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justinewt · 6 months

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Fear Begins Here - FEAR TWD Rewrite Chapter One

[FEAR THE WALKING DEAD-MASTERLIST]

Next Chapter (SOON)

Summary: Nikki, who has been working night shifts at a gas station, is awaken one monring after the Clarks receive a call that her brother Nick has been injured after being hit by a car. At the hospital, the doctor reveals that Nick was delusional and had run into traffic, allegedly with intent. Nick shares his hallucinations of a girl, his girlfriend Gloria, attacking him and eating people at the abandoned church where they used to go for drugs. Nikki and Travis visit the church later that night and find a pool of blood, partially confirming Nick's claims.

Words: 4.1k

Warnings: Fear TWD season 1 (1st half of episode 1 "Pilot"), blood, mention of cannibalism, hospital, strained relationships, mention of drugs and addiction, mention of violence

Still in bed, curled up with her face under the covers, Nikki tried to get some more sleep after having been on night shift at the gas station where she had worked for a few months now. For the past four days or so, she had been working 11-hours shift. Yesterday, she worked the whole night and came back home at 5AM after going into work in the evening. Working night shifts was awfully exhausting since everyone in their households was up and about at 7 in the morning, after she had barely slept for a couple hours. When everyone would leave, it would get quieter, and she would go back to sleep until probably noon. Her schedule had been moved up, now back to less lengthy shifts and she was working the afternoons for the rest of the week, which she preferred.

She hated working at night. After she would wake up at noon, she would literally have one hour to get ready, eat a snack and drive off to work in her old car. It was a 10-year-old car at the car dealership. She had gone with Madison who wanted to help her get a good car for cheap without the seller praying on the impressionable young woman. It ran well and allowed her to get around and go to work, to earn money that she put aside without really knowing what she was going to do with it, although she gave a part of it to Madison every month because she felt indebted to her, for getting her out of trouble all these years, even though she didn't want Nikki to give her money. She always ended up giving it to Travis to help with the shopping and she also gave some to Alicia, so she had a little spending money.

Nikki got startled when she heard Alicia slam the bathroom door after her mom chimed in to tell her she had five minutes left to get ready. The teenager had not gotten out of bed on time and was about to be late for school. She grumbled, burying her head in her pillow, and winced when light blinded her tired eyes when she stuck her head out of her bedcover. She opened her eyes again after realizing that the whole house had gotten quiet, and she heard the landline high-pitched beep sounding. She sat up almost immediately in bed. She knew very well what that unpleasant beep meant, and gulped as she climbed off the top bunk. She yawned until her jaw almost dropped and quickly left her room to join Madison, Travis and Alicia around the phone. Travis had already picked up the phone and everyone looked at each other in a heavy silence as he spoke.

It was about Nick, of course. He had been hit by a car while running down the street for whatever reason, but Nikki already knew where he had been coming from. He spent every single of his nights at the abandoned church which had become an infamous junkie den over time. That was the very place she used to go to herself, back when she was still using but she wasn't going anymore since she decided last summer was the last time she was ever going to rehab and that she was getting clean for real this time. Her addiction had gotten her expelled from nursing school less than a year ago after she took drugs from the infirmary to get high. She had no prospect of any king of a future, but she was trying to survive without heroin for a while and see where it would get her. She had been trying to survive all her life, so she was used to it, but it required some adaptation to live a life not ruled over by addiction. Alicia, who was literally still standing wrapped in her towel, and Nikki quickly put on some clothes, and they drove off to the hospital. Even though it wasn’t going to take much time to get there, Nikki took advantage of the 10-minute drive to sleep a little more. Alicia sighed, telling her she should have stayed in bed since nothing would come out of this trip to the hospital. Her brother’s addiction really strained their relationship.

“He has a bruised rib, contusions.” The doctor walked them through the hospital hall as he told Madison about Nick’s state. Nikki looked around, rubbing her eyes with a wince. “Physically, your son is lucky, but I’m worried about—”

“Toxicology?” She enquired.

“There’s that, yes, but…”

“Heroin’s his drug of choice. What did he take?”

“He’s over 18, ma’am. I can’t tell you more than I could tell the police.”

“They’re here?” Madison stopped in her tracks, turning to the man. He jerked his thumb behind him, and she resumed walking. Nikki sighed. They were probably asking him about where he got the drugs and stuff like that, but no one talks to the police. Even today, she still wouldn't say anything to them, out of habit of keepind her mouth shut. But she knew very well where they got their shit from.

“Nick presented as delusional, Mrs. Clark.” The doctor continued. “Witnesses said he rand into traffic with intent.”

“He was high.” She argued.

“He was ranting. We had to restrain him. I requested a psych consult.” He looked at Travis when he walked past him. “She’s not listening.”

“She heard you.” The doctor stood in the hallway as Alicia and Nikki looked at him sideways as they followed their stepfather into the room where Nick was. Madison was the first to walk in, instantly addressing the two police officers standing around his bed, questioning him while he was indeed restrained to his bed.

“Is my son under arrest?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then get out. Thank you. Leave.” They threatened to charge him for the incident, and she dismissed what they were saying, telling them they could do that when he was healed and to go away for the time being. Nikki walked behind Travis and Alicia, who stayed behing ther cop and went to stand on the other side of the bed. She saw Nick roll his head on his cushion to look at her as she observed the two policemen.

“She do all the talking?” He asked Travis and the latter didn’t say anything. He just raised his eyebrows as Madison repeated herself.

“I’m not as eloquent.” He eventually said, grabbing the cop’s card that he handed to him on his way out. She then turned to her son. She called out to him for his attention.

“What happened?”

“L.A. is not a pedestrian-friendly city.”

“Why the restraints?” She asked softly and he shrugged. “Did you try to hurt yourself?”

“No, mom. Come on, it was an accident. It was just an accident.”

“All right, I’m gonna call for a bed.” She took her phone out of her pocket, ready to dial for the rehab facility to reserve a bed for him. He grabbed her hand.

“No, mom. I’m not going back.”

“It’s how we help you.”

“No, we can’t help me.” Travis chimed in, advising him to listen to his mother and the young man glanced at him. “You definitely can’t help me. You can’t do shit. You can’t— None of you can… can you just leave me alone? Can you just let me go?”

When Alicia mumbled something, Travis turned to her, pointing out that her intervention wasn't helping the situation at all. Obviously, that wasn't at all what she was trying to do right now. She was tired of her brother's behavior because of his addiction and how her whole life and her family’s revolved around it as if she was unimportant, and Nikki understood that because until recently, their own relationship wasn't all rosy either. Maybe giving her some of the money she was making was a way for Nikki to make up for the fact she felt like an additional burden in the family. Madison spun on her feet, asking what she said, and the tone rose in the room. As usual, Nikki made herself forgotten and remained silent next to Nick, observing the situation as if she were outside of it all even though she had shared the lives of these people for several years.

She was so used to stand in the shadows, like she wasn't there, especially when arguments broke out, and remaining completely quiet so much so it was as if her lips were sealed shut. When she was still in school, many people thought she was mute because she spoke so little. The first times she ever went to rehad, doctors and shrinks asked Madison if Nikki was mute or something since, she wouldn't speak to anyone. Drawling, Nick again asked to be left alone while Madison told Alicia to go back to the car while Travis broke up the fight. Alicia walked out and he motioned for Nikki to come along to leave Nick and Madison alone for a moment. Seeing her walk away, Nick turned his head towards her as his mother sat on the edge of the bed and began asking him what had happened and followed her with his gaze. He knew she was working and tired, and yet she was always there for him. They had been through so much together that she would have gotten up in the middle of the night if she had to.

“Glad you moved in?” Alicia asked Travis, standing against a wall with her phone in her hands. He went outside for a moment to make a phone call and the teenager shared a glance with Nikki. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just need a coffee right now.” Alicia leaned her head around the corner of the wall and pointed in a direction.

“Machine’s over there.” Nikki nodded, thanking her and she walked over to the machine, pressing the buttons until she began to wonder if she even had change to pay for it. She padded her jacket's pockets and pulled out a couple pennies that she inserted in the machine, and she stared into space as a buzzing sounded while the coffee poured into the paper cup. She grabbed it and took a sip as she walked back to Alicia and sat on a chair next to her, letting her head rest against the wall. Madison walked out of the room as a nurse came in to check on Nick and she spoke with Travis, who had returned from his call. Nikki stared at the lights on the ceiling. She hated hospitals. It brought back unpleasant memories that she wished she could forget. She wished she could erase everything that had happened prior to the last 5 years. She finished her coffee and crushed the cup in her hand before aiming at the trash can in front of her and throwing it. Alicia saw that the conversation between her mother and Travis and stood up, holding her bag in one hand, by the upper handle.

“Nikki, I’ll bring you back to the house after bringing Alicia to school.”

“No, Maddy, it’s all right. I’ll do it.”

“Okay.” She mouthed, patting Nikki's shoulder, giving her a smile before walking away with Alicia. They watched the two women leave the premises and Nikki followed Travis inside the room once the nurse was done with him. She had some time before having to go to work, early that afternoon so she appreciated that he let her stay with them at the hospital, even she just slept, curled up in a chair while Travis read. Her cheek resting on her clenched fist, leaning on the back of the chair, she awoke when her head tilted forward too much and she blinked, looking around. Nick had just woken up, panting. She shared a worried look with Travis and spurted on her feet, going to sit on the edge of the bed. Coming to his senses, confused by his sudden awakening, he breathed out heavily, catching his breath and grabbed Nikki's hand before calming down.

“It’s just a nightmare.” She spoke.

“No shit.” He closed his eyes for a second, tightening his grip on her hand.

“You think that’s what you saw? It was a nightmare?” Travis wondered. “Hallucinations?”

“I really want to write it off like that, I do, but that’s never happened to me before.” He shook his head and buried himself dipper into his pillow. “Nothing like that. Hey, maybe I’m losing my shit.”

“That psych eval will decide that.” He shrugged. “How crazy is Nick? Scale one to 10, huh?”

“Hey, can you untie me?” Travis denied and apologized as he stood up. Nick turned his head to Nikki, and she shrugged. She didn’t have the authority to do that, even though she really wanted to but she knew for a matter of fact that if he were to be untied, the minute he was left alone, he would run off God knows where.

“You think I’m dangerous?”

“Docs are worried?”

“Are you?” His eyes went from his stepfather to his best friend.

“You ran into traffic, man. You hurt yourself.”

“No, I was running from, not to. I was running away from what I was.”

“What did you see?” Nikki asked, frowning in concern.

“Uh, just a girl.”

“You weren’t with Gloria at the den?”

“Yes. Yeah, I was.” He glanced at Travis, explaingin further that she was his friend. Nikki knew the nature of their relationship, really, she was his girlfriend. They had met something like a year ago in rehab, maybe a year and a half. That was when his father fied in a head-on collition. This was a tough time. Before she decided to get cleaned and kept herself to it, she got to know Gloria a little and shot up with her and Nick at the abandoned church a few times. “She was… Jesus Christ.” He sighed. “Okay, you buy on the corner, and you can shoot at the church. It’s junkie communion. And… uh…”

“The church? Nikki, you knew about this?” Travis was a calm person and there was nothing inquisitive about his question, but Nikki looked away and lowered her head. Of course, she knew about this place, that's where she used to go but she never told anyone.

“Anyway, uh, she was with me when I— when I scored.” He spoke while looking up at the ceiling, recounting the events in his head. His eyes widened as he went on. “Yeah, and she was with me when I nodded. She was there. She was beside me. But then… then when I went down… everyone was dead. ‘Cause there was blood. Yeah, and it’s all over her mouth.” He held Nikki’s hand tighter, looking down. “You know? Then she came at me.”

“What did she do?” Nikki glanced at Travis.

“Shhhe… She was eating them. She was eating them.” There was a silence as both Travis and Nikki were dumbfounded. What he was saying was indeed not making much sense. Nikki was even more confused because she knew the girl he was talking about, and she couldn’t believe that she would have resorted to cannibalism. It was insane. But there was a part of her that wanted to trust his words. Unlike Travis who concluded that the drugs made him saw all these things, she couldn’t believe he would make all this up. Something bad went down at the den and it rose her curiosity. She was also worried for Gloria and would feel quite sad if something happened to her. “I don’t know if what I saw came from the powder. That’s the thing. I don’t…” He shook his head. “and if it didn’t come from the powder, then it came out of me. My mind. And if that came out of me, then I’m insane, Travis. Yeah, I’m insane.” He chuckled but his amused smile almost instantly faded. He pouted his mouth. “I really don’t want to be insane.”

After they ate sandwiches with Nick at the hospital, Travis ended up taking Nikki to her workplace, a gas station on Pico Boulevard, West Los Angeles. Small gas station, never too busy, Nikki liked that. She knew her coworkers well enough that there was a pretty good atmosphere at work, but she wouldn't call them her friends. When she thought about it, she had no friends, beside Nick. That was kind of sad, but she didn't care. She didn't even know what she wanted to do in her life, so she had no time bothering about making friends and she was known as the quiet loner, even at work so they exchanged pleasantries but never made long conversations with her and she didn’t take offense. She worked all afternoon thinking about what Nick had told them.

She couldn’t get it out of her headso half-way through her shift she texted Travis about it. She wanted to go and see for herself eyes if something had really happened there. In the evening, she waited at the front of the station while her coworker that did the night shift came in. When he asked her what she was doing walking back and forth outside, she simply told him her stepfather drove her to work that day and that she was waiting for him to come pick her up. He didn’t enquire further after that. No one at work really knew about her personal life, this was the most she had ever said about it. After a moment, she saw Travis’ truck arrive and she got in. They drove to the church, having no idea what they would find there. Hopefully nothing too traumatising so she could have a good night of sleep afterwards but given how Nick looked so troubled when he talked about it earlier, she wasn’t too convinced and felt nervous.

When they went to the church, it was dark outside. Travis held a flashlight above his head and Nikki followed him as they walked around the fences set up around the abandoned building. He told her to stay to stay close as if she hadn't been a regular visitor to this place. Nikki stepped forward and grabbed the fence mesh and started pulling herself up when Travis grabbed her jacket, making her put her feet down.

“It’s too dangerous.”

“I can climb it. It’s fine, Travis.” He let go and she resumed her action, tucking the tip of her converse into the mesh. She sat at the top and crossed her legs over the other side before jumping down below. You wouldn't have thought when you saw her like that that she had fractured her leg falling from a tree. After all, she was 6 at the time, now 19, there was a statute of limitations. It had taken a while, but her leg was now completely healed although she felt occasional pain in her shin. Once she landed, she turned around and told Travis to go look for a window on the other side. It overlooked a toilet, the grille behind the window should be open. When she was about to go inside and leave him to find hiw own way in, he called out to her from upstairs, worried because she didn’t have a light with her. She held up her phone and turned on the flashlight before walking away. She climbed through a window and aimed the beam in front of her. She quickly heard Travis call her name and she tried to find him when she felt her foot slip on something and she lost her balance, almost falling on the floor.

She looked down and her eyes widened as she realized she stepped on a pool of coagulating blood, with mashed bits of flesh, on the ground. She almost threw up as her shoe made squishy sounds when she lifted it. She had no idea if everything happened as Nick had said, whether Gloria had really eaten people or not but what was for sure was that people were hurt or maybe even killed. Never in her time here had she seen so much blood all over the floor. Someone had bled out right there. She was so appalled and shocked; she couldn’t even move, and she felt so sick it was as if her body was warm and cold at the same time; She could feel her limbs tremble and she was so shaken she couldn’t even hear Travis call out her name anymore. There was a buzzing sound in her ears. She jumped with a loud gasp when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turning around, she saw Travis standing beside her. He looked at her worried and confused because upon finding her after roaming around for a minute, he found her as pale as a sheet. He might have thought she was distressed because she was back at a place where she used to go back when she was in a dark place in her mind but when she looked behind her and the light from her phone shone on the floor, Travis saw the pool of blood in front of them.

“Oh, God. What the hell is going on?”

“Nick said the truth. He— Gloria… I don’t know… I don’t know what happened, but someone fucking died here.” She cried out as he led her away, pushing her to leave the premises with him urgently. He was taken aback by what he had seen but he still tried to calm her down until they got back in the car. Her hands were shaking so she closed them into fists and stared into the distance, trying to keep her breath steady.

The next morning, they went straight to the hospital with Alicia before she had to go to school. They quietly walked into the room and found Madison sleeping against Nick. Nikki was still shaken from her night trip to the church with Travis and had nightmares about the blood and flesh. She wanted to talk about it with Nick, tell him that he didn’t make all this up. Travis bent over Madison, whispering in her ear and she slowly awoke and stood up.

“I need coffee before anything.”

“I’ll get you one.” Nikki said as Travis gave her a bag with some spare clothes for her to change into. While Madison and Travis walked into the hallway, and she went to the coffee machine. She poured two coffees, one for Madison and one for Travis. She gave a couple dollars to Alicia when she walked out of the room so she could get herself something from the vending machine at school and the latter left with her mom and Travis, their coffees in hands. This time, Nikki came with her own car, so she decided to stay with Nick for the morning. She still had a few hours ahead of her. She got herself a cup of coffee and went back to the room. He looked up when he saw her enter and smiled.

“You can have my eggs if you want.” She sat at the edge of the bed, putting her coffee on the side of the tray and grabbed the fork, taking a bite of the scrambled eggs, taking a sip of coffee.

“Best breakfast.” He chuckled as she ate, asking him how he felt in between bites. He shrugged, pouting. This was the kind of answer that she expected so she finished the plate and pushed the tray away. A nurse eventually came to take it out. She scratched her ankle and her gaze fell on the sole of her shoe. She had cleaned it with bleach in the garden in the middle of the night yesterday and yet the sole, originally beige, was now soiled with a lingering tinge of red. She also noticed a red drop that had dried on the side and scratched it furiously with her fingernail, images of that nightmarish sight flashing before her eyes. Nick sat up slightly and grabbed her wrist. She didn’t know if what she was going to say would reassure him or make matters worse, but she would tell him about the blood in the church. This didn’t really confirm most of what he said but that did confirm that he didn’t dream all of it. Maybe he exaggerated a few details because he was high and was raving but the fact that there was no sign of Gloria anywhere and blood all over the place had to mean something. Nikki had a hard time believing she really ate or attacked people but something bad did happen. She trusted Nick with that.

[To be continued…]

Next Chapter (SOON)

Published (11/12/2023) by Andrea

Taglist: @cathrin2405 @kika64

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