I Saw The Lights Go Out - Carl Grimes

Chapter Nineteen - Self Doctoring

In midst of the chaos Carl continued to mumble apologies over and over to the point where I had to tune him out. It wasn't his fault and though it was almost unbearable it was a lot better than a walker bite, no matter how much it made my breath shake.

He hit the door with the side of his hand not wanting to leave a trail of blood wherever he touched. My hand slipped against my wet jeans causing my heart to ripple. I kept my eyes away from both my leg and the frantic worrying of Carl and instead scanned the yard through the dark. I felt the blood from my thigh start to spill over my fingers and if there were anymore walkers nearby they were going to come straight to me. The shooting pain only got worse with each breath I took. The cold seeped into my skin where blood had drained fast. I clenched my jaw tight but soon lose the energy to do even that.

In my sights a lone walker tumbled out of the forest and into the backyard. I slowly turned my head toward the door to try to mumble a warning for Carl but my blurry eyes couldn't focus on him.

My mouth bobbed open to speak as Carl reappeared close to my face but my left arm was thrown over his shoulder and the air left me. He lifted me onto my feet and escorted me to trudge through the now open sliding door.

As we stumbled in, confusion coated the faces of those inside and I doubt mine looked any different. The commotion of the room set everyone off and asking questions. Carol ran across the dark room to a pile of bags while Glenn scooped me up under my legs to carry me to the small kitchen table sending my head spinning. My backpack was taken off me before my head was placed down.

Through my wavering vision I lulled my head over to the backdoor only to see it wide open. My mouth moved to warn everyone about what lurked in the yard but found it too hard to form words. My mouth felt like cotton. I couldn't think straight.

Everyone continued to ask questions but Carl couldn't seem to offer answers either, instead he raked his hands through his hair staring at me with wild eyes. Carol came back to me in a flash, ripping open a bag and taking out her supplies.

My mouth moved as I stared past her to the backdoor. "Walker." I mumbled and Glenn's eyes went wide.

"You got bit?" He questioned loudly and the room grew even more hectic. In the distance Judith cried for the first time, she shouldn't be around all of this.

I closed my eyes and shook my head as Carol ripped and cut my jeans around my bloody hand. The cold, stale air of the house hit my leg and goose bumps ran down it. Still, the door remained wide open.

I looked at Carl, paled face and tense. "Close the door." I breathed out through the pain. He looked me in the eyes and then over to the door. He must've seen the walker I had because not a moment later he scrambled to shut and lock the door. He stepped back slowly and took a breath.

Rick then forced most of the group to step away into the kitchen or living room with a single demand to give us space. The pounding of voices subsided but didn't fall silent.

"What happened?" Carol pried my hand from my leg and let out a relieved sigh when she saw it was not a bite. I went to open my mouth to try to speak again but Carl cut me off.

"There was a walker she didn't see so I pulled her away. She fell back, sliced her leg with her knife." He waved a hand to me.

Carol just nodded her head while using an old t-shirt to wipe up the blood around the cut to see it better. I gripped onto my upper thigh trying to divert the pain somewhere else but it barely helped. Carol then had Glenn pass her a bottle out of the bag and twisted the cap off.

"You have to relax, hon. This is gonna hurt, try not to move." She stared into my eyes showing me how serious she was while at the same time brought me back to the present and calmed me down. I involuntarily nodded and she moved to pour the liquid into my cut.

Realizing it was alcohol I immediately tense preparing for the pain, but the word pain did not even come close to describing the fire that bored into my veins. I threw my head back against the table tensing my entire body as the alcohol smothered every cell in my cut. My hands clenched and my muscles tightened. I let out a long whine and a loud groan but clamped my mouth shut remembering the walker outside. I bit down on my lip and squeezed my eyes shut to shudder internally.

The agony subsided but just barely as she put the bottle down on the table I laid on. She shuffled through her bag again and took out a small off-white box.

While I caught my breath Carol wrapped my leg up with layered gauze and another long strip of a scrapped shirt. I relaxed and let out a shuddered breath. Stopping the bleeding was helpful but the ache of the cut was still prominent and thudded in time with my rapid heartbeat.

"Thank you." I looked up at Carol dazed and she smiled while wiping her hands down. "Fuck that hurt." I closed my eyes, my head lulling back against the wood. She chuckled but helped me sit up, my legs dangling off the edge.

"You're welcome. The cut's fairly deep. If it doesn't start healing I'll have to put some stitches in to help it close." She tossed a bloody cloth on the table.

I nodded my head and wiped my blood soaked hands on my cut off pant leg. Then I sat there for a moment having no trust in my light head to guide the rest of my limbs.

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Hey guys, sorry for the weird abrupt ending of this chapter but what I wrote goes on for a really long time so I kind of had to chop it in half.

Anyways holy shit Avery was hurt! Poor Carl's blaming himself for it. There was a lot happening in this chapter, I love how intense it is and how it just gets your adrenaline going, you know?

Please comment, vote, follow me or share this with your friends. Leave me a message, suggestion or correction, it really helps and makes me want to keep writing.

Love ya.