How long had it been?

"Alexandria, Alexandria do you copy?" Rick's voice was loud as he moved down the abandoned street, gun in one hand, radio in the other.

How many times had he called out on this radio, breath hitching with each minute that passed with no response? "Alexandria pick up." He tried again, aiming his gun at an approaching walker and firing.

This will be the last time, he always told himself. But it never was. He couldn't stop. He had to keep trying. The range was too far. They wouldn't be able to reach each other, he was being childish. Still, he persisted. Was Michonne even still alive? Or Daryl? How old was Judith now?

How long had it been? Anne had labeled him a B, and he was allowed to heal in relative peace. His wounds had been serious and it had taken a long time for him to gain enough strength to move on his own. Anne had stayed by his side, ever vigilant as if anticipating an attack.

Once Rick had begun to heal, once he began to gain himself back, something about him had caught their attention. Something that Rick still didn't understand. They marked him as an A and labeled him like cattle. An A tattooed on the back of one shoulder. The people who had healed him offered no name or explanation. Their faces were often obscured. They took him somewhere far from Alexandria in order to heal the worst of his injuries. Then, once they were satisfied he would live, they took him further. The only friendly face he had was Anne and she had begun to grow antsy.

He tried to ask her where they were. What was happening. She told him he couldn't ask questions anymore. That this was to save him. He was brought to a windowless dark room where the only source of light was an eerie red glowing from the ceiling. The red room, Rick had begun to call it. That was where they kept him.

They began their tests. They claimed it was time to see if he would serve them as they required. They brought a walker into his cell and allowed it to bite him. Rick had waited for the fever to strike. Waited to die as he should have on that bridge. It never came.

Immunity.

Somehow, Rick was immune to the bite.

They brought more in. He was immune to the disease but the scars remained imbedded in his flesh, crescent shapes spanning across his shoulders to his thighs, all healed up leaving silvery pink scars in their wake.

It turned out he was at the time, the only test subject to survive. He had eventually pleaded to be let go.

"Please, I want to go home..." He had wept into the cold room with only that red light to answer him. "Please, I don't want to stay..."

It was after nearly two years in, that Anne tried to smuggle him out. He remembered Anne's frantic cries, her desperation to suddenly help him escape. Something about the A label had frightened her. She had managed to smuggle him out of the red room, helping him down the steps when they realized they were being followed. Rick's steps were shaky and uncertain, he was slowing her down. He asked once more where they were and Anne released a shaky breath.

"We are no longer in America." Anne admitted, hair framing her angular face as she turned to study Rick.

"Where are we?" He managed to ask, heart pounding in his chest.

"I am not sure, but we left America behind once we knew you would survive the flight." Anne explained, glancing over her shoulder as if worried they were being watched. Rick's mouth went dry. They were all the way in Europe. How had they made it that far? Part of him wanted to be angry at her, to fly into a rage, but he couldn't. She was the only friend he had here. She was the only good thing he had in this place.

Rick wouldn't make it. They had injected him full of drugs to keep him docile, he knew he would only slow her down. He stopped her on the stairs, legs trembling beneath him and nausea rising in his stomach. "Can't leave without you." Anne reached for Rick's hands, squeezing them.

"You have to! Anne please, they're not gonna kill me if they catch me. You know that. But they'll kill you." He stared at her. His one friend here. The only familiar face. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"I will get help. I will find a pilot. We will leave this place...bring you home." Rick's eyes stung and he looked away. They were a continent away from where Rick needed to be. With little to no chance of Anne finding a pilot... "I will find one. There will be someone. There has to be." She sounded hopeful and desperate, teeth gritting together as she took a step away from Rick. It could take years. But she was going to try.

"Find them." Rick pleaded. "T-tell Michonne...tell her." Anne shook her head, eyes wet.

Her calloused hands reached for him, cupping his face. "I will return for you, Rick Grimes." She had promised, thumb stroking down his shaved cheek. "I will bring you home and you can tell them yourself." She leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss against his forehead before releasing him. She disappeared into the night and Rick felt in his heart he would never see her again.

He hoped she had escaped. Hoped that she had not been caught. How long had it been? He was punished viciously for his attempted escape. By the time his legs had healed enough that he could walk again, winter had come and gone.

The experiments continued. It became clear what they were making out of their captives. Human weapons. Humans that they wished to form together to build an army against the still didn't understand much about the labeling, but A's were a rarity. There were three others labeled like him. It was the four of them that rallied the B's and made an escape. It was Rick who had approached the faceless man and killed him, all the while ignoring the man's breathless praise of how much he had learned. How good of a weapon he had become.

The facility went up in flames. Rick pushed the bay door open, urging the other captives to escape. They ran into the unfamiliar morning light, scattering and weeping. Rick hoped they found their homes. Rick walked away with bruises and scrapes, but once again with his life. His hair had grown out into a disarray of curls lined with silver and premature streaks of white.

Now, with the radio he had snatched from the hands of one of the guards, he tried to call home. He received no answer and in all honesty, he hadn't been expecting one. It was nice to use his voice again, he had forgotten the sound of it.

"Ale-Alexandria, pick up."His voice was reduced to a weak croak, his days were filled with looking over his shoulder and wondering where he was.

It was another several months before he received a response.

"Alexandria Safe Zone, do you copy?"

The radio crackled. "Alexandria copies, who is this?" A male voice suddenly spoke up.

Rick couldn't breathe.

"Do you copy?" Came the sharp voice again. Rick brought the radio to his lips.

"Alexandria Safe Zone this is Rick Grimes." Rick spoke, voice trembling. "Do you copy?"

Static followed. Rick held his breath. Another voice suddenly came through and Rick began to sob, legs failing him and he collapsed to the ground, radio in a tight grip. "This is the Alexandria Safe Zone. Do you copy?" Michonne's voice was as clear as if she was standing right next to him. As if she were there.

"Mic-Michonne, it's Rick, do you-do-do you...can you hear me?" Rick stuttered, falling over his words. There was a beat of silence.

"This is Alexandria on the line, do you copy?" Her voice was beautiful, wonderful beyond anything Rick had ever heard. A breathless laugh escaped the man.

"Yes! Michonne, it's Rick! I'm here! I can hear you!" He cried out, half laughing, half crying. He hadn't been this hysterical in years. Hadn't allowed himself to be this excited. His voice shook violently and he wanted to tell her how much he loved her. He wanted to apologize.

"Alexandria answering, can you hear me?" She couldn't hear him. She was so close yet so far. Rick had never felt so powerless. He was alive. He just wanted to tell her he was alive. He wanted to see Daryl, to see his brother. He needed to see Maggie again and everyone else. He needed his family. Needed to hold his daughter again.

"Michonne, it's Rick. Can you hear me?" He knew she couldn't. He knew it was no use.

"Do you copy?" Michonne's voice crackled over the radio. Rick pressed the radio against his cheek, lip trembling. She spoke again, voice more garbled. "This is the Alexandria Safe Zone, do you copy?"

'Are you there?'

'Can you hear me?'

Rick sobbed.

Leaving the location of Rick and A and B situation a little vague until I know more.