"I'm in a bed." That was the first thought that came to my mind. The second was that I didn't know whose bed it was. I tried to open my eyes but one didn't seem to want to cooperate. I tried to sit up, but pain shot all through my body. A gasp escaped my lips as I fell back.
"Oh, don't try to get up" an older man on crutches hurried into the room. Well if you could call it a room. It was tiny and instead of a door it had bars. It was a cell. "You're pretty banged up, best I can tell you got three broken ribs and a whole lot of bruises. I'm glad you're awake though, I was getting a little worried. You've been unconscious for about three hours and you had some nasty blows to your head. My name's Hershel by the way."
"Stella," I croaked. "Could I get some water?" My throat felt like sandpaper and all I could taste was blood.
"Sorry, yeah. Carol? Could you bring some water in here?" Hershel called out. "Is it alright if I help you sit up?" At my nod he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed, placing the crutches on the floor. As he leaned over me I felt the stirring of fear in my belly, but his eyes were so kind, so full of concern, the fear left as quickly as it came. "Move slowly, try not to use your left arm too much. I taped those ribs up as best I could but they're going to bother you for some time. "
Gently he helped pull me to a sitting position. My head swam, whether it was from the change in position or the sight of the bruises circling my wrists I couldn't be sure.
A woman with a severe hair cut walked into the room carrying a tray. "I brought you something to eat, too. Figured you might be hungry." She placed the tray on my lap and with a tentative smile she turned and walked out.
I picked up the glass of water and guzzled the whole thing down. When I finished I poured a second from the pitcher and sipped it slowly. I took a breath and watched Hershel move to the chair next to the bed. "How did I get here? Where's Gertie?"
"Gertie? Is that your dog's name?" At my confirmation he smiled. "She's outside with Carl. They've been playing up a storm. Took some doing to get her out there though. She didn't want to leave you. Finally Daryl just picked her up and carried her outside."
"Daryl?" I asked. I had a fuzzy recollection of a man with sandy hair and blue eyes. "Is he the one that...?" I trailed off, unwilling to go there. I wasn't ready to think about it.
"Yeah, nearly gave us all a heart attack when he pulled you out of the car. For that matter, nearly gave us all a heart attack when he pulled up in a strange car." Hershel glanced towards the door then looked back at the untouched soup on the tray. "Tell you what. Eat your soup and I'll have someone bring Gertie back in here. Deal?"
I wasn't hungry, but I knew I should eat anyways. "Deal, but give me a few minutes before you get Gertie or she'll jump all over me and spill this everywhere."
Hershel chuckled and stood up. "Not a problem. Gonna be tough trying to get her away from Carl anyway. Good to see that boy acting like a boy for once."
After the soup was eaten and Gertie had her enthusiastic greeting, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Never one to be left behind, Gertie bounced up off the end of the bed. I groaned as I stood up, every muscle in my body protesting. I shuffled towards the door. I looked out into the corridor, and could see doors at either end, but I could hear a soft conversation from the door on the right. I headed towards the voices.
As I reached the door I could see a man and woman talking. Their voices were low, but the tone of the conversation was heated. The man had wavy dark hair, and the woman was pregnant, very pregnant. She saw me and placed her hand on the man's arm. He looked over at me and his expression was a mixture of irritation and concern.
The woman stepped forward, with that perticular way heavily pregnant women walk. "Hey there, I'm Lori and this is my husband Rick. Our son, Carl's around here somewhere. You okay? Do you need something?"
"Um, do you have someplace that you use as a bathroom?" I asked hesitantly. I felt as though I was interupting something serious.
"Sorry! We should have told you before. Would you like to take a shower too? Darryl brought some of your things in, they're over here."
"A shower? Really?" I asked incredudously. Just the thought of water running over me made my body ache.
Lori laughed, "I know the feeling. When we arrived we couldn't believe that the water was still running. It's even hot. There's a propane tank that heats the water in one of the bathrooms. It's heavenly. Come on. Your bags are over here." She gestured to a corner of the room. Two of my bags were sitting there.
"Thanks, do you know what happened to my car and the rest of my stuff by any chance?" I had been dying to ask since I woke up, but afraid to hear the answer. So much of what I had would be all but impossible to replace.
"Oh, Daryl drove your car back here. He loaded up your things before he left. He only brought in these two. Is that alright?" Lori asked, her voice anxious.
"If there's something else you need, I can go get it for you." Rick said.
"No, no. This is fine. I just was wondering. I would hate to lose everything." I started to shuffle over to where the bags were. I couldn't help but grimace as my muscles protested with every step.
"Wait here, I'll get them. " Rick said. Quickly he moved to retrieve the bags. He brought them over and set them down on one of the tables. "Why don't you take just what you need, and I'll bring these into your room." As I approached, he moved to the other side of the table.
I didn't feel threatened by him, but I appreciated the guesture all the same. I wondered if I would have felt differently if Lori had not been there. I quickly gathered what I needed and zipped the bags shut. I wondered if Darryl had looked through all my things. He must have. These two bags were exactly what I need. One was a duffle with an assortment of clothing. The other was my quick grab back. It had tolietries and a change of clothes, plus a water container and food for a day. Just what I'd need if I had to leave light and fast.
"Got everything?" Lori asked. "Why don't you let me carry it. You look like you have enough trouble standing on your feet as it is." Gratefully I passed the items over to her. "Well if that's all you need, follow me."
She walked slowly, which I was grateful for, Gertie trotting along behind us. "That dog sure is something. When Daryl first brought you here she made a ruckus anytime any of us got within five feet of you. Would only let Daryl near you, although I wasn't to sure of his safety anytime you made a noise she'd look at him like she was thinking about making him her next meal. Daryl ended up having to carry her out. Tried to put her in the cell next to yours but she tried so hard to get out we were afraid she was gonna hurt herself. Ended up putting her outside in the yard. Anyways later I look around and can't find Carl anywhere. Wouldn't you know, I look outside and there he is, chasing her around the yard. Almost gave me a heart attack when she turned and started chasing him. Took all of a minute before I realized that they were playing. I haven't heard him laugh like that in a long time. I guess I owe you thanks for that. For letting my boy be a boy."
"Don't thank me," I replied. "I had nothing to do with it. That's just Gertie being Gertie. She loves little kids. How old is your boy?"
"He's twelve going on twenty-five. This world isn't made for kids anymore." Lori answered sadly. She looked down and ran her hand over her belly.
"How far along are you?" I asked. "You look like you're about to go at any time."
"God willing, it'll be any day now. Now that we found this place I feel better about it. Didn't want to give birth out on the road."
"How long have you been here? What is this place?" I questioned her.
"We've been here for just over a week. It's Sevler's State Prison. It's just past Dawson off of Rt 24. We stumbled on it completly by accident. Managed to clear the yard and this prison block. The men and Maggie have been working to clear the rest out as needed. There's some prisoners in another cell block."
At my startled look, Lori rushed on. "There's only two of them and they don't come over here. Don't worry about them. They don't have the keys to get into this section of the prison." Lori paused outside a door. "Here we are. Take as long as you'd like. Do you want me to wait for you or do you think you can find your way back?"
"No, I got it. I think I'd like to be able to take my time." Lori passed me my items with an understanding look.
"Well here, take this lantern. I can find my way back without it. And don't worry no one will bother you. I'll let everyone know that you're here." Lori started back down the hallway, but I stopped her.
"Lori wait. How many are you? Is it just the six of you?"
"Oh no. There's ten of us. You've meet Hershel, Carol, Rick, Daryl and myself, and I've told you about Carl. But there's Maggie and Beth, Hershel's daughters, and then Glenn and T-Dog. The men here, well, they're all good men. You won't have to worry about anything with them. Okay?"
"I didn't mean... I meant I didn't think that..." I couldn't seem to find the words.
"I didn't think you did," Lori rushed to say to me. "Its just that I would think that if I was you, I'd like for someone to reassure me. You'll be alright here by yourself. If you can't remember your way back, stay here and Carol or I will come check on you in a bit." With that, Lori turned and walked down the hall, and I pushed the door open and entered the bathroom.
Ignoring the mirrors by the sink I placed my items and the lantern by the entrance to the showers. After using the bathroom I stripped down and started the shower. I don't think I ever appreciated a shower more. The hot water loosened the tightness of my muscles, but the impact of the water on my skin made me aware of the shear number of bruises that covered my body. As I moved to shampoo my hair, the reach of my arm made me cry out in pain, as the movement reminded me of the broken ribs.
Suddenly I was crying, not dainty sniffles, but racking sobs. The violent sounds tore through me, doing my ribs no favor, but I was helpless to stop. The shear ferocity of the tears left me unable to stand. I curled on the tile floor, weeping as the water ran over my body.
I had no idea how long I laid there crying, but when the tears stopped, and only the occasional gasp broke through, Gertie braved the water to nuzzle my cheek. The contact broke the spell of sorrow, and reminded me that while the incident was horrible, I was still living, and that worse still would have happened. I pushed myself to my feet and with a steading breath, ducked my head under the water one last time.
I headed over to my pile of things, and began drying myself off. As I moved the towel up my legs I was able to see the full extent of the damage. The bruises varied in size and color, and I had no doubt that others had yet to bloom. I dressed quickly, and moved to the mirror. Slowly I looked up. This was what I had been dreading the most. I wasn't exactly vain, but still... I had always taken pride in my appearance. As my eyes came to rest upon the reflection in the mirror I didn't believe for a moment that the person looking back at me, was well.. me.
The right side of my face was not that bad. My eye was blackened and my swollen cheekbone sported an interesting mix of colors. The left side of my face however looked as though I had gone twenty rounds with Joe Fraizer. My eye was all but swollen shut and there wasn't an inch of skin that maintained its original color. My lip was swollen and cut. There was a nasty gash along my cheekbone that was going to need to be closed, and a smaller one by my hairline. My nose was swollen but I quickly deduced that miraculously, it wasn't broken. After studying my reflection for a few more moments, I concluded that besides the cut on my cheek, there was nothing else that needed attention, and nothing that wouldn't heal. Brushing my hair quickly, I gathered up my things and Gertie and I headed back to the others.
When I walked into what could only be called the common room, they were all there. Gertie bouced joyously up to a boy and immediately began to run through her list of play invitations. Lori guestured me forward.
"Oh good, you're back. Let me introduce you to everyone. You know Hershel, Rick, and Carol. This is my boy Carl, and Maggie and Glenn, this is Beth and T-Dog, and that's Daryl over there." Everyone smiled at me and a chorus of hellos echoed in the room. I nodded back. Lori continued, "We were just about to have some dinner. Would you like anything?"
"No thank you, I'm feeling a little tired. I just need to get a few things out of my car, and then I think I'll just head to bed. It was nice to meet anyone." I turned to head towards the cells to put my things down but turned back immediately. "Lori, um where should I put this dress?"
A pretty blond girl, the one Lori called Beth, hurried over. She looked like she should be getting ready for a homecoming dance instead of living in a prison. "Oh I'll take that."
"Thanks for letting me use it. I appreciate it."
"Oh no problem, anytime." Beth smiled
Daryl, who hadn't said anything up to this point, walked over. "What is it that you want out of your car? I'll go get it for you."
"Just some ibuprofen and some steri strips. I need to close this cut up. The steri strips are in the box with the bandage materials and I keep the ibuprofen in the center console."
Before I could even say thanks and without a word Daryl turned and walked away. I was a little taken back by the abruptness of his departure, but as I looked around no one else seemed to notice anything was amiss.
Back in my room, I placed by tolietries back in my bag and lowered myself carefully on the bed. The energy I had gotten from the shower vanished. The weight of the day pressed down all around me. Gertie rushed into the room and jumped up on the bed. She curled up next to me and placed her head on my lap. As I petted her, the feeling of the soft fur on her head calmed me. We were still sitting there when Daryl appeared at the door. The sound of him clearing his throat softly brought my head up.
"I think I found what you want. I brought some antiseptic too." He didn't move from the doorway so I started to rise to retrieve the items. "Don't get up." He said hastily, moving into the room.
"Thanks for getting these things." I paused for a minute and steeled myself for what I needed to say next. "Thank you for today as well. I hate to think how things would have turned out if you hadn't come along when you did." I looked up at him. "How did you happen to come across me when you did anyway?" As I waited for him to answer I started cleaning the cut on my face.
"Here let me do that." Daryl took the bottle and gauze from my hand and pulled the chair over next to the bed. "Came across your dog when I was hunting. Seems we both had our eye on the same rabbit. Anyways when you screamed she took off like a shot. I just followed her."
"I screamed?" I asked doubiously. I had no memory of screaming. It made me wonder what else I didn't remember.
"Yeah, quite a set of lungs you have on you too. Lucky you didn't attract every walker in the area." His hands were gentle as they applied the bandages to my cheek. "Anyways I got there right after Gertie made her presence known." He paused for a second before continuing. "After you passed out I put you in the car and brought you here."
"But what about the tire and all my things?" I questioned him.
"Well didn't take but a few minutes to change the tire, and I just kind of threw everything in the back real quick. Might be kind off a mess. Sorry bout that. There. All set." He finished placing the last strip and lowered his hands.
As he began to rise I stopped him by placing my hand on his arm. "Well, whatever state my car's in is fine with me. I can't ever repay you for what you did, but if there's anything I can ever do for you just let me know."
He looked at me silently for a moment and then turned and walked out the room. Apparently abrupt departures were a common occurance with Daryl around. I reached over and shook out a couple of Motrin. After tossing them back I turned off the lantern. I was sound asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.