was exactly how the man in my dream looked. 

He was the man in my dreams. I noticed the hat he wore, a brown sheriff's hat, he even had a matching sheriff's uniform. Is he really a sheriff? Is he real?

"Was he bit?"

I leave the trance I was in as I hear Hershel yell out to the sheriff, my eyes continuing to gawk at him in shock. Am I going crazy? I quickly shook my head, realizing the real issue was the injured boy in his arms.

"Shot, by your man." The man replied breathlessly, his voice was soft but deep, a southern twang mixed into it. I took in the Sheriff's words, 'Shot by your man', Otis?!

"Otis?!" Patricia asked exactly what I was thinking, but the man's desperate voice cut her off.

"He said find Hershel, is that you?" The man frantically asked, I kept myself on the porch as the others followed Hershel to take a look at the man.

As much as I wanted to follow along, I physically couldn't. My body was still struck with shock. I knew I had to follow along, to help, it was my job. I just couldn't. 

"Help me- Help my boy!" The blue-eyed man cried out, my heart breaking in my process. 

Hershel repeated to bring the boy inside, the blue-eyed man quickly doing so. I watched as everyone turned back around to make their way inside, I quickly walked inside to stay out of the way, knowing Hershel would ask for my help if needed.

Even though I wasn't sure if I was in the right head space to do so. 

"Patricia, I need my full kit!" Hershel ordered out, rolling up the sleeves up his arms as The Sheriff followed him, tears streaming down his face. 

Hershel makes eye contact with me, "Mags-"

"Yeah?"

Both me and Maggie looked at each other as we both replied, I let out a small chuckle."Nola," Hershel corrected, Maggie stepped out of the way as I listened to Hershel intently.

"Painkillers, coagulates— Grab everything—" I instantly walked towards Hershel's office and the bathroom, grabbing everything I could. I then practically ran down the stairs, arms full of stuff as I made my way to the spare bedroom where I saw everyone working and the pale, bloody child on the bed.

"Is-Is he alive?" The Sheriff asks, I notice how there's no emotion in his voice, his face pale, sweating. 

He's in shock, well... he obviously was-- his son just got shot. God, I feel dumb sometimes.

 I stepped forward as Hershel ordered the man to fold up the pillow sheet and put pressure on the boy's wound, I quickly walked up behind Maggie giving her the items I had found. I watched as Hershel checked for a heartbeat, the Sheriff watching carefully as he continued to put pressure on the boy's wound. I stood and watched anxiously, waiting for Hershel to declare if the boy had a heartbeat or not.

"I've got a heartbeat," Hershel announced, a relieved breath escaping me. I looked up and saw the Sheriff's face soften a bit also letting out a breath of relief. 

"I got it— Step back," Patricia told the Sheriff quietly, only the man didn't move an inch. 

Maggie stepped away from me, walking over to the man, "We need some space." She tells him, he still doesn't move an inch.

I felt completely helpless standing in the room motionless. I could tell the others were waiting for me to help, surprised I wasn't helping. But I couldn't move, I couldn't remove my eyes from the Sheriff, the same man I'd been having dreams about since this all started. 

I closed my eyes, allowing myself to let out deep, even breaths before blinking my eyes open again. I shook off my whole body, finally coming to my senses, and deciding to do my job.

"Your name?" I asked him, he looked over at me, surprised as I quickly walked over to the boy's body and began working on him as well. He stared at me blankly, his eyes searching my face. 

I gulped, staring right back at the Sheriff, waiting for his response.

"Your name, like she asked please?" Hershel repeats, the bright blue-eyed man looks away his eyes finalizing on his boy. 

"R-Rick," The Sheriff stammered out. 

"Rick?" I repeated for confirmation, his name falling from my lips softly. He swung his head towards me again, his head swinging up and down slowly. 

"I'm-- I'm-- I'm Rick." He nods repeatedly, shock continuing to course through his body. And as much as I want to help him, maybe even comfort him, I have to make sure he doesn't lose a son.

I glimpsed over at Maggie to see her getting the IV ready, due to the fact Rick the Sheriff was standing in the way, I motioned for her to hand me the IV bag, which she did. I gently but quickly took the IV bag from her hands and skillfully inserted it into the young boy's pale arm. "Got it," I tell Maggie with a curt nod, which she quickly returns.

"Rick," I call out to the man calmly. The Sheriff's blue eyes met mine, his mouth open as he breathed in and out slowly. 

"We're going to do everything we can, I promise." I continued comfortingly, Rick only stared at me with his wide eyes, his mouth moving as if he was going to say something but no words came out. We both stared at one another, his eyes searching my face.

"Rick, we're gonna do everything we can, okay? You need to give us some room. Now." Hershel repeats, knocking Rick out of his trance. The Sheriff finally listened and hesitantly backed away,  his eyes dropping to the floor. 

Both Maggie and Patricia move in to help the boy once the father of the boy backs away. The man— Rick looks over at me one more time before turning towards the window and slowly walking out of the room.

 As Rick exited the room I slowly lowered my gaze, awkwardly clearing my throat to push down the strange attachment I felt towards the stranger. I quickly turned to look at everyone else to continue my work, but as I turned I noticed Maggie staring at me, one of her eyebrows raised in suspicion. 

I flattened my lips and turned my eyes away from her, continuing to work on the injured child who lay almost lifelessly on the bed.

"Did it go through?" I questioned Hershel, he took a quick look up at me and shook his head. I cursed out and quickly snatched up more pillowcases seeing as he bled through the first one.

 "He's losing blood quickly," I added quickly, Hershel nodded in confirmation. 

"I'm gonna go get more supplies, I'll be quick," Maggie called out to us before leaving the room. Hershel removed the first pillowcase, replacing it with a washcloth. I kept ahold of the IV bag, slowly moving it on a nearby lamp so it hung.

At the same time Maggie reenters the room so does Rick, followed by another man who I didn't know, and thankfully Otis. 

"Hey, You know his blood type?" I ask Rick, he looks up at me and nods. 

"A-positive — same as mine." He answered shakily.

"That's fortunate," I whispered, he only nodded in my direction before taking a closer look at his kid. 

"Don't wander far then, we're gonna need you," Hershel told him, Rick stayed silent, observing his son.

"What happened?" Hershel finally asked, I slowly turned my head towards Otis as he began to stutter out words. 

"I... I was tracking a buck. Bullet went through it. Went clean through."

"Damn..." I mumbled aloud, causing Maggie to jab her elbow in my ribs. I let out a small grunt in pain before standing straight once again, making sure to send a glare towards Maggie.

"The deer slowed the bullet down, saved his life but it's an issue since it didn't go through clean." I then announced, Hershel nodded in agreement.

 "Yeah, it broke into pieces If I can get the bullet fragments out... and I'm countin' six." He said, his eyes squinting while peering down at the little boy's wound. I watched as Otis walked towards Patrica, finding comfort in her arms.

I kept a close eye on Rick, watching as he suddenly and violently shook his head, "Lori doesn't know... my wife doesn't know— my wife doesn't know." He repeats over and over tearfully. His friend made his way towards Rick, bringing a hand to his shoulder as Rick began to softly cry. 

My eyes forcibly look away from him, mad at myself for gawking over a man who doesn't even know me, whose kid has just been shot and I've been too distracted to help.

Rick and his friend walked out of the room slowly, Patrica and Otis leading them somewhere to sit. I made my way to stand next to Hershel watching as he continued to put pressure on the gunshot wound.

"I'm sorry I didn't help at first, I was distracted." I softly said, I stared at the back of Hershel's head as I waited for his response.

"Nola. I get it, it reminds you when-"

"Please don't," I muttered emotionally, Hershel stopped and sighed, slowly twisting his body to face mine

"Look, I don't blame you for being distracted, I understand. Just please try to get your head in the game, I need my best assistant to help me." Hershel joked with a soft smile, which caused a soft breathy laugh to escape me in response.

"I'll always be the best assistant."

Hershel then told me it was best if I left the room, telling me he didn't need any help for now. I slowly walked out of the room to be met face-to-face with the Sheriff, Rick.

"Hey-- hey," He called out frantically, my blue eyes shooting from the ground up toward his tear-stained face. "Is he okay? Is my boy— is he okay?" He continued raspily, his voice wavering with every word. 

I looked into his eyes his baby blue eyes with a gaped expression, his bright blue eyes were puffy and filled with tears as I stared right into them. 

Noticing I didn't reply to him, I nodded my head, assuring his son was okay. He let out a relieved breath, sniffing and rubbing its eyes. "Thank you." He whispered, my eyebrows furrow, and although I want to ask why he's thanking me I just nod my head and walk past him.

As I walked by Rick, I couldn't resist stopping myself. I slowly turned around to get another glimpse of him. He held his brown Sheriff's hat in his hand, intently staring down at it. 

I closely observed him as he walked towards the screen door, his eyes slowly trailing up to look outside the house, supposedly lost in his thoughts. 

I kept my gaze fixed on him, still unable to believe that the man from my dreams was standing right in front of me.

The Sheriff is really here.

__WORD COUNT: 3600+

longest chapter yet i think???

i spent 4 hours writing this episode, i kept going back and forth on if i should bring rick here now or later but i decided now.. it's 3am and im super tired, but i do plan on trying to write out the rest of episode 2 tmr

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