Chapter 4:

I don't know how long I stayed in the darkness but soon I came too. I expected to be lying on the hard ground feeling worse than before I passed out, but it was the opposite. I was lying on something soft, a bed maybe. I didn't feel as worn out but there remnants of the soreness were still there.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a bed, in a strange room. It took me a little while to remember what happened. Horde coming through, Sophia running off, me and Rick following her, fighting off the walkers, getting hurt, finding the farm house, and then blackness. I sat up, getting dizzy because of the force. I stayed still until the dizziness disappeared. I moved my feet to the edge of the bed, letting them slowly touch the ground. I stood up once I knew I wouldn't fall back down. I looked out of the window that was in the room, seeing the sun shining over the land. The outside world was calm and beautiful. It's like there weren't dead walking around trying to satisfy their hunger. I sighed, moving away from the window to go find Sophia. I searched the entire house, not finding Sophia. I found a woman. She was a pretty with curly blonde hair. She was older, maybe in her late forties.

"Where is Sophia? The little girl?" I asked her. She smiled politely at me.

"She's outside with Maggie. She's taken quite a likin' to Maggie." I nodded at her turning to go find Sophia. I found them outside playing catch. I smiled at the sight. It really was like nothing was wrong in the world. Although this place felt safe I knew it could all disappear in a second. The CDC proved that. We couldn't stay here anyways. We needed to find the group. Sophia needed to be with her mother. Who knows what they were all thinking and doing right now. They were probably out trying to find the little girl. Suddenly I was hit with guilt. If I had just paid attention, if I wasn't stupid enough to forget which way was the way back to the highway, Sophia would be with her mother. Carol was probably in hysterias thinking the worst.

"Where is everyone?" I asked as I got closer to the duo and they noticed me, Sophia throwing a smile and wave in my direction. I returned it, forgetting about the guilt that was coursing though me at the moment.

"Daddy, Beth, my sister, and Jimmy, her boyfriend, are out with the horses. Otis is out hunting and Patricia, Otis's wife, should be inside." I nodded to her, letting her know I seen Patricia. I need to get information out of Maggie—or someone—about getting back to the group. I didn't know where we were in comparison to the highway and the place we had stopped. I had to get Sophia back to Carol soon.

"Can I speak to you for a second?" Maggie hesitantly nodded, telling Sophia she'd be right back.

"What's do you need?" She asked.

"Before I got us, me and Sophia, lost in the woods, we were with a group. Her mother is there. I need to get her back," Maggie looked at me before nodding. "The problem is, I don't know which way is the right way to get back to them…" I admitted not looking at her.

"I know this area well. I can take you if you tell me where your group is."

"We were on a highway. I don't know which one." Maggie smiled.

"There's only one highway near here. That has to be the one your group is at. You travelled on foot, with injuries; you couldn't have been that far." I sighed in happiness. I can finally do something good and get her back to Carol. "Do you want to leave now? We can take the horses." I nodded. The sooner the better. It wasn't that late in the day either so it wouldn't be that dangerous. She turned before stopping and staring out towards the woods that Sophia and I had come out of before. I spotted what she was looking at before gasping. Someone was running with a person, a child maybe, in their arms. The person running had a sheriff's hat and uniform on.

"Dad!" Maggie screamed out. As they got closer I realized who they were. I felt dread fill me. My eyes started to water and soon tears were flowing steadily. Hershel came out from where the horses were.

"Was he bit?" Hershel asked. I closed my eyes as Rick slowed his running to a walk as he came closer to the house, Carl in his arms.

"Shot, by your man." He gasped out. Patricia asked if it was Otis.

"He said find Hershel. Is that you? Help! Help my boy!" Hershel led Rick inside. I followed behind. Rick didn't notice me or Sophia yet. Hershel brought Rick into the room I was in earlier. I looked at Rick as he got a pillow cases like Hershel ordered him too. His face was drained of all color and he looked like he was in a daze. I looked down at an unconscious Carl. I felt more tears make their way down my face as I looked at my nephew. Where the hell is Lori?!

As Hershel, Patricia, Maggie and Beth all worked on Carl, Hershel told Rick to leave and give them room. He hesitated. I walked over to him, grabbing his arm. He looked down at me, his eyes on focused. I pulled him out of the room. They took care of me and Sophia so I knew they'd do the same for Carl. Beth followed us out, asking Sophia if she wanted to go play catch again. She hesitated, looking into the room where Carl was before nodding. Beth took Sophia's hand, leading her outside. I followed them, pulling Rick with me. He still hasn't comprehended that it was me and Sophia here, but I didn't blame him. I, too, was worried about Carl. As we got outside, Shane and an overweight man came running up to the front steps. Shane asked Rick to take him to Carl. Rick turned right back around and led him back in to the room. I followed behind. When we got into the room, Hershel asked the man, who I assumed was Otis, what happened.

"I was—was trackin' a buck…bullet went right through it, went clean through…" He explained.

"The deer slowed the bullet down which certainly saved his life…but it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out, and I'm countin' six…"

"Lori doesn't know. My wife doesn't know. My wife doesn't know!" Rick put his hand up to his face as his words broke at the end and quickly started to cry. I walked out of the room then. I walked outside to where Sophia and Beth were. I sat there watching them throw a ball back and forth for a while before Rick, Shane, Maggie and Otis came out of the house. Rick didn't look like he was in a haze anymore and finally he seen me.

"Lenni? Lenni is that—" Rick started before pulling me from my sitting position into a hug. I hugged him back, seeing Shane smile over Ricks shoulder. I nodded to him. They both noticed Sophia too. I noticed Maggie was heading towards the barn where the horses were. I called out to her. She turned around before answering me.

"Rick wants us to get his wife." I ran to her deciding to go along to get Carol too. She deserved to know her daughter was alright.

We headed to the horses, saddling them up and setting out. As we were going, Maggie told me that Shane and Otis were going to the high school to get medical equipment that Hershel needed to perform the surgery to get the bullet fragments out of Carl. We sped through the woods, between trees and obstacles on the ground. When I was younger I always wanted to ride a horse so when one of my friends in high school invited me to go horseback riding, I went. I learned and every so often I would go again. I missed riding. As we were riding, we heard a scream. We looked at each other before making the horses run faster in the direction of the scream. Up ahead we saw the person who was screaming and a walker. The woman was on the ground screaming bloody murder while the walker was standing up gripping her legs. Maggie sped up in front of me and swung the bat she brought with her at the walkers head, knocking it away from the woman on the ground. As I got closer I seen it was Andrea.

"Lori? Lori Grimes?" Maggie said as four people came running towards us. It was Daryl, Glenn, Carol and Lori.

"I'm Lori." Lori spoke.

"Rick sent us. You've got to come now. There's been an accident. Carl's been shot. He's still alive but you've got to come now." Lori looked to me and I nodded my head. She jumped on the back of Maggie's horse. I looked to the group and they were all looking at me. I looked at Carol. She looked defeated, no doubt from seeing me and not having Sophia with me.

"Sophia is fine, Carol. Get on." I watched as Carol's eyes brimmed with tears before they rolled down her cheeks.

"She's okay? My baby's okay?!" I smiled at her and nodded. She didn't hesitate getting on the back of my horse.

"Back track to Fairburn Road, two miles down is our farm. You'll see the name, it's Greene." Maggie told them, before taking off. I followed behind her quickly, knowing Carol wanted and needed to be reunited with Sophia as soon as possible. As we rode away, I saw the faces of Andrea, Glenn and Daryl. None of them knew how to react. They stood there as we rode away with Lori and Carl. One reunion bound to be sweet, the other, an anxious waiting game.

Here's chapter four. I know this chapter is a lot shorter than the others and I'm sorry. I wrote this today when I came back from taking my SATs. It was ridiculous, the test, and I needed an outlet and so I wrote. I was going to wait to post this, and it be longer but I won't be posting(most likely) until maybe next week because until the 9th I'll be super busy. I have an AP English exam on the 9th so I get excused from the rest of my classes that day. Until then, I'll be studying and getting ready for that exam. I didn't want to make anyone wait for the next chapter for so long. I might post before Friday, the 9th, but I'm not sure. I didn't want to keep you guys waiting to long. but anyways, I'm seriously rambling and I'm sorry. I hope you liked this chapter!

- BLArensman xx