The night was silent as she opened her eyes. Her hands were shaking as she stared in terror, she had killed a man. Her eyes began to well up with tears as she broke down, only her loud cries filling the dead of night.
"O-oh god-I-I killed him."
Rick carefully took the gun from her placing it in his waist band. He went to embrace her as she backed away. She stared at her hands to face them towards her, they were shaking harder now.
"Don't come near me." She cried, "I-I don't want to hurt you."
Rick was saddened by the small girls silhouette. She looked up at him, half her face covered by the shadows and the other half exposed to the moonlight. Rick stepped towards her holding the scared girl, "you aren't going to hurt me, Indi. You're so strong sweetie. If you didn't do what you did...I would be the one lying there...and maybe even you."
"B-but it doesn't make it any better." She choked on her tears, "I killed him, Rick. I'm a...murderer."
The two were silent for a brief moment when the all too familiar sound of moans filled the air. Rick let go of her staring into the darkness for what seemed like forever. She warily looked down to her side feeling a sharp pain, fresh blood stained her clothes. Indigo stared in disbelief, Shane must have stabbed her before she even managed to get to him. She wasn't quick enough but there was no time to dwell.
"Rick..."
Indigo turned around staring into the darkness faced with the various silhouettes of death itself. Rick grabbed her arm dragging her towards the direction of Hershel's farm.
"We...we gotta get to the house, tell the others."
"We'll never get through that." Indigo stuttered as Rick eyed every direction.
"Can't go around, either." Rick muttered as he looked back at the dead, "Indi, stay close."
"O-okay, Rick." She held his hand tight as they brushed through the long grass towards the farm where they could see the others turning off the lights. Her other hand covering her wound.
"They can see." Indigo whispered softly, "They see the walkers."
Before they even reached the farm, more monsters came from their left side as they made a sharp turn to the right. Indigo following close behind him.
"Oh shit. All right. Okay." Rick led Indigo towards a ladder near the barn the group had found Sophia in, "Up there. Hurry."
"What about you?" Indigo asked one hand on the ladder.
"I'll be right there." Rick said to her. He gave her a lighter as she hesitantly took it.
"Drop the lighter when I say." Rick told her carefully, "We'll stop some of them from reaching the house and distract the others, so at least we'll have a chance."
Indigo looked at him nervously nodding, "Hey-hey-hey, look at me. You can do this. Indigo...I love you." Rick told her softly. She smiled slightly, he had never said those words to her...'love'...she missed that word. Rick tapped her back as the walkers groans grew louder, "All right, go-go-go."
Rick ran out from under her as she heard him yell.
"Hey! Hey! You want some?! Come and get it! Come on! Come on! Come on! Over here! Come on, over here. Come on, over here!"
Indigo climbed up the ladder as fast as she could one step at a time. When she reached the top she stood up wincing in pain, she felt herself getting weak but she had to remain strong. She reached the side of the barn as she took out the lighter.
"Indigo, now!" Rick yelled from below. Indigo held the lighter over the edge, "Keep it steady!"
"I'm trying!" She yelled back.
"Go!" Rick shouted as she let go of the lighter listening to its flame meet the air. It hit the ground setting the barn alight.
"Got it!"
Indigo managed to turn around and wobble down the stairs to meet Rick, "Oh no!"
Rick grabbed her hand, "Indigo, now! This way!"
"They're all over the place." Indigo cried out watching as the walkers surrounded them from all sides, the fire spreading from behind them.
"There's no corralling them. We're gonna run out of ammo before we even make a dent. We need a new game plan." Rick told her, she didn't understand, but she gathered they were currently fucked. Ricks eyes darted around for an escape exit finally stopping at the woods, "There. Head for the woods now, as fast as you can. Come on. Come on!"
Indigo began sprinting through the walkers dodging them, Rick not far behind but she felt her legs giving in, falling to the ground.
"Indigo, Jesus are you okay?!" Rick yelled as she felt a single tear fall onto her cheek.
"H-he got me Rick."
"What?"
"He-he-Shane got me..." Rick moved her jacket over exposing her blood stained shirt, "I-I guess I just wasn't fast enough this time."
"No." Rick clipped his hands under her fragile body, "I'm not going to lose you. You're going to live."
After what felt like forever, the duo finally made it to the house as the group all rushed past her realising she had been hurt.
"Jesus Christ, Indigo?!" Lori yelled, "o-oh my god."
"Hershel! Hershel!" Rick shouted as Indigo listened to his desperate calls, "Indigo-it's- she's hurt?!"
Glenn grabbed bags passing them to T-Dog who was piling them into cars as Daryl held her hand, "What the fuck happened out there?!"
Rick felt him self losing it. It was his fault. He couldn't look after this girl.
"S-she was fine and then she just-she"
"We gotta go." Hershel yelled running down the stairs stopping when he saw the small pasty girl, "is she still alive?"
"O-only just."
"I've got nothing left Rick, it's all gone."
----------
Indigo felt herself placed inside of the backseat of a car, she didn't know who's but she felt safe. She listened to the moans of the monsters outside slowly creeping up on them.
"We gotta get out of here. We gotta go. Stay behind me. Stay behind me. Come on, girls. Come on. No! No! Dad. Get in! Dad! Get Carol... She ran that way. Get in! Look out! They got her! We gotta go! Dog, come on!"
Indigo could hear the doors to the car she was in slam shut, "Where the hell are they going?"
"Should I follow them?"
"I'd say yes."
She felt herself move slightly wincing in pain as the car swerved in multiple directions, "Swing it around. Swing it around here."
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa."
"Oh my God. I can't get through." She heard Lori say.
Indigo stared at the ceiling of the car, orange light flickering across it. She wore she could see her momma...her voice.
"Fly away little pretty bird...fly, fly away, fly away, little pretty bird."
Rick stared at the small girl who was gazing up at him quietly, motionless. He saw the others outside of their window as Lori came to a halt. Rick kissed her and Carl on the forehead.
"Take them and head out."
"What?"
"Get off the farm now." Rick told her, "I'm going to catch up with you two. Indigo needs help."
"No...no...don't go." Carl cried softly as Indigo felt herself get lifted out of the car.
"I'll be back, Carl. I promise."
Indigo coughed violently in his arms, blood splurging over her shirt.
"Rick, we need to go." Andrea told him as she made her way towards the other vehicle. Rick followed behind her seeing Hershel standing in front of his house, the place glowing in bright orange as his farm burnt down.
Maggie was close by her father trying to pull him away. He turned towards her crying, "Maggie, it's lost! The others...we can't leave them."
"Get off the farm now! Come on! Come on! Come on!"
"It's my farm!" Hershel shouted as Maggie pointed towards the walkers.
"Not anymore!"
"Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!" Maggie screamed pulling her father into a nearby car.
"Hershel!"
"Come on! Go."
"Rick! Rick! Wait!"
"Come on, I ain't got all day!" Rick yelled as Glenn caught up with them.
"Why aren't you with Lori and Carl?"
"I have bandages, not much but it's something." He looked at her bloody shirt, "Oh my God. Oh my God." Glenn repeated distressed by the almost lifeless girl, "All right, let's just...let's just find somewhere" Glenn said as they found a hiding spot near the stables gates, "Do you see any keys?"
"I can't see anything." Glen wiped his dirty face, "We've gotta go back there."
"We can't go back, okay? There's nothing to go back to."
Indigo shot up as she gagged violently. She held her wound in agony, it felt like it was on fire.
"Shh. You need to be quiet, all right?" Rick told her, "Please. Please..."
"You both need to go." She managed to say quietly as they both looked at her struggling face.
"Look, Indigo, listen..."
"No." She cut him off managing to lean up with the little strength she had, "Rick. You've got to go back to Carl...back to Lori...I'll wait here. I-I'll be okay. I know a few places. We'll meet up at one of them later."
"Where?" Rick questioned doubting her by the looks of her, "you can barely move."
"S-somewhere safe, I'll manage."
"Where is safe?"
"We're not splitting up." Glenn stated softly.
"I'll hide in one of the cars." Indigo said softly, "If a walker gets me, so be it."
"No-we stick together." Rick told her in between trying to pull the gate open.
"Hey, we gotta turn around." Glenn said shaking his head.
Rick looked at him, "Straight back to that herd? Um, no."
"The highway's back there. That's where they'll be."
"Look, we've got a shot to get out of here in one piece." Glenn said softly, "and that's making a run for it."
"Look, we can't go back." Rick told him as he wrapped Indigo's waist in the bandages he had taken from Glenn in an attempt to stop the bleeding, "I'm sorry. It's suicide."
"All right, then I'm going and damn well taking Indi with me."
"Hey! Whoa!" Ricks said holding out his hand.
"Then turn around, or you let us move right now." Glenn warned him but Indigo coughed again catching their attention. More blood.
"You're out of your damn minds." She said in between grunts, "if you think I'm going to let you both stay."
"I...I'm not leaving without you." Rick told her as she looked away, "So we're just gonna walk away? Not knowing if you live or die? How do we live with that?"
"You've only got one concern now...just one...keeping them alive, Rick. I'm not your responsibility. I'm just some kid you found in a car in the middle of the woods. Nature may be throwing us a curveball, but that law is still true."
"Indigo, it's not safe here."
The groans of the walkers grow increasingly loud now. Indigo could see them now, her fate.
"You need to leave me, Rick."
A walker closed in on them as Glenn quickly and efficiently stabbed it through its head.
"Walker. We need to leave."
"It's okay Rick..." Indigo felt her vision grow blurry as she smiled at them softly. Rick could feel the strength in the little girl's hand get weak.
"Do something." Rick shouted as he began to cry.
"I am doing something!" Glenn said shaking holding the pressure of her wound.
"I didn't ask for this." Rick yelled in anger, "I wanted a safe place for you...for us...all of us."
"Why don't you...why don't you go and find that for yourself?
"No..Nono..you're staying." Rick said, his voice shaking as the girls eyes began to shut.
"It's funny isn't it." Indigo smiled miserably as her focus shifted to the burning barn.
"What is?" Rick cried softly.
"That I get to die the same way we met, by your side."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would just like to say thank you all so much for reading, voting, commenting and damn well just supporting me. I suffered from a great deal of writers block but I managed and ya'll still read it. I'm so thankful. Thanks for making my first fan fiction unforgettable. Be aware that from Chapter 1 to 40, you'll see this book undergoing editing. Keep an eye out for updates on the next page.😶