Miri heard footsteps coming towards the room as she continued to dab at the sweat at Carl's forehead. A gasp made her spin around to see Lori stare at her unconscious son. "Lori." Lori ran into Miri's arms as she cried, taking the comfort her sister-in-law was offering in her time of need. Miri ran her fingers through Lori's hair, letting her cry on her shoulder. She needed to cry for her son.
Lori moved away and went to go to Carl but Miri tried to stop her. "I need to lay down with my baby boy." She cried. "I gotta hold him." Miri nodded and let her go. Lori bit her lip as she laid down next to Carl, holding back from crying too loud. "My baby." She whimpered. "Momma's here. You're gonna be okay." She sniffled. "You're gonna be okay." She reached back, looking for Rick's hand. "We're gonna make you okay."
Rick walked towards Miri first and handed her Alice, who she was happy to see but the situation was not the moment to be happy. He grabbed Lori's hand and squeezed back when she did.
Miri knew Rick and Lori needed some time alone with Carl, so she motioned to Rick that she would be outside. He gave her a nod as she walked out.
"Hey." Miri gave Alice a kiss on the head as soon as they made it to living room. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too." Alice cuddled her head into Miri's neck as she held onto her. "Please don't get lost again."
Miri chuckled. "I'll try my best. Did you behave with the group?"
She nodded. "I stayed near Auntie Lori."
"Good girl." Miri kissed her head again. "Where's Burnie?"
Alice raised her head to look at Miri. "I left him with Grandpa Dale so he can protect the other people."
Her answer brought a smile to Miri's lips. "You're so cute." She pushed hair away from Alice's face, scanning her face before she noticed how red her cheeks were and how dirty she had gotten, but she looked healthy.
"What's her name?" Maggie asked as she smiled at Alice.
"Her name's Alice."
"Hey there." Maggie waved to Alice, who shyly put her head into Miri's shoulder. "Oh, she's shy. How old are you?" Maggie asked her softly. Alice looked up at Miri before slowly holding up her hand, showing Maggie she was five years old. "Oh wow, you're a big girl." Alice put her head back into Miri's shoulder.
"Sorry." Miri told Maggie as she chuckled. "She's like this with people she doesn't know." She saw Hershel and Patricia go into Carl's room. "What are they doing?"
"They're gonna give him some more blood, it's time for another transfusion." Maggie looked at the clock on the wall and frown. She looked worried as she walked away.
Miri fixed Alice in her arms and made her way to the room to see Patricia taking the needle out of Rick's arm, who stood up and groaned.
"Slow, slow." Lori cooed as she softly pushed him back into the chair. "How many transfusions?" she asked him.
"Two. Only two." Rick answered with his eyes closed.
"You know," Miri started as she walked more into the room so she was behind Lori. "He wanted to do the same for you when you were in the hospital."
"I had to talk him out of it." Lori added. "Come on, let Carl sleep." She helped Rick up as Miri held the door open for them, holding Alice up with one arm.
They made their way to the kitchen, where Hershel was waiting for Rick with a cup of orange juice.
"Thank you." Rick took the cup gingerly and slowly brought it to his lips. Hershel motioned for him to continue to drink.
Rick sat down on a chair at the table in front of them.
Alice started to move around in Miri's arms, signaling that she wanted to be put down. Miri put her down and watched as Alice walked over to Rick, who help her into the seat next to him. He gave her a sip of his juice and patted her hair. Miri smiled and turned back to Hershel and Lori.
Lori sighed and leaned against an empty chair. "Okay, just so I understand, when Shane gets back with this other man…" she paused, waiting for Hershel to tell her the man of the man that went with Shane.
"Otis." Hershel answered.
"Otis. The idiot who shot my son." She hissed his name.
"Ma'am, it was an accident." Hershel tried to tell her.
"I'll take that under advisement later. For now, he's the idiot who shot our son." She gave Hershel a heated look.
Miri placed her hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Lori, they're doing everything they can to make it right." She told her softly, wanting her to calm down.
Lori took a deep breath and exhaled, then nodded as she patted Miri's hand. "Okay, as soon as they get back you can perform this surgery?"
"I'll certainly do my best." Hershel gave her a nod.
Lori nodded, happy with his answer. "Okay. I mean, you've done this procedure before?"
"Well," he paused. "Yes, in a sense."
"In a sense?" Miri asked, not liking how he paused.
Lori started to freak out, but Rick quickly got up and grabbed her hand. "Honey, we don't have the luxury of shoppin' for a surgeon."
"No, I understand that." She turned to Hershel. "But, I mean, you're a doctor, right?"
Hershel nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Of course." He paused again. "A vet."
"A veteran? A combat medic?" Miri asked.
He sighed. "A veterinarian."
Lori stared at Hershel, her mouth agape. "And you've done this surgery before on what? Cows? Pigs?"
"I have to sit." Rick whispered as he nearly toppled the chair over as he tried to sit down, but Lori and Miri were able to help him sit right.
Lori looked back to Hershel as Miri made sure Rick didn't fall. "Completely in over your head, aren't you?"
"Ma'am, aren't we all?"
Night had come as they stood in Carl's room, the motionless little boy making the room seem wrong in a sense. Hershel was checking his blood pressure when he sighed. "Pressure's droppin' again. We can't wait much longer."
Rick stood out his arm. "Take some more. Whatever he needs. Then I'm gonna go."
"Go? Go where, Rick?" Miri looked at him confused.
"He said five miles." Rick said as he looked at the women. "They should be long back by now. Somethin' has gone wrong."
"Have you lost it?" Miri nearly yelled at him.
Lori stood a step toward him and told him firmly. "You're not goin' after them."
"Rick, listen to your wife and sister." Hershel commented from Carl's bedside.
"If they got into trouble…" Rick started to say but Hershel stopped him.
"You're in no condition to do anythin' about it. You've given too much blood. You're barely on your feet. You wouldn't make it across the yard." He listed off.
Rick shook his head. "If somethin' happened, I have to go."
"No, your place is here." Lori told him firmly again. "If Shane said he'll be back, he'll be back. He's like you that way."
Rick looked defeated. "I can't just sit here."
"That's exactly what you do!" Lori snapped at him, making him step back a bit at the tone of her voice. "If you need to pray or cry or tell God he's cruel, you go right ahead, but you're not leavin', Rick. Carl needs you here. And I can't do this by myself." Her lower lip shook as she tried to hold herself back from crying. "Not this one. I can't. I can't." she shook her head and finally started to cry. Rick moved closer to her and held her tight, showing her he was going to stay.
Miri took Alice out of the room so she could give her a bath and get something to eat. After the shower, Miri give her the scones she had left and walked outside to the porch, sitting on the bench. "Time to sleep, Alice."
Alice groaned cutely. "I don't wanna. I wanna stay up for Carl."
Miri sighed. "How about I sing you to sleep? Hm? I remember a song my mum use to sing to me when I was little." She got Alice ready in her arms so she could rock her and rub her back. "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away! Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day!" Miri felt Alice slowly start to relax in her arms as she sang and rocked her. She smiled softly as she continued to sing, rocking and rubbing Alice's back softly and in rhythm.
Daryl was lying on the RV floor, not able to sleep. And how the hell could he sleep with Carol constantly crying at not being able to find her little girl, which Merle's voice constantly reminded him of, and Andrea messing with his gun clip at the table.
He sighed, needing to get the hell outta there.
He got up, tossed his crossbow across his body and stood in front of Andrea. "I need my clip now." She handed him his clip and he put it into his gun. "I'm gonna walk the road, look for the girl and Aussie." Carol stopped crying as she heard his words. Daryl looked over to her and gave her a nod, promising her that he would look for her daughter as he put the gun into the waist of his dirty jeans.
He grabbed a flashlight before he walked out and started to make his way to the railing when Andrea's voice came from behind him.
"I'm coming too." She closed the door of the RV.
He nodded and looked at Dale, who was taking watch on top of the RV. "I'm goin' for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. If they're out there, give them somethin' to look at."
"You think that's a good idea right now?" Dale questioned.
"Dale." Andrea gave him a look as she followed Daryl.
They searched the dark forest, shining their lights everywhere, hoping to see a trace of them.
"You really think we're gonna find them?" she sounded doubtful.
He shined his light on her and scoffed. "You got that look on your face same as everybody else. What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started lookin'."
"Well, do you?" she asked again.
"It ain't the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia. They could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive. It happens all the time."
"Sophia's twelve and Miri's… I don't know, but she's not able to survive out here." She motioned to the forest around them.
'How old is she?'
'Why?' Merle's voice echoed in his head. 'Thinkin' about hittin' that, baby bro?' He laughed. 'She don't want your small pencil dick.'
He clenched his jaw as he tried to ignore the things Merle spat. "Hell, I was younger than Sophia and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eatin' berries, wipin' my ass with poison oak."
"They found you?" Andrea guessed.
He shook his head. "My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doin' another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched somethin' awful."
That surprised Andrea so much that she had to laugh. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, that is a terrible story."
"Only difference is Sophia and Aussie got people lookin' for them. I call that an advantage."
They kept walking, silence around them expect for the birds around.
A rustling caught his attention, making him aim his crossbow toward the sound. He made his way to the sound, nearly yelling at Andrea to stop stepping on twigs.
They came across a messy looking came site. He looked around for something moving when he spotted the tree branches moving.
He shined a light at the area and saw something odd. "What the hell?"
A walker hung from the branch, trying to reach out to them. His legs were gone, stripped clean to show only bone.
He noticed a piece of paper pinned to the tree and read it. "Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit." He shook his head as he looked up at the walker. "Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big swingin' piece of bait. And a mess." He looked over to Andrea and saw she looked green in his flashlight. "You all right?"
She bent over. "Trying not to puke."
"Go ahead if you gotta."
She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Let's just talk about something else for a minute. How'd you learn to shoot?"
He shrugged as he watched the walker. "Gotta eat. That's one thing these walkers and us have in common. I guess it's the closest he's been to food since he turned. Look at him, hangin' up there like a big piñata." He shined his light on the walker's legs. "The other geeks came and ate all the flesh off his legs."
Andrea couldn't hold it back anymore and threw up. "I thought we were changing the subject." She groaned.
"Call that payback for laughin' about my itchy ass." He smirked.
"There wasn't a lot that came up." She commented.
"Huh. Let's head back." He turned to go but Andrea didn't move, just kept staring at the walker.
"Aren't you gonna..."
"No. He ain't hurtin' nobody. Ain't gonna waste an arrow either. He made his choice. Opted out. Let him hang." He shined his light around the camp, wondering if the guy had some things they could use. He turned around to see Andrea near the walker now. He walked over to her. "You want to live now or not?" she looked at him shocked. "It's just a question."
She didn't answer, just looked back to the walker. "An answer for an arrow. Fair?" He nodded, agreeing to her deal. "I don't know if I want to live or if I have to or if it's just a habit."
"Not much of an answer." He shot an arrow into the walker's head. "Waste of an arrow. Wait here while I search through his tent for supplies." He shined his flashlight around the tent and didn't see anything dangerous. He stepped in and saw there was a back pack. He made his way over to it and opened it. The stuff inside looked useless, except for a magazine inside. He pulled it out and nearly choked on air at the picture on the cover.
It was a picture of Miri, naked in a tropical forest except for body paint that made her match the background.
He quickly read the things that were on the cover.
SoBe's water girl Miranda Grimes single?!
See the story in page 23.
He turned to the page to see a picture of Miri laying on the beach in a nude bikini as the sun set behind her.
On the other page was her with some guy.
He had tan skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. He looked like he was a head taller than Miri.
"Daryl?" Andrea called from outside the tent.
"Yeah, I'm here." He rolled up the magazine and put it in his back pocket, putting his shirt over it so no one saw. He stepped out. "Found nothin', let's go."
The trip to the RV was quicker than before. They saw Carol was on top of the RV and moved to climb down, sounding like she was going to cry again.
Dale stopped Andrea as Daryl went into the RV so he could hide the magazine in his bag.
He don't know why he took it-
'That's a lie.' He could hear the smirk in Merle's voice. 'You likin' what you see, and I don't blame ya. You've seen how she moves on those long legs of hers, leadin' up to that fine ass. Those perky tits in those tanks that you can see down when she bends down. I've know you've looked… but that's all you can do. Look and never touch.'
'Shut the fuck up.'
Miri was rocking a now sleeping Alice back and forth as she watched the stars, thinking about all the times her own mother sang that song whenever she was upset.
"Hey," Maggie called out to her from the door. "Mind if I sit with you? Losin' my mind in there."
"It's your bench." She gave Maggie a smile as she sat down next to her.
A pair of lights started to come toward the house.
"Is that your group?" Maggie asked Miri, ready to go inside and warn everybody if it was danger.
"I think so, but I don't know who is inside." Miri held Alice closer to her chest as two people got out from the car. She quickly spotted a familiar cap wearing male. "Yeah, they're from our group. Glenn and T-Dog."
They stayed quiet, hiding in the dark part of the porch that the bench was in, as the men walked towards the front door. They paused as they looked unsure of what to do.
"So, do we ring the bell?" Glenn asked T-Dog as he turned to look at him. "I mean it looks like people live here."
"We're past this kind of stuff, aren't we? Havin' to be considerate." T-Dog told him as they walked toward the door.
"Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?" Maggie asked as she stood up and walked into the light so they could see her.
"Uh, hi." Glenn looked nervous as he spoke to Maggie. "Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything." He looked like he was blushing as he fumbled with his words. "Hello. Nice to see you again. We met before briefly."
"Look, we came to help." T-Dog swayed a bit. "There anythin' we can do?" the women wondered what was wrong with him when they saw his arm. "It's not a bite. I cut myself pretty bad though." He explained to Maggie.
"We'll have it looked at." Miri said from her spot. She got up and smiled at their wide eyes.
"I'll tell them you're here." Maggie says before she went inside, Glenn following her with his eyes.
"Hey guys." She whispered, not wanting Alice to wake up.
"You're okay?" T-Dog asked as he looked at the house. "Have you been here this whole time?"
"Yeah, one of their guys found me knocked out and took me here for medical help." She looked at T-Dog's arm. "There's some painkillers and antibiotics inside."
"We got some too," Glenn reaches into his pack and pulls out a pill container. "I already gave him some." Maggie came back outside and Glenn gave her the pills. "Here, if Carl needs any."
Maggie took the pills and opened the door for them. "Come on inside. I'll make you somethin' to eat."
"I'm going to check on Carl." Miri told Maggie as she still held onto Alice, since she didn't want to let her go. She hear the others following her but she didn't say anything.
Lori and Rick were sitting in the chairs next to Carl's bed while Patricia was sitting in the corner of the room and Hershel was checking up on Carl.
"Hey." Glenn called out to Rick and Lori softly.
"Hey." Rick nodded to him, voice low.
"Um, we're here, okay?" Glenn told Rick, not knowing what to say at a time like this.
Lori understood what he was trying to say. "Thank you."
"Whatever you need." T-Dog spoke this time.
The guys leave with Maggie but Miri stayed in the room.
Hershel moved the sheet back to show Carl's wound. "They don't get back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make."
"And that is?" Rick's voice was still in a whisper as he stared at the wound.
"Whether to operate on your boy without the respirator." Hershel explained.
Miri stepped forward. "You said that wouldn't work."
He sighed. "I know. It's extremely unlikely. But we can't wait much longer."
"Miri?" Miri turned around and saw Maggie there. "Do you wanna put your little girl down?"
Miri looked down at Alice, she can't sleep in her arms forever and she is getting a bit heavy. "Yeah."
"Come on." Maggie led Miri upstairs to a door. "This is my room, she can sleep there."
"Are you sure? Aren't you tired?"
Maggie shook her head. "Too worried about that little boy to sleep, besides," she opened the door. "You look like you could drop any second."
Miri laughed as she put Alice onto the bed, making sure she was fine before leaving the room. "I can't sleep though, worried too." Maggie nodded and went towards the kitchen as Miri went back to Carl's room. "Hey, why don't you two go outside, get some fresh air?" Miri told Rick and Lori as she helped Rick up from the chair with Lori's help. "I'll stay in here and keep watch, okay?"
Lori looked unsure but nodded. She led Rick away and Miri heard the front screen door open and close.
Miri sat there, just day dreaming when coughing made her and Hershel jump up from their chairs. "Rick! Lori!" She screamed out, panicking as Carl started to cough and open his eyes a bit.
They came in running and went over to the bed next to her.
Carl opened his eyes again as he stopped coughing. "Where are we?" his voice was hoarse and he looked around scared.
"Hey, little man." Miri smiled down at Carl, happy tears blurring her vision a bit.
"That's Hershel." Rick pointed to Hershel. "We're in his house. You had an accident. All right?"
"It hurts, a lot." Carl gasped in pain.
Lori started to tear up. "Oh baby, I know. I know."
"You guys should have seen it." He gave a weak smile as he looked at his mother and aunt.
"Seen what?" His mother asked him.
"The deer. It was so pretty, guys. It was so close. I've never been..." he suddenly stopped breathing, making everyone start to panic.
"Carl?" Rick called out.
"What is happening?" Miri asked as she looked at Hershel.
Carl started to shake and they reached over to try and hold him down but Hershel stopped them before they could cause more damage.
"Don't. It's a seizure. If you hold him down, you could hurt him." He pulled the sheets back so it moved Carl onto his side.
"You can't stop it?" Lori asked heartbroken, she has to watch her baby suffer while she could do nothing.
"He has to just go through it."
They could only watch as Carl thrashed around, their hearts breaking.
Miri felt an arm pull her into a chest and she knew it was Rick. Even when he's weaken, he pulled himself together to be strong for others. Lori was crying into his other shoulder.
As quick as the seizure started, it stopped. Carl went loose like a rag doll and Hershel quickly checked on him. "His brain isn't gettin' enough blood. His pressure is bottoming. He needs another transfusion."
"Okay," Rick nodded. "I'm ready."
Hershel shook his head. "If I take any more out of you, your body could shut down. You could go into a coma. Or cardiac arrest."
"You're wastin' time." Rick held out his arm and gave him a look.
Hershel grabbed the things for the transfusion and started it.
Miri sat on the edge of the bed, not believing everything that just happened. Carl shouldn't be in this situation, no child should… She blocked out all sound and feeling as she thought about everything that happened since the world ended. How people changed to show who they really were once everything hit, how cowardly or brave they were, but most of all… how sick minded.
Her mind almost slipped into a memory when Hershel started to talk. He was checking Carl's heartbeat.
"He's still losin' blood faster than we can replace it. And with the swellin' in his abdomen we can't wait any longer or he's just going to slip away." He turned to Rick and Lori. "Now I need to know right now if you want me to do this, because I think your boy is out of time." They stayed quiet. "You have to make a choice."
"A choice?" Lori peeped out.
Rick turned to Lori. "A choice. You have to tell me what it is. You have to tell me what it is."
Lori gently grabbed his cheek. "We do it."
Hershel nodded as Patricia ran out. "Okay," he moved Miri away from the bed. Patricia came back with a silver tray table on wheels. He started to order everyone around. "Get the corner of that bed. Let's get the sheets down. Get the I.V. bag on the sheet. Okay, on three. One, two, three."
They raised Carl onto the table safely and as carefully as they could. Patricia started to bring in all his medical supplies and a lamp for better lighting.
Hershel paused. "Rick, Lori, Miri," he looked over to them as he stood over Carl's body with a scalpel in his hand. "You may want to step out."
They were ready to do as he said when the sound of a car peeling its way to the house caught everyone's attention.
Rick went over to the window. "Oh God." He gasped, then ran towards the front door with the others at his heels.
Once they made it outside, they saw it was the same truck that Shane and Otis went off in, but Shane was the only one that came out with a lot of packs and limping. "Carl?" he gasped out of breath.
"There's still a chance." Rick answered.
Hershel grabbed the bags but stopped and looked around for the other man. "Otis?"
Shane shook his head. "No."
Hershel gave a shaky sigh. "We say nothin' to Patricia. Not till after. I need her." He ran off with Glenn helping him with the bags.
Rick went over and hugged Shane.
"They kept blockin' us at every turn. We had nothin' left. We were down to ten rounds. Then he said... he said he'd cover me and that I should keep goin'. So that's what I did. I just... I kept goin'. But I... I looked back and he..." Shane shook his head. "I tried."
Miri noticed Maggie was crying quietly with Lori's arm around her.
Rick grabbed Shane by the shoulder. "He wanted to make it right."
Almost everyone waited outside as Hershel was operating on Carl.
They jumped as the front door opened to show Hershel cleaning his hands with a rag. "He seems to have stabilized."
Rick threw himself at Hershel in a hug as Lori and Miri hugged, jumping up and down a bit in happiness.
"I don't have words." Lori told Hershel happily.
"I don't either." Hershel looked down and they remembered that Otis had died. "Wish I did. How do I tell Patricia about Otis?"
Rick turned to the women. "You two go to Carl. I'll go with Hershel."
Rick went with Hershel while Miri told Lori to go ahead, that she'll be right there with her soon.
Miri walked over to Shane. "How's your ankle?"
He looked down at her. "Meh. How's the head?"
She rubbed the small bump at the back of her head. "I actually forgot about that." She gave him a hug. "Glad to see you're okay, Shane."
"Yeah." A dark look passed over his eyes. "We better get inside."
She went to his side to help him hobble into the house when she noticed something with his hair.
Why does he have a bald spot?
He didn't have that when he left...
