At the sound of the door closing my eyes snapped open, and I quickly sat up. I looked up and saw Andrea standing in front of the door smiling sheepishly at me. I smiled at her and looked down at Beth, frowning slightly before putting my hand on her forehead. "She's burning up, we need a rag and some cold water" I said, pulling my hand away from Beth's head. Andrea rushed out of the room and Maggie worriedly paced. We needed Hershel, I didn't finish pre-med, I still had half a year left and a few years of medical school to complete after that. I wasn't nearly as experienced as Hershel was. Andrea rushed back in, sloshing water onto the floor, and handed me the bowl and rag. I put the bowl on the bedside table and dipped the rag in it, submerging it, and lightly wringing it before dabbing it on Beth's forehead. Every few minutes I would dip the rag back in the water and repeat the process, trying to bring down Beth's fever. "How long was I out?" I asked, glancing up at Maggie. "A few hours, nothing happened with Beth while you were out so we let you rest" Maggie replied. "Anything happen while I was out? Did Rick and Hershel get back yet?" "No, Lori disappeared to look for them but got in a car accident so Shane went and found her, brought her back. She's downstairs now" Maggie answered briefly. I nodded, "Beth's fine, she has a slight fever but nothing too bad. She should be good for the night, I'm going to turn in, if anything happens, run and get me. She should be fine, just keep changing out the rag" I told Maggie as I walked towards the door. She nodded and pulled herself up, taking the rag from my hand before crawling onto the bed with Beth and curling up beside her sister, placing the rag on Beth's forehead and grabbing her hand.
I walked out of the room and down the hall, walking out the front door and towards my 'room'. I stopped when I noticed Dale sitting alone on top of his RV. I walked towards his ladder and looked up at him. "Mind if I join you?" I asked, snapping him out of his trance. "No, come on up" He said with a smile. I grinned back at him and swiftly climbed up, crawling until I was sat beside his chair and letting my legs hang over the edge. "How long have you been on watch?" I asked, glancing over at him. "About an hour, someone will come take over soon" He said, looking up at the sky. I followed his lead and lay down, my hands on my stomach as I looked up at the stars. "I don't see how you do this every night, I would most likely fall asleep in five minutes, it's really relaxing out here" I said, laughing quietly. Dale chuckled and smiled up at the stars. "I know it's not really any of my business, but I was wondering, what did you do before all of this?" I asked, my gaze momentarily sliding over to him. Dale sighed. "Before the dead started walking, I was retired. After my wife died of cancer I started to travel the country in this RV, I didn't really have a home. When everything got really bad I was heading towards Atlanta, the supposed safe zone, I found Andrea and her sister Amy, who is no longer with us, and they stayed with me until we found this group. Now there are only a few of us left from the original group" Dale finished, his eyes never leaving the stars as he leaned back, seemingly relaxed. "I'm sorry about your losses, I know loosing people is hard" I softly said, growing silent. "What about you? What did you do before all of this?" Dale asked, breaking the short silence. "I was in pre-med, as you already know, I was half way done with my last year, working hard, and not because of the pressure, I had um, recently called the cops on my boyfriend of the time, got his abusive ass arrested. I just wanted to get my mind off of it so I tried to forget, lord knows I tried." I paused a moment, shaking my head "When this started I was out hunting, I was on break so I took a shot gun and a few other guns and went out. While I was hunting one of those things snuck up on me, I only had to shoot him once, I was taught by Daryl that aiming for the head was the most humane way to kill, so I shot him and ran. I went to my hunting cabin and turned on the news, the local broadcast was going on about an epidemic that was sweeping the nation, said something about a supposed safe zone in Atlanta. I avoided that place like the plague. I went to Georgia to look for Daryl and Merle but avoided the place that couldn't possibly be real, something like that, too densely populated to be safe. I guess I was right. I stuck to the side lines and avoided people like my life depended on it, and I guess it did. And now here I am" I finished with a shrug, pushing myself up so that I was sitting up. Dale looked over at me. "I'm sorry about you ex" "I'm sorry about your wife" We sat in silence for a few minutes, before I stood up, "I'm gonna go to sleep, thanks for listening, I guess" I said to Dale before climbing down the ladder and walked towards my original destination, the stables.
I slid through the doors and swiftly walked towards the ladder and climbed up it. I walked towards my makeshift bed and lay down, kicking my shoes over the edge and pulling the blanket up and over my shoulders. I rolled onto my side, facing towards the opening, and closed my eyes.
-The Next Morning-
I woke up slowly to the sun shining in my eyes, my sleeping schedule seems to have been greatly altered since I've gotten here. I push myself up and grasp my shoes, pulling them on before I climbed down the ladder and jogging to my truck. I quickly opened the back of my truck and grab my bag of toiletries and stuff an outfit for the day in it. I then walked towards the house, smiling at Andrea, Carol, and Dale, who were the only ones awake. I jog up the porch steps and head towards the bathroom, closing the door behind me before turning on the shower. I stepped in and quickly did my routine of washing my hair and body, before shaving and turning off the water. I pulled a ratty brown towel around myself and dried off. I pulled on a loose fit black tank top and a pair of dark washed out skinny jeans with a few rips in the fabric. I pulled on my black combat boots and shoved my little knife in my boot. I stuffed a toothbrush in my mouth as I yanked a brush through my damp curls. I rinsed my mouth out and finished up getting ready before fluffing my curls and grabbing my clothes. I took my time walking out of the house, smiling at Maggie as she sleepily ate an apple. She lazily smiled back as I walked out of the house and towards my truck. I threw my stuff in the bed of the truck and walked towards the car that was being loaded by Shane and Andrea so they could go find Hershel, Rick, and Glenn. They were just closing the trunk when Dale pointed towards the road. "Look, they're back" He called out, alerting everyone.
The red truck was racing down the dirt road, sending dust flying up behind it. We all rushed towards the stairs as the truck screeched to a halt in front of us. Hershel was the first to get out, telling Patricia to 'prepare the shed for surgery' as Maggie raced past him to Glenn who awkwardly hugged her, something was up with them. Rick walked towards Lori and Carl and began talking to them. I paid no attention as I stared at the blindfolded kid sat in the back of the truck. I nudged T-Dog and pointed him out. T looked up at him and pointed as he said
"Who the hell is that?"