Trekking through old Georgian roads was one thing.

Trekking through old Georgian roads with no water was another.

And trekking through old Georgian roads with no water and in 104° Fahrenheit weather was the third and worst part.

Feet of the group shuffling endlessly, the beads of sweat dripping down their heads religiously, and the walkers that trailed lifelessly behind them as the constant reminder of eventual death in this world, knowing it’s always behind you, quietly trailing and never stopping until you do- then it strikes for good.

And ‘Material girl’ blasting from somewhere in the-

hold on sorry what-

They’d had hallucinations, yes, but never all at the same time, it was virtually impossible! Which only meant one possible solution-

It was real.

And that’s how they met you. Sweet little idiotic you, deciding that whatever happened, happened. Blasting Material Girl down that same old Georgian road in your Honda s2000 pink suki car, and your denim shorts with a pink tank top, and your goddamn fuzzy dice.

Also- you with your flat tire you didn’t even know you had, you were halfway through looking at them as you passed them by when your tire just gave out and the car stopped working altogether, making you frantically call out in desperation (and slight exaggeration) for it to work. Spoiler: it didn’t.

Your first interactions with Rick were interesting. You begging him not to kill you and offering him your signed copy of ‘Blackout’ by Britney Spears as an offering instead. He didn’t take it. For obvious reasons.

When he offered to allow you to somewhat join the group after feeding them your protein bars (even after most of them pleaded with him not to- since they argued you wouldn’t help them in any way possible) you basically immediately clung to Rick. For everything.

Maybe it was something about him, he made you feel safe, and comforted, and amazing, but you couldn’t put your finger on it.. (muscles).

And once your group finally arrived in Alexandria, your devotion didn’t ease up there either. The moment you settled you started bringing him homemade cookies that you said were for Carl and Judith (he knew the truth), you started minding Judith, you even invited them over for dinner sometimes, which they accepted, even if your cooking was SHOCKINGLY bad.

Rick knew why you were doing it- you liked him, obviously, but he decided to let you have your fun, it made him feel young and wanted again, because he was able to make a young thing like you swoon over an older man like him.

It was cute.

One night, you two were sitting on his porch swing, in your hands you had a new pink tank top he found for you on a supply run after you cried to him when your other one got walker guts and mud all over it- ruining it.

You smiled at him with that doe eyed look, the one where it was obvious there was nothing going on in that pretty little head of yours, only him.

“I hope it’s the right size for ya’, doll. Daryl said to bring back two of ‘em to be safe but I could only fit one of ‘em in the bag.” He said with a bit of a smirk, his long greying hair falling into his eyes, and his stubbly beard shining lightly from the orange sunset in front of them.

He watched you examine it again and giggle to yourself happily before you turned again with that fucking look in your eyes- the one that looked like you were begging him to kiss you without saying anything at all. You then opened your lip-glossed mouth to speak.