Chapter 3

Holy mother of fuck.

Carley felt as though she'd been punched in the mouth with a set of brass knuckles. Her entire jaw ached with a sharp, radiating pain that she couldn't explain. Curious, she lifted her hand to touch her face. Her fingers traced the surface of something rough that was stuck to her cheek. Maybe some kind of bandage?

She couldn't explore it for long without the pain spiking through her again. It was too dark to see the details of where she was or what had happened to her, but a small stream of moonlight helped her decipher it as some kind of bedroom. Beside her, someone – or something – knelt at the bedside, its face buried in its bony arms.

Carley attempted to turn her head, to get a closer look at the creature sleeping at her bedside. The movement sent another rippling jolt of pain through her jaw. She cried out. In place of the scream she had intended, a weak, garbled groan escaped her.

Pathetic as it was, the small noise roused the sleeping person. "W-what?" a female voice murmured, the person sitting up and looking around. "What's going on?"

It was Lilly. Her gaunt form rose up over Carley, studying her carefully. "Holy shit, you're awake."

Lilly was the last person she wanted to see in the midst of all this insanity. But at least that meant she wasn't all alone. She had someone to explain the situation to her.

Carley opened her mouth to respond. The shooting pain halted her, spawning another gurgled moan. "Shh." Lilly leaned in closer, taking Carley gently by the chin. She turned her from side to side a little bit, obviously examining whatever kind of wound Carley had suffered since losing consciousness however long ago. "Try not to move your mouth. Shit, it still looks pretty bad."

Everything was so confusing. One minute she'd been arguing with Lilly on the side of the road, and the next she was lying in a strange bed, being taken care of by the paranoid leader.

Where are we? Where's everyone else? The questions burned in her mind, desperate to be asked. What happened to me?

Lilly reached over to a nightstand nearby, grabbing some kind of small white square that resembled a napkin. She blotted Carley's chin, tending to her with gentle but shaking fingers. Carley strained her gaze downward, catching a glimpse of what she realized what a gauze pad. It was soaked with watery, pinkish blood.

Lilly must have noticed her glance down at it, because she quickly pulled it away and retrieved a fresh piece. "You're, uh, drooling a little." she mumbled. "I got it, though."

The next object Lilly grabbed was some kind of horrible-smelling jar of something. She dipped a cotton ball in it, and brought it to Carley's wounded cheek. The next thing Carley felt was the tug of a bandage being pulled off of her. She refrained from crying out. Lilly was attempting to peel it back gingerly, but it didn't lessen the pain any.

And then began the sting of the antiseptic. A burn like she'd never felt before, like someone was injecting molten lava directly into her face – except it was cold, and somehow that made it burn even more. Carley groaned, shaking her head as she twisted away. "I have to make sure it doesn't get infected." Lilly's bossy tone defied her tender touch. "Hold still."

Carley squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to think of the pain. Her thoughts drifted back to the last thing she remembered before waking up in bed – the fight outside the RV. She had snapped at Lilly, telling her off for bullying Ben. Then Kenny had taken care of the walker, and she'd turned to ask him what he thought of the traitor situation.

What happened after that?

The chemical stench of the antiseptic nauseated her. Lilly continued to wipe down her injury, reapplying the bandage when she was finished. "To be honest, I'm surprised you're alive. I never would have thought..." She trailed off, shaking her head as she laid the medical supplies back on the nightstand. "But anyway, I guess I'm glad you are. There's no way in hell I'd want to be alone in this fucked-up world."

Alone? Carley shot her a quizzical look.

Noticing her glance, Lilly elaborated. "Yeah, we're all alone now. Kenny, Lee...they fucking left us on the side of the road." Mentioning the two men, Lilly's tone was bitter. "I carried you here on my back." She rolled the muscles in her shoulders, cracking them. "I'm still feeling that, by the way."

Why did they leave us? Where are we now? What happened to me that caused all this blood and pain? Carley desperately wanted to know, but Lilly didn't seem to be volunteering any information. Her curiosity was left unsated.

Carley coughed, wincing as pain coursed through her. Lilly leaned over and pushed some loose hair out of Carley's face, tucking it behind her ear. "Look, I know we had our differences and our disagreements before. I still think you're annoying, and I'm sure you still think I'm a bitch."

A little afraid to agree, Carley averted her eyes and gazed out the window.

"But now it's just the two of us, and our lives depend on working together." She waited until Carley made eye contact again. Even in the near-complete darkness, Lilly's eyes were shining, leaving Carley to wonder if she'd been crying in her sleep. "Do you understand that?"

Obviously. Carley nodded as best she could, even though she suspected that Lilly was talking more to herself than to her.

"Good."

Trying to avoid looking at the other woman, a pouch on the far end of the bed caught her attention. It was clear, and filled with some kind of clear liquid as well. Attached to it was a long tube, ending with a pointed nozzle. She lifted her head to study it, prompting Lilly to explain. "That's morphine. I can't figure out how to get it in you, though."

Morphine. Now there was something she'd love to have in her system as that moment. Anything to alleviate that horrible pain.

"I think it's an IV pouch." Lilly picked it up and started fiddling with it.

No shit it's an IV pouch. Carley raised her arm, reaching feebly in an attempt to convey her desire for the medicine. The pain was crippling her, and she'd do anything to escape it for a little while.

Lilly seemed to misread her cues. Instead of trying to figure out how to get it into Carley, the shaky woman brought the pouch closer so Carley could read it. "Do you think that's what it is?"

Carley eagerly nodded, trying to ignore the throbbing agony in the left half of her face. Lilly studied the nozzle end, peering into it. "You don't want me to...try to stick it in you, do you?"

Carley nodded furiously.

Lilly hedged. "...Yes you do? Or yes you don't?"

Oh for fuck's sake! Carley snatched the bag out of her hands, shaking it in Lilly's face. Seeming to get the hint at last, Lilly took it back. "All right, maybe I can figure this out. Can't be too hard."

She held the needle tip up to the moonlight, looking it over. Carley watched as she poked her finger against the point of it, then hissed and recoiled. "Okay, so this is nice and fucking sharp."

Carley groaned. I'm gonna die, aren't I.

Lilly reached for Carley's wrist, overturning it and positioning the needle over one of her veins. Carley shook her head vehemently, pulling away. Not in the wrist! Was Lilly brain-dead or something? Had she never seen someone with an IV drip before? Carley pointed to the back of her hand, and then to the crook of her arm. Somewhere in here.

Lilly furrowed her brows, clearly confused by Carley's wild gesturing. "I've never done this before," she volunteered, as if it wasn't already obvious. "Maybe I should take another look in the closet, in case there's some other kind of painkiller I can use. Because I have no fucking clue what I'm doing with this."

Carley whimpered as Lilly disappeared with the pouch of sweet relief. The other woman was lucky Carley couldn't talk, or she'd be getting an earful. How stupid could you possibly be? Didn't she have fucking military training? And yet she couldn't figure out how to get morphine into a wounded and horribly-pained patient.

How lucky she was to be in the hands of the experienced Dr. Caul.

After lying idle for a minute, she noticed the ceiling seemed to be moving. Spinning, almost. The pain was already making her nauseous, and vertigo certainly wasn't helping to settle her stomach. She closed her eyes, resting her head on the foreign pillow as a sob welled up inside her. The pain was like nothing she'd ever felt before. It was unbelievable, like she'd been shot.

The thought stuck in her mind. Her eyelids fluttered open. Like I was shot...

The watery memories began finding their way back to her. The ear-splitting 'bang' as she was turning around to talk to Kenny. It was the very last thing she remembered.

Her gaze lowered to the materials on the sheet. There, amidst the medical supplies, lay a small, bloody bullet. I was shot. Somebody shot me.

The door creaked softly open. Lilly re-appeared before her, clutching a small brown bottle. "Look what I found."

She sounded so proud of herself. Carley felt like spitting in her face.

Lilly held the bottle out to her. It was also morphine, just packaged differently. In her other hand was a gigantic hypodermic needle. "Now this I can figure out."

Lacking the will to be difficult, Carley offered her arm to Lilly. Someone shot me...

Lilly turned the bottle upside down and tapped it with her fingernail, filling the needle with fluid. Then she grabbed a fresh cotton swab and wiped down Carley's forearm with the antiseptic. Someone tried to kill me.

Carley sucked in a breath as the needle pierced the tender flesh of her inner elbow. They left Lilly on the street...she and I had just been fighting...

The morphine flooded her system as her brain made the connection. Wait a minute...did Lilly...

A dense fog settled in her mind almost instaneously. Wow, that stuff was powerful. Her realization was quickly forgotten as she sank into the bliss of numbness. She noticed Lilly was still injecting the morphine. She probably didn't need that much.

Lilly said something to her, but it wasn't anything important. Probably.

A tiny, relieved smile curled up the good side of her face as she laid back and closed her eyes once more. The pain was gone. Lilly was taking care of her. Everything was good.

Lilly studied the bottle, trying to make out the label in the darkness. Carley seemed to be in la-la land already, smiling up at her despite the garish wound to her jaw. "I think I might've given you too much." She hadn't factored in Carley's small size. In fact, she hadn't really factored in anything – she'd just kept going until the huge needle was empty.

Mom would be so proud.

Her heart quivered as she noticed the wounded woman gazing up at her with that contented look. She knew it was just the morphine, but still, seeing her looking happy did strange and unwanted things to Lilly's emotions. I can't take care of her. God, I already gave her way too much morphine. What if she doesn't come out of it all right?

Carley laid back, closing her expressive brown eyes. Lilly wasn't sure whether to wake her or let her rest. At least when she was awake Lilly could monitor her condition better.

"Carley..." She frowned, unable to ignore the likely-irreparable damage she'd done to the other woman's face. She may never talk again. She might never be okay again. All because of me and my...my stupid 'impulses'.

The malevolent side of her had yet to emerge since she was woken by Carley, and she was thankful for that. But she had no idea how long the 'dry spell' would last. She could have another relapse into insanity at any time, and Carley was the prime victim.

I'll keep both of us safe. She cleared away the medical supplies, dumping them into the drawer of the nightstand. She decided to check out the rest of the house while Carley was resting, to make sure it was secure enough to remain in. The walkers hadn't found them yet, but that didn't mean they weren't going to.

She crept out into the hall, closing the door quietly behind her. Carley was lying on her back, still breathing rhythmically and contentedly. As Lilly shut the door, she hesitated, listening for a few more of Carley's breaths.

You're all I've got now. You better not die on me.