Charlotte let out a growl of pain, her left left collarbone breaking as the bullet entered her shoulder and embedded itself there.
"Son of a bitch!" She said as with adrenaline surging through her veins, she managed to half help, half drag Aaron behind their car as she shrugged off her rifle and took aim.
"Where ... Where are you, you bastard!" She hissed breathlessly to herself as she scoured the treeline.
There, between two trees, she saw movement. The son of a bitch was wearing a ghillie suit, no wonder they didn't spot him on watch.
She took aim and fired.
"Got ya!" She said triumphantly as she saw whoever it was drop, the bullet from her rifle exploding out the back of his skull. Whenever possible, she always went for a headshot. That way they wouldn't have to worry about them later.
"Come on dude, you gotta help me a little, I can't carry you." Charlotte said as she hauled Aaron to his feet.
"J ... Just leave me! Save yourself!" He ground out against the pain.
"Just fucking help me!" She practically bellowed.
"One foot in front of the other, you got it... there! " She said as as she helped into the passenger seat.
She pulled her scarf off, balled it up and pressed it to his wound.
"Here! Keep the pressure on, I'll get us home as fast we we can!" She said as she shoved the key into the ignition and threw the car into drive.
"Hey! Stay with me! " She said Through gritted teeth, shaking him roughly as she drove.
The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and her shoulder was hurting like hell now.
She could hear the old Buick starting to whine and shake a little.
"Oh come on, you piece of shit! We're almost there!" She said as she put the petal down.
By the grace of ... Whatever higher power there was, IF there was one, they made it home. Charlotte barely gave the gate keepers time to open the gates as she flew through them and straight to Mark's.
He bolted to his feet as she trudged in, covered in blood and cradling her now almost useless left arm against her body.
"I ... I need some help out here!" She said breathlessly.
"Oh dear, let's hurry and get him inside, quick." Mark said as he hauled a semiconscious Aaron out of the car and draped his arm over his shoulder.
Charlotte didn't hesitate, even though she was injured pretty badly herself, she still draped his other arm over her uninjured shoulder and helped Mark get him inside and into one of the beds.
"Well, good thing is that the bullet isn't stuck in there somewhere." Mark said as he looked over the wound.
"Yeah. That's cause it's in me." Charlotte said dryly as she eased down into a sitting position on the bed across from Aaron.
Once Aaron was stabilized, Mark began working on Charlotte's shoulder.
"I'm sorry that I don't have any way to dull the pain." He said apologetically.
She waved him off.
"I've been through labor, this is nothin'." She replied with a grin.
"Ah! There it is! Good news is that it didn't shatter your collarbone completely, but it did fracture it, you'll have to wear a brace for at least six weeks, only take it off to shower, and NO using it!" He said as he eyed her sternly over his glasses.
Charlotte blew out a frustrated breath.
"Just my luck I get fucking shot." She said as she grabbed her walkie.
"Go for Rick."
After a brief pause, her radio crackled.
"Rick here."
"Can you come to Medic Mark's? Aaron and I ... Ran into some shit, you might want to stop off on the way and grab Zach."
"Aaron!" Zach cried tearfully as he rushed to his bedside the moment he and Rick stepped through the door.
"It's okay, I'm gonna be okay. Mark said the bullet missed anything vital." Aaron said as he put his hands over Zach's.
Zach looked to Charlotte with her shoulder bandaged and in a brace.
"And he shot you, too, the bastard! I hope you killed him!" He said bitterly.
"Oh don't worry, I did." She said with a smirk.
"What the hell happened?!" He said as he ran a hand over his face.
Charlotte told him everything that had conspired.
"Shit, Daryl's going to kill me for sending you out without him."
"I hope he's not mad at me, too!" Aaron added.
"Why is everyone so scared of my man!" Charlotte said with a laugh.
"Because! The only one that has any power when it comes to him is you!" Aaron said.
Charlotte's cheeks colored.
"Well ... I don't know about THAT."
"Oh yeah, it's true, when it comes to you, he's like putty ... Just don't tell him I told you that." Rick said, lifting his hat and scratching his head as Charlotte stood.
"Well, if you're done with me, I'd like to pick up my son and go home, take a nice long shower and rest." She said as she walked out.
"What the hell happened to you?!" Maggie said as Charlotte sidled tiredly through the door.
"Long story, but I don't want to get into it now." She said as she walked to the playpen.
"Maaaaa!" Micheal said happily as he reached up towards her, a huge smile on his face.
"Hey there, little dude. Momma missed you, too." She said as she posted him into her hip with her good arm.
"Thanks again for watching him. It's nice to know that if something happened to us, that he'd be in good hands."
"Stop it! Stop talking like that!" Maggie chastised her.
Charlotte shrugged. "Just being realistic."
And with that, she left.
Charlotte winced as she eased out of her shirt and pants as she prepared to take a nice long hot shower, thanking her lucky stars and the universe for giving her a kid that bedded down easy, and slept like a rock. he was his father's son in that aspect for sure.
The front door suddenly swung open with a deafening crash, causing her to jump, she threw a robe over her shoulders and hurried out of the bedroom into the living room to be met by Daryl, his nostrils were flared and he was breathing like an angry bull.
"What the hell, Daryl?! Are you TRYING to wake Micheal up!?" She said as she shoved him into their bedroom and stuck her head out and listened for a moment. When she was satisfied that she didn't hear any sound coming from Michael's room, which was adjacent to theirs, she shut the door.
He didn't reply, he merely strode towards her and yanked down her robe, revealing her injured shoulder.
"I told Rick I don't want ya goin' out NO MORE less I can go with ya." He growled.
She put her good hand on her hip.
"You didn't hit him, did you?"
He didn't answer.
"DID you?" She asked again.
He still didn't answer, but his averted gaze was his tell.
"Oh fuck you DID! Daryl! you asshole!" She said as she shoved him hard backwards.
He charged back into her face, their noses so close that they were almost touching, his breath was blowing out his nostrils in snorts, ruffling her lengthening spiky hair.
"Yeah, I fuckin' decked his ass, cause ... Cause ... I fuckin' TOLD him I didn't want ya goin'out without me and he did it anyway!" He said as he drew back and paced back and forth in front of her, his hands fisting his hair.
"What about you! Every time you go out could be the last time but noooo! That's just fucking fine! Cause why?! Cause you're the MAN and I'm the little woman? Fuck that!" She fired back.
He was in her face again.
"God damn woman! Don't ya get it by now?! It's DIFFERENT for me! Somethin' happens to me and you'd be okay you're strong!"
He paused swallowing hard as emotion overcame him.
"But if ... If somethin' happened to you ... I ... I couldn't go on I just ... I couldn't! I know that's fucked up since we got a kid now and all, but it's the truth." He said, his voice cracking with emotion.
The air between them was charged with energy, then, just like that, the anger between them shifted into something else.
Charlotte's entire body was suddenly burning up with desire, for what seemed like en eternity they stood, just staring into each other's eyes, not uttering a word.
Daryl moved so fast that she didn't have time to react and his mouth crashed into hers, his tongue thrusting into her mouth.
He let out a feral growl, a full blown erection already pushing against his pants.
He was still mad as fuck.
Mad at her for going without him ... and mad at himself for not going with her.
mad at Rick for making her go.
For some reason ... with her, his anger turned to desire and need. Something he'd never experienced with anyone else.
She grinned at him as she caressed his cock through his pants and discovered that it was rock hard.
He let out another feral growl as he slammed the palm of his hand against the wall.
" If I fuck you, and I'm not gonna be gentle bout it." He growled at her.
Her face spread into a coy grin as she unbuckled his belt and yanked his pants down.
She hooked her leg around his waist, he could feel the heat from her core and it drove him crazy, it took everything he had not to just plunge into her, but he couldn't. Not until he knew that she was up for it.
He immediately got his answer.
She tightened her leg around his hips into a vice like grip, pulling him against her and plunging his cock into her.
He growled again, his breath coming out in ragged puffs.
God she felt so good, so hot and wet. They'd been together for years now and it STILL felt like the first time every time he put his dick into her pussy.
He was no virgin. He'd been with his share of women, but NONE of them had gotten under his skin the way Charlotte had. And he still couldn't understand how one little woman could make him so fucking angry, while driving him mad with desire all at the same time.
He was still madder than he'd ever been; at her, and at everyone he deemed responsible for her getting hurt. But his rage did little to quell the intense, primal, and impossible to ignore need to fuck her until they were both completely spent.
" I'm gonna fuck YOU til you're yelling my fucking name." She growled into his ear as this time, she gripped his hip with her good hand and began thrusting against him at a furious pace.
He pushed her against the wall and gripped her hips as he matched her thrust for thrust in a wild, animalistic, and almost desperate rhythm.
Between being parents and their duties in the group, they hadn't hardly had any time together.
"Charlotte ...! CHRIST!" Daryl roared, throwing his head back as he came so hard that he swore he saw stars.
"Oh shit! Oh fuck! Oh god!" Charlotte cried out, her hands fisting his hair, her own orgasm rushing through her with wave after wave of pleasure.
"Shit, woman!" Daryl ground out as he collapsed against her good shoulder.
"I told you I'd make you scream my name." She said into his ear as she gave it a sharp bite.
With a growl, he gripped her behind the head and kissed her passionately.
" Lets shower, I'll help you wash, and maybe we'll have round two." He said.
"Oh ... you bet your ASS we will." She said as, after a final check on Micheal, she pulled him to the bathroom.