I jumped forward and knelt down beside Carl. Blood was already seeping through his shirt. Going into nurse mode, I instinctively put my hand over the wound, trying to keep pressure on it. Blood drizzled between my fingers as Rick's cries grew more frantic.
"Oh, my God! I didn't see him!" A voice called, and I turned my head to see a man running toward us. "I can help him! Come on!"
I helped Rick lift him, and he gathered Carl into his arms. We ran, and I could see a clearing in sight. I could hear Shane yelling at the man, he had been doing that the whole time we had been running. Rick turned to look at them.
"HOW FAR? HOW FAR?" Rick screamed.
"Not far at all, that way!" The overweight man was gasping for air as he pointed. "Hershel! Talk to Hershel, he'll help ya boy!" I ran ahead with Rick, who was struggling with Carl.
"Here!" I put my arms under Carl's legs, taking some of the weight. "GO!" Rick and I ran as fast as we could, keeping in step with each other. I could see a farm house in sight, and that only pushed Rick and I harder. I heard a girl yell, but I ignored it. We rushed over the fence, I went first, grabbing Carl, Rick got over, then he took half of Carl's weight and we kept running. I could see people on the front porch as we ran closer.
"Was he bit?" The older man asked.
"Shot, by your man." Rick gasped for air, and I looked up, breathing hard.
"Otis?" A woman asked.
"He said find Hershel, is that you?" Rick asked, and the man nodded as they all came toward us. "Help me, you gotta help my boy!" Rick cried. Hershel led us into the house and began immediately instructing his people to grab his medical things.
"Pillow case." Hershel instructed.
"Is he alive?" Rick asked.
"Pillow case, quick!" Hershel ordered.
"Is, is he alive?" Rick asked, grabbing the pillow and yanking off the pillow case.
"Fold it, make a pad." Hershel said, ignoring Rick's questions. Rick put the pillow case on Carl's side and held it down. "Put pressure on the wound." Hershel was checking for Carl's heart beat. "I've gotta heart beat...it's faint." Patricia told Rick to step back, and he did.
"Maggie, I.V." Hershel's voice was calm.
"We need some space." Maggie said to Rick.
"Your name?" Hershel asked.
"Ri-Rick." Rick looked pale.
"Rick?" Hershel repeated.
"I'm, I- I'm, I'm Rick." He nodded.
"Rick, we're gonna do everything we can, okay? You need to give us some room. Now." Hershel said, and I walked over to Rick. I pulled his arm gently, steering him back a few steps. I didn't know what to do, so I grabbed him. I saw Shane coming from the window, so I held onto Rick's arm and we walked outside onto the porch. Shane and the man, Otis, walked up.
"He's alive? He's still alive?" Otis asked, and I could hear the pain in his voice. Rick wiped his head, and smeared blood on his face.
"Hey, hey," Shane whispered, "look at me." He began digging through his bag. "It's okay." Shane was trying to comfort Rick as he wiped the blood off. Rick began to cry again, and we followed him inside.
"You know his blood type?" Hershel asked.
"A positive, s-same as mine." Rick replied.
"That's fortunate. Don't wander far. I'm gonna need you." Hershel said. "What happened?" Hershel asked.
"I was...trackin' a buck..bullet went through it, went clean through." Otis looked as if he might cry.
"The deer slowed the bullet down, which certainly saved his life. But it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out, and I'm countin' six.." Hershel was looking at Carl's side.
"I never saw him." Otis whispered to the woman Hershel called Patricia. "Until he was on the ground."
"Lori doesn't know." Rick said, as he began crying again. "My wife doesn't know. My wife doesn't know." Shane began whispering to him, trying to calm him down.
"I'll go back." I spoke up.
"NO!" Rick said firmly.
"You can't walk all that way back, you could get lost." Shane agreed. I nodded my head and walked into the other room. Rick and Shane followed and we all sat down. Rick was talking to Shane, breaking down when Maggie appeared in the doorway.
"Rick! He needs blood." She held the door open for Shane and I to walk through. I could hear Carl's cries, and I felt my my heart pounding.
"You, hold 'em down!" Hershel instructed to Shane, who did as he was told.
DAAAD!" Carl screamed in agonizing pain. I ran over to Shane's side, grabbing Carl's hand. Hershel began digging into his skin for the bullet fragment. Carl squeezed my hand as he screamed. I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt the tears running down my face.
"STOP YOU'RE KILLIN' HIM!" Rick yelled.
"Rick, do you want him to live?" Hershel asked.
"He needs blood!" Patricia said loudly.
"DO IT NOW!" Shane screamed, and Rick moved to Patricia. Carl was groaning and gagging in pain. I put my head close to his.
"Carl," I whispered, "I'm here, buddy." I saw Shane's hand on his face, and suddenly he went still. I whipped my head up at Hershel.
"Wait, wait, wait, hey!" Shane was panicking.
"He just passed out." Hershel assured as he pulled out a bullet fragment. "One down...five to go."
I slipped away to the front porch. I could feel it building up in my chest. I sat on the front steps, and took a deep breath. In my nose, out of my mouth. In my nose, out of my mouth. Listening to the breeze blowing, I pictured Carl underneath the car, his arm around Cheyenne. He had been protecting her.. I looked down to see my hands shaking, when I realized they were still covered in blood. Blood on my shirt, my arms, my shorts. I let out a sob, and I could feel myself start hyperventilating.
"Hey! Hey! What's your name?" Maggie came to my side and sat on the stairs.
"Sp-Spen-cer." I said, trying to regain my composure.
"Spencer, Carl's gonna be okay. My Daddy will help him. Just breathe." She said, and something in her voice relaxed me. Until Cheyenne popped in my head again. I jumped to my feet.
"Oh, God. Oh, God. Cheyenne... How do I tell her? How do I.." I trailed off, putting my hands to my face. "How do I tell a five year old child that the boy who protects her has been shot?" I looked at Maggie with tears in my eyes. I could tell she wasn't sure what to say, so she just reached for me and offered a hug.
"You gonna be okay?" Maggie looked at me.
"I dunno." I admitted.
"Well we can not know together." She nodded her head and we walked inside. Rick and Shane came in, Shane trying to calm Rick down about Lori.
"I'm gonna handle it. But you gotta handle your end." Shane said.
"My, my end?" Rick looked confused.
"Your end is bein' here, for your son. E-even if he didn't need your blood to survive, there's no way I'd ever let you walk out that door. Man, I..I'd break your legs if you tried, ya know that right? If somethin' happened to him and you weren't here... If, if he slipped away while you were gone, you would never forgive yourself for that. And neither would Lori, man." Shane explained.
"You're right." Rick looked up with red eyes.
"When was I ever wrong?" Shane offered a pained smile, and I could see a glimmer of a smile on Rick's face. Shane began recalling Lori's reaction to his incident of being shot. Shane and Rick grabbed each other as Shane talked to him, forehead to forehead.
Hershel came out to inform us that Carl was stable, but we had bigger problems. Carl needed surgery in order for Hershel to remove the remaining bullet fragments. He also discovered that Carl was bleeding internally, and he needed to be put under in order to fix that. Shane stepped up to go to the high school and round up everything Hershel needed. Otis stepped in, refusing to back down, agreeing to go along with him. The two prepared to leave.
"Where is she? Your wife?" Maggie stepped forward.
"In the woods near the highway. There was a pile up of cars along the highway..." Rick trailed off.
"I'll go find her." Maggie talked to Hershel quietly, then started to walk out of the door.
"I'll go with you!" I said, but I turned to Rick and walked over to him. I hugged him, putting my head on his shoulder. "Listen to me. I don't wanna leave you, but I gotta go get Chy. Watch after Carl, but don't wear yourself out. Drink and eat, s'pecially when givin' blood. If he wakes up before I get back, tell him I miss my searchin' partner."
"Thank you Spencer, for everything. For helpin' me... Carry him to the house. Thank you, and I will." Rick gave me a squeeze and we broke away. I followed Maggie to the stables, and she led her horse out.
"Ever rode on a horse?" She asked.
"Fortunately, yes." I nodded as she hopped on. She gave me her hand, and helped me up.
"Ready?" Maggie glanced back at me.
"Ready!" I said, and the horse began to run. I held onto the saddle tight as we dashed through the woods. I felt free in that moment, suddenly missing the feeling of riding horses. We rode on, and I began to worry we wouldn't find them. Then we heard screaming. We broke through the trees, and I could see Andrea on her back, a walker over her. Maggie's grip tightened on the bat she held, and as we rode by, she smashed the walkers head with the bat.
"Lori? Lori Grimes?" Maggie asked.
"Lori!" I screamed her name and she looked at me in horror at the blood covering me.
"Whoa! I'm Lori!" She looked at Maggie.
"Rick sent me, you gotta come now!" Maggie exclaimed.
"What?" Lori looked at us in confusion. I jumped off the horse.
"Lori, GO!" I yelled.
"There's been an accident, Carl's been shot! He's still alive, but you gotta come now! Rick needs you, just come!" Maggie yelped. Lori dropped her bag, jumping onto the horse.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, we dunno this girl!" Daryl argued. "You can't get on that horse!"
"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?" Maggie began giving directions to Glenn. "You'll see the mailbox, name's Greene. YAH!" And with that, she had the horse galloping away. I looked over at the moaning noise I heard, to see the walker sitting up.
"Shuttup." Daryl growled, shooting it in the head. He looked at me. We got back to the highway quickly and reached Dale, who looked at me worriedly.
"Carl's been shot." I said, before he could ask.
"Shot? What'dya mean shot?" Dale's voice rising.
"I dunno, Dale I wasn't there. All I know is this chick ran out of nowhere, like Zorro, on a horse and took Lori." Glenn explained.
"You let her?" Dale looked to Daryl.
"Climb down outta my asshole, man. Rick sent her, Spencer was with her!" Daryl said, but his voice wasn't harsh. "She knew Lori's name and Carl's."
"And I heard screams, was that you?" Dale asked Andrea, who ignored him and kept walking.
"She got attacked by a walker. It was a close call." Glenn mumbled.
"Andrea, are you all right?" Dale asked. Andrea just looked at him, shaking her head. She walked into the RV, and Cheyenne darted out of it. I heard the door slam as Cheyenne ran toward me. Shay looked at me and I thought I might cry.
"Spencer!" She stopped and stared at my clothes. "What's wrong? Why's there blood on you?"
"Baby, why don't you come sit over here with me?" I asked, my voice shaking. I picked Cheyenne up and sat her on the hood of a truck.
"Were you bited?" She asked, her big blue eyes full of worry. I forced a smile.
"No, honey. I wasn't bitten." When I said bitten, my voice faltered. I looked down at her face, and took a breath. "Chy, Carl's been shot." I watched her face fall and she looked as if her heart was broken.
"Carl?" She said his name softly, and I looked down. When I looked back up at her, she had tears in her eyes.
"Listen, though, okay? He's gonna be fine, ya know that? He's at a doctor's house, and he is gonna do all that he can to fix him up." I looked at Cheyenne with the best look I could offer. Carol looked up at me with sad eyes, as I helped Cheyenne off the hood of the truck. I began to cry again, so Shay walked over.
"Go get cleaned up. I got her." Shay picked Cheyenne up and took her to the RV. I could hear Cheyenne's sniffles as she cried. Running my fingers through my hair, I leaned against the hood of the car. Dale walked up to me.
"Spencer..what happened?" Dale asked quietly.
"A deer, there was...a, a deer. He was beautiful... Carl walked over to it, and the next thing I know, he's on the ground." I shook my head, fighting the images away. I walked away from Dale, and stopped in the middle of the road, staring at my hands. I saw they were still covered in blood.
"Come on." Daryl was in front of me suddenly, with my duffel back. "Gotta clean ya self up." I looked up at him, wiping the tears away from my eyes. I knew I probably had blood all over me. Daryl led me over to the truck full of water, and opened one of them, pushing me underneath it. He grabbed a cloth and wiped my face gently. I let him.
For once, his eyes didn't seem so harsh, so cold. His blue eyes looked almost sad, maybe because of what I had gone through. Maybe because we didn't find Sophia, and Carl was shot. I stared up at him, trying to keep my tears away as he wiped my face. His eyes never left mine until his hand dropped, then he glanced down.
When he backed away, I poured what was left of the water on my hands and arms. When I was soaked, and mostly clean, Daryl jerked his head over to an SUV. There was a huge trunk, with enough room for me to change my clothes without being seen. I walked over to it, feeling numb. Climbing in the back, I changed quickly, and spotted a hair tie in my bag. I braided my hair to one side, then secured it with the tie. After sitting there a minute, I slung my bag over my shoulder and rejoined the group.
"I won't do it. We can't just leave." Carol said as I walked up.
"Carol, the group is split. Scattered and weak." Dale tried.
"What if she comes back? And we're not here?" Carol asked. "Could happen."
"If Sophia found her way back, and we were gone, that would be awful." Andrea admitted.
"Okay," Daryl spoke up and I looked at him, "we gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow mornin's soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign. Leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."
"If the RV is stayin', I am too." Dale nodded.
"Thank you." Carol looked so grateful. "Thank you both."
"I'm in." Andrea said. Dale looked at me.
"Then if you're all stayin', I'm-" Glenn started.
"Not you, Glenn. You're going. Take Carol's Cherokee." Dale said.
"Me? Why is it always me?" Glenn asked.
"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most important, you have to get T-Dog there. It's not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics, because if not, T-Dog'll die. No joke." Dale explained. I saw Daryl walk over to his motorcycle and dig through his bags. He came back with a huge zip loc bag full of medication and Dale's rag.
"Keep ya oily rags off my brother's motorcycle.. Why'd you wait 'til now to say anything? Got my brother's stash." He began naming off medication, when he threw Glenn a bottle. "Got some kick ass pain killers." He kept digging until he produced another bottle he read the label and tossed it to Dale. "Not the generics stuff neither. That's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion." Daryl shrugged and walked away.
"Spencer?" Dale asked. I saw Daryl glance back at me. I looked over at Dale with a blank look on my face.
"Take Shay and Cheyenne with you," I said to Glenn. "I'll hang back with the rest of you. Where else I got to go?" I asked calmly, then I turned and walked to the RV. I climbed the stairs with my bag and sat on the roof top. After Glenn and T-Dog left, Dale joined me and we sat in a mutual silence. I heard footsteps below me, and voices, followed by Daryl and Andrea emerging from the RV.
'I'm coming too." I heard Andrea say.
"Imma go for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. She's out there, it'll give her somethin' to look at." Daryl said quietly.
"You think that's a good idea right now?" Dale asked.
"Dale," Andrea said threateningly, and I stood up. I caught her roll her eyes lightly, and I shook my head. Daryl turned after her, and I watched them walk away.
"Spencer, are you okay?" Dale asked, turning back to me.
"Yea." I lied.
"You can talk to me, you know that, right?" Dale pushed.
"Just worried about Carl." I said, looking the other way. We slipped back into silence. Carol climbed up and gave us a weak attempt at a smile.
"Can't sleep?" Dale asked.
"I'm gonna wait for 'em to come back." Carol said, "You both can go down and sleep if you want to." Dale insisted that he was staying. Carol asked which way they went, then silence again. The quiet was nice. After a while, I saw Andrea and Daryl walking back.
"Are you going to stay up here all night?" Dale asked.
"Pretty much. Can't sleep." I mumbled, looking down.
"Understandable. But I, however, do need rest. I'm going to send Daryl up here soon." And with that, Dale stepped over onto the ladder and climbed down. He walked inside the RV after Andrea and Daryl. I heard voices. Leaning down, I dug into my bag and grabbed the pack of cigarettes. Luckily, I had a lighter in my bag from a past supply run. I grabbed it, and opened the pack of Newports.
I put the cigarette between my lips, and tilted my head as I lit it. Inhaling, I watched as a little tuft of smoke tumbled from the end. I exhaled, enjoying the feeling. I heard the RV's door shut and feet coming up the ladder. Looking over, I saw Daryl's head appear, as he climbed up. He sat at the other end of the RV.
"Cigarette?" I asked tossing him the pack. He opened it and took one out. I tossed him my lighter.
"Didn't take you for a smoker." Daryl said, lighting his cigarette.
"I started when I was sixteen. I quit when I started the nursin' program." I explained.
"Why start back now?" He looked at me and tossed the Newports back, then the lighter.
"Rough day." I said, taking another drag. Daryl was quiet, and I looked out at the mess of cars before jerking my head back at him. "Had to help Rick carry him. Ran as fast as we could. Got to Hershel, the farm owner, and got Carl inside. Hershel was tryin' to get the bullet fragments out and Carl woke up. While Hershel was diggin' in his side. Carl was screamin' and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do. So, I just grabbed his hand and said, "Carl, I'm here, buddy." It's all I could do."
Daryl stared at me, but said nothing. I looked away, feeling the tears in my eyes. I didn't want him to see that. He didn't need to see that. I was quiet, trying to gather my thoughts. Daryl was silent as well, he probably didn't know what to say. I didn't really blame him.
"Then, I had to tell Chy... Do you know what Carl did when those walkers came through?" I asked. Daryl kept looking at me as I talked. "He grabbed Chy, and put his arm over her. He was tryin' to protect her. And I had to tell her he got shot." I looked down.
"Why ya beatin' yourself up over it?" Daryl asked gruffly. I took a minute to answer.
"Dunno, guess I'm just attached to everyone. Carl... It really sucked, Daryl. It fuckin' sucked to see him like that. Rick, he was a mess. I was a mess. Maggie had to..." I trailed off.
"To what?" Daryl took a hit off of his cigarette.
"Talk me down." I looked out onto the road. I looked back at Daryl and we just stared at each other for a moment.
"Why don't you get some sleep?" Daryl nodded toward the stairs of the RV.
"Nah," I shook my head. "I think I'd rather sit out here." I took another cigarette out and lit it. I looked over at Daryl who was eyeing my cigarette. I scooted closer to him, handing him one.
Well, I did a lot of filler, but I hope you guys enjoyed it ! I got a little teary when I did this chapter, because of all the emotion behind it, and having to rewatch the episode where Carl gets shot. I figured it would be interesting to have Spencer tag along with Rick, Shane, and Carl. It definitely played out better than I imagined ! I am happy I decided to do that. Let me know what you think ! As always the reviews are GREATLY APPRECIATED ! Thanks again to all my readers/reviewers/favoriters/followers !
~Kaila