Disclaimer: I do not own TWD in any way, shape, or form.

"Is… Is he alive? Is he alive?" Otis asked, his breathing labored. Otis' hand rested on stair railing of the wooden porch, his body hunched over slightly. His eyes were filled with a genuine regret.

Rick opened his mouth to speak, but his lips began to tremble uncontrollably. He brought his shaky hand up and wiped his forehead with the back of it. Alice frowned, watching him unknowingly smear Carl's blood on his face. Shane stepped forward and pulled out an orange cloth from the side pocket of his backpack.

"You got blood on your face." He began to gently wipe Rick's face clean. "It's ok." He assured as strongly as he could, but kept his voice soft. Shane watched Rick let go of Alice's hand. "Here." He placed the cloth in Ricks hands.

Rick looked down, his vision blurred by un-shed tears. He could faintly make out the red stains on his hands.

Alice watched the two men interact quietly, her thin arms hugging her midsection. This was the Shane that won her heart.

He was taking care of Rick, being there for him like he used to. For a moment there was a temptation to run into his arms like old times. She silently questioned if there would ever be a time when she wouldn't feel a mixture of love and resentment when she looked at her husband.

"I… I think we should go inside." Alice softly suggested, almost afraid to ruin the moment between the 'brothers'.

"Yeah. Where is he?"

Rick silently led them into the small, yet cozy house. They stepped into the room Hershel was in.

Hershel sat on the bed next to Carl, a white cloth pressed against his wound. It broke Alice's heart to see the young boy looking so deathly pale. He was unconscious and sweating profusely. Rick bit down on his lower lip, choking back a sob he felt coming. He wanted to sit beside his son and push his damp hair off of his forehead.

Looking back, Hershel made eye contact with Rick. "Do you know his blood type?"

"Yeah. It's the same as mine. A positive." He sounded so broken.

"How fortunate." Hershel nodded his head to himself. "Don't wonder off too far. I'm gonna need you." He looked over with his striking blue eyes at Otis. "What happened?"

It was a simple question that could easily sound accusing, but Hershel sounded far from it.

"I-I was tracking a buck." Otis' voice was low and guilt ridden. "Bullet went through it, it went clean through."

"The deer slowed that bullet down, which certainly saved his life. But it did not go clean through. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out, I'm counting six."

"I never saw him." The Otis whispered to an older blonde woman that had been helping out with Carl. She nodded her head sympathetically. "I did not know until he was on the ground." The blonde pulled him into a hug.

"Lori… Lori doesn't know." Shane put his arm around Rick's shoulder. "My wife doesn't know. She doesn't know." Rick's voice cracked as a sob escaped and the dam in his eyes broke.

"Shh, it's gonna be alright." Shane whispered.

"You used to be a nurse?" Alice nodded to Hershel's question as she braided her hair quickly. It was sloppy, but who was she trying to impress? "You ever helped out during surgeries?"

"A few times. Just tell me what you need me to do."

"This won't be like the surgeries you helped in." he warned as he watched her clean her hands in a basin of water. "He isn't under anything."

"I know." Her voice was low, but loud enough to be heard. Alice sat down beside Carl. "He's a strong kid. I don't wanna see him hurting, he just a child, but it'll keep him alive. He'll pull through."

"Now I don't want your emotions getting in the way."

"They won't. They can't right now."

"Then let's get this started. The sooner, the better."

"What you need me to do?"

"Hold him down. You're gonna need to be firm with him now. We can't have him moving too much, it will only make things worse."

Alice nodded as she sat up straight and delicately placed her hands on the boy's small shoulders. She leaned down and placed a feather light kiss on his forehead. Her blue eyes landed on the cross charm on her bracelet. Mentally, she recited a quick prayer.

"You're gonna be alright cowboy."

"Why did I let him come with us?" Rick knew why. He thought it was safe, he thought everything would be fine. "I should have sent him with Lori."

"Don't you start that. You'll never get that monkey off your back." Shane spoke.

The two men sat outside of Carl's room, waiting for any kind of news. Every minute that passed felt like hours and it was killing Rick. This was all his fault.

"A little girl goes missing, you look for her. Simple right? You said call it and head back."

"Forget what I said Rick."

"Carl got shot because of me. I should be in that room." He could hear Shane, but wasn't processing what he was saying.

"You been there already partner. But you pulled through and so will he."

"Is that why I got out of that hospital? Found my family for it to end here like this? Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"You stop it. Just stop."

"A little girl goes missing." His voice began to grow shaky and his eyes water. "You look for her. It's really that simple."

The door swung open to Carl's room, catching both men's attention. Rick jumped out of his seat, waiting for news.

"Rick, he needs blood." A dark haired woman named Maggie announced, allowing him in the room.

"You, hold him down." Hershel ordered Shane. Rick stood to the side, allowing the blonde to clean his arm to draw blood. His eyes stayed glued on his son whose upper body was being held down by Alice. Her cheeks were visibly damp, her eyes watery, and she had a few red scratches on her bare upper arms. He wasn't sure what happened, but from the looks of things Carl had put up a good fight against Alice.

"Dad!" Carl cried, flailing harder when he caught site of his father.

"Carl you gotta be still baby." Alice pleaded as she applied more of her weight against him. It was hard to keep him still and the last thing she wanted to do was crushing him under her. Shane hurried over and held down Carl's kicking legs.

"Almost there." Hershel calmly announced. Carl screamed, choking slightly from crying so hard, as Hershel dug deeper for the bullet shard.

Rick felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest. His son was crying for him to help and there was nothing he could do. "Stop! You're killing him!" he yelled.

"Rick! Do you want him to live?!" Shane yelled back.

"He needs blood." The blonde woman timidly reminded.

"Do it now!" Shane ordered. As if snapping him back to reality, Rick handed his arm over to the woman and let her stick the needle into his vain. His eyes stayed glued to his son. He didn't deserve this pain. He was too little for this. It wasn't fair, it should have been him that got shot. If only he had hadn't allowed Carl to tag along. "It's ok." Shane soothed to Carl. Carl suddenly stopped moving. "What… What just happened?"

"It's ok. He just passed out." Hershel calmly informed as he pulled out a bullet shard. "One down, five to go."

Alice removed her hands from Carl and pushed his damp hair out of his face. "You did good." She knew he couldn't hear her.

Shane watched his wife help Hershel cover Carl's wound and clean the boy up. Her hair was messy, strands loose from a sloppy braid she made. Her forehead had a thin film of sweat covering it and her arms had a few angry looking scratches. Alice looked thoroughly exhausted and worried. To anyone else, Alice looked a mess, but to him she looked beautiful. Not pretty, but beautiful. He felt regret tug at his stomach as he watched her help care for Carl.

She would have been a great mother.

A/N: Ok... My usual excuse for not updating... I'm lazy. There, I said it.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who review and added this to their alerts and favorites! I love the love I've been getting lol

TheForrestAgain: Ah, thank you! I have so many ideas as to where I want to take this after seeing the new episodes. But I agree, cheating is a deal breaker... BIG deal breaker. I hope you continue to enjoy this story =)

Sharpie-Marker1101: lol I have been waiting to reach Carl getting shot like you wouldn't believe! And I don't blame you for disliking a weak OC, but idk, usually I see so many OC's that are a total badass and are hardcore in everything they do with no real problems. That's not reality to me and as much as I wanted to slap myself for making Alice so weak, it made it easier and more fun to see how I could make her grow. Anyway, there will be some draaaama soon enough! And thank you and I hope you keep reading =)

Leyshla Gisel: That gorgeous man is getting free vagina thrown at him lol if I were a man that looked like that... I'm not sure I'd turn it away lol

x XRoweenaJAugustineX x: OMG do I have a bone to pick with you! Every time I get an alert, I get so excited! I start doing my happy dance, and with anticipation so great my little hands shake, I open my email. Slowly a joker like smile creeps upon my lips and my eyes dart down the screen to see who updated... And all my hopes and dreams die in that moment because it's never you -_- You know, if you want me to suffer, just say so lol ah thank yoooou! I too hate that I feel bad for Shane, but it must... be... done! And I assure you, Rick will get some type of loving soon. His little heart needs it. JUST LIKE MY LITTLE HEART NEEDS SOME ROBB AND JON lol curse you for writing as well as you do! Ok, my rant of the month is officially lol.

Dean's Dirty Little Secert: No problem =) I love to support good work! And thank you for reading. Shane... yeah he needs a good butt-kicking lol

Exen44: O...M...F...G I had a mini heart attack when I started to read your review lol I was like noooooo! I have failed- oh wait, there's more! Thank you I appreciate that you even read this so much!

MrsAlexandraHale: Think of it this way, Alice will appreciate Rick soooo much more if he ever puts the moves on her because she was stuck with that jerk Shane lol

bluecrush611: Thank you! And I have a feeling Rick might say something about his feeling soon, it's just a feeling though lol

Sof: Thank you =) I'm glad you liked!

Guest 1 and 2(I can't thank you properly without names. Why won't you leave names so I can love you?!), Straight Edge Queen, Sue: Thaaaaank you so much for the love and support!