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BIRDY SPRINTED THROUGH THE TREES, WITH OTIS AND ANOTHER MAN BEHIND HER,

She let the other man go ahead to the farm house on her horse, which was much quicker than running the mile to the farm.

She just prayed it wasn't too late for the boy.

"What happened?!" Birdy called out as they made it to the field, and she could see the farmhouse in the distance,

"I'm sorry." Otis sobbed, "'m so sorry,"

"Otis!" Birdy stopped and turned to him, "What did you do?"

"I didn' see him. There was a deer between us, I pulled the trigger and it went through the deer and into the boy." He cried,

The stranger's friend grabbed Otis' arm, "Stop the chit chattin' and let's go!"

They made it to the fences, and Birdy spotted her horse standing by the porch. The father, the sheriff, stepped out of the front door, the blood stain more palpable across his chest. He took off his hat as his friend walked up to him,

"He's alive... He's still alive?" Otis panted,

The father didn't answer, and move his head to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. Unknowingly, he wiped his son's blood all over his face,

His friend stepped up and reached into his bag, pulling out a rag and cleaning his face, "It's okay. You got blood, man. Okay."

Birdy watched by with sympathy running through her in tidal waves. In this world, you forget about the dangers that were prevalent in the old world. She knew Otis would never have pulled the trigger if he had known the boy was right there.

The two men entered the house again and Otis and Birdy were quick to follow.

They were in the guest bedroom. The only bedroom on the ground floor, the closest to the front door. Hershel and Patricia were already trying to slow the bleeding, treating the boy to the best of their knowledge.

The young boy was pale and still. Birdy almost thought he was dead, but she knew they wouldn't be holding the cloth to his wound if he was.

"You know his blood type?" Hershel asked the father, glancing towards the door where Birdy was standing,

"A-positive... s-same as mine." He answered,

"That's fortunate. Don't wander far, I'm gonna need you." He told the cop before moving his gaze to Otis and Birdy, "What happened?"

Otis was wringing his hat nervously, "I was tracking a buck. Bullet went through it. Went clean through. 

Hershel lifted the cloth, observing the wound, "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."

The larger man went over to his wife, "I never saw him. Not until he was on the ground." He told her and she tried her best to comfort him,

"Lori doesn't know?" The father's gaze moved over to his friend, 

"No, she-"

"My wife doesn't know..." He sobbed, "My wife doesn't know."

Birdy swallowed nervously before moving her gaze towards the windows at the front of the house. Her horse stood there, patiently waiting for her.

She knew what she needed to do. Her horse was already saddled up, there was no other choice.

"Where is she?"

The father's friend gave her directions to where their group was plus giving her information she'd need to earn the group's trust. Despite her uncle's hesitance, Birdy knew she had to get to the boy's mother. She needed to be there with her injured child. Their family needed to be together, to comfort and hold each other during this hard time.

Birdy raced through the woods, gripping the reigns tightly. She weaved through the trees, narrowly dodging branches as they rapidly approached her face.

She just prayed she wasn't too late. That she wasn't bringing a mother to her child's corpse.

Please, God, please let the boy live.

At least give him a chance.

A chance that her parents never got.

It didn't take much longer before she heard screaming. And moments later, she spotted movement. A group of people, living breathing people, were walking towards the highway. It had to be them, right? What were the chances multiple groups were hiking in these woods?

There was a rotter attacking a blonde woman who was laying on in the grass. Birdy changed her course of direction and Dolly charged towards the woman.

She gripped the reigns and squeezed her thighs against the saddle to keep herself stable as Dolly raised herself up onto her hind legs, letting out a loud neigh. The horse stomped down onto the rotter, crushing its' torso and saving the woman from being bit,

Dolly lowered herself back onto all four legs and Birdy brought her back around, glancing around at the small group, "Lori? Lori Grimes?"

A thin woman with long, mousy brown hair stepped forward. Birdy's first thought was that she looked a lot like that little boy, "I'm Lori."

Birdy tried to calm her own heart rate as she spoke, "Rick sent me, you need to come with me now."

Lori's brows furrowed as she stared up at the blonde, "What?"

"It's Carl, there's been an accident. He's alive but you've gotta come now." She swallowed nervously and the two men and women just stood there in shock, "Rick needs you. Please just come!"

With those words, Lori dropped her pack and the man next to her stepped forward to stop the mother, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! We don't know this girl." He pointed at her, "You can't get on that horse."

There was the distrust that Shane predicted, "Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?" She asked them as she helped Lori onto the back of Dolly,

The man narrowed his eyes up at her and she knew it was going to be hard for him to let them go riding off into the woods,

"Uh-huh." An Asian man nodded,

"Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm." Birdy instructed them carefully, "You'll see the mailbox, the name's Greene." She flicked the reigns, "Hi-yah!"

Lori wrapped her arms tightly around Birdy's middle as she raced back towards the farm, "What happened to Carl?!" The brunette asked,

Birdy hesitated. Does she tell her about the incident that wound her son up in a bed, bleeding heavily? Or does she leave it for Rick and Shane to tell her?

She doesn't want to cause unnecessary stress for the woman,

"He's been shot." Birdy stated, urging Dolly to go faster.

Birdy felt the mother tense behind her, "Shot?! How-what... how does that even happen? By who?"

She didn't think she should be the one to answer these questions. She was merely a bystander, the messenger.

"I should let Rick explain."

southern charm |d. dixon|Where stories live. Discover now