Here we go guys! Chapter 3 ^_^ Hope you enjoy!
We started combing the woods, occasionally calling out Sophia's name. From the position of the sun, I guessed it was roughly three or so. Everywhere I looked, it seemed as though this…thing…hadn't touched it at all. We kept our eyes and ears open to what was going on around us all the same though. No one was turning into walker chow on our watches.
After searching for more than hour, Rick allowed us to stop and catch our breath. I could tell Carl was starting to tire. His cheeks were flushed and his breathing was labored. We each took a moment to drink from our containers of water and laid our packs down. The weight of my pack being lifted from my shoulders caused me to smile and stretch my aching limbs. Movement in the bushes caused all of our heads to snap up. My fear of walkers gave way to awestruck wonder as a beautiful 12-point buck strode right into the open in front of us. The world itself seemed to stop spinning for fear of scaring the creature away. Carl looked up at his father then to Shane and finally to me as if asking permission to step closer to the animal. After a few moments of piercing silence, Carl took a few cautious steps in the deer's direction, reaching his hand out to pet it. I smiled. It was so beautiful, so precious. Honestly, I think we all forgot the hellhole we were living in. All that mattered was that Carl was inches away from stroking the pelt of a wild deer. I could almost taste the tension in the air.
In a flash, in a millisecond of time the almost peaceful trance we were placed in was shattered. With the rustling of the bushes and a pull of a trigger, the beautiful deer and Carl lay on the ground, covered in crimson. It seemed as if it were just a terrible nightmare. Suddenly a man appeared from the underbrush sputtering about not seeing the boy. Shane tackled the man and screamed at him. For once, I didn't mind Shane loosing his temper. Rick knelt by his unconscious son yelling out something unintelligible. Quickly I shoved our leader out of my way.
"I need to check his pulse!" I yelled, making Rick look dead at me.
I pulled Carl's jacket down to find the pulse point on his neck. When I felt the faint beating of his heart I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.
"We need to remove the bullet!" I said.
By then, Shane had cooled off somewhat and let the guy breathe.
"We got a farm…Bout a mile up the road…. Ask for Hershel!" The guy said, obviously breathless.
Rick was still in shock, so I picked Carl up, careful not to jostle his wound and began heading in the direction of the farm. Hopefully this guy wasn't lying to us. If he were, he'd have another thing coming…
By the time we'd made it half way to the farm, Rick had snapped out of it and practically ripped Carl from my grasp. I was thankful as I kneeled down, catching my breath.
"Go…on! I'll catch up." I said as I waved them on. We could not let Carl die, not without getting to the farm.
Step by step, I made it to the farm. My clothes were covered in sweat, grime, and blood. My legs felt like they'd been set ablaze and my heart was running a marathon. I looked up and was greeted by a young blonde headed girl. She didn't look much older than seventeen.
"You with the cop?" She asked in her deep southern accent.
I nodded and she guided me inside the farmhouse.
"Daddy's in there." She pointed to a closed room then eyed me cautiously. "You his momma?"
I quickly looked at her. "N-no. I don't have kids. They're just members of our group."
Her hazel eyes widened slightly. "How many more of ya'll are there?"
Quickly I did a mental count. "Ten are with the group still. We-we've lost some."
She grabbed my hand, paying no mind to the drying blood on my hands, and dragged me to where an older guy was leaning over Carl. "Daddy! There's more of 'em. This isn't his mom."
For a second, I thought the guy was going to keel over. "Where's the mother?" He asked Rick.
Shane shoved his friend lightly and Rick answered the question.
"I-I-I need to get her. She needs to know." He mumbled as he covered his face with his hands.
It broke my heart to see our leader so broken, so lost.
"Rick, don't worry. I'll get Lori. I'll bring her back. You need to stay here. If not for you, then for Carl. He needs you." I stated calmly.
Rick stared at me a moment then went to sit next to his son. I sighed. Now how the hell was I going to find our group before nightfall? As I walked out of the room a slightly curvy woman with a pixie haircut called out to me.
"Ya heading somewhere?" I diverted my gaze from her piercing eyes.
"Yeah. Gotta find our group. The boy needs his mom."
She smirked slightly and placed a hand on her hips. "You won't get far on foot. You know where your group is?"
I nodded. "Well come on. Let's saddle up. It'll be dark soon." The dark skinned woman spoke as she made her way back outside. Guess I had no choice but to follow her.
Maggie guided her horse, Jake, along a narrow path deep in the woods.
"Clary are you sure they went this way?" She asked worriedly.
Before I could reassure her, a woman's piercing screams echoed all around us. I glanced at Maggie and held on tight as she goaded Jake into a full on sprint to where the distressed woman was.
As we approached the distressed woman, it was clear a walker was attacking her. Wordlessly, I handed my baseball bat off to Maggie and ducked down as she swung the bat in a wide arch, effectively crushing the bastards' skull. She stopped the horse and we finally got a close look at the woman we had hopefully saved. My jaw slacked when I saw the golden locks and cloudy blue eyes.
"Andrea?!" I nearly whispered.
Maggie whipped her head around to mine.
"This ya'lls group?" she asked quietly.
I nodded.
"Lori? Lori Grimes?" she called out.
Lori's dark dead snapped up. "Yes."
Swiftly I climbed off the horse, allowing room for the tall-framed brunette.
"Rick sent me. There's been an accident. Carl's been shot."
For a second Lori looked in utter shock. Wordlessly she started forward.
"Hay! Wait! You don't know her!" Daryl's familiar southern drawl shouted.
I glared at him. "You fucking shut it!"
I then whirled my head to face the two women on the horse. "Go, Lori! Rick and Carl need you."
She nodded and held on tightly as Maggie spouted directions on how to get to the farm to Glenn. Quite frankly, he looked scared shitless. All eyes shifted to me. My eyes found Daryl's. He seemed pissed but I really didn't give a damn. After several moments he called out that we should keep moving and broke our stare. I felt the heat slowly leaving my cheeks and silently followed everyone back to the highway…
