I can't leave you all hanging...
Chapter 14. Reprisal
They walked together to the garage. Hallie started to open the garage door as the first bullet shot past her and landed in the back wall. Daryl yelled "What the FUCK?" as he pushed Hallie down to the floor. As he turned towards the cab to retrieve the crossbow he'd left on the seat, the second bullet hit him in the side, above his hip. He put his hand over the wound and pulled it back, blood was now everywhere on his shirt, his hand, the garage floor.
Hallie sat up and rolled Daryl over on his back. He was bleeding from his abdomen. He looked at her and grimaced. "What the fuck?" he said, his teeth clenched. Hallie pulled the shop rag from his back pocket. She balled it up and put it in his hand, pressing it to the to the wound to try to slow the blood flow.
"Press here. Hard. Don't let up." she said. She turned back towards the shooter. Verna was standing now at the garage door, the rifle pointed right at Hallie's head.
"Get away from him!" Verna screamed. "Get the fuck away from him!"
"No fucking way, you psycho bitch!" Hallie stood up. "He's not dying because of you."
"That's exactly what's going to happen. I'm gonna make sure he dies. You're not going to win. He should have been mine. He was gonna' be, but you got in the way, you fucking little whore. Now I'm gonna' make sure you don't get him neither." Verna was screaming still, her face red, her eyes were black with rage. She kept motioning towards Daryl with the rifle. her finger still on the trigger.
Hallie stiffened. "Oh, what, if you can't have him nobody can? You're insane. That's fucking insane, Verna. You wanted him so bad. You didn't get him and now you want him dead? You crazy bitch!" Hallie clenched her fists at her sides.
"He made his choice and now he's gonna' to pay for it. You're gonna' pay too, trust me. Him dying is the last thing you're gonna see, you little slut." Verna took a step closer to Hallie.
"Verna." Daryl coughed. "Why? Why did you do this to me? I tried to find you but you left. Why did you leave me? " His eyes were closed and his face was contorted in pain as he croaked out his words. He raised his hand to her. "Please. Verna. I didn't want it to be this way. I..." he gulped a breath, "...I wanted you."
Verna rushed past Hallie, half knocking her over, and knelt down next to Daryl. She laid the rifle next to her and bent over him, grabbing his hand and kissing his knuckles. "Daryl, Honey, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't know. You didn't tell me. I thought you hated me."
"I couldn't tell them." he whispered. "I had to make them think that. I...had to hide it until we...we could plan together..."
Hallie was dumbstruck as she watched Verna smother Daryl' face with kisses and smooth his hair. Daryl looked at Hallie as Verna bent over his chest, looking at his wound, moaning "What have I done?" over and over. Daryl opened his eyes and looked at Hallie. His eyes were glassy now. With his free hand, he pointed a finger towards the rifle that Verna had laid down.
Hallie suddenly realized what he was doing and pounced. She lurched downwards and grabbed the rifle by the butt, pulling it to her. She jumped up, a bit wobbly, and pointed the gun at Verna's head.
"Get away. Get off of him." she commanded. "Stand up."
Verna looked up through weepy eyes, not moving. "I can't." she sniffed and turned her back to Hallie. "He needs me. He wants me here." She bent over Daryl's face. "Tell her Daryl. Tell her you love me."
Hallie poked Verna hard in the back with the tip of the barrel. "I said get the fuck off of him, Bitch. Stand up and step away from him or I'm gonna drop you right here."
Verna stood up slowly and turned towards Hallie, her face twisted and hard. It was like somebody had flipped a switch. "You ain't gonna do nothing. You're too weak. You're" she hissed. "You're scared of everyone and everything. You can't even defend yourself. " She took a step and looked at the gun. "You won't shoot me. You're too scared. You're a victim. Always have been. Always will be. You're damaged goods. Daryl doesn't want someone like you."
Hallie put the rifle to her cheek. "You know, Verna, I've had all I'm gonna take from you." She took a step backwards, mostly to give herself some room. Verna was so close now. "You're right. I was a victim. Lloyd and Emerick made me one and I had no choice. But that's over. They're dead. You tried to take advantage of that, but you screwed up. I'm done. I'm never going to be the victim again. " Hallie aimed the gun at the center of Verna's chest. "Starting right now. This is the only way this can end. You're crazy and if I let you go you're just going to come back over and over until one of us is dead."
"Not if I kill you first." Verna lunged forwards and clawed for the gun as Hallie pulled the trigger. She stopped, motionless for a split second, opened her mouth to say something, her eyes wide, and then dropped to the floor, the blood pooling around her in an ever-widening circle.
Hallie blinked and took another step backwards. She threw the rifle away and jumped over Verna to Daryl. He was still holding his side. His face was sweaty and pale now and his breathing was more shallow. "Daryl. Baby. We gotta get you into the truck. We gotta get you out back to camp."
He closed his eyes and nodded a little. "Yeah." he said. "Ok. Get me up."
Hallie pulled on his arm and shoulder and tried to sit him up. He was still bleeding. She helped him to a standing position, leaning on her small frame. She walked him over to the truck and pushed him into the open door of the driver's side.
"Oh, fuck me." he said, falling forward, moaning as she pushed his feet and legs into the truck. She pushed against his butt, trying to make room for her to slide in beside him and drive. "Fuck, I'm still bleedin'." she heard him mutter.
"Daryl, you gotta scoot over. Baby, help me here." she said, continuing to push. "MOVE OVER!" she yelled. She managed to move him halfway and give herself enough room to steer. She fished his keys from his pants pocket and started up the truck. Throwing it in reverse, the truck lurched backwards, narrowly missing Verna's lifeless body. Hallie hit the street and drove for the camp like a madwoman. She looked at the rear view mirror and saw walkers heading for the driveway she'd just come from. They could smell all the fresh blood but would no doubt be disappointed that the only thing they'd find was Verna's already dead self. She chided herself for being a bit disappointed that she wouldn't get to see them tear the bitch apart.
Hallie looked at Daryl sprawled on the seat next to her. She put her hand on his leg and shook him. "Baby. Stay with me. You stay with me." she pleaded. Daryl moaned and moved his free hand to try to find hers. "Keep your hand pressed down hard." she reminded him. "We'll be there soon. We'll get you fixed up. I promise. "
Hallie drove as hard as she could, but it was difficult weaving through abandoned vehicles. She hit more than one walker in the roadway as she sped towards camp, not even looking backwards to see where they landed. Finally she arrived at the gate, blowing her horn as she turned off the ignition and fumbled for the padlock keys on Daryl's key ring. It could have brought walkers, but she was going to have to chance it.
Daryl was almost unconscious now. T-Dog and Rick heard the horn and ran for the gate as Hallie was able to climb out and try to undo the lock. She worked the lock and chains as fast as she could and then pushed open the two wooden doors with all her strength. She climbed in the truck and started it up. Fuck, she thought, more time she was going to have to waste closing the gate, but she couldn't leave it open for any walker to just wander through.
Rick was first to arrive, running hard in the dim afternoon light.
"Daryl's been shot. Rick help me. He's shot." Hallie screamed, tossing the padlock at him.
Rick yelled for her to go on, he would lock up. T-Dog ran up and jumped in the back, holding on to the tailgate, sitting on top of boxes and bundles. Rick motioned for them to go. Hallie sped up the drive and pulled right up to the porch of the admin building, not even bothering to shut off the engine before she and T jumped out and ran around to pull Daryl out.
Glenn and Dale ran outside to help and between the four of them, they were able to lift Daryl out and carry him inside to the couch. Daryl woke up briefly and muttered "Fuckin', watch it. The bitch fucking shot me." and then passed out again.
Dale and Andrea ran to gather the first aid supplies. Alcohol, clean towels, bandages, anything they could find.
Hallie gingerly pulled the blood-soaked shop towel away from the wound. She rolled him to one side, bringing protests and expletives from Daryl, and looked for the exit wound. There was none. The bullet was still inside.
"Fuck" she whispered. She looked at Dale. "It's still in there. It's gotta come out now."
"Hallie, none of us have any medical training. We don't know the first thing..."
"Doesn't matter Dale, it's gotta come out. However we can. It's gotta come out." she growled. She bent over Daryl and kissed him on the cheek. "Baby?" she said softly.
"Mmmmm." Daryl said through closed eyes. "I heard ya'."
"This is gonna hurt like all get-out. I can't help that. I gotta clean it out and fish out that bullet and then sew you up. It has to be done and I'm flying blind here. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Jes' do it." he said, keeping his eyes closed.
"Ok. Ok, Baby." she whispered in his ear. "I love you."
Hallie stood up and Rick pulled her away from the couch by her arm.
"What did he mean 'she shot me'?" he demanded.
"Fucking Verna, Rick." Hallie snarled. "We ain't got time for this now."
Hallie pulled Daryl's shirt up and over his head and took the bottle of rubbing alcohol that Andrea had sat on the table. She took a clean washcloth from the table and began to clean the wound, wiping blood from it, the pouring alcohol onto the flesh. Daryl tried to roll away from her as he yelled out in pain. T-Dog and Rick held his shoulders and legs. Hallie splashed alcohol on her finger and looked at Daryl.
"Baby. I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." she said calmly. Hallie took her index finger and stuck it in the bullet hole, probing. Daryl roared. About two and a half inches in, the tip of her finger hit something hard. "Ok, I found it." she said, pulling her finger out. "I need something to get a hold on it and pull it out. Something skinny that won't tear the wound open any further, but strong enough to get a grip on the bullet and pull it out."
Ted looked at her. "I have some needle-nosed pliers." he said, turning and running to the mens' bedroom. He came back a minute later. "Here. See if these will work." he said, thrusting them in Hallie's hand.
"We'll try. If they don't work, Andrea can you get me a pair of tweezers?" Hallie asked. "Carol, can you please boil them both? We need to sterilize this stuff."
While they waited for Carol to return with the boiling instruments, Hallie recounted what had happened. Everyone stood around speechless. Hallie knelt next to Daryl, her hand on his.
Daryl opened his eyes again and looked at Hallie. She took his hand and brought it to her cheek. "Daryl. You're going to be ok. It's not near as bad as it could be. I can do this. I know I can do this. You're going to be ok, I promise." she said, kissing his fingers.
"I know. You ain't gettin' rid a' me that easy." he said, squeezing her hand and closing his eyes again.
"I wouldn't ever want to." she said, a tear falling on his hand.
Carol returned with the boiled pliers and tweezers still in the pan of water. Hallie dumped out the water into a towel and covered them in more alcohol.
"Shouldn't we give him some whiskey or something, you know, to deaden the pain?" Ted offered.
"No, alcohol will make him bleed more. It's not a good idea." Hallie shook her head.
"Really could use some whiskey 'bout now." Daryl murmured, keeping his eyes closed.
"No. When you're better you can have all you want. Right now, open your mouth and bite down on this." Hallie stuck a rolled-up washrag in Daryl's mouth.
She took the tweezers and bent over his wound. "Hold him down, everybody. He can't be moving around while I try to do this." Andrea, Carol, Lori and Glenn, Rick, T-Dog and Ted all took legs, thighs, arms, or a shoulder and pressed Daryl into the couch. Hallie slowly slipped the tweezers into the hole and probed again, hitting metal again. The tweezers were barely long enough. She pulled them out and picked up the pliers, their long, skinny points shining, wet with alcohol. "Ok. Here goes."
Daryl bucked and yelled through the washrag as the pliers entered his wound, the alcohol that rolled off dripping searing pain deep inside. She found the bullet and allowed them to open slowly, gingerly, pressing down, opening a little further and then trying to pinch them together, pressing, opening, pinching, trying to get a purchase on any part of the projectile. Finally, she felt them grip something solid and she began to pull upwards. The bullet moved slightly towards her, towards the open wound. She pulled slowly as Daryl moved uncontrollably, holding his breath, his eyes clamped shut. She couldn't make out what he was saying with the washrag between his teeth, but she was sure it was not fit for children or most adults. She smiled a little, happy that he was still fighting and cussing. In Hallie's mind, that was a good sign.
The bullet made a soft squishing sound as she brought it up and out of the wound. It was bleeding again, so she filled the wound with alcohol once more to clean it out and clamped down hard with another clean wash cloth to slow the bleeding. When the alcohol hit the bottom of the wound, Daryl stopped moving. He was covered with sweat and clammy. Hallie was sure he'd lost a lot of blood. She was also relieved that he was no longer conscious so that she could start sewing up the wound once the bleeding had stopped.
She took a pack of presterilized sutures from the first aid kit and began sewing up the sides of the wound, making small stitches on the outside and pulling the sides flush, leaving the stitches towards the inside. She held the wound together further with butterfly bandages and topped it off with sterile gauze, taped down.
Andrea took the pan and bloody wash cloths and towels away and came back with a mug in her hand.
"Here." She handed the mug to Hallie. She held it in her hands, which were now shaking. It was half-full of scotch. "You need this now. Way more than he does. Hell, I think we all could use some."
"Thanks." she said quietly. Dale scooted a chair over and patted the seat, motioning for Hallie to sit down.
Nobody said anything for several minutes. Hallie leaned her head down and rested her forehead on Daryl's thigh, her head turned towards him. She closed her eyes briefly and made the mistake of exhaling. With the breath that she'd been holding for what seemed like hours, came the tears. Andrea rubbed her back and put her arm around Hallie's shoulder.
"He'll be fine. He's one tough bastard. You know that. It's ok. He's going to be just fine." she tried to assure her friend. Hallie nodded slowly.
Rick leaned over and put his hand on Hallie's back. "Hallie." he said softly. "Daryl will be alright." he said, patting her gently. "You did an amazing job."
Hallie shut her eyes tighter and let the tears roll, making a wet spot on Daryl's pants leg. It was the first time she'd been able to stop and catch her breath since they were in the garage. So much to think about. She'd killed another person. A living, breathing person. She might lose Daryl. She had her fingers inside him and she'd sewn him up like some sort of a stuffed animal. Her mind raced over everything. Too much to try to sort out. After a few minutes, hand ran through her hair.
"Hal." Daryl whispered, opening his eyes.
Everyone surrounding the couch let loose with a greeting or a cheer of relief.
"Let's go get some dinner. Everybody out." Lori said quietly, pulling Rick and Glenn towards the back door of the administration building and looking around at the others.
"Hey." Hallie said, sitting up, scooting her chair up closer to his head.
"Ya' got tha' bullet out?" he asked.
"Yup. Sure did. Sewed ya' up and all." she said, wiping tears away and trying to smile. "You'll be right as rain in no time."
"Cool." he said. Daryl tried to sit up and grimaced. Hallie pushed him gently back down on the couch. "It hurts like a motherfucker." he whispered.
"No shit, Sherlock." she laughed, hiccupping. "It's gonna for a while. You got a big ol' hole in you. You're gonna have to take a lot of antibiotics to keep away infection. Would you like me to find you something for the pain? I think we probably could round up some vicodin."
"Nah. Right now, I jes' want you." he said, his hand reaching out for her.