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The sun was dipping behind the horizon as Abby spotted, Daryl crawling over the rail followed by Carol, Glenn, Andrea and Amy. When their eyes made met, Daryl looked extremely shocked at first then he smirked, at that moment Carol saw Abby and cried out in relief.
"Is she here? Is my baby with you?" She cried as she ran towards Abby.
Sophia must have heard her mothers voice because she came running down the RV's steps crying, "Mommy!" And she ran into her mother's outstretched arms.
"The hell you go?" Daryl asked. "Lost your track at that tent."
"And yet you still found me." Abby said returning his smirk as they approached. She then looked into the forest from where they had emerged. "Where's Rick? Or Shane, Lori or Carl?" Suddenly panic rose up in her throat and Daryl's expression didn't help her as he suddenly looked uncomfortable.
Glenn came over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Rick, Shane and Lori are fine but…"
Abby grabbed his shoulders fiercely as he paused "but what!?" She asked fiercely. "Where's Carl!"
Andrea gently grabbed her shoulder. "A woman on a horse said that Carl was shot while he was with Rick and Shane, she grabbed Lori and told us where to find them. That's all we know."
"He's been shot! By whom?" Abby nearly felt suffocated by her panic.
"They said he was alive." Amy said coming up beside her, trying to soothe her.
"Alright everyone. Pack everythin' up, we'll go to that place the lady was talkin' about and see what's happenin'." Daryl said firmly. Abby nodded as did everyone else and they all hurriedly shoved everything they found into the vehicles and Abby jumped behind the wheel of Carol's vehicle as Carol and Sophia joined her and turned it around and followed Daryl as he cruised by her.
They had driven only for a few minutes before turning down a dirt road, that turned into a driveway. The sky turned dark as the came to a stop at the gate, Daryl got off his bike, opened it, pushed his bike through the gate and off to the side then indicated for the others to roll through. Abby watched in rear view mirror as he closed the gate then got back onto his bike and followed after them.
After a few bends in the road, a lit-up house came into view. When she came to a stop, she jumped out of the car and practically ran up the stairs then burst into the house.
"Lori! Rick?" She called anxiously.
Rick appeared in a doorway. "Oh my god, Abigail!" Rick said in shock, tears starting to form. Abby ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Is Sophia okay?"
"Yeah. Did Carl really get shot?" A tear rolled down her cheek.
Rick bowed his head. "Yeah it was a hunting accident. Carl was watching a deer when their friend, Otis, shot it and the bullet passed through the deer and hit Carl. He didn't know Carl was even there."
"Oh my god!" Abby exclaimed as she put a hand to her mouth.
"He's holding on for now but Hershel is needing a particular piece of medical equipment, so Shane and Otis went to get it. We're waiting on them to come back." Rick explained to her then led her back into the room he'd come from. Lori stood up and hugged her, as she stepped in. Abby couldn't take her eyes of the ghostly white figure that was Carl, laying unconscious on the bed.
"This is my sister, Abigail. We're the same blood type, she can give blood too if you need." Rick said introducing her to the old man she assumed was Hershel.
"Yes, absolutely!" Abby agreed.
"No conditions I should be aware of?" Hershel asked.
"Nothing that'd affects my blood, just a bit of PTSD. Ex-soldier." She said quickly.
"Well, it's a good thing you came when you did, it'd be dangerous if I pulled anymore blood from Rick. Patricia, could you pull some more blood from miss Grimes here?" Hershel said as he looked at the other woman in the room.
The blonde-haired woman stood up then escorted Abby out of the room and into the dining room where everyone else now was waiting. Patricia looked a little shocked at the suddenly full room but guided Abby to a chair and grabbed a contraption that Abby didn't recognize.
"How is he?" Andrea asked as Abby sat down.
Abby put her arm on the table and looked at the others. She still felt anxious but at least she was doing something to help. "Not good, he's holding on though. Rick and I have the same blood type as Carl but Rick's been tapped out, so now its my turn."
"Otis and your friend, Shane, are getting a respirator so we can operate on Carl." Patricia said as she wrapped tight cloth around her arm, cutting off her circulation. "He's a tough boy."
"Is Carl going to die?" Sophia asked sadly, looking straight at Abby.
"I hope not." Abby said softly.
"If you need anything, we're here." Carol said sincerely.
"How about we all set up camp outside, get out of these people's way." Dale suggested to their group.
"Yeah that's a good idea, it'll give us something to do while we wait." Amy agreed.
Everyone but Daryl and Dale turned and left, when they were gone Dale looked a Patricia. "You wouldn't happen to have any antibiotic, would ya?" He asked her. "Our friend is cut real bad and I think the wounds infected."
"You talkin' 'bout T-Dog?" Daryl asked and Dale nodded. "Well why didn't you say so?" Then Daryl turned and marched out the door. Dale frowned but followed him out.
"You've got quite the colorful assortment of friends there." Patricia commented indicating the door with her head.
"We just got thrown together, really. You just learn to live with the others…quirks. Most of them are good people, though." Abby said as she watched the blood flow from her arm. "Are you a nurse or something? Cus' T-Dog could use some attention too."
"Or something. I can sew him up, that gentle man said something about a cut?" Patricia inquired.
"Yeah its pretty bad. He said he cut it on a car door or something." Abby replied.
Patricia looked up at the girl that Abby hadn't noticed was still standing in the door way. "Maggie, why don't you get me their friend? I'm almost done her with miss Grimes."
Maggie turned and disappeared outside. "Its King actually, Abby King. Grimes would be my maiden name. I am…or I was married." Abby said when Maggie had left.
Patricia looked up at her, sympathy plain on her face. "I'm sorry, did he die recently?" She asked softly then looked down as she pulled the needle out of her arm.
"Just a few days ago." Abby whispered, as she struggled to deaden her feelings again.
Patricia put a hand on her arm. "I am so sorry."
Just then Maggie came in with T-Dog, who looked really pale and sickly. Abby got up as Patricia handed the bag of blood to Maggie. "Give that to your dad." She instructed Maggie, then indicated for T-Dog to sit in the chair that Abby had just vacated.
Abby left the house, going out onto the porch and watched as Glenn, Dale and Daryl all set up the tents they had brought with them, while Andrea and Amy struggled to get a fire burning as Carol and Sophia brought out people's bags. They had parked the RV and made camp quite some distance from the house but even in the dim light of the porch light she could still make everyone out in with the assistance of the front porches light. Abby would've walked over and helped but she suddenly felt faint and light head, like she might lose her beans if she moved any further, so she sat down in a chair heavily and put her head between her hands.
"Here." A voice said off to the side, startling Abby, she hadn't heard anybody approach.
Maggie held out a glass of orange juice to her. "Patricia forgot to give this too you. It'll help with the light headedness."
Abby took the glass and immediately emptied the contents into her mouth then handed the cup back to Maggie. Maggie took the glass and sat in the chair beside her.
"Are you really a solider?" She asked.
"Yup." Abby said as she pulled her dog tags out and showed them to her. "I was a Marine corps sniper, my brother Rick's a Sheriff. I guess civil service is in the blood."
Maggie opened her mouth to say or ask something more but was called from somewhere within the house. "Sorry, gotta go." She said as she got up and left. A few minutes later, Daryl walked slowly up the steps then replaced Maggie in the chair beside her and held out a can of food.
"Dale didn't think you'd eaten since you got back, then with you gettin' blood taken from you, you ain't likely to be feeling to well." He said as she took it from him as well as the spoon he offered her.
"Thanks." She said as she dug in to the can.
"So, what happened after you parted ways with Rick?" He asked curiously.
Abby gave him the short version of what had happened and how they had made it back to the RV. After she finished, Daryl told her that they'd tracked her quite some distance but lost her tracks as they lost daylight. When they came back the next morning, he was able to pick up her trail again and eventually found their way to the tent that her and Sophia had stayed in but then lost her tracks once more.
As they were trying to find her tracks, a bell had been tolled off in the distance, distracting them. They had hoped it was the two of them trying to signal everyone but all they found was a church with some walkers. Rick had told Daryl to start leading everyone back to the highway while him and Shane continued looking but Carl had begged to go along with them. Daryl said he'd tried to convince Rick not to go off with Shane but he wouldn't listen and the others needed Daryl to lead them back to the highway safely.
"The last thing we needed was to have to search fer more people, so I had no choice." Daryl finished.
"As long as Carl was there, I don't think Shane'd do something so stupid but I have to say, that was the first thing that came to mind when I heard Carl had been shot." Abby said then sigh as she set the can down. "I thought maybe Shane tried to shoot Rick but somehow got Carl instead. But Rick said that, that Otis fellow was shootin' a deer but the bullet passed straight through the deer then into Carl."
"Shouldn't be shootin' things with people standing behind 'em." Daryl said with a shake of his head.
Abby shrugged. "Apparently he didn't see him. I should head back inside." Abby said as she got to her feet. "Thank you for the food, Daryl, and for tryin' to find us."
Daryl shrugged. "Apparently I didn't do too good of a job of finding you."
Abby smiled, "Well I didn't exactly make it too easy on you either. As you already know, I can run for a long time and I wasn't really expectin' to be rescued for some reason. I just figured y'all just wait for me to come back."
"You're tough an' resilient but even you need help sometimes. Coulda been stuck up a tree with some walker waitin' to feast on you or holed up somewhere. We had to try and look." Daryl said as he to got to his feet also.
Abby reached out and put a gentle hand on Daryl's shoulder. She could feel him tense but he just stood there and looked at her confused. "Thanks, Daryl. You're a good friend."
Daryl scoffed then turned and walked away. Abby smirked slightly as she watched him go then turned and walked inside. The first thing she heard was. "I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing to happen to you." And Abby shivered in disgust.
"I'm really trying to not think about that." T-Dog said in agony as Patricia put in the last stitch.
"And now so am I." Abby said with another shiver causing T-Dog to smile in spite of his obvious pain. Abby took a seat beside the room that Carl, Rick and Lori were in and waited. About ten minutes later, Hershel entered into the room then she hear heard them discussing what was probably Carl's fate and then heard a commotion.
Patricia pushed a metal cart into the room. Abby poked her head into the room and watched as Rick, Lori, Hershel and Patricia, grab a corner of the sheets and hoist Carl onto the metal cart. Patricia grabbed a lamp from the corner of the room and removed the lamp shade and turn on the lights as Hershel pulled on gloves and prepared to cut into Carl.
"Rick, Lori you may want to step out." Hershel said to them as his hand hovered over Carl.
Suddenly the sound of truck pulling up, got everyone's attention. Abby ran to a window and saw Shane pulling up in a blue pickup. Rick, Lori, Abby and Hershel met Shane at the steps as he limped forward with two large backpacks. Abby grabbed the bags then ran in side with them and put them on the floor. After a bit of a delay, Hershel followed her in and opened the bag and grabbed what it was he needed.
Maggie and Glenn came in a short while after, Maggie in tears as she headed straight back into the kitchen with Glenn following. Abby took a seat in a chair at the table and when no one else came in, Abby went back outside to find everyone had gathered around the porch. Abby took a seat on the rail and waited with everyone else.
Abby didn't know how much time had passed but eventually Hershel finally came back out, wiping his hands on a towel as he came out.
"He seems to have stabilized." He said to Rick and Lori as they stood watching him.
"Oh god." Rick said with a sigh, then walked up the last couple steps and hugged Hershel.
"I don't have words." Lori said after trying a couple times to speak.
"Neither do I, I wish I did." Hershel said to her. "How do I tell Patricia about Otis?" Hershel asked Rick.
Rick looked at Lori. "You go to Carl, I'll go with Hershel."
When Rick disappeared into the house, Abby walked over to Lori and hugged her. "Thank god, Carl's okay." She breathed into Lori's ear.
Lori pulled back and smiled at Abby. "I better get back to Carl, I'm glad you're okay too."
The next morning, Abby woke up feeling sixty years old as she painfully crawled out of her tent. When she looked around she saw Carol with Sophia by a small cook fire, Dale was standing in the door of his RV looking inside of it and Abby could see part of Amy and heard Andrea's voice while Daryl was no where's in sight. Off to one side, not far away from the house, Abby could see Glenn, T-Dog and two people Abby had never seen before, collecting rocks.
Abby looked back to Carol. "What are they doin' over there?" Indicating Glenn and the others.
"They're collecting rocks to make a pyre for the man who died last night…Otis?" Carol explained sadly. "Rick and Lori are still in side with Carl."
"Can I go see him, Momma?" Sophia asked.
"In a little while honey. He's still really hurt and needs to rest." Carol answered as she stroked her daughter's cheek, then looked back at Abby. "I don't believe I said it before, but thank you for saving my baby. If somethin' had happened…" Carol faded out as she dashed away the tear that'd formed in the corner of her eye.
"I'll do it as many times as necessary, but hopefully never again." Abby said with a chuckle.
Carol smiled but seemed taken aback, probably by her laughing. She could barely smirk a day before, nearly losing two children in one night had put her life in perspective. "Well let's hope you won't have to."
"Yeah, I feel like I'm old lady from all that running." Abby said as she rotated her shoulder, then stretched her back. Carol just smiled as she stirred a pot of soup. Abby looked around again. "Where's Daryl?"
"Hunting, I believe. I saw him grab his crossbow and walk off into the woods." Carol answered indicating with her head towards a wooded area behind a barn and a large field.
Abby got to her feet and as she started to walk away, Carol called as she went. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes if you want."
Abby looked over her shoulder and nodded, then continued walking to the house and up the steps. She paused at the door, suddenly feeling awkward about walking into some person's home.
"It's fine, you can just go in." A voice said from a chair off to the one side.
Abby turned her head and saw Maggie sitting there. "Sorry about bargin' in like that, last night." She said grimacing.
"It's fine. Your nephew was dyin'." Maggie said sadly.
"Sorry 'bout your friend Otis. I…" Abby paused and rubbed her face then looked up at the younger woman. "I lost my husband about a week ago, so I know what loss feels like."
"I'm sorry, must be terrible to lose your husband and nearly your nephew in one week." Maggie said sadly.
"It certainly has been a roller coaster. First thought my brother was dead for about least a month, then accidently found him in Atlanta, then the following night I lose my husband and now this." Abby shook her head. "It's enough to drive someone crazy."
"And then that little girl got lost, good thing you found her." Maggie said.
"Yeah, Sophia. Poor girl lost her daddy the same night I lost my husband…although he was a waste of flesh." Abby suddenly frowned. "I don't think I ever properly introduced myself to you. Abby King." She offered Maggie her hand.
Maggie took it and shook it. "Maggie Greene." Then nodded in the direction where Glenn and T-Dog were helping the two young people collect stones. "The girl over there is my sister, Beth and that's her boyfriend Jimmy."
"Wish we coulda met y'all under better circumstance." Abby said politely as she reached for the door.
"Me too." Maggie replied then stood and walked off towards the chicken coop.
Abby went inside and headed straight to the room where Carl was resting in. He was still unconscious be even from the doorway, she could tell that his color was better. Beside him, Rick and Lori sat staring at him, stroking his hand and cheek. Abby walked over and sat on the opposite side of the bed and swept a sweaty strand of hair from his eyes and kissed him on the forehead.
"Has he woken yet?" Abby asked them.
Lori shook her head sadly. "No."
Hershel walked into the room then and touched Abby's shoulder, silently asking for her to move aside. Abby moved to the foot of the bed, as Hershel put his hand to Carl's head.
"His fever's come down." Hershel said to Rick and Lori.
Carl suddenly started squirming slightly, causing everyone to lean forward. "Baby?" Lori called. "Carl?"
Slowly Carl opened his eyes and looked at his parents, then his eyes widened when he saw Abby. "Auntie?" Carl croaked. His eyes darted to his parent then back to her. "Does that mean that Sophia's okay?" He asked.
Abby reached out and grabbed his foot and smiled. "That's right, kiddo. She's helpin' her mom make breakfast as we speak."
"Good." He said as his eyes started to droop.
"Rest." Lori said to him. "We'll be right here, okay?"
Carl nodded his head tiredly. "Okay." Then fell back asleep.
"I'll get y'all something to eat, should be ready." Abby said then turned and walked outside once again.
When she came out, Glenn and T-Dog were no longer gathering stones but sitting by the fire where everyone but Daryl sat eating the soup that Carol had been making. When Abby approached, Carol held out a bowl to her.
"Could you dish out a second one? I'll bring it to Rick and Lori." Abby said as she grabbed the first bowl. Carol grabbed another bowl and dished out some soup into it then offered up to Abby. She quickly ran inside, brought the bowls to Rick and Lori, then turned to leave. When Abby came back to the fire once more, Daryl came strolling up just as she did with several squirrels and a rabbit hanging from his belt.
Abby took a bowl from Carol once more then took a seat painfully on the ground. Everyone quirked an eyebrow as she groaned bending over then tried to settle on the ground.
"What's with you?" Daryl asked as he to settled on the ground with a bowl of soup.
"You try running from walkers with a twelve year-old girl hanging from yer neck for god knows how many hours, over very uneven terrain with practically no food or water in your system for nearly twenty-four hours. Even you might sound old, Daryl." Abby said as she gave up trying to get comfortable.
"Sorry." Sophia apologized quietly.
Abby smiled at her. "It ain't yer fault, honey. I'm just not as in shape as I'm used to bein' but then again, I'm used to a more enriching diet."
"Probably not used to running through forests either." Dale added.
"Well not exactly, but the terrain in the middle east isn't exactly smooth sailing either." Abby said with a shrug. "The terrain is a pain in the ass in a different."
"Don't snipers camp out for long periods of time?" Glenn asked.
Abby laughed. "Well, for one thing, snipers don't 'camp out' I didn't live in a video game. Secondly, we did sometimes stay in one spot for a long time if we were lookin' for someone in particular or there was a threat in a particular area. More often then not, though, I had to high-tail if from point 'a' to point 'b', on foot with eighty pounds of gear, up at least three stories of stairs, every day." Abby said.
"For real?" Glenn asked with a wince. "Why on foot?"
"To avoid bein' seen, you know blending in. Riding around in a Humvee is like puttin' up a flashy sign up sayin' here I am, come kill me!"
"Did people ever find you? I mean how could you tell if someone was sneaking up on you if you were busy lookin' down a scope?" Amy asked.
"While I wasn't always with my unit, I wasn't by myself either. Snipers always have a spotter." Abby explained
"A spotter?" Andrea asked confused. "What's a spotter?"
"Helped me find targets, also covered my ass to make sure no one came up behind me. My spotter in particular was a professional profiler." Abby clarified.
"Like on those CSI shows?" Amy asked.
Abby smirked. "Sorta but it's a little different from a thousand yards away."
Everyone ceased their questions when they saw Maggie approaching. "We're gonna have the memorial now, for any of you who wanna join in." She said sadly then turned and walked away.
"I'll go get Rick and Lori for you Abby, since yer still eatin'." T-Dog said as he got to his feet.
Five minutes later, they all stood in a semi circle around a pyre. As Hershel spoke, Patricia, Maggie, Beth and Jimmy all added stones to the pyre. When Hershel was done, he asked Shane to say a few words since he was the last one to see Otis alive but he refused at first. Then when Patricia begged him, he finally relented. As he talked, Abby watched him carefully and a sickening thought came into her mind.
After staring at Shane for a moment, Abby looked around at their group but as she looked, they didn't seem to notice what she was noticing, not even Rick. Then her eyes landed on Daryl and he cocked an eyebrow at her. She nodded subtly, relieved that he was thinking the same thing.
When Shane finished his speech, he grabbed a rock and put it on top of the pyre, then after a moment of silence, everyone went their separate ways. Abby trotted after Daryl and tapped his elbow as he walked towards where his kills lay on the ground.
"Can we talk for a moment?" She asked when he looked down at her. "Alone?"
"Sure, just let my grab my game." He answered as he turned and grabbed his rabbit and squirrels while Abby grabbed an empty cooler, so Daryl could use it as a table then the two them went further into the trees and sat down.
"Let me guess," Daryl started as he grabbed a squirrel and ran his knife down its belly with surgical precision. "Yer thinkin' Shane shot that man."
Abby sighed. "It definitely crossed my mind but he more likely left him for dead, shot him in the leg or something so he couldn't get away."
"You planning on doing anything 'bout it?" He asked as he continued to work.
"If I had solid evidence that he did, I might but I don't. Plus, if the Greene's found out, they'd punt all our asses to the curb immediately." Abby said.
"Probably." He replied as he moved on to the next squirrel. "Probably will eventually anyways."
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-Shockra