"What are you doing?!" Reggie screeched as she rushed down the stairs and over to the closet. Any quick escape plans that had started to form in Lori's mind came to a screeching halt when she noticed the gun in the other woman's trembling hand, her finger on the trigger. Placing an instinctive hand over her belly, Lori stepped away from the doorway until she was shoulder to shoulder with her husband.
Rick lifted the pipe and tightened it in his grip, his knuckles turning white. Lori reached around to rest her hand on his back to steady him, though she was careful not to restrain him in case he needed to move suddenly. He seemed to slip into deputy mode when he cast a nervous glance in her direction that only last for a second before he settled his eyes on Reggie again.
"Reggie, we can talk this through," he extended one hand. "Why don't you put down the gun and let's just talk about this. I know you didn't mean to hurt us… Lori tells me you got a bit freaked out. That's okay – we can both understand that."
His soothing tone started to relax Lori's own tense muscles, but it didn't seem to be doing much at all for Reggie whose eyes were fixed on the feet of the pale female Walker that Rick had put down. "What did you do?" she asked, her voice soupy and confused. Her initial anger seemed to have been replaced with a deep confusion, and if Lori didn't know better she would have thought the woman was in a trance. She looked to Rick but his full attention was still focused on Reggie. "I n-n-needed her. You ruined it… all of it." Reggie shook her head as she spoke, her expression flickering between devastation and puzzlement.
"We're sorry," Lori blurted, moving to take a step towards the other woman. Rick's hand closed around her forearm and he pulled her back again and guided her into the spot behind him. "Maybe I can-," Lori began to explain. If she could show this woman compassion maybe she would let them go.
Rick released his hold on her and motioned for her to stay put. Lori didn't like the idea of him standing between her and the unsteady muzzle of a gun. Her thoughts were cut short by a sudden coughing fit when her breath snagged in her lungs. The sound seemed to jar something inside Reggie who blinked once, her pupils suddenly contracting as she snapped out of her haze. Her face twisted back into anger, her teeth clenching with such force that they looked like they might shatter.
Rick's whole body tensed and he launched himself forward without any other warning, his pipe held across his chest like a shield. Reggie lost her footing as he ploughed into her, driving her back across the room and into the wall. Lori watched with surprised fascination as the gun slipped from Reggie's fingers in what felt like slow motion, then clattered to the floor off into the shadows of the room.
With the pipe thrust under her chin and her body pinned to the wall, Reggie panted heavily, her chest rising and falling so rapidly that Lori thought she might be hyperventilating.
"Check her for the keys," Rick spoke over his shoulder, tightening his grip on the doctor. He turned back to the pinned woman and tightened his hold on her, leaning in close. "Don't move. Don't breathe. If I think for a second that you're going to pull anything I will not hesitate to kill you."
Lori listened to his warning as she approached them cautiously. She kept her eyes fixed on the other woman's unsecured hand as she searched her pockets for their keys. Lori managed to find Rick's knife in the pocket of Reggie's white coat and a capped syringe, which she took just in case the woman had any intentions of injecting the milky liquid into either herself or her husband.
"Where are the keys?" Rick demanded when Lori took a step back.
Reggie set her jaw, silently rebelling against Rick's interrogation.
"We'll find them," Lori placed her hand on Rick's back and rubbed it soothingly. "We'll have to secure her to give ours-," her suggestion ended abruptly when Reggie's foot suddenly connected with Rick's injured shin and he grunted in pain, losing his hold on her. He dropped backwards, his tailbone taking the brunt of his fall against the concrete floor and his face twisted in agony.
In the split-second she had before Reggie's fingers were clamped around her throat, Lori opened the pocket knife. She too landed hard on the ground, fighting for breath around her crushed windpipe. The pain of her infected throat being squeezed was surprisingly mild compared to her panic as one of Reggie's knees dug into her sternum and the other into her stomach. She was so successfully fastened to the floor that the knife in her hand could do her no good.
She tried to demand that the woman get off her, to beg, bargain – do whatever it took to spare her baby's life – but she couldn't do anything except fight the overwhelming urge to pass out from lack of oxygen. The perimeter of her field of vision began to dim and she felt a cough explode inside her chest with nowhere for the pressure to escape. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look into Reggie's enraged ones anymore.
I'm sorry, baby.
She gasped painfully as something jammed into her chest and her eyes flew open in surprise. Pushing her hands out in self-defense she tried to shove Reggie's hands away, using her nails to claw into her forearms. Hands closed around her wrists like shackles but they were gentle and forgiving and she sucked a shuddering, painful breath into her aching chest. A cough immediately tore up her esophagus, erupting from her chest and she was turned onto her side as hands smoothed her hair back out of her face.
"Just breathe." She knew that voice – Rick. "Lori," he patted her back as he spoke. "You gotta breathe." Squeezing her eyes closed she nodded and lifted her arm to drop it over her face, successfully blocking him out. What did he think she was trying to do?
When her coughing subsided, she sucked in careful breaths and remained curled up as she attempted to recover. "Reggie?" she croaked, wrapping her arms around her belly protectively as she shifted so that she could sit up.
Rick's arms wound around her back to help her and he looked across the room to the closet door. He'd propped a chair up under the handle to secure it. "No lock on that and I don't know how long she'll be out for. You alright to get up?"
Lori nodded, still vague on the details of what had occurred. She figured it would be best to postpone that conversation until they were on the road and as far away from the clinic as possible.
The last of the sun's light had faded and the basement had been inked over by thick shadows, obscuring the parts of the room that were not in her immediate vicinity. Glancing over, she caught Rick watching her, his face etched with concern.
"Can you walk?" she asked, her brow pinching as she remembered how things had spiraled out of control in the first place. "Baby, your leg," she turned her attention to where his pants were still rolled down, concealing his injuries.
Rick nodded. "I can walk," he assured her, getting to his feet by bracing his hand on the wall. Lori didn't miss the way he favoured his one side, or his grimace as he slowly put weight onto his foot. He reached down to help her up and she unsuccessfully skirted his attempts. She gave in and let him pull her to her feet collecting his pipe on the way up. She handed it to him before brushing her hands off on her pants and looking around the room again, pressing her hand to her aching ribs with a wince.
Lori located the stairs, threading her arm through his to settle around his back.
"Think you can manage them?" she asked as they made their way across the room.
Rick grunted and handed her the pipe before reaching for the single railing that was screwed to the wall. It jostled dangerously and Lori noticed that a few of the brackets were broken or missing. "Careful," she muttered, taking the first step, then stopping to wait for Rick who seemed to be considering which foot to lead with.
"You go ahead," he nodded upwards, extracting his arm from hers.
Lori paused to look him over. "Are you crazy?" she demanded, reaching out to take his arm. When he pulled his arm away again she shook her head. "You could fall," she hissed.
"Exactly," Rick reasoned, looking down at his feet and taking a deep breath. When he looked up he settled his eyes on her, unwavering. "And if I do it's not gonna be back onto you." He listed the corner of his mouth into a small smile. "We gonna butt heads every step of the way or can we get out of here."
Lori rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile. When she saw the determined tilt of his head she knew that he wasn't going to relent and she shrugged, handing him the pipe and then beginning to climb the stairs ahead of him. He grunted with each step, the pipe thumping against the wood, the railing rattling on its remaining metal brackets.
Her breath began to whistle and she laughed softly, resting her hand over her chest as she realized that Rick was panting pretty hard too. "Sound like a couple of asthmatics at a marathon," she jested, coughing into the crook of her arm.
When Rick didn't answer she turned to him and reached for his elbow, looking him over. He looked white as a sheet and he looked clammy. "Just a couple more steps," she promised, moving to his side. She slid her arm around his back again. "We'll do it together, sweetheart."
Rick nodded, his teeth sinking into his lower lip.
When they finally reached the top step Lori opened the door cautiously and peeked out into a long hallway and breathed a sigh of relief which triggered another coughing fit. The intensity of her cough combined with her physical exhaustion forced her to bend over and brace her hands on her thighs. Rick's hand landed on her back and he rubbed the length of her spine, lingering to pat between her shoulder blades. "Get it out," he murmured, gathering her hair and twisting it around his hand at the base of her neck.
A banging sound suddenly erupted from the basement and Lori whipped around to find the door being slammed away from its hinges, the chair bouncing dangerously against the handle.
"Shit," Rick helped her to straighten up, pushing her out through the doorway and into the hallway. The sounds of wood clattering against cement made her jump and she stepped back to let Rick close the door behind him and turn the small lock on the handle. "Won't hold long," he started down the hallway, limping heavily. "Look for the keys."
The urgency in his voice set her on edge, picking up the speed of her heart, but she followed his direction and began searching the exam room. "What if she has them on her," Lori suggested, searching frantically through the drawers under the counter. Feet falling heavily and rapidly against the basement stairs made her freeze and she turned to look down the hallway at the door.
"I checked again," Rick took her elbow and started pushing her towards another door, pressing a silver scalpel into her palm. "Go, check the other room but keep quiet," he kept his voice low, sending a nervous glance over his shoulder to the hallway where Reggie was slamming against the basement door.
"Wait," Lori stopped him from turning away from her. "Where are you going?" she asked, keeping her voice hushed to match his.
"I'm going to finish searching here and then I will find you," he pushed her again toward the door. "Lock this behind you."
Lori looked between him and the other room, torn between arguing and complying with him. His hand found her cheek and he pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. "You can do this," he pushed her again. "You need to do this for Carl and the baby. I am not going anywhere."
Nodding, Lori swallowed back tears and the lump forming in her throat. Quickly, she closed the door and snapped the bolt in place before turning to inspect a small apartment style kitchen. She started with the drawers, noting the storm door next to the window. Suddenly the wall beside her shuddered and a loud slam vibrated through the house. She froze and looked back at the hallway where she had come, holding her breath.
Lori listened for what seemed like forever, her entire body tingling with the urge to run. The house had gone silent around her and she waited for something to happen.