Sorry for the long wait everyone! But high school comes with A LOT of work. But I have a holiday break coming up so my updates should be quicker! Anyway here is chapter thirteen!
OOOOO
Kayla was sitting on the couch in The Greene's living room biting her nails. Beth was stable, but Rick and Glenn had yet to return from going to get Hershel. Night had fallen and the group was gathered inside for dinner, but Kayla's nerves were too high to think about food. And even though she got along with everyone with the exception of Andrea and Shane, she missed Daryl's presence. He was the only member of the group who could understand her and her past.
As she stared out the window, someone put a hand on her shoulder which caused her to jump. "Relax." A familiar southern voice said. "It's only me." Kayla gave Maggie and smile and looked at her. "Dinner is just about ready… I need your help bringing dishes out." Maggie told her. Kayla nodded and stood up, following Maggie to the kitchen.
She helped bring the food out as the rest of the group got seated at the table, including Shane. Kayla looked at him coldly for a moment before putting some food on Carl's plate. Yes she helped shoot the walkers at the barn and yes she thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but now that she had time to reflect on it she knew there was a better solution. Shooting up the Greene's family and friends right in front of them wasn't the right way to go about it.
"Kayla…" A male's voice said. She turned and found Dale resting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked. She smiled. "Just have a lot on my mind." She told him. "Well relax for right now." He replied.
With that said everyone sat down and Kayla sat next to Carl at the table. "You better eat every bite of those vegetables." She teased. He chuckled. "You sound like my mom." He told her.
"Speaking of your mom where is she?" Kayla asked looking around. "Lori! Dinner!" Carol called to the other room.
"She's not in there." Maggie informed Carol.
"Where is she?" Dale questioned.
Everyone looked around at one another for a moment in the fallen silence. "Carl when was the last time you saw your mom?" Shane asked.
"This afternoon." Carl answered.
"She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl." Andrea spoke up.
"She went after him?" Dale questioned.
"She didn't say that."
"Nobody panic, she's gotta be around here somewhere." Shane said standing up and heading outside, the rest of the group following.
Kayla got outside and was hit by the cool night air. She saw Shane head towards the camp with Carl in tow and then noticed a flickering light at the edge of the farm. It must have been a fire Daryl made. "I'll go see if Daryl's seen her!" she called out rushing off towards his camp.
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Daryl poked at his fire and trying to get a bigger flame when he heard approaching footsteps. He rolled his eyes knowing he was about to be pestered by one of the group members, but was actually a little relieved when he heard whose voice it was. "Daryl!" she said approaching. "We can't find Lori anywhere… And the others aren't back yet." Daryl turned to look at her and noticed her tired eyes even in the dark. He scoffed and turned back towards the fire. "Dumb bitch must of gone off looking for em'." He told her.
"What?" Kayla questioned.
"She asked me to go, told her I was done being an errand boy." Daryl explained.
"And you didn't say anything?"
When he didn't reply Daryl listened as she turned and began walking away, but then stopped and came back.
"Don't do this." She said. "Don't push everyone away." Daryl looked back at her.
"What do you care?" he questioned in an angry tone as he stood up.
"Because you are the first group of actual people I have come across. And you are too good a person to just walk away."
Daryl turned to leave and began walking, but stopped when he heard her talking again. "You may not think it, let alone believe it but…you are." After she said that he heard her footsteps that signaled she was walking away from his camp.
OOOOO
Back down at the camp everyone was standing around when Kayla returned to them completely out of breath. "She asked Daryl to go after them." She said. "She must have gone on her own." Hearing this, Carl began to cry. Andrea tried to comfort him, but he walked away. "Did you know about this?" shane questioned Dale.
"No." Dale answered truthfully.
"Look did she, did she take a gun?"
"I don't know. I wouldn't have let her gone on her own out there!" Dale called out to Shane as he walked over to his car and got in, driving away quickly.
It was a while before Shane returned with Lori. But when he did, everyone rushed over and found her with a bleeding head and lip. "Oh my God what happened?" Andrea asked rushing over.
"I'm fine I was in a car accident…" she explained as Kayla came over and looked at her wounds. "I'm fine." Lori assured her. "Where's Rick?"
Everyone looked at her in shock and confusion. She looked at them and noticed the fallen silence and confusion. "They're not back?" she asked. Kayla shook her head once.
"Where are they?" Lori asked Shane in a pissed off tone.
"Look I had to get you back here." Shane defended.
"You asshole." Lori snapped as she walked over to him and pushed him against the car. Kayla pulled Lori away as Shane told her he'd go after them and find them. "Look first thing's first I had to look out for you I had to make sure the baby was safe." Right after Shane said that you could hear a pin drop. Kayla looked at him in absolute shock when Carl made an appearance. "You're having a baby?" he asked. Everyone looked at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Lori didn't know what to say and everyone was quiet until Carl walked away. "Let's make sure you're alright." Dale eventually said, breaking the tension.
Kayla, Dale, and Andrea all took Lori inside where Kayla cleaned her up. She cleaned and bandaged the wounds before checking her to see if she had a concussion.
"I don't think you have a concussion." Kayla reported as she stood up. "Just take an easy for a few days."
"Thank you." Lori said as Kayla packed up all the medical supplies.
"You're welcome." Kayla replied walking into the kitchen to return the medical kit to Maggie.
"How is she?" Maggie asked.
"Just a couple of scratches, nothing serious." Kayla answered as she leaned against the counter.
"You alright?" Maggie asked her.
Kayla looked at her. "What mother just takes off in the middle of everything that happened today without telling anyone including her son?" she questioned. "Who does that?"
Maggie shook her head. "She thought her morals were good, but it was wrong." She agreed standing next to her. "But what's done is done." Kayla looked at her for a moment and nodded once before heading back out to the camp to get some sleep.
OOOOO
The next morning Kayla dressed in a pair of dark skinny jeans and black and white flannel before helping the others load up the car. Daryl, T-Dog, Shane, and Andrea were going off to look for Rick, Glenn, and Hershel. "You sure you don't want me to come?" Kayla asked Shane.
"Nah I need you here." Shane told her. "Keep things organized until we get back. Plus if anything happens out there we'll need someone to fix us up." Kayla nodded as she loaded a bag when Daryl came over and loaded another bag in. She wasn't surprised he was going like the others were because like she told him last night, he was a good person.
The group was just about to leave when a car came driving in…Hershel's car. Everyone watched as it pulled up in front of the house and Rick, Glenn, and Hershel stepped out. Carl ran to his father and Maggie rushed over to Glenn, wrapping her arm around him. Hershel, surprised and hurt by this walked up to the house. "Patricia prepare the shed for surgery." Was all he said.
Kayla stood off to the side when T-Dog's voice sounded. "Who the hell is that?" he questioned, pointing at the backseat of the car.
"That's Randall." Glenn answered. Everyone looked at the backseat and approached it, Kayla taking the lead. She opened the door and saw his bleeding calf. "Oh my God!" she said. "What happened to him?"
"Fell off a roof, his leg went through a fence." Rick answered. Kayla helped Randall out of the car with the help of Daryl. He was half conscious and blindfolded. "I'll get him too Hershel and help with the surgery." Kayla told Rick as she and Daryl helped him to the shed.
In the shed they laid Randall down on the table and took the blindfold off. "Thank you Daryl." Kayla said as she rolled his pant leg up to examine the wound. "Yeah no problem." He said, looking at the kid's leg. Hershel and Patricia came in with medical supplies and a bowl of water along with some towels.
Daryl left her and the other to their work, but took a second look through the crack in the door. He watched as Hershel hooked up the IV and Patricia gave him a sedative to put him to sleep. Then finally Kayla began cleaning the wound very carefully. Daryl noticed her expression on her face that was mixed with sadness, hope, and even a bit of happiness. She really did like helping people…
OOOOO
It was about an hour until Hershel, and Kayla joined the others in the house. Kayla had blood on her hands and part of her forearms as well as a little on her face. Everyone's eyes fell on her and Hershel. "We repaired his calf muscle as best as we could, but he'll have nerve damage." Kayla informed them. "He won't be on his feet for at least a week."
"When he is we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, and end him on his way." Rick declared.
"Isn't that the same as leaving him to the walkers?" Andrea questioned as Daryl walked in. Kayla looked at him and he looked at her, nodding once. She gave him a small smile as he leaned against the wall with his arm crossed.
For the next two minute Shane and Rick argued about Randall until Shane had enough. "You know what I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." He said walking out of the room. "Look at this folks, we back in fantasy land!"
"You know we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet?" Hershel reminded him in an angry tone. Shane turned around to look at him with an odd expression on his face. "Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all." Hershel said. "This is my farm. Now I wanted you gone, but Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor and keep your mouth shut." Shane left the house after that and Rick put a hand on Hershel's shoulder.
"Look we're not gonna do anything about it today." Rick told the veterinarian. "Let's just cool off."
After the meeting Kayla went to clean up. She went to the water pump outside because Maggie was talking to Glenn inside. She began pumping the water when a familiar voice sounded. "Does the kid have any blood left?" Daryl questioned as he walked over. She looked over at him and smiled.
"He sure did mess up his calf." She told him getting her hands wet to get all the blood off. Daryl walked over and pulled a red rag out of his back pocket. "Here." he said as he stood in front of her and held his hands out. She put her hand out and he wiped the blood from them carefully and then cleaned the blood from her forearm.
Kayla watched Daryl as he cleaned all the blood away until her skin was clean. He washed the rag off and then looked at her face. "How the hell did you get it on your face?" he questioned, wiping it off and meeting her eyes. She chuckled. "Sometimes blood squirts." She explained. Daryl cleaned the blood from her face and then helped her up.
"Thanks." She said to him, drying her hands on her pants and walking off.
"Did you mean what you said?" he asked as she walked off. "Last night."
She turned to him and smiled. "Every word."
