Chapter 12
~Charlotte~
"You still worrying about it?" I turn around to see Andrea asking Lori. Lori looks away from us, where the sound of the gunshot was heard.
"You said so yourself, it was a gunshot."
"We all heard it." Daryl says.
"But, why one? Why one gunshot?" She asks.
Didn't we already go through this?
"Maybe they took down a walker?" Daryl says.
"Please don't patronise me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane. They'd do it quietly."
"Shouldn't of they caught up with us now?" I ask, looking at Daryl to see if he has an answer.
"There is nothing we can do about it, anyway." Daryl replies. "Can't run around these woods chasing echoes."
"So want do we do?" Lori asks.
"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway."
"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV." Andrea says and with that we keep on moving, but stop once more when Andrea speaks to Carol. "I'm sorry for what you are going through. I know how you feel."
"I suppose you do. Thank you." Carol says. "The thought of her, out here by herself. It's the not knowing that is killing me." And with that I instantly think of my parents. In another country, probably dead. "I just keep hoping and praying that she won't wind up like Amy."
When Carol said that, Andrea looks hurt, Carol instantly realises what she has said. "Oh, God! That's the worst thing I ever said. " Andrea shakes her head smiling, in a forgiving way.
"We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth." Andrea tells her, and it is true.
"I'll tell you what it's worth. Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hoping and 're gonna locate that little girl. She's gonna be just fine." Daryl tells Carol. "Am I the only one Zen around here? Good Lord."
And once again we get moving.
"We'll lose the light before too long. I think we should call it." Daryl tells us as we slow to a stop.
"Let's head back." Lori says.
"We'll pick it up again tomorrow?" Carol asks, looking at Lori.
"Yeah, we'll find her tomorrow." Lori replies.
I jump at the sound of Daryl whistle to get our attention. He starts walking back and one by one we follow him. I walk next to Glenn as we retrace our steps back to the highway.
"You think that they are back at the RV?" Glenn asks me.
"Yeah, they probably are. I hope T-Dog is okay though. He wasn't in good shape. That cut on his arm isn't looking too good." I tell him. "And we don't have any medicine for him."
"Maybe they would some when we were gone."
"Hopefully. Otherwise he is gonna be in a whole lot of pain."
"How much farther?" Andrea asks Daryl.
"Not much." he replies. "Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies."
"Too bad we're not crows." Andrea distances herself a little bit from the group and got caught on a spiders web. "Ew." she says, swishing her arms around to get it off. She gets it off and steps over a log. "As the crow flies, my ass."
I giggle at what she says, but then I hear the sound of growling and screams.
"Andrea?"
Everyone runs to the sound of the screams and snarls to see Andrea stabbing the walker in the stomach, before falling on the ground with a thump. She crawls back to avoid the walker, kicking her legs so it doesn't get her. Before we get to her, we see a horse riding up and sitting on the horse is a girl in her early to mid twenties. The woman hits the walker in the head with a baseball bat.
"Lori? Lori Grimes?" She looks at ask. I look at Lori, wondering what the hell is going on.
"I'm Lori."
"Rick sent me. You got to come now." The woman said.
"What?"
"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot." She says. In that moment my jaw drops "He's still alive but you gotta come now." Lori stares at her in disbelief. "Rick needs you! Just, come!"
Lori nods her head and takes off her rucksack.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse!" Daryl tells her, but Lori is already on the horse.
"Rick said you had others on the highway, the big traffic snarl?" she asks looking at Glenn.
"Uh-huh."
"Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. Name's Greene." she then urges the horse and rides away from us.
I feel like I am in a daze. "What the heck?" I murmur.
We all hear the moans from the walker that is still alive and moving. We all look at it as it sits up.
"Shut up." Daryl says, and shoots a crossbow bolt into its head, making me jump again.
We all made our way back to the highway in complete silence.
"Shot? What do you mean shot?" Dale asks as we near the RV.
I don't know, Dale. I wasn't there. All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori." Glenn replies.
"You let her?" he asks, shocked by our actions.
"Climbed down out of my asshole, man. Rick sent her, she knew Lori's name and Carl's." Daryl tells him.
"I heard screams. Was that you?" Dale asks, looking at Andrea.
Andrea doesn't answer and walks past Dale.
"She got attacked by a walker. It was a close call." Glenn answers for Andrea.
"Yeah, luckily the girl got the walker off Andrea. Whacked it in the head with her baseball bat." I add.
"Andrea, are you all right?" Dale calls out to her.
Before Andrea entered the RV she turns around to Dale and shakes her head. She doesn't say anything, just gets in the RV and slams the door shut behind her.
"How's T-Dog?" I ask Dale.
"His temperature is hot and his veins are discoloured. He probably has blood poisoning. He found some ibuprofen. That's it."
"God. We need to get that fixed." I say under my breath. "Today has become a very eventful day." I say.
"You can say that again." Glenn chuckles.
"I'm gonna talk to Andrea." I say and head into the RV, hopefully I won't regret my choices.
I open up the RV to see Andrea sitting down at the table, looking down at her hands.
"Dale, please go-"
"It's not Dale." I say. I go to sit down across her at the table. "Is everything all right?" I ask her.
"No. I've just had enough of...of everything. Mainly Dale, he keeps trying to make it better, but he just makes it worse, Charlie. You wanted to end it at the CDC, he stopped us from doing that."
"Yeah, but in a sense. I'm kinda grateful. At the time I was so...pissed off at him. But now, I am thankful. My mom and dad went on holiday. Left me alone. They never came back because this happened. I dunno if they are alive or dead or walkers. I wanted to end it then because I would of been there with them. Sometimes I wish that heaven is real and in that moment I did, because if I were to kill myself I would be with them. But if I were to be with them, they would be disappointed in me with the way I died. Don't be too hard on Dale okay. At first Glenn was like that with me, worried that I would kill myself at any moment. I promised that I wouldn't and I think he believes me. But inside I know that he is still disappointed."
She stares at me, not knowing what to say.
"I'm so sorry about Amy. I truly am." My voice starts to shake as the tears threaten to fall. "But I know that if you were to die at the CDC, she would be disappointed too." With that I have no idea what else I should say, so I get up from the seat and leave the RV, not looking back at Andrea.
The tears do not fall, but they are close to. I clear my throat and look around. Today has been a long day.
"I won't do it. We can't just leave." I hear Carol say. As I get closer to the group I question what is going on.
"The group is split. We're scatted and weak." Dale tells us. "We need to meet up with them at the house."
"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol questions. "It could happen."
"I agree with Carol. We should stay." I tell everyone.
"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Andrea says.
I nod in agreement.
"Okay. We gotta plan for this." Daryl says. "I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up the stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hod here tonight, stay with the RV."
"If the RV is staying then I am too." Dale says.
"Thank you, both of you."
"I'm in." Andrea says.
"Well, I want to as well." I add
"Yeah, if you lot are staying then I-"
"Not you two. You two are going. Take Carol's Cherokee."
"Why?" I ask him, confused as to why us two have to go.
"You two have to find the farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most important, you two have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to the farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not, T-Dog will die, no joke." I look away from Dale and see Daryl head over to his bike, yank a rag off the bike and pull out something from the bag.
"Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle." He says, throwing the rag at Dale who manages to catch the rag.
"Why'd you wait till now to say anything. Got my brother's stash."
"Of course your brother has drugs." I say under my breath. He doesn't hear, which I am thankful for. I look at the drugs. There's a ton in the bag.
"Crystal, X... Don't need that. Got some kickass painkillers." he says as he chucks them at Glenn. "Doxycycline." he says, handing them to Dale. "Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion." he says and walks off.
"Never thought I'd say this, but thank you Merle." I say. That makes a couple people laugh and therefore makes me smile.
The ride in the car wasn't that long. Glenn drove, I sat in the passenger seat and T-Dog laid in the back of the car.
"Does the mailbox say Greene?" Glenn asks me. It's hard to see because it is so dark, so I stick my head out the window.
"Yeah, it's this one." I say and get out the car to open the gate. The car drives forward then stops to wait for me to get in. I close the gate and jump in the car and we drive down the road to the farm. I drive past the fields and the large barn, making our way to the house. Glenn turns off the engine and we all jump out.
"You okay walking?" I ask T.
"Yeah. I'm good."
"Okay." I whisper and the three of us walk to the house. The lights are on inside, but we can't see people moving. Before we even step on the porch Glenn starts to speak.
"So do we ring the bell? I mean, it looks like people live here." he says.
"We're past this kind of stuff, aren't we?" T-Dog asks. "Having to be considerate."
We all get on the porch and I am once again startled. "Did you close the gate on the way in?"
"Hi. Yes, we closed it." Glenn speaks.
"I did the latch and everything." I add.
"Well, nice to see you again." Glenn says. "We met before briefly."
"Look, we came to help." T-Dog says. The woman gets up from the chair and walks up to us. "There anything we can do?" T-Dog starts growling, the pain of his arm is getting worse. He is a sweating mess.
"It's not a bite." I tell her as she looks at the bandage on his arm.
"I cut myself pretty badly."
"We'll have it looked at. I'll tell them you're here."
"We have some painkillers and antibiotics." Glenn says. "I already gave him some. If Carl needs any."
"Come on inside. I'll make you something to eat." she tells us as she opens the door. She lets us in and she gets in behind us. "Want me to take you to him?" She asks as she closes the door behind her.
"Yes, please." I whisper. My hands are shaking, I'm completely worried about Carl.
"He's in through that door." She whispers, pointing to a closed door. I go first, opening the door slowly. I immediately see the little boy, asleep with a man next to him, taking care of him. I then see Lori and Rick on the other side of the bed, sad looks on their faces.
Glenn takes off his hat, "Hey."
"Hey." Rick says. The old man sitting next to him gets up from his seat and looks at us.
"We're here, okay?" Glenn tells Lori and Rick.
"Thank you." Lori whisper, not making eye-contact with us.
"Whatever you need." T-Dog murmurs. My legs feel weak and I feel empty at the sight of the young boy.
Glenn, T-Dog and I leave the room in silence.
When we get to the kitchen I stop and stand in the doorway. I put my hand close to my mouth to muffle the sobs. I turn away from the men and the woman so they don't see me. The tears fall down my cheeks and roll down my hands. To see Carl there, injured and with a possibility of dying. It just hurts to see him like that.
I wipe the tears with my thumb and face the kitchen.
"I haven't introduced myself. I'm Maggie." The woman says.
"Glenn."
"T-Dog."
"Charlotte."
"Nice to meet all of you. You're probably hungry, but it's probably best if we get that arm sorted out." Maggie says, staring at T-Dogs forearm.
"Patricia!" She calls out. A couple seconds pass and a middle aged woman with blonde hair appears next to me. I move out the way so she can walk through the door.
"D'you reckon that you can patch up his arm?"
"You got here right in time." Patricia says as she sows up the deep cut. Maggie holds onto his arm so he doesn't move and I stand watching next to Glenn. "This couldn't go untreated much longer. 'Merle Dixon'. Is that your friend with the antibiotics?"
"No, ma'am." Glenn tells her. "Merle is no longer with us. Daryl gave us those, his brother."
"Not sure I'd call him a friend." T-Dog says shakily.
"He is today." Patricia says. "This doxycycline might have just saved your life. You know what Merle was taking it for?"
"The clap." Glenn says, Maggie looks up at him. "Um... Venereal disease. That's what Daryl said."
"I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing to ever happen to you."
"I'm really not trying to think about that." T-Dog mutters.
Glenn then leaves the room and heads out of the house. I watch him as he goes, not too sure why he is leaving.
"I should be okay for now, Maggie." Patricia says as she finishes up sewing. Maggie nods and leaves the room.
"Is there anything that I can get you T?" I ask him.
"Water would be nice."
I reach around into my rucksack and pull out a bottle of water. "Here." I say, unscrewing the lid and handing it to him. With his uninjured arm he takes the bottle and drinks from it.
"Thanks." he says as he stops drinking.
"So, they can't do the operation without those pieces of equipment?" I ask Maggie.
"Apparently then can, but the chances of Carl surviving is very slim." she tells me.
We both sit on the sofa, talking to each other about different things, getting to know each other.
"He's so young." I whisper. "He had a friend. A girl in our group called Sophia. She got chased into the woods by walkers and she's lost in there. We don't know if she is dead or alive. Their so young."
"They'll both make it. If you keep on looking for the girl, you'll find her. And as long as we get the equipment, Carl will make it."
"Okay." I whisper.
At that moment, Hershel, Maggie's father opens the door of the room where Carl is sleeping.
"Patricia, we're gonna do the surgery now." he says. Now?
At that moment Patricia and Hershel wheel in a metal table into the room.
"But...Shane hasn't come back." I whisper to Maggie.
"Rick and Lori decided to do it now." Hershel says, he must've heard me. Patricia runs out of the room and grabs a lamp. I slowly walk to the doorway to see what is going on inside.
"Rick, Lori, you may want to step out." Hershel tells the parents, who are hugging next to the bed. Carl now lays on the metal table that they brought in. I begin to back out the room when I hear the rumble of an engine approaching the house. I look out the window and see a blue car driving towards the house.
"Oh, God." I hear Rick whisper from the other room. I look inside the room to see him looking outside the window.
"You stay here with him." Hershel tells Patricia.
Rick, Lori, Hershel, Glenn, T-Dog, Maggie and I run out the house to see Shane coming out of the drivers seat of the car.
"Carl?" he asks, walking up to the house, wondering if the boy is okay.
"There's still a chance." Rick tells him. We get closer to Shane and he takes off the rucksack full of the supplies.
"Otis?" Hershel asks. He was the man who shot Carl, who went out to get the supplies with Shane. It is obvious that he didn't make it. Shane looks at Hershel with sadness then looks at the ground.
"No." he mumbles, shaking his head.
"We say nothing to Patricia." Hershel tells us after a second of silence passes as we take in the knowledge that the man didn't make it back. "Not till after. I need her."
Hershel heads back into the house and everyone else is still outside. I look at Rick who is hugging Shane, thankful that he brought back the equipment needed to keep Carl alive.
"They kept blocking us at every turn. We had nothing left. We were down to ten rounds. Then he said... He said that he'd cover me and that I should keep going. So that's what I did. I just... I kept going. But I... I looked back and he... just... I tried."
"He wanted to make it right." Rick tells the distressed Shane, putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder.
I look to Maggie who is crying over the loss. Lori is by her side, comforting her.
We all slowly make our way back to the house. I'm the first to get in and sit down on the sofa. Everyone comes in slowly. The last to come in is Shane. As he comes in I look at him. He no longer looks sad. He looks around the house and his eyes set on me. He looks angry. No longer upset or shaken, but his eyes just have pure anger in them. And at that moment, I know what he's done.