Chapter Twenty-three: Fleeting Moments
Dying wasn't any fun. It was painful and I was sure I looked completely like shit while doing it. There was nothing peaceful about it. No last words to make everyone feel better. No words of wisdom to pass on. No smile before death. There was simply disgusting mucous and blood that clogged up everything and suffocated me to death. No romanticized view of anything. It just plain sucked.
I blame the movies.
Opening my eyes, Ray was sitting next to me looking rather exhausted. Reaching my hand out, I put it on her arm, making her jump out of her skin. Laughing, I coughed a few times but there was no blood. No grossness.
I was alive.
"Linny." She said putting her hand against my hair. "Oh my god!"
Then she was gone.
"Good to see you, too." I told the air. Slowly sitting up, my chest hurt a little but my lungs felt surprisingly well. "Oh, shit." I said as I swung my legs over. "Come on, self. You're alive. Get your ass up and moving." Jumping as someone skidded into sight, "Jesus Christ!"
"Linny."
I was on my feet and to him faster than I thought I could be. "Rick."
He laughed and hugged me tightly, "You're gonna be okay."
"I sure as hell am." I smiled, putting my hand against his face.
He laughed again taking my face in his hands. "Good."
"Linny!"
Looking, I was running, slowly, but I was running. "Daryl!" Throwing my arms around his neck, he lifted me off the ground. "Thank you."
"Yeah, well, I kinda like you." He told me with his usual serious expression.
Laughing, I hugged him tightly, "Good. I kinda like you, too."
"She's out of the woods." Hershel added as he stepped into sight.
"Daddy." I grinned and was hugging him as tightly as I could. "Everyone else?"
"Doing well." He smiled, cupping my face in his hands.
Letting out a relieved breath, I nodded at him, my hand finding Rick's. "Good. That's good."
"Now you shouldn't be moving around just yet." He commanded. "You need to rest."
"She will." Rick stated as he pressed his shoulder against the back of mine.
Looking at him, I nodded at my father-figure. "I will."
Everyone left, but Rick's hand didn't move from mine and soon it was just me and him. Only then Ray was standing there with a smile on her face. Laughing, I wrapped my arm around her, keeping Rick's hand firmly in mine. Letting her go, I gently played with her hair. She just kept looking at me like she might never see me again.
"She needs rest, Ray." Rick finally told her.
"Right." She replied. "Right. I'll just go…find something to do."
"Help Hershel and Maggie. Make sure everything is getting done." I told her softly.
"Of course." She said hugging me again before she disappeared.
As soon as she was out of sight, Rick's arms were around my waist, pulling my back against his chest as he buried his face in my neck. Resting my face against his, I brought my hand up, slipping my fingers into his hair. Sighing contentedly, I turned in his arms, wrapping mine around his neck. Staring into his eyes, he was looking at me as if he were memorizing me. Smiling, I stared at his mouth. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to kiss him so fucking bad. But I didn't. I may be out of the woods but that didn't mean I was completely healed. There was still a chance and I wasn't going to risk it until I'd had at least one more round of antibiotics. Maybe even two. I was never going to risk him. Not ever. He was too important.
"You should be resting." He told me, pressing his lips to my forehead.
"Mm-hm." I replied, shutting my eyes, leaning against his chest.
"Come on." He said softly, leading me back to my cell.
Lying down on the bunk, he opened his arm to me. Smiling, I laid down, pressing against his side, my head against his chest. He wrapped his arm around me, the hand of the other gripping my arm as I nestled as close to him as I could get. He trailed his fingers up and down my arm, pressing his lips to my forehead. Making a soft noise, I took a deep breath of him as I shut my eyes, ready to go to sleep. It didn't take long to fall asleep, even though I was more than happy to just lay with him. We hadn't been this close yet and it was nice, making me feel amazing and all I wanted to do was enjoy him. But I slept, sleeping harder than I had in quite a while.
When I woke up, I was alone, covered and warm. Sad that Rick left, I swung my feet over the edge, getting a feel of my body now that I'd slept some more. I actually felt pretty damn good. Getting up, I made my way back toward my home, ready to have my bunk and things. More than that I really wanted a fucking shower.
Making it to my cell without being stopped, I enjoyed the smiles and waves. Gathering my things, I was about to go to the showers but paused when I heard Daryl. He was pissed. Going up the stairs, he was being very short with Rick. Something that wasn't common and I had clearly missed something. Stepping up to them, they stopped, looking at me sadly.
"What's going on?" I smiled at them.
Rick met my eyes, shifting feet as he put his hand on his hips, "Linny, there's a few things I haven't told you yet."
"Okay." I frowned. "What is it?"
"Why don't you shower first and then we'll take a walk and I'll tell you."
Daryl looked pissed as hell.
"Tell me now." I told him, my smile gone.
"Linny." Rick said softly.
"Karen is dead." Daryl told me, making my eyes dart to him. "David, too."
"What?" I frowned. "She was in a different cell but…" Now my eyes were on Rick. "What happened?"
"Carol killed them and burned their bodies in one of the solitary exercise yards." He told me.
Shaking my head, anger and grief were starting to take hold. "I – I hadn't seen her or talked to her – in a – in a while." I said as I tried to process this. "She was sick and I didn't…" I looked up at Rick. "Where is Carol?"
"He took her to a residential area and just left her there." Daryl replied, waving his arm at Rick. "Like she doesn't even matter."
"She killed them?" I said trying to get my head around it. "And you took her away?"
"Yeah." Rick nodded.
"She's a part of the family, Rick." Daryl shot at him.
"She killed people. And she wasn't sorry." Rick stated.
Nodding, I turned and went down the steps, rushing to the showers, hearing both men say my name as I went. I simply held up my hand and moved as fast as I could. Tears were already in my eyes and I just needed to wash this all off of me. Pulling a curtain around me, I momentarily put my hands against the wall, taking deep breaths.
Carol killed Karen.
And she wasn't sorry.
It didn't make sense. Carol loved it here. She loved our family. She wouldn't have done it lightly. She had to have had a good reason. She would have done it for us. Starting the water, it didn't take long for Rick to appear, standing outside the curtain. He didn't say anything, he just stood there. As soon as I was done, I wrapped a towel around myself, swiftly moving back to my cell. He stood outside of it. I could see his silhouette through the sheet. Getting dressed, I reached through, taking his hand before pulling him inside.
"It's Carol, Rick." I stated with crossed arms. "Daryl is extremely close to her and you just sent her away?"
"She wasn't sorry, Linny. She would have kept killing people if she thought it would make a difference." He replied.
Nodding, I sighed and started to comb my hair out, braiding it over my shoulder. "I get it. I'm not entirely sorry that she's gone. But that's not the point. She's family. I just…she used to be so soft and kind and now she's hard and…dangerous."
"I couldn't have her under the same roof as my children." He replied. "I just…"
"I get it." I said taking his hand. "Daryl does, too. But it sucks."
"I know." He said and pulled me against him.
Gripping him tightly, I gently played with his hair, feeling him press his face into my neck. Taking his head in my hands, I ran my thumb across his bottom lip. He smiled at me, pulling me flush against him. Tipping my head back, I decided that it was his turn to make the decision as to kiss me or not. He simply smiled and leaned in, our lips brushing before we jumped, Rick's name being yelled.
He sighed, brushing my bangs out of my eyes, "We'll try again tonight."
Grinning, I nodded at him, "I'd like that."
"You can be in charge of setting the mood." He told me, smacking my ass lightly as he walked away.
My heart was racing and it took all of me not to run after him. It had been a long time since I felt like this. I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to be uninterrupted and just…perfect. So I would find some good smelling candles and make Ray keep watch so we weren't interrupted. She would hate it but I could guilt her into it. I had no doubt of that.
Thinking of Daryl, I strapped my knife to my thigh, feeling the need to have a weapon with me. Leaving my cell, I went back upstairs to his. He was sitting there looking more sad than I'd ever seen. He was a good man. He didn't get attached to people often and now the one person he was closest to was gone.
"Daryl?" I said softly.
"Go away." He replied coldly.
"No." I told him, sitting next to him.
He scoffed and stood, starting to pace, "You didn't even like her."
"She wasn't my favorite but I didn't hate her and don't want her to be gone. But she did something horrible, Daryl. Do you expect her to just be forgiven after she murdered two of our own?"
"No." He replied softly. "It just…"
"Sucks." I finished for him. "I know, Daryl. But Rick wasn't in the wrong. He's wrong about a lot of things but not this."
"I know." He replied, gently playing with my braid.
Running my fingers through his hair, I pressed my forehead to his, "I love you, Daryl. Don't go disappearing on me now."
"I won't." He told me.
It was a nice moment, interrupted as an explosion made the prison shake. Looking at each other, we were on our feet and rushing outside. Rick and Tyreese were rushing toward us, too. Sasha and Carl as well. Gripping Carl, I looked out seeing a group of people outside the fences. There were trucks and a fucking tank. My blood ran cold and I took in the one man we knew.
"Oh my god." I said softly.
"Rick! Come down here. We need to talk." The Governor called up to us.
Rick looked at the others then met my eyes before turning back, "It's not up to me! There's a council now, they run this place!"
"Is Hershel on the council? What about Michonne? Is she on the council, too?"
"Rick." I said stepping closer to the fence, seeing Michonne and Hershel be brought out and put on their knees.
"I don't make decisions anymore!" Rick yelled.
"You're making the decisions today, Rick!" He called back. "Come down here. Let's have that talk."
Rick turned to his son, "We can do this. All right?" He looked at me, putting his hand against my face, "All right?"
"You're not going alone." I told him.
He nodded, taking my hand briefly before we walked down to the field. I was glued to his side, looking in every direction. I kept touching my knife, wishing that I had a gun on me. Rick had his, that was something and it would have to be enough.
"Let 'em go right now. I'll stay down here. Talk as long as you want. But you let 'em go. You got a tank. You don't need hostages." Rick told him.
My eyes kept moving from Hershel to Michonne, fear flooding my system. I was shaking only it was more out of anger than of fear. If the Governor wanted to go for round two than fine. We won against him once already, we could do it again.
"I do. This is just to show you I'm serious." The Governor told him. "Not to blast a hole in our new home. You and your people, you have till sundown to get out of here or they die."
"I don't think so." I said finally looking at him.
"It doesn't have to go down this way." Rick added.
"I got more people. More fire power. We need this prison. There it is. It's not about the past. It's about right now." He told us.
"There are children here. Some of them are sick. They won't survive." Rick told him pleadingly.
"I have a tank. And I'm letting you walk away from here. What else is there to talk about?"
"We beat you once, we can do it again." I told him. "This is our home and we will defend it."
"Caroline." He smiled down at me. "How the hell are you still alive?"
"By fighting like hell."
He laughed, "It's funny how you survived and no one else did. Not Shumpert. Not Caesar."
Anger was flooding me, making me want to jerk forward. Rick gripped my wrist, looking so unsure of what to do next.
"I could shoot you all. You'd all shoot back. I know that." The Governor went on. "But we'll win and you'll be dead. All of you. Doesn't have to be like that. Like I said, it's your choice.
Walkers were starting to come out of the woods. The Governor shot them, using too many shots.
"Noise will only draw more of them over. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to get out of here. You got maybe about an hour of sunlight left. I suggest you start packing." He told us, but we just stood there. Rick was starting to freak out. "The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be for you to get out of here."
"We're not leaving." I shot at him.
"We can all – we can all live together. There's enough room for all of us." Rick told him.
"More than enough. I don't think my family would sleep well knowing that you were under the same roof."
"You killed your family." I told him coldly.
Rick put his arm around the front of me. "We live in different cell blocks. We'd never have to see each other till we're all ready."
Hershel spoke next, his voice calm and gentle. His voice was always so comforting. "It could work. You know it could."
"It could've. But it can't. Not after Woodbury. Not after Andrea."
"You said it wasn't about the past!" I hollered at him.
"Linny." Michonne said softly.
I shook my head at her, putting my hand against Rick's shoulder. He looked at me before the Governor. "Look, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Fact is, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than standing here shooting at each other. But I don't think we have a choice."
"We don't. You do."
"We're not leaving. You try and force us, we'll fight back. Like you said, the gunshots will just bring more of them out. They'll take down the fences. Without the fences, this place is worthless. Now, we can all live in the prison or none of us can."
Proud of him, I nodded, watching as the Governor jumped down from the tank and took Michonne's sword, stepping up to Hershel.
"Hershel." I whispered.
"We'll fix the damn fences." The Governor muttered.
"Don't." I told him.
Rick was looking panicked, trying to stop this from happening, turning to the people he'd come with. They didn't have to do this. If they didn't stand behind him then we could end this. All they had to do was stop him.
"You. You in the ponytails. Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?" Rick asked a young woman. She looked terrified.
"What we want is what you got. Period. Time for you to leave, assholes." The guy in the tank hollered down at us.
"Fuck you." I shot back at him.
"Look, I fought him before. And after, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here. Now you put down your weapons, walk through those gates…you're one of us." Rick told them. Some of them looked like they were actually listening to him. "We let go of all of it, and nobody dies. Everyone who's alive right now. Everyone who's made it this far. We've all done the worst kinds of things just to stay alive. But we can still come back. We're not too far gone. We get to come back. I know…we all can change."
Slipping my hand into his, I smiled up at him, looking at Hershel to see a proud expression on his face. Smiling at him, I was still holding his eyes when the Governor pulled back the sword, sliding it into Hershel's neck. A scream broke from me and I scrambled forward, gripping the fence as I watched him fall to the side, blood spilling from him.
"No!" Rick screamed from behind me.
He fired at the Governor, hitting his arm as the others started to shoot. Michonne rolled away, attempting to take cover. I didn't have a gun. I couldn't even avenge Hershel as he squirmed to get away from his murderer. My arm was gripped and I was yanked backward, finding Rick's arm around me as we ran from the gunfire. Rick cried out, falling as a bullet tore through the side of his leg. Holding tight to him, I looked over my shoulder as the tank came bursting through the gates, those on foot following, firing against us.
Taking Rick's gun, I turned and shot as many as I could. One snuck up behind me, hitting me hard, making me fall to the side. Rick picked up his gun as I dropped it. Punching the man who hit me, I pulled my knife free, thrusting it up and into his brain. Taking the handgun that was on him, I turned back to Rick only to find him gone.
"Rick!" I called but I couldn't see him.
Being tackled to the ground, I shot them pointblank in the head, rolling and shooting another. They were pouring into the field only it wasn't just the people anymore but walkers as well. Firing all the bullets I had, I started to run back toward the prison. I need to get the kids out of here. The bus was our backup plan and we needed to get everyone onto it and it needed to get as far from here as possible.
Running, I slid, falling backward as I saw Rick and the Governor. Rick was losing. He was getting the shit beat out of him. Panic filled me as I watched in horror. Attempting to race over to him, I was clotheslined, completely flipping, land awkwardly on my side. Then I was being kicked, seeing the barrel of a gun in my face. In the next second his head was missing and I looked up to see Michonne running past me. I got to my feet, darting forward, watching as she put her sword through the Governor's back, the tip sticking out of his chest. Pushing myself harder, I finally reach Rick, dropping to my knees next to him.
"Rick." I said as I took his head in my hands. His breathing was labored. "Rick." I repeated, my voice thick with emotions as tears filled my eyes. He gently gripped my wrist, nodding at me. Nodding back, I stood and threw my arms around Michonne, hugging her tightly. "Thank God." I told her softly, taking her head in my hands. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." She nodded.
Smiling, I nodded back, hugging her tightly before turning back to Rick. "We gotta move." He nodded; putting his arm around my shoulders I moved mine around his waist. Hoisting him to his feet, Michonne disappeared, seeing her walking toward the fighting. "Michonne!"
She didn't even look at me. Rick stumbled, nearly taking me to the ground with him. He leaned into me, hunching over. His breathing was horrid, blood was still falling, and we were still surrounded by enemies and walkers. Attempting to bounce him higher against my side, he gasped, dropping to his knees. Dropping next to him, I lifted his shirt so I could see his side. It was already discolored and spreading around him. They were more than likely broken or fractured, definitely heavily and painfully bruised. Hearing a growl, my head snapped up and I stood, killing the walker before putting Rick's arm around me again.
"Rick, move." I told him attempting to get him up. "Please, Rick." Yanking him onto his feet, I cried out as my muscles started to shake, my back pulsing with pain. Looking around, all hell had broken loose. Our home was being destroyed. "Damn it."
"Carl!" Rick yelled, the name jumbled from the blood and swelling. He leaned hard against me, "Where is he?"
"We'll find him." I stated, putting my hand against his face so he looked at me. "I promise you, we'll find him."
"Linny." He said with tears in his eyes.
I smiled at him, "I know, baby. But we're gonna be okay."
He pressed his forehead to mine for a moment and then we were moving. It wasn't just Carl that we needed to fine. We needed to find Judith and Ray and everyone else. Where was Daryl? Maggie? Glenn? Sasha? Tyreese? Everyone? We needed our family.
Looking around, the tank had done a good job at bringing the prison down. There were bodies and rubble everywhere. Walkers were starting to wander inside. We were in trouble. We made it to the courtyard, both of us now yelling for our kids. No one came, but then I heard my name being screamed from inside.
"Ray." I said as my heart started to pound against my chest. Stepping away from Rick I took his head in my hands, "Rick, I have to go to her."
"Linny." He said with wide eyes as he gripped my shirt.
"I know." I told him. "Find Carl and Judith. I'll be right back."
"Promise – promise me." He frowned, gripping my shirt tighter.
Staring into his eyes, I nodded, "I promise you, Rick. I promise."
He reluctantly let me go, nodding, "Go."
He was hurt. His voice was hoarse from the Governor's hands being around it. He was broken and bleeding and scared. I didn't want to leave him. Taking his head in my hands, I rubbed his cheeks. He gently gripped my wrist and I could feel him shaking. Hearing Ray scream my name again, I pulled away from him, quickly turning and running. If I didn't run than I wouldn't be able to leave him.
Racing into the prison, I almost immediately ran into a walker, its boney fingers gripping me. Freeing my knife, I stabbed it up through its chin, yanking it free and watched it slump to the ground. Yelling out to her, I heard her name above me, looking up to see her pinned to the wall as she kept pushing against three walkers. The look of terror on her face was enough to make me fly. Striking down two more, I raced for the stairs. My ankle was grabbed but I freed myself, kicking its head against the step until it broke open, spilling its brains down the stairs.
Rushing up them, I shoved a walker over the railing, making it to the top and darted around the corner. Coming up behind them, one turned, its teeth snapping next to my shoulder before I stabbed it. The other two were turning toward me but I swiftly killed the pair of them. Looking at Ray, I grinned at her. She just smiled, laughing lightly as she shook her head at me.
"Take my hand if you want to live." I told her, holding my hand out to her.
"Seriously?" She laughed. "Terminator?"
"Shut up. Let's go." I shot back at her. "And the Terminator is awesome."
She reached out for me, her fingers touching mine, but before she could grip it a walker fell forward out of a cell, tangled in a sheet, slamming into me and sent us both over the railing. Ray screamed and for the briefest of moments I felt air, then I slammed into the ground, pain searing through my left shoulder, making a scream tear from my throat. Scrambling away from it, my eyes were darting around for my knife.
"Linny!" Ray yelled and then a knife was falling toward me.
Gripping it, I stabbed it under the chin, seeing the blade as it passed through its eye. "Take that you son of a bitch." I told it with gritted teeth.
Momentarily lying back, gripping my shoulder, my vision speckled. Then Ray was there, pulling on my good arm.
"We gotta go." She told me.
Nodding, I got up, gripping my knife as she handed it to me, taking up hers. Leaning into her, we moved toward the door. My shoulder was screaming with pain. Looking down, I could see a circular bulge in my skin. Feeling on the verge of tears, my mind immediately went to Rick and his kids. I needed to find them.
Leaving the prison, walkers were storming and Rick was not where I'd left him. Frantically looking around, I attempted to move from Ray's side. "Rick!" I screamed.
"We need to go." Ray told me.
"Not without him." I said meeting her eyes, feeling the fear coming off of me in waves.
She looked at me sadly, "We can't stay here, Caroline. We need to leave. He wouldn't have stayed."
Tears welled and I stared at her with wide eyes, "I promised him. I promised I would come back."
She smiled, brushing my bangs out of my eyes, "We'll find him, Caroline."
Nodding, I took a deep breath, then I was shoving her with my bad arm, stabbing a walker through its temple. "Let's go."
Moving away from the walkers and what was left of the Governor's people, we didn't come across anyone from our group. At least none that were alive. We'd lost many. Too many. Tears threatened and I stumbled, falling to one knee as I watched a walker eating the people I had gotten to know and care about. Ray was stronger right now, yanking me back onto my feet, a cry escaping me as my shoulder shifted.
Making it to the trees, we kept moving until there was no sound around us. Finally stopping, I dropped to my knees, my arm resting in front of me. It made it feel mildly better. Ray paced back and forth, listening for anything that might be following us. Shutting my eyes, my mind was reeling from everything that happened. We had just gotten over a fucking pandemic and then the Governor fucking showed up. Hershel was dead. Rick was hurt and missing. Tears filled and fell, streaming down my face as I screamed, letting out all my grief. Michonne left. I had no idea where Maggie and Glenn were. I was weak and hurt. What the hell were we supposed to do now?
Looking up at Ray, emotion was spilling from her but she was trying her hardest to keep it all in. I knew that I couldn't make her be the adult here. She needed me and I needed to be what she needed. Taking deep breaths, I stood and looked at her, gripping her arm.
"I'm sorry. We're going to be okay." I told her. She simply nodded at me. "We will, Ray. We will find the others and we will be okay."
"Okay." She nodded. Turning to a tree, I lined my shoulder up to it, taking a slow deep breath. "What are you doing?"
"My shoulder is dislocated." I told her. "I need to pop it back into place."
"Caroline." She said with shock.
Looking at her, she had grown a shade paler. "Do you want to pop it back in for me?" I smiled at her. She frantically shook her head. Laughing lightly, I nodded, "Didn't think so."
Taking another deep breath, she clamped her hands over her ears, shutting her eyes and spun away from me. Building up the strength to do what I had to do, I ran the few steps and slammed my shoulder into the tree. Screaming bloody murder, I spun from the force of it, ending up on my back. Looking at my shoulder, it had moved but it wasn't quite in the socket yet.
"Goddamn it." I said and got to my feet.
Attempting it a second time, I just didn't have the energy to use as much force as I needed to. I ended up on the ground, screaming as pain filled my entire being. Tears were streaming from the corners of my eyes. Ray was still standing there with her eyes shut and her hands clamped over her ears. Seeing a walker moving toward her, I got to my feet, slowly walking to it, stabbing it through its eye socket. Looking around, walkers were staring to gather, making me deflate, knowing that we had to move.
Gripping Ray, she looked at me before my shoulder. Shaking my head, I sighed, starting to walk. Keeping an eye over my shoulder, the walkers were coming but we were still moving twice as fast as they were. Both of us were quiet as we walked. Ray kept watching me, and I couldn't blame her. I felt like crap. My shoulder was throbbing, my head was pounding, and my stomach was turning. Stumbling, I tried to get back up but I simply stumbled again.
"Linny." Ray said swiftly moving to me, kneeling in front of me.
"I need to rest." I told her, putting my hand on her leg.
She nodded, "Okay."
Attempting to shift my shoulder, the pain that shot through my made my vision speckle and I leaned over, throwing up bile onto the grass. "Ray, I need you to help me."
"What?" She said with a shocked expression. "No. I can't."
"You can." I told her. "I need you to."
"No, Linny."
"Ray." I said putting my hand against her face. "I really, really need you right now. I need you to help me pop it back in. I'm just going to get worse and my arm will never be the same. I need you to help me. I need you, Ray." She looked at me for a long moment before she finally nodded. "Thank you." I told her with relief.
Looking around, for now the coast was clear. I knew it wasn't going to stay that way so we had to do this as quickly as possible. Slowly stretching my arm out, I could feel bone against bone. It was almost there. It wouldn't need a lot of help to pop back into place.
"What do I do?" She asked nervously.
"Grip my arm as high as you can and still get a firm hold. With your other hand I need you to put it against my ball joint and kind of guide it into place."
She furrowed her brows, shaking her head, "What?"
"You have to pull on my arm with one and guide with the other."
She just frowned harder at me, "What?"
Laughing lightly, I smiled at her, "You can do this, Ray. I believe –" I was cut off as she yanked my arm, feeling the bone pop back into place. "Oh my god that's amazing." I told her, shutting my eyes. "Thank you."
She fell onto her back next to me, "I can't believe I did that."
"You did good." I smiled at her, gently probing my shoulder. There was still some pain but it was ten times better than it was. "Now I just have to try and be nice to it for a while."
She laughed, "Like hell that's going to happen."
Laughing with her, I nodded, "I know." Hearing a growl, I tilted my head back to see a walker staggering toward us. "Time to go."
She got to her feet and helped me to mine, putting her arm around me as we started to move again. The pain had diminished to a dull throb, making it far more tolerable. Able to use it more as well, as the walkers started to close in on us, I was able to kill them without hindrance. Together we made an effective team, taking down as many as we possibly could before we started to run again.
Sorry for the delay! I am usually far better at updating than I have been for this story. I will attempt to do better in the future! Hope you are all still enjoying it! Lots of story left to tell!