03 • brave ruler

THE WALKING DEAD

- a rick grimes fanfic story -EDITED: 4/6/24

GREENE FARM 📍

season 2, episode 2(part 2)

   It had been at least 45 minutes since The Sheriff, Rick, and his injured son had appeared. Hershel and I continued to work on the young boy to make sure he was stable but we both knew that he was quickly losing blood and he'd need it soon.

I was sitting while keeping pressure on the young boy's bleeding abdomen, Hershel checking in every few minutes to make sure to take a rag to wipe away the boy's sweat and make sure he was stable.

"Hey," I called out as I saw Hershel pass the door, he turned and quickly walked in. 

"What is it?" He responded instantly. I motion for him to hand me another pillowcase, to which he does so. Quickly I remove the old wash cloth and replace it with the white pillowcase, watching as blood oozes through this one as well.

"He's losing way more blood, you need to get Rick— For a transfusion," I mumbled out loud enough for him to hear, Hershel walked towards me putting his hands over mine. My eyebrows furrow in confusion, I look up at him.

"You go get Rick, I'll stay here with the boy."

I let out a stiff chuckle, standing up and looking at him confused. "Uh... Why?" I ask, "I'm fine right here."

"Just do as I say, Magnolia, I'll have to start tryin' to get some of the fragments out anyway," Hershel mutters in my direction as he takes my spot, I scoff. He doesn't think I'm ready, does he? After our moment earlier, him saying he needed his assistant back, I thought he wanted me to help. He probably thinks I'm weak.

Back when I lived next to the Greene's I used to help Hershel with the animals, whenever they needed check-ups I'd always help. 

Hershel used to be a veterinarian, he would sometimes take me to work with him so I could watch as he took care of animals or even did procedures on them. Of course, I was in high school at the time, knowing I wanted to make a career out of this as well. 

I loved animals my whole life, and I was taught the best by Hershel. I moved to Atlanta for college, and my parents moved with me of course, even though I claimed they weren't meant for the city.

Then something happened that caused me to move, move far away to Alexander City, Alabama, my hometown. I was lost and decided to work full time, my relationship with my parents was slowly crumbling the more I let them out. But I finally came to my senses and started building my relationship with my parents once again.

I couldn't help but be upset that Hershel didn't want me to help, I get that I didn't help right away earlier due to how sudden it was and how that same man that appeared looked like the same man in my dreams, but I still felt embarrassed that Hershel didn't want me to help.

I sent another long glace over at Hershel before sighing and walking out of the bedroom, I instantly looked and saw Rick and his friend sitting in the other room. I quickly walk over to him, interrupting their conversation.

"Rick," I call out, his eyes snap towards mine in worry, his friend looking at me the same. I can instantly tell that these men care deeply about this little boy, which means a lot. Rick quickly stands to his feet and follows me to the room where his son lies. "He needs some blood."

Both me, Rick, and his friend walk into the room, I watch as the little boy squirms around, seeming to have woken up, Maggie and Patricia standing and trying their best to hold him down. I widen my eyes and work fast to try and get the equipment ready for a blood transfusion. 

As soon as the boy sees his father he starts crying out, "Dad!" Rick quickly makes his way to his son's side, rolling up his sleeves. I glanced over to see that Hershel had begun trying to take the bullet fragments out, which explained why the boy was crying out so loudly. I shook my head, working quicker to get everything ready.

"Hold 'em down!" Hershel ordered Rick's friend, the man nodded and quickly made his way over to hold down the boy's shoulders. I walk over to put blue plastic gloves on, quickly pulling them on, I grab my equipment and walk over to Rick.

I watch as Hershel digs deeper through the boy's wound the small child screams at the tops of his lungs, crying out loudly. I grab a sanitary wipe, grab Rick's arm, and quickly wipe the spot where I'll take his blood. 

Rick snapped his head towards mine, our eyes met for a split second, and at that moment I felt my face strangely heat up, my stomach growing nauseous as Rick peered into my eyes with an emotion I couldn't quite decipher. 

But as soon as it starts, it ends, the boy screams in agony, Rick's face contorting to anger at the sound, he turns and sees his boy in distress, "Stop, You're killin' him!"

"Rick! Do you want him to live?" Hershel yelled back impatiently, but Rick didn't respond. He stared at his boy, a sad look on his face.

"Rick," I called out, he didn't respond or even look my way, his eyes stayed on his kid until I repeated his name yet louder. 

"Rick!" I yelled over the screaming of the boy, Rick finally looked over at me with an emotional look, a look I knew all too well.

 My lips fell into a soft frown, "He needs blood. Or he won't live. Please." I whispered to him, his chest moving rapidly as he breathed heavily. His eyes search my face for a second before he finally nods and holds out his arm towards me.

I sighed in relief, finally being able to puncture his arm with a needle to draw his blood. As I finish I look up at Rick to see him already staring down at me, "Thank you." He sniffles out.

 I curtly nodded and offered him a sincere smile, his eyes intently watching me as I readjusted a few things. I noticed how Rick carefully watched me, but I kept my eyes down on his arm to hide the fact I was softly smiling to myself, my face flushed with familiar crimson.

I shouldn't be having this reaction to a man I have just met, a married man, with a kid... and his kid has just been shot! 

I knew after his son recovers he'll probably move on with his life and forget about me, live happily ever after with his wife and son. But although I'd only met him a few hours ago, it felt like I'd known him forever.

Rick's body stiffened as we heard his son's cries come to an end. Rick's mouth opened in horror, I glanced over to see the look on Hershel's face as he continued to dig into the bloody abdomen.

"He just passed out," Hershel confirmed quickly, I heard Rick let out a breath he'd been holding. His friend did the same and slowly backed away from the bed. 

Hershel continues to dig, stopping, then slowly pulls out one bullet fragment. "One down, Five to go...."

•••

    It had been at least 30 minutes later, and all of the Greene family took turns checking up on the young boy to make sure he was stable. Rick sat right next to the bed, giving the boy his blood. I slowly walked into the room to see Rick gazing at his boy lovingly, from that gaze alone you could tell he cared deeply about his son— his family.

Rick's gaze moves to me as he watches me enter the room, a stethoscope, and a blood pressure cuff in my hands. 

I smile at Rick kindly, to which he weakly returns to me. I slowly sat myself down in the other chair next to his son, wrapping the Stethoscope around my neck. 

My eyes gazed down on the little boy's face, his face pale, his eyes closed as he breathed evenly. I bring the back of my hand to his forehead, checking for a fever which he thankfully didn't have. I look up to see Rick staring at my actions, his bright eyes boring directly into mine. 

As we continued our intense eye contact I felt my heart fasten up a bit, my hands began sweating. I closed my eyes and gulped, stop feeling like this. You just met him. He has a wife and a kid. It's purely just because he's physically attractive. I slowly open my eyes, looking down at the boy, sighing.

"What's his name?" I asked awkwardly, Rick stared at me, his eyebrows furrowing. 

"What?" He hummed out, his head wagging back and forth, making it known he didn't hear me.

"Your son, what's his name?" I repeated clearly, I picked up the blood pressure cuff and adjusted it to his left arm. 

Rick clears his throat, "Carl... His-His name is Carl." He roughly says. I could tell he was tired, probably because of the run here but also the cause of the amount of blood he was giving.

"Free man," I hum out, Rick's face contorted to confusion, "What?" He asks softly. I look up and shake my head, quietly punishing myself for what I said. 

"Carl, the name, it means 'free man' in uh, German. But-But in uh, Old English it means 'low person of rank', basically starting from the ground up." I blurted out quickly, and as soon as I said it I regretted it. 

There was a long period of silence between us as Rick took in my words, I slowly put the stethoscope in my ears and began listening to Carl's heartbeat while looking down at his pressure.

"His pressures good, stable." I carefully said, I took out the stethoscope and placed it on the bed, I slowly and carefully took off the blood pressure cuff and placed it on the bed as well. I rested on the chair for a moment, watching Carl slowly breathe in and out.

"What's your name, I uh, I never heard it." Rick blurted out. My eyes snapped towards him, an awkward smile growing on my face. His blue eyes observe me, studying my face as he waits for me to respond.

"Magnolia," I tell him, my eyes squint as I smile, and I watch as he returns it. 

"Magnolia..." He repeated softly, I only nodded.

"What does your name mean?" He asked me softly, I froze and stared at him with a surprised look. I smiled to myself, slowly lowering my head to look down at my fidgeting hands.

"Well, the English meaning comes from the magnolia flower. In Latin, it could mean 'of great excellence', but uh, the name is also inspired by nature and filled with youth and kindness." I informed Rick passionately, I looked back up from my hands, my eyes meeting Rick's. 

His eyes were soft as I looked at him, his hair messy, his skin pale and clammy, yet he still had a soft smile on his face as he listened to me ramble. He was majestic, in my personal opinion, but I felt embarrassed, grossed out by these sudden feelings towards this strange man I'd only met a few hours ago.

"Wanna know what your name means?" I asked playfully, a soft smirk on my face. Rick let out a breathy laugh, closing his eyes and lightly shaking his head.

"Ya' know what the name Rick means?" He asked me with a grin, I pursed my lips and dropped my eyes down to the bed as I tried to hide my smile.

"I know what every name means, well... almost every name," I told him, I crossed my legs as I leaned back against the chair, keeping my eyes on Rick. I watched as Rick's eyes began to fill with curiosity, his eyebrows quirked and he slightly leaned forward.

"Why?"

I took in the question, I could give him the long version, the sad version. But I don't. 

"I read a lot as a kid." I briefly explained. He slowly nodded, the look of curiosity still lingering. Comfortable silence filled the room, we both softly gawked at one another before I awkwardly cleared my throat.

"So... You wanna know what your name means..?" I carefully ask, a quirky smile on my face as I tilt my head to the side playfully. He smirks widely, a soft dazzling twinkle in his eye, he gives me a quick nod to tell me to tell him.

"Well, Rick is also short for Richard of course..." I gave him a look, my eyebrows raising, "but, the name Rick means 'brave ruler' or 'peaceful ruler'." I skillfully answered, my eyes staying right on Rick's, I awaited his response as he stared at me, lost in thought.

"My name isn't short for Richard." He responded, I covered my mouth as I loudly laughed, surprised by his response. He had a bright toothy grin on his face, his eyes squinted as he laughed along with me.

"You gotta nickname? Magnolia is a long name to have, gotta have a nickname, like uh, Maggie?" He asks, I only shake my head.

"No, not Maggie, Maggie is Hershel's daughter's name, she was also helping with Carl earlier," I explained to him, his had nodding in understanding.

"But if you insist givin' me a nickname, you can call me Nola, or uh Mags, maybe even Lia but no one ever really calls me that anymore." I listed off quickly, my face heating up in embarrassment. Rick's smile only grew, he let out a soft, exhausted laugh and I forced out a laugh as well.

"Okay, Lia." He carefully whispered out. My smile slowly faded, I felt as if my face was on fire as he said it, my heartbeat even began to fasten. 

No one had called me Lia in years, everyone calls me Nola or Mags. Rick and I stared at one another, even as I stood from the chair he continued to stare at me.

"I'll have uh, Hershel come in here to double-check on Carl, Bye." I hastily let out. I cleared my throat and quickly walked out of the bedroom, my face felt like it was boiling as I walked out. 

I didn't even bother to turn around or wait for a response as I walked out. I brought my cold hands to my burning face and carefully cradled my head. I breathed deeply and walked into the kitchen where Maggie, Jimmy, and Beth both sat.

Maggie's eyes met mine, her eyebrows quirked up. I playfully rolled my eyes with a smirk as I sat beside them, a groan falling from my mouth as I sat back in the chair. Both Beth and Jimmy were lost in conversation with each other, softly giggling at each other.

"What's going on with you?" Maggie asked with a cheeky smile on her face, she raised her eyebrows and dropped them. 

I groaned and shook my head, "It's nothing."

"It's nothin'? Sorry, I assumed there was somethin' when I caught ya' gawking at that man since he got here!" Maggie loudly whispered in my direction, I groaned and snapped my head towards her. 

God, I feel like I'm in middle school all over again. "Hush! There's nothin' going on." I growled in a playful tone, Maggie rolling her eyes.

"With the way you've been looking at him... I'd say you know him. Do ya' know him? Did y'all..." Her words drift off towards the end, she raises her eyebrows again. 

I gasped out and playfully hit Maggie's shoulder, "Ew, Ew, Ew! No! God no! I don't know who that man is at all!" I preached firmly. Maggie looked at me a certain way, giving me the impression she didn't believe me.

"Maggie..." I sighed loudly, rubbing my hand over my face. 

"Look. There is a reason I've been lookin' at him like that... But you'll probably think I'm crazy." I murmured out, Maggie squinted her eyes in confusion but stared at me to tell me to keep talking.

"Ya' know how he's in a Sheriff's Uniform?" I asked quietly, she slowly nodded her head, "Okay... well ever since my birthday— the day this all— started," 

I sighed, "I've been having these dreams... these dreams where I'm runnin' through the woods, runnin' from somethin', and then I fall, I break my ankle, and this... creature, this bloody creature comes at me, chomping at me, I always am so close to death, no weapon in my hand, no way to escape and as soon as the— thing — the creature — is about to attack, I hear a gunshot, and the creature falls on me dead," Maggie's cheeky smile faded the more I explained this dream, her eyes wide as she listens.

"I look up, and..." I gulp, letting out a deep shaky breath, "There's a man, a uh, a man in a Sherrif's uniform, with a brown hat," I sputtered out slowly, Maggie's jaw dropped as she took in my words. 

"He's holding a gun, a Colt Python, I think. He walks over to me, holding out his hand towards me and he says something— but I— I don't know..." My voice slowly fades off, Maggie staring at me in a way I've never seen before.

My eyes are stuck staring at the table, I slowly sighed and brought my hands to my eyes. Nothing but silence filled the room, I lowered my hands and looked over at Maggie to see her eyebrows furrowed looking lost in her thoughts.

"You think I'm crazy huh?" I laughed out uneasily, her eyes snapped towards mine and she hurriedly shook her head 'no'. 

"Nah... I mean, it's crazy that ya dreamed about all of this happenin' the... world endin' and the man, but I don't know, I don't think you're crazy," Maggie affirmed, I just smiled up at her and let out a grateful sigh, I leaned in for a hug, which she accepted. 

We were both smiling and hugging each other, which quickly ended when we heard a bedroom door open and close. Maggie and I pulled away from the hug, standing up and walking towards the room where Carl lay.

Both Maggie and I watched Rick and his friend walk out of the room, I even noticed how Rick was still in his uniform, which was still drenched in Carl's blood. 

Rick slowly sat himself down in a chair as his friend leaned against the wall with a sigh, Maggie stepped away and sat down in a chair next to Otis. 

My eyes searched over the room, my arms crossing over my chest as I stared at Rick's friend, who I still didn't know the name of. I could tell Rick and this man was close, they were like brothers almost.

His friend was tall as well, he was muscular, his hair was brown as well as his eyes, and he was very attractive, but something about him didn't sit right with me.

"He's stable for now, Hershel just said." The brown-eyed man said, I closed my eyes, cursing myself for forgetting to tell Hershel to check up on Carl, but I guess he found his way.

I closely watched Rick, his head that was once staring down at the floor perked up, his eyes were filled with tears, "Lori has to be here, Shane— She has to know." He sputtered out in a hushed tone, and I took note of his friend's name. Shane.

Shane sighed before replying, "Okay, I get that. I'm gonna handle it... But you've gotta handle your end." Rick's eyebrows furrow at Shane's words, confused by his friend's words.

"My—My end?" Rick questioned confusingly, Shane leaned down to Rick's level as he continued.

"Your end is bein' here, for your son. Even if he didn't need your blood to survive, there is no way I'd ever let you walk out that door. Man... I'd break your legs if you tried." Rick's eyes only softened as he listened to his friend, I slowly turned my head to look at Maggie to see her instilled in the conversation.

"I mean, you know that right? If something happened to him and you weren't here... If he slipped away while you were gone, you would never forgive yourself for that, and neither would Lori man." Shane finished his small rant, my eyes stayed on the floor.

"You're right," Rick responded softly.

"When was I ever wrong?" Shane jokingly said with a soft chuckle, I heard Rick stiffen his. Silence filled the room, I shuffled on my feet as I uncomfortably looked around the room.

"You know, when.. when you were in that hospital, the one you were never supposed to leave, man. You should've seen Lori. She was like—" Shane let out another chuckle, he moved closer to Rick, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I heard Shane talk about Rick's wife, but also when he mentioned Rick being in a hospital, what happened? Wait... why was it any of my business?

"The strength of that woman... you can imagine it. See- see, that's what you gotta have now. I mean, Carl, he needs that from you. So, you wire yourself tight my friend, hmm? You hear?" Shane leaned his head closer to Rick's, his hand moving to his face as Rick did the same, they both leaned their foreheads together. "You've got the hard part. You just leave the rest to me, okay?"

Rick looks into Shane's eyes and pats the side of his head, a tear falls down his face but he nods, "All right." 

Shane only nods his head as well, repeating, "All right."

I glanced over at Maggie to see her staring at me intently, I shook my head and walked out of the room until I saw the door to where Carl was open. Everyone stood to their feet, waiting for Hershel to talk. I leaned against the wall as I listened.

"He's out of danger for the moment, but I need to remove those remaining fragments," Hershel informed calmly, his eyes on Rick's. 

Rick only shook his head with a harsh gulp, "How? You saw how he was."

"I know, and that was the shallowest one. I need to go deeper to get the others." Hershel quipped, Shane and Rick sighed together sadly. 

Shane let out a soft, "Oh, man." 

Hershel only shook his head before saying, "There's more."

This was the point where I pushed myself off the wall, walking closer to the group to hear what Hershel had to say and to see if I could help.

"His belly's distended, his pressures dropping, which means..." Hershel slowly trailed off, looking at me for a moment, my eyes wide. Rick and Shane both turned and looked over at me, their eyes pleading for me to answer.

"What does it mean?!" Shane asked worriedly, his voice rising. I looked at Rick and only saw his face grow more worried as well.

"Uhm... It could mean there's internal bleeding, a fragment might've nicked one of the blood vessels. Which means he'd need to be opened up, find the bleeder so it can be stitched up." I explained thoroughly, Rick and Shane looked at one another in surprise, then looked at Hershel who nodded his head in agreement.

"So... Surgery?" Shane asked breathlessly, Hershel nodded his head.

"Basically yes, but he can't move while I'm in there, not at all. If he reacts like how he did earlier, I could sever an artery and he'll be dead in minutes. To even try this, I have to put him under. But if I do, he won't be able to breathe on his own. Same bad results." Hershel explained. 

We all sat in silence once more, I brought my hand to my mouth as I thought of this situation. Rick turned and looked over at me, then over at Shane, and finally landed back on Hershel.

"What'll it take?" Rick painfully asked, I closed my eyes and brought my hand to my head, losing myself in my thoughts.

"A respirator," I responded plainly, Otis nodding along and pointing in my direction letting me know he knew the answer as well. 

"What else?" Otis asked.

"The tube that goes with it, extra surgical supplies, drapes, sutures." I carefully go and sit in a chair as Hershel continues to list off items, I brought both of my hands to my mouth as I stared at the floor. I feel as Maggie stands next to me, her hand on my shoulder.

"If you had all that, you could save him?" Rick asked in a hopeful tone, his eyes searching Hershel's.

"If I had all that, I could try." He replied.

I stood to my feet, listening as they tried to come up with a plan. They all talk about how the hospital went into flames a month ago, the high school having the supplies they need but they knew it was overrun by creatures.

"I said leave the rest up to me. Is it too late to take that back?" Shane joked, I glared at him, my own emotions getting the best of me. I tightly close my eyes, bringing my hand to my temple to massage it.

"I hate you goin' alone," Rick whispered, Shane ignored him, asking Hershel to give him a map.

"You won't need a map— I'll take you there. Ain't but five miles." Otis asserted, my eyes widened, and I quickly looked up and shook my head instantly.

"Otis, No." Patrica quipped, I watched as Otis looked at her with sad eyes.

"I'll go," I presented, everyone looked at me, Maggie's eyes widened and she turned her body towards mine.

"Nola, don't." She seethed through her teeth, I rolled my eyes. Rick peered up at me with a look I couldn't quite understand, Hershel shook his head along with Otis.

"I gotta, I know what Hershel needs. I can help." I mumbled I was unsure of my actions but I knew I had to help somehow. 

Hershel only shook his head again, "Nola, no. I need you here, Otis and Shane can handle this, I don't want you going out after-"

"Stop," I harshly cut him off, I clenched my teeth tightly and closed my eyes in frustration. 

"Nola, I'm goin' I'm responsible for what happened. I ain't gonna sit here while this fella takes on this alone. I'll be alright." Otis walked up to me, placed his hand on my shoulder, and lightly squeezed it. 

I sent him a soft look, quietly wishing him good luck before walking away from the group and entering into the same room Carl was in.

I really don't want them to go.

—

WORD COUNT: 4500+

god damn this chapter was long as shit omg

anyway, sorry for a lot of dialogue, i'm trying to get the hang of this since i've never done it like this..

do you guys prefer short or long chapters?

anyway i'm going to bed, it's 4am

L

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