12 Ch 12 Guts

Richie and Tara worked diligently at packing my things while I watched intently from nearby.

It didn't take long before I noticed Richie acting a bit strangely although he did his best to hide it.

Richie continuously took sly glances over at me from the corner of his vision as if I'd not notice....the cunt was planning something already.

It didn't take much detective work to see why he kept looking over at me, the sneaky bastard was trying to pocket a knife from around the camp and he'd make the move whenever I wasn't looking.

Normally I would've burned someone alive for attempting something like this but I needed him to act, my plans with his girlfriend depended on it after all.

After letting him and Tara work for a few more minutes, I noticed him nearing a bright orange paring knife which was just out of my line of sight.

Seeing that the moment had come I yawned out loudly enough to get his attention while looking off into the forest as if I was just surveying the area.

The sneaky bastard saw that I wasn't looking and reached for the blade.

*SWOOSH

*GRAB

Like a scrounging rat he pocketed the knife in a split second and then continued to act normally, the only difference now was a coniving glint in his eyes.

He had the knife, now all Richie planned was to wait for the right moment to strike.

'ive almost got you bastard!!! Just a few more minutes and I'll gut you like a fucking pig....' Richie thought while looking over at me sneakily.

But something that Richie didn't expect happened, Tara nudged him to get his attention.

He looked over at me to make sure I wasn't looking before turning his attention to her.

"What?" Richie asked at a whisper.

"Please Don't do it..don't use the knife, please I don't want to lose you." She whispered as tears ran down her sweet soft cheeks.

Richie felt his heart ache at seeing her tears.

he nearly did as she said simply out of his love for her

But then he remembered the way she was violated right in front of him and the rage returned once again....he simply couldn't give this up now.

So Richie just tried to calm her down so he could get away with it.

"Don't worry Babe, I promise once I've killed him we can forget all about today...I love you." Richie spoke and leaned forward to kiss her.

But before their lips touched, both of them were cut out of their small moment of bliss by a loud gunshot which whizzed at the ground in front of their feet.

*WHIZZ

*BANG

Both Richie and Tara jumped in fright and turned to look over at the noise, I was standing there with my CZ pistol now aimed at Richie's belly.

"Less talk more work or I'll put one in your gut." I ordered and immediately Tara scurried away from her boyfriend, Richie did so as well but I could see the defiance in his eyes was now burning like the brightest of flames.

As they both continued on working I didn't miss the constant sight of Tara attempting to convince Richie to 'not try anything' without using any words for fear of getting them both shot.

I instantly found out what she was doing but honestly didn't care in the slightest if they talked secretly since he'd be dead and she'd be mine one way or another.

But despite her attempts, none of them seemed to be effective since the idea was already imbedded into his mind.

Richie was sure he'd definitely be successful, if he just waited for the right moment to strike.

"....Just you wait bastard..."

Richie mumbled to himself quietly as he moved to start packing the different containers of pills back into a duffel bag.

. . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . . ... . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . .

(Five Minutes Later)

Both Tara and Richie had finished packing the five duffel bags of supplies, now both of them stood about ten feet away as I inspected around the camp and made sure they didn't miss anything.

Tara stood beside Richie and her heart was racing, from not knowing whether Richie would try anything with that damn orange knife right now.....she silently prayed that he wouldn't since their nightmare was almost over and I was almost gone.

once I was satisfied with everything being packed I turned to the two of them to give my next directives.

"I have a box truck sitting at the roads edge, that's where we'll take these, you two will never see me again when we reach it." I spoke while looking into their eyes.

Tara let out a sigh of relief and shuddered at the thought of what she had been through today.( although soon the nightmare would be over and she'd be left to live happily ever after with Richie... right?)

Richie on the other had just nodded coldly but couldn't bring himself to look at me for fear of losing his cool and attacking me early.

It seemed that Richie didn't mind dying from this but he'd need my life in exchange to be happy so risking it wasn't going to be an option.

"Tara you get the toiletries, Richie you get the bags of food and water bottles, I'll get the medicine and necessities."

I ordered, Richie glared for a split second before an idea popped into his rage addled mind, then he nodded in agreement without much fuss and moved to the two heavy bags.

Richie was certain that once I was carrying bags in both hands I'd be defenseless, surely that would be the perfect time for him to finally make his move.

Before long we were all trodding off into the forest in a line with me at the very rear.

Tara led us from the very front with Richie a few feet behind her, he was already breathing heavily from carrying the two heaviest sacks of supplies but he wouldn't want to be anywhere else now that his target was closer than ever.

Richie walked only ten feet in front of me and it was quite fun keeping my attention on him as we walked.

Every step crushed leaves and twigs underfoot loudly, every moment wondering if he would make his move or not.

*CRUNCH

We only walked about thirty meters before a branch falling from a birch tree caught my attention and turned to look over at it.

In a split second my senses tingled of impending danger and my eyes automatically focused closely on Richie.

*TIME.DILATION.NOISE.MP3

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as I watched Richie's muscles tense up like never before.

I saw the tendons in his hands contracting taughtly like steel wire as he let go of both duffel bags simultaneously.

I watched as his hand flew towards his jacket pocket as he turned around, a triumphant grin already plastered on his face.

Before his bags even hit the floor I saw the blade glinting and sparkling beautifully off the evening sun as he pulled it free from his jacket.

*THUD

The sounds of both duffel bags hitting the ground was heard loudly by both Tara and I, the noise made her turn back around.

Just as Tara turned to look at us, Richie was just taking his first steps towards me with the orange blade drawn.

She saw Richie thrust his dagger forward with all his strength towards my throat.

*SWOOSH

*GRAB

*SQUEEZE

Richie's eyes widened in surprise for only a moment when he felt his arm stop dead in it's tracks, then his surprise turned to pain as I squeezed his knife hand.

Richie looked down and saw my fingers wrapped tightly around his wrist.....the razor sharp tip only inches away from my throat where he had intended.

"...Argh!!!" Richie groaned out as he felt the pain of my grip and dropped the blade from having his wrist crushed.

Then he felt something hot across his belly....

*SWOOSH

*SLICE

*SPURT

Tara was watching everything from nearby with bated breath.

when she saw Vertum reaching back for his dagger she covered her eyes instinctively with her hands and screamed.

Even through her loud scream she heard the haunting sound of a blade ripping through human flesh..

"AHHHHHHHH!!!! NO!!!! RICHIE!!!!"

Tara screamed out after opening her eyes and seeing the blood pooling in Richie's shirt....she dropped the duffel bag she was carrying and ran towards her boyfriend as fast as she could.

Richie didn't even realize what had happened as he heard Tara let out a horrified scream akin to nothing which he'd never heard before.

I let go of Richie's forearm since he'd long since dropped the knife and watched on curiously to see what he'd do.

For now he stood with a confused look on his face while softly touching the blood soaked fabric of his shirt.

"What is....it's so hot....it hurts..." Richie muttered out in confusion while patting his belly.

For some reason his mind was dissassociating that the blood was his, he seemed to be in deep confusion until I let out a little whistle and he looked over at me.

I smirked and waved my now bloody dagger at him....it only took a split second before he let out a horrid scream while dropping to the floor as he came back to reality.

"AHHHHHHHH!!! NO!!! NO!!! PLEASE IM SORRY!!! I DIDNT MEAN TO!!!"

He cried out while looking up at me as if I were able to take back my attack, sadly for him this wasn't in the possible outcomes.

I just watched as he cried and begged towards me for a few moments as Tara did her best to calm him down.

Eventually his attention went back to his wound and his horrid screeching began once again upon seeing and feeling the vibrant red gash across his entire belly.

After a bit of screaming and tossing around I saw some of his intestines peeking out from the edges of his wound....yuck.

Tara didn't seem to mind though, she was trembling and crying while calming him down as best she could.

"NO....PLEASE NOT THIS!!!WHY...WHY YOU DUMMY!!" Tara cried out after lifting his shirt to get a better look at his cut.

She saw the horrid wound on his belly and Immediately knew his chances were low if the bleeding didn't stop, and after that they'd have the infection to worry about.

Tara was trained with medicine but only as an assistant for her elective at school, not a real doctor or surgeon.... although she wasn't sure she'd be successful Tara would still do her best for him.

If she had the right tools and a clean operation room Tara might've been able to staunch the bleeding and figured out a fix after enough time.

But sadly for Richie, Tara didn't even have a needle and thread on her, and the closest sterile room was many dozens of miles away past hundreds of thousands of undead.

I sat down on one of the duffel bags and watched closely, I wondered what this fit little latina would do next....it was very entertaining.

"JUST LET ME CALL MY MOM TARA..PASS ME THE PHONE.... PLEASE...." Richie begged with snot coming out of his nose and tears falling from his cheeks.

The fear on Richie's face as he begged to be saved pleased me greatly....too bad he didn't have more than ten or fifteen minutes left to him if I didn't step in to help.

"TARA IT HURTS....MAKE IT STOP.....OH IM SORRY TARA....IM SORRY I COULDN'T PROTECT YOU..." Richie spoke while rubbing Tara's cute face, tears ran down his face the entire time.

"NO!!! Don't say that!!! I'll help you I promise!!! Dont give up yet!!!"

Tara cried in a tearful panic and then turned to me.

"PLEASE!!! I NEED YOUR SUPPLIES!!! IM BEGGING YOU!!! JUST SOME BANDAGES, SOME IODINE AND THE STITCHING KIT!!! PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING!!!" Tara begged with tears in her pretty brown eyes.

I hated seeing her crying for another man but I was even more happy that she was begging like this.

Although I'd give her a shot at fixing her little broken bird I certainly wouldn't do it for free, that's just bad business.

So I'd need to get something out of it if her soon to be dead boyfriend would even see a bandaid from me, not that he'd need it but it was an easy way to get her indebted under me.

"These supplies are expensive on a normal day let alone a damn apocalypse, you theives have already wasted enough of my precious things... and besides the fact that without trained hands his chances of surviving are zero."

I spoke coldly without the slightest care in the world, if only she knew how excited I was right now.

"I BEG YOU, I CAN HELP HIM I KNOW IT!!! WE WILL PAY YOU BACK I SWEAR IT.....PLEASE...." Tara begged and the tears running down her cheeks were like sweet drops that improved my mood.

"If he survives..... you both will pay me back twice his weight in food." I spoke softly and she nodded while wiping her eyes.

"And if he doesn't survive what can you offer?" I asked just as Richie let out another pained groan.

"Anything.. Everything...Please I swear it..." She begged softly

After basking in her soft pleading voice I passed her the entire bag of medical supplies and let her return to Richie's side, not that I expected him to live through whatever she might do.

"Fine, you're free to anything in the bag but don't complain when the bill is due." I spoke before leaving.

After moving to a nearby tree stump I sat down and oversaw as Tara eagerly but clumsily began her work.

" just relax for me babe and it'll be okay, we'll be back at your parents house in no time do you hear me?" Tara spoke convincingly but I could sense a deep sense of doubt in her words.

"O...Okay...but it hurts....and it's cold...." Richie spoke just as a gentle breeze blew past his open wound.

Next she fished in the bag for a few moments before coming back to with a bottle of lidocaine and a small syringe.

She skillfully drew that she injected in several areas just surrounding the wound.

The numbing of the lidocaine seemed somewhat effective because the pathetic cries of Richie died down significantly after a few long moments.

Next I saw Tara trembling as she struggled to put on her gloves, the anxiety and the stress made even a small thing difficult for her... although she certainly wasn't giving up yet.

as soon as her gloves were on she rushed to the small stack of clotting compresses used to stop bleeding and began opening and applying them generously.

she needed every one she could open just to staunch the slow but constant dark red blood that pooled out from Richie's two foot long gash.

After ten minutes of applying and holding pressure, the bleeding seemed to stop and Tara could now get to work on fixing the damage.

Tara breathed a sigh of relief that she managed to get this far, although Richie's face was evidently more pale than before and Tara already knew deep down that his chances were narrowing more and more with every passing minute.

She wiped the tears from her face using her forearm before switching gloves and getting the suturing (stitching) kit.

I sat nearby amazed at how confident and efficient she was at figuring out how to fix him.

Sadly for both of them it was already too late for him since her stitches were not compact enough so even if Richie survived the night he'd die of sepsis due to his intestines leaking their contents.

Tara eventually began stitching his belly closed, every tug on the silk thread joined the two split halves once more as she periodically stopped to wipe some of the slowly pooling blood.

During the final stage of the process Richie groaned and fainted multiple times but every time his eyes seemed to open up again as if empowered by a supernatural force.

After fifteen minutes I began to think that If he didn't expire soon I was liable to go and cut him again to speed up the process.

...But the end came for him as well, just as Tara finished the last inch of sutures I saw the light starting to fade from his eyes as Tara began to tie up the last knot.

She was still completely focused on her needlework so she didn't notice the moment his breathing stopped and continued for another minute.

"A... Alright Richie, I finally finished now we just have to get you....."

Tara let out an exhausted sigh from finally finishing and grabbed some more iodine to clean the area once more.

She only wiped the area for a few seconds until she looked up and saw the state he was in....

Her entire world seemed to collapse around her upon seeing his cold dead beady eyes looking up at her.

"No....No, wake up...please...."

Tara mumbled repeatedly at merely a whisper a few times while grabbing at his face as his corpse looked up at her with it's now dull green eyes.

the kind, loving, and gentle soul she had loved for so long was long gone.

She collapsed onto Richie's chest and began to cry quietly....all that she had known and ever wished for had been completely destroyed.

*SOB

I watched her break down from nearby while waiting for the right time, wanted to comfort the crying girl but my plans for her required me to wait for the right time.

Soon Richie's corpse would turn and that would be the time to step in, no sense in spoiling a bit of mental persuasion if it's so easily set before you.

Luckily I didn't have to wait long at hearing Tara sobbing for the corpse to turn, only a few minutes.

I was alerted of Richie's reanimation when 'he' let out a faint groaning sound.

Tara who was laid on his chest was the first to feel him move.

"Thank God you had just fainted Richie, I thought I'd lost you" Tara said with a relieved smile as she turned to look up at his face.

That relieved look on her face lasted for only a split second before it turned to horror as she narrowly avoided a snarling bite from Richie that nearly sunk into her face.

"RAGHHHHHH!!!!" The walker growled as it neared her.

*CHOMP It's dripping nasty teeth chomped only inches from Tara's face as she panicked.

As Tara dealt with her shock at nearly having her cheek ripped off by her boyfriend Richies corpse snarled out and lunged another snarling bite directly at her arm.

She tried to pull away but it's grip was too strong.

"AHHHHHH!!!!" Tara cried out frantically, she wasn't in any position to move away and knew the bite would land on her arm one way or another.

She closed her eyes and expected the worst...

*CHOMP *CRACK..... Luckily for Tara, the ravenous bite struck the silver bracelet she was wearing.

Tara could see Richie's teeth cracking and oozing a thick blackish blood while ripping off the bracelet.

It was just enough time for her to scurry away a few feet, but his grasping hand came forward and grabbed onto her ankle before pulling her close.

"NOOOOO!!!!" Tara cried out while struggling and kicking hard against the walker but it seemed immune to any pain.

Soon enough Richie's corpse jumped onto Tara and began doing it's best to get a nice mouthful of her soft juicy throat as Tara did her best to resist.

*CHOMP

A few more bites came in close to her throat but at the last second one of her frantic kicks landed hard on Richie's hip.

Her kick was strong enough that the recently turned zombie tumbled and rolled a few times into the ground.

Tara saw this as her chance to flee and turned to stand and run but only made it a few feet before slipping on the bandage wrappers she had used to stop his bleeding.

As Tara was falling over Richie was already crawling over to her on all fours while growling and snarling loudly.

Tara only managed to make it a few feet before it crashed into her once again, this time she quickly grew tired and was quickly running out of energy.

*CHOMP

"STOP IT!!!" Tara screamed out in a panic while pushing Richie away with the last of her strength.

but soon she grew too tired to keep those haunting snapping jaws from biting into her flesh.

"RAGHHHHRAAAA!!!!"

Richie's undead corpse roared out ravenously as it clawed and grasped at Tara with a burning hunger, her screaming only served to increase it's agression as well.

Every moment longer saw Richie's drooling jaws moving closer and closer, for Tara it seemed as if No matter how much she struggled, it was all for naught.

I saw the very moment Tara surrendered herself to being turned and stopped pushing Richie away.

'im sorry mom and dad....I tried...' Tara thought just before giving up the struggle.

Just as Richie was about to sink his teeth into Tara's neck she closed her eyes tightly and waited for the end.

Instead of the gruesome and painful death Tara had resigned herself to, she was spattered in the face with something wet and chunky while her ears simultaneously began to ring loudly.

*BANG

*EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Tara's ears rang loudly, blood and brains sprayed onto her face and Richie's full weight collapsed on top of her all at the same time.

She found herself discombobulated and couldn't focus as she coughed out and tried to regain her bearings.

As Tara came back to reality she spotted me standing nearby while moving my smoking Cz75 back into its holster.

"You won't survive ten minutes or here with skills like that, and you can't die til your debt to me is paid." I spoke while moving to grab some paper towels and wipes from the toiletries duffel bag.

Tara couldn't believe what had just happened, she was still half believing that she had actually died and this was some sort of afterlife.

She looked down to her chest and her breath hitched in her throat upon seeing Richie's broken face, his brains spattered all over her and the area around.

Tara didn't even let out a scream, instead she collapsed back onto the ground in complete silence and began to silently sob to herself.

This was exactly what I was waiting for and let her start crying her eyes out for a few long moments Before walking up to her.

As I looked down at her blood and brains spattered face, hair, and clothes I realized just how pretty she actually was.

I reached down and grabbed Richie's corpse by the arm before pulling him off of her.

I tossed the corpse a few feet away and it thudded heavily into the underbrush, I'm sure the carrion crows and wild dogs would enjoy their newfound feast.

After that I knelt down and neared the wet wipes so I could clean off her pretty face.

*WIPE

"Y...You...You killed him...." Tara spoke out after a a few moments of me wiping the brain matter from her forehead, the pain and sorrow In her voice was clearly apparent.

"I did." I spoke simply and finished wiping the last of the blood from her right cheek.

"Y...Yo...You....You didn't..have to..y...you could've..." She started to stammer out but was quickly cut off when I gave her throat a slight squeeze.

When she realized I was upset she stopped talking and I had to force her to look into my eyes.

"Stop your nonsense and listen to me carefully Girl....those medicines I loaned you are not going to repay themselves, tell me how you're going to pay me back now?"

I spoke in a calm voice but she still shivered in fear, Tara had seen what I was capable of and saw through my calm fascade rather easily.

"I...I will get you supplies....and I can...I can..." She stammered out meekly but I grabbed her cheek and forced her to look at me.

"Dont lie to yourself, both of us know You'd die within hours if you go out alone."

I corrected her rather quickly and saw her wince....she knew I was being completely honest after all.

"I...I....I can cook, and clean.... please I swear I'll behave..." she pleaded as tears went down her face.

"I know you will, now pickup that bag and follow me." I spoke and turned to leave after lugging the four remaining duffel bags.

She froze for a few long moments as she processed my words.

She didn't want to go with but she knew that I wasn't asking, I was ordering.

Even if she didn't owe me Tara would still have wanted to come with me, in this horrifying new world the devil you know is often better than the stranger you dont.

I didn't have to walk far before I heard Tara scurrying back to get the duffel bag she had dropped, she was terrified of me but the unknown out there was even scarier so she was bound to follow although I heard her stop for a moment and turned back to look.

Tara stood in front of Richie's corpse for a few moments and spoke one last prayer before walking behind me, the copious amounts of tears running down her cheeks didn't seem to stop flowing as we walked down the trail.

After a few minutes I got her attention.

"In the truck there's a couple from my new camp, if they ask tell them those at the camp had kept you hostage, keep everything else vague for now."

I spoke and looked back at her for affirmation.

She nodded meekly and wiped the tears from her face, so far she was behaving well and I hoped she wouldn't do anything stupid like asking Rick or Lori for help.

"Good, you behave and I promise you'll be treated gently by me." I spoke as we moved further through the forest trail, I heard her agreement soon after.

"...I... I'll behave..." She spoke out.

Tara knew that without the safety and protection her group had provided her she wouldn't survive out there...and although I was vicious she saw that I was capable of being gentle which helped her want to stay by my side.

. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(Minutes Later At Box Truck.)

"So Shane was the one to get You and Carl out? I ought to say my thanks a bit more when we get back then." Rick spoke with a slight smile while hugging his wife.

"Yeah, Carl and I traveled with Shane for a few days towards the refugee camp but were stopped when the bombings happened, then we ran into Dale and his rv soon after.....setting up our camp out there was his idea." Lori spoke.

"So is Dale the leader, or Shane?" Rick asked curiously.

"Neither, nobody's brought up the idea of an official leader...we've just been making it up as we went along so far, although everyone can tell Shane wants to be the leader pretty badly..." Lori spoke and Rick caught a strange and unnerving glint in her eye for only a moment when she mentioned Shane.

But he dismissed his thoughts on that matter before too long.

Rick was just happy to finally be reunited with his beautiful wife and healthy young Son after those horrifying moments running around Atlanta while trying to keep zombies at bag.

"So how'd you meet that Vertum guy, how long have you been travelling with him? He gives me some bad vibes to tell you the truth..." Lori asked a bit hesitantly, she knew how much her husband trusted his new friend after all.

"Well, when we met He almost broke my damn nose and stole my gun.....Me and another friend named Morgan were holed up at my sheriff's office back home when Vertum broke in through a side door to find supplies, I walked out with my revolver raised to investigate the noise,he disarmed me and kicked me in the gut at the same time, when I tried to punch him he headbutted me hard enough to send me falling." Rick spoke with a slight smirk while reminiscing about his time at the Sheriff's Station.

Meanwhile, Lori had her eye brows furrowed in outrage.

"And you let some violent guy like him keep a damn assault rifle? You should hold that bastard accountable for that."

Lori spoke a bit angered but Rick could clearly see that something else was upsetting her, after so many years together he had developed a sixth sense for when Lori got angry with him.

She was trying to find some fault with Rick to drown her own personal guilt and shame from cheating on him.... although Rick just thought she was a bit moody and hugged her while feigning to apologize.

eventually he got her tantrum to calm down then Rick and Lori both chatted amongst themselves for a few more minutes when something caught Lori's attention.

"Rick, Baby over there." She said with a finger pointed towards the treeline where some bushes were rustling.

Rick was jolted out of his daydreaming and looked carefully to where Lori was pointing while raising his 12Guage.

He racked his shotgun and stared intently for a few long moments. . .

. .

"Phew.." Rick let out a sigh of relief when he saw a familiar face emerging from the treeline.

"Relax, it's just Vertum let's go help him with those bags." Rick told his wife and reached over to open the door, to his surprise she stopped him.

"But look, there's someone behind him." Lori spoke and pointed while shaking his shoulder.

Rick looked back out in the distance and spotted a pretty latin looking girl coming out of the treeline with a smaller duffel bag over her shoulder.

Immediately he observed the girl and noticed a few details.

She was very pretty but had scuffs and scratches over her elbows and knees.

The poor girl had some red marks on her face and her hair was disheveled....her eyes were red and puffy as if she'd been crying for hours.

Both Rick and Lori could clearly see that the girl had been abused but they didn't have enough information to make any conclusions.

"Look at all that blood.....on both of them...." Lori whispered.

Rick looked over at the two approaching people with even more interest.

He first looked to the girl, her clothes were of more vibrant colors which were more easily distinguished at a distance compared to the dark browns and blacks that Vertum preferred to wear.

almost immediately Rick gazed upon a familiar crimson spattering on the girls blouse and hair.

Rick also noticed that some drops were very fresh while a few others were already dry which made Rick wonder what the hell might've happened to her.

Then he noticed a few chunks of flesh were also specked all over the girls glistening long brown hair which churned Rick's stomach over.

"Ugh, babe don't look into her hair." Rick muttered and almost immediately Lori gagged as well.

Next, Rick looked at Vertum and found his clothes and visible skin to be spattered in blood as well.

Rick saw Chunks of flesh In his boot laces, huge ammounts of dried blood under his fingernails, bits of gore in his hair.

As a sheriff he could clearly see that all of this was human blood, the walkers have their dark ooze and guts but it's nothing compared to this.

Rick was certain that Vertum had killed some men due to so much fresh blood but hoped that it was justified and that his new young friend wouldn't be too traumatized by it.

Rick also observed all the duffel bags Vertum carried, 'you got em all kid,But I wonder what the hell you did to get em.' Rick thought as he unlocked the truck door to dismount.

"Let's go and help them with the supplies, you check up on the girl." Rick spoke and they both came out of the truck.

(POV MC)

I watched as both Rick and Lori walked up to both of us.

The worry in Lori's face from seeing Tara was clear as day as we approached and she rushed up to her while Rick walked up to me.

"Vertum I'm glad to see you back and unhurt, let me help you with those..."

Rick spoke while walking up to me and grabbed two of my four bags.

"Goodness gracious Vertum how the hell are you lugging all this heavy stuff around." Rick spoke with a smile as we walked towards the truck.

I turned over to look at Tara and Lori, Tara had already set down the duffel bag and was being asked questions by Lori.

when Tara noticed me looking over at both of them she trembled a bit but didn't dare try anything.

Rick noticed that my attention was elsewhere and asked me a question.

"Vertum whose the pretty girl you keep looking at? Don't tell me you're pulling the rug over on Andrea already?" Rick asked while laughing softly to himself.

"Her name is Tara, She was captive of those in the camp, I took so long because I had to make sure she was safe before anything else....I ended up having to kill the four others." I spoke just as we reached the box truck.

He set down both the bags he carried before turning to me and patting my shoulder as if he were a proud father.

"Good job, I knew you were a good kid.....next time let me know so I can help.....and if you need someone to talk to about it just let me know okay?"

Rick spoke with a friendly smile, seemed he was worried about me being traumatized from having to kill somebody.

"Thank you, I'll keep your words in mind although I should be alright, I'm just still pissed about that last one that tried to rush me with a knife." I spoke and he chuckled

"Hehe... I've had a couple of mine while on patrol, luckily I never had to use my service pistol much since my taser did the job well enough." Rick spoke while reminiscing.

"Well I didn't get so lucky, ended up having a knife fight with that last bastard." I told him and Ricks eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Congratulations kid, I've literally never heard of anyone winning a knife fight....out on the streets the winner of a knife fight was the one who died at the hospital and not on the sidewalk." Rick muttered as if it were a second thought but it made me wonder if those words were true.

As we finished loading the last of the bags Lori and Tara walked up to us, Lori had Tara buried into her chest as she cried profusely.

Loris seemed quite friendly towards me as they both came closer so It seemed like Tara hadn't said anything too compromising.

Before long they reached us, Tara buried her face while crying as Lori spoke to me.

"Vertum I'm very sorry for how I treated you earlier....I was judgmental of you without even knowing the real you....thank you for helping this poor girl out there....and I'm sorry you had to kill somebody, no one your age should go through that...." Lori spoke with genuine appreciation.

I nearly burst out laughing at her words but kept it together since I had something more important on my mind.

I wanted to get my toy back since Lori had kept her for a bit too long.

"Of course Lori, I'm glad I was able to help her, I just couldn't bring myself to leave such a beautiful girl with those monsters after all, and I don't blame you for how you treated me....our gut instinct is almost always right after all."

I spoke while sneakily pulling Tara out of Lori's arms and into mine.

"Well good thing my instincts lied this time." Lori spoke and smiled one last time before walking over to Rick, I was just glad she was fucking off.

I was left with Tara standing in my arms as Rick and Lori both moved to give us more space to talk.

I leaned down and wrapped my arms around Tara gently and kissed her forehead once, I was proud of her since not revealing what I'd done to her was Tara's first test and she passed with flying colors.

"You did so well Girl, I'm proud of you." I whispered and patted her head softly.

She stayed buried in my chest and pushed herself in deeper after my warm hug and comforting words, taking her purity and having her enjoy it was already paying off in dividends, now was a good time to ask her about what fucking car they used since I didn't find one in their shitty camp.

"Hey love, look at me Tara....I saw signs that your group had a car or truck, where is it?" I asked.

"T...The Truck and camper are Pete's..H..He...He Parked them across the highway..." Tara spoke at a stutter with her face still buried in my chest.

"Good, very good....wait here and I'll be back before long." I spoke softly then leaned down to set a kiss on her cheek.

As I got closer I saw her flinch out of instinct but she didn't pull away or try to avoid me which was a good sign.

I turned to Rick, he was busy Checking the fluid levels on our box truck.

"Hey I'm going across the highway for a few minutes, Tara Let me know that the scum who kept her had a truck and camper hidden away." I spoke and Rick popped out into my line of sight.

"Sounds good you could probably keep Andrea and Amy in there with you, do you need me to come with?" He asked while cleaning off his tar stained hands.

"No need, just have Lori watch over Tara while I'm over there." I spoke then turned to cross the highway.

(Fifteen minutes later)

Rick heard the low rumble of an engine from nearby and turned to look.

A black Diesel pickup was coming up from the forest on the opposite side of the highway.

Rick was mildly surprised by the decent looking camper being pulled behind the black truck and so was Lori.

"Honey you shouldn't have offered it to him so easily....we could've stayed in there with Carl instead..." Lori spoke quietly.

"Vertum is now responsible for Andrea, her younger sister, and now that girl he rescued.....he probably needs it more than us right now." Rick spoke but it didn't seem to calm his wife's jealousy in the slightest.

(POV Mc)

I pulled up the pickup just beside the RV and called out.

"Tara hop in." I called out and she obediently walked over and hopped into the passenger seat.

"Vertum you had said something about a quick stop earlier?" Rick asked after hopping into the box truck and lowering the window.

"I'm planning to stop by the CVS for some things Amy needs." I spoke and Rick laughed as he turned on his truck, I also didn't miss Tara's eyes widening when she heard I was getting something for a girl.

"Haha, that's how it starts son, with just a few things and before long they've taken it all." Rick joked and quickly recieved a hard pinch from Lori in response.

They soon rolled up their window and pulled off in front of us.

I was left with Tara who had a concerned look on her face for some reason.

"Who's Amy?" She asked after the question became too tantalizing not to know now.

Immediately I realized what was going through her mind....it seemed taking her first time and treating her lovingly is working like a charm.

But she didn't need to know anything else for now.

"You'll meet everyone soon enough, you can rest for now since I can tell that you're tired." I spoke and wrapped an arm around her.

Tara was a bit uneasy for a few minutes but eventually she leaned into me.

It was only a few minutes after she leaned over and cuddled into me that I could hear the low hum of the engine and her soft breathing in my ears as she slept deeply.

After ten minutes of driving I heard Tara speak although she hadnt awoken yet, seemed like she was a sleeptalker.

"No... please..." Tara murmured out softly as she slept.

My senses picked up her heartbeat as it raced in her chest from terror.....but that didn't last long.

I wrapped my arm more snugly and whispered some loving words which seemed to calm her down greatly.

"...I'll be good...I promise..." She murmured as I gently rubbed her head and continued on down the winding road. . .

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