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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
When Rick reaches the farm he pulls up behind Carol and he quickly gets out and sees the others running up to them. "Lori, Andrea, Maggie you help the kids. Carol... Eva will need help cleaning herself up." Rick says as he opens the back door of the truck and helps a red haired girl, who is holding onto a baby, get down from the back seat.
Lori quickly pulls the girl into her arms looking up to him in shock before he turns back and help the other girl who is slowly scooting towards him with a small boy who is passed out from exhaustion. He gently takes the boy from her arms and hands him over to Maggie, before helping her out and over to Andrea.
When he closes the door, Daryl pulls up to a stop behind the truck and Rick looks through the bars and Daryl nods his head telling him that Eva and Charlie did what they had to do.
"Glenn, T-dog, I need you to go and dig one more grave by Annette and Shawn." He whispers as he watches the women take the kids up to the house to get cleaned and looked after.
They nod their heads before going to grab shovels to get the job done. He tells Dale to go back on watch before looking over at Shane who shakes his head before making his way over to the shed where they are keeping Randall.
He stares at Shane's back for a moment before walking to the bus and he climbs up the stairs and into the very quiet bus. He looks at Daryl who is just staring out the window, before looking towards Eva and Charlie.
He sees them sitting by Jenna's body that Charlie is covering in a blood stained sheet. Rick crouches down and slowly takes the knife away from Eva's hand and he folds it and puts it in his pocket and he picks up the catatonic woman up off the floor.
She follows him, with her eyes glazed over and he gently guides her towards the front. When he gets to the front he points over to where T and Glenn are digging and Daryl nods his head before watching him and Eva exit the bus.
Rick guides Eva over to his and Lori's tent and Carol follows with several towels and a bucket of water. He sits her down on one of the chairs before turning to Carol. "After getting her clean just gives her some of my clothes and then come and get me, I'll help her into the house with kids." He whispers and Carol nods her head and then he leaves.
He stands outside the tent with his back to Carol and Eva. How could this day begin with such happiness turn to this...this nightmare.
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Carol stares at the woman who saved and protected her baby and in this moment all she sees is a scared little girl. Carol kneels down and quickly wets one of the towels before slowly reaching up and cleaning the poor girls face.
She cleans her face and arms the best she can but the water is to bloody to keep cleaning her with. She takes the bucket and sets it and the towels outside before walking back over to Eva. She starts unties Eva's shoes and takes them and her socks off before gently helping her stand up.
Carol slowly pulls Eva's shirt up and over her head, Eva just going through the motions. When Eva is just down to her underwear, Carol cleans her up with the last semi clean towel wiping the blood off of her stomach and legs. Carol then helps her into one of Rick's shirts and into a pair of sweat pants before calling to Rick.
Rick slowly walks back into the tent and gently wraps an arm around Eva's waist and he starts guiding her towards the house. She watches as Rick tells Eva that the kids are all right and that they are getting cleaned up and looked after.
She looks away and gasps and covers her mouth as she sees Daryl and Charlie carrying a body out of the bus. She shakes her head and quickly follows after Rick and Eva to the house, to help out and to be with Sophia.
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Eva feels Rick lift her up and take her away from Jenna. She feels how Carol gently cleans her of Jenna's blood and helps her out of her blood stained clothes. She feels the gravel and grass on her bare feet as Rick gently takes her to a house much like the one they just lost.
She just can't do anything, she just can't. It feels like it takes all of her energy to just breathe as she lets Rick guide her up the steps. When stepping into the house the first thing she hears is her baby crying and she snaps out of the daze she was in.
But coming out of the daze meant all the pain, all the fear, the loss comes rushing to her all at once and her knees buckle but Rick holds her up and helps her walk to the living room.
She sees an older man and a brown haired woman looking over her boys. The woman gets up with Warren and quickly walks over to her. But she can barely feel her arms so she just runs her fingers over Warren's ear like she does to get him to sleep.
He soon calms down and falls to sleep in the woman's arms. The older man walks up then a gently lefts her head before shining a bright light into her eyes, which makes her jerk away.
"Sorry, I'm sorry, just making sure you don't have a concussion." The man says before saying something to Rick before leaving the room. Rick then helps her over to the couch to where Hayden is sleeping.
He helps her sit down by him and the woman sits next to her so Warren is close by as well. She stares down at Hayden's scrunched up face, he's having a nightmare, so she starts playing with his hair and his face starts to relax before he falls into a peaceful sleep.
"Eva... Eva." Rick gently says as he kneels in front of her and she slowly turns her head and looks up to him. "Kailee and Mel are getting cleaned up and they will be out soon." He tells her and she nods her head before looking back down to Hayden.
"Eva... we're going to burry Jenna ok. Give her a proper burial. We will hold the funeral tomorrow for her and the two others in your group." He says and she just nods her head just staring at Hayden.
Rick pats her knee before standing up and he goes to walk away. "Thank you." She whispers and he stops and then he leans down and holds the back of her neck before kissing the top of her head before turning and leaving the house.
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Rick leaves the house trying not to cry as he leaves the broken girl and the boys in Lori's hands. He shuts the door and covers his face and rubs his eyes trying to get the sting away.
He drops his hands and sees Daryl helping Charlie to the house, the man barely able to stand as they walk. Rick quickly goes to meet them half way and he helps Daryl get the man to the house.
"We'll get you into a shower, the kids don't need to see you like this." He says and Charlie nods his head as he wipes the tears away from his face but all he does is leave blood streaks behind.
Rick shakes his head, remembering when he stood on this same porch doing the same thing, when Carl was shot. He opens the door and helps the man inside, he sees Jimmy standing there and shows him and Charlie to one of the now free bathrooms.
Patricia comes out of her room carrying some of Otis's clothes and another towel. He takes it from her and tells her thank you, before helping Charlie into the bathroom. He sets the clothes and towel on the sink before leaving the man to get cleaned up.
He walks back to the living room and sees Lori, Carol, Andrea and Maggie standing in the door way and he stands by Lori and looks into the room. He sees Eva holding the baby as the teen girls cuddle up beside her, with Sophia sits on the floor holding onto Eva's leg tightly as Carl sits beside her.
He sees the familiar look off despair and grief on their faces and he pulls Lori and the others away to give them their space, they don't need an audience.
Rick waits in the hall until Charlie is done with his shower and he then shows the man to where the others are and he helps the man sit in the chair that is beside the couch before leaving the room and then the house.
On the porch he sees everyone sitting around, not knowing what else to do. He walks over to Lori and she pulls him into her arms and he buries his head into her shoulder trying to block out everything that has happened that day.
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An hour after Rick helps Charlie into the living room, he and Carol and a few others Eva doesn't know come into the room. Carol helps Sophia and Carl up from the floor before leaving the room.
The brown haired woman gently takes Warren from her arms and then a blonde haired woman picks up Hayden. She sees an Asian man and an older man help Charlie up from his seat as Rick walks over to her.
He helps her stands up and she then watches as a black man and Daryl pick up Kailee and Mel, who are both passed out from exhaustion. She watches as they carry them out of the house and she goes to follow but Rick gently holds her back.
She looks up at him with confusion as takes her further into the house and down a hall. "This is Maggie, she'll show you to the bathroom, so you can get a proper shower and after your done, I'll show you to your tent with the others." Rick tells her and she nods her head before following Maggie further down the hall and to the bathroom.
"There are clean clothes and towels on the sink... take your time." Maggie whispers before shutting the door behind her, leaving Eva in the quite bathroom by herself.
She stands there under the water that by now has gone cold, but it feels nice, numbing her sore and tired body. When her teeth start to chatter she turns the shower off and climbs out of the shower. She absentmindedly dries off and changes into cleaner clothes.
She doesn't know what to do with her dirty clothes but when she turns she sees Mel's and Charlie's dirty clothes on the floor. She sets hers and her towel on top of the others before opening the door.
When she steps out Rick gets up off the floor and helps her into a pair of flip flops before gently grabbing her arm and showing her the way out of the house. They walk out towards an alcove of trees to where several tents, a RV and the cars and bus are. He helps her into the two bedroom tent that was packed away in the bus.
He helps her inside and onto a pile off blankets and sleeping bags, he than leaves the tent and shuts it closed. Eva lies down beside Hayden and Warren and stares up at the top of the tent. She sees the sun peeking through the top. It's hard to believe all this has happened and its barely even noon.
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Daryl looks over to the tent to where Eva, Charlie and those kids are sleeping. Daryl shakes his head before looking to where Sophia and Carl are siting with Carol and Lori. An hour later and Sophia would have been in that house too.
But so would have Eva and Charlie and maybe... no he can't be thinking like that, there is no point with that so he gets up and tells Rick he is going out to hunt, seeing as how they have a few more mouths to feed.
Rick tells him not to be out to long and he nods before taking off to the woods. He needs something to do, he can't just sit around doing nothing.
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Eva wakes to the sound of whimpering and sobbing, she looks over and sees Warren wide awake with tears in his eyes. She turns towards him and with great protest of her every inch of her body, she sits up. She sees that he needs a change and some food, so she looks around and she doesn't see his diaper bag.
She sees Hayden and the girls are fast asleep but Charlie is wide awake, just staring up at the celling of the tent. With some difficulty she stands up and picks Warren up before leaving the tent.
When she stands up straight she finds several pairs of eyes watching her. Carol jumps up out of her chair and quickly walks over to her. Carol follows her over to the bus and takes Warren from her arms so she can dig through and find his diaper bag.
She shuts the door and throws the bag over her shoulder before giving Carol a small forced smile before taking Warren back. She walks back to the tent ignoring all the stares as she shuts and closes the tent door.
She changes his diaper before making him a bottle. She sits there and gently rocks back and forth as she feeds him. When he is done, she burps him before laying him down in-between herself and Hayden.
She gives him his binky before starting to slowly running her fingers over his ear. She watches as he falls right back to sleep and she places her arm over him and Hayden and closes her eyes once again hoping to get a few more hours of sleep before waking back up into this nightmare they now call a life.