Randall threw himself backwards as the roamer nearly tackled him. His entire leg burned and zinged as he barely flailed them out of the way before the dead guy got to sink its teeth into his ankle.
Haphazardly rolling through the leaves, Randall tried to get away from it but it was determined to go after his leg and followed on the forest floor as he tried to crawl away, snapping and growling loudly as if that would somehow make Randall move slower or even go towards it; the exact opposite of what actually happens.
"Ah!" Randall shouted as it got hold of his leg and kicked his foot blindly trying anything to shake it off.
The knife in his hand was almost completely forgotten until it tinged against a bloody rock as his forearm hit the crunchy leaves for the umteenth time.
Randall's face hit the dirt when his foot was suddenly released and he flipped over, harsh pants coming to a stop when he saw the roamer crawling for her.
"No!" He shot forward, his leg swinging underneath him as he tackled the back of the walker, pushing it's face into the dirt right beside her arm.
He wrestled it's head against the ground before being able to jab the knife into the top of it's skull. It thrashed and a whiny shriek that put horror movies to shame pierced the air, hardly muffled by the dirt as it pushed back, trying to lift its head. He stabbed it again, and again, and again before it finally stopped moving, blood gushing over Randall's hand, the blade, and the woman's leather sleeve, spilling down over her wrist as well.
Randall scrambled off the walker, eyes flying even faster than before. All of a sudden he feels very exposed. His movements jerky while he crawled around the body.
His hands hovered around the woman's bleeding head, not knowing what to do but in movies and stuff they bind it up right? To stop the bleeding, yeah?
He looked around before crawling to the roamer's side. It was difficult to flip the body and get its belt off but he managed even if it hurt his leg a bit and caused some — louder than he'd like — grunts.
Sweat beaded down his temple when he finally got it off and managed to tear some of its shirt before crawling back over to the woman.
"I'm real sorry 'bout this." Randall apologized before lifting her head. He grimaced, trying to be careful. He doesn't know if she can feel it or not — most likely not — but still.
He moved some of the sticky blood-clotted dark strands off her forehead and tried to focus on two different things at once as he wrapped it around her head and kept his eyes on the woods around them.
"Maybe I should go get that ol' man. He patched me up he could—" Randall looked up and a chill ran down his spine.
Wait… which way did they come from?
She came from that way but he walked off in another direction and—and he's sure that dude didn't bring him from the same way.
"Ah no. No, no no." Randall grabbed at his hair, pulling harshly on his scalp as he looked around. "This can't be happening."
"Rick! Rick!" Shane came out of the trees, shouting.
"What happened!?" Lori shouted as everyone swarming the shed turned.
"He's armed! He's got my gun!"
"Are you okay?" Carl shouted in worry, looking at the blood pouring down Shane's face from his nose.
"I'm fine — little bastard just snuck up on me, clocked me in the face." he stalked towards everyone.
"Alright Hershel, T-Dog!" Rick raised his voice, swinging around. "Get everybody back in the house!"
"Glenn, Daryl, come with us." Rick ordered, the two mentioned immediately following.
"T, I'mma need that gun." Shane stalked towards him pointing and the man handed over his piece without fuss.
"Just let him go," Carol started to panic. "That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?"
"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick's aggravated response made the woman back down but he had a point.
"Wait does anybody know where Eve is?" Andrea called at the 4 men who were already tracking towards the woods.
"Oh shit— she's out there checkin' the creek." T-Dog pointed at the woods Shane came from.
"On her own?" Glenn's wide eyes locked with Daryl's.
"Get everybody back in the house! Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick called back, a new surge of urgency running through 3 of the four. Worried about their silent companion having a more lethal encounter with Randall than Shane's.
"Come on, he wasn't anywhere near the creek when I last saw him." Shane ran ahead, leading them into the woods, in the opposite direction he took care of Evelyn; where Randall actually took off.
If he'd had the sense to shoot her instead of just leaving the body, he could've blamed it on the boy but he didn't.
He can't risk them findin' 'er or the kid now.
With any luck that little asshole's long gone, and the walkers and nature will take care of Eve before long. If not, he'll just have to go find 'er when this is over with and take care of the body himself.
They've got no choice. They're stuck here.
He racked his brain tryna figure out what to do but the only thing that came to mind that's even remotely possible is to wait.
He can't drag her, he tried. It hurts his leg too much to even carry himself very far, much less dragging her.
Randall isn't a big guy. He ain't gonna lie about that, least of all to himself. Not when he couldn't drag a woman shorter, and probably lighter than him, more than 30 feet.
He only managed to get her to the bushes, out of sight, in case that guy comes back.
It's getting darker fast though. It can't have been more than a half hour since that guy left and already it's gettin' harder to see out here.
He doesn't know how to start a fire or nothin' but that didn't stop him from tryin'.
He's got a pile a twigs and is tryna copy what he remembers seein' on some tv show awhile ago. Something about twirling the stick really fast so it heats up. But let's face it, he has no idea what he's doing and probably looks like a moron tryna light this sad pile a twigs.
What else can he do though? He can't leave 'er and go get help — he's got no idea which way to even go, and that walker — what if there are more out 'ere and by some miracle he does find his way back and convince her people not to kill him even though he's gonna bring them into the deep dark woods supposedly to find their friend who's unconscious.
He saw how that dude beatin' on him the other day treated her. They were tight. You'd have to be more than blind not to see that. Something tells him there's no way he won't notice his girlfriend goin' missin'.
Randall's bettin' he'll come lookin' for her sooner rather than later.
At least he hopes so. He's puttin' all his — and her — chips on it, cause if not… they're both dead.
He ain't the smartest guy around but he ain't stupid enough to think he could make it out 'ere on his own. Especially not now, with this busted up leg.
Somebody's gotta have noticed she's gone by now — him too most likely; What with the way they were all keepin' tabs on him like an internet browser, even though he was cuffed inside that shed and can't walk faster than a roamer.
The bleedin' finally stopped but she don't look so good. She's gettin' colder and he doesn't know if it's cause of the blood she lost or the temperature dropping.
Randall threw the stick in frustration, watching it ricochet off a tree and spin like a helicopter blade until it hit the ground with a bounce. He's cold too and this isn't working. He sat her up against the tree, trying to fold her hands into her jacket but they wouldn't stay for very long.
Finally he just sat beside her. It feels a little weird sitting this close to a stranger he barely knows but she did save his life and all. And there's all that stuff about body heat and whatever.
If those guys don't get here soon… they're gonna freeze to death.
Unless the dead get them first.
"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out. I'm not sure how long." Shane pointed, trudging with harsh steps through the grey toned woods. The last rays of day being their only light at the moment. And the temperature's already beginning to drop.
"He couldn't have gotten far." Rick moved up next to him, looking around anxiously. "He's hobbled, exhausted."
"And armed." Glenn's eyes scanned the trees hoping to god to catch a glimpse of Eve, he'd even take her scaring them half to death at this point.
"So are we." Rick stopped, Shane following suit, and turned to look at Glenn.
"Eve'll be fine. She can handle 'erself better than anyone." He tried to reassure the youngest of the four. Any other time Glenn would have smiled at the fact it sounded like he called her evil just then, but not now.
"Can you track him?" Rick whipped around to Daryl, whose eyes are glued to the forest floor.
"Nah, I don't see nothin'" Anxious eyes searched for any sign of the slightest tracks. He's not seeing anything. Not so much as a squirrel.
He doesn't know which route Eve took to the creek but it's a fair bet she steered clear of the sinkhole. She ain't stupid. Especially not after all the shit he's been givin' her for it (he will never let her live that down). That doesn't help them much though, not even to ease some of the pressure in his head slowly building every second he doesn't know where she is.
Rick's right that she can handle herself but she has no idea Randall's out here. If that little punk sees her before she sees him…
"Hey look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay? He went that way." Shane stalked around the trees, the forest floor littered with fallen crunching leaves.
A plan began to solidify in Shane's head. "We just need to pair up. Spread out, just chase him down. That's it."
"Kid weighs a buck - 25 soakin' wet." Daryl's suspicious eyes turned over his shoulder at the ex-police officer. A dangerous feeling crawling his spine. The same one he had the last time Eve went missing out 'ere and he found her under layers of mud but this time it's far more chilling. "You tryna tell us he got the jump on you?"
"I'd say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane snapped back.
"Alright, knock it off." Rick scolded. He touched Daryl's shoulder getting the man to look at him and did not miss the almost lethal force behind the blue. "You and Glenn start headin' up the right flank. I have a feeling that's where Eve might'a headed. Me and Shane'll take the left."
"Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other. Eve might already be headed back to the house but if any of us happen across 'er, make sure she knows what's goin' on. We could use the extra hands." Rick knows she can handle herself and finding Randall is the priority but it'd be a lie if he said he wasn't concerned about her too.
The four split off in their own directions in teams of two. All 3 missing the slight panic toiling in Shane's eyes as he glanced at the ground, trying to figure out what to do if they find her.
But the darker the sky became, the deeper he and Rick got into the woods, the farther away from the others they got and the more secluded the place began to feel, the clearer his plan became.
Dark eyes set on Rick's back, letting the deputy lead the way into the deep, sound-dampening trees.