I Need You

Bridge

As we approach the bridge, walkers come into view slowly approaching the van which appears to be teetering on the edge. My breath catches but I force myself to remain calm and assess the situation at hand. There are at least 30 walkers stalking the van... Daryl and Carol must be inside. I do not have enough bolts to take them all out with the crossbow. We cannot fire the gun without alerting the officers at Grady of our position. We have one knife between the two of us. We will have to draw the walkers away from the van or else they will push it over the edge.
Noah looks at me and asks, "What's the plan?"
"We will have to draw them away. Make some noise and get their attention. Once they start coming toward us, charge them with your knife. I will stay back and take them out with the crossbow. Hopefully we can keep them distracted long enough for Daryl and Carol to get out and start helping us." I say. Noah thinks on it and nods.
I begin to whistle loud enough to get a few walkers to notice but not all. Noah charges the few that come our way. Easily taking them out. I whistle louder causing more walkers to start lingering toward us. Noah takes out one. I take aim and hit one through the eye. Noah looks back at me impressed. I smile as he turns his attention back to the walkers at hand. I reload the crossbow and fire another shot piercing another large walker in the forehead. We have manage to take out ten walkers with about twenty more left clawing at the van. I only have five more bolts left. I need them out of the van now in order for this to work.
"Suuuu Weeee" I yell like I am back on the farm calling the pigs to come eat.
The remainder of the herd hear my call and come at Noah and I. I knock back the crossbow and Noah starts stabbing. I begin to creep closer to the van still keeping distance so I have time to reload. My bolt plunges in the temple of a petite walker. I see the back doors of the van begin to open. My heart stops as I see them come out and begin fighting. Hope floods my chest and I aim and take out a walker trying to get Carol from behind. Knocking back another bolt, I aim and dispose of a walker reaching at Noah. My muscles ache as I try and reload the crossbow, but I successfully load another bolt. There are only five walkers left. Daryl kicks one off the bridge. Carol stabs another. Noah pushes one against the van and stabs in the eye. I take aim and a bolt flies past Carol into the head of another. I see Carol look at the bolt I just shot and then look at Noah. She notices he doesn't have the crossbow. I hear her gasp at the sight of me as I strap the weapon to my back. Daryl who just killed the last walker snaps his head toward Carol whose gaze shifted from me back to Noah. Daryl follows her gaze and his eyes fall on Noah. I see Daryl's features flood with anger. He still doesn't see me.
"You..." he growls taking a step in Noah's direction. He must have noticed a bolt in the eye of a walker lying between him and his target because he suddenly halts. Staring at the walker taking notice of the accuracy of the shot. He turns his attention back to Noah, looking him up and down, "Where's my crossbow asshole?"
"Here." I say confidently from behind Noah. I see Daryl's eyes widen at the sound of my voice. He slowly looks over at me in disbelief. I can't help but grin from ear to ear as his eyes connecting with mine.
I can't stand it anymore. I run at him and almost tackle him in a hug. It feels so good to be back in his arms. I feel him tense at our initial contact but slowly relax. I feel so safe as he returns my embrace. Happiness overwhelms me and I begin to cry. I can't believe this. I can't believe he is here. I made it out and I found him. I squeeze him tighter to be sure I am not dreaming. I can I almost forget we aren't alone for a second. Almost... I pull back to greet Carol, but Daryl pulls me closer to his chest not ready to let go of me.
"How?" He manages to breath out after another moment or two. I try again to pull back to face him and this time he lets me.
"We escaped... Noah and I." I nod my head towards Noah. Daryl looks at him and back at me. I can feel his eyes evaluating me. His eyes land on my shoulder and my sleeve covered in blood. Before he can ask, I say, "I am okay. I was shot when we were busting out of Grady."
"Speaking of which we need to get out of the open before they find us." Noah states.
I agree and let go of Daryl. As soon as we are apart, I feel Carol wrap me up in a quick hug. I smile at her and start gathering the bolts. I hear Noah formally introduce himself to the pair and apologize for robbing them earlier. I chuckle and give the bow back to its rightful owner.
"Let's get out of here." I say.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We ducked into one of the nearest buildings by the bridge. It was an apartment building. We cleared the first apartment that didn't have any growls coming from behind door. It was a small, cozy one bedroom apartment. I immediately sit on the couch in the tiny living room, exhausted and in pain. Daryl and Noah look in the tiny kitchen for any food while Carol checks the bathroom and bedroom. I felt guilty for not helping but my shoulder was killing me. I start to untie the bandage as Carol comes and sits beside me on the couch.
"Here let me look at it." She says in her most motherly voice.
She removes the dressing and moves my scrubs down my shoulder to get a better look. I watch her brow furrow at the sight of my bullet wound. She then puts one hand on my back gently pushing me forward so she can inspect the back of my shoulder.
"We need to clean it and it looks like you're gonna need stitches." She says confirming my fear from earlier. I nod in response and try to remove my shirt. It hurts too much and I can't get it off over my head. Carol seeing me struggling put her hand on my good shoulder and tells me to stop.
"Daryl, Noah see if you can find Beth a new shirt. One that buttons preferably. Also a sewing kit." They immediately take off in the bedroom. She turns back to me and cuts my shirt open slightly along the hem that leads to the sleeve. I am thankful for her consideration. I didn't want to sit here in only my bra as she stitched me up. Noah returns to the living room with a flannel long sleeve shirt placing it on the couch beside me. Carol finishes cleaning my wound when Daryl emerges from the kitchen with a small pink sewing kit in hand.
Carol takes out a needle and sterilizes it with Daryl's lighter. The only thread in the sewing kit was neon pink. I chuckle imaging how the stitches will look. Threading the needle with ease, she says, "This is gonna hurt," without looking at me.
"I know. I can handle it," I mumble.
As the needle pierces my skin, I can feel everyone watching me closely looking for a reaction. I don't give them the satisfaction. I just stare blankly at the coffee table in front of me. It hurts like no other but I try to focus on a ring left over from a drink embedded in the grain of the wood. After what feels like an hour, Carol announces she is finished. I thank her and a the feeling of exhaustion hits me like a mac truck. I yawn.
"We will rest for a few hours and then head back to the church." I hear Daryl say to Carol as I drift off to sleep.