Bridges | Rick Grimes

t h r e e

I looked down at the vulnerable man, as he awaited his return to his original stance. As I had hopped off of him, I walked around his jeep and slung myself into the shiny black vehicle.

He looked at the ground as an empty nod my way came from him. I brought my feet up to the dashboard and brought the seat down as I made myself comfortable. He groaned and put the keys into the ignition.

"I'm Shane," he said roughly. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as he'd tried to make small talk.

"Eden," I sighed.

"Lets go."

>>>>>

The ride was surprisingly quiet, except for the small questions he'd ask, to which I'd shrug off and tell him to stop being a prissy prick and let myself sleep.

As I had fallen asleep, I dreamed about my children. I thought about a happy day that I could live on repeat.

But my body was brought forward as a whiplashing snap caused my body to wake. I looked over at Shane in concern and rage, and he had already been gone as he flew out the door. My eyes averted to ahead of me as I watched an old man working at a small radio. A young pale blonde woman and a dark haired older girl walked past him carrying buckets as a little girl and boy followed as laughter filled the void.

Eden watched as all of the calm, happy bodies filled the camp. And then a grumpy man walked by holding a crossbow as he muttered a few curses.

And then, Eden's eyes instantly filled with tears as she gasped for air.

She watched as her younger brother walked by with the pale blonde girl. "Colby," she whispered with a chuckle of both disbelief and relief. And she gasped looking around at her mother and father, Sidney and Jeffery arguing. She knew the argument was probably bad, but she saw that their existence had been amazing.

As she opened the car door, not taking her eyes off of her little brother, she began to cry a little bit more. The door shut and she began to run over to her brother.

She flew into his arms and as he was taken aback by the unrevealed woman, his immediate reaction was to pull away. He saw her face and grabbed the back of her head, hugging her. The young blonde girl smiled as though she knew who Eden was.

She smiled as she looked Colby in the face. Her head turned over to her mom and dad and they had already been watching in confusion. She got up as she watched her mother's hand veil her mouth in shock.

Eden sprinted towards Sidney Wilcox, the 53 year old woman, ready in open arms as the clueless Jeffery watched, stunned at the appearance of his daughter.

At the impact of the mother-daughter hug, Jeffery groaned, getting up and walking over to the sight, joining in on the hug.

"I don't mean to interrupt but... who saidare you?"

Eden turned her head to see the little girl and boy that she'd seen earlier, and saw the little fur looking right at me, waiting for an answer.

I squatted down, looking at her and the boy, "Eden Fray, nice to meet you...?" I said, waiting for an answer.

"Sophia," she smiled. She turned, pointing to a grey haired woman ironing clothes. "That's my mom." I looked at the young boy.

"And you are?" I asked him as he looked up.

"Carl Grimes," he said gruffly. I ruffled his hair.

"You seem tough," I insisted, pressing my lips into a firm line. He smiled lightly, looking up at me.

"Thanks but my mom doesn't think so. She won't even give me a knife for protection," he sighed.

Sophia had already been gone. She and her mom had been talking to the dark haired woman. I looked around, and no one was watching, and so I had snuck a knife into his pocket. His jaw dropped, and he grinned, ear to ear. 'Thanks' he mouthed. I responded with a nod, and ruffled his hair once more. He hugged me, and I'd been taken aback, but hugged him.

"Making friends, I see," I turned to see Colby, and I stood up.

"So, care to give me a tour?"

>>>>>

"That's Daryl and Merle Dixon. Daryl's a hunter, and Merle's just... Merle," he stated. I watched as Merle spoke to Daryl. He looked at me and winked, kissing at the air in front of him. I felt repulsed and tried to think nothing of the incident a month ago.

"That's Andrea and Amy. Amy is the younger one," he said, smiling. "She's, uh, my girlfriend!" He shrugged. "And that's Lori, dear little Carl's mom. And then we have the Morales family, and T-Dogg, there," he pointed, "and that's Dale, and there's Glenn. He's a good guy. And then we have Shane Walsh," he sighed.

"I've met him," Eden smirked.

"Oh. Well, there's also Jacqui, Ed, and some others that are probably off doing something else right now," he suggested. I gave him a simple nod, and yawned. I hadn't had much sleep, if any at all for a month, and now that I had reached my destination, I was willing to give in.

My mom and dad had a tent but they carried only two mattresses, and I didn't feel comfortable laying on the ground, not with my parents, nor with my little brother.

I unzipped the tent, my feet sounding off the gravel like pop rocks as I walked to the very center of the camp. I spun in a slow circle, attempting to see if there were any empty tents. I had laid my eyes on one; an unzipped blue tent. It looked to be Shane's, noticing the police officer's hat beside the sleeping bag. I began walking towards the cliff, with full reach far enough to see the quarry, and laid my eyes on none other than Shane Walsh, sitting on a large rock in the shallow end of the quarry.

I began to walk down to meet him professionally, as I had nothing to do.

>>>>>

I had reached the bottom of the steep hill,  I crept over the the edge of the water. I watched him for a minute, noticing his still gaze stuck in the trees across the quarry.

I took a step, scrunching my nose up at the unfateful sound of the gravel crunching beneath of my feet.

He hadn't turned his head, or given me any acknowledgement.

I continued to walk, one silent step after the other, until I reached the rock, climbing up it shortly. I leaped to the top, scraping  the surface. Shane spun his head around tightening his grip on his holster, which I could only assume held a knife or handgun.

"Jesus, Walsh. If I'd have known you were gonna pull a gun on me I might've at least said my goodbye's to my family," I snickered. He simply let out a sigh.

"Jesus, kid. If I'd have known you were going to sneak up on me I wouldn't have mistaken you for a killer or a roamer," he teased.

"And what makes you think I'm a kid?" I shot at him.

He replied, "let's see, your immaturity is a definite clue.." he said, massaging his temples. I nudged him, "how old are you anyway?" He asked, raising his eyebrows as he studied my face.

I did the same, looking at his features, before looking down, complying as I answered the question, "33," I said, looking up at his eyes, "my lord," I joked, in a light British accent.

Chuckling, he replied back, "36," I nodded my head. There was soon an awkward silence, and I too had begun staring out, but he spoke, the silence cracking suddenly, "unnoticed your wedding ring, but I don't see a husband? Did you leave him, or --"

"You could say that," I said dully.

"Ahh," he sighed, "I've never been in a serious relationship, so I don't, uh, I wouldn't be able to say 'I understand', but I mean --"

"You're getting really... stutter-y," I laughed as he scratched at the back of his head.

We talked all night that night, and then some. But he never once brought up his best friend, Rick Grimes until we truly got more deep into conversation.

But even then I was more awake than ever, truthfully intrigued by the sounds of Rick Grimes.