Chapter Text
Jenna Redfern didn’t feel the phone dropping from her hand. She didn’t feel the cold tile of the bathroom on her nude knees or the wet splat of a drenched towel falling away.
“…Miss Redfern, can you hear me?” the lady on the phone asked. Scrambling to pick up the device, she replied.
“I heard you. thank you for informing me.” she hung up, and curled her legs close to her naked body. In silence, she wept. Overheard on the tv in the next room, the newscaster gave his report on the homicide/suicide of Alice Redfern, Barbie Redfern, and thirteen others.
~~~…
That was three years ago. At now 25, she was alone. When her mother killed the whole family with poisoned food, she left out Jenna. Jenna didn’t know if it was a mercy or not.
So here she was, three years later, watching a rerun of her little niece’s favorite horror, “The Walking Dead.” Thanks to Netflix, she was watching the show from the beginning, making snide remarks in her head on comparing them to the comics. As Rick Grimes, the protagonist, fell to the floor from a gunshot, Jenna looked at the bottle of Trazodone, all thirty pills empty.
“I’m sorry, mama. I couldn’t be strong anymore…” the weight of sleep beckoned her, and she answered it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TWD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With a loud gasp, Jenna scrambled out of the hospital bed, coughing as a film of dust was disturbed. Confused, she looked out the window. a fat pie tree with marshmallow flowers rustled in an invisible wind.
“Magnolias? There are no magnolia trees in Montana. Jesus, it’s hot!” wrestling out of the dirty gown, Jenna frowned as she stood in only a worn-out bra and panties, her plush and plump body pale from the lack of UV rays.
“It’s quiet…way too quiet for a psych ward,” she mumbled to herself. Heading towards a cabinet, she grinned as minty green scrubs, albeit dusty, waiting to be worn. donning the clothes, and some of those stupid slipper socks, she walked out of the room.
The hallway made her wretch as she saw what must have been a nurse but missing half her head. The stink of rotting meat clung to her like a hot veil as she found a mask and a bottle of perfume. Soaking the mask in the perfume, she slipped it on, earning light relief from the odor. More bodies decorated the halls as she left the ward. Passing through the ICU, Jenna paused as she heard a man weakly call for a nurse. She felt a niggling in her brain. Something about this hellhole was familiar. There seemed to be more carnage on this floor. To her right, a door opened, and out came tumbling a worn-out looking man. Jenna felt her jaw dropped.
“Rick Grimes?” she stammered. the man turned to stare at her.
“Are you a nurse?” he asked, his southern drawl hoarse from the lack of use. Jenna snapped her mouth shut.
“No, I’m a patient too…I think. Oh God, I’m in hell!” Jenna began to pull at her oily hair, grimacing at the grime on her scalp. She started to pace. Rick just watched her.
“Miss, you okay?” he asked, making her pause in her panic. Jenna stopped, took several deep breaths, and slumped to the floor.
“I…uh. You are not going to believe me,” she said, noting the tinge of hysteria in her voice. Rick winced but settled on the dirty floor next to her.
“Try me,” he replied. Jenna fretted her lip. She can’t tell him the complete truth, that he was a tv show character.
“First thing…What’s the year?” she asked, giving him a stupid smile of hope. Rick glanced at his wrist, the odd paper cloth bracelet still around his bony wrist.
“According to this thing, It’s 2010.” Jenna let her head fall in defeat.
“Fuck… Okay, I can work with this,” she stated. Rick was still watching her. Taking a big breath, she lifted her head.
“I’m not from here. This world. I definitely know I ain’t from Georgia. And I ain’t even from this year.” she started. Rick gave her a weird look.
“…uh huh. Where were you when you woke up?” he asked. Jenna scowled. She got the notion he was humoring her.
“I was in the psych ward.” That was not going to help her case. She has to do something drastic. Rick sighed and began to stand.
“Wait! Your wife is name Lori, you have a son not even in puberty yet, and you were shot two months ago!” Rick stopped and slipped back down to sit.
“How the hell did you know that?” he asked. Jenna took another deep breath.
“I told you, I’ve seen this all before. I know more.” Rick waited for her to continue.
“Your Name is Rick Grimes, a Sherriff’s deputy of King County Georgia. You were shot because you didn’t see the third guy on the chase you were on. You have a brother named Jeff, and he is in Spain. He used to call you Richie, which you loved, but never told him. You and your wife argued before you got shot that day, and you were more pissed that she said that in front of your son. You told this all to Shane…” she trailed off at the mention of Shane. Rick ran his hands through his hair.
“What else? Do you know what is going on?” Jenna nodded.
“I can help. but you have to stay calm. The first thing to do is gather as much medicine as we can. Vitamins, painkillers, antibiotics, bandages. But first…” her stomach growled at that time. “Let’s find some food and water.” Rick nodded and struggled to get up. Jenna helped him to his feet. She offered her shoulder for him to lean on but groaned as she realized the height difference. Rick chuckled at the issue.
“I forgot, It’s ten years ago for me… I’m 15 again!!!” she bemoaned. Rick chuckled.
“So, the place you are from, its 2020?” he asked. Jenna nodded.
“Well, since I am not in my universe, I guess it won’t hurt for me to tell you a few things. What do you want to know?” she asked, finding a crutch for the still weakened man to use.
“Hmm…Who is the president?” Jenna bit back a laugh.
“…What is your opinion on Donald Trump?” she asked. Rick gasped.
“No…” he exclaimed. Jenna grinned.
“Oh yes. In my world we are…I guess were, In the middle of a pandemic. and President Trump declared it a state of emergency. The whole world went on lockdown.” she explained. stopping for a minute, Jenna found a tipped-over vending machine. It was full of water and now stale chips. Better than nothing. Now to find a way to get the treasure.
“What else happened in 2020?” Rick asked, still curious about the girl from the future. Jenna decided to use a high heel from a corpse to break the thick plastic. It didn’t work.
“Huh? Oh… Well, Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter with his daughter and her friends. Steve Irwin’s daughter got hitched, About 90% of Australia burnt down and we almost entered WWIII. Those are the main events so far. It was only May when I…” Jenna trailed off. Rick placed a soft hand on the girl’s broad shoulders.
“What happened? Is it how you ended up here?” he said, voice soft. Jenna bowed her head in shame, but she nodded.
“I think so. I…I think I succeeded in killing myself. I died, and ended up here.” Rick winced as he knelt in front of the girl, placing a rough hand on hers.
“Hey now. You must have been brought here for a reason. If your suicide made you wake up here, there must be a reason why.” Jenna smiled at the older man.
“Okay…Hey, can I borrow the crutch?” she asked. Rick traded places with Jenna, who then used the implement to break the plastic on the machine. Jenna pumped her fist in glee. Rick smiled too. Pulling out two bottles of water, and a bag of stale corn chips, the two only living people fueled their weary bodies.
~~~…
Rick watched the young girl grab a large purse and filling it with medicine and bandages. She grabbed a lot of antibiotics and painkillers, multivitamins, and prenatal medicine. She stuffed the bag with bandages and tape and a handful of hand sanitizer napkins. Rick was given a large duffle bag and he filled it with the contents of the vending machine. he found warm juices and crackers and grabbed those too.
“So…I’ve forgotten to ask. What exactly is going on here?” Rick said as he watched the girl, whose name he didn’t know yet. The girl was finishing on gathering the medicine.
“Oh. Well, there is this virus that reanimates the dead into, well for the lack of a better word, zombies. Even blowing them apart, they still move. You have to pierce the brain or at least damage the head so bad, the brain gets destroyed anyway. It spread so fast, the modern world collapsed. We are living in the 1800s again. A bit better medicine though.” Rick whistled softly through his teeth.
“Damn. Anything else I should know?” he asked. The girl found a broom handle and broke off the head, making it into a spear. She found a mop and did the same, handing it to Rick.
“Well, they are attracted to sound, strong smells, and movement. And the fresher they are, the faster and more dangerous they are. And they seem to like traveling in herds. any more than three, if you aren’t in a group…run. If you are bitten, you are doomed. But if it’s possible, amputation can save your life. I think that is everything about the Walkers.” The girl then motioned for the older man to follow her.
As they slipped into the hot Georgia sun, Rick saw a row of covered bodies. The girl paused as Rick did.
“Don’t think about the unlucky. They didn’t suffer. Take relief in that.” she told him. Rick swallowed a lump in his throat as he noticed one of the covered bodies was too small for an adult. He nodded but followed the girl from the future.
“Well, you know who I am. What’s your name? I forgot to ask.” Rick said as the girl opened the door to an old army jeep.
“I never told you? huh. Well, my name Jenna. Jenna Redfern. Now then, lets head to your house to gather supplies. If I am remembering correctly, you and I were in the hospital for about a week alone. So your family should be heading towards Atlanta.” Jenna gave the man a smile to soothe his nerves.
“Okay. You know what’s going on, So, it pretty clear you should lead.” He hopped into the car, and kinda chuckled as he saw Jenna plop her head on the steering wheel.
“Ugh…I’m too damn short to reach the brakes.” Rick laughed but traded places with the girl. Jenna was blushing but remained silent. The two then drove towards Rick’s home