She felt something wet move across her face. It was warm and smooth. A moment later she felt it again. She became aware of her own body. She was lying on something soft. She felt the wetness come across her face again and realized she was being licked by someone or something. Groaning she opened her eyes. All she could see were a blur of colors. Mainly dark gray, but she could tell there was a fire going somewhere close by as oranges and yellows danced off the ceiling. She groaned out in pain and tried to move her limbs. She started to feel the pain in her body again as sleep washed out of her. As her vision started to come back she realized she could only see out of her right eye. She sat up, letting out a yell of pain when she felt the wounds in her sides move with the rest of her body as she bent over. She was in a small windowless room. The walls were concrete but the place had a homey touch. Someone had added rugs, furniture and a roaring fire was going in the center. She was lying in someone else's bed. She heard panting and looked over on her left to see a dog sitting there, staring up at her. She reached out and lightly petted its head. It was dark gray and despite its friendly demeanor seemed to have a mean appearance. It had a ton of skin rolls and was so big its chest was on level with the bed. It was then that she remembered everything that had happened to her. Where was she? Who'd saved her? She swung her legs over the side and carefully rolled up her shirt. She expected to still see her torn flesh but instead she was covered from her chest to her hips in bandages. She reached up and touched her face, also feeling a heavy bandage on the side of her cheek. She frantically looked around for an exit and saw a steel door on the other side of the room. She wondered how long she'd been out. She needed to get back to Candice and Odilia. She was still weak from blood loss and when she got up she felt her legs give out and she landed on her ass. The dog had come around the bed to see her. It licked her face again leaving a long trail of slobber in its path. She heard the lock on the door click and suddenly it opened. She wasn't sure whether she should make a run for it or try and find out who her savior was.
At first all she could see was the outline of the man. He was tall and filled the entire doorway. He had a dead deer slung over his back.
"How you feelin'?" He spoke with a thick southern accent. The man stepped into the light and she saw his face. He had a long face and was completely bald. If Georgette had to guess he was probably in his thirties or forties. Smiling he said "Found ya on the street, nearly dead." She should probably thank him for patching her up but instead she remained tongue tied, unsure on what to do. The man stepped closer and held out his hand to help her up. "I'm Irving." She tried to stand up again and still felt a little woozy. She let him gently push her back against the bed so she could support herself on that.
"How long have I been here?"
"'Bout a day," said Irving, "I patched you up best I could but you lost a lotah blood. Oughta stay here a bit longer."
"Thanks for helping me but I can't. My group's out there." She tried to move off the bed again but he pushed her back again. "How far away are we from the road you found me on?"
"'Bout a day on horseback." She wondered if Candice and the others were looking for her. She told Odilia she'd be back in a half hour; they definitely knew she had ran into trouble.
Candice stood out on the porch. Her sister had been gone for an hour now. It had been too long. Something was definitely up. Odilia had told her not to worry, that Georgette could handle herself and she was probably just setting a few extra traps. But Candice was done waiting. She went back inside and walked past the fire that Ares had set up. Athena saw her start to gather some supplies together.
"What are you doing?"
"My sister's out there in trouble. I just know it."
"You're going out there alone?"
"Unless anyone wants to come with me?"
"I will," said Ares, standing up. He turned to Odilia and Athena. "You two stay here and keep watch in case she comes back." Candice impatiently waited for Ares to grab his backpack and then they set out.
"She went this way," said Candice, pointing north. The sun was setting but there was still enough light for her to track. Once they got into the woods she picked up her sister's faint tracks. She pointed them out and said "She kept moving straight."
"I don't see anything."
"Her tracks are there," she said smugly, "You just have to know how to find them." They continued on into the forest and soon found an empty trap that Georgette had set. Candice continued to track, Ares following behind her. When she found the first few drops of blood she tried to convince herself that maybe it was an injured animal or a walker, maybe their paths had crossed. But it was quickly becoming clear that it had been Georgette's blood. The droplets turned into large splatters.
"Oh my God," said Ares, looking around at the bloodstained ground. "What do you think happened?" Candice swallowed the lump in her throat and said
"I don't know." Candice fully expected to find her sister's body up ahead, re-animated or not. When they came out onto a dirt road she instead found the body of a large mountain lion. Three walkers were devouring it. They heard her step out onto the road and looked up at her. They rose to their feet and started to make their way towards her. She took out her knife and she and Ares took them out. Holding her breath, Candice realized the lion had attacked Georgette and she'd killed it. She followed her sister's crooked footsteps over to an old car and then saw the spot where she had fallen down. There was still a large spot of dried blood mixed in the dirt. It was all getting hard to see as the sun had nearly set beneath the horizon. She could just make out hoof prints next to the puddle, and footprints from another person who had clearly dismounted from the horse. The hoof prints turned back around and headed back up the road. Panicked she said
"Someone took her! We have to keep going!" As she tried to step forward Ares put a hand on her shoulder and held her back.
"It's getting dark," he said, "It's too dangerous to keep going. Besides, you can't track at night, we could get lost."
"But she's out there!" Candice could hear her voice cracking in desperation, she tried to hold back her tears but they spilled over. "She's in trouble!"
"She'll be alright," he said, "She's tough. If someone found her bleeding out in the road and was kind enough to pick her up and take her with them then they could only have good intentions." Candice knew he was being logical but she still couldn't help but feel the worry nagging at the back of her head. She broke down, unable to hold it back anymore. She couldn't lose her sister. Not now, not after how far they'd come together. She couldn't go to Georgia and find their parents alone, having to be the one to explain that Georgette had been killed after coming so close. "She's gonna be fine," he said, "Tomorrow morning we can come back out and track her and we'll find her."
"What's your name?" Georgette greedily scarfed down the venison he'd given her to eat, all thoughts of having manners gone from her head. She just needed to gain her strength back as quickly as possible so she could get out of there. Once she swallowed she looked up at him and said
"Georgette." She watched the dog chew on a long bone she assumed was from the deer he'd cut up to eat. He saw her looking at them and said
"That's my guard dog."
"Guard dog?"
"And friend, been out here alone for a long time, it would get lonely without him." He whistled for him to come over and he abandoned his bone. Irving got up and pulled out a metal bowl. She watched as he filled it with meat. As soon as he set the bowl down he dug in.
"Why'd you save me?"
"I was huntin' and I heard you scream. Couldn't leave you out in the road to die."
"Why?"
"Wouldn' be right." Georgette had been wary of people who were alone. Unless they were traveling, people had no reason to be living alone anymore. There were plenty of groups out there to join up with. Logically, the only people left living alone were the ones who had done something to get themselves kicked out of a group.
"Where are we?"
"In an old warehouse," he said, "We're in one of the underground storage rooms." There was a silence between them and all that could be heard were the sounds of the dog still eating.
"Thanks," she said, "For everything. But I need to get back to my group."
"The sun's settin'," he said, "If you're stronger tomorrow you can go." Georgette felt a surge of anger. Who was this man to try and tell her what to do? She wanted to lash out and tell him that she was going to do what she wanted but she knew that wouldn't be right. He'd brought her back, bandaged her and let her eat his food. The least she could do was follow his directions.
When they were done eating he stood up and opened a cabinet. He pulled out a baggie of white bandages and said
"Should probably put on some fresh ones, don't want the wounds gettin' infected." Georgette stood up and got the cracked mirror from the corner. She finally saw herself. Her left eye was swollen shut in an ugly black and blue bruise. The rest of her cheek was bandaged pretty heavily. She slowly began to peel back the bandage. When it fell off she finally saw the damage that had been done. He had stitched the hanging flesh back into place. Long zigzags of black cord laced in and out of her skin and ran from her cheekbone to her jawline. Her cheek was incredibly swollen like her eye. It was a nasty hue of yellows, greens and black. Next she moved onto her torso. She was hesitant to remove her shirt in front of him but figured if he'd stitched her up there too he probably had already seen her. She pulled it off and was left standing in her bra and jeans. As she had done with her face, she carefully peeled off the bandages. When they were all off she saw that he had stitched up her wounds there as well. The stitches crisscrossed all over her torso in obvious claw marks. She turned and managed to get a look at her back which was also covered in stitches.
"Holy shit," How had she survived?
"It'll all heal," he said, "But you'll have deep scars. You're lucky. I knew someone who was mauled to death." She took the bandages from him and started to wrap her torso until all of the stitches were covered. "I'm goin' out to do one last perimeter check. You can take the bed," he said, "I'll jus' sleep on the couch." She watched him hook up the dog on a leash and then leave the room. She hesitantly looked over at the bed. She'd already slept in it for at least twenty-four hours and this guy had saved her. She climbed onto it and lay down, watching the flames of the fire flicker, dancing on the wall. With each blink her eyelids drooped further down and grew heavier. Finally she shut them and drifted off into a light slumber.
Candice was up before the sun had risen. She started cooking breakfast and when the first rays of sunlight broke the horizon she had woken everyone up, had them eat and they were ready to go. Candice had packed a full bag to take with them. It included a tent, bottles of water, wire for traps and some food. They would be out there as long as it took to find Georgette, and since they couldn't bring the ATV with the trailer through the woods, they had to go on foot. Ares offered to stay behind and watch the house while the three girls went to search. Candice easily followed the trail she had picked up yesterday and quickly came to the road. The cougar's carcass was now just a skeleton. The walkers had stripped it clean.
"She fell down here," said Candice pointing out the dried splatter of blood. "And someone on horseback took her."
"Maybe there's a big community around here," said Athena, "They found her and saved her." Athena's positivity made Candice feel a bit better about the situation.
"Your sister's a survivor," said Odilia, "She'll be fine." Candice followed the hoof prints up the road. They were no doubt in the backwoods. There were few houses on the dirt road and the trees were thick. When the prints branched off the road and into the woods thing got a lot harder. The terrain was rocky and uneven. She concentrated hard, staying on the trail as best she could. It was around noon when their smooth journey came to a halt. Crossing over the path of the hoof prints were a set of large paw prints.
"Shit," she said, "They must be all over the place here." Odilia saw the fresh prints and said
"Not much of a surprise. They're population musta exploded after the turn."
"Well just keep your eyes open." They continued on, moving slower as they had become more cautious. They could be anywhere, in the bushes or the trees, just waiting to pounce. The trail took them deeper into the woods. They were completely quiet as they moved along. Candice at the front and Odilia at the back.
They were moving along at a good pace again. She hoped that maybe they would find Georgette by sundown. But as the sky grew darker, it was clear that wasn't going to happen. They found a nice clearing to set up camp in.
"I'll go look for firewood," said Athena, "I'll set a trap too." Candice and Odilia worked on putting up the tent. It was big enough for two of them to comfortably fit inside at a time. Someone could keep watch while the other two slept. It wasn't long before Athena returned with a bundle of wood in her arms and they quickly got a fire going. They cooked the remainder of their food. Once the sun had gone down they all sat close by the fire. Candice couldn't help but keep her mind on her sister. How much further did they have to go? Another day, maybe two? On horseback the person must have moved a lot faster, as from what she could tell, they had been moving at a steady canter for most of the way. A distant noise brought her out of her thoughts. Odilia who had been adding another log to the fire froze. It had been a roar. There was no mistaking it; it had to be another mountain lion. They weren't alone out there. Walkers weren't their only worry.
"I think it's time for sleep."
"I'll take the first watch," said Athena, "You want the second?" Candice nodded, that left the third for Odilia. She climbed into the tent with Odilia, pulling a blanket over them. She knew it was foolish to think so but she felt a bit safer cozy inside the tent.
When Georgette woke up he wasn't there, neither was the dog, but he'd left her a plate of food which she didn't hesitate to eat. She could feel that her strength had returned to her body. She wasn't one hundred percent but she was close and it'd have to do. She couldn't wait any longer, Candice was probably sick with worry.
Once she was done eating she decided to go look for Irving and let him know she was ready to go. She pushed open the steel door. There was a long hallway and at the end she could see stairs. She walked down it and when she came to the top of the stairs she found herself in another small room that looked as if it had been an office. There was a small window on one side of the room but the glass was cloudy and dirty so she couldn't see much. She walked out into a huge room. Irving hadn't lied, it was a warehouse. Over in another room she could make out what looked like a makeshift horse stall. There was hay cushioning the floor and buckets full of feed and water. She saw the garage door slightly cracked open, enough for her to get her fingers under.
When she pulled it up the sunlight blinded her. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust. The garage door led out to an old overgrown gravel parking lot. There were a few broken down vehicles still there, untouched for decades. She immediately spotted the horse standing off to the far right, grazing on a patch of grass. Surrounding the lot were chain fences. She wasn't sure if Irving had put them there himself or they had been there before. She saw him on the far side of the lot. He had a deer hanging from a hook protruding from the side of the building. He was gutting it and there was a substantial gut pile next to him. A small group of walkers had piled up to the fence, snarling and clawing to get inside at the fresh meat. The dog was also out, lying in the shade. She started walking towards him and called out.
"Hey." He turned to see her and put his knife down.
"Hey you feelin' any better than yesterday?"
"A lot," she said, "I'm ready to go."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely, I need to get back to my group."
"Alright," he said, "Lemme just finish up here."
"I can go myself." He laughed at her and she felt a surge of anger. She was being completely serious, why could he not see that?
"Don't be silly girl, you don' know the way back. 'Sides, there's more mountain lions up and down this area. Didn't heal you back to health jus' to have you attacked again." She crossed her arms, trying to look intimidating. He was right and she hated it. He laughed again and turned back to his work, infuriating her even more.
It didn't take long for him to finish and clean up. She followed him inside and watched him saddle up his horse. He quickly mounted and held out his hand to her. She reluctantly took it and he pulled her up behind him. "Hold on tight." She braced herself against the horse's back and held onto the saddle. They walked out of the warehouse and he whistled. The dog got up and came to their side. She felt him urge the horse forward. He unlatched the gate and pushed it open. They walked out and he quickly dismounted to re-latch it. Georgette kept an eye on the group of walkers that were now slowly starting to migrate towards them. But he was quick and before she knew it he was back on. Then they took off. She screamed, not expecting him to move so fast. She quickly grabbed onto him, realizing that the saddle was not going to keep her on.
Thanks electrickpanda, daywalker28, DarylDixon'sLover, crimsonrose0003, Caitiann, stateofgrace-xo, K. Lynn Perks and all the guests for commenting :) If you forget who Irving is go to chapter 25 and scroll down to Daryl's flashback at the bottom lol. His picture along with his dog's picture is posted in my profile page. I've always thought Woody Harrelson has looked like Micheal Rooker, that and his thick southern accent makes him perfect to play a Dixon lol.
Thanks for reading,
Wanderlustt