Walking Dead 1. The beginning of the end

**Disclaimer : I only own my OC and plot, Walking Dead belongs to AMC.**

**This is my first try at fanfictions, so please, review to help me improve my writing!**

The sun was high in the sky, making the already hot weather of Atlanta unbearable, but there they were, Rick Grimes and Sue Collins, both of them stomping in the heat like two walkers, trying to get to the big city ahead.

Rick, Sue and Shane Walsh were the three best cops in King County, known to be serious and skilled during work, but also the closest friends, always together, sharing coffee and donuts on their break times. But since Rick's accident, after he fell into a coma, the other two were devastated, paying him a visit every day, a guilty look never leaving their faces.

When the apocalypse happened, Shane was getting Rick while Sue was on watch, making sure the heavily armored soldiers wouldn't stumble in on them and shoot them dead, like most of the people here, patients and doctors indiscriminately.

Blood on the walls, screams in the halls and this terrible stench of death everywhere, but what really made Sue lose it was Shane leaving Rick's room, a somber look on his face, tears prickling his eyes while he shook his head. They hastily left the hospital after that, getting to their deceased friend's home to get his wife and son, Lori ans Carl Grimes.

When they entered, Shane told Lori the fate her husband had encountered and Sue took her comfortingly in her arms, rubbing soothing circles in her back while the other woman was crying her heart out. Carl and his mother took a few things, Sue sneaking a toy car that Shane forbid him to take while the man was yelling at Lori, who was taking her family albums and framed pictures from the living room.

When they finished packing, they went to the Police office to get guns and ammo, but on the way out, they were attacked by a herd of walkers. Sue shot her gun at them, getting all the attention to help the others escape, they must of think she was dead by now, and they were nearly right, she survived by locking the office from the inside after entering by her office's window.

A week later, the door unlocked, revealing Rick and two people, a man and a boy who seemed related. At first, she couldn't believe her eyes, she ran up to him and hugged him with everything she had, crying on his shoulder, she told him what happened, confirming his hypothesis of his family being alive, at least since a week, and with one of his trusted best friends.

After leaving Morgan and Duane behind, they took their unit car to Atlanta, where Shane planed on going but the fuel ran out, so here they are, pacing on the empty, dusty road leading to the big city, announced to be a refugee camp before the radio station was shut down.

"Ugh... I can't feel my feet anymore, I don't know if it's better than the hurting..." Sue complained.

"Yeah, I feel the same, and my stitches are a bit sore too... Isn't that a farm? Hey, maybe we can find a truck there."

They walked up to the house, Rick bushed the dust away from the window's glass with the back of his hand when he saw what was inside, he took a couple steps back, gagging. Sue gave a peek and was horrified to see a whole family of dead people, '_God forgive us_' written in blood on the wall behind a man, sitting in an armchair, a riffle in his hand and in front of him, the corpses of who she supposed were his wife holding a Bible for her dear and now gone life, their son and daughter, all showing a hole in their skull, an easy and comforting way out, with their family.

Rick fake-coughed indicating a nearby barn, they both were surprised to see the beautiful horse, simply eating the meadow's grass and raising it's head, noticing the strangers. Handing Rick the saddle, Sue gently petted the horse, putting the halter on the horse, which seemed almost happy to go on a walk. They both mounted it, and once Rick gave a gentle nudge, it sped up to the road, the two friends laughing at the animal's urge to run but gently refraining it from tiring out or hurting itself. When Rick made it rear up, Sue held on Rick's waist, laughing again when he cried out.

"To Atlanta!"


	2. Between hopefull and reckless

**Here we go for Chapter two, remember to review !**

Sue Collins POV

After a while, the shadow of Atlanta's buildings appeared behind the horizon's line, Rick huffed, his shoulders tensed for a moment.

"You stressed?" I asked, noticing his body stiffening by the minute.

"Sort of...What if I can't find them? If they made Atlanta a survivor's camp, there won't be just twenty people, more like a hundred of them... And what if Morgan was right? If a single bite or scratch can make you turn, the city must have been taken over by the dead by now..."

"If that's the case, I'll help you find them, may it be in a town full of survivors or walkers."

He nodded his thanks, his eyes going back to the horizon, surely in wonder of what lies ahead, in the big city of Atlanta.

We were finally approaching the center, the path completely empty while the other side was full of wrecked cars, it sent shivers down my spine.

"If it's a survivor's camp... Why were all the cars heading out?"

Rick shrugged, maybe he was just thinking about finding his family, the doubt didn't have any room in his head.

We passed the long bridge leading to the entrance, the world around us still dead silent, only the rhythmic noise of the horse's hooves joining the asphalt reaching my eardrums. We then saw them, the walkers, attracted to us by the same noise, their bodies looking food deprived and bony, the skin partially rotten at some spots.

"We can easily outrun them if there aren't too many" Assured Rick.

We then passed a bus, filled with rotting bodies, still in their seats, their decaying heads pointing ahead, as if waiting for the vehicle to take off. A faint shuffling could be heard inside, another corpse rose from it's sleep-like daze, making me doubt Rick's assurance all the more.

"They aren't here, Rick. If the army was still here they wouldn't let those things be that close to the survivors."

He grunted in approval, seeming crestfallen after his last hope was crushed. We turned our heads back at the rising gurgling sound behind us, the dead had cut our escaping way. Rick nudged the horse to keep it moving but was forced to stop around the next corner, in front of a swarm of walkers.

After running the side-streets like crazy, the horse reared up, causing the both of us to topple to the ground. I coughed in the dust, trying to get up and take Rick with me, but he only shook, paralyzed in front of the horror before us: Zombies eating alive our horse, gutting him and devouring everything they could reach.

My stomach churned at the view, but I still tried to make him move, dragging him away while the walkers began noticing us, gurgling and reaching out in our way. Rick took my elbow and pulled us under a tank, quickly followed by the corpses.

We both shot at them, but the ammo was going too fast for us to hold longer, Rick sighed desperately and put his gun to his temple, whispering his wife's and son's names as you'd do a prayer, giving me an apologetic look he then looked up, bracing for the impact.

He noticed the opening under the tank and dragged me in with him, closing the latch behind us, my breath itched, my whole being was trembling at the realization of what almost happened.

After a weird silence while Rick pulled himself next to a dead soldier's corpse, taking it's gun and a hand grenade, I managed to recover my voice.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, the rage bubbling in me.

"Sorry, I was caught in the heat of the moment" Rick answered, looking down to his lap, touching the new gun.

"You... You would have left me alone, in this?"

"I-...I'm sorry, didn't think about it."

The corpse next to Rick emitted a gurgle, it's head slowly rising and it's jaw rabidly snapping for him. He mustn't have given a thought about it when he shot it, the closed space made the sound deafening. We both ended up on the tank's floor, miserably pressing our hands to our ears.

When my ears didn't give the whistle effect anymore, I shot a glare at Rick, who sent back a sheepish look, shrugging his shoulders.

A static noise made us both gasp, turning to the tank's radio which suddenly turned back to life, a voice breaking the tense silence.

"Hey, dumb asses, you in the tank, getting cozy in there? I wouldn't interrupt anything between the two of you." A mocking voice rose from the device.

Rick reached out getting the mic.

"Hey, do you hear me?"

"Yeah I hear you, so, how's it inside the tank? Mind moving in with your lady?"

I didn't know who that guy was, but he was already getting on my nerves.

"She's not my lady, just a colleague."

"Awww... That was harsh, man."

Seeing my unnerved look, Rick gave me a sly smile and turned back to the radio.

"Man... If you saw what's happening inside, you'd be shittin' bricks."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but you could get out though, the geeks are feasting on your horse, only some are still roamin', you could, err...Make a run for it? You don't have much time."

"Hum... what's your name?"

"Really? I just told you you haven't much time, get moving already! I'll be your eyes on this one, when you're out, take the direction I tell you, OK?"

"Alright."

Once were were out, we took turns to shoot at the walkers catching up, we were then guided into a side-street by a young, Asian man, Glenn, who brought us through several jumps between the building's rooftops until we got down to a door, a few armored people got out and killed the walkers around while we entered.


	3. Getting separated

**And Chapter three is finally out ! Sorry for the wait, guys! Merle's foul language is on, you're warned. (Lori's also being a meanie, btw)**

_***Short time skip***_

Sue Collins POV

We were on the roof, and there was this guy, Merle Dixon, shooting at the zombies roaming around. He was obviously bringing more of those things, the glass of the front boutique wouldn't last long.

Coming from behind, Rick tried to handcuff him to the pipes nearby, only making the man angrier than he already was. Merle grabbed T-Dog by the collar, spinning him so his neck was in the crook of his arms, ready to strangle.

"Put yer gun down officer, or the nigger dies."

I came from behind, kicked the back of his knee, making him go down and knocking him out with the handle of my gun on the back of his neck.

T-dog nodded to me, thankful I most likely saved his butt.

"So, what are we going to do with him?" Andrea asked.

"Nothing, let him cool down a moment, he's not coming around any soon."

I sat on the pipes next to the man. He smelled like weed and has some white powder on the tip of his nose. _Cocaine._

Rick went with the others to find a way out while I guarded the redneck and kept an eye on the undead population down bellow.

After a while Andrea made me follow her down to the boutique, as I had a gun and was a cop, she was more than happy to have me around.

"Hey, would you arrest me for taking a little something?"

"Well, I guess this kind of rule sort of crumbled when those guys started to come around, and so did society. Is it for your daughter?" I was eying the little mermaid necklace she was interested in.

"No, I've got my little sister, Amy, back at camp, she always loves fantasy creatures, she never grew up, in a sense." A melancholic smile graced her mouth.

I looked around a little too, as I was bored of just waiting. The rotting corpses stopped their thumping at the glass window and were now idle, entranced by something I couldn't see.

This jewelery sold dog's glass portraits, even dog tags: the basic Toby, Merry, Franck, Rufus,... _Thanatos? _

I took the small silver medal, the letters engraved and delicately painted in black, the border looking like golden ivy was encircling the whole thing. As I let my thumb trace the writing, good memories came back.

_Crash._

A dead hand came through the glass door, making both Andrea and me jump in surprise. I sent her to Rick as I was trying to block the door.

"Where is T-Dog?" Glenn asked.

"I gave him the key to free Merle." Rick was looking worried.

As I ran up the stairs, I saw the chubby man dropping the keys down a drain. Merle, who must have woken up a few moments ago looked as livid as me.

"Shit, I didn't mean to do that! What am I gonna do?" T-Dog was fumbling.

"Join Rick, I'll handle it from here, you don't have much time. Tell him to go, you be safe, ok?"

He nodded, sweating so much you'd think he would drown. He thankfully took the time to block the door before he left.

I sighed and sat on the edge of the building, Merle frowning at me.

"And who are you?"

"Officer Collins-He chuckled at that- Rick's partner."

"Well, Officah, I think yo' partner jus' left your ass for dead."

"I could have gone with them, so shut your big mouth if you don't want me to change my mind and leave you here. You're handcuffed, I'm not."

He huffed at that, but just sat still, looking at the ground.

After an hour, the sun was glaring on the entire city, Merle looked like lobster, and half smiled when I told him. When he didn't look like he would do anything bas, I sat next to him, staying in some pipe's shadow.

"Heh, ya got any water?" His voice was raspy, betraying hid thirst.

I handed him a bottle from my backpack, I had three of those, but I didn't know how long we'd be stuck here. He nodded his thanks, drinking just enough to make the heat bearable.

"Hey, wha's your lil' name? Don' think I caught it."

"It's Sue, Sue Collins. He rose an eyebrow, chuckling with a knowing smile. You're still okay there?"

"Yeah, yeah, don' worry woman, I'm tough, won't kill ol' Merle so easy."

We chuckled, it was almost painful in the dry heat.

Somewhere else, Rick's group was finally getting to the quarry camp.

There, Rick finally met with his family, it was full of joy and tears, but then Shane went up to them.

"So you're alive, he said, a small smile running along his lips.

They laughed and shared a manly hug, then, Rick's face showed a flash of sadness.

"And Sue? Shane seemed to read his partner's mind.

"She made it, was settled in the police station and we met up there, but in Atlanta... Rick looked in the city's direction. I thought it was a survivor camp, but when I saw what was left, I was scared for the three of you. And Glenn saved us when we were being attacked, led us to the rest of the group."

When Rick stopped talking, Shane moved his weight from one foot to the other, squinting his eyes, making very clear he didn't get the whole answer he wanted. Rick sighed and obliged.

"There was this guy, Merle Dixon, he was high and menacing the others with his gun. I handcuffed him to a pipe, but took T-dog as hostage, Sue came from behind him and knocked him down."

Shane chuckled at that, so not surprised, typical Sue.

"But we had to leave because of the walkers, they broke in the building we were in. And when I gave him they key, T-dog let it go down a drain, he told me Sue stayed behind, she couldn't let that man die alone."

Yeah, typical Sue. Shane sourly thought, gritting his teeth.

Shane's jaw was tense and hist fists clenched and unclenched rapidly, sign that Rick should wait a little before he said anything.  
After so many years of partnership, he knew better.

Shane stormed off, followed quickly by a not-so-discreet Lori, glancing worriedly around and trotting behind the man.

When Shane was almost entering the forest, he stomped at the last step, signaling to the woman following him that he was aware of her presence.

"Look, Shane, I know how you feel about it, but now that Rick is back, we can't keep on doing this. Of course I thought he was dead, but for Christ's sake, he is your best friend and my husband, you really need to understand that."

Yes, Rick knew better but Lori obviously didn't.

Shane silently turned around and took a few steps in her direction, the look on his face, pure and cold anger, only stressed out by his deadly silent steps, made her shudder, she knew what was coming, but it was already too late to think of an escape.

"Now you listen here, woman, because I'm not gonna repeat myself, you hear?"

His voice was calm, but the strength he put in each word betrayed his real state of mind. Lori nodded fearfully, but Shane didn't care. Damn, he'd talk his mind whether she wanted or not.

"I don't care that he's back, don't get me wrong, he's a brother to me. But I thought he was dead, too. I didn't take advantage of you. You wanted me for comfort and care after your loss? Me too, I thought I lost both of my friends back there, so there wasn't anything more to it: try to think of something else. You think I would have wanted anything else from you after he came back? You didn't think that I'd already feel bad for betraying my bro? I won't run after you, Lori, stop believing everything turns around your little being, this world is not your little drama theater anymore."

With that said, he huffed, throwing back his head as he exhaled, relief going through his very being. It felt good to get this out of his system.  
He still went into the woods, needing a little walk to start fresh after everything that happened lately.

Lori just stayed there, mouth agape, outraged by what just struck her eardrums. Was that how she appeared? After everything she went through? A drama queen? And how did he know of her marriage's problems?

Rick.

She felt her skin flush in anger as she went to the spot where Rick was, a worried expression on his face as he watched Atlanta from afar.

"What is the meaning of this? She almost cried out in fury."

Rick snapped back from his thoughts, his wife's furious voice being quite a harsh snap back to reality.

"What are you talking about? He just came back to her, alive and healthy, but he still had to face this?"

"Oh I'm sure you know very well what I'm talking about. I'm talking about you, speaking to Shane when I'm not here, about our personal life. Do you know what I look like now? A drama queen."

Rick willed himself not to chuckle, the situation was already annoying as it was, he didn't need to worsen it. Still a pretty darn accurate name for her when before all of this happened every single thing would become a chance for her to complain about her life.

"Look, Rick finally said, for one, you don't get to say that to me when you do the exact same thing with the mothers at Carl's school. And you'll understand that Shane, Sue and me are partners, we spend our entire day together, so when something isn't right, we talk about it, being upset about something can get you or your fellow cops killed. And for god's sake, we're in the middle of the apocalypse, if you think that this sort of things still matter, suit yourself, but I've got a friend to save."

When she couldn't think of a comeback, she just huffed indignantly and went back to her chores.

_Drama Queen_. Rick snickered, remembering that was how Sue tended to call his wife when she caused him trouble.

The two women never really got along, but Sue had tried, hard. She brought her gifts on her birthday, she would babysit Carl so they could go on a date, she even tried to get to know her better. But nothing changed, Lori was not so secretly scared that Sue would have a bigger part in her husband's heart than she did, heck, they were always together, laughing about some private joke she'd never be part of.

Every Friday, they'd fetch Carl at school after their daily patrol and head to the park, taking a stroll, buying ice-cream on the way back, and when their Carl pulls up in front of the alley, they'd walk together, Sue and Rick, each holding one of Carl's much smaller hands, making him jump by gently pulling his arms, her son giggling in glee.

They were always relying on one another, trusting with their lives, like she wanted her couple to be: a symbiosis between partners who interacted by instinct to make things right.  
But what Lori wanted to prove to herself was that she was as good as her. She had Rick as her husband had a son with him, and now she had Shane as her lover, the two men of her rival's life were hers. But that thought crumbled as both rejected her, Shane had used her (but didn't she use him, too?) Rick was laughing at her face and her son had grieved Sue as much as he did his father.

She was glad this skank was now walker bait in the middle of the dead city. 


End file.

Walking Dead, Horror, Romance