The Story of Rudy || The walking dead

6. A Talk

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Rudy trailed behind the group, keeping his head down, kicking any pebbles that he saw.

He hasn't talked since they left Beth's grave. They've been walking for hours, taking small breaks every once in a while.

He hasn't really introduced himself to any of the group members, but Daryl had mentioned his name a couple of times.

Noah wasn't really talking much either, but he tried to get Rudy to talk a bit.

Rudy had only replied in a shrug or just mumbled a small reply.

Rudy was tired, his body was sore and tired, but his mind kept replaying Beth's death over and over again.

".. You're just gonna not talk at all? You're usually chatting Daryl's ears off." Beth told him as she walked beside him with a huge smile on her face.

Rudy ignored her. She appeared a couple miles back, but Rudy had been ignoring her. He couldn't even look at her, too afraid to see what she looked like now.

Plus, she wasn't real. She was just a part of Rudy's imagination. Beth was dead, and this was just his guilt talking to him.

"You can't ignore me forever." Beth sung out, and Rudy walked faster, ignoring the protest from his legs.

"So, you're just running away like you did before!?"

Rudy paused, lifting his head. The group was walking ahead. They were getting further and further away as Rudy stood still.

"Rudy!" Beth jumped in front of him, crouched down to his height. She was smiling at him, but her skin was smeared with dirt, blood caked her hair, her eyes seemed dull, and they were Grey.

Beth opened her mouth, but instead of words, it was a snarl.

Rudy stumbled back as Beth turned into a walker, but it wasn't Beth, just a normal walker as the group called them.

Rudy decided to call them walkers now since the dead seemed a little lame.

Rudy kept walking back as the walker snarled, reaching out for him.

He opened his mouth to yell out for Daryl, but he couldn't. His voice was stuck in his throat. He couldn't speak.

"Pathetic," Beth appeared again, walking backward with him. "Can't even kill a walker now. I guess this means it's your turn now."

Rudy fell back as he tripped over his own feet. The walker fell on top of him, and Rudy held the walker away from him, but his arms were weak, and they were getting weaker.

"Just let it happen, Rudy. Then, you and I can be friends forever." Beth told him,

"No.."Rudy whispered, using one of his arms to hold back the walker while he reached his hand down to his knife, but he couldn't reach his knife.

The gun was the only option, but he hasn't touched his gun since the incident, and the gunshot will attract more walkers.

He tried to call out for Daryl, but his name got stuck in his throat.

Rudy didn't have an option. "Just let it happen." Rudy glared at Beth's hallucination.

"No." Rudy grabbed the gun and aimed it at the walker. "Eat this." He pulled the trigger.

Blood splattered on his face as the loud gunshot echoed. The body fell on top of him as his arms gave him.

He just laid there with the dead body lying on him.

"So gross." He mumbled to himself.

"Rudy!" Footsteps came closer, and soon the dead body was pulled off of him.

Rudy sat up, "Are ya bit!?" Daryl questioned

Rudy shook his head as he stood up with the help of Noah.

"You should've called for help," Rick spoke up, "we could've taken that walker down more quiet.."

Rudy interrupted him, "it's not my fault that that Walker decided to make me its dinner." He agrued

Daryl slightly smacked him in the back of his head. "Why didn't you yell out for help once you saw it?"

Rudy scoffed, "I tried, but I couldn't.. and I didn't see it..." Rudy shook his head.

"Forget it." He mumbled before he walked away, towards where the half of the group was.

Rudy walked past them, keeping his head down.

He heard footsteps coming closer to him.

"Leave me alone, daryl." He said, not looking at the person beside him.

"Last I checked, my name isn't Daryl."

Rudy lifted his head and turned towards the person next to him.

It was Maggie. Beth's sister.

"Daryl sent you to talk to me?" Rudy question, and Maggie shook her head.

"No," she told him, and she sighed,

"It wasn't your fault. What happened to Beth was not your fault, and do not try to agrue with me." Maggie sternly told him

"You should be mad at me. It was my fault. I left her behind." Rudy told her,

"You came back for her," Maggie argued, "not many people would do that for someone they just met."

"She was my friend," Rudy said, "she was my first friend since this whole thing started. Well, I didn't really have many friends before."

" I miss her too," Maggie told him, "and that's okay. It's okay to miss her, Rudy. It's okay to be mad, to scream, to just grieve."

Rudy chuckled, "Oh, so hallucinating her because of the guilt is okay? I was almost walker food because of that."

"You were...hallucinating her?" Maggie questioned, but she wasn't judging. She just seemed curious.

"She was just saying things that I was thinking about," Rudy shrugged, and he sighed,

"Do you think Rick hates me?" Rudy suddenly questioned

Maggie shook her head. "No. Nobody hates you, Rudy. Plus, Rick knows a thing or two about hallucinating."

Rudy raised an eyebrow, "Oh, does he?"

Maggie chuckled, " I think you should talk to Rick about that."

Rudy nodded, glancing back before looking at Maggie.

"Thanks, Maggie."

🦎

Rudy walked beside Rick a couple of minutes later after he finished talking with Maggie.

"I'm sorry, about before, with the walker." Rudy spoke up, and Rick glanced at him.

"It's alright." Rick replied, and Rudy looked at him.

"Can we talk?"

🦎
1015 words

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