Lori sat in the front seat as the car idled, taking a moment to lean back against the headrest and close her eyes, waiting for the air coming out of the vents to turn warm. One of the advantages to being in a car often was heating since no place had working utilities anymore. Of course, she was already pretty warm considering that Rick and Hershel had insisted she wear a high-necked shirt underneath her standard button-up which she dutifully buttoned to the top. She didn't like being fussed over and she suspected that Carl felt the say way every time she insisted he stay close or be careful. She also knew that bundling up would help her body to fight the infection faster so she complied.
She opened her eyes to watch as Rick finished his chat with Daryl; the other team was also about ready to head out. She knew it was only going to be a few hours, yet it didn't stop her from hugging her son until he'd complained for her to let him go. She couldn't help it - the last time she was separated from him Walkers had overrun Hershel's farm and they had almost lost each other for good. Just a couple of hours, she reminded herself again. Both groups would make a quick sweep through their prospective locations and then return before sunset.
She was also feeling slightly nervous and at the same time cautiously hopeful about Rick's statement that they would talk. She tried not to get her hopes too far up, but it was hard since he had been more attentive and caring towards her lately. Perhaps that was only because she had been under the weather. She decided she would wait for him to bring it up again. She had said what she'd needed to and the ball remained in his court.
Lori had just finished that thought as her husband opened the driver's side door and climbed into the car. He turned his head in her direction to give her a once over, probably making sure she was still okay to go. She gave him a small smile and nod which he returned as he put the car into drive and pulled out of the tire yard behind the two other cars. They turned in opposite directions on the main road and she watched in the side mirror as the rest of their group got smaller and smaller before disappearing into the horizon.
XXXX
She must have dozed off because the next thing Lori knew she was being gently shaken awake by a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to find that they were parked on a small street with several buildings lining it. She looked over to Rick who confirmed they had arrived at their destination. She mentally kicked herself for falling asleep since the drive would have been a good opportunity for their conversation. Oh well, there's always the drive back, she thought. The area was so small it couldn't possibly take them very long to scope out what they needed. In fact, looking out the window to her right, she realized that he had parked in front of a building that had a wooden sign above it that read Dr. Holmes' Family Clinic and Pharmacy. It seemed promising, until Lori noticed the boarded up windows and door.
"It looks abandoned," Lori mumbled. She couldn't help but feel disheartened and she hoped the rest of the group was having more luck. She knew that she needed to treat her infection or it would get worse.
"I'm going to go check it out," Rick said, his eyes sweeping up and down the street from his limited view in the car. "You should stay here, keep resting, but keep your weapons in your lap, just in case. I haven't seen any Walkers for the last couple of miles, but ya never know…"
Lori's brow pinched at his suggestion. "What if they're in the buildings, Rick? I'm not sure I like the idea of you going in there alone…"
"I'll be cautious. I'll whistle for you if I need back up. Keep the window cracked open so you can listen for me or anything else approaching."
Lori opened her mouth to protest again but Rick continued. "It was probably a bad idea for you to come. You look worn down, Lor, and the rumbling in your chest could compete with this engine," she could hear the sympathy and concern in his voice as he squeezed her shoulder.
Reluctantly, she nodded. Though she didn't want Rick going in by himself, she couldn't deny that she still felt incredibly weak and wasn't very confident in her ability to take down a Walker at the moment. Her throat was still dry and sore and he was right, she could feel the tightness in her chest and hear the crackling sound of phlegm build up as she breathed in and out. A cough was sure to be her next outward symptom. She would probably just be a liability to him at this point.
"Be careful," she said as he reached for his door handle. She grabbed his hand before he could exit and they locked eyes for a moment.
"I'll be quick, make sure you lock the door behind me," he instructed before stepping out of the vehicle and crossing in front of it toward the clinic entrance, his eyes still scanning the street for any movement.
Lori watched as he disappeared into the building. She couldn't see very far into it, but she could see that it was dark, the boarded up windows keeping natural light out of the space. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly; reminding herself that they hadn't seen any Walkers in the area the first time they'd passed through a few days before.
Minutes passed and she still hadn't heard anything, good or bad. She still hadn't seen anything either. She was about ready to assume that no news was good news when she heard one of the most terrifying sounds she could think of: her husband's voice screaming out in pain.
Lori lurched forward in her seat and immediately pulled on the door handle. It took her a few panicked tries until she realized the door was still locked. She quickly unlocked and pushed the door open. Jumping out of the car, her gun gripped tightly in her right hand, she took a second to lock and slam the door before taking off at a dead run for the clinic entrance.
She had no idea what to expect upon entering the building. Were there Walkers in there after all? If they had already gotten to her husband surely she was next, but she couldn't just leave him without knowing. She felt like she was going to be sick until she heard his voice again and she quickly shuffled her feet along the aisles toward the sound of it, using the shelving to make her way through the blackened room.
She could hear his rapid and ragged breathing, punctuated by groans which tore at her heart. If he was just bitten she was going to have to put him down. She couldn't think of a worse outcome.
"R-Rick?" she finally found her voice over her thumping heart and the bile rising in her throat.
"Here," he answered right away, but she could hear the struggle. But the one word was what she needed to close the final gap to his location.
"Careful," he managed to choke out. She found him sitting on the floor of an aisle with bottles of medication scattered all over. His back was to her and she could make out his form that appeared to be hunched over. As far as she could tell there were no Walkers and no bodies nearby. She felt relieved, though confused, as she jogged the rest of the way to the other side of him, careful to shuffle so that she didn't slip on any of the bottles.
"Oh my god," Lori's hand found it's way to her mouth as her eyes assessed the image in front of her. Rick's foot and calf were clamped by a very large, steel animal trap. She was torn between horrified at the turn of events and thankful that she didn't have to shoot her own husband.
She kneeled down to get a closer look, as much as she could in the dark. She could see that the trap had teeth lining the jaws, several of which were embedded into Rick's leg.
"Why is there an animal trap in a pharmacy?" she couldn't help but say the thought allowed.
"Stole the thoughts 'outta my head," her husband replied through gritted teeth. "Explains all the pill bottles on the floor though. Someone planted this here and hid it."
"Okay... I can open this," she determined. Her father had been an avid hunter and early in her life he'd showed her various traps: how they worked, and how to release an animal -or person - from one. She had never been very interested in those lessons, and actually found traps barbaric and cruel; but at the unthinkable moment that found her needing to free her husband from a trap, she thanked her lucky stars for father's stubborn insistence.
She could feel Rick's eyes on her and assumed he questioned how she could know what to do. "Daddy," she supplied in answer. She didn't wait for his response before locating the springs that she needed to push to release what looked like a bear trap. It was large, but thin and flat enough that she could see how it would have been well concealed by the pile of bottles. She imagined Rick must have just tried to kick them aside, not thinking to look for traps as most people wouldn't indoors.
As soon as she found the springs, Lori pressed down hard. She heard a loud, screeching metal sound and felt a surge of relief and pride as the jaws snapped open and released Rick's leg. The feeling was short-lived, however, when she noticed the blood rushing down to form a small pool between them. She quickly rolled up his pant leg to find that the teeth had left large gashes around his ankle and calf. She located one towards the back of his leg that was gushing more than the others.
"It might have gotten an artery or something," she observed, feeling dread fill her for what felt like the hundredth time that day. She started to unbutton her over-shirt that she'd put on that morning when Rick's hand stopped her midway.
"No, you need to keep your chest warm, use mine," he said while moving to unbutton his own over-shirt.
"You're bleeding," Lori scoffed and continued to make quick work of her shirt before he could get halfway through his. "Bleeding trumps an infection. I win this one."
Rick grunted and shook his head at her words; she could see he was in enough pain to prevent him from putting up much of a fight. She wrapped her discarded shirt around the source of the most bleeding and tied it twice, using her hand to apply more pressure.
Lori started to run through ideas in her mind of what they could do next. She could help him back to the car and take the wheel herself, but would Hershel have any supplies to treat Rick's injury? Maybe she would need to look around the clinic herself to see if she could find anything to bring back with them. But when would the other group get back? They were no more than halfway through the day and they had agreed to return close to sunset. She hadn't the first clue how to patch up these kinds of injuries; if she tried to stitch him she'd just be winging it. What if she caused more damage?
Before her mind could settle on a solution, the sound of a door creaking open from somewhere behind her caused her thoughts to slam to a stop and focus on the new problem; someone or something else was in the room with them. Her wide eyes met her husband's who she could see had slipped back into his high-alert mode, ready to do his best to defend them despite his pain.
They heard footsteps next, though there was no shuffling or dragging that would indicate a Walker, nor was there hesitance that would point to another survivor stumbling across the place. The steps sounded sure and confident, and suddenly a light was flicked on that flooded the entire room with a florescent glow that caused Rick and Lori to flinch and cast their eyes towards the ground for a moment.
Blinking in an attempt to get used to the light, Lori turned so that she was facing the source of the continuing sound of footsteps. She picked up her gun from the floor beside her, noticing for the first time that Rick's was already in his hand. He used his left arm to stretch out in front of her and move her back a bit so she was slightly behind him. She rolled her eyes, of course the injured one wanted to be in the front lines, but she obliged him.
They both raised their guns when a figure appeared at the end of the aisle in front of them. A blonde woman with a white doctor's coat faced them. She held up her hands to signal to them she meant no harm. Lori wasn't convinced, but she suspected this woman may be Rick's best chance to receive treatment for his leg.
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