❝ 𝖧𝖠𝖵𝖤 𝖸𝖮𝖴 𝖤𝖵𝖤𝖱 𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖫𝖫𝖸
𝖣𝖠𝖭𝖢𝖤𝖣 𝖮𝖭 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖤𝖣𝖦𝖤 ? ❞
ross daydreamed. he was an avid and persistent daydreamer. especially since the apocalypse had started.
it helped him pretend everything was still normal. when he was walking alone, he pretended that his mom was still alive and joking with him the entire time. that zoe was trailing right behind them. he pretended like the dead weren't a danger sometimes, too, but that one never lasted too long.
his most recent fantasy world was one in which the prison was just an overgrown summer camp with an abundance of adults. he would go to sleep praying that he'd wake up to just that, and wake up in the morning from a dream similar to such.
of course, all good things come to an end.
he wakes up two days in a row in this fantasy and is always snapped out immediately, rolling himself up to stare at the dirty cell block he'd accepted as his new home.
him and carl shared a cell, directly next to rick and lori. he liked sharing it with carl, it almost brings humanity back to the cruelty of the state of the world.
this morning carl was up and out before he was, the sheriff's hat he perched on the top bunk while he slept being the signal he was gone. ross quickly laced up his beaten converse and strapped on his holster, keeping his knife on him as well, before stepping out of the cell to see what everyone was up to.
he sees the women of the prison gathered near the stairs, discussing something related to crutches and hershel— ross wasn't close enough with the greene family to intrude on their conversations yet.
he gravitates towards glenn, who he'd grown closer to over the past couple of days, their relative closeness of age bonding them.
the man in question was talking to rick, daryl not far off as he rounds up some arrows. they're planning something, he remarks to himself before approaching the pair.
"hey, what's going on?" he asks, hoping not to be dismissed. he had just got here but didn't want to be dead weight— they had to drag him inside the gates of this place, after all.
rick and glenn both nod in acknowledgement to his presence, before rick begins to speak. "we're gonna move the cars against the fences, reinforce this place. i don't want anymore surprises, gotta get a head start in making a home out of all this," he pauses when daryl approaches, "just came back inside to discuss the prisoners before headin' out. ross, i need you to stay in here with carl, just in case anything happens in these walls. with lori pregnant and hershel down.. maggie and beth will need some help, especially with carl,"
ross nodded, glad to be given a task. he knew they were doing a lot of moving of bodies today from what glenn had told him last night when he talked with him and maggie for a bit.
he watches as the trio of men walk out of the cell block with daryl, carol, and t-dog on their tail. he turns back to the others, his eyes scanning over the scene.
lori was sitting on the steps, maggie and beth standing on either side of her with carl hovering as well.
as he slowly approaches them, he sees that they actually had found crutches for hershel. his lip twitched into a small smile. they got super lucky with this prison's somehow well-stocked infirmary.
"yeah, i'm just nervous that he'll hurt himself," beth says, the first thing ross has heard of their conversation so far.
maggie nods in agreement, tilting her head in conflict. "he's just so desperate to be movin' again, i don't wanna deprive him of that. but if we run into a problem and he falls, or something of the likes, who's gonna pick him up?"
lori begins to stand up, smiling at ross and nodding in his direction. "well, we've got ross. with him and the group of us three, we'd be fine. now c'mon, these crutches are good to go. let's get hershel up."
ross stands back as they get hershel up, as to not crowd the small room. he stands next to carl and watches as they gently guide him out of the cell, the man soon walking on his own.
"that's... wow," ross huffs, looking down at his cousin, who's face had construed into a smile which the older hadn't seen in quite a while— a youthful, healthy smile.
"i'm glad he's okay. i don't think things would be right without hershel around." carl responds as the pair begins to walk with the others as hershel ventured outside of the prison.
"why's that?" he was genuinely curious of his significance to the group. they went through hell and back to save his life and clearly not just because he was the father of the greene sisters.
"he's gonna help my mom with the baby. he saved my life once, too. he's a great person." carl looks off into the distance, his hardened maturity reappearing. ross could only sigh, still in disbelief of the boy carl had become.
they had walked into the sunshine of the courtyard, the group out by the fence smiling as they see hershel on his feet. glenn yells something, only to be hushed by daryl, looking out at the gathering walkers sheepishly. it makes ross let out a small laugh, it's all in moments like this.
it's quaint for a split second before a certain snarling grows louder, and carl whips around, a thick layer of complete terror wiping over the entire prison.
"walkers!" carl exclaims, taking his gun out and immediately beginning to fire into the herd, as the group scrambles for cover.
ross is frozen for a second, his hope of safety crushed in just a few faint seconds. he snaps out of it, pulling out his gun and firing alongside carl, looking over the shoulder as the group at the gate approaches, shuffling back towards the main access gate as he sees lori, carl, and maggie manage to get inside the prison as beth and hershel lock themselves inside the small section of wired fence safely.
he pulls the gate open as the group approaches and helps eliminate the immediate walkers while making his way to where they'd been let out, helping to secure the courtyard.
"where's lori and carl?" rick was worked up, knowing he couldn't immediately go after his family with the blaring sirens and insecure nature of the prison.
"i saw them make it into there," ross points to the door they'd barely made it into, before rick grabs glenn and begins to instruct the pair.
"go, the two of you, find them. we can handle this. just make sure they're safe," rick turns away and ross and glenn share a precautionary look before quickly making way to the rusted door the trio had slipped into.
—
the duo dodged between walkers, looking everywhere they could for lori, carl, and maggie with little luck. the air was hot and putrid in the halls of the prison, the stench of the dead splattering over ross every time he swung his knife.
he and glenn were moving back to back and in rotation, constantly covering each other. he noted it in his head, how quickly the two had gelled as a unit.
"shit, we're cornered," glenn mumbles before taking down another walker before stumbling back into position, as they both look for a way out. they were sandwiched in the halls, walkers on both sides of them.
ross' eyes catch a small security closet, almost near tears of joy as he grabbed glenn and pulls him inside, securing the door before anything could breach it while the other man scanned the small space. they both relaxed when there was no danger inside with them.
the dead continually banged on the metal door, their whines and moans had become such a usual thing that it didn't even annoy ross anymore.
"we're gonna have to wait them out, they'll pass on eventually," ross slides down onto the floor, watching glenn sit across from him, back against the door.
he looks down at his grimy arms, sweat and various fluids and dirt caking his skin in a thick layer. his hair was practically flat with how long it'd been since water had touched his skin.
"i really hope they're okay. i mean, maggie can hold her own and all, but if anything happens to her i'd never forgive myself," glenn confesses to ross as his face becomes consumed with nothing but worry and pre-meditated guilt.
ross only smiles in return, shaking his head. "i think carl can hold it down, too. that kid seems to be kickin' ass these days," he tries to joke but neither of their smiles reach their eyes.
"i can't believe you found them, actually. even if it was complete coincidence, what the hell kind of coincidence is this?" glenn pauses, looking at straight at him instead of the blood splatters on the wall. "you're among the luckiest people to find family again,"
ross nods with a soft smile, "yeah, i am. carl is like a brother to me and the grimes practically raised me with.." he sucks in a breath at the thought of his mom's illness "you guys seem like your own little family though. it's almost astonishing to see from the outside," he changes subjects quickly in hopes it would will glenn not to pry.
"we really are. there was more of us, at the beginning, but when we found hershel and maggie, a lot happened... for better and for worse," the older man clips off his story, ross' brow raising in confusion.
when he catches a glimpse of ross' confusion, he opens his mouth to explain before he was cut off by a scream of pain coming from close by. from the pitch of the voice, it had to be a woman and both men were paralyzed with fear.
"shit, that's gotta be one of them," ross jumps to his feet, glenn following as he clearly had the same idea— they needed to fight their way out whether they liked it or not.
they heard the sound of the dead shuffling away, the crowd already thinned by what is assumed to be better meal prospects. they both get ready to fight their way out, readying with knifes instead of guns.
glenn lead this time, pushing the door open and taking out the immediate 2 or 3 walkers while ross pushed ahead, clearing a path with glenn covering his behind, the two managing to push back to the exit they'd originally come in, slamming the door shut behind them.
"holy shit," ross huffed, stuffing his knife back into it's place on his belt as he checks himself over for injuries, only seeing a small cut on his side before spinning back around to a worried glenn.
"i'm sure they're okay," he attempts to reassure, trying to ignore the blood-curdling scream they'd heard inside the prison.
glenn could only look back at him with a small nod, before walking off towards the rest of the group— rick, daryl, beth, and hershel accompanied by the prisoners.
"where's carol and t-dog?" glenn asks. ross could only bite his tongue. they both already knew the answer.
"they ain't make it," daryl responds, his face sour and twisted. ross could tell that him and carol were close; he truly felt bad for the man.
rick began to shout a new form of orders, looking more disheveled after realizing that he and glenn came back without his wife and son. he couldn't quite keep himself alert, the words falling deaf to his ears as he quickly became lightheaded.
no one was prepared for the way the world was going to stop on it's axis when a single noise silenced the courtyard— it even felt like the air had fallen flat to circulate.
the cry of an infant is heard, and maggie reappears out of the exit him and glenn had walked out of only minutes prior, holding a newborn baby and carl following close behind.
what made ross' heart drop is when he realizes lori was nowhere to be seen.
the realization that the scream was hers.
rick immediately drops, a dam breaking inside him as he cries as he passes his son, as he passes a sobbing maggie who was crading an infant.
ross manages to stumble over to carl, knowing he had to check on him, what he just witnessed—
it hadn't clicked in his head until he was right in front of carl what he had to have done.
"oh, carl..." he gasped, grabbing the younger boy by the shoulders, tears running down his face when he looks up at him.
"i had to," carl says, just soft enough for ross to hear it, and the older boy drops to his knees to hug carl, his tears turning to sobs.
he'd lost so much in just the past few weeks, and failed to protect carl from his own fate. the bitter curse ran through the grimes family tree like a thorned vine.
"ross, you've got a lot of blood—" carl says, pushing the boy away, and that's the last thing he hears before slugging to the ground, consciousness fading quickly as he faintly makes out someone yelling his name.
—
ross had no idea how long it'd been since he'd collapsed when he finally came to.
he woke with a gasp, a sharp pain in his side as he scanned his surroundings as he sat up on his elbows.
he relaxes when he sees beth sitting on the bed next to him, groaning softly when he feels the sting in his side again which alerts the girl sitting adjacent to him.
"you're awake," she smiles, looking at him with sad eyes. it made ross uncomfortable— she had no reason to show so much pity for someone she barely knew.
"ow- jesus, what happened?" he mumbles, sitting up slowly as hershel walks into his cell.
"son, that cut on your side near took you out there was so much blood. you passed out right after you heard the news," hershel tells him, before motioning for him to lift his shirt so he could check on the wound.
"how long has it been?" ross' throat was scratchy, and beth handed him some water while hershel okay'd his wound.
"2 days, it's incredible. you sleep like a horse," hershel jokes, and ross chokes on the water in his mouth.
he jumps to his feet once hershel backs up, in shock at himself. 2 days because of blood loss? he thinks, i hadn't even noticed the wound.
"how is- how is uh.. everything?" ross felt bad for bombarding them with questions, but he couldn't help but wonder what he'd missed.
"rick's been... grieving, in his own way. it's best to stay out of his way for now," hershel pauses, before smiling at him. "the baby's healthy, maggie and daryl found supplies. would you like to see your cousin?"
ross feels a lump form in his throat at the thought of seeing the baby. he couldn't. he felt horrified at the thought of embracing a new, innocent life into this world. the world that took lori, that took his mom.
he shook his head, quickly walking away from the pair and walking towards the exit of the cell block, letting out a sigh of relief when he reaches the fresh air, letting the wind and sun grace him.
"ross!" glenn yells, jogging over when he sees him, smiling at what he presumes is his current state of full consciousness. "i'm glad you're finally up, you scared us all there. how are you feeling?"
"pretty good," ross responds, noticing how he and maggie were clearly gearing up for a runs "can i join? i promise to bombard with as little questions as possible on the way," ross smiles and hopes he's convincing enough for glenn to think he's okay and say yes. he couldn't stay here with everything haunted in those walls.
glenn looks back at maggie, who just gives a silent thumbs up and glenn shrugs. "sure, just be careful, okay? that cut looked nasty," glenn warns him.
"oh, scouts honor," ross holds up 3 fingers, before breaking into laughter when glenn shoves him, and he slides into the backseat of the car they were taking.
he couldn't face rick, not after he was put in charge of protecting his family. and he'd let carl follow in his footsteps.
maggie's words are the only thing that snap him out of his trance. "i'm sorry about lori, ross. glenn told me how close your family was. we're all here for you, okay?"
she smiles warmly at him, and ross thinks that they have officially become his favorite (non-grimes) in the prison.
"thanks. i'm glad to have found friends in you guys," he replies softly, hoping not to get into it.
the rest of the ride is filled with small talk, and ross truly means he is glad he found friends as close to his age as he could get.
—
hiii... angsty chapter 😁
something newer is coming up from this point in the book!! up to here it's pretty much just been structural work but i'm gonna kick start things a bit now .. :] enjoy