the great war (r.g)

twenty

"cora, wake up," someone was saying. cora was being shaken, something bad was happening. she jerked up, grabbing her knife from under her pillow, aiming at the persons throat. when the dark room came into focus, cora saw rick staying over her.

"what's wrong?" she asked, slipping on a shirt from her bedside table.

cora followed rick out of the room to the top of the stairs where carl had jesus held at gunpoint. "how'd he..." cora trailed off, looking at rick.

"slipped right out of them," rick told her. "he just wants to talk.

"i want to start by apologizing for sending you into that lake," jesus said. cora crossed her arms. it was too early for this bullshit. "i lied when i told you guys i was alone. i come from a community called the hilltop. my job is to scout out other groups that are looking to trade. i can take you there if you don't believe me." rick looked to cora, silently asking what she thinks.

cora looked back and just shrugged. "it could be a good idea." rick nodded at her and looked back to jesus, repeating the gesture.

"great. we will leave in a few hours."

***

"are you staying here with carl and judith?" cora asked izzy at the gates.

"i kinda want to come," izzy told her. "i haven't been outside of these walls in a while."

"get your stuff and let's go," cora smiled at her daughter. the two climbed into the motor home where glenn, maggie, michonne, and abraham were waiting.

cora and izzy sat with maggie on the couch. "how's the baby?" cora asked her.

"it's great," maggie told her. she looked happy.

"izzy is a really good name," izzy said to maggie. cora and maggie laughed at the statement. "what? it can be for a guy too. short for isaiah or isabel."

"you are too precious," maggie said to her, smiling big.

the motor home slowed to a stop so cora walked to the front where rick was driving to ask what was wrong. "that car. it's from the hilltop," jesus told her. he stood up and rushed outside, scanning the wreckage. rick and cora followed, helping look for any survivors. they didn't see any at first, it was mostly walkers.

"there's tracks," daryl pointed out. the tracks led back into the woods. daryl armed his crossbow and followed the tracks.

"stay here with jesus," cora told maggie before turning off with rick to go with daryl.

about fifty yards into the woods there was a building. slowly, the group entered searching the house. there were three people standing in a kitchen. they seemed alarmed seeing the three of them walk in. "it's okay, we aren't here to hurt you," cora assured. "we are with jesus."

"is everyone okay?" rick asked.

"one of us is injured. he's in that room," one of them said. rick nodded to cora, telling her to check on him.

cora pushed the door open to see a man laying on a bed, his leg was bleeding. before she could properly enter the room, cora was pushed against the wall with a knife to her throat. "wait," cora said with her eyes closed. "i can help him i'm-"

"cora?" the assailant said, letting her go. when she opened her eyes, cora gasped. this wasn't real, it couldn't be real. he couldn't be here, he was supposed to be dead.

"dan?" cora couldn't believe it. there he was, standing in front of her. dan. her fiancé. "you...i thought you were dead." dan dropped his knife to the floor and scooped cora up into a hug. she laughed as she hugged him back. cora was so happy to see him.

"i thought i'd never see you again," dan told her.

"i thought you were dead," cora repeated as she felt tears drop out of her eyes. "i..." cora couldn't finish her sentence. dan kissed her.

"cora-" rick's voice came into the room.

cora jerked back from dan and spun to meet rick at the door. "rick, i-um. it's just a leg wound," she informed him, stepping aside for him to see the man on the bed.

"who are you?" rick asked dan.

"my name's dan," he said. "who are you?"

"rick. you from hilltop?" he asked. dan nodded. "help me get him to the rv." dan and rick walked over to the man, putting one of his arms around each other.

daryl and the others were already at the motor home when they walked out of the woods. it was a silent walk with awkwardness in the air. there was no reason for it to be awkward. dan was her fiancé, rick was her friend. it was that simple.

izzy was still sitting with maggie okay the couch when cora walked into the rv. "everything go okay?" maggie asked her.

"yeah, there were five of them," cora confirmed with her. "izzy, there's someone-"

"dan?" izzy said, beating cora to the punch. "dan!" she sprung off the couch to meet him at the entrance. rick sat the man down on one of the chairs as izzy hugged dan.

"is that..." maggie asked.

"my fiancé, yeah." cora was looking at the scene with fond eyes. dan was always good with kids, especially izzy.

once everyone got situated, cora made her way to the front seat to sit with rick on the drive. "rick," she said, breaking the few minutes of silence.

"that's your fiancé, dan, isn't it?" he asked.

"yeah, it is," cora said to him. the silence came back. cora didn't know what to say. didn't know if she should formally introduce them or apologize.

***

a/n
dont grow attatchments lol.....