The high school
The truck pulled up to the brick building while Rick and Otis got out of the truck and Shane hopped off the back of the truck. They walked toward the pharmacy when Rick heard a low gurgling sound and several Walkers moved toward them.
"Shit," Rick whispered. He removed the Colt Python out of the holster as he took aim and Otis removed the rifle from the back of the truck. Shane armed himself with his gun while the Walkers moved closer and Rick, Otis and Shane opened fire. The Walkers fell to the ground while Rick, Otis and Shane headed for the door to the pharmacy and Rick tried to open the door. The door was locked and Rick growled. "Move!"
They ran while the Walkers followed them and Rick tried another door. Finally, he found an unlocked door as they went inside and Rick barricaded the door. Otis had brought a flashlight as he pushed the button and the dim light filled the hallway. They walked down the hallway when two Walkers stumbled out of the room to the left and Rick and Shane fired their guns.
Otis checked the other rooms when they arrived at the medical supply room and Rick kicked the door open. Shane checked the hallway while Otis and Rick entered the room and Rick searched the shelves and the cabinets.
"Found them," Otis said as he removed the tote bag he had strapped over his right shoulder and he started loaded the bottles of pain killers and antibiotics into the tote bags.
Rick recognized the sealed packets with full intravenous bags inside as he handed them to Otis and Otis put the intravenous bags into the tote bag. Rick included some bandages, medical tape, a stethoscope in its packaging, a box with a blood pressure monitor, a box with an ear thermometer and batteries inside and syringes still in their packaging when Shane looked in the room and Shane made a soft whistle.
They headed out of the room while Walkers headed down the hallway and Shane and Rick fired their guns. They headed for the exit as Otis tried to get the door open then the door slowly opened. They ran outside then headed for the truck when a large group of Walkers appeared and Rick sighed.
"You have got to be kidding me," he whispered. Otis placed the tote bag down as he took hold of the rifle and they fired their weapons at the Walkers. Shane looked at the tote bag when Shane picked up the tote bag then he ran off.
"Where is Shane going?!" Otis asked, firing the rifle.
"Shane!" Rick called out as he growled then he ran after Shane. Otis followed Rick as they ran then went around a corner. Rick stopped when he saw Shane standing near dumpster and Shane had placed the bottles of antibiotics and pain killers on the ground. Rick saw some of the bottles were broken as he looked at Shane then he pointed the Python Colt at Shane. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"What does it look like I'm doing?!" Shane asked, placing his right foot on one of the bottles.
"Don't move, Asshole," Otis said, pointing the rifle at Shane.
"We don't have time for this," Rick said, turning his head and he saw some Walkers heading for them. "Put those bottles in the bag and let's get the hell out of here."
"No," Shane said, putting a little pressure on the bottle.
"Shane! Please! Daryl needs that medicine!"
"Who cares!"
"I care! Think! What if we needed that medicine for someone else? Me. Lori. Carl."
Shane's eyes widened as Rick moved closer and Rick slowly reached for the bottles. Rick placed the bottles in the tote bag as Shane lifted his foot then Rick placed the bottle in the tote bag then.
"Move!" Rick said, standing up. The Walkers headed for them as Rick, Shane and Otis got into the truck and Rick started the engine. He put the truck in gear as the truck headed for the exit and Shane sank down into the seat.
The Green Farm
Dale left the RV when he saw Andrea sitting on the lawn chair on the roof of the RV and he climbed up the ladder.
"Thought you didn't want to do guard duty anymore," Dale said and she looked at him.
"I wasn't going to, but T-Dog had to go help Glenn with something," Andrea said.
"Look. I know you're upset…"
"Upset!? I shot Daryl!"
"We've all wanted to shoot Daryl at some point."
"That's not funny."
"I wasn't trying to be funny. What you need to remember is you were protecting the group,"
"That doesn't make me feel any better. What if I had shot Glenn, T-Dog, Shane or Rick?"
"I don't have an answer for that. Maybe you should go see Daryl. Tell him what happened."
"No. I can't. I'm…. I'm afraid to talk to him. Imagine what would have happened if I had shot Merle. Daryl…"
"I think Rick could've handle Daryl."
"I'll think about it."
Dale nodded when he climbed back down the ladder and Andrea looked at the farmhouse.
In the farmhouse, Patricia walked down the hallway as she opened the door, walked in the room and she saw Carol sitting next to Daryl. Carol was barely carding Daryl's hair as she watched Daryl sleep and Patricia saw the worry on her face.
"Hello," Patricia said and Carol looked at her.
"Hello," Carol said.
"Sorry, but I need to check him."
Nodding, Carol started to move when Daryl moaned and his left hand reached for her. She made soft hushing sounds while she took hold of his left hand and he wrapped his fingers around hers.
"It's ok. I just need to move so Patricia can examine you," Carol explained, lightly squeezing his fingers. He made a content sigh and a tiny nod as she let go of his hand, got off the bed and she helped Patricia move Daryl onto his back.
She watched Patricia examine Daryl when Patricia looked at Carol and Patricia smiled.
"You really care about him, don't you?" Patricia asked.
"Yes, I do," Carol said, helping her move Daryl back onto his right side.
"Rick told me you were married once."
"I was. His name was Ed. I met him when some friends took me to a bar,' Carol said and Patricia saw she wasn't really comfortable talking about Ed. "At first, Ed was a charmer. He said the right things. He did the right things. And I fell for it. It wasn't until we got married that I learned the truth. He was a controlling, abusive, deprived monster."
Patricia heard the growling coming from Carol's voice as she nodded and Carol looked down at Daryl.
"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"Honey, if he was that bad, you have nothing to be sorry for. I had a friend whose husband used to beat her and their kids nearly every day. I told her time and again to leave him, but she kept saying it was her fault. That she deserved it. That he could change."
"What happened to her?"
"One night, he went into such a rage that he killed her and the kids. The police had to kill him after he fired a gun at them."
Carol nodded while Daryl moaned and she carefully got onto the bed. She sat next to him as he reached for her and she took hold of his left hand.
"Daryl's always been looking after me and my daughter since he arrived at our camp. He would make sure we had food, water or firewood. Used to drive Ed nuts," Carol said.
"Did Ed ever confront him?"
"No, Ed was scared of him. And his brother."
"Daryl has a brother?"
"Merle," Daryl grumbled as he made a small sniff and Carol looked at him.
"Is Merle his brother?"
"Yes," Carol asked, carding Daryl's hair.
"Maybe he's dreaming about his brother," Pamela said while Beth appeared in the doorway and Patricia looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"They're back," Beth said, looking out at the hallway.
"Go on," Carol said.
Patricia and Beth headed down the hallway while Hershel stood near the screen door and he was watching the truck stopping near the stairs. Rick, Shane and Otis got out of the truck as Rick took the tote bag from Otis and Rick headed for the stairs. Otis and Shane watched him go in the farmhouse when Otis turned to face Shane and Shange frowned.
"I have known a lot of assholes in my life, but you put them all to shame. Hope you can live with yourself if Daryl dies," Otis said as he headed for the farmhouse and Shane flexed his fingers in and out.
In the farmhouse, Rick followed Hershel down the hallway as his mind replayed what happened at the high school and Rock shook his head. Hershel opened the door when Carol looked at them and Hershel headed for the bed.
"Please move," Hershel said.
Carol let go of Daryl's left hand as Daryl flexed his fingers and his eyes fluttered open. He blinked his eyes a few times when he saw Carol looking at him and he parted his lips.
"Carol?" Daryl whispered.
"Hey," Carol said in a soft voice.
"Still alive?"
"Yes, you're still alive."
"My head hurts."
"I bet," she said, lightly touching his hair. "Will you let Hershel find out what's wrong?"
"Yeah."
Hershel saw the tender look on Patricia's face as Carol got off the bed and she helped him turn Daryl onto his back. Daryl watched Hershel examine him as Hershel nodded and Patricia handed him the intravenous bag.
"No," Daryl grumbled and Carol noticed he wanted to turn onto his right side and curl himself up into a ball.
"Daryl, please. Let him do it," Carol said. Daryl looked at her when he sighed and he barely nodded his head. He closed his eyes while Hershel placed the needle in the vein in Daryl's right forearm and Patricia handed Hershel a piece of medical tape to secure the needle. Hershel hooked the top of the intravenous bag on the nail in the wall and Daryl slowly opened his eyes. He glanced up at the intravenous bag as he sighed and Carol watched Hershel load the antibiotics and pain killers in the syringes. After Hershel added the antibiotics and the pain killers to the intravenous drip, Hershel handed the syringes to Patricia and Daryl looked at him.
"How's he doing?" Rick asked while standing in the doorway.
"He's awake," Hershel said.
Rick walked in the room as he looked at Daryl and the intravenous drip. Rick walked to the other side of the bed while he looked the intravenous drip and his mind replayed what Shane almost did.
"Hey," Daryl grumbled.
"Hey," Rick said with a small nod.
"Sorry I didn't listen to you."
"If you had stayed put, I might not have known you had passed out until it was too late."
"Still sorry."
Rick saw the hurt look on Daryl's face and Rick went to sit next to Daryl.
"Daryl," Hershel said and Daryl slowly turned to look at him. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Uh…," Daryl said. His mind felt fuzzy, but memories of what happened appeared and he looked at Rick. "I wanted to go huntin'. So, I asked you if I could borrow a horse. You said I could an' I was goin' to the stable when Rick showed up. He asked me what I was doin' an' I told him. We went to the stable an' Jimmy gave us some horses."
"What happened to the horses?" Rick asked, looking at Hershel.
"They came back. Though I'm not sure Jimmy should have given Nellie to Daryl. She… She has a nervous disposition," Hershel said and Daryl frowned.
"Now you tell me," Daryl grumbled.
"What else do you remember?" he asked as he looked at Daryl.
"Rick an' I talked. He said he wanted to go with me."
"Why did you want to go with him?" Carol asked, looking at Rick.
"Thought I wasn't goin' to come back. I was."
"What happened next?" Hershel asked.
"We went huntin'. Caught a few rabbits. We were headin' back here when a snake shot out in front of the horses. Spooked 'em. Nellie bucked me off an' I went down the cliff."
"Is that how you cut your chest?"
Daryl slowly reached up to touch his chest when he winced then he nodded his head.
"Hit my head and my nose on something, too. Ended up in the stream. When I broke the surface, I saw I got stabbed with one of my bolts," Daryl said.
"Where was Rick?"
"He was still up on the cliff. He made it down an' we had to find a way back up."
"What did you do?"
"We climbed up. Must have gotten dizzy an' black out fer a few minutes. Woke up an' this Walker was tryin' to eat my boot. Rick was fightin' a Walker. Had to do somethin'."
"What did you do?"
"Broke the bolt then I pulled it out. Killed a Walker."
"Then what?"
"Loaded my crossbow an' killed the last Walker. Then Rick an' I climbed back up the cliff. Got to the top an' we headed back here."
Rick saw that Daryl didn't want to tell them what he asked Rick to do if he didn't make it and Daryl sighed. Daryl felt tired as he started closing his eyes and Hershel examined him.
"I think I've heard enough. Now, I want someone to stay with him," Hershel said and Daryl frowned.
"Why?" Daryl grumbled.
"To make sure you're alright," Carol explained and he opened one eye to look at her.
"Don't need no damn babysitter."
"Then stop acting like a baby."
Daryl knew she was teasing him, but he was too tired to smile. He lightly nodded his head as he closed his eyes and Rick looked at Hershel.
"I'll stay with him," Rick said.
Nodding, Hershel led Patricia and Carol out of the room while Rick leaned back against the headboard and he crossed one ankle over the other.
The camp
Carol headed for the camp when she looked up and saw Shane was sitting on the chair on the roof of the RV. She noticed the anger on his face as she walked to her tent while Lori walked to her and Carol stopped.
"How's Daryl doing?" Lori asked.
"He woke up," Carol said.
"Does that mean he's going to be ok?"
"Not sure."
"You may not believe me, but I am glad that he's still alive."
"Then would you do me a favor and go sit with him?"
"Who's sitting with him now?"
"Rick."
"Sure," Lori said as she headed for the farmhouse and she went up the stairs. She opened the screen door as she saw Hershel and she closed the screen door. "Where's Rick?"
"He's down the hall. First room on the left," Hershel said.
Lori headed for the hallway when she walked to the doorway and she looked at Daryl and Rick. Both of them had their eyes closed and Rick was holding onto Daryl's right hand. She headed for the bed when she stopped after seeing the scars on Daryl's back and her eyes widened.
"Damn," she thought. She walked around to the other side of the bed when she lightly shook Rick's right shoulder and Rick opened his eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked then he checked to see if Daryl was breathing.
"Nothing. Carol told me Daryl was awake and I wanted to see him," Lori said.
Rick saw the concerned look on her face as she knelt down next to the bed and she sighed.
"Did you see his back?" Lori asked.
"Yeah, I did," Rick said with a nod.
"How do you think that happened?"
"I have no idea."
They became silent when Lori noticed the anger in Rick's eyes and she reached over to touch his leg.
"Talk to me," Lori asked. Rick just looked at Daryl while memories of what happened at the high school filled his mind and the anger burning in his chest grew hotter. Sighing, Rick told her what Shane did and fury filled her eyes. Shaking her head, she carefully stood up while Rick watched her storm out of the room and he frowned.
"Go after her," Daryl grumbled. Rick wasn't sure if Daryl was awake or talking in his sleep until Daryl's eyes barely opened and he moved his head to look at him.
"I thought you were asleep," Rick said.
"Was."
"Did you hear what we were talking about?"
"Yeah."
"Shane…"
"I get it. What are you gonna do about him?"
"Not sure yet."
"He better stay away from me."
"I'll make sure he does."
"You should go."
"Someone's gotta stay here with you."
"I'm good."
"Then go back to sleep," Rick said and Daryl sighed, closing his eyes.
"Hey," made Rick look at the doorway when he saw Beth and she smiled at him. "Sorry. I need to check him."
"Ok," Rick said as he got off the bed and she walked closer. "Will you stay with him? I need to do something."
"Sure."
Beth watched Rick run out of the room when he headed for the screen door and he could just see Lori going down the stairs. He opened the screen door when he ran after her, lightly touched her right upper arm and she turned to looks at him.
"Lori. Wait," Rick said.
"Wait?! Wait for what?! For Shane to try to kill Daryl again?! Or one of us?!" Lori asked and he hushed her.
"He's not going to kill anyone."
"He left you to die!"
"Yeah, I know that."
"He's dangerous!"
"Which is why we need to be careful. I know Shane. So, please, let me handle this."
"I just don't want to lose you. Not again."
Rick pulled her into a tight embrace as he kissed the side of her head and she wrapped her arms around him.
"You won't," he whispered. Lori let go of Rick when she walked toward the farmhouse and he watched her go inside. He turned as he looked at the RV and he could just see Shane. Shane had been using the binoculars to watch them as he placed the binoculars on his lap and a low growl filled his throat.
In the farmhouse, Lori walked down the hallway when she stood in the doorway and she saw Beth sitting on the chair.
"How is he?" Lori asked and Beth looked at her.
"He's fine," Beth said as she stood up. "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah. Is it alright if I sit with him?"
"Yeah."
Lori stood back as Beth left the room and Lori walked in the room. She looked at Daryl when she walked around to the other side of the bed and she carefully sat next to Daryl.
"What're you doin' here?" he grumbled.
"I thought you were asleep," Lori said.
"Can't. Too many people keep wakin' me up."
She made a little laugh as he moaned from being uncomfortable and she took hold of his right hand.
"Do you want me to get Hershel?" she asked.
"No. Just need to move."
Lori helped him move as he sighed, but he kept his eyes closed.
"That better?" she asked and he nodded.
"You didn't answer my question. What're doin' here?" he asked, opening his eyes.
"Just making sure you're ok."
"Why? You don't give a shit about me."
"Ok," she said, sitting against the headboard. "It's true I didn't like you when we first met, but I do now."
"You do?"
Nodding, Lori carefully went onto her left side and she propped her head in her left hand so she didn't bump his right arm.
"You ended up being a life saver. No one really wanted to go hunting or go looking for food," Lori said.
"Assholes."
"Yeah, but that didn't stop you from busting your ass making sure we had food."
"Wanted to help."
Lori nodded as she saw how sleepy he looked and she looked down at the bed.
"You never let me thank you for saving me from that Walker," she said after a few seconds and he blinked his eyes.
"Didn't want yer thanks."
"Why not?"
"Just didn't."
"Then why did you save me?"
"Didn't want Carl to lose his mom."
Something in his voice made her want to cry as Lori nodded and Daryl made a little yawn.
"Sorry," he said with a hurt look.
"No. It's fine," Lori said.
"Don't like bein' like this. Got stuff to do."
"All you have to do right now is heal."
"Stupid horse."
Daryl made another yawn as he rubbed his left eye with the knuckle of his left hand then he sighed.
"Did Rick tell you what Shane did?" he asked.
"Yes, he did."
"What's Rick gonna do?"
"I don't know."
Daryl looked down toward her stomach then back up as he yawned and Lori saw the concern in his eyes.
"How's the baby?" he asked.
"The baby's fine."
They went silent for a few seconds as he sighed and she saw how tired he looked.
"Want to know something?" she asked.
"What?" he asked.
"I can't wait for the baby to meet Uncle Daryl."
Daryl gave her a puzzled look as she smiled and he felt the tears in the corner of his eyes. He blinked the tears away as he pressed his lips into a thin line then he sighed,
"I ain't family," he grumbled.
"Not by blood, but you'll still be the baby's uncle."
"Are Glenn, T-Dog, Dale an' Shane gonna be the baby's uncle, too?"
She liked how childlike he was sounding as she smiled and she was surprised when he let her lightly rub his left shoulder.
"I'm not sure about Shane, but yeah. Now, do me a favor. Go to sleep," Lori said in a soft voice and he frowned.
"Don't wanna," he grumbled.
"Please?"
Daryl saw the worry in her eyes as he pushed the pillow up and he closed his eyes.
"You're ok with me bein' with Carol?" he grumbled.
"I already told you I was," she said.
"Did you find the teddy bear?"
"Yes, I did."
"I found this crib while I was at that house. The crib didn't look like it had been slept in. Maybe Rick an' I can go get it."
"We'll talk about that later," she said with a tiny grin.
"Ok," he said in a sleepy voice.
Lori watched him drift off to sleep while Rick walked in the room and she slightly sat up to look at Rick. Shaking his head, Rick sat on the chair as she went to rest next to Daryl and Rick leaned back in the chair.