"The world's gone to hell, people getting' eaten," T-Dog said, sitting on the road in the shade of the RV, "and Theodore Douglas gets killed by a cut on his arm."
Katie chuckled, quickly silencing herself when he gave her a look. She handed him her water, he accepted it with a nod.
"You really should stay hydrated. Especially since we don't have anything to treat it with."
"You need pills?"
Daryl turned from his bike to face them. She nodded. He dug through the saddlebags, pulling out a ziplock bag of different prescription bottles. Katie marveled at the sight.
"Got somethin' for infection, some kickass painkillers, and a few somethin' else."Daryl said, tossing a couple bottle at them. Katie caught one; the label read "Take as needed by mouth for pain. Merle Dixon". "Merle caught a bad case of the clap one time."
T-Dog sniggered, opening the other bottles.
"Wait, T-Dog!" she said. He paused. "You have to be careful when taking medicine. Read the labels."
"Yes ma'am." he replied, looking surprised. She looked over the bottle carefully, and handed him a couple painkillers and an infection pill. She stopped him from taking them.
"It says you need to have them with a snack. Let me get you some bread or something. And drink your water."
T-Dog looked at Daryl, he shrugged. Katie missed this, she had already begun climbing into the RV. She paused when she got inside, Andrea sat at the little table. She was staring at the pieces of her gun scattered about. Katie walked past her slowly, looking at her feet. She saw a blotch of dark liquid on the carpet, smeared as though someone had attempted to clean it up. She creased her brow, turning her head.
"Are you okay, Andrea?" she asked, leaning against the sink. Andrea drew in a deep breath, like she had been holding it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shook up." she replied, rubbing the back of her neck. She began fiddling with the gun parts. Katie found half a loaf of bread, she took a couple of slices out.
"Don't think about it too much, okay?" Katie said, exiting. "You're alive. That's all that matters."
Outside, Daryl was gone. Katie handed the bread to T-Dog, who immediately took the pills and drank the last of his water bottle. She looked to the woods, hoping to catch a glimpse of blonde hair, or a blue t-shirt. Carol was standing with Lori by the guard rail, watching the trees intently.
"Rick took Daryl to go look for Sophia." T-Dog said. She turned to him."That is what you were wonderin', wasn't it?"
She nodded. Daryl seemed like the hunting type; he could find her if anyone could. He was certainly more capable than she was. She let a long sigh.
"I wish there was something more I could do to help."
"You could help load up this water."
Katie spun to see Shane dropping another container of water beside the RV. He was sweating, she looked at the barrels he'd already gathered and grimaced. I hope I can lift that. she thought, following him back to the truck. The entire side was filled with those enormous jugs of vital liquid. Shane pulled one of them out, grunting as he shifted the weight in his arms. He stomped away back towards the RV, nodding at her once as he went. She looked at the jugs and frowned, contemplating her options. I don't want to be dead weight. Katie chose one nearer to the ground, pulling it with both hands. It was just as heavy as she expected, and she struggled to get a good grip. The barrel was wider than she was, and Katie only got three feet before she dropped it.
Her right foot exploded with pain, and she instantly cried out and dropped to the ground. Katie hurried to take off her boot, pulling her holey sock off to reveal the mess she had just made of her foot. The skin was bright red, already purpling. She let out a shuddering cry as she touched the swelling flesh. She heard hurrying footsteps, and looked up to see Lori, Glenn, and Shane running towards her.
"What happened?" Shane demanded. Katie gawked at him incredulously.
"Did you really think I could freakin' carry these things?" she asked. Lori gave him an angry look. Glenn knelt by her, examining her foot.
"It might be broken." he said, grimacing at Katie. "Nice tattoo though."
She pulled a face. Near her right ankle on the outside was a tattoo of a pair of dog pawprints, on slightly above and to the left of the other. She put a finger to it, and regretted it as pain shot through her.
"I need to ease the swelling. I need ice or something."
"Well we ain't got ice. Gonna have to figure somethin' else out." Shane said, reaching to pick up the water jug. "Either way we need as much of this water as we can carry."
Glenn helped Katie to her feet, Lori grabbing her boot. They hobbled her back to the RV, where T-Dog and Dale both looked at her foot in pity. She bit her lip; her foot throbbed horribly.
"You can lay on the bed in the RV, prop your foot up for a while." Dale said. Katie smiled as best she could through the pain. She hopped up the steps, Andrea was gone, as were the gun parts. She sat on the bed, and Lori took a sleeping bag and placed Katie's foot on it gently.
"I can't believe Shane asked you to carry those things." she said, shaking her head.
"I wanted to be useful." Katie replied. She leaned back, trying to lessen the pain mentally.
"Do you need anything else?" Lori asked.
"Actually, could you get my backpack please? It's in Shane's car."
Lori nodded, leaving her to her thoughts. Katie gazed at her foot; the point of impact was much darker now, and her entire foot was red and swollen. Shit. I think it really may be broken. Katie said to herself. Damnit. This is not a world to have a broken bone in.
Poor, poor Katie.
Katie lurched at the return of the voice. It was a whisper, seeming to come from right beside her.
Don't trust them.
"Who's there?" she demanded, sitting up straight. Lori came up the steps, holding her backpack.
"It's only me, Katie." Lori said, setting the backpack next to the bed. "Are you alright? I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, it's okay. I just..I'm just not used to people yet I guess." Katie said, flushing brightly. Lori sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand to Katie's forehead.
"Well, at least you feel alright. Try to get some rest, okay?"
"Yeah, thanks." Katie replied, lying down. Lori smoothed Katie's hair, giving her a warm smile before she left. Katie put an arm over her face. Way to go. Everyone's going to think you're nuts now. Katie thought. Am I really going crazy? She snuggled down deeper into the bed, trying to put the incident out of her mind as she drifted off into sleep.
