Chapter 12

After Rick had left the room, I made sure I gathered up my things and left the clothes that didn't belong to me in the hamper. I observed some people from the window for a while before making my way out, running right into a ghostly looking Hershel. "I'm sorry, excuse me. I wanted to thank you for fixing me up and putting me up in your house while I was under Sir. I really do appreciate it; it was very kind of you to bring someone you don't know into your home. Thank you" I told him whole heartedly. I felt bad for how shaken he really did look, but maybe my words were doing what I intended. He still seemed out of it, but then nodded his head then mumbled "Let me get some antibiotics for you, we're running low as it is, but there is no reason to risk infection. Daryl left before I could give him his as well" he went to continue when I stopped him by holding up my hand and took my pack off. I dug around and found the compartment with the antibiotics that Alice had hidden, and holy shit, there were a lot of them; what seemed to be sets of twenty or so in each bag. I pulled out six bags to hand to Hershel, leaving myself six more. He was shocked as I handed them over and told him "I'll give Daryl a bag of his own, so don't worry yourself about it. Thank you for fixing me up Doc" then proceeded to find my way out of his home.

I instantly wished I had a pair of sun glasses, as the glare from the sun made my head throb even more. I decided to look for Sofia so I could keep my word and see her before I made a decision on what to do. I wanted to blow this popsicle stand like nobody's business, but Alice told me not to be a hermit and to make nice with the locals. People kept staring at me as I walked around looking for Sofia, but when I turned my head to look back at them, they turned theirs … It was getting old really quick. A man in a baseball cap came up to me and held out his hand "I'm Glenn" he said. He was the one with the hammer that day when Shane smashed my face with the pick axe handle, "Bella" I said returning his hand shake. "I'm really sorry with what happened with Shane, mostly everyone is mad for what he did. I'm glad you're ok though. Do you need anything, I am about to make a run and just wanted to check in?" he asked. That was really thoughtful of someone that doesn't even know me, but I shook my head "No thank you, but you can help me. Could you point me in the direction of Sofia or Daryl?" I asked, ready to stop walking in what seemed like pointless circles. "Yeah, Sofia should be back up at the house visiting Carl. And Daryl… he's at the end of the clearing over there in that tent. You sure you don't need anything? It's the least we could do after one of our own did that" he said waving his hand in my direction. Yea like I need a fucking reminder that my face is all fucked up. "No, I really don't need anything. Thanks for letting me know where to find them. It was nice to meet you Glenn" I smiled and he turned to walk away when I felt the need to let him know something else "Glenn, be careful in town. There is a group of bad people near here; Sofia and I almost had a run in with them when they were headed into town." He looked somewhat surprised as he nodded and turned to leave.

Choices, Choices… who to go see first. Daryl was closer to the woods I needed to walk back through to get back to the house with the rest of my stuff so Sofia it was. Groaning at the thought of being back in that house with more people, I put on what I hoped still looked like my brave face and headed back toward the farmhouse. I hesitated at the door… do I knock or what.. it seemed like such a stupid thing to do now but I didn't want to be rude… ugh overthinking this shit. I just went ahead and opened the door and called out for Sofia. She once again came running and grabbed my hand blabbing about meeting her friend Carl. She dragged me off into a room with a boy that seemed her age lying in a bed, when a woman with brunette hair stepped in front of us, halting our progress. "Sofia, I think it's time for Carl to get a little rest" she said, and then turned to me with a hesitant look "I'm Lorie, Rick's wife" she said, not holding out her hand or smiling. Well then, I got the message clearly, you're not welcome here it said in bright flashing neon lights. I nodded to her and told her my name, then asked Sofia to join me on the porch. "I need to go get my stuff and just wanted to let you know I wasn't running off. You be good Sofia, just because you learned what it takes to survive out there doesn't mean to go looking for trouble ok?" I told her quietly and she nodded. "So you're coming back, you're going to stay here with us?!" she asked excitedly.

Damn… I didn't want to break her spirit but I wasn't about to start lying to her. "I'm not too sure I'm all that welcome here Sofia, but I'll be around at least, somewhat close to you all. If it's ok with your mother then maybe I could come by and see you every once and a while." I said, and as if to prove my point about not being welcome, a blonde woman came up and started screaming at me "Who the hell do you think you are threatening Shane like that? Sofia said you found her, but how do we know this isn't some kind of trick to get to know how many people are in our camp or what we have?! I heard you're going to leave. Who are you going to meet?!" This bitch was pushing my buttons and the sound of her voice was grating on my last nerve; my head already felt like it one of those watermelons with one to many rubber bands on it ready to explode. I turned to face her fully "Well, I'm Bella. And if you didn't notice Shane is a dick. As for meeting people to talk about you all too? Fuck, I can't stand to be around most people. Sofia's the first living person I've spoken with since all this shit went down. And she seems to be one of the few I actually like. So excuse the fuck out of me, but I'm leaving. Sofia, I'll be back to talk to you and your mom eventually. Remember what we talked about." I told her and she nodded with tears in her little eyes and hugged me bye. I turned once more to walk off the porch when I heard "WAIT! I'm …. I'm sorry…" The blonde woman went to go on, but I held up both my one finger salutes without turning back around and continued on to Daryl's tent.

That woman was bipolar or something, screaming at me then saying sorry the next… I didn't have the patience for this type of shit today. I felt like one of those stress toys you squeeze and the eyeballs pop out; the sun was not helping matters. I already couldn't see well do to the swelling and the pressure in my head made my eyes somewhat blurry. Finally coming closer to Daryl's tent, I had some relief from the glaring light as I stepped under some trees. I grabbed one of the antibiotic bags from my pack and could see a booted foot hanging out the tent door. "Daryl, Doc said to take these" I said in a slightly raised voice, tossing the bag in the partially open door then continued to walk into the woods. Maybe he would actually take them if he thought they were from Hershel. At last I was alone again and could feel some of the tension drain from my shoulders. I was really glad that I hadn't seen Shane around or I might not have resisted the urge to put a bullet in his head in my current mood; but then again the sound of a gunshot might just rip my head in two.

Along the way, I had to be extra vigilant due to my vision impairment, thank you Mr. Jackass. I was worried I was going to miss one of the dead coming up on me, or worse, a living person. The throbbing in my head had not subsided either so my hearing wasn't all that up to par. Not to mention the shooting pains in my leg and back... basically I was all fucked up. I had seen a rabbit and tried to shoot an arrow to get it for supper but I missed… I never fucking miss, this is some bull shit. It happened about three different times before I just lost it, "THIS IS BULLSHIT!MOTHERFUCKING FUCKER! DAMN IT YOU SON OF A BITCH… CAN'T HIT SHIT, FUCKING EYES ALL SWELLED UP. FUUUUUCKKKK"…. My smartest move? Negative. I regained control of myself and moved a little faster to get away from that area. I finally arrived back to the house Sofia and I stayed at. After digging out some of the good pain killers Alice left for me and one of those instant ice packs for my face, a dam finally broke. I cried like I did that day I had to kill Edward. I just felt like what Alice wanted me to do was impossible and not to mention my fucking body was hurting. Badly. The little trek across the woods I just did wasn't helping matters. Locking up, I decided to stay here and go to sleep early tonight.

Meanwhile back at the farm, Andrea was feeling terrible for jumping the gun. Literally in one case and metaphorically in another. She had almost shot Daryl that day, then proceeded to scream at some poor girl for something she knew nothing about. When the girl, Bella, turned to hug Sofia bye, she had seen the arrows in the quiver. The same as the one that saved her sister. Guilt ate at her as Bella walked off with her swollen face while flipping her the bird.

So what do you think? Any thoughts or Ideas? It's a little slow going, trying to get everything set up. I'm still not a big fan of writing dialog. Sorry but chapters will take a little longer as my little one just started up schooling at home this past week.