Chapter 3: Bloodletting and Save the Last One Part 1

We kept following the creek back towards the highway, when I heard the others talking about the gunshot. "You still worrying about it?" Andrea asked Lori and we all stopped, turning around to look at her.

"It was a gunshot," Lori pointed out.

"We all heard it," Daryl said.

"Why one—Why just one gunshot?" Lori asked, turning to everyone briefly.

"Maybe they took down a walker," Ronnie offered a scenario.

Lori scoffed a bit. "Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane. They'd do it quietly."

"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked.

"There's nothing we can do about it anyway," Daryl reasoned. "Can't run around these woods chasing echoes. Even if Ronnie has the best ears."

"So, what do we do?" Lori questioned.

"Same as we've been," Daryl told her. "Beat the bust for Sophia, work our way back to the highway."

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV," Abby tried to reassure Lori.

We started to move again, but Andrea talking to Carol stopped us. "I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel."

Carol looked at her with a thankful smile. "I suppose you do—thank you. The thought of her, out here by herself… It's the not knowing that's killin' me. I just keep hopin' and prayin' she doesn't end up like Amy." Carol then realized what she said and who she said it too. "Oh, God! That's the worst thing I ever said."

Andrea only shook her head. "We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth."

Daryl walked over to the two women. "I'll tell you what it's worth—not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hopin' and prayin'. We're gonna locate that little girl. She gonna be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here? Good lord."

That comment got me to smirk. Daryl being zen? That's a new concept. We started walking again and decided that it was best to head back towards the highway. We were trudging through some thick forest, and I hung back a little, coming beside Alex and Leah. "How are you two doing?"

"A little tired," Leah answered. "How much farther?"

I put a hand on her head and smiled softly at her. "We'll be back soon baby girl, I promise. Then you can rest okay?"

She nodded her head and gave me a tired smile. I nodded back at her and then moved to catch up with Daryl at the front of the group. He looked at me with a faint smile on his face. "What?"

He just shook his head. "You'd make a good mother," he muttered so the others wouldn't hear.

I smiled at him in response to him. Then I started to hear some complaining from the back of the group.

"How much farther?" Lori asked.

"Not much," Daryl responded. "Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies."

"Too bad we're not crows," Andrea muttered.

After a little bit of silence, we suddenly heard Andrea's screaming. We came running through to a small clearing and saw a girl on top of a horse looking intently at Andrea. I tilted my head as I looked at her. She had short brown hair and a pretty face, but for some reason she looked really familiar, like I knew her from somewhere.

"Lori? Lori Grimes?" she asked in a rush.

"I'm Lori," Lori responded.

"Rick sent me," the girl said quickly. "You've got to come now. There's been an accident—Carl's been shot." There was a collective gasp around the group. "He's still alive but you've got to come now." Lori hesitated for a minute. "Rick needs you! Just come!"

Lori then took off her backpack and started to walk towards the horse. Daryl protested to it fervently. "Whoa-whoa-whoa! We don't know this girl! You can't get on that horse!"

When Lori still got onto the horse, Daryl just threw up his arms. The girl was trying to keep the horse still so Lori could climb on. "Rick said that you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?" Glenn just nodded at her dumbly, still in shock. "Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox—name's Greene."

Before she told the horse to go, I shouted at her to stop. Once she said the name Greene, it clicked where I knew her from. When everyone turned to me, I turned to Abby. "Go with them," I told her, and she looked at me in surprise. "You were a nurse, so you can help."

Abby looked at her husband, but turned and nodded at me, walking forward towards the horse. The girl looked a little confused. "I don't have enough room on my horse for two…" she started, but I cut her off.

"She'll be able to keep up with the horse Maggie," I told her.

Maggie looked like she had seen a ghost. "Gale?"

"You don't have a lot of time," I said. Maggie nodded at me and urged the horse back the way she had come, Abby running behind her.

The walker that Maggie had hit sat up groaning, but Daryl didn't bat an eye. "Shut up," he growled, shooting the walker in the head.

We walked back the rest of the way to the highway, which wasn't far, and Dale met us at the guard rail. Glenn was the first one over the railing and told Dale that Carl had been shot.

"Shot?" Dale asked in surprise. "What do you mean shot?"

"I don't know Dale. I wasn't there," Glenn responded. "All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zoro on a horse and took Lori."

"You let her?" Dale accused Daryl as he climbed over the railing.

Daryl immediately got defensive. "Climb down outta my asshole, man. Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's. Plus, Gale sent Abby with her, so she'll be fine."

Dale looked to me as I helped a tired Leah over the railing. I nodded at him. "Abby was a nurse before everything. She'll be able to help with Carl."

Dale nodded at me, then turned to Andrea as she climbed over. "I heard screams—was that you?"

Andrea just walked past him towards the RV, so Glenn answered for her. "She got attacked by a walker. It was a close call."

Dale turned to her worried. "Andrea, are you alright?"

Andrea paused a moment and looked back at him. She looked like she was going to say something but decided not to. Instead, Andrea just shook her head and walked into the RV, slamming the door behind her. I looked down at Leah, who looked like she was about to fall over. I sighed and turned to Alex. "Alex, why don't you take your sister in the RV so you both can rest," I suggested, rather than ordered.

Alex looked like he wanted to argue, but looking at his sister, he decided to nod. He walked over and gently took hand, leading her carefully into the RV. After a few minutes of rest, Andrea eventually came out of the RV, just as Ronnie walked over to me.

"Are you gonna tell us how you knew that girl?" he asked carefully. Looking up at him, I could tell that he didn't want to overstep his boundaries as a Beta, but he was still concerned.

"How did you know her name?" Glenn joined in.

I looked around the group and noticed that everyone looked curious. I sighed heavily before explaining. "Back when I was a teenager, I took a nasty training session, and was hurt bad. Instead of going back to the house, I ran off. I collapsed on the property of a man named Hershel Greene, who was a vet, and he patched me up. He's the girl, Maggie's, father. I returned a few years later and met Maggie."

"So, Carl's in good hands?" Dale asked.

I nodded my head at him. "Very good hands."

"Well, we still need to go to this farm," Dale stated firmly.

"I won't do it," Carol instantly replied. "We can't just leave."

"Carol, the group is split," Dale reasoned. "We're scattered and weak."

"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol argued, and she looked around at the small group. "It could happen."

"If Sophia found her way back and we weren't here, that would be awful," Andrea agreed.

"Okay," Daryl spoke up and took control. "We gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold up here tonight, stay with the RV."

"If the RV's stayin', I am too," Dale agreed.

"Thank you," Carol said genuinely. "Thank you both."

"I'll stay," I volunteered.

"I'm in," Andrea agreed.

"Well, if you're all staying then I'm—" Glenn started but got cut off by Dale.

"Not you Glenn—you're going," Dale said. "Take-take Carol's Cherokee."

"Me?" Glenn fired back. "Why is it always me?"

"You have to find this farm," Dale instructed him. "Reconnect with our people and see what's going on—but most important, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse." We all looked around and then spotted T-Dog wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the edge of the RV looking completely out of it. "He has a very serious blood infection.

"Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics because, if not, T-Dog will die, no joke."

Daryl walked over to his brother's motorcycle, and then looked annoyed that there were rags on it. He grabbed them and a bag out of the side bags, walking back over to us. Daryl angrily threw the rags at Dale. "Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle. Why'd you wait till now to say something?" He put a clear bag full of pills on the trunk of a nearby car and started to go through it. "Got my brother's stash. Crystal, X—don't need that. Got some kickass painkillers." Daryl tossed the bottle to Dale. "Doxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class."

We all looked at him strangely, and he just shrugged. "Merle got the clap on occasion."

I chuckled a bit. That would seem like Merle, even if I had only known him for an hour or so. I walked over to where Ronnie was about to go into the RV, while Dale went to give T-Dog the meds. "I want you to take Alex and Leah to the farm with Glenn and T-Dog," I told him.

Again, Ronnie looked like he didn't want to overstep his boundaries with me, and I sighed at him. "Ronnie, you're one of my oldest and best friends, please don't do that. I'm not my father as an Alpha and I won't be that way. What's wrong?"

Ronnie looked around the group and I did too, noticing that everyone was listening. I ignored them, looking back at Ronnie as he sighed. "Are you sure that you won't need me?" he asked uncertain.

I smiled at him. "I'll be here if anything goes wrong, and we'll join you tomorrow, okay?"

Ronnie smiled back at me and nodded, continuing into the RV. I closed the door gently as to not wake the kids and started walking towards the car that Daryl and I had stayed in the night before. I had left my pack sitting next to it and was going to retrieve it, when I heard footsteps following me. I could tell by how quiet they were, that it was Daryl. Once I came to the car, I turned around to face him.

He gave me a small smirk, knowing that I had heard him and leaned against the tail end of the SUV. "So, what was that about?"

I heaved a heavy sigh and leaned my back against the SUV. "They all seem hesitant around me being the Alpha," I explained. "I think that they all think that I'm gonna be my father."

Daryl quirked an eyebrow. "Why do say that?"

"When I talked to Alex, he asked me if I was going to be demanding like my father," I confessed. "And Ronnie keeps acting like I'm gonna blow up at him every time he wants to question me. It's starting to get frustrating."

Daryl walking over to stand in front of me, and put his hands on my arms, taking my hands in his. "Hey, you're not yer old man, okay?"

I just scoffed at little. "How do you know that?"

Daryl just smiled at little at me. "Matt would talk a lot about how yer father was, and how he would treat others. I don't see you doin' that. You actually care about what is happening with yer pack and you haven't been demanding of them either. Yer a good Alpha to them."

I blushed at his compliments and smiled shyly at him. He smiled back at me before releasing my hands. Daryl nodded his head back towards the RV and I grabbed my pack, following him back to the others.

*Running with the Wolves*

I gave Alex and Leah both a hug and kiss on the head as they got into the back of Carol's Cherokee. T-Dog would ride upfront with Glenn driving, and Ronnie would sit in the back with the kids. I gave Ronnie a hug as well, telling him to be safe. He promised that he would be careful before getting in and they drove off. We all got back into the RV and Carol was crying most of the time. I eventually got up, walking around Daryl on the floor.

He gave me a questioning look and I pointed at the roof, indicating that I was going to keep watch. Daryl nodded in understanding before laying his head down. I climbed the ladder and saw Dale turning to me. He smiled at me. "Can't sleep?"

I shook my head. "Too worried to sleep. Why don't you try to get some rest? I'll keep watch."

Dale hesitated a moment before nodding and went down the ladder, knowing that I could hit something with my bow. As he was about to enter the RV, Daryl and Andrea walked out with flashlights. I met Daryl's eyes as he walked out. "I'm gonna go for a walk," Daryl explained. "Shine some light in the forest. If she's out there, give her something to look at."

I nodded at him. "Be careful."

He nodded back and was about to start walking again when Dale voiced his opinion. "Do you think that's a good idea right now?"

"Dale," Andrea scolded and walked past Daryl who followed after another look at me.

Dale went inside the RV and I just looked out at the darkness that surrounded the highway. I watched as the light from the flashlights faded and thought about the relationship between Daryl and me. I felt like I could tell him anything and he would understand, which was rare for me. I was feeling trusting of him, even more so than I did with Rick.

Rick felt more like a brotherly trust, where Daryl was a completely different story. I knew that he didn't like the public displays of affection, just from when he would kiss me and touch me where no one could see. But he was slowly breaking down the walls that I had built up.

I heard someone open the door to the RV and watched as Carol came out, moving to climb the ladder. I smiled gently at her as she sat in the chair. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head at me, and we sat in silence for quite a while. "Daryl and you seem to be getting close," Carol said, breaking the silence.

I looked at her in surprise but smiled at her all the same. "Yeah, a little. We're still getting to know each other."

I suddenly heard the snapping of twigs and looked out to the forest as the lights from the flashlights came into view. Carol choked on a sob and quickly left the top of the RV and inside. Daryl and Andrea came up just as Carol went inside, and Dale came out. Daryl made eye contact with me and shook his head slightly, telling me that they didn't find anything. He went into the RV, and Dale and Andrea started to talk about her gun.

I tuned out the conversation, knowing that it wasn't really my issue that I should pry into. Andrea came up to the top of the RV. "I'll take watch," she said simply.

Nodding, I went down the ladder and into the RV. Carol was still crying, and Dale had taken the other bed. Daryl was laying on the floor again, so I took one of the seats at the table. Resting my back against the wall, I tried to close my eyes and relax. That night I dreamed of a little girl running through the woods.