I'm invested in this new story idea. Daryl's gonna have a little sister and it's gonna be great. I have ideas. BUT, I would like you guys to help me name her. Any ideas?
Thanks for reading! The reviews coming in have been amazing! Groock15, I just have to say I match that energy from those last few reviews. You, Yuuki707, Angel JJK, and xenocanaan, are my top reviewers and I love you guys! As well as anyone else who has every left a review! Even the silent readers! It's such a joy when I get a new review and you guys never fail to brighten my day and make me so excited to post again!
I'm not great with chapter names either...I have a few good ideas I just never know which chapter to pair them with.
Words: 4,227 ooh, shit goes down in this one
"Here," Setting a plate of food in front of Charlie, Maggie runs her hand over her shoulder and places a kiss to the crown of her head. Despite the situation, she can't help the little uptick of her lips. Only a couple of years ago, Charlie never would have allowed that kind of touch. Never would have welcomed it. "Eat. You need it."
Humming, Charlie lifts a bite of food to her mouth. She feels hungry but she doesn't feel like eating. But Maggie is right, her body needs food to heal. So she'll shovel the tasteless food into her mouth if it means she can get stronger quicker.
After breakfast, and purposely ignoring everyone else in the room, Charlie goes upstairs to better dress for the day. Her jeans are below the stitched and bandaged wound on her side but it still hurts when they brush the tender skin below it. She chooses a dark, loose tank top and a button-up to go over it.
When she moves into the bathroom, she catches sight of her reflection. It's not so different from the night before. She's still deathly pale but the bruise on her forehead is darker. Charlie sighs and stops herself from rolling her eyes before leaving, armed with her gun and knives.
Despite there being no one around, Charlie tries to make it look like her descent down the stairs isn't intentionally slowed.
When she reaches the living room, it's to find she's not as alone as she thought. "Where's your sister?"
"Carol is watching her," Carl stands while answer, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Alright, what's up?"
"What do you mean?"
"Something is clearly bothering you," Charlie shrugs. She almost crosses her arms over her chest but stops herself. Carl shifts on his feet but doesn't answer. It's then that Charlie sees his eyes flicker to the gash and bruise above her eye. "I'm fine, kid." She smiles for him but Carl only purses his lips. "Alright, let's take a walk."
"But you should-"
"Should be getting some vitamin D? Yes, yes I should," Charlie cuts him off and nudges him towards the door. "It's a sunny day out, lets take a walk."
Both teenagers are silent for a while. Their feet move in tandem down the street, their footsteps soft. Then they near the pond, Carl slows to a stop. "Buttons got out...when they came."
"Hmm," Charlie hums, her lips pulled into a tight line. "It's probably for the best."
"Think he'll come back?" Carl asks, his eyes still on the grassy field ahead of them.
"Maybe," Charlie mumbles. "Once they're all gone," She gives a week gesture towards the wall closest to them. "I don't know." She hopes he comes back, she really liked that horse. She should never have let herself get attached but she did and now he's gone. And he'll probably never be back.
Not going to think about that either? Charlie inhales sharply and closes her eyes. It's still the blood loss, she tells herself. Her mind's still...it's why she's still hearing that voice. Whatever makes you feel better, Chuck.
"You okay?" Carl's voice snaps her back to the present. Charlie opens her eyes to see his own filled with worry. "Is it your head? Your side?"
"I'm fine, Carl," Charlie waves his worries away. He must've taken her reaction to hearing Chrissy as one of pain. "Really. Now, come on."
Continuing forward, Carl talks about nothing. Things with no real meaning. Charlie can't help but feel grateful for that. It's a good distraction, helps her mind from wandering away from her.
Charlie's hand shoots out to grab Carl's shoulder, successfully stopping him when she hears it. The loud creaking sound. The boy looks to her before following her gaze towards the tower outside the fence. As if in slow motion, both teenagers watch as it falls, crashing through the walls and bringing them down with it.
"Go!" Charlie pushes Carl ahead of her and thankfully, he listens, breaking out into a run with her right on his heels.
Charlie ignores the pulling in her side. She braces a hand against the bandage as she jumps over the curve with a wince. Michonne, Gabriel, and Ron suddenly appear beside them. They all make their way over the grass and back onto the street where they see Rick and Deanna.
"Good, you're safe, come on," Rick gestures them forward, his arm wrapped around the older woman as he aids her.
Knife in hand, Charlie along with the others take down any walker that gets to close. They're moving too slowly, Charlie thinks. There are too many walkers and they're closing in fast.
Gunshots ring out through the air and a path clears. "Come on, I have Judith!" Without wasting a second, the small group follows Jessie into her house, the door slamming closed behind them.
Rick lifts Deanna into his arms and rushes her up the stairs with Michonne and Jessie right behind him. Charlie lags behind but she follows slowly behind Carl and into the room Judith is in to check on his sister.
"Hey," The boy says softly to the young girl. He picks her up and rocks her while Charlie lets her legs give out and she falls onto the bed. She licks her lips before biting them. She takes slow, measured breathes, trying her best to unclench her jaw. Now, without something else to focus on, she can feel the burning in her side. And she thinks it feels wet too. That's not good, maybe she's imagining that.
In somewhat of a daze, Charlie lifts the edge of her shirt to see the once white bandage turning red. Ah, so she hadn't imagined that.
"Dad," Carl's voice has Charlie blinking her eyes open. She doesn't remember closing them. The girl looks over at the boy to see him standing with his father by his side. When had he gotten into the room? She blinks again and sees that both their attention is on her. Or the growing red stain on her side.
"It's fine," Charlie sighs and drops her shirt.
"Let me see, you probably tore your stitches," Rick ignores her words and crouches at her side but Charlie shakes her head.
"I'm fine, it's not that bad."
"Charlie-" Said teen sees the argument on his face and cuts him off.
"We can't worry about it right now. We have bigger problems if you hadn't noticed."
"And we'll have even more if you bleed out," Rick still argues and reaches out to her but Charlie stands quicker than she thought she'd be able to and moves back, a handheld out in front of her.
"Don't touch me," She regrets the words as soon as they leave her mouth. The anger and fear that leaked into her voice isn't something she's heard in a long time. "Sorry," The whispered word falls past her lips when she registers the look on Rick's face. No one's looked at her like that since... "I-I'm sorry. I-..." Blowing out a breath from her nose, Charlie drops her head and pinches the bridge of her nose. "My heads just spinning a little." She admits and moves to sit back on the bed. For every small step she takes to do so, Rick moves away. It makes Charlie's stomach turn.
"Carl, grab a towel from the bathroom," Rick points towards the door, and Carl nods, leaving without a word. "Sit back." Moving carefully, Charlie lifts her legs onto the bed and leans back against the wall.
"I'm okay, really," She assures him. "Just need a second." Slowly, too slowly for Charlie's liking, Rick moves to sit on the edge of the bed, still facing her. Carl returns and hands the towel to Rick before disappearing back out of the room.
Sighing heavily, Charlie licks her lips again before lifting her shirt again. She groans internally at the sight. She carefully pulls the edge of the bandage away and grimaces. Yup, tore those stitches right out. She'll have to apologize to Denise, she had done a pretty good job. That is if the woman is still alive.
"Hold pressure," Rick tells her, moving the small towel to her side before guiding her hand over it. "I'll be right back." Doing as he said, Charlie watches the man go before turning her attention to Judith. The small girl stands in her play pen, her small hands gripping the sides to hold herself up.
"What are you looking at, monkey?" Charlie asks, her eyes narrowing down at the girl. She's in the middle of receiving a babbled response when motion catches her eye. Only it's not Rick who's back, it's Michonne.
"Let's get you fixed up," The woman smiles for her and gathers the strips of cloth in her hands. She helps Charlie sit up before wrapping the cloth around her stomach and tying it tightly across the wound. "That should hold for now. But you tell me if it doesn't, okay?" Michonne points a stern finger at her and Charlie nods. "Stay with Judith, get some rest, okay?"
"Got nowhere else to be," Charlie grins tightly and sits back against the pillows. "Thanks." She whispers when Michonne is leaving. The woman stops and turns back to her, nodding once before leaving.
There's a commotion downstairs only a few minutes later. Charlie stands to see what's going on but by the time she makes it to the stairs, Michonne is there to assure her it's fine. The walkers broke through the back gate and got into the garage but they blocked the door. She asks Charlie to go back to the room. And though Charlie knows it was more of a demand, she nods and goes anyway.
When Deanna stumbles into the room a little while later, Charlie quickly moves to help the woman. "I just wanted to see her one last time," The woman mumbles weakly and Charlie nods. She helps her onto the bed where she had been before lifting Judith into her arms. She carries the child over to the bed and sits on the edge with her in her lap. "She's beautiful.'
"Yeah," Charlie whispers, turns her neck to look down a the girl. "She has her mother's eyes."
"What was she like?"
Looking down, Charlie bites her lip and takes a moment to remember. She sniffs quietly before answering. "Brave. Strong."
"So are you," Charlie lifts her head at Deanna's words, her head tilting to the side slightly. "I don't know you well but I'd be a fool not to see that. We all have our demons, but we also have a choice. And that's whether or not we let them control us."
Before Charlie can comprehend Deanna's statement, Rick barges into the room, looking frightened. But he freezes when he sees them, his shoulder's deflating. Only then does Charlie see the hatchet in his hand.
"Still me," Deanna says weakly from the bed when she notices the same thing Charlie had.
"I'm going to take her into another room," Charlie stands, Judith still held tightly in her arms. Rick nods once to her as she goes but he stays behind. As soon as she can, Charlie finds a place to sit. Just a few hours earlier she'd thought she was better. But now just carrying Judith is a heavy task.
Rick pops in a few minutes later and leaves when Charlie assures him they're both alright.
When there's yelling downstairs, Charlie carefully sets Judith on top of a blanket on the floor. She rushes to the stairs only to nearly collide with Carl. "They got in," He tells her in a hurry before looking back down. Rick and Michonne stand near the bottom, a couch the only thing between them and the herd of walkers.
"You get this one, I got that one. We're gonna need two," Charlie hears Rick say and the girl sighs. Despite the gravity of the situation, all she can think is that she's too tired for this shit.
Running a shaky hand over her eyes, Charlie turns back to the hallway and opens the small closet door, and pulls out enough bedsheets for everyone. Rick is explaining how the plan will work when Charlie enters the room. She steps between the walker bodies and sits on the bed to cut holes in the sheets.
"Hey," Michonne says quietly while sitting on the bed next to her. "Let me check that."
"It's fine," Charlie mumbles without looking up, ripping a head hole in the last sheet.
"Let me see it anyway, just to be sure. For my own peace of mind," Sighing, Charlie drops the sheet and looks up at Michonne before lifting her shirt over the make-shift bandage. She pinches the bridge of her nose when she sees blood slowly soaking into the fabric.
She doesn't know why it's still bleeding. It's not even that deep, more of a slice than a stab wound. It's like her blood isn't clotting like it should be. It's probably from moving around so much. Yeah, that must be it.
"It's not that bad," She insists in a whisper. "I'm fine."
"Okay," Charlie doesn't let her surprise show at Michonne's word. She just sits back when the woman takes the sheets from the bed and stands. Charlie takes a moment to close her eyes while Michonne hands a sheet to everyone. And if she was paying attention, she would see when the woman approaches Rick.
"We need to get her to the infirmary, she's still losing blood," She tells him in a whisper, and both glance back over at the teenager. Rick sighs and runs a hand down his face. He knows Michonne is right. No matter how much he didn't want it to be so, Charlie is pale, even more so than before. She's sweating and he swears he can see her swaying a little.
"It's on the way to the armory," He says, equally as quiet. But it's not though. Not really. If they take the long way, they'll pass by. But there's no way he's letting anything happen to that girl, so they'll take the long way. "We don't know if Denise is there. Don't know if anyone is. But we'll get her there. She'll be fine. She'll be fine."
"She will be," Michonne nods and squeezes Rick's arm before turning back to Charlie. "Here," Lifting one of the sheets, she places it over Charlie's head. "Come on, I'll help you."
It feels as if Charlie blinks and everyone is standing at the top of the stairs, all covered in walker camouflage. She stands between Carl and Michonne, one of her knives gripped tightly in her hand.
They don't walk through the dead for long before they find a small clearing behind a tree next to the pond. "Alright, new plan. Flares from the few guns aren't enough. Too many walkers to spread out. We're not going to the armory. We need our vehicles back at the quarry. All of us drive, we'll need to round them up. We leave, we come back."
"Okay," Jessie nods. "But...Judith and Charlie to the quarry and back? I-"
"I'm fine," The protest sounds weak to Charlie herself and she shakes her head to herself.
"You're hurt," Rick whispers to her. "Even if you could make it...I need you to protect Judith." Holding back a huff, Charlie squints her eyes at Rick. She knows exactly what he's doing. Knows that he knows she will always watch over the girl no matter what. It's a dirty trick but...she would do the same.
Carl reaches out and squeezes Charlie's hand, drawing the girl's attention to the younger boy. She meets his eyes and sighs quietly to herself. "Fine."
"They shouldn't go alone," Jessie adds. Charlie wants to argue but this isn't just her life on the line here. It's Judith's too. And she's not sure she can carry the girl for very long.
"I'll go with them," Gabriel says suddenly. "I'll carry Judith, get them both to the infirmary until you get back."
"Can you do this?" Michonne turns her head to ask him from her place keeping watch.
"I'm supposed to," Gabriel nods. "I have to. I will."
"Alright," Rick motions for Carl to hand Judith to the man and helps them lift the bloody sheet back over the girl's head. After Jessie and Sam argue for a moment, the mother decides to let him continue with her. Charlie stands heavily next to Gabriel and Carl who she turns to and offers a weak smile.
"See you soon, okay?"
"Yeah," Carl squeezes her hand once more before letting go, watching and she and Gabriel slowly head towards the infirmary.
Reaching the infirmary takes time but they manage without incident. When they reach the door, the porch thankfully empty of walkers, the door opens for them. Aaron, Heath, and Spencer greet them, ushering them in quickly and closing quietly closing the door behind them.
Charlie thinks she hears something say, "Holy shit," But she's only focused on getting the sheet over her head and the pain shooting through her side as she does so.
Denise isn't here, but that's okay, Charlie nods to herself. Yeah, she can patch herself up, she has the knowledge. It's fine.
With a glance to make sure Judith is fine, Charlie moves towards the medicine cabinet to get something to disinfect the wound. After all that, she's not taking any chances. The gauze is next. Charlie concentrates on gathering the things she needs and not the eyes she feels flicker to her.
Leaning against the counter, Charlie takes a deep breath, her back facing the others, and lifts her shirt before unwrapping the cloth. "Shit," She whispers. The stupid thing is still bleeding.
"Need some help?" Charlie flitches at Aaron's voice and looks up at him. She hesitates before nodding.
"I need to stop the bleeding," This situation is less than good but this gives her something to focus on. A task to do. Something to keep her from thinking. "Uh, far left cabinet, there's a box labeled celox. Get it."
"Okay," Aaron nods and quickly moves to do as she'd asked while Charlie herself tries to prepare for what comes next. She pushes off the counter, gauze still in her hands, and moves to the bed.
"Uh, that doesn't look too good,"
"Gee, thanks," The teenager grumbles in response to Heath's words.
"Here," Aaron offers her the box and Charlie grabs one of the packs with her free hand. "What is it?"
"A clotting agent. It'll help stop the bleeding. Burns like a bitch, too," Ripping the packet open with her teeth, Charlie lifts the bloody cloth away from the gash in her side. She clenches her jaw, sure not to bite her tongue. Best just to get it over with.
Without a second thought, Charlie pours the powder onto the wound before reapplying pressure. The effect is immediate and Charlie's breath becomes more stuttered. For a second, she thinks her teeth might break if she clenches them any tighter.
With her eyes squeezed shut, Charlie misses the looks on the other's faces as she continues to put pressure on her own side. She would also wonder why it's such a big deal. She's injured so she's dealing with it. Is there really anything else to it? People aren't usually so eager to cause themselves pain.
Not eager, Charlie spits out inside her head. She doesn't want to feel like this.
"Charlie?"
"I'm good," Opening her eyes, Charlie manages a smooth breath and looks down at her side. At least it worked, she sighs with little relief. After cleaning the wound and the skin around it, Charlie confirms what she had suspected. The edges are too torn up from ripping out her stitches. They can't be redone so easily.
"There are some big steri-strips in there, can you hand them to me?" Charlie asks while pointing across the room. Aaron once again nods and grabs them.
"Do you want me-?"
"I got it," Charlie grabs the box from him with a shaky hand. She drops it into her lap but when she tries to open it, her fingers won't listen to her commands.
"It's okay," Aaron says quietly. "I can do it." Charlie says nothing. Only drops her head back against the pillow and lets her arms go limp at her sides. She's so out of it she barely feels him taping her skin back together. And her foggy mind doesn't register the distant gunshot coming from outside.
But when two more much closer gunshots sound, Charlie sits up quickly just after Aaron has taped a bandage over the wound. Spencer and Heath open the door and a frantic Denise runs inside.
"You okay?
"I'm fine," Denise pants in response to Spencer's question. "How are my patients?"
"They're doing well. We moved them upstairs just in case," Heath answers. "And you got one more." He adds with a nod towards Charlie.
"I'm fine now," Charlie says while Denise moves over to her. The woman stops at her side and picks up the celox packet.
"You used this?"
"It wouldn't stop bleeding," Charlie shrugs. "I needed a quick fix."
"Let me see," All but pushing her back down, Denise carefully lifts the edge of the bandage to inspect the wound. "It looks okay for now, but-"
"Oh, my gosh," Aaron's whisper cuts through whatever Denise was about to say, drawing everyone's attention to the man looking out the window.
Charlie sits up, a question on her tongue when Heath speaks. "It's the kid,"
"What?" She demands while climbing onto unsteady legs.
"Is he bit?" Heath continues, ignoring her question. Charlie moves to look outside and feels her stomach drop when she sees Rick running across the street with a limp Carl in his arms and Michonne leading the way. What happened to Carl? What happened to Jessie and the kids?
"Nope," Denise's word snaps Charlie back to herself. "I need bandages, top shelf next to the sink. Two IVs from the fridge and all the clean towels you can find. Aaron, grab the gurney."
With a deep breath, Charlie grabs the towels and stands back when Denise opens the door. She's never been squeamish, so when she sees Carl's eye and feels sick, she knows that's not the reason for it.
"This is a gunshot?"
"Handgun. Close range," Michonne answers while Rick places Carl onto the gurney. Denise turns on the light despite Spencer's protest and reaches out to grab Charlie's wrist.
"Towel, hold it here," Doing as she's told, Charlie looks down at the boy and wills herself to be strong for him. He needs her to be strong so she will me. "We need to keep pressure, I'll go in and sew up any lacerations."
Denise keeps talking but Charlie zones it all out. She doesn't even notice when Rick leaves or when Michonne follows him. She does as she's told mechanically. She thinks maybe she's in shock. But would she know she was in shock if she was in shock? She's been in shock before but this feels different. her entire body feels heavy and numb but tingly at the same time.
She doesn't see Aaron, Heat, Spencer, or even Gabriel leaving. Judith places safely on a blanket in the corner of the room. She doesn't know anything until Denise is snapping her fingers in front of her face.
"Charlie, Charlie?" Blinking, the teen looks into the woman's eyes and down at Carl. His face is clean, his eye bandaged up. His chest is still rising and falling. "You with me?"
"Yeah," She whispers.
"Good, help me get him into that room," Moving the gurney into the next room, Denise and Charlie move Carl onto the bed and move the covers over him. Denise checks his IV while Charlie watches from the edge of the bed. Her body still feels weird and...black dots dance across her entire vision.
Stumbling back, Charlie hits the wall behind her. She doesn't hear Denise calling her name, only feels herself sliding to the floor until she suddenly feels nothing.
Oof, tough day for these guys...
Lots of notes this chapter
I can't remember if I ever pointed it out. But when Charlie was a baby, she was sick a lot and spent pretty much the first two years of her life in a hospital. That's why she didn't get adopted as a baby. I know I had this in my head from the very beginning of this story, but I honestly can't remember if I put it in the story. I really need to go back and rewrite.
I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm not reading these chapters before I post them so...sorry for any mistakes and the such.
So I'm not doing Negan. Not a big version of him anyway. I just can't and you've all seen that anyway, time for original stuff...Oh, but being creative is hard. Just wanted to let you guys know. But don't worry! It's gonna be great. (I hope) Original and all that. (Do people read all these notes)
I think I'll make an alterative scenes/deleted scenes and stuff like that for this chapter. I have some ideas. I'll let you guys know about it if/when I do it.
I had more to say but I can't remember what it was so maybe I will next chapter.
Until next time, friends!
'-'