"How are you guys holding up?" Penny questioned after the passing silence. Otis paused, eyes running past the three beings tied to the chairs.
"I'm alright, I accepted it a while back…" Otis trailed, taking a glance at the closed barn doors. "Everyone's letting it sink in." Penny nodded, understanding full well.
"Is Beth alright?" Jay piped in, nodding his head towards the door. "You mentioned she was in trouble."
"She fell into shock, Rick and Glenn are going off to find Hershel." Otis answered.
"Can Penny take a look at her?" CeeCee asked. Otis paused once again, his mind wandering through what could happen if he let the 'prisoners' out, before nodding.
"That would be great if you could?" Otis turned to Penny with a small smile, accepting the nod they gave him in response.
The first thing Penny did after a quick look over on Beth, was moved the pillows from behind Beth's head to placing them beneath her feet. "Do not elevate her head, keep her feet up no more than a foot high. Wait for the water to warm up a bit and place the rag on her head. Keep things warm, something too cold will make it worse."
"Were you a doctor?" Otis asked, watching Penny work. "You seem to know what your doing."
"Not exactly, but I did do some medical school and worked at a nursing home." Penny mused, stepping away from Beth. "If she starts vomiting or blood leaks from her mouth, lay her on her side. There isn't much you can do. Someone should always keep an eye on her." Penny finished, joining to other two.
"Thank you, really." Otis thanked, offering them a smile. He pointed over to the bathroom before continuing. "You should take a look at Jay in there, before you guys have to go. The others won't let you leave so easily, especially Shane."
"Thank you, we appreciate all that you're doing." Penny responded.
"You guys saved my life, even Sophia's. Of course I won't leave you tied in there." Otis nodded. "Now you should hurry before the others notice the barn is empty, in the meantime I'll grab your stuff from the other room."
"I'm dyingggg." Jay groaned from his spot on Cee's back. His ribs yelling at him in protest from their spot pressed against CeeCee's shoulders.
"I know, we all know. You've been saying that for the past hour." Cee snarked back, keeping a steady pace with Penny. "How long until he actually dies?"
"If the rib is pressed into the lungs, about ten minutes." Penny responded, eyes roaming the forest surrounding the road they were on. "We can take a break on the side, before Jay's whining attracts Marshmallows."
At Penny's words, Cee made her way to the nearest tree and slid Jay down it before releasing him a few inches off the course, Jay let out an exaggerated whine.
"Are you trying to give me a punctured lung?" Jay hissed, wrapping his arms around his injured torso. Earning a shrug from his sister.
"No, but if you want me to it can be arranged." Cee responded, earning a sigh from the duo's pink haired companion.
"You can't kill Jay yet." Penny cut in, taking a seat near the injured teen. "Otherwise the bandages I use would be wasted."
"Good to see how much you love me Penny." Jay chirped back, sarcasm dripping in his words.
"The more breaks we take, the more likely we'll get caught in the dark with no shelter." Penny warned Jay before he could speak. The trio had been walking for a while since Jay's last break.
"It's not my fault that Cee's shoulders keep jabbing me in the ribs." Jay groaned, hissing slightly when a step jolted his position. " In an apocalypse I'd like not to die from a bleeding lung, thank you very much."
"Maybe if you didn't let shane get in a few punches, this wouldn't be happening." Cee resplied, her voice monotone.
"Well, you're in luck because I see a barn." Penny cut in before the siblings could squabble. "We can rest in there for a few days and give he's ribs some time to heal."
A quick scope of the broken down barn proved it was empty, filled only of hay and empty stalls. Jay was placed on the second floor landing, falling asleep almost instantly. CeeCee worked on building a small fireplace while Penny took stock of their supplies.
"We have maybe two weeks of food and three of water if we really stretch it out." Penny informed, zipping up their baby blue bag. "We can stay maybe a week, but after that we need to find a ride and a town."
"That shouldn't be too hard." Cee responded, eyes glancing to the ladder leading to the second story. "He's ribs heal faster, even if they break easier. It won't be long before all that's left is bruising."
"Do you think we'll run into Rick again?" Penny asked, their voice revealing nothing but Cee knew them too well to understand.
"No." She bluntly spoke, eyes landing on the formed fire pit before her. "But I'm sure Sophia and Otis will be fine."
Those two had been the only ones that truly gave the trio the human decency that was now lacking in this apocalyptic world. "We'll stay five days. Then we head to the town about thirty miles east."
AN: This is one of my more shorter chapters, but its more to get the plot moving. I would kinda call it a filler but not quite.
So it's been a while, for all my stories. I got sudden motivation and wrote chapters for my current books. I hope y'all like this, let me know what you thought in the reviews!