Status: On-Going, please enjoy!
The McManus'
Atlanta
"You sure you've ridden a horse before, Sheriff?" Tyler teased, watching the man twitch nervously next to her. His scowl told her enough to have her bent over laughing, one hand gripping the wooden fence while the other clutched her stomach.
"Oh man, aren't you in for a treat," She teased him, yet again, waggling a finger in his direction as she straightened and made her way towards the saddled up horse. Tyler mounted the stallion with ease, smirking over at Rick as she patted the horse's rear. Rick just rolled his eyes as he came forward and put his foot in the stir-up, hoisting himself up behind her with jerky movements; he gripped her shirt suddenly when the horse shuffled a bit under the weight.
Tyler chuckled, "Better hold on tight there, Sheriff, poor boy's been cooped up since the beginning - bet he's dying to release some energy," Sure enough, they took off at a gallop, causing Rick to yelp and Tyler into a laughing fit. They finally slowed to a steady walk after a few miles, Rick releasing his death grip on Tyler with an awkward throat clearing - Tyler just chuckled as she fumbled around in her pockets before pulling out a cigarette and her lighter.
"Ya never told me how you lost your family, ya know," Tyler mumbled around her cigarette, watching as a group of birds flew over their head; they were just outside of Atlanta now, she could see the beginning of the highway.
Rick cleared his throat, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand to wipe away some sweat, "I was shot, a week or so before this happened, went into a coma. Just woke up a few days ago to...this," His voice cracked at the end as he waved his hand about dismissively. It was quiet for a while as Tyler processed this, silently thanking the Heavens that he survived the Apocalypse.
"You should add "Apocalypse Survivor" to that badge of yours, Sheriff," She teased, keeping her voice quiet as the atmosphere shifted to a quiet somber feel; Rick just snorted, an arm sneaking it's way around her waist again as the horse trotted around a dead body. As they trotted over an overhead bridge, both looked around at the utter dead feeling the abandoned cars gave, the way the cicadas drew out their call, birds chirping merrily - it seems like everything but nature itself was affected.
"Jesus..." Rick mumbled, gaze still on the side of the highway that was jammed with cars, dirty with months of dirt and being exposed to the elements. Tyler just stayed silent, sharp eyes taking everything in as she encouraged the stallion into a trot again - the way the air was just thick and stagnant didn't sit right with her. It reminded her of the day that her base camp got overrun - the dead tend to have a sort of feel to them that the air just gives off, a sort of warning, Tyler supposes. It made her uneasy to go into the city but if her sister was still at the CDC, she had to go get her.
"C'mon," Tyler grumbled, wiping her forearm across her forehead, her anxiety didn't make dealing with the typical Georgia heat any better. She longed to take her shirt off and just be in her sports bra but the arm around her waist was a constant reminder that she had a companion - not that Rick would've slipped her mind so easily, not since he was on her mind nonstop since she met him. It was unhealthy and she knew she had to stop - especially since they were looking for his family - but her brain just won't allow it; when she thought she succeeded, Rick would do something that automatically threw her mind into overdrive that left her feeling more frustrated then friendly.
"If anything, we can always siphon the gas from those cars if we ever come by here again," Tyler suggested, trying to make light of the current situation; Rick merely hummed in response, mind lost in his thoughts as his gaze looked beyond the damaged and broken Atlanta. Tyler sighed heavily, nudging the horse into a canter as they broke the edge of the city, the uneasiness blooming in her chest the further they went.
Tyler eyed a charred city bus warily, noticing it had bodies inside it and had irrational hope that they would stay stationary - she had walked past some cars that had some of the non-walkers in them - but fate had another idea as they past the bus, footsteps stomping down the bus steps to follow the giant piece of living meat. The horse whined and shuffled unsteadily, Tyler trying to comfort the poor animal before coasting him forward; Rick just stared at the walkers that ambled out of the bus - for some reason, one of them stared right at him as if it was trying to acknowledge him but Rick knew better, saw first-hand that they weren’t people anymore, that they died and turned into savage animals. Still didn’t make him feel better at the way that particular one was staring at him, sending chills down his spine as they cantered away from the stumbling corpses.
“I don’t have a good feelin’ about this,” Rick murmured, leaning in toward Tyler’s neck so that others didn’t hear him; Tyler pointedly ignored how her body reacted to having him leaned in and breath on her, choosing to focus on the area around her.
“Glad I’m not the only one with the ominous feeling,” She muttered back, chewing on her lip as she scanned the skyscrapers; Atlanta was one of the cities she wanted to visit when she come back from her tour and she should’ve been ecstatic to be here now - but now that the apocalypse happened, the city was a giant ghost town, no longer the lively and exciting city that caught her attention. Now, it belonged to the dead, both literally and metaphorically.
As they slowly made they’re way further into the city, they came across more and more dead bodies - specially, dead soldiers; Tyler had to bite down on her lower lip to keep from crying as she witnessed two crows having a go on a rotting Army man. Rick must’ve seen what she saw because he squeezed her hip gently, a simple gesture to help her feel better and she appreciated it greatly, yet she still felt like she failed her fellow brothers - even if they were from different branches.
Being too deep in her thoughts, Tyler wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, until Rick started poking her in the side repeatedly and pointing up at an office building. Holding in a sigh, she tilted her head to see what got him all riled up and felt an uncomfortable amount of hope bloom in her chest as the reflection of a helicopter shown in the glass windows. Throwing all her rational thinking out the window, she nudged the horse into a gallop, hoping to catch up with the helicopter but a part of her knew that it was impossible - didn’t stop her from trying, though; what did stop her, however, was the street full of walkers she just turned the corner to.
Horror filled her as thousands of decaying faces gazed up at her and she just sat there, paralyzed as they started towards her. Tyler felt like she was in a fog, she knew she was in danger, that she was putting Rick in danger, but she was still processing the thousands upon thousands of walkers that filled the whole street. It was when they started moving towards them made her instincts kick into gear, pulling back on the reins and turning tail, the horse sprinting away like it was itching to. Only to run straight into another herd of walkers coming in from the other streets - where they all suddenly came from, Tyler had no idea but she did know that if they didn’t get out of there, neither of them were going to find their families.
Frantic, she stood up in the stir-ups to see if she can find a way out over the thousands of dead people when she noticed the tank a few feet from them. She wanted to smack herself in the face, she had noticed the tank when they first walked in but in her current state of panic, she wouldn’t blame herself too bad - only if Rick got out alive, then she wouldn’t. Just as she turned to tell him, the horse reared suddenly as the walkers tried to grab a hold of it, causing both Tyler and Rick to plummet to the ground as the horse tried to fight off the walkers to no avail, falling victim to the ravenous corpses.
“Rick!” Tyler shouted, crawling towards him as she dodged flailing hands, “Go to the tank, there’s a latch underneath,” She paused, lurching backwards as one of them grabbed a hold of her backpack. Slipping it off, she grabbed one of the straps and yanked it free before swinging it back and smacking the walker with it. “Go now!” She yelled at Rick, who was still laying there with his hand outstretched towards her. “Go!” Unsheathing her knife, she slashed at any walkers that were coming after her and gave Rick more time to crawl underneath. Seeing no choice but to go ahead of her, Rick army-crawled his way under the tank, shooting at a few walkers that were coming in from in front.
He found the latch quickly and slid in, shutting it firmly behind him, praying that Tyler got away and found a safe spot. Taking a breather, he sat back against the wall of the tank and let his head drop, fisting his hair tightly as he tried to figure out how to get out - which was nearly impossible at this point as the moans and groans of the corpses outside drifted through the tank. Rick wasn’t even aware that the top latch was still open before a body was climbing down it; he had already drawn and loaded his gun when he recognized the pants that belonged to his companion.
Turning around after closing the hatch, Tyler raised an eyebrow at Rick’s gun, “Not a good idea to shoot that thing off in here - pressurized air. Could blow out your eardrum,” Rick grimaced and re-holstered his weapon. Seeing movement in the corner of her eye, Tyler turned and grimaced herself when she saw a dead soldier towards the back that was trying to pick itself up; sighing, she flipped open her knife and went to him, shoving the knife as gently but forcefully as she could into his temple, ending his life for good. She wiped the knife on her pants before closing it and slipping it back into her pocket, taking her rosary out at the same time, fingering the wooden beads with familiarity.
First, she crossed the soldier and slid his eyes closed before crossing herself, bringing her rosary to her lips, she began to pray for the fallen soldier in front of her and all the others that died on the front line at the beginning of all this, as the tears gathered behind her eyelids. Rick watched probably the last known military survivor pray for all her fallen comrades and felt great remorse for her, knowing that there’s a possibility that everything she’s come to know is all gone - no military, no government, no orders to follow - add on to the fact that her sister could be one of them, he wondered how she was still able to move forward.
As Tyler moved to stand up a bit, Rick finally noticed that she was covered in a lot of blood and rushed forward to check her for any injuries - mainly, if she had a bite - if she was bit, he didn’t know what he would do...or how he would deal with it. Within their short time together, he had come to care for her immensely - he couldn’t think of how he would deal with this new world without her anymore and that thought terrified him, if he was honest with himself. He was married for Christ’s sakes - at least, he still hoped he was, if what he saw at his house was anything to go by. But even then, anything could’ve happened and while he was still holding hope that he would find his family, he found himself growing attached to this gruff Irish Marine.
“Rick, I’m okay, I’m not bit,” Tyler said softly, resting her hand against his neck gently. A look from him made her sigh and refrain from rolling her eyes - though playfully. She was liking the attention he was giving her, even if it was from a life threatening bite or just friendly affection. “I’m not scratched either. Honestly, I’m fine,” She cupped his face firmly, forcing him to stare into her eyes so he could see that she was serious. Rick held his breath as he tried to make out the emotions in her eyes before he hesitantly nodded, releasing his breath as he pulled her towards him in a tight hug.
“I can’t lose you,” Rick breathed, nose buried in her hair. It was true, Tyler could not leave him, whether she wanted to or not, she was to stick by his side - she was the only friend he could possibly have left, he didn’t want to think about her leaving, it physically pained him, deep within his chest. Tyler just shushed him gently, murmuring that she wasn’t going anywhere as she petted his hair, holding him tightly.
Rick calmed down slightly, being more relaxed and pleased by her ministrations than he should be, but he has yet to remove his face from her hair, taking in as much of her scent as possible to commit it to memory, “Any idea on how to get out of here?” He asked quietly, feeling the sweat beading along his nape, the tank soaking up the hot Georgia sun and with the combined body heat, it was practically a sauna in there. Tyler paused, her hand tangling in his hair as she thought about a possible exit, her eyebrows furrowing together while a frown marred her lips, eyes starring off in thought.
A loud static noise interrupted her thoughts, making her head snap around to the CB radio that was half a foot away from her head; she waited, thinking it was just her mind playing tricks on her like it usually did before but when the static came again, making Rick lift his head as well, she knew she wasn’t imagining it. Then a voice came, clear as day, shocking both of them to the core.
“Hey you, dumbasses,” There was a pause, a crackle of static, “Yeah, you guys in the tank. Cozy in there?” A slight hint of amusement of the man’s voice carried through the radio, making Tyler laugh breathlessly. Maybe the events of today were finally driving her crazy.
"Oh man, aren't you in for a treat," She teased him, yet again, waggling a finger in his direction as she straightened and made her way towards the saddled up horse. Tyler mounted the stallion with ease, smirking over at Rick as she patted the horse's rear. Rick just rolled his eyes as he came forward and put his foot in the stir-up, hoisting himself up behind her with jerky movements; he gripped her shirt suddenly when the horse shuffled a bit under the weight.
Tyler chuckled, "Better hold on tight there, Sheriff, poor boy's been cooped up since the beginning - bet he's dying to release some energy," Sure enough, they took off at a gallop, causing Rick to yelp and Tyler into a laughing fit. They finally slowed to a steady walk after a few miles, Rick releasing his death grip on Tyler with an awkward throat clearing - Tyler just chuckled as she fumbled around in her pockets before pulling out a cigarette and her lighter.
"Ya never told me how you lost your family, ya know," Tyler mumbled around her cigarette, watching as a group of birds flew over their head; they were just outside of Atlanta now, she could see the beginning of the highway.
Rick cleared his throat, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand to wipe away some sweat, "I was shot, a week or so before this happened, went into a coma. Just woke up a few days ago to...this," His voice cracked at the end as he waved his hand about dismissively. It was quiet for a while as Tyler processed this, silently thanking the Heavens that he survived the Apocalypse.
"You should add "Apocalypse Survivor" to that badge of yours, Sheriff," She teased, keeping her voice quiet as the atmosphere shifted to a quiet somber feel; Rick just snorted, an arm sneaking it's way around her waist again as the horse trotted around a dead body. As they trotted over an overhead bridge, both looked around at the utter dead feeling the abandoned cars gave, the way the cicadas drew out their call, birds chirping merrily - it seems like everything but nature itself was affected.
"Jesus..." Rick mumbled, gaze still on the side of the highway that was jammed with cars, dirty with months of dirt and being exposed to the elements. Tyler just stayed silent, sharp eyes taking everything in as she encouraged the stallion into a trot again - the way the air was just thick and stagnant didn't sit right with her. It reminded her of the day that her base camp got overrun - the dead tend to have a sort of feel to them that the air just gives off, a sort of warning, Tyler supposes. It made her uneasy to go into the city but if her sister was still at the CDC, she had to go get her.
"C'mon," Tyler grumbled, wiping her forearm across her forehead, her anxiety didn't make dealing with the typical Georgia heat any better. She longed to take her shirt off and just be in her sports bra but the arm around her waist was a constant reminder that she had a companion - not that Rick would've slipped her mind so easily, not since he was on her mind nonstop since she met him. It was unhealthy and she knew she had to stop - especially since they were looking for his family - but her brain just won't allow it; when she thought she succeeded, Rick would do something that automatically threw her mind into overdrive that left her feeling more frustrated then friendly.
"If anything, we can always siphon the gas from those cars if we ever come by here again," Tyler suggested, trying to make light of the current situation; Rick merely hummed in response, mind lost in his thoughts as his gaze looked beyond the damaged and broken Atlanta. Tyler sighed heavily, nudging the horse into a canter as they broke the edge of the city, the uneasiness blooming in her chest the further they went.
Tyler eyed a charred city bus warily, noticing it had bodies inside it and had irrational hope that they would stay stationary - she had walked past some cars that had some of the non-walkers in them - but fate had another idea as they past the bus, footsteps stomping down the bus steps to follow the giant piece of living meat. The horse whined and shuffled unsteadily, Tyler trying to comfort the poor animal before coasting him forward; Rick just stared at the walkers that ambled out of the bus - for some reason, one of them stared right at him as if it was trying to acknowledge him but Rick knew better, saw first-hand that they weren’t people anymore, that they died and turned into savage animals. Still didn’t make him feel better at the way that particular one was staring at him, sending chills down his spine as they cantered away from the stumbling corpses.
“I don’t have a good feelin’ about this,” Rick murmured, leaning in toward Tyler’s neck so that others didn’t hear him; Tyler pointedly ignored how her body reacted to having him leaned in and breath on her, choosing to focus on the area around her.
“Glad I’m not the only one with the ominous feeling,” She muttered back, chewing on her lip as she scanned the skyscrapers; Atlanta was one of the cities she wanted to visit when she come back from her tour and she should’ve been ecstatic to be here now - but now that the apocalypse happened, the city was a giant ghost town, no longer the lively and exciting city that caught her attention. Now, it belonged to the dead, both literally and metaphorically.
As they slowly made they’re way further into the city, they came across more and more dead bodies - specially, dead soldiers; Tyler had to bite down on her lower lip to keep from crying as she witnessed two crows having a go on a rotting Army man. Rick must’ve seen what she saw because he squeezed her hip gently, a simple gesture to help her feel better and she appreciated it greatly, yet she still felt like she failed her fellow brothers - even if they were from different branches.
Being too deep in her thoughts, Tyler wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, until Rick started poking her in the side repeatedly and pointing up at an office building. Holding in a sigh, she tilted her head to see what got him all riled up and felt an uncomfortable amount of hope bloom in her chest as the reflection of a helicopter shown in the glass windows. Throwing all her rational thinking out the window, she nudged the horse into a gallop, hoping to catch up with the helicopter but a part of her knew that it was impossible - didn’t stop her from trying, though; what did stop her, however, was the street full of walkers she just turned the corner to.
Horror filled her as thousands of decaying faces gazed up at her and she just sat there, paralyzed as they started towards her. Tyler felt like she was in a fog, she knew she was in danger, that she was putting Rick in danger, but she was still processing the thousands upon thousands of walkers that filled the whole street. It was when they started moving towards them made her instincts kick into gear, pulling back on the reins and turning tail, the horse sprinting away like it was itching to. Only to run straight into another herd of walkers coming in from the other streets - where they all suddenly came from, Tyler had no idea but she did know that if they didn’t get out of there, neither of them were going to find their families.
Frantic, she stood up in the stir-ups to see if she can find a way out over the thousands of dead people when she noticed the tank a few feet from them. She wanted to smack herself in the face, she had noticed the tank when they first walked in but in her current state of panic, she wouldn’t blame herself too bad - only if Rick got out alive, then she wouldn’t. Just as she turned to tell him, the horse reared suddenly as the walkers tried to grab a hold of it, causing both Tyler and Rick to plummet to the ground as the horse tried to fight off the walkers to no avail, falling victim to the ravenous corpses.
“Rick!” Tyler shouted, crawling towards him as she dodged flailing hands, “Go to the tank, there’s a latch underneath,” She paused, lurching backwards as one of them grabbed a hold of her backpack. Slipping it off, she grabbed one of the straps and yanked it free before swinging it back and smacking the walker with it. “Go now!” She yelled at Rick, who was still laying there with his hand outstretched towards her. “Go!” Unsheathing her knife, she slashed at any walkers that were coming after her and gave Rick more time to crawl underneath. Seeing no choice but to go ahead of her, Rick army-crawled his way under the tank, shooting at a few walkers that were coming in from in front.
He found the latch quickly and slid in, shutting it firmly behind him, praying that Tyler got away and found a safe spot. Taking a breather, he sat back against the wall of the tank and let his head drop, fisting his hair tightly as he tried to figure out how to get out - which was nearly impossible at this point as the moans and groans of the corpses outside drifted through the tank. Rick wasn’t even aware that the top latch was still open before a body was climbing down it; he had already drawn and loaded his gun when he recognized the pants that belonged to his companion.
Turning around after closing the hatch, Tyler raised an eyebrow at Rick’s gun, “Not a good idea to shoot that thing off in here - pressurized air. Could blow out your eardrum,” Rick grimaced and re-holstered his weapon. Seeing movement in the corner of her eye, Tyler turned and grimaced herself when she saw a dead soldier towards the back that was trying to pick itself up; sighing, she flipped open her knife and went to him, shoving the knife as gently but forcefully as she could into his temple, ending his life for good. She wiped the knife on her pants before closing it and slipping it back into her pocket, taking her rosary out at the same time, fingering the wooden beads with familiarity.
First, she crossed the soldier and slid his eyes closed before crossing herself, bringing her rosary to her lips, she began to pray for the fallen soldier in front of her and all the others that died on the front line at the beginning of all this, as the tears gathered behind her eyelids. Rick watched probably the last known military survivor pray for all her fallen comrades and felt great remorse for her, knowing that there’s a possibility that everything she’s come to know is all gone - no military, no government, no orders to follow - add on to the fact that her sister could be one of them, he wondered how she was still able to move forward.
As Tyler moved to stand up a bit, Rick finally noticed that she was covered in a lot of blood and rushed forward to check her for any injuries - mainly, if she had a bite - if she was bit, he didn’t know what he would do...or how he would deal with it. Within their short time together, he had come to care for her immensely - he couldn’t think of how he would deal with this new world without her anymore and that thought terrified him, if he was honest with himself. He was married for Christ’s sakes - at least, he still hoped he was, if what he saw at his house was anything to go by. But even then, anything could’ve happened and while he was still holding hope that he would find his family, he found himself growing attached to this gruff Irish Marine.
“Rick, I’m okay, I’m not bit,” Tyler said softly, resting her hand against his neck gently. A look from him made her sigh and refrain from rolling her eyes - though playfully. She was liking the attention he was giving her, even if it was from a life threatening bite or just friendly affection. “I’m not scratched either. Honestly, I’m fine,” She cupped his face firmly, forcing him to stare into her eyes so he could see that she was serious. Rick held his breath as he tried to make out the emotions in her eyes before he hesitantly nodded, releasing his breath as he pulled her towards him in a tight hug.
“I can’t lose you,” Rick breathed, nose buried in her hair. It was true, Tyler could not leave him, whether she wanted to or not, she was to stick by his side - she was the only friend he could possibly have left, he didn’t want to think about her leaving, it physically pained him, deep within his chest. Tyler just shushed him gently, murmuring that she wasn’t going anywhere as she petted his hair, holding him tightly.
Rick calmed down slightly, being more relaxed and pleased by her ministrations than he should be, but he has yet to remove his face from her hair, taking in as much of her scent as possible to commit it to memory, “Any idea on how to get out of here?” He asked quietly, feeling the sweat beading along his nape, the tank soaking up the hot Georgia sun and with the combined body heat, it was practically a sauna in there. Tyler paused, her hand tangling in his hair as she thought about a possible exit, her eyebrows furrowing together while a frown marred her lips, eyes starring off in thought.
A loud static noise interrupted her thoughts, making her head snap around to the CB radio that was half a foot away from her head; she waited, thinking it was just her mind playing tricks on her like it usually did before but when the static came again, making Rick lift his head as well, she knew she wasn’t imagining it. Then a voice came, clear as day, shocking both of them to the core.
“Hey you, dumbasses,” There was a pause, a crackle of static, “Yeah, you guys in the tank. Cozy in there?” A slight hint of amusement of the man’s voice carried through the radio, making Tyler laugh breathlessly. Maybe the events of today were finally driving her crazy.