CHAPTER SIX ━━ DEATH'S GRASP,
Season One   :   Episode Two of The Walking Dead

By the time Adeline Grimes found herself crawling under the bus and into the walker infested streets, her nose had grown numb to the putrid smell of death. They were quick to figure out that Ricks plan worked, and the stalkers truly believed that they were apart of them. The girls breaths of fear went unheard by the monsters, her hand loosely gripped around the metal handle of her baseball bat that she brought with her. The heart in her chest pounded harshly, pumping blood of adrenaline through her veins. It was as if she could hear it in her ears, feel it in her fingertips as she brushed shoulders with a walker. It growled at her, but only slowly went on its way.

Thunder tumbled above them, lightening cracking in they sky — her body staying close between Rick and Glenn. The three of them had slowed their pace, a slight limp to their step to help blend in with the hoard. "It's gonna work. I can't believe it." The boy next to her whispered lowly beneath his breath, eyes wide of shock as he looked to the siblings. But before her brother could scold him for talking, Adeline quietly shushed the boy and motioned her head to the walkers surrounding them. Just as she did that, a female walker pushed between her and Glenn and growled at the boy. He went the extra mile, throwing a growl it's way to blend in more, rolling his eyes into the back of his head. His actions convinced the walker well enough, its body pushing past the three of them.

Rain split from the sky, pouring down onto them in a harsh manner. Adeline felt the trench coat get heavier by the second, the guts and clumps of intestines falling off of the material. The handle of her bat began to get slippy, fear replacing the adrenaline in her veins. "Rick.." She whispered in fright, her voice cracking and eyebrows scrunching up in pure anxiety. The blood seeped through the coat and onto the ground, more than likely staining her skin beneath it seeing as she had taken the denim jacket off of her arms before walking into the arms of death. The only thing that protected her skin from walker bites was the long sleeved shirt she wore and the trench coat, both being thin material.

"You're okay Addy." Rick mumbled in assurance back to his sister, Glenn's frightened voice breaking through the rain — "The smell's washing off, isn't it? Is it washing off?" He panicked, the walkers taking notice in their straight and on guard posture, the smell of death slowly wavering off of them. "No it's not.." Her brother assured the two, until a walker growled loudly and lunged to the three; "Well, maybe."

With that, he twisted around on the heels of his feet and sent the axe blade into the walkers head. Adelines eyes widened, her grip tightening on the bat as she heard her brother screaming for them all to run, which she did. The boots she wore scuffed against the concrete, a rotted hand grabbing onto flap of the trench coat and pulling her back into its grasp. A fearful gasp left her lips as the rain pattered onto her face and blurred her vision — raising the bat in her hands and swinging it down onto the walkers head. It weakened its hold on her, which she took as an advantage and kicked herself away from it. Hurriedly, she picked up her speed and rushed to the metal gate before them. She tossed the baseball bat over the towering fence, wrapping her fingers around the metal rings and pulling herself up.

Glenn and Rick climbed closely behind her, throwing their own weapons over as she jumped onto the ground of the other side and tumbled to the concrete. A burning pain shot through her ankle, a cracked scream leaving her lips as she scooted back on her bottom and tears welled up in her eyes. Adeline fumbled with the fabric of the trench coat, ripping it off of her arms and tossing it to the ground. "Glenn!" Her voice ripped through the air as Rick fired shots into the walkers that tried to climb the fence, the boy stopping in his step and rushing over to the injured girl.

The walkers growled loudly against the weak fencing, the protection ready to give at any moment as Adeline grabbed her bat and with the help of Glenn, got on her feet. With his arm across her back and underneath hers, she no longer had to fake a limp while they rushed to the vans. "Get the keys, go!" She yelled, pushing herself off of Glenn and resting against a metal column, reaching for the gun on her side. The sounds of the boy breaking into the box that held the keys to the vehicles was muffled by gunshots and growls, Adelines hands trembling and her ankle aching painfully as she aimed at the hundreds of walkers itching to get to them. Fear racked her body, eyes frozen on the monsters. Their skin was rotted, blood dripping from their mouths and long nails digging at the metal of the fence. She couldn't move.

It wasn't long before Glenn tossed her brother a set of keys, Rick catching them with ease before rushing to his sister and gripping her side as he helped her to the van. Adeline was ushered into the passenger, climbing behind it and into the back just as Glenn hoped in the spot and shut the door. Rick twisted the keys into the ignition, starting the vehicle up and hurriedly pulling out of the walker infested city. "Oh my god, oh my god, they were all over us!" Glenn panicked in the front seat.

"Adeline, you hurt? Are you okay?" Rick turned his head, keeping hands on the wheel as he eyed his sister that backed herself into the metal walls of the van. Her mind was racked with thoughts of fear, "I'm fine. I'm okay." Adeline's voice waved over a whisper, hands trembling as she let the gun fall out of her hands and onto the floor of the van. The hot sting that shot up to her thigh when she moved her leg caused a grunt to leave her chapped lips, eyes trailing down to her sore ankle. She slowly rolled the material of her pant leg up, untying the boot and slipping it off of her.

Pulling the sock off of her foot, a dark color of purple mixed with green splattered against the pale skin of her ankle, creating bruises and a pain that was unexplainable. She was scared of not being able to run and escape the arms of death in time with the shape she was in. To her luck, it wasn't broke, but rather sprained. The jump from the top of the fence down was the reason, not landing correctly weighing a heavy toll on the girl. Fear and a feeling of emptiness rumbled in her stomach, no backpack with medical supplies on her back to help herself out. With the burning pain running up her skin, Adeline wished she hadn't left the pain pills on the rooftop of the department store.

The van skidded to a stop, which caused the girl to glance up and eye the two men in the front seat. "What are we doing?" The question slipped out of her lips, body staying still on the floor as she put the sock back on her foot and rolled the tight material of her jeans back down to where they belonged. Instead of forcing it to make contact with the sore spot, she cuffed the end and forced her swollen foot back into the boot.

"We need to draw the walkers away." Rick informed curtly before opening his door and slipping out of the van, Glenn trailing quickly behind him. Adeline pursed her lips and nodded slowly, "Great idea." She mumbled before wiping away at her face and pushing her body farther back into the flat metal of the walls.

The loud sound of glass shattering was followed by an ear piercing car alarm, the noise sure to draw any walkers attention. Adeline put two and two together, peeking her head around the front seat and watching as Glenn jumped into the red sports car before taking off down the street. Rick hurried back to the van, slinging the door shut behind him while tossing a screwdriver into the passenger seat. Glancing back at his sister, he checked to make sure she was okay before pulling out of the parking lot and following after Glenn. "Just tell me that you're okay." His voice entered the range of Adeline, causing her head to lift once more.

"I'll be okay." The three words of unsettling assurance reached Rick, a slow nod of confirmation giving the girl enough to lower her head back down to her hands and eye the now dirtied bandage tightened around her palm. Blood crusted around the sides of it, informing her that the flow had ceased and she no longer had to worry about bleeding out over a knife wound on her hand. The sound of her baseball bat rolling around the ragged metal floors mixed with the loud car alarm, aggravation and annoyance layering in her mind at the chaos. Why couldn't things go her way? Just for one day?

The tires of the van skidded against the road, the vehicle slinging to the side as Adeline gripped the handles to keep herself from flinging into the wall opposite of her. Preventing the slamming of her head against metal, she brought her legs to her chest and sat her chin against the top of her knees. Rick continued to drive recklessly, ringing of the car alarm and rolling of the bat repeatedly clashing against his sisters thoughts. Quickly, she reached her hand out to the bat and ceased its rolling — stuffing it between her legs, she rested her head against the wall and breathed deeply.

Anxiety settled deep inside the bottomless pit of her stomach, a prolonged beeping coming from the van as Rick put it into reverse. "Get the door," His voice bounced off of the walls, his sister grabbing the metal for support as she slowly yet hurriedly raised herself to her feet and limped over to the door. Rick rushed over to her, the two of them grabbing the handles and slinging it up, Adeline holding onto the side to knock her fist against the metal slide up door of the department store. In a split second it was raised, the faces of her newfound friends greeting her with wide and relieved eyes.

T-Dog tossed bags to the Grimes siblings, both of them catching the material and tossing it further into the van. Adeline caught her own bag that Jacqui had carried down before grabbing the woman's hand and pulling her up into the back with her. Walkers made their way to the back of the store, growling loudly at them as they made their escape and Rick jumped into the drivers seat to take off. The tires screeched against the ground, leaving the monsters in the dust as Adeline fell to the ragged floor just as Morales slid the van door shut. Sweat laced the survivors skin, pants of lost breath being the only thing heard in the vehicle, caramel eyes searching the group for one violent person — MERLE DIXON.

Silence greeted them, uneasy eyes looking around for the same person. Adeline could feel the guilt radiate off of her brother as he searched the back for the man, his eyes filling up with lost hope as he turned back to the road. "I dropped the damn key." T-Dog informed, his voice laced with blame as he held his side in pain. Even though the wounds were inflicted by Merle, he couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving a human being chained to a roof. And to make things better, the building below him was infested with hungry and angry walkers.

"Where's Glenn?" Andrea pondered, tearing her eyes away from T-Dog in search of the boy. The blonde sat in between Adeline and Jacqui, her arm locked with the brunettes. She didn't say anything about, forgetting their differences and replacing it with the gratitude that they were still alive. And to her, that was all that mattered. Adeline didn't want to see anyone dead, she hated it before the world ended and that hatred only grew stronger when it did. A relieved chuckle left her chapped lips, head resting against the wall. "He's living the dream," Adeline informed, assuring the group of his safety.

Slowing to a stop, Adeline tiredly rested her head against the back of her brothers seat. She tucked herself into a corner on the drive to the survivors camps, hoping that she and Rick wasn't going to be turned away and sent back into the city. The tires creaked beneath her, the sound shaking her from her sleep along with the soft hand of Jacqui that wrapped around the girls forearm. "It's okay, I got her." Ricks soft voice assured the woman, his eyes trailing to Andrea who hurriedly exited the van — the rest of the survivors following close behind.

"Come meet everybody, you two." Morales patted Ricks shoulder, opening his door and stepping out of the van.

Stepping into the back of the van, Rick rested his hand against Adelines shoulder as she looked down to her hand and furrowed her eyebrows to suppress the emotions that dug into her skin. "I miss him." The three words wavered out of her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. Her fingers brushed against the hard material of the rings on her fingers, her brothers arms wrapping around her and pulling her into a tight hug. Adeline returned the favor, tucking her face into his neck and holding onto him tightly. "We have each other." He assured his sister, pulling back before slowly helping her to her feet.

They neared the edge of the van, Rick hopping down first before placing his hands against his sisters waist and lowering her down onto the ground. A small pain that she brushed away ran up her leg as her injured foot made contact with the dirt, hand gripping her brothers arm. Keeping herself steady, she placed her hand against the outside of the van and walked into the camp. "Hey helicopter twins! Come say hello," The voice of Morales reached the two as Adeline let go of the van and stayed glued to her brothers side.

The sound of a gun clattering to the dirt covered ground reached her ears just as a shocked breath left her brothers lips. Adeline raised her head, brunette strands framing her face as her eyes lifted up. A feeling of revelation slammed into her stomach like a train off of its rails, her grip on her brother loosening as an immediate wave of tears crashed into her. Euphoria rocked her bones, the sight of her husband standing only a few feet away with the same expression plastering his face causing her to stray away from her brother — her hand cupped her mouth, a soft sob leaving her lips.

Shane Walsh took a small step forward, disbelief yet relief racking his chest. The gun he once held made contact with the ground, every worry and feeling of stress he once had wavering off of his body and lacing against the nature surrounding them. He noticed the slight limp in his wife's step, he noticed the dirt that caked her skin and the blood that coated her hands. He noticed the bandage wrapped around her palm, he noticed the tears streaming down her face, he noticed the uneven breathing that left her lips. He noticed everything — every small and insignificant detail about the woman he loves, HE NOTICED.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was taking off in a rushed sprint and wrapping his arms around the waist of Adeline Grimes. He pulled her into his chest, and inhaled her scent. It was her, it was really her. His hand wrapped around the back of her neck, holding her close and never wanting to let her go as he tucked his face in between the crevice of her neck and shoulder. Adelines hands trailed up his back, trembling at the touch that she forever longed to feel and never thought she would again. She welcomed his hold, tightening her arms around him and letting out a choked sob into his shirt. The metal of his necklace made contact with her face, the cold feeling sending goosebumps cascading down her spine. And it was then when she realized,

SHE HAD MADE IT HOME.

━━━ 🐍
2847