Sometimes a Married Sheriff Isn't a Bad Thing to Do in a Zombie Apocalypse

"Surely if there was a refugee centre then they'd be military scouting th' place fer more people te take in." Katherine pointed out logically as she and Rick trotted slowly down one of the streets, having just entered Atlanta with a quite ease and none of the undead had encountered them just yet.

"It'd be best to keep a low profile, keepin' away from those things." Rick answered from in front of her, his eyes sharply peeled on the streets around them. They both could see that the streets were completely abandoned and there was trash blowing around everywhere. Rick led the horse down the street where there were helicopters, cars, and even a tank wrecked along the road, some burnt out.

'So much fer th' military.' Katherine thought to herself after letting a small sigh and Rick continued to ride them past a bus. If there really was a refugee centre in Atlanta then surely the grunts would be making sure that it was getting walled up properly and securely protected. Katherine couldn't see a single piece of evidence of that so far.

Katherine heard the bus creak over the horse's feet clopping against the ground and she turned her head to see a few walkers crawl out of the bus and limp in the direction of them. She wasn't startled, she knew that they could gallop away if they got too close. Rick was also unfazed.

"Steady now. It's just a few, nothing we can't outrun." Rick voiced her thoughts and turned his head to get a glimpse at Katherine. The road to Atlanta had been a quite one but not awkwardly silent. Rick learned quite a bit about the young woman behind him, finding out that she was in the Army as a medic and trained sniper, she's been a doctor since she was twenty years old, her favourite colour is purple and she hates the word, ointment.

She was interesting to say the least.

"You alright back there?"

"Peachy keen jelly bean.” Katherine mumbled back, pulling her eyes away from the walkers getting closer and closer and Rick picked up the speed, turning to his left and riding down the street. They saw another tank in the middle of the road amongst the abandoned vehicles and broken traffic poles, a body lying on the top with several crows pecking at the exposed, emaciated face and body.

Both Katherine and Rick stared in disgust, preparing to walk on only to hear a thudding whirring coming from the air, making Rick and Katherine look up at the bright sky to try and figure out where the loud noise was coming from. They looked towards a tall building with clean reflecting windows, finding a shadow shown back at them which looked like a military helicopter heading over the heart of Atlanta city.

"Holy fuck, that's a chopper.." Katherine stated the obvious in a loud gasp, taking one hand away from Rick's waist to move it over the top of her eyes to try and get a better look. She couldn't believe it, maybe there was someone out there after all.

"Hyah!" Katherine screeched in surprise when Rick got the horse moving at a speedy pace, wrapping her gloved hand back around Rick's waist for the support she needed so she didn't fall off the horse and hurt herself. Rick rode around a corner to keep following the tracks of the helicopter but when he turned at the junction, what looked like a hundred of walkers were shuffling around aimlessly.

"Fuck." Katherine whispered icily, Rick turning the horse immediately and made it run back into the opposite direction, just past the tank. They could hear the loud groaning from behind them as the walkers drew nearer and nearer, and as if that wasn't bad enough, there was a slightly smaller group blocking off the rest of the street.

"Shit." Rick also cursed, struggling to get away but they were both trapped between the groups of walkers. Katherine tried her hardest not to panic but when the horse whinnied and threw its legs up in the air, she slid straight off the saddle and screamed when she fell into the pile of walkers.

"Katherine!" Rick shouted in desperation, soon hitting the concrete ground himself and most of the walkers were making their way to the horse instead, taking it down and beginning to eat from it. Rick looked away, scrambling through the crowd to try and find Katherine but it was no use. A walker made a grab for him but he kicked it in the chest and made it fall to the ground before it could sink its teeth and claws into him. "Katherine!"

"Get under here, Grimes!" Katherine's panicked voice came from underneath the tank and Rick turned to see that she was huddled away and pulling her gun from her holster to shoot the undead that were getting too close for comfort. Rick did exactly as she told him, crawling on the pavement and underneath the tank to join her, also taking out his Colt Python and shooting some of the walkers.

"Did you get bit?" Rick exclaimed, the two of them still crawling to get to the other exit underneath and try to make a run for it while the others were distracted.

"No, jus' bruised.” Katherine hushed back in a frightened voice, having never come so close in a group like that before. Her bare legs had been scratched up when she hit the pavement and her belly button ring was almost caught by a walker. "Oh fuck." She cried when a few walks from the other side had stopped and knelt down to meet their eyes underneath the tank. "How many bullets ye got left?"

"One." Rick replied, looking both ways with sheer horror.

That was the end of the road for Katherine McKinney. She had come into Atlanta with a stranger to get supplies and now she was stuck underneath a tank with said stranger and death literally facing in every direction. She failed her brother and she had failed her uncle. Now she hoped Dermot would retrieve Malachy and be as safe as they can.

"I'm so sorry." Rick whispered, breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his face as he stared at the beautiful woman who didn't seem so afraid to be welcomed into Death's arms.

"So am I." Katherine brought the gun barrel to her chin, her finger resting against the trigger. "I'm sorry, Malachy.” and just as she was about to squeeze it and return to the place where God had created her, her gun was taken away by the man in front of her and she was dragged up into a hatch directly above them.

Katherine and Rick were panting as the hatch went down and locked the two of them inside of the tank, Katherine's eyes as wide as Bambi's mother's and Rick was shaking from the disbelief of them just surviving that horrible crowd. No words were spoken between them, Katherine didn't want to think about the fact she could have just killed herself before Rick had pulled her to safety, and Rick turned to see a dead soldier in the tank with them. He went for his gun that was strapped in his belt but suddenly his sunken eyes opened and his teeth snapped at Rick. Rick automatically took his Python and pressed it against the soldier's chin.

"Rick, no!" She protested hoarsely but the shot rang out through the tank and the two of them spluttered at the scorching pain that ripped through their ears and became deaf. The only thing that could hear apart from their muffled voices were a high pitched ringing. The gunshot in the confined, metal space made it hurt however Katherine did try and stop him.

Katherine could see Rick mouthing for her to stay where she was as he got up from the metal floor, bending slightly so he could lift himself on top of the stool and make his way to the hatch that was open at the top. The tank wasn’t a stranger to Katherine, she had been in several before. Katherine's hearing began to simmer back to normal, the pain giving her headache instead and she watched in confusion as Rick looked around above the tank before tripping over to get back inside and close the second hatch.

"The guns out there?" Katherine finally spoke again, her voice shy and recovering from the shock that they had just been through.

"Yes." Rick replied in dishearten, sitting himself beside Katherine and pulling the gun out that had belonged to the solider, checking the magazine to see it was completely full of bullets. He looked at her bleary stone grey eyes, waiting for him to say something else but really, there was nothing else to say. Katherine rested her head against Rick's shoulder with a heavy exhale, Rick mimicking her action and rested his head on hers.

They were stuck and they didn't know what to do.

"I was going te kill meself.” Katherine barely whispered, cuddling further up to Rick for the need of comfort. Rick immediately wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"So was I.”

They were conformed to silence again, the only noise that Katherine could hear was Rick's lulling heartbeat where her head rested on his chest. She couldn't believe that she was now stuck in a tank with a Sheriff from King's County without a single way out. It made her sick to think of the walkers chewing on the friendly horse they were riding on and the fact she might have to try to kill herself again.

“Sorry.” Katherine whispered, broken.

“It’s not your fault…I should have been more careful. I got you into this, I'm sorry.” Rick apologized sincerely, feeling her hand wrap around his one that laid on his knee aimlessly. Their fingers laced, Rick looking down to see the glistening ring on a finger on her right hand.

The ring looked as if it was given as a gift from a boyfriend; it was beautiful with two hands holding a heart and a crown on top. He had never gotten Lori anything like that, she wasn’t into being sentimental like he was. His thoughts drifted to Lori, they were on the edge of divorcing that day he was shot, would she still give a damn he came back to her? If she was alive, of course.

“Boyfriend?” He asked quietly, his thumb brushing over the tarnish silver that had small specks of blood printed on it.

“No.” She shook her head softly. “Me and my brother were given them when we were ten. Dermot has one too. It's Irish tradition.” Katherine explained gently, her voice crumbled and deflated. Hope to find her brother was gone with the expectations of surviving this trip.

“It’s beautiful.” Rick replied in the same tone, looking down at her.

“It’s jus' a piece of tin.” A sudden static like noise floated through the tank, making Katherine and Rick snap their eyes towards each other’s before landing back on a radio on the wall in front of them.

“Hey, you two. Dumb asses. Hey, you two in the tank.” A young male voice was calling them out. Katherine almost had a heart attack at the sudden voice, her head spinning from the events of the past twenty minutes. “Cosy in there?” The two could hear the voice smirking and that’s when they realized that they weren’t alone. “Hey, are you alive in there?” Rick and Katherine got over their shock and the Sheriff stood up, immediately forgetting that he was in a confined space and hit his head on the ceiling. Katherine winced when Rick grunted, but he continued to the radio anyway.

“Hello? Hello?” He picked up the small, black communication device and waited for the man’s reply on the end.

“There you are. You had me wondering.” The voice sighed in relief.

“Where are you? Outside? Can you see us right now?” Rick interrogated as the Irishwoman crawled up from behind him to get a better listen of the conversation that was going on.

“Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers, that's the bad news.”

“There's good news?” Rick was hopeful.

“No.” That hope was gone.

Katherine snatched the walkie talkie from Rick’s slightly shaking hands and she put it up to her mouth, scowling as if the man could see her.

“Listen, whoever ye are, I don' mind telling ye that I'm a little fuckin’ concerned in here!” Katherine’s voice was a lot angrier and determined than Rick’s had been. She wasn’t afraid of chewing out the stranger over the radio if he as just going to tease them. “Well c’mon!”

“Kathy…” Rick trailed softly, giving her these gorgeous blue eyes as if their gaze was going to magically calm her down. Katherine stared back, inhaling deeply before sighing. Okay, maybe it did calm her down.

“You should see it from over here. You'd be having a major freak-out.” The voice continued, a little shakier.

“Got any advice for me?” Rick took the walkie talkie from Katherine, the two waiting for the stranger to reply back for them.

“Yeah, I'd say make a run for it.” Katherine almost laughed out loud when the answer came back. He wasn’t serious, surely? They couldn’t just run, they’d get stuck in the crowd that almost killed them.

“That's it? ‘Make a run for it’?” Rick quoted with a disbelieving voice and Katherine mimicked it, only it was on her face instead and she raised a well-shaped, dark eyebrow.

“My way's not as dumb as it sounds. You've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the f-feeding frenzy where the horse went down. With me so far?” The man informed them with tactical voice and both Katherine and Rick gave an odd look to each other.

“So far.” The Sheriff and the Irishwoman both replied in sync.

“Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Got ammo?” Rick let out a quiet groan of frustration, which the brunette caught on.

“In that duffel bag I dropped out there, and guns. Can I get to it?” Rick quizzed him and the stranger was silent for a few moments.

“Forget the bag, okay? It's not an option. What do you have on you?” Rick told the man to hang on while he put the communicator down and turned to the young woman beside him. She pulled out her Beretta 92FS and the pistol from her boot, the Beretta half loaded and the pistol fully.

“That it?” He questioned her, not quite believing she could only have two guns on her.

“Yer th’ one that had all th’ guns, Officer.” Katherine cockily replied back, making her way over to the dead solider in the corner on her hands and knees, Rick’s eye glued to her peach shaped backside. He couldn’t help it, she was wearing high waist shorts that didn’t even cover the top of her thighs and she was positioned right in front of him. She searched the solider expertly, checking every single pocket and she tossed him his own Beretta with the same model and then made her way back over with a grenade in her slim hand. “Got ye a present.” She grinned, dangling the grenade in her hand as Rick checked the magazine of the new owned gun. It was fully loaded.

“Only for when things get bad, okay?” Rick reasoned firmly and Katherine gasped dramatically, somehow seeing humor in all of this.

“Hey, I ain’ a pyromaniac ye know.” Katherine put her hands up in defence after Rick took the grenade from her and clipped it onto his belt. Rick went back to the radio.

“I've got a Beretta with one clip, 15 rounds and another with eight. I’ve also got a model M1911A1 pistol with a full clip.”

“Make 'em count. Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe 50 yards. Be there as soon as you can.” Katherine nodded at the familiar order even though she couldn’t see the stranger and she cocked her guns when she made her way up to the hatch.

“I’ll go first, ye go straight behind. Shoot when they get too close only.” Katherine commanded with an authority tone and Rick nodded in understanding.

“Hey, what's your name?” Rick questioned the radio again and the man on the other end sighed.

“Have you been listening? You're running out of time!” Rick got up slightly, turning around to see a shovel strapped on the wall of the tank and he picked it up so now the two of them had two weapons each.

“Are you ready?”

“Nope.” Katherine pushed the hatch open and it slammed as it landed. Katherine pulled herself up through the hole with ease, seeing a walker on the side of the tank and she moved away so Rick could also get through and slam it in the head with the shovel. It simply sliced the walker’s jaw open but yet it still fell off the tank and into a heap on the ground. The walkers began to get a whiff of their scent and Rick jumped off the tank, landing on his feet and letting out a painful yell. “Are ye okay?!”

“Just, c’mon!” Rick scrambled from the floor and held his arms out for Katherine, making her take a deep breath and jumping off the high tank and into the Sheriff’s arms. He put her down quickly and took her hand without any questions before the two ran in the direction that the man had instructed to go in, both firing away their guns, Rick also dropping the shovel. Walkers were coming at them in every direction, Rick’s hand shook as he squeezed the trigger but Katherine was spot on and unafraid of the danger around her. At least they weren’t in a closed space, Katherine was angry at herself for giving up so easily.

They turned the corner to the alley after killing around ten walkers all together, the three guns pointed at a young Korean’s head, and the male who saw them let out a frightened yell at the guns on him.

“Whoa! Not dead! Come on! Come on! Back here! Come on! Come on!” The Korean boy with thick black hair covered with a simple baseball cap lead Rick and Katherine down the alley with a high, panicked voice at the crowds of walkers that were now coming at them. They came to a murky yellow ladder and the Korean made his way up first, Katherine second and Rick taking a moment at the bottom, eyes on the crowd with a hammering heart.

“Rick, get yer ass up here!” Katherine screeched down to him, looking over her shoulder at the Sheriff without his hat. Rick complied and followed behind her, the trio climbing as fast as they could up the ladder without slipping from their sweating palms and aching legs. They finally came to a stop in the ladder, standing on the fenced ground with another ladder attached to that, which lead to the top of the building. The three panted heavily, looking over the fence to see the crowd of walkers trying to climb the brick desperately to get to them, groaning and growling in hunger.

Katherine began to chuckle in disbelief, earning a relieved smile from Rick and a bizarre one from the boyish looking man as he stared at her with this glued admiration. Katherine caught his gaze, smirking when it mimicked Rick’s one when they had first met.

“Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. You the new Sheriff come riding in to clean up the town?” The Korean questioned sarcastically. “With your partner?”

“It wasn't my intention.” Rick replied, his Southern drawl thicker.

“Yeah, whatever. Yeehaw!” The man rolled his eyes and Katherine laughed quietly. “You're still a coupla’ dumbasses.”

“Rick. Thanks.” Rick held his hand out for the Korean, which he looked at suspiciously before gripping it with his own and shaking. “This is Katherine.” The man looked back towards the chirpier brunette, whose neck, chest and exposed stomach was glistening with sweat. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Glenn. You're welcome.” Glenn pulled his hand away from Rick’s and looked up to the ladder. Rick’s stomach turned at how high it was against the building, his mind spinning to the worst case scenario if they slipped down. “The bright side: It'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy.”