"Carlisle, what is it?" Esme asked, letting the fright ring in her voice.

He turned to them and rushed toward the door. "There's a man out there."

"A man?" she asked.

"Don't open the door," Edward exclaimed.

"He's bleeding... a lot," Carlisle told him.

"What if he was bitten?" Rosalie asked.

A loud, painful shriek came from the porch.

"He's going to lead the walkers here," Esme said, "We have to help him."

Carlisle didn't think twice. He flung open the front door to find the stunned, bloody man struggling to crawl up and over the barrier of lids they had created.

"Edward!" Carlisle called, demanding him to help with the wave of his hand.

"I-I was attacked," the main said, gasping for air. He reached a hand out. "P-please."

Carlisle and Edward struggled to get him to his feet, but finally managed to drag him inside the house before they barracaded the door back up.

Esme and Rosalie found spots the closest window to look back out into the yard. One walkers was slowly making its way up the driveway, though no others had paid attention to the commotion at the house.

"There's one in the yard," Esme said.

"Get him onto the kitchen table," Carlisle said, lifting the man up from under his arms.

Edward took his feet and the two of them laid the bleeding man where Carlisle had instructed.

"I'm going out to kill that one," Edward said to no one in particular.

"Edward..." Esme's voice trailed and Edward stopped for a second to see what she was about to say. When he recognized that she was just showing concern, he reached for the machete and hurried out the front door.

"What happened to you?" Carlisle asked, leaning over the injured man. "Were you bit?"

The man fought to catch his breath. "No."

Rosalie hovered above the table on the opposite side and Esme peered out the window to watch Edward.

Carlisle lifted the man's shirt, seeing it was heavily soaked in blood. "Get me towels, something..." he said, not directing the demand in any one person's direction.

Esme hurried to the kitchen drawers, finding small, decorative hand towels with a coffee cup pattern. She ran over toward the table and handed them to Carlisle. He immediately put pressure on the wounds.

"You're sure he's not bit?" Rosalie asked.

"This isn't a bite from a walker," Carlisle stated calmly, amidst the trauma. "Esme, see if you can find me a sewing kit."

Esme nodded and hurried, looking in the usual places where she might find one in someone's house.

"What did this then?" Rosalie asked.

"A... a bear..." The man gasped for air again in between the two short words.

"A bear?" she exclaimed.

Carlisle lifted the towel to study the wound for a moment but quickly applied more pressure. "There are three long lacerations," he explained, "Gashes, really. And a smaller one all the way to the left."

"Can you fix me?" the man asked frantically.

Carlisle looked into his young, frightened eyes that shut from the intense nature of the pain. "I'm going to try."

He winced again, grinding his teeth together. "What are you a doctor?"

"Let's just say you hit the right house," Carlisle told him, "Yes, I worked in Forks Hospital before all this happened." He wanted to keep the man talking. "What's your name?"

"Emmett," he breathed. He looked at Rosalie.

"These wounds are deep," he explained, "But if we treat them right away you'll most likely be okay."

" You just telling me that, doc?"

Esme came into the room with Carlisle's request for the needle and thread. She also held a clear bottle of rubbing alcohol.

"Thank you, Esme," he said.

Edward stormed back in, causing a startling reaction from Esme and Rosalie. Carlisle never looked away from helping Emmett.

"What are you going to do?" Sweat poured from the young man's face and his dimples were out in full force every time he winced.

"I've got to stitch you up," Carlisle explained, "It'll hurt a little."

"I'll get him a spoon to bite down on,"Rosalie offered. She hurried away, finding a wooden spoon on the countertop.

"I'm going to clean it first and then stitch you up."

"Was he bit?" Edward asked.

"No," Carlisle told him.

Emmett let out a low cry of pain as Carlisle began to use the rubbing alcohol.

"How do you know for sure?" Edward asked.

"Dip the needle in the alcohol," he ordered.

"Do you know for sure?" He asked again.

"Yes, now soak the needle."

Edward did as he asked and sat back,watching as Carlisle began to stitch up the stranger.

Emmett tried his best to hold in his cries of pain, though with little success.

Esme looked away and winced every time his painful screams rang through the house.

A loud clanking sound from the porch made Esme, Edward and Rosalie jump.

Edward rushed to the window. "Shit."

Carlisle looked once over his shoulder.

"Three of them," Edward went on.

Rosalie jumped when she heard a light slam against the door.

"We need to get them off the porch before they draw attention to others," Carlisle said, pulling the thread upward.

"How?" Esme asked.

Less than a second later Edward was throwing the door open and the familiar growling sound of the walkers filled the air.

"What's that?" Emmett asked, lifting his head just an inch off the table.

"Edward's taking care of it," Carlisle said reassuringly. He calmly continued what he was doing.

"Look at me," Rosalie instructed Emmett. The phrase came out of her mouth without her even thinking about it.

Emmett stopped trying to look toward the door. He glanced briefly at Rosalie before closing his eyes again in the midst of the chaos.

Esme grabbed a kitchen knife and ran to the door to help Edward. For the first time Carlisle let his attention wholly drift away from Emmett on the table. He watched as his wife rounded the corner to where he could no longer see. The situation suddenly felt overwhelming and he furiously worked on Emmett's abdominal area.

There was a struggle at the door. The growling an gurgling grew louder. Esme and Edward's voices were loud and frantic.

Carlisle felt as if the hard thumping in his chest was drowning out reality. The pressure began to build in his chest. He saw Emmett's painful facial expression but he couldn't hear him. Rosalie's lips moved but he couldn't comprehend her words. Worst of all he had no eyes or ears on Esme or Edward.

The world around him felt like it was spinning. All he knew at that moment was that they were struggling with three walkers at the door. Carlisle had to know that they were okay.