AN #1: Hey guys. Another oldie. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own or write for TWD or AMC.
-/-/-/-
Carol made a futile attempt to wipe the rain from her eyes, sputtering and spitting the cold water from her lips. She and Daryl had been trying to reinforce the inner fence in case of emergencies when the deluge began.
She tried to convince him to leave it for later, but after all, they only had one post left, and when she argued that one post wouldn't make a difference in the mud and slosh, he gave her a Look. And so she gave him a Look. And helped him lift it up at the right angle begrudgingly.
The thunder was crackling in the air. He was using a ratchet to tighten brackets from the chain link to the wooden log. It smelled strange to her all of a sudden, and just as the hairs on her arms stood on end, she knew.
"GET AWAY FROM THE FENCE," she screeched. Just as a flash of light so bright it burned her eyes cracked against the metal fences.
She tried desperately to rub the spots from her eyes as she heard a steady rhythm of thunks. When her vision was finally clear enough to look out, she realized what the sound was.
Bodies, dead for real now. An entire layer of walkers that had had their heads pushing against the fences were laid out, black spots tracing patterns across their rotting faces. Brains fried.
And then she turned and let out an ungodly screech of terror.
He was face down on the ground, completely still, his outstretched hand that had been fixing the brackets black and red, smoking.
"HERSHEL! SOMEONE GET HERSHEL!" She called desperately at the guard tower where she knew someone had seen the whole thing.
She leapt over to him as she called, flipping him over and immediately pumping his chest, singing Staying Alive under her breath. She had seen Hershel do this. She could do it. She could bring him back. She had to.
She had to.
She pumped his heart and breathed for him, trying to coax some more life into him.
A minute passed, and nothing. She started sobbing, crying out, talking to him, begging him.
"Come on baby, you can do this. Don't let this be it. You're so much stronger than this."
Breathe. Breathe.
"This isn't it. Come on back. We love you so much, Daryl, come on."
Two minutes. Hershel was bounding across the yard, using his crutches like pole vaults.
Breathe. Breathe.
"Please. Please. Don't leave us. Don't leave me."
Breathe. Breathe.
"Don't leave me."
And then, just as Hershel was reaching the garden, almost there, he gasped. A thick, choking, terrible, hacking cough, and then he was breathing. Shaky, deep breaths, but breaths. Breaths.
She collapsed against him, holding his living face beside hers as she cried and cried. He stroked her head with his blackened, bloody fingers, whispering comfort to her as the last few minutes came back to him.
And she swore to Hershel that day, that he was going to teach her everything he knew. Everything.
-/-/-/-
AN #2: Thank you for reading! :) Drop me a line if you feel up to it!