Chapter 7-The School
Shane's P.O.V
It was the day after the group arrived at the school. They had set up a small camp in the grass near the fence and got to know the people at the elementary school. Shane was sitting inside the infirmary with their doctor, who was checking his wounds. "Who gave you these?" The doctor named Sam asked.
"It doesn't matter," Shane says. "How are they doing?"
"You'll never be able to see out of that eye again," Sam tells him.
"I figured," Shane tells him.
"But it is healing well. The stab in your side is also healing well as long as you don't push yourself too much. You'll heal," Sam says. Shane nods as he stands up. Sam puts another bandage on his eye. "Is there anybody else in your group you want me to look at?"
"Lori. She's pregnant. Might as well have someone look at her," Shane says.
"Send her in," Sam says. Shane nods as he leaves the room. He walks through the school and out the front door. He walks across the pavement and over to the group. He looks around.
"Where are Daryl, Merle, and Carl?" Shane asks.
"Daryl and Merle took him hunting," Andrea says to Shane, who nods.
"Sam wants to look at you," Shane says to Lori. Lori nods as she stands up and walks towards the school. Shane sits down.
"You aren't going with her?" Glenn asks.
"I've already lost one eye, Glenn. I don't feel like going blind," Shane says to him. "She can barely look at me. She doesn't want me near that baby right now,"
"You can't blame her," T-dog says.
"No, I can't," Shane says.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl, Carl, and Merle walk through the woods. Carl was behind the two men. "Why did we bring the kid?" Merle asks Daryl quietly.
"He wants to learn, and I told him I'd teach him," Daryl says. "More skills you have out here, the better your chances are," Merle nods as he falls back. Carl walks up to Daryl as Merle stays in the back.
"I don't think Merle likes that I'm here," Carl says.
"He'll deal with it," Daryl says to Carl as he sees a rabbit. He motions for Carl and Merle to stop and raises his crossbow. Daryl shoots his crossbow, and the bolt goes through the rabbit killing it.
"At least you haven't lost your touch for hunting," Merle says as he walks past Daryl and to the rabbit. He grabs the rabbit off the ground and pulls the bolt out, and throws it to the ground. Daryl walks up to the bolt and grabs it. He reloads his crossbow as Merle puts the rabbit on a string and puts the string on his back. The three of them continue to walk forwards, with Daryl showing Carl how to tell where animals are and which way they go. Merle walked in front of them, and they stopped when they heard a walker. "You said the kid was out here to learn. Have him kill the walker," Daryl looks at Carl, who nods. Carl pulls his knife out.
"Take the leg out," Daryl tells Carl. "It will make it easier," Carl nods as he goes towards the walker. Carl kicks the walker in the leg, making it fall to the ground before he stabs the walker in the side of the head.
"Not bad, kid. I guess you do have some balls. Are you sure you are officer-friendly's kid?" Merle asks. Daryl punches Merle in the face making his brother take a step back.
"Keep your mouth shut," Daryl says to Merle. Merle wipes the blood off of his lip.
"Got it, baby brother," Merle says. Daryl nods as he walks over to Carl and motions for him to walk forwards. Merle slowly follows him.
T-dog's P.O.V
T-dog was walking the fence around the school. "Are you scared the dead will get in?" A woman by the back of the school asked.
"I've been to two places we thought would be safe, and they weren't, and we lost people," T-dog says. "So yeah, I'm worried,"
"Fair enough," She says. "I'm Lexie,"
"T-dog," T-dog says as he looks at her. "I didn't see you yesterday,"
"I'm new here. I've been here for a week," Lexie says. Lexie had long brown hair. She had a camo shirt on with jeans and combat boots. She had an ice ax on her hip and a Ruger Blackhawk on her other hip. "Are you part of the group that just came in?"
"Yeah," T-dog says.
"You staying?" Lexie asks him.
"We don't know. We'll figure that out tonight," T-dog tells her. "What about you?"
"I don't have a reason to leave," Lexie says. "See you later, T-dog," She says to him before she walks away. T-dog watches her for a moment before he continues to walk the fence.
Lori's P.O.V
Lori sat down as Sam checked on her and the baby. "Everything sounds fine. I don't have power, but I did what I can," Sam says.
"Thanks," Lori says.
"I saw you come in on your friend's bike. It would be safer for you and the baby if you rode in one of the cars," Sam says. Lori nods as she leaves the room. She walks outside and over to Carol, who was shorting through the clothes they had found on the highway.
"How are you doing?" Carol asks Lori.
"He said everything sounds good," Lori says to Carol, who nods. They both look at the gate when they hear a shot. One of the men on watch had shot a walker hitting it in the shoulder. He shoots again, hitting it in the neck. Lexie pushes the man to the side and pulls out the revolver. She shoots the walker through the forehead and walks back to her post.
"Do they have gun training?" Carol asks.
"I don't know. Maybe that was just him," Lori says to Carol, who nods. Lori starts to help Carol.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl, Merle, and Carl walk through the gates. "Go see your Mom. When you're done, we'll gut the animals," Daryl tells Carl, who nods as he walks away. Merle walks away from his brother as he walks over to Shane. Shane looks up at Daryl. "So, are we staying here?" Daryl asks him as he sits down.
"I want to know how the rest of the group feels," Shane says. "We'll talk to them tonight, and if they don't want to stay, we'll leave tomorrow," Daryl nods as he looks at the people on watch.
"Everything okay? We heard gunshots earlier," Daryl says.
"One of them couldn't hit a walker in the head. Everything's fine," Shane says. Daryl nods as he walks away from Shane.
Lori's P.O.V
Lori walks over to Merle, sitting against the school wall. He was gutting one of the squirrels they had killed. He looks up at Lori as she walks over to him. "Nice lip," Lori says to Merle.
"Yeah, my brother has one hell of a punch, doesn't he," Merle says as he goes back to gutting the squirrel.
"Look at me," Lori says. Merle stops what he is doing and looks at her. "You ever make a comment like that again. A punch in the face and one missing hand will be the least of your worries. I have already lost my husband. My son and this baby are all I got besides this group. It's amazing that you are Daryl's brother. You two are nothing alike," Lori walks away from the handless man who goes back to skinning the squirrel. Lori walks over to Daryl and Carl as they gut the rabbits. Carl and Daryl's hands were bloody as Daryl helped the boy gut the animal. "You boys having fun?"
"Yeah," Carl says. "You should help Mom,"
"I'm okay. I'll leave that to you guys," Lori says. Daryl looks at her.
"Everything okay?" Daryl asks her.
"Yeah. When you're done, bring them to Carol and me. We'll use them for dinner," Lori says. Daryl and Carl nod as Lori walks back over to the others.
Night
Merle's P.O.V
Merle sat away from the rest of the group, eating his food. The group was around a small fire that Daryl had helped them set up. Daryl walks over to Merle. "Come on. We are about to talk whether we're staying or not," Daryl says. Merle stands up and walks over to the group. He sits by Daryl.
"These people don't seem the most experienced people in the world. The group we came in with and the girl that killed the walker at the gate are the only ones who have shown they know what they are doing," Glenn says.
"Not everybody has guns either. The kids and older people don't have any," Hershel says.
"The girl that killed the walker. Her name is Lexie. I met her earlier. She said she had only been here a week. She was by herself at the back of the school. Hell, I haven't seen her all night," T-dog says. "I don't know how close she is with these guys,"
"So, are we leaning towards leaving?" Beth asks.
"I think so," Shane says. "This place is safe, sure. These fences will hold against a decent amount of walkers. But a herd-like the one at the farm or one a little bigger than the one that attacked the quarry, hit here and pushed on one part of the fence. They can take it down," Shane says. "Does anybody want to stay?"
"There are other places out there. Places that will be safer or we can make safer," Daryl says.
"We should go," Maggie says.
"Okay," Shane says. "We'll leave tomorrow,"
"I would like to talk to Sam before we leave. We should see if he has some prenatal vitamins. You should take some," Hershel says to Lori, who nods. Shane looks at T-dog.
"I want to ask Lexie to come or see if she wants to," T-dog says. "She doesn't seem very close to these guys, and she knows what she is doing. Having an extra fighter might be good if we run into problems,"
"Your call. You are the only one to talk to her," Shane says. T-dog nods as he stands up and walks away from them.
T-dog's P.O.V
T-dog walked to the school's back and saw Lexie on a sleeping bag with a book in her hands. "You sleep back here too?" T-dog asks.
"Not always," She says. "But yeah," Lexie sets her book down and looks at him. "How can I help you, T-dog?"
"How close are you to these guys?"
"I barely talk with them. I get my food and help when they need me," Lexie says. "But like I said. I have no reason to leave, and this place is safe,"
"We're leaving tomorrow. I was wondering if you wanted to come with us?" T-dog asks.
"Why? You don't know me. I could be a killer acting nice," Lexie says.
"Are you?" T-dog asks.
"No," Lexie says.
"You know what you are doing. These guys don't. You should be with people who can back you up. We've been out there. We've killed walkers. Some of us have killed people. We know how to survive," T-dog says. "So do you,"
"Okay, T-dog. I'll come with you," Lexie says. T-dog nods.
"Come on. You should meet the group," Lexie nods as she stands up. She grabs her sleeping bag and book and follows T-dog to the rest of the group. They get to the group who look at them.
"This is Lexie," T-dog says.
"Hey," She says.
"I'm Carol," Carol says. The group slowly introduces themselves to the woman who sits down beside T-dog.
"Get some sleep. We move tomorrow morning," Shane says. The group nods as they go to their tents. "Lexie, you can sleep in the cab of the truck for the night," Lexie nods as she goes to the truck.
The next day
Shane's P.O.V
The group had finished packing and loading their thinks in the cars when Elijah walked over to them. "It's sad seeing you folks leaving," Elijah says.
"It's time for us to move on," Shane says.
"Well, if you change your mind, you know where we are," Elijah says as he reaches his hand out to Shane. Shane shakes his hands. "Good luck out there, son," Shane nods as Elijah walks away. Hershel comes out of the school with a small bag of medicine.
"This should help Lori," Hershel tells Shane, who nods as he walks past her. Daryl climbs on his bike.
"I'm going to ride in the car," Lori says to Daryl. "It's safer for the baby," Daryl nods.
"Can I ride on the bike?" Carl asks Lori.
"That's up to Daryl," Lori says.
"Sure," Daryl says. Lori helps Carl onto the bike, and Daryl has the boy grab him as Lori gets in the jeep. Daryl starts his bike and drives out of the gate, followed by the rest of the group as they head for Texas once again.
Thanks for reading. The school might come back later. I don't know yet, but Lexie is one of the big reasons I wanted to do it. She is an Oc, and she has a lot more character to her that I'm excited to explore. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.