Chapter 8
"That's the turn. That's the turn," Marianne said hurriedly as she pointed at the Greene mailbox. Glenn slammed on the brakes. "I told you, you were goin' too fast."
"Sorry."
By the time they pulled up to the house Marianne was ready to sleep. All three of them got out of the car and made their way towards the picturesque white farmhouse. Marianne was sure it looked even more perfect during the day. Soft yellow light glowed in the first floor windows signaling that people were inside but they all stopped at the steps to the wraparound porch, unsure of how to proceed.
"So do we ring the bell?" Glenn asked. "I mean it looks like people live here."
"Do they even have a door bell? We should just knock." Marianne readjusted the bag on her shoulder. She looked down and frowned at the sight of large blood drops on the red brick steps.
"We're past this kind of stuff, aren't we? Having to be considerate." T-Dog looked as tired as Marianne felt.
"We're not barbarians," she said as they walked up the steps. "We'll knock."
"Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?" A woman's voice came from their right and Marianne looked into the shadows and saw her sitting on a rocking chair.
"Uh, hi. Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything," Glenn said. The woman leaned forward and they could see her face better. "Hello. Nice to see you again. We, uh, met before briefly."
Marianne studied Glenn's face and then looked at the pretty brown haired woman. Someone was developing a crush, much to her amusement.
"Look, we came to help. There anything we can do?" T-Dog asked.
The woman stood up and took a few steps closer to them. She looked at Marianne's face and then spotted the bloody makeshift bandage on T-Dog's arm.
"It's not a bite. I cut myself pretty bad though."
"Both of y'all look pretty banged up. We'll have that looked at." She motioned towards T-Dog's arm. "I'll tell them you're here."
"We have some antibiotics and painkillers," Marianne said, digging through her bag for the pill bottles. "He's already had some but if Carl needs 'em."
"Come on inside. I'll make you something to eat." The woman opened the screen door and they all went into the house.
The inside was just as Marianne had pictured it would be with the old furniture, wood floors, and the pictures on the white walls. The young woman, whose name she found out was Maggie, led them to the bedroom Carl was in. The boy was almost as white as the sheets and he looked so vulnerable. A white haired man in suspenders was sitting on the bed checking Carl's blood pressure. His parents sat in chairs on the other side looking worried sick. Marianne felt uncomfortable, like she was intruding on something private and hung back in the doorway with Maggie.
Glenn took off his hat. "Hey," he said softly. Rick said 'hey' back. "Um, we're here, okay?"
"Thank you," Lori said.
"Whatever you need." T-Dog nodded and the three of them, plus Maggie, started to leave the room when Marianne paused, remembering something.
"Uh, if Carl needs blood, I'm O negative. Haven't done much donating in my life but I guess now's the best time as any." Rick and Lori looked at her hopefully.
The old man nodded. "I might need to take you up on that offer."
"But you're head," Rick said, frown lines appearing on his forehead.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"Thank you," Lori said again. Marianne nodded at the anxious parents.
Maggie led them to the dining room where Marianne and T-Dog sat down. A blonde woman, who introduced herself as Patricia, came in with supplies to clean and stitch up T-Dog's arm.
"Check her head first." T-Dog pointed at Marianne.
"Well, aren't you the gentleman," Patricia said.
"Nah, stitch him up first. His cut is way bigger than mine."
"What happened to your head?" Maggie asked.
"Got into a fight with a rock and lost. The bruise is a different story."
Patricia took a look at her wound while Maggie set up everything Patricia needed.
"It's not too deep. It must not have been a very sharp rock. You're lucky you didn't crack your skull." Marianne flinched as the woman examined it. "You'll need a couple of stitches. We won't even have to shave the hair around it."
Patricia changed gloves and moved on to T-Dog. Maggie had to hold down his arm while Patricia worked carefully but efficiently on it. He was breathing heavily and grunting in pain.
"You should've taken another painkiller," Marianne said.
"You didn't."
"I only need two stitches. She'll be finished before I even know she started." Marianne was glad that she wouldn't be able to see the needle as Patricia worked on her head.
"You got here right in time." Patricia said as she was nearing the last few stitches. "This couldn't go untreated much longer. Merle Dixon. Is that your friend with the antibiotics?"
"My brother. He's not around anymore."
"Not sure I'd call him a friend."
"He is today. This doxycycline might have just saved your life. You know what Merle was takin' it for?"
"You really don't want to know. I sure didn't."
"What was it?" Glenn asked. He sounded interested despite Marianne's warning.
"The clap."
The interest in Glenn's face fell away. He glanced furtively at Maggie, looking embarrassed by the answer. He probably wished he hadn't asked.
"I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing to ever happen to you," Patricia told T-Dog, whose face was contorted by pain.
Daryl pointed his flashlight at face of the woman walking beside him and scoffed.
"You got that look on your face same as everybody else. What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started looking."
"Well, do you think we'll find her?" Andrea asked, sounding skeptical that he believed they'd really find Sophia.
"It ain't the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia. She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive. It happens all the time." Daryl swept the light across the ground in front of him keeping an eye out for signs of Sophia.
"She's only twelve."
"Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak."
"They found you?" Andrea asked.
Daryl shook his head. "My old man was off on a bender with Marianne's mom. Merle was doing another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight to the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched somethin' awful."
Andrea snorted and tried to smother her amusement. "I'm sorry. That is a terrible story."
Andrea laughed anyways and Daryl joined her. "Only difference is Sophia's got people looking for her. I call that an advantage."
"You said 'Marianne's mom,' so is she your half sister?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Nothing." Andrea shrugged. "You two seem close. It must be nice."
Daryl guessed this turn in the conversation had something to do with Amy.
"Her mom died when she was young. Our dad couldn't be bothered and it's not like Merle was around much. For awhile it was just the two of us." He knew what it was like to be left behind by an older brother and had vowed to himself he'd never do that to her.
Daryl accidently slammed the front door when he came home.
"Boy, get in here." He sighed and followed his dad's voice, waiting to get yelled at. There was a little girl with the biggest blue eyes sitting at their tiny dining room table.
"Who's this?"
"Your sister."His dad opened another beer.
"I don't have a sister."
"You do now."
Her eyes were shining with the silent tears that ran down her face and rolled right off her cheeks, making two damp spots on the front of her dress. He stared at her and she met his gaze straight on and unafraid. She was just sad.
"Why's she crying?"
"Her mom's dead. You think I have her here because I want her? I don't need one more mouth to feed."
He glared at the back of his dad's head. It's not like he went out of his way to feed him.
"You hungry?"Daryl asked her quietly. She nodded her small head and looked up at him hopefully. "Alright, I'll make you a sandwich." The little girl smiled at him. "What's your name?" he asked her as he took out two slices of bread.
"Marianne."
"Marianne?" She nodded. "That's a big name for a little thing like you. Mind if I call you Annie?"
"No, don't." She paused. Another tear ran down her face and she wiped it away. "My mom calls me that."
'Calls' and not 'called.' Daryl felt a tug on his heart. Merle would tell him he was soft but he wasn't here right now.
"Alright, Marianne it is."
Marianne was sitting at the dining room table again having finished giving all of the blood Hershel would let her. There was only so much her blood could do for Carl now. She picked up a glass of orange juice with shaky hands and tried not to spill it.
"You look like crap."
"Thanks, T. So do you." She took a small sip of juice.
"But what you did, that was cool." T-Dog nodded approvingly.
"I hope it helps."
"It will."
Patricia rushed past the dining room wheeling a large metal surgical table.
"They must be doin' the surgery," Marianne said.
"But Shane and Otis aren't back yet."
"Maybe they don't have a choice. Maybe he's gotten worse." Carl couldn't die, not with Sophia missing. They couldn't lose two children in the span of a couple of days. Marianne didn't think the group would survive after that. Rick would be devastated and they'd fall apart. She was smart enough to know that he was the one holding them together, even if the others hadn't quite realized that yet.
She knew she didn't have a way to help anymore but she couldn't just sit there doing nothing. She slowly stood up, grabbed her orange juice and went to sit on the porch to keep a look out for Otis and Shane.
Seconds after she sat down she spotted headlights in the distance. "They're here!" She yelled as she got up too fast and almost tipped over, spilling half of her orange juice across the porch but she didn't care. Marianne went as fast as she could into the house. "They're back!"
The blue truck pulled up to the house. Hershel, Rick and Lori ran past her, onto the porch and then into the yard to meet Otis and Shane. Glenn, T-Dog, and Maggie joined her on the porch.
The driver side door swung open and Shane got out of the truck. He was sweaty and breathing hard. Hershel and Glenn each took a bag from the exhausted man.
Hershel looked at the empty truck. "Otis?"
"No." Shane shook his head. There was a pause as it sunk in that he was dead.
"We say nothing to Patricia. Not 'til after. I need her." Hershel and Glenn went running into the house with the supplies.
Marianne stayed outside. Rick and Lori sat down on the porch steps together. Shane remained by the truck, sitting on the ground in front of it. T-Dog sat in the rocking chair only after offering it to Marianne, who declined and sat on the porch railing across from him instead and leaned against one of the posts.
She didn't know how long they all waited but eventually Hershel came out, followed by Maggie and Glenn. Everyone stood up, eager to hear the news.
"He seems to have stabilized," Hershel said. Rick let out a huge sigh of relief and hugged Hershel.
"I don't have words," Lori said tearfully.
"I don't either. Wish I did. How do I tell Patricia about Otis?" The atmosphere suddenly went from happy to uncomfortable.
"You go to Carl," Rick told Lori. "I'll go with Hershel."
Everyone except Shane went inside. Marianne could easily hear Patricia's wailing from the kitchen while sitting in the living room. Her head felt like it would float away any minute now and as the minutes passed she thought it really would.
Patricia's crying was subsiding. It had moved from the kitchen to upstairs. Rick walked in, coming in the direction of Carl's room.
"How are you?" Rick asked, looking dog-tired.
"I'll live. How's Carl doin'?" Her voice sounded so distant.
"He'll live."
"That's good to hear."
"He'll be bed ridden for awhile."
"He'll love that, a kid his age. I'm supposed to be stuck in here for a day and I'm already goin' stir crazy."
"'Supposed to' being the key phrase here."
"I never promised I would."
"Don't push yourself too hard." A shadow of concern crossed Rick's face. It was strange having someone besides Daryl worry about her.
"I won't. This time I don't have to account for the wrath of Merle." It was supposed to be a joke but she made herself sad. She bit her lip and looked away from Rick.
"Thank you."
Marianne didn't get a chance to say anything before he left to be with his son again but she probably wouldn't have anyways. She stretched out on the sofa the Greene's had graciously offered to her for what was left of the night. It was late and she could barely keep her eyes open. As soon as she closed them, she fell asleep.
A/N: Writing has been slow going, even slower than when I last updated. Well, I'm writing but it's stuff for season 3 and not the chapter I need to write next but I've been having fun thinking about what would happen with Merle showing up and a bunch of other stuff I'm impatient to get to.
Thank you for continuing to read. I know there are other things you could be doing so I really appreciate it.