Waking up in an unfamiliar place was something that Nicole grew accustomed to. Everywhere that she went was a new, strange place that had yet to be overrun with the monsters that now plagued the world. The past few months, she never settled down for more than a few weeks. She wanted safety. Security. A safe haven.
The cold tile of the Dollar General was now warm from the group's body heat. Nicole sat up, noticing the rest of the group standing near the door, whispering about what they were going to do.
With a sigh, Nicole grabbed her bat and pushed herself up. She steadied herself before stepping over the bound boy that was still sleeping. Nicole made her way over to the men.
"What are we going to do with another mouth to feed?" Glenn inquired, ignoring the hand that Nicole placed on his shoulder. "We have too many as it is."
Nicole stood silent, wiping the sleep from her eyes. "We'll figure it out with the others. We need to be getting back home," Rick shot out before storming over to the sleeping boy. He grabbed his arm and yanked him awake.
The sudden action scared Randel half to death. Rick pulled a piece of fabric from his jean pocket and tired it around the boy's eyes. "Let's go home."
Everyone dispersed to the red vehicle and jumped in. Rick pulled out of the parking lot and began racing home.
On the way, Nicole got nervous. She'd still have to face everyone after what she did. She got caught in her thoughts about how everyone would react to her coming back. It gave her anxiety thinking about it.
Nicole didn't even realize where they were when the pulled up to the Greene residence. She slowly got out, seeing all of the people she had grown to love. Nicole spotted one little face in the crowd and it began racing. "Mama!" Cheyanne shouted as she raced to her mother, enveloping her into the biggest hug.
Nicole started to sob as she crouched to the ground, holding her little girl. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect Sophia. I'm sorry that I broke my promise to come back. I'm so sorry," she cried into her little girl's shirt.
Cheyanne separated from her mother. Chey wiped her mother's tears. "You protected her as best as you could. And you didn't break your promise. You're here now," she whispered, before hugging her mother again. Nicole glanced up, seeing Dale standing there with a sympathetic smile on his face.
Nicole grinned and mouthed a thank you to the older man. He simply nodded. Nicole removed herself from her girl and stood up. Her eyes met Daryl's but she immediately looked away. "Nicole, come inside. Nadia, Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery," Hershel commanded as he stormed into the house.
Nicole sighed and pursued the older man into the house. Cheyanne wasted no time following her mother. Nicole entered the house and sat down at the kitchen table, where Hershel was setting up supplies to fix her wound.
With a little trouble, Nicole tugged her shirt from her body. She allowed Hershel to pull the dental floss from both sides of her wound and restitch it with actual sutures. It didn't take long for Cheyanne to cringe after witnessing a needle weave through her mother.
"Does that hurt?" the little girl asked.
"Nah, not as bad as the actual bullet did." Nicole shot her daughter a smirk.
Cheyanne beamed softly, watching Hershel. "Can--" she nervously choked. "Can you teach me to do that one day?" Nicole glanced over to her little girl in shock. She then looked up to Hershel, who was focused on finishing his job.
"Tell you what," Hershel began. "You grow a little more, and I teach you everything I know." Cheyanne nodded frantically.
"I need to grow fast," she announced to her mother. Nicole chuckled as Hershel snipped the final stitch.
"All done." Hershel put a bandage on Nicole's wound and began packing up his necessities to perform on Randall. Nicole began sliding back on her shirt as the door creaked open.
Daryl stood there, observing her wordlessly. Nicole glanced over to him and then rolled her eyes. "Got something to say, Dixon, just say it." Nicole stood up shakily, trying to not put to much pressure on her ankle.
"I'm sorry," Daryl grunted as he adjusted his crossbow. Cheyanne glanced up to the man who took care of her the past few days.
Nicole's head darted up to meet his eyes. "What?"
"I said I'm sorry," Daryl spoke louder as he stepped closer to the blonde woman. "For all the shit I said before. I didn't mean it."
Nicole nodded, glimpsing down to her hands as she picked at her nails. Nicole noticed the dried blood underneath them. "It's okay," Nicole whispered. "I deserved it."
"No, you didn't," Daryl didn't hesitate to say as he stepped closer. "I'm just a jackass."
Nicole chuckled, "You're telling me." A tear slipped from Nicole's right eye.
Daryl got nervous when he took his hand and placed his hand on Nicole's cheek. She watched him as he wiped away that stray tear. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Nicole murmured, meeting his blue eyes with her green. Nicole leaned up, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for taking care of Cheyanne while I was gone."
Daryl removed his hand from her entirely. "It's what we do. Plus," Daryl began as he peered down to the nine-year-old. "This thing wouldn't leave me alone."
Cheyanne giggled and punched him in the leg. "Liar! More like the other way around," she snitched.
Daryl looked taken aback before a small smile appeared on his face. Nicole had never seen that; it was a good look on him. She thought he had a cute smile.
After about a half hour, Rick and the rest of the group flooded into the kitchen. Nicole hadn't moved all that far. Everyone sat down, eyeballing Rick.
"What the hell are we going to do with him?" Shane spat out to his partner. He was livid that Rick even brought him here.
"I don't know," Rick answered in the simplest tone.
"Jesus, man, why'd you even bring him here?" Shane quipped out as he leaned against the window.
"We couldn't just leave him behind. He would've bled out if he lived that long," Rick explained. He glimpsed over to Nicole, who was leaning against the wall behind Glenn.
Nicole sighed, "Don't blame Rick. It was my call, not his." She raked her hair back as she met Shane's eyes.
"Great, so we got the ex-druggie making our decisions now, is that it?" Shane questioned rhetorically while glaring at Rick.
"Yeah, who gave her the right to act on her own accord after she got my daughter killed?" Carol asked demandingly. She sent a death glare to Nicole. "Karma needs to hurry up and bite you back."
"Shut up, Carol. Just shut the hell up," Nadia cracked to the bitter woman. Nicole mentally thanked her. "And don't you dare say something like that."
Even though Nicole felt like she got punched in the gut, she was grateful for Nadia's support. "This isn't a matter of who I was. This isn't a matter of what happened with Sophia," Nicole started as she crossed her arms across her chest. "This is a matter of what we are going to do with the crippled, 17-year-old in the shed."
"I agree. What are we going to do with him?" Andrea piped up. Nicole watched as Shane reverted his eyes to her.
Nicole detected footsteps as Hershel walked around the corner. "I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage," Hershel stated as he wiped off his hands. "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, send him on his way." Rick glanced around the group, waiting for objections. Nicole saw Daryl enter the room. He shot her a small smile, which she returned.
"Isn't that the same thing as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea questioned.
"He'll have a fighting chance," Rick responded. Nicole watched as Daryl leaned against the doorframe he had just walked through.
"Just gonna let him go?" Shane suddenly asked. "He knows where we are."
"That's where you're wrong. He was blinded the whole way here. He's not a threat, Shane." Nicole didn't hesitate to speak up in order to support Rick.
"Not a threat. How many of them were there?" Shane asked in a sarcastic tone. "You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they ain't gonna come looking?"
"They left him for dead," Rick defended himself and Nicole. "No one is looking."
"We should still post a guard," T-Dog expressed his opinion after listening in silence. Nicole wondered if he was still mad at her.
"He's out cold right now, will be for hours," Hershel proclaimed.
"You know what?" Shane began. Nicole got ready to say something, but Shane continued. "I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." Shane began to storm away. "Look at this folks -- we back in fantasyland."
"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet," Hershel raised his voice, following the ticked man. "Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all -- this is my farm. Now, I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor -- keep your mouth shut," Hershel spat out. Nicole was shocked by how Hershel seemed to snap on him.
To Nicole, Shane looked offended by Hershel's statement. She knew that he couldn't keep his trap shut for more than a split second. Maybe keeping it long term was too big of a task for him. Rick looked over to Nicole, before walking closer to Hershel. "We're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off."
Everyone started to disperse. Nicole watched as Carol skipped after Daryl out the door. Nicole breathed and thrust herself up from the chair. It took her a second to steady her balance, but she felt a gentle hand on her back. "You okay, Nikki?" Carl's voice inquired as he walked around her.
Nicole gave him a soft smile. "Yeah, buddy. I'm okay." Her green eyes met his blue ones. She couldn't fathom how much they looked like his fathers.
"Ya know," Carl started with a smile on his face, "Now, you, dad and I have all been shot." Carl had a grin on his face. "We should come up with a group name for the three of us."
Nicole giggled, raking her hair back from her eyes. "We'll totally have to think of one." Nicole and Carl shared a smile before she ruffled his hair. Carl left with a smile on his face; Cheyanne scampered after him. With a sigh, Nicole walked out of the house.
She knew that she probably shouldn't have walking around as much as she was, but right then, she wanted to sleep. Nicole limped toward the small, dormant campfire that was surrounded by the tents of her family.
Nicole sat down in the blue camping chair that was near the edge of the campfire. Her tired eyes stared down at the ashy, charred logs that piled upon one another. It was quiet. Nicole could hear the murmurs of Glenn and Maggie in the distance and hear the sounds of Cheyanne and Carl playing in the distance.
"What're you doing?"
Nicole flinched at the sudden feminine voice behind her. Nicole tugged at the stitches embedding the skin of her shoulder from the action. She turned and saw her best friend standing behind her, hands in her front pockets. "Oh, hey, Lor."
Lori offered a smile to her friend and maneuvered in front of her. Lori crouched in front of the woman. "You know that it was really stupid going with Hershel like that." Lori's hazel eyes peered at Nicole. The blonde almost felt uncomfortable under her friends gaze.
"I know. I just--" Nicole sighed, glancing down to her hands and picked at her broken nails. "I couldn't take it. The hatred." Nicole knew now that they were grieving for the loss of innocent hope. Nicole knew that it was her fault that Sophia was gone. She wished that she had the strength to persevere through the anger the group radiated toward her. She wished that she could bring Sophia back.
"Nikki," Lori whispered before embracing her best friend in a soft hug. "We could never hate you."
Nicole would have believed Lori if only she didn't hate herself.
hey y'all! how'd you like this chapter? do you think that the group should be more lenient with nicole or do you think that they shouldn't? anyway, after this chapter there is only eight more chapters (which is crazy) and shits gonna start happening :) do you think you're ready for it? anyway, thank you so much for reading babies! i love you all so much. anyway, i'll see you guys on monday! be safe this weekend, make good choices, especially if you're celebrating labor day :) love y'all peaceee -erin