I hurried home after seeing the sky darkening to the east. I knew Mom had clothes on the line that needed to come in, and I wanted to tell her about the gold mine I found at the Miller's. Nagging in the back of my mind was asking her for my bio dad's name. I had to know more, it was killing me to feel lost like this, to feel like I was nearly without an identity. Sure, I have the Kendall last name, but what would my name have been if my bio dad had a say in it? I really wanted to know his name, and maybe have a chance of finding him. Even in this hell, if he was as outdoorsy as Jake, he would be alive in this mess, living off the land like Mom and I were.

I saw a truck I didn't recognize in the driveway of the house. I grabbed my P30 off the seat next to me, clicking off the safety and laying the gun in my lap as I parked the truck in. The gun fit naturally into my right hand as I ran towards the house, following a blood trail going to the house through the grass from the truck. I tried not to think of the worst, that someone had enough balls to attack my Mom while I was gone. I know her well enough she would take at least one of them out before they took her down.

I get to the front door and nearly run into a girl my age coming out the door. She's covered in blood, looking shocked when I grabbed her by the arm, pushing her out at arm's length.

"Where's my mom? Who the hell are you and why are you here?" I practically yelled at her as I shook her.

"I'm Beth. Rick and I brought a friend here who was hurt looking for Dr. Kendall. Your mom's inside taking care of him. I'm sorry for scaring you." Beth stumbled on her feet clearly exhausted. She sits down in the grass as I push past her into the house. I hear voices down in Grandpa's office downstairs; taking the stairs two at a time I find my mom working on a patient on the table and a man I don't know hovering in the corner, watching intently.

"Allie! Get your ass over here and help! I need to get a chest tube into the triangle, help me get him open while I suction out the wound and extract the bullet." Mom was in full nurse mode barking orders. I had never done a chest tube before, I'd seen a couple of videos online, I was hoping Mom would walk me through it as she worked above me. I grabbed supplies out of the cabinet and pulling on a pair of nitrile gloves. I drew a line with a purple surgery marker from his nipple down to his back, following the soft spot between the ribs under my fingers. I prodded for his pectorals muscle and his dorsal muscle drawing those out as well.

Mom glanced down at my handiwork, "Good Allie, you're doing it the way Jake taught you. Good work. Get some local in him before you make the incision. Right there in the nipple line." Mom showed me where to insert the needle in my hand, "You'll make the incision in the same place, parallel to the rib. I'll get the tube and system."

My hands shook a bit as I used the scalpel to cut the guy open, my fingers were small enough to fit in the incision I made, feeling for the next tissue I had to cut through. After I chunked away the piece of tissue, I slid my finger back into the hole as Mom handed me the tube to insert. Within five minutes I had the procedure completed, bandaged over and a new sedative in the guy. Mom had finished her extraction of the bullet while I was working; she was sewing him shut as I cleaned up my mess. I knew it was smart on Mom's part to raid the local hospital for supplies; we couldn't have saved the guy if we didn't.

Mom handed me a towel to dry my hands off with after I washed them, I saw her eyes glistening with tears. "Real proud of you baby. You did an amazing job. Let's get this guy upstairs so he can rest and heal. Rick, would you give me a hand while Allie cleans up?" Rick nodded as he gingerly slipped an arm over his shoulder, as Mom got under the other side. I watched them head out up the stairs into the house.

I found Mom in the guest bedroom, getting our patient situated in the bed with the drain system on the floor. I helped start and hang an IV of saline; fluids were definitely needed with him losing blood. I knew he would be out for awhile with the sedative and local he'd been given. Mom listened over his chest, and took his pulse before closing the door behind us.

"Is he staying here with us? We don't know this guy Mom! He could wake up and knife us in our sleep for all we know!" I hissed between my teeth in the hallway.

Mom raised her hand motioning me to quiet down. "Yes he's staying until he's recovered. He's in no shape to fight, much less defend himself. I'm not worried. We need to keep an eye on him and re-introduce blood into his system gradually. Can you get a syringe set from downstairs please? I'm going to go talk to his friends and let them know what's going on."

I sighed as Mom walked off. I didn't like the idea of a stranger in our house, even if he was wounded. My Mom's always had a good heart, sometimes a little too good. I guess with having a patient in the house, it meant someone would have to be with him all the time, or very near. That would be Mom, which left me to raid the Miller's by myself bit by bit.

It was going to be a rough week that's for sure.

Natalie found Rick sitting on the porch steps next to the girl he came with, talking quietly. She tried not to eavesdrop, as Rick explained to the girl what had happened with their friend, assuring her he would be okay after a good long rest.

"He's lost a good bit of blood into the chest cavity, which is why my daughter put the drain in. She's going to slowly re-introduce as much of that blood as she can back into his system tonight. He'll be stuck here for at least a week while he heals so I can take care of him. You're welcome to come visit him if you'd like. He will be safe here with us. How'd the injury happen?" Natalie leaned against the porch railing, watching the rain fall gently to the ground.

The young girl spoke up, "My name's Beth. My cousin Kyle was out hunting with him and they got attacked by a mountain lion. Kyle shot Daryl on accident shooting the lion. Oh hell, the deer and the lion are in the back of the truck!" Beth jumped up, running over to the truck, looking in at the two animals. Natalie and Rick followed closely behind, easily catching up to Beth. Natalie looked in at the deer and the cat, she had never seen a mountain lion up close in real life, and they were pretty rare in this part of Georgia.

"Let me get Allie and we'll get them hung in the barn so we can process them. I'm sure your people need to eat. I'd hate to see the meat go to ruin." Natalie left to go find Allie as Rick dropped the tailgate, moving the carcasses closer to the edge. Rick and Beth carried the deer as Natalie and Allie carried the mountain lion into the barn.

"I'll get them skinned tonight if someone will help me get them into the cooler. My Grandpa used to do meat processing for the local hunters as a hobby." Allie strung up the animals side by side from the beam in the barn, letting them drain onto the floor.

Rick looked at Beth, "I'll stay and help. You go ahead and go back to camp, let them all know what happened and that things will be ok. We'll figure it out. Come back tomorrow and visit ok?" Rick took Beth's face in his hands, placing a chaste kiss on her forehead to send her on her way.

Before Natalie headed back into the house to check on their patient, she ensured Beth was leaving as well as Allie and Rick were busy skinning the carcasses. She had a lot on her plate to deal with; she needed time alone to sort it all out.