CHAPTER TWO ━━━ DAYS GONE BYE,
Season One : Episode One of The Walking Dead
The water was cold. It sat in a rusted bucket, placed in the center of her ceramic bathroom sink. It was originally for her garden. Now, it's comically apart of her survival. But, let's get to the story here... Adeline Grimes was not supposed to be where she currently was. Standing in her old bathroom, hands trembling before her with nerves bundling together in the depths of her stomach. That is not ideal. That's what she kept telling herself. This isn't how it was supposed to happen.
During her two months alone, Adeline spent hours imagining the day her brother would wake from his coma. And every single time, she was there. To help him. To tell him every thing happened and what all he missed out on. To let him know that the hope of finding their family hadn't faded completely. That there was still a chance. The point is, she was supposed to be there. Not miles away, aiding two strangers in the scavenging of her neighborhood.
But that was exactly what she was doing. And there wasn't anything she could do to change that. Nothing but sit with the rotten consequences of her own actions.
She was scolding herself for not being the perfect person. Which, honestly... It was a very unfair thing to do. But Adeline Grimes had always been that way. She was the type to set high expectations for herself. She was bad for that. Sometimes, it didn't end the best way. If that happened before the world ended, she would spend the next weeks sulking in the defeat of her failure. Now? She had to deal with it head on.
The only effect sulking had now was the ability to drive her insane, and she found that out pretty quickly. This new world already had it's hands on her before it could even touch her brother. It made part of her terrified to speak to Rick. She was afraid that her brother wouldn't recognize who she become. What all she had to leave behind of the sister he used to know.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Adelines head shook, eyes snapping down to the water that fell from her hands and back into the halfway-filled bucket. "Crap." She muttered underneath her breath, shaking her palms to rid of the liquid before wiping them down the sides of her pants. Her bathroom was quiet, it was one attached to her and Shanes room.
If she had any other choice, she would've suggested some other place. But, they had to make a decision when the dead woke up from the sound of Morgan's gun going off and they still hadn't cleared a single place. Her home was the closest. The spot where Jenny Jones met her end. The man and his son weren't too happy with that fact. Rightfully so.
It was all they had, though. They were too far from the one he and Duane had been staying at, so Morgan had to listen to Adeline when she forced the idea upon them.
Mine is closer. We wouldn't make it to yours. Not with him.
Him. Rick Grimes. Her twin brother. The one that was soon to be awake, no longer trapped within the safe confines of a coma dream. Adeline couldn't believe it. It shocked her to her core that he was actually up and moving around. Technically, at this moment, he wasn't━━ all thanks to Duane and her garden shovel.
The Grimes sister didn't blame the boy. He was just a scared kid doing what he was told. She was sure that if Carl were in his place, the exact same thing would've happened.
But it took her a little bit longer to understand Morgan's hostility towards her unconscious brother.
Even asleep, unable to defend himself, the Jones man wouldn't dare trust that Rick was safe until Adeline removed her brothers bandages and showed the gunshot wound to him. He thought it was a bite. Apparently, in that moment, that was the only thing Morgan would allow himself to believe. That he and his son were in danger, trapped in a home with another man-eating-monster.
To be fair, the Grimes twin failed to take into consideration the fact that the last time they were inside her home━━ Jenny Jones did that very thing.
But when Morgan approached Adeline with the information that he had taken it upon himself to restrain her defenseless brother to the bed in her guest room... it didn't turn out so well.
Adeline was already upset. After spending hours fortifying her home, forced to comb through every room and memory within its confines, he came up to her. Her brows furrowed in confusion from where she sat by the counter, elbows pressed against the surface. A look of, what the hell are you talking about? Which was quick to set Morgan off.
He thought she was being soft. That because he was her brother, she was pushing away the idea that Rick could turn into a walker instead of wake up.
People don't wake up twice, that's what he said. That there was no possible way that the Grimes twin could be that lucky.
The only thing Morgan did by saying that was piss the sister off even more. That and actually causing her to worry that her brother genuinely wouldn't wake up (as himself) again. Which was when she decided to take some time to herself, leaving the father and son in her dining room where they were starting their so called 'meal' for the night.
Addy wouldn't call it that. Only because it consisted of an old can of Chick Pea Garbanzos that had collected a fine layer of forgotten time on its metal lid.
The dust stained her hands when she pulled it from the back of her cabinet about ten minutes prior, therefore giving her a valid excuse to go to the bathroom. If she had just left mid-conversation, she thought Morgan or Duane would catch onto the fact that the older Jones was starting to aggravate her.
Adeline liked to be tactical. If she had a problem with someone, she didn't want them to find out. Thankfully enough for her, she was creepily good at pretending to be an entirely different person. Only a handful of people could see through it. Rick, of course. Their father when he was still alive. Even young baby Carl. And Shane.
It took him a while, but he managed to discover quite a few of Addys' tells. She kept some out of his range, there probably wasn't a single person in the world who could fully see through her thick, concrete layers of carefully calculated bullshit.
A very small, muted part of her wished that would change soon. To have someone completely understand her could possibly be good for her... at least she guessed.
But, she couldn't quite tell how she felt about the possibility that Morgan could now be one of those people.
It hadn't been too long, but it was the end of the world. And they were learning how to survive through it together. That had to form some sort of connection. A bond that couldn't be broken. So now, he could pretty much tell when she was bullshitting him. And he picked up on it when she excused herself to the bathroom over some dust.
Don't get him wrong, Adeline played it off well. He just simply knew that she wasn't the type of person to get bothered over something like that. If it were any other day, she would've just wiped the dust on her jeans and ended it at that. But she didn't. And he noticed.
He chose not to say anything about it, though. Morgan, now he was also the type to let things happen and then deal with the consequences when he had to. Adeline related to that.
Attempting to distract her thoughts, the Grimes twin finished drying her palms against the sides of her pants before her eyes fell back to the mirror in front of her. Her brunette locks of hair laid flat, falling a few inches past her shoulders. A few stray strands framed her features that was decorated with beads of sweat like a cold glass of water.
Oh, what she would do for one of those. The idea nearly made her mouth go dry. It was hot. Not to mention Morgan had candles going and every window in her house was now covered with thick, heavy comforters in order to keep the light out.
Precautions. She noticed the evident lack of sleep written across her face, bags resting underneath her tired eyes with a prudent red rimming her waterlines. She probably hadn't slept a single full night in the past forty five days.
"Jesus, Addy." She whispered to herself, raising her right hand to press against the side of her cheek. She lost some weight. Well. There goes that fifteen she was trying to get rid of. Which is probably not a good thing. But to her it seemed to be.
Her eyebrows were no longer threaded. You could see exhaustion smeared across her features. Her hair had one too many dead ends. But she guessed that's what happens when your stylist is no longer around for a touch up. "You really let yourself go, girl." Adeline added, running both palms over her freckle stained face before pulling her hair into a low ponytail.
Using the black tie she kept on her wrists for emergencies, she tugged a few loose strands to frame her features before backing away from the mirror.
The entire time she was in her house, she was trying desperately not to think about her brother and wether or not he would wake up. Or what she would tell him. Her attention moved to the empty space where her husbands toothbrush would usually be. Addy felt her stomach tighten.
The more she stood within the space of her own home, the more her family pried into her thoughts. If they were alive. If they were safe. Hungry. Dead. Scared. Hurt. Alone.
She wondered if she had it better than them. If she had no right to complain at all. Usually, that train became a spectacle of self hate and loathing.
Adeline Walsh became quite good at doing that.
The sound of muffled footsteps caused her thoughts to halt, her heart lurching in her chest. Adeline broke the stare she shared with herself in the mirror, head turning towards the bathroom door as the movement grew closer. She heard the creak of her bedroom door, followed by steps that became louder until they finally stopped. Stepping back, she glanced down at the gap underneath the bathroom entrance━━ a smaller shadow seen in front of it as she heard a soft knock.
"Addy? Daddy said I should get you. That man is awake." Duane's voice broke through the air, the information reaching the distraught twin on the other side.
The second she registered those words, she hastily pulled the door open.
"He's okay?" Adeline questioned, disbelief crawling across every inch of her features as she spotted the boy. He looked up at her, nodding wordlessly while anxiously shifting in his step. That was when she noticed the familiar sight of her metal bat clutched in his trembling hands, his innocent eyes hidden by hints of worry.
He was scared. "He ain't all messed up like Daddy said he'd be."
Her hardened stare softened, eyes moving between the boy and her opened bedroom door. Rick was okay. Again. Relief was a breeze that brushed past her, her hand squeezing Duane's shoulder as she made her way out of the room and into the hallway.
She was betting on Morgan already being in there, questioning her brother. She knew he would be. Adeline easily ignored the creaking of floorboards underneath her determined strides, focusing solely on the opened door of the guest room that stood at the start of the hallway.
She heard voices first.
"-look how sharp it is. You try anything- I will kill you with it. And don't you think I won't."
Great. Morgan skipped straight to the threats.
There was a soft light that emitted from the open door, casting uneven shadows against the wall across it. She noticed one move, legs reaching the opened entrance as her steps slowed before it. Jesus, has that hallway always been that long?
It almost felt like there was tape on the bottom of her shoes, holding her in place as her nerves brewed in her stomach. Adeline spotted him within the first second. Wrists clutched to his chest from where Morgan recently cut his restraints, the Jones man clasping the knife shut as his eyes turned to the sister.
"Come on out when you're able." He threw the words behind his back, the frantic yet confused stare that belonged to Rick Grimes hastily moving over to the hidden figure in the doorway.
"You were right." Morgan continued, sniffing while approaching the sister. Adeline swallowed her words as he grew closer, reluctantly pulling her attention from her fully awake twin brother to follow Morgan with her eyes. "No signs of him turnin'. Looks like you got lucky after all." He added, glancing behind her to the figure of Duane who approached.
A small, soft smile that failed to reach her eyes curled around her lips tightly. "Thanks, Morgan." Adeline whispered, reaching her hand to squeeze his forearm before looking back to her twin brother that stared at her with a look of shock as he registered her face for a second time. To be fair, the first time was right after he was smacked in the face with a shovel.
Now his was full of disbelief. Relief. And Adeline had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to say as Morgan wordlessly nodded before slipping out of the room to his son. A part of her kind of wished that he would stay and help. How was she possibly going to tell her brother that their families were gone and she doesn't really know where they are?
Just plans from nearly two months ago.
That the world he fell asleep in was now completely and utterly gone.
Now it was just the two of them. The room was quiet. The candlelight softly provided a comforting tone within the silent space, bringing a warmth. Unspoken words drifted between the twins, and if it were any other day before the apocalypse, Addy was sure they would be hearing the frogs and crickets singing their songs.
Rick met her hesitant stare, which confused him.
"Get enough sleep?"
The attempt of a joke came after she cleared her throat, straightening out her body slightly before carefully stepping into the room and out of the door frame. She watched as her brother tilted his head, brows furrowing. He attempted to sit up, pressing his left elbow against the soft mattress of his sisters guest bed only for it to falter.
Adeline moved towards Rick at the sight, reaching his side quicker than expected in order to wrap her hand around his arm and help him sit against the bed frame.
Her twin thought it would stop at that. That she would back away and look at him until he had to break the silence. Because quite frankly, that's always how it was with Addy. She would never speak first, never act first. So, the last thing Rick expected was for his sister to sink into his chest, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as her body began to tremble.
He was concerned now. His hands hesitantly found their way to her back, tenaciously placing them against her shirt as she tightened her hands together behind his. Adeline. Adeline Grimes, his twin sister, crying and hugging him?
"I'm so sorry."
Her words caused Rick to falter, feeling her pull away from his chest and move to meet his worried eyes. "I should've been there for you." She added, causing more confusion to pour into his stare. "What all have you seen? I know the hospital- I didn't... Well, I didn't really get the chance to clean it up as good as I wanted. And- you saw my sign right? On the cafeteria door?" Anxiety caused her questions to spill from her mouth, passing straight through her brother in front of her.
"I don't...." Rick shook his head, "I don't understand. Those bodies. On the loading dock. Was that you, too?"
The question lingered in the back of her mind, tears involuntarily welling within her eyes. He took her no-go exit. Addy sighed, shifting in her spot to place her hands over her face in order to register her collection of thoughts. She braced her feet against the bed frame rails, placing her elbows onto her knees before turning to look at her twin brother.
"They were all already dead when I found them. And I was gonna bury them. But there was just too many, you know?" Adeline admitted with a guilty tone, her fingers moving to anxiously twist the set of rings on her finger. "You've been out of it for almost two months so I had to decide when the walkers split Shane and I up. I chose to stay behind with you."
Rick furrowed his brows, instinctively moving to clutch his bandaged and basically healed gunshot wound as he straightened out his back. "Walkers?"
There it was. The twin sister felt her stomach sink, and if he would've known Rick would swear that he felt it too. The moment Adeline lifted her eyes to look at her brother, he knew, now without a single doubt in his mind, that something terrible had happened. And she bore witness to it all.
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2,990
i apologize for the long wait, everyone! having a job
absolutely sucks and i get only two days off every week
which may seem like a lot but it seriously FLYS by. but,
i promise y'all i am writing every chance i get!
hopefully this chapter proves that haha