FRACTURED DEAD
Three walkers half shuffled, half ran behind her and god knows how many behind them. Alysse was growing tired, her movements were slowing, vision blurred from the effort of running on an injured leg. Blood loss had alerted the Walkers, now blood loss would be her death. The gap was closing by the second. There was no time to swing up into the high branches of a tree, she knew she was losing consciousness she had lost too much blood already. Through the trees she saw a wide stretch of grey, a road! A road! Hope filled her with adrenaline, one final push before the fight of her life.
...
Rick POV
" Daryl you gotta rest the group needs you. I don't want you runnin' off getting yourself bit..." I warned, it was futile you can't tell Daryl what to do he's a lone wolf but we needed him. He was about the most valuable asset to the group. He could shoot, he could track, hell he could probably kill three walkers with one bolt.
I wiped the sweat of my forehead with the back of my hand, the other remained on the wheel. It was hot out but winter was coming, the last few days the temperature was noticeably cooler. Dark clouds were forming. If Hershel doesn't let us stay this winter could kill us, god knows with Lori pregnant we could all be dead by January.
"The fuck?" Daryl exclaimed leaning out of his relaxed slump against the door of the truck. Crossbow primed and pointed out of the open window.
"I mean it Daryl we'd be dead without..." I pushed turning to look at him, God dammit that man was as stubborn as a mule.
"Rick, brake, Hit the fuckin' brakes" He bellowed back gesturing at the road with his crossbow. I turned, a girl ran straight into the middle of the road, handgun drawn pursued by three walkers. I slammed on the brakes causing the car to spin violently to the side.
" Daryl can you get a shot on the walkers" I yelled fumbling with the seat belt and my holder at the same time.
"Holy Shit." He replied as the girl turned and shot the closest walker through the head, barely aiming. Damn that was a good shot. I froze watching her roundhouse kick the second in the head, straight to the ground and stab it through the eye with a hunting knife from her hip.
I heard Daryl secure a bolt into the crossbow beside me as the third walker lunged at the girl. She crouched avoiding the jaws, and quick as a bullet, kicked the legs from under the walker stabbing it through the eye before Daryl had squeezed the trigger.
Daryl began to lower the bow since the walkers were safely dispatched. "No." I whispered hoarsely. This girl could be part of a bigger group; damn she's already proved herself dangerous. I can't let my guard down now.
As if sensing my whisper she turned and met my eyes through the windshield. A wide eyed, unfocused stare of a rabbit caught in headlights. The gun hit the ground and fired through impact. The girl followed collapsing in a heap on top of the pile of dead walkers.
I looked across at Daryl and nodded, simultaneously we opened the doors and left the car. Daryl limped behind me I told him I could look for Sophia myself but the stubborn git that he is he insisted on coming along, said he needed fresh air. A cold sweat on the back of my neck. Was she bit? Or dead? We are all infected she could reanimate any moment. We walked in tandem, scanning the surroundings for more walkers, Daryls crossbow trained on both the dead walkers and the girl. He kicked the walkers individually, checking. On closer inspection the girl was a woman in her early twenties, short and littered with new scars.
" She dead? " He asked bluntly jerking his head momentarily towards the woman then back to the treeline. Honestly I wished she was, Hershel would take bringing back another wounded as an excuse to extend our welcome. I daren't push our luck. I couldn't just abandon someone though, probably the damned cop training.
Kneeling I felt her neck searching for a pulse. There. There it was, faint but definitely beating.
"Alive." I answered "must be injured".
"Bit?" Daryl questioned pointing the bow right at her head.
Blood had pooled from her lower leg onto the grey tarmac, using the barrel of my gun I lifted the loose, wet fabric. The sight made me hiss, and my stomach churn, no she definitely wasn't bit.
"Shiiit" I heard, exclaimed in a harsh voice from beside me. "That's jus' nasty."
A wide gash covered the length of the woman's calf, fragments of barbed wire and tree imbedded into the deeper areas. I couldn't just let her die, we had medical supplies, Hershel can fix this, and he fixed Daryl yesterday.
Looking at her on top of a pile of dead walkers filled me with conflicted feelings on what to do. What was right to do? What was safe to do? We could shoot her, murder her when we know we could save her. She could be part of a bigger group, she could kill us all like she dropped all those walkers herself.
No.
I couldn't bring myself to be Inhumane the world has gone to shit but that doesn't mean I lose my humanity, we save her but we take precautions.
"Come on help me get her in the back of the car" I grumbled at Daryl, she was underfed as we all were but I didn't want to risk injuring her further.
" Sure you don't wanna' kill her ?" Daryl asked nevertheless, swinging the crossbow across his back and the girl's rucksack and bow over his shoulder.
I simply nodded. Picking her up like a damsel in distress and carrying her to the cars open door. She was short and fit relatively well in the back; to be safe I handcuffed her to the headrest, safe, out of biting distance.
" Let's get outta here 'fore more o' those fuckers appear" said Daryl as eloquent as ever, I guess getting stabbed by your own bolt makes you a little talkative.