AN: Where did all my reviewers go? :(
It was beginning to get darker under the winter weather.
A light snow descended upon the ground and Daryl stared up at the sky, seeing an ominous looking cloud upon the horizon closing in on them. His eyes narrowed and he looked back down to his level, turning when he heard the four-wheeler getting closer. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his heavy jacket as they began to get cold, following the trail that was already laid out from their constant travel. Daryl looked up, his brown hair flickering against a cold wind that decided to course itself through the compound. T-Dog passed by him on the four-wheeler, his weary eyes looking behind him as the machine pulled the heavy log through the snow. Glenn sat on the back and nodded at Daryl as they passed by, Daryl scoffing in his head at the young Asian man. Daryl at least had the sense to walk all the way back with Carl in tow; he wanted to keep up his fit level.
"Come on. We don't wanna get caught up in that storm that's comin'." Daryl looked back over his shoulder at Carl, who tried to keep up with Daryl the best he could. Carl nodded,
"Alright." Carl tossed a glance up at the sky, seeing the dark cloud looming on the horizon and only getting closer by the minute. Jumping with step, he jogged up to Daryl and eyed the crossbow on his back, stumbling along through the deep snow. Carl then looked forward, seeing the large wall surrounding the house just through a small thicket of trees. On top of stepping through the deep powder, Carl's short legs now had to step over logs, through bushes, and keep his entire body upright from tripping.
The two slid through the gate of the back of the wall, Daryl eyeing Glenn and T-Dog as they untied the log in front of the shed. His eyes made sure the gate was closed, and upon seeing it secure, he turned back to the task at hand. Stepping up next to the others, Daryl rested his boot on one of the many logs they towed in and glared down at them, "This should be enough for a while."
"You sure? We can still go get a few more. I saw a couple good ones out there." T-Dog asked, gripping the chainsaw in his hand and staring over at Daryl. Daryl nodded back at him,
"Yeah. We'll wait till tomorrow or somethin'... them clouds up there don't look too promisin'." Daryl nodded up towards the sky and Glenn and T-Dog quickly took notice to them, not noticing them before, "Let's just finish up what we already cut and get it into the shed."
"Sounds good to me... I'm so hungry." Glenn wiped his gloved hand across his forehead tiredly. The four had been working for a few hours nonstop on gathering wood and only managing to break apart two smaller trees for wood. Glenn leaned down and began grabbing armfuls of wood, as well as T-Dog, moving into the shed and stacking them accordingly.
Daryl grabbed the double headed axe and took to the small, uncut pile left next to the stack of wood where Glenn and T-Dog were gathering. He grabbed a large round of wood and placed it on another, taking a deep breath and stepping back. Gripping the axe handle with his hands, he reached the axe over his shoulder and stared at the point in which it would hit. With an abrasive force, his thick arms swung the axe down and smashed it into the wood. It barely split through and Daryl wiggled the head of the axe out, readying to do it all over again. He quickly repeated the process and swung with nothing but bluntness, the axe cracking the wood in two and watching it drop off the round, wood foundation.
Carl stood a bit uncomfortably on the sidelines, watching Daryl swing with manliness at the wood and splitting it without a hitch. He kicked his foot into the snow, watching the powder raise up into the air upon feeling his force. The young man then looked up at the sky, feeling the cold kissed of the light snow on his red cheeks. He could see it starting to get a bit heavier and the larger snowflakes cling to the edge of his sheriff's hat. "Hey Carl..." Carl was quickly knocked from his thoughts and looked to Daryl, seeing his chest heaving with breaths in slight fatigue at swinging down at the wood,
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you take some of this wood and start stackin' it inside." Daryl then reached into his back pocket and tossed Carl an item, Carl snatching it swiftly, "Take that and start a fire for everyone. Since we're runnin' low on fuel for the generators right now, and your old man ain't back yet with some more, you should get the house nice and warm for tonight. Looks like it's gonna storm pretty good tonight."
"Alright, I will!" Carl said with confidence as he gripped Daryl's silver zippo tightly in his hand. Carl then tucked the lighter in his jacket pocket and reached down, grabbing up some wood in his arms and retreating towards the house.
"Where do you think those two are? It's getting kind of dark." Glenn asked once Carl was clear of his voices range, placing his hands on his hips and looking towards the gate. T-Dog looked over at him,
"The snow's pretty thick out there. You gotta imagine Rick's gonna drive slow to avoid crashin' or gettin' stuck." T-Dog gathered up some more wood to stack in the shed, eyeing Glenn as he walked by. Glenn nodded and looked back at him as he passed,
"Yeah... but they left pretty early this morning. You don't think like... something happened, do you?"
"Could be a number of things..." Daryl voiced and Glenn turned his head to look at the rugged countryman. Daryl's blue eyes flickered, "Rick ain't dumb and neither is that girl he's with. She seems smart enough to lead him in the right direction... she saved all our asses at once, right?"
"But she's not bulletproof." T-Dog walked back up and shook his head, "Reagan can be as badass as she wants but that doesn't mean she's perfect."
"I wasn't sayin' she was." Daryl's raspy voice replied to his black counterpart, "Things can happen, will happen, and we can't do nothin' to stop it. Worryin' bout the matter ain't gonna help us none."
"Well... what do we do if they don't come back tonight?" Glenn crossed his arms, asking the question that the other two were also thinking about. Daryl shrugged his shoulders and shook his head,
"Can't exactly go chasin' our tails in the dark."
"We don't even know where they went." T-Dog sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "Would've done us a lot better if they told us which town they were goin' to."
"If they ain't back by tomorrow afternoon, we'll try to go out and look for 'em. But until now, we better batten down the hatches and pray that storm that's comin' don't keep on its fury throughout tomorrow. It'd be a bad idea to try and drive through that."
"Let's hope so. This damn snow isn't makin' our lives any easier." T-Dog grunted and the three turned once they heard the back door to the house open. Carl bounced down the steps and walked towards them to retrieve more wood for the house. Daryl turned back to them,
"Try not to talk bout his dad missin' round him. Let's just get the rest of whatever wood that's out here into the house. We're gonna need it." Daryl reached down and began to pick up a few pieces of wood, cradling them in his long arms. He watched the others mimic his movements and wheeled around on the heel of his boots, walking towards the back door and stepping up the steps to the porch. The door opened for him and Maggie stood on the other side, Daryl nodding in thanks to her as he stepped into the warmth.
The warm air tried to break through Daryl's heavy jacket but only managing to wipe the coldness off his face. Daryl knelt down and tossed the wood on the stack that already sat against the wall, his face turning to the heat of a small fire that Carl seemed to start. Daryl noticed his lighter sat on the brick work around the fireplace and he grabbed it, shoving the warm metal back into his pants pocket. He stood up once the back door opened again and saw the other three stepping in to make their way towards his area.
"Any sign of Rick and Reagan?" Daryl turned to Hershel's voice and stared at his piercing blue eyes under the thick set of white eyebrows. Daryl shook his head,
"No... not yet."
"It's getting dark... they should've been back by now." Lori said from behind the counter of the open kitchen, staring at Daryl. He could see the worry beginning to brew in her big doe eyes, "What if something happened?"
Daryl sighed to himself as he knew he would have to mediate the same conversation all over again. But as he opened his mouth to speak, his keen ears picked up the familiar sound of a car. Everyone seemed to hear it as well and froze, trying to listen to the noise outside. The faint sound of a honking horn blared just outside, Daryl making a beeline towards the garage door and stepped back outside. Glenn, T-Dog, and Hershel were quick behind him as they all saw the headlights of the Hyundai flashing at them. The noisy sound of the horn was slightly alarming, but Rick needed to do it to get their attention. Daryl and T-Dog rushed over towards the rope tied to the gate and they hauled the heavy gate upwards, the SUV immediately speeding through the small opening. Daryl and T-Dog dropped the gate and Daryl's eyes narrowed when he saw the SUV slide to an abrupt stop right next to the garage. As he walked forward, the vehicle shut off and the driver's side door was shoved open, Rick jumping out,
"We though you two weren't gonna make it!" T-Dog called with a smile, but soon dropped it as he saw Rick ignore him and rush around to the passenger's side of the vehicle. Daryl and T-Dog exchanged briefly curious eye contact and jogged back around the side of the Hyundai, watching Rick tear open the passenger's side door.
"Rick, what're you-" Glenn's words stopped short and his eyes widened upon the sight he witnessed.
"Open the door!" Rick demanded with hysteria, "Open the door!"
Rick pulled Reagan's unconscious, bloody body out of the vehicle and carried her into the garage. Her bloody cloak drug against the ground, leaving a light blood trail staining the concrete as Rick made his way towards the door. No one had words to speak and Hershel was quick to jump back through the door to hold it open for Rick just as he made it to the steps. Rick swiveled sideways to avoid bumping Reagan's fragile body on the door frame, his eyes staring down at the bullet hole that slowly had spit up all the blood on her. Stray gasps came from the household as they stepped in,
"What happened!?" Carol asked with shock and stepped out of Rick's way. Rick rushed past her towards the closet bedroom, the group quick behind him and Hershel by his side. Hershel's jacket was instantly tossed to the ground and his fingers rolled the sleeves up on his arms. Rick burst through the door and Lori was quick to pull the heavy sheets off the bed, Rick lying the blonde headed woman down softly.
"She was shot." Rick stepped back and panted, his finger pointing at the masked bullet hole under all the black fabric, "In the chest."
"How long ago?" Hershel pulled back the fabric, his fingers already bloody from touching her clothes, "Maggie! Get me my bag!" He called to his daughter and Maggie disappeared from the scene to retrieve her father's medical bag. Hershel then looked back up to Rick, "How long ago did she receive this wound!?"
"Almost an hour ago I... I don't know." Rick breathed, his voice clearly tired and shaken, "She was shot." Lori put a hand on his shoulder,
"Honey... take a deep breath. You should go get cleaned up..." Lori took a look at his dirty appearance, observing his bloody attire, "You've got blood all over you."
"I..."
"We'll take care of her." Lori nodded and looked over at everyone crowding the doorway, "You should all head back to the living room so we can take care of this."
"We'll update you as soon as we can." Hershel said over his shoulder just as Maggie returned with his bag of medical supplies. Carol began to push everyone out,
"Come on everyone. I'll go make us all some dinner." Carol bribed and hurried everyone away, Lori placing her hand on Rick's cheek, standing in front of him to block his gaze from Reagan,
"Rick... go. There's nothing you can do right now." Rick only stared into his wife's blue eyes, their gazes locking onto each other's for a few moments. Finally, Rick nodded and pulled himself from Lori's hand, turning and shutting the door behind him as he left the room.
"She's lost a lot of blood." Maggie said as she and Beth took the layers of clothing from Hershel as he peeled them off Reagan's body.
"I'll go put them in the bathroom for washin'." Beth volunteered and waded up all the clothes in her hands, careful not to get any blood on her own. Lori opened the door for Beth and closed it behind the young girl, keeping a close eye on the wound staring back at her.
Finally, Hershel got down to her grey t-shirt and his lips drew into a thin line under his thick beard. The shirt suffered the most of the bloods reign, and without bothering to try to get it off her, Hershel ripped the thin fabric and rested the shambles next to her. Hershel eyed the scar on her right sight from the shotgun blast she told them about and then moved to the wound that almost matched the other side. "A high caliber bullet." Hershel said as he stared at the large bullet hole in her chest, seeing the blood already trying to clot around the wound, "It's a wonder how it didn't pierce her heart."
"What should we do?" Maggie asked her older father, hearing the door open and seeing her little sister reentering the room. Hershel shook his head and directed his daughters,
"Grab her arm, both of you, and lift her up some." Maggie and Beth took Reagan's arm, careful not to cause any more damage. The two lifted Reagan softly and Hershel ducked down, taking a look at her back, "The bullet went completely through... that's somewhat good." Maggie and Beth let Reagan back down and Hershel moved Reagan's bra strap down her shoulder to move it out of the way, "I'm gonna try to find the blood vessel that's been damaged. I'll have to work quickly to avoid any more bloodshed if I'm gonna save her life. It's a miracle she's survived this long."
"I'll go get you some warm water and a cloth." Lori nodded at him and Hershel turned back to Reagan, grabbing his bag and pulling out a rolled up cloth of medical equipment they had found in an ambulance a while back.
Lori shut the door behind her and noticed a few eyes were on her, wanting to know everything about the situation. Lori walked further into the room, letting out a sigh and shaking her head, "It's not looking good... she's lost a lot of blood. But Hershel is going to do the best he can to save her."
"What happened? Do you know?" Glenn asked a bit concerned about Reagan. She may have been somewhat of a stranger to them, but she was still part of the group.
"She was shot." Rick said from across the room as he reentered the house through the garage door. Everyone turned to see bags hanging from his shoulders and hands as he set down Reagan's scythe against the wall. Rick dropped a few bags to the ground, except Reagan's, "Men raided the town we were in and they attacked us. They shot her in cold blood."
"Is there anything we can do?" Carol asked and Lori shook her head at the woman,
"Just sit back and wait for the outcome. The only person that can help her now is Hershel." Lori noticed Rick walked past her towards the back of the room, setting the backpack down on a small table in the corner. Lori was quick to pursue after him, seeing his shoulders tight and tense, "Are you alright?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and observing the bruises already forming on his face. He nodded,
"I'm fine." He said plainly and opened the backpack, pulling out pill bottles upon pill bottles. Lori swallowed a hard lump,
"You're acting pretty upset about the situation." Lori knitted her eyebrows and Rick lifted his head with a huff, staring into his wife's eyes,
"She saved my life." Rick stared at her hard and Lori's jaw tightened sternly, "Two men jumped me, beat me down, and pointed my own gun at my head. Reagan came... killed both of them without hesitation. We got back on the main street to get back to the car but there were more men. One of them jumped out from behind a car and Reagan shoved me out of the way to kill him, but he had the quicker trigger finger. She saved my life twice in one day; put her own life on the line to make sure I made it back to you-to everyone. So excuse me if I seem a little upset."
"I'm sorry it's just..." Lori shook her head, "Never mind. I'm just glad you two made it back somewhat alright."
"Yeah, well that might not be the case for her." Rick grabbed up various bottles of antibiotics and pain medications in his arms, "If she dies... it'll be on my hands because I couldn't take care of myself." With that he turned around and disappeared behind the door where Hershel was working. Lori sighed to herself and rubbed her head, staring down at the rest of the pill bottles sitting on the table. She picked up the large bottle and stared at the label with grief.
Prenatal Vitamins.
"God, help her."
Rick walked in, relieved to see that Hershel had somewhat covered up her body to make. With the pills bottles still in his arms, he unleashed them on a desk, Maggie taking a look at them as they fell against the hardwood furniture. She grabbed a few and looked at the labels, only choosing the ones that she knew would work best in the situation. Rick saw Hershel's hands covered in blood, Hershel cutting away the dead skin around the wound with a pair of medical scissors. Rick could feel a twinge of soreness in his own shoulder at the sight of it, seeing it even worse than he expected it to be.
"She's doin' fine." Maggie said as she sat down at the side of the bed, pulling a few pills from the bottles and cupping them in her hands, "Her breathin's a bit shallow, though."
"It's what's expected..." Hershel kept his eyes on the fatal task in front of him. Beth dapped away the stray blood from the cut skin, trying to keep her father's workspace as clean as possible.
"Did you take a look at her ankle yet?" Rick's eyes trailed down to the boot, seeing it cut up and bloody. Hershel glanced at it,
"She's got another wound?"
"I don't know what it was from... but she was limping on it pretty badly. She could barely put weight on it."
"I'll take a look at it." Maggie volunteered and moved towards the bottom of the bed, sitting down next to her legs. Rick watched with anticipation as Maggie pulled the large shoelaces apart, tossing the broken pieces on the floor from the unknown, pierced entry points in the boot. Finally, she loosened it as much as she could and twisted it off, grunting when it refused, "Her ankles pretty swollen... it's hard to get off!"
As the boot slipped off, it bounced against the hardwood floors and Maggie stared at the lesions in the blood sock, wondering what could have caused it. Her fingers grabbed the highest edge of the sock and she pulled it off Reagan's foot, her eyebrows knitting upon the sight of it. Rick stared hard at a few lacerations the bore on Reagan's skin, dry blood staining her flesh, and the swollenness her muscles were experiencing underneath. Maggie looked back at Beth, "Toss me a rag right there."
The door opened and Lori stepped through, a large bowl in her hand. She stopped upon seeing the bloody sight before her on both sides of Reagan, glancing back and forth from her chest to her foot. "She sure got the worse of it, didn't she?" Lori set the bowl of water down next to Maggie, seeing that Hershel had already started stitching up the bullet wound. Maggie dipped the rag into the water and rung a bit of it out, putting it around Reagan's ankle and wiping softly. Both Lori and Rick cringed at the sight, Lori having to look away as flaps of skin from the laceration flipped up every time Maggie passed it with the rag.
Almost two hours had passed.
Hershel wiped his hands with a rag and stood up, staring at his not-too-shabby work. With his hands still a bit bloody, he looked at his two daughters as they gave Reagan a bed-bath and cleaned up after him. With a grieved sigh, he turned towards the door and pulled it open, stepping out to smell a rather delightful scent wafting into the air. After the couple hours it took to stabilize Reagan, Carol had cooked up a large meal for them all, with the help of Lori after she left the recovery room. He stepped out further, seeing everyone crowded at the table, speaking in hushed tones and eating humbly amongst each other. Hershel's lips drew into a thin line, once again, under the thicket of white whiskers crowding his face.
Rick was the first to stand up, followed by Lori, and as they did, all eyes turned to the oldest member of their ground. Hershel stopped and sighed, his bloody rag still clasped in his hands, "She's stable for now. I did what I had the power to do. Right now, it's up to her whether or not she'll survive." Maggie and Beth weren't far behind their father as they left the room with bloody, dirty rags in their hands and the large bowl of dirty water. They tossed everything in the sink and turned on the water, washing their hands of all the blood.
"I put whatever was left of the fuel in the generators. It should last us a couple days." Lori sat back down as Rick spoke around them, "Once it's used up, I'll take Daryl and T-Dog with me to find more."
"But those men, they're still out there."
"Reagan killed most of them..." Rick voiced and a slight tone of relief went through everyone, "They shouldn't bother us much. Besides, I won't go back to the town we went to... it's too much of a risk."
"When do you wanna go?" Daryl asked, staring hard at the leader of the group. Rick stood silent for a few moments, contemplating,
"Two days. We'll prepare for it, this time, and we'll take plenty of guns and ammo with us."
.:o:.
So much pain.
'But you're not supposed to experience pain when you're dead.'
Reagan could feel consciousness brewing in her head, her fingers twitching as her nerves lit up movement in her body. The soft material under her head brushed up against her cheek as her head rolled to the side, her eyelids opening to view her surroundings. But all she saw was a blur. Some sort of light source made itself clear next to the bed, Reagan's golden eyes trying to make it out once her vision became clearer. With a few rapid blinks of her eyes, they acclimated to their rather dark surroundings. A small lamp sat next to her on a dresser and she noticed it was a bit farther away than she first thought. Her head tossed to the other side and she quickly tried to figure out where she was, her eyes scanning the room. It was warm, it felt safe, and whatever bed she was in, it was soft. Finally, she came to realize that she was back home.
'Rick was right.'
Reagan gasped and her back arched once an unbearable wave of pain surged through her chest, her mouth gaping open as she desperately tried to take a breath. Her hand pressed against the wound she remembered she sustained, feeling the softness of gauze and bandages all around her. A rebellious twinge of soreness came from her ankle and a flash of her dire situation ran through her mind momentarily. Every word she spoke with Rick, every pain she felt as they made it back to the car, seeing nothing but trees passing by them as she slowly succumbed to unconsciousness in the car.
Her arm pressed against the bed, but pain bit back at her in protest to any movement at all. Reagan groaned and lied her head back against her pillow, squeezing her eyes shut and wishing it would all just stop. "You shouldn't be moving at all." Reagan's eyes popped open upon hearing a voice, turning her head and noticing the door was open. As the figure stepped further into the room, the light illuminated their face and Reagan found herself staring into Lori's blue eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Like shit." Reagan's voice was raspy and she heard a pill bottle being rattled to its side. Lori sat down next to Reagan with a glass of water, cupping a few pills in her hands,
"Here... you should probably take some of these." Lori smiled softly, offering her both the items in her hands. Reagan weakly reached up and grabbed the pills first, popping them in her mouth and watching Lori lean towards her to help her drink. Reagan growled and leaned her head up as much as she could, cursing to the pain as she ignored it. The water was delightful as it met with Reagan's tongue, washing away the dissolving bitterness of the pills in her mouth. Feeling refreshed, Reagan's head fell back against the pillow and the strain in her neck started to wash away with the pills.
"Hershel patched you up when you got here." Lori said and Reagan looked over at her, "It took him a couple hours, but he dressed the wounds you sustained."
"He a doctor or something?"
"No... a veterinarian." Lori laughed and Reagan scoffed with a smile,
"I'll have to give him my thanks when I see him." She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling the pills hitting the pit of her empty stomach. She was oddly comfortable, but the pain that riddled through her body every second was most likely caused by the fading work of whatever pills she was fed earlier on.
"Thank you..." Reagan opened her eyes and stared at Lori's face, seeing her eyes relieved. Reagan knitted her brow,
"For what?"
"Bringing Rick home... protecting him." Lori placed her hand on her stomach, "He told me everything you did. When I said keep an eye on him... I didn't mean take the bullet. I mean, it's nice that you did and Rick didn't get hit... but..."
"I get what you're sayin'." Reagan said, stopping Lori in her wording tracks. Reagan took a light sigh and stared up at the ceiling, "You don't have to thank me... whether or not you told me to keep an eye on Rick, I would've done it regardless."
"But why though?" Lori's face twisted into confusion and her eyes narrowed, "We're just strangers to you. People that you barely know... so why put your life on the line."
"Because..." Reagan found herself staring back at Lori, "I know what it feels like to lose someone... I don't want you, or your son Carl, to experience any of that." She grunted and clenched her eyes shut, shifting her weight from her left side to avoid the rolling pain, "You guys may be strangers... but you're good people. I don't see a whole lot of people like you anymore and it kinda sucks."
Lori stared at Reagan, seeing the sincerity in the bed-ridden woman's eyes. Reagan seemed a bit harsh in the first few days that they all stayed at the house, even a bit annoyed by them. But now, Lori could see Reagan's true nature, how caring and selfless she was when it came to protecting people. Lori stood up and smiled, setting the glass of water down on the nightstand, "If you need anything else... just holler. One of us will be outside to help."
"Thanks."