Chapter 4: hell of a day

(Back at the prison)

We set out this morning with good spirits, thinking that even though there were probably lots of walkers still in the prison that we could handle it as long as we stuck to the plan.

Two groups, two directions, one shared goal- clear the tombs and find the infirmary and cafeteria.

Everything went perfect on mine and Daryl's end, we had just finished putting down a small herd of 10 walkers that were bunched together in the hallway when we spotted that fateful Red Cross painted on a sign along with an arrow pointing further down the hall.

We were about to head towards it when yelling echoed around us and we both froze. Our eyes wide with the knowledge of what that means for the other group.

Without a single word we both turned tail and ran in the direction the yelling came from, my blood ran cold as soon as the shouting stopped…it was never good when it went silent after those bone chilling sounds came from the people you loved.

I wasn't afraid to admit I loved this group now…they were my family, I haven't opened up to many of them yet but I still loved them. Carl and Daryl were the main people I came in contact with, then there was Rick and Glenn who I've talked with and gone on runs with while Daryl was hunting of course… the others I was working my way up to.

(Three hours later)

"Hey…Girl, come here" I heard his rough voice and I looked up to see him sitting on the stairs.

It took me hours to get Hershel stable again, I went through a lot of sheets and towels trying to keep everything clean. I was able to stitch up a couple of his veins, he was already fully in shock by the time we found them in the cafeteria.

They had him laid out on a trolley ready to transport him back for me. After Daryl and I cleared the walkers away from the door we were able to get him back to the cell block in no time. Time was a precious thing and I knew there was only so much time left for the old man.

If he had been a bit younger and healthier I would've thought about cauterizing the stump that used to be his foot…but I didn't wanna risk his heart giving out on us.

His daughters were now sitting at his bedside and Carol was gathering the cloths soaked red that were scattered around the room. I was in a daze walking out of his cell, blood covered my arms and I could feel some on my face too.

"Ya A'right?" I heard Daryl ask again and I looked to see he was now standing in front of me. I felt his hands grabbing my arms gently and I let the sound of his voice and the feeling of his touch calm me.

I nodded, "he's gonna be fine…" I said feeling the scratchy way my voice came out, I had been yelling around at people telling them what to get me. It was by sheer luck that my medic bag was still filled with everything that we needed.

I was glad I always made sure we had everything we could ever possibly need in that area. Plus those runs I went on with Glenn helped a lot…we almost didn't even need to find the infirmary.

Even with how the world is now, it's been a while since I've been in practice. Working in the ER I did a lot of cases like this…but it was totally different performing on someone so important to the group, I just kept thinking that we can't afford to lose him.

"Come on…lets git ya cleaned up" he wrapped one arm around me and started leading me outside.

We went over to one of the water pumps Glenn and Daryl rigged up so we could have water, it was a temporary one but it worked all the same. He had me sit down on the grass before he went over to fill the bucket, I looked around the yard and sighed, we were virtually safe here.

Things were still gonna happen though, we were never gonna be truly safe anywhere in this world. We almost lost one of our own today, his future was still unsure, he could get an infection or maybe he might not even pull through this…

Daryl kneeled down beside me with the bucket and pulled his rag out from the back of his pants.

"Ya know... when I was lil, I use ta run off ta the woods…whenever my dad managed to drag his drunk ass back home. It took me a couple a years to be able to out run the bastard…but when I was able I always ran to this lil creek I found, way the hell in the middle of nowhere. Or…least it seemed that way" his voice was gruff and quiet as he told me about his past.

As he spoke he gently cleaned the drying blood that seemed to cling to every inch of my skin. I was so glad that Daryl was here…he was being sweet and it seemed he knew exactly what I needed after the day I had.

My thoughts fully focused on his story, his voice soothing my shaken nerves.

"I'd swim around there for hours, sometimes not headin home til the moon was high up in the sky…I tried to wait as long as I could so the ol' man would be passed out when I got back…." He paused and I watched his eyes go out of focus. He was thinking too hard on his past.

"Dare" I whispered bringing a bloody hand up to his cheek, I touched him lightly and turned his face to look at me. He flinched lightly but when he heard me say his name again he relaxed and looked at me.

"I was 15 when Merle brought home that crossbow one summer, figure he stole it from somewhere…I didn' much care. It was the first time he ever got me anythin, 'fore that I'd taught myself how to make snares...Merle never stayed aroun' for long. As long as I could 'member I was fendin for myself" he said as he grabbed my hand that was on his face to wipe away the red.

"Did ya teach yerself how ta shoot?" I asked, I was curios now that he's let me in about his past. I had to be careful and not push too hard though.

"Hell yea, first thing I shot was a rabbit. Took me a while to be able to get squirrel, but once I got the hang of it I was a lot better fed that's for damn sure" he said smirking slightly, I was happy he got away from the terrible memory that almost pulled him into some sorta trance.

There would be a time for him to tell me, when he's ready…it was way too easy to see in his eyes that he wasn't ready to dig that deep into his mind quite yet.

"My brothers taught me with a sling shot when I was 5, gradually moved up as the years went on. They all wanted me to use a gun…I liked the bow more, it just felt better in my hands." I shrugged, smiling at the memory.

Our childhoods were very much different, but we could always reminisce over hunting, and our bows.

We talked back and forth about the first game we shot, what was our best shot so far. He finished cleaning me up and I took the rag from him before he could protest I started wiping his face off too.

He had the regular layer of grime on his skin and the bloody hand print I left on his cheek earlier too. The splatter of walker blood from our kills in the tombs still littered his clothes, I'd need to do our laundry soon.

Once we were both relatively cleaner, Daryl sat down and pulled me to sit between his legs, my back resting against his chest. I turned my head to look at him and watched him looking out into the field, after the long day we had him and I still pulled through.

We talked and kept each other grounded, I took a deep breath and relaxed back into him with a small smile on my face.

We actually got to sit there in silence for a couple of minutes before I felt him give a big sigh, we had our half an hour to collect ourselves…now we had to get back and deal with whatever other problems there were.

"There's somethin else, while ya were takin care of Hershel…I guess there were inmates stuck in the cafeteria" Daryl said while he lazily moved one of his hands up and down my arm. I knew he didn't want this moment to end, cause I didn't wanna ever move from this spot too.

"How did that work out?" I asked leaning my head back onto his shoulder and looking at him.

"Jus fuckin peachy a' course. Dumb assholes…one of em almost got Rick killed while we were helping the bastards clear a cell block… Rick killed him. One of em didn' listen when we said to stick together down there…he got bit, 'nother one ran off" as he spoke I could feel his chest rumble slightly in anger.

"Only three of em?" I asked sitting up and stretching.

"Naw, two of em survived… Rick tried to run after the one that ditched…but I guess he's just gone now. The last two were given the option of leavin or stickin to themselves in their own block, they chose to stay" he nodded his head slightly.

"I should go check on Hershel, n you should check in on Rick… I'll meet ya in the guard tower for our shift on watch?" I yawned out the last part.

It was late in the afternoon now, Daryl and I were gonna be relieving T-dog from watch until supper. I was glad it would be a short shift, it was originally just mine but Daryl offered to join me. After Carl and Carol alternating throughout today and then with what happened to Hershel, T was the only one to offer to take watch this afternoon.

Glenn went to give the guy a couple breaks every now and then…but other than that it was T-dog there all afternoon.

Daryl let me in on all this… because I had no idea what happened while I was in that room keeping our resident senior citizen alive. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn took care of the inmates, I was unsure on how I felt about having two of them staying in the same place we were…but I'd figure that out after.

We got up and separated from each other, each nodding a goodbye we left to do our little tasks.

okay... so im hella tired right now... but I'm gonna try post two more chapters tonight... I for sure have one more to post tonight though.

i'm terribly sorry for the long waits between chapters, my life's been getting awfully busy this year... :L I LOVE writing and it makes me sad when I cant write more and post chapters for u guys :(

but life comes first I guess... so I'm gonna try get two more chapters out tonight at least... I hope u guys aren't mad and decide to leave this story, I always try write whenever I can.. i'm never sure when I can of course, but I do love this story so I WILL continue it for as long as I can :P

idea's always pop into my head at random times ^.^ I have plans for both the Dixon brothers and Samara, and the whole group at the prison :) just contemplating the Woodbury group for now