Chapter 15: What' Cha Got Doc?
Brooke went through her medi-kits that she had found to see if there was anything T-Dog could use. She saw some painkillers but that wouldn't really help him out a whole lot. She didn't have that much disinfectant left but she used it anyway. It wasn't nearly enough to help him out.
"Hey Little Walsh." T-Dog called.
"What's up Teddy?" she asked.
"What was all that yellin' that you were doin' out there for?" he asked but cringed when she put disinfectant on his cut.
"Oh nothing." She said.
"Didn't sound like nothing." He replied.
"It's the personal pit bull." Shane said. Brooke half smirked and was done with T-Dog. She walked out of the RV with Shane. "I can't believe you said that, girly." He said.
"Well it's true and no one is messin' with my boys." She sighed. "I feel bad for her but she needs to actually do something to help Sophia out. She couldn't help her out when Ed was beating them but she can now."
"I know." Shane said and kissed her temple. "Just watch your temper." He started to walk away.
"Shane!" she called.
"Yeah."
"Please don't leave." She said.
"How did you-" Shane began.
"Carl overheard you talking to Lori." She answered. "I know it's hard but believe it or not I actually care about you. If Lori ever does anything to you let me know. You may not be able to lay a finger on her but I sure as hell can." Shane chuckled and ran his hand through his hair.
"Come here, baby girl!" he said and gave her a hug. "So you and Dixon, huh?"
"How did you-" she said.
"Glenn overheard you two this morning telling each other that you love each other." He replied. "I was gonna kill him until I heard love. How long?"
"We started dating a week before the outbreak." She said.
"Wow, you two have awful timing!" he laughed. They walked back to the group and helped them set up the tents for the night. Daryl went inside their tent but Brooke stayed outside with Carol. They sat across from each other with the fire in between them.
"Carol I'm sorry about the way I acted today." She said. Carol just nodded. "I'm going to do everything I can to help find her." She said and walked away to her tent.
"You sure you ain't gonna yell at me, darlin?" Daryl asked.
"Oh shut up." She said playfully. "Just go back to sleep, I'm tired." He snickered and fell back asleep. The next morning they woke up and got ready. She wore the same thing she did yesterday because of her new rule. She had made it a couple of days after she got to the quarry. She would wear each outfit twice until laundry day so she would still have clean clothes by the end of the week. They walked out and organized a search party. Carl begged to go and was successful. The entire group except T-Dog , Dale, and Rudy went into the woods. They soon came across a tent.
"I'll go check it out." Daryl said. He went ahead and opened the flap of the tent. "Nothin' in here but a rotting bastard." Daryl reached and found the dead man's gun. He took it and the group started to talk about where to go next.
"Everyone shut-up!" Brooke ordered. "Do you hear that?"
"I hear bells." Carl said. They ran towards it and saw a church. Daryl, Rick, and Shane busted open the doors and stood frozen to see walkers sitting in the pews. The walkers noticed them and slowly got up. An arrow shot past their heads and went into a walker who had on a white dress in between the eyes.
"Well, don't just stand there with your mouths open." Brooke mumbled and they quickly got to business. Brooke and Glenn went over to a control box.
"It's an automated sound system." Glenn sighed. Brooke looked back at the massacre and crossed her chest.
"Damn it!" Daryl said and looked at the large crucifix at the front. "Hey JC, you takin' any requests?" Carol go on her knees and started to pray. Brooke grabbed Glenn's hand and they bowed their heads. They prayed with Carol and said prayers of their own. Brooke walked over to Andrea. She had been having a tough time lately with Amy's death and the fact that she almost committed suicide.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" Brooke asked. Andrea nodded. "I know what it feels like. You lose someone and all you wanna do is end yourself. I've been there before. I tried to commit suicide once but I chickened out after the first cut. There are gonna be days where life is just absolute hell but that's not all I can guarantee you. You will, one day, wake up and the pain is gone."
"But how do you get there?" Andrea asked.
"You just come to the conclusion that one life maybe over but yours isn't." she said and Andrea thanked her. The group decided to split up. Rick, Shane, Brooke and Carl would go one direction and the rest would go in the other. Rick said a quick prayer before they left. They went into the woods and saw a deer. Brooke smiled at it and Rick gasped. Carl, and his mischievous self, went out to maybe try and pet it. They heard a gunshot ring through their ears. They saw the deer slump to the ground but that didn't matter. Carl slumped to the ground as well.
"Carl!" the men yelled. Brooke got their first,
"Handsome? Are you there? Come on honey!" she said and he moaned. Rick picked him up as an overweight man came running.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't see him! Herschel will be able to help him! Come with me!" they didn't question and ran. "Herschel!" the overweight man screamed. An older man came out of the house and gasped.
"Come on bring him in!" he yelled. "I'm Dr. Herschel Greene." They all introduced themselves quickly and laid Carl down on a bed. They left Herschel to see what he needed to do.
"Oh God what about Lori?" Rick asked in horror. "She needs to know! I don't even know how she'll handle it!"
"When you were gone Lori became the toughest woman I know." Shane said. "Next to Brooke of course." Rick chuckled. "She stayed strong for Carl and I know she can stay strong now."
"I can go tell her." A young woman offered. "My name's Maggie." Rick nodded and told her where they were. She accepted, got on a horse, and went to go find them.
"He'll need full surgery." Herschel said. "They had all the supplies at the FEMA shelter in the high school but it's been overrun."
"I can go and get the supplies you need." Shane offered.
"Do you know what it looks like?" Herschel asked and gave him a list. Shane shook his head.
"I do." Brook admitted while donating her blood to her nephew. Thank God she was O negative. "I can go once I give some of my blood."
"I'll go too." Otis said. They were about to leave in one of the trucks and Brooke went to Rick.
"We'll get the things." She said and kissed him on the cheek. "I promise." They went to the truck and drove away. Brooke looked back and saw Lori running into the house with Maggie. They arrived at the high school and indeed it was filled with walkers. Brooke saw some flares.
"I have an idea." She smirked. The boys looked back at her and Shane smiled.
"What 'cha got, Doc?" Shane asked.
Hours had passed and they still hadn't returned with the supplies. Lori and Rick paced in a small room.
"If they don't come back soon I'll have to perform surgery without any of the things I need." Herschel said. Glenn, Dale, T-Dog, and Rudy were there and they all worried about the little group that could. They heard a car door slam and they all looked out the window. They saw Shane, and only Shane limping towards the house with a couple of bags. They all ran outside to join him. Jimmy took the bags and brought them upstairs to Herschel.
"Where's Otis?" Beth asked. Shane just looked down at the ground and Beth started to cry.
"Where's Brooke?" Rick asked. Shane looked up and he could see tears in his deputies' eyes. "Oh my God!" Rick started to cry and even Lori started to weep as well.
"Little Walsh is dead?" T-Dog asked. He sat back in a chair in shock.
"Oh God, who's gonna tell Daryl?" Glenn asked as he put both hands on his head. It was complete silence except for the sobs that came from many.
"What's goin' on?" Daryl asked from behind. "Is Carl okay?" Shane and Rick looked at each other. Carol and Andrea went to Lori who told them what happened. They both gasped. Andrea openly cried and Carol teared up. "What the hell is goin' on?" he asked even more frustrated. Shane walked over to him.
"Brooke's dead." He said. "She made me leave her there so that I would live and… and." Shane couldn't even finish his sentence. He ran both hands through his hair and broke down. Daryl stood there looking at the ground. His bottom jaw was clenched as he tried to hold back tears. He let one fall down, then another, and another. He finally let them all lose but didn't make a sound. He just stood there looking at the ground and holding the strawberry charm bracelet she left in their tent this morning. He didn't even tell her he loved her when they left the church. He threw the bracelet to the ground and ran his hands over his face.
"Oh God!" He finally said. "Why did you leave her behind?" he asked Shane in a blood curdling scream.
"She made me go! She made me go so I could save Carl!" Shane wept. Daryl picked the bracelet back up and cleaned the dirt off of it.
"I…I… oh why did it have to happen to her?" he yelled. "Why to her? She was the only person for me. She was the only person who made me feel like a person. She's the only person I've ever loved. Why her?" he continued to weep and Shane went over to comfort him. "I loved her so much, Shane."
"I know you did." He said and put his arm around his shoulder. They both cried. Rick went over to pull them into the house but he couldn't hold it in either. The three men that Brooke knew would never cry in front of anyone cried openly for the first time in their lives. They were out there for thirty minutes trying to just take in what had happened.
"I could use some help here." A frail voice said in the background. The group looked behind and saw a girl was covered in blood and guts. Her high, tight, pony tail was now lopped sided and tangled. She carried a pole with an electric chainsaw on one end and another on the other end. Her blue tank top was now a rusty brown color. Her boots were soaked with blood and her jeans were brown as well. Brooke looked almost unrecognizable.