The Fear (The Walking Dead / Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 79 - Someday It Will Be Useful

Kat threw a look back towards the road that would take her to her own house. There were dozens of walkers blocking her path. She cut down three quickly that got too close before someone was yanking her back.

"I left Luke." She said. "He's back at the house. I have to-"

"There's too many!" Aiden shouted, yanking her backwards. "He'll be fine. We have their attention here. You run for him they're just going to follow you there."

She hated it. She hated that he was right. She hated that she left Luke. She thought she could make it back. Get the others and help them home. She wasn't counting on Rick being so close to the broken wall. So in the middle of the herd.

Kat fumbled backwards and ran up the stairs as Aiden pulled on her arm. Michonne was waiting at the door yelling for them to hurry. She slammed it shut and locked it behind them once the two fell through the entrance.

"Where's Maggie?" Kat said after a beat of silence followed by the scratching on the outside of the front door. "Did anyone see Maggie?"

"She was with us near the wall." Rick answered. "We got separated. I think she ran for a watchtower."

"Did she make it?"

"I don't know. We had to to run the other way." Rick answered. Aiden was moving over to his mother. She had a hand over her side. It wasn't pouring out blood but it was showing between her fingers.

"We've got to get you to a bed." Aiden said.

"Upstairs." Rick cut in, moving to take Deanna and carry her up. Aiden's shoulder wasn't strong enough for that yet.

Rick laid her down in the room next to where Judith was. Kat was moving quickly behind him with a few rags in her hand.

"What happened?" She asked. Jessie's younger son, Sam, had poked his head out of his room. Watching in horror at the bustle across the hall.

"A walker pulled her backwards. She fell on a saw." Rick answered.

Kat lifted her shirt to reveal the messy cut. It had without a doubt been done be something with a rough or serrated edge. It wasn't just cut but ripped and torn. But it was nothing to worry about. The bleeding would be easy enough to stop and provided there was no rust on the blade infection seemed unlikely. Unlike the knives the Wolves used on the likes of Scott and his leg Alexandrian tools and weapons were well cleaned and looked after to ensure longevity.

"Sam I need you to turn off the music and shut the blinds." Jessie was saying to her son who had locked himself away in his room since his father had died.

"Michonne, hold this." Kat was saying, ushering her over to take the rag she had been pressing firmly into Deanna's side. "Keep the pressure."

"How is she?" Aiden asked softly from the corner of the room.

"No offence to Michonne, but whatever she's doing hurts like a son of a bitch." Deanna said as Kat cracked a smile. "But she's a hell of a lot better than you were." Deanna added

"Hmm. Then maybe she's not pressing hard enough." Kat mused only half joking as she moved to take a look at Deanna's leg. There was another torn cut on her thigh that seemed worse than the other, deeper. "Alright. Your leg seems to have gotten the worst of it. If I can stop that bleeding it should be-" Kat trailed off as her eyes drifted back up to the wound Michonne was holding. She had the cloth pressed down hard over the gash. There was blood around it but none was seeping through yet. But on the mattress underneath her the white sheets were beginning to stain red. Not from a heavy bleed but a steady one. Pooling up and coming from underneath, not the wound on top Michonne was applying pressure to. "Roll over a second." Kat said.