IVORY | Carl Grimes

seventeen - efflorescence ;

"help! i need help"

glenn rhee's desperate pleas for assistance rang throughout the community. his voice was sharp and clear, but anything other than strong. saskia had not woken up again and although he had located her pulse, she had lost so much blood that it had faded to a weak beat underneath his finger tips.

a few alexandrians rushed to his aid, and once others saw tara's condition, as well, ran for pete. he might have not been the nicest person, but he was still a doctor. glenn was willing to put past mistakes aside for the safety and health of his family.

deanna was the first authoritarian figure to arrive, closely followed by maggie and then rick. other alexandrians crowded around the scene. unfortunately, it was one that the others from outside had been accustomed to, but for the people inside it was a different story. there was, to be frank, a frenzy brewing in the town square.

maggie's eyes filled with fright. it brimmed to her waterline and her hands shook lightly. glenn was covered in blood and all she could do was pray that it was not his own. although, the latter option seemed heartbreaking as well as saskia's arm was coated in what was definitely her own blood. maggie noticed that saskia's eyes were shut tight, oblivious to her surroundings, and maggie's heart quickened in her chest.

"what happened?" deanna spoke up commandingly, surveying the trauma with her eyes fervently looking around.

"no time to explain," glenn sighed, his breathing visibly tired and strained, "we have to get them to a doctor!"

"glenn! answer me!" the feeble woman yelled at glenn, who gave no clear response as he shook.

maggie threw her head back to look at deanna, moving her eyes from her husband's trembling figure for only a second, but resigned to shaking her head, leaving it hanging down towards the ground.

eugene had already begun carrying tara to the infirmary by the time glenn's body caught up with his mind and his feet rushed after him. maggie latched her hand around his arm comfortingly. deanna followed after them in the distance.

placing saskia down gently onto one of the examination beds in the infirmary, glenn collapsed into a couch nearby with maggie's arms wrapped tightly around his trembling figure. someone had handed her a damp cloth from nearby and she began to work diligently to clean off some of saskia's blood from his shaking hands.

"she'll be okay." no matter the confidence maggie tried to pull off, her voice still broke like the crest of a crashing wave upon rocky shore. "you don't have to tell me what happened — not yet."

glenn nodded slowly, eyes locked on his two family members that were sprawled our across the beds unconscious with others attending to them. finally, his head grew heavy and he lay it against his wife's shoulder, nestling into her neck in the desperate need of comfort.

"th-there was so much blood," glenn stuttered into the fabric of his wife's shirt that actually was his own.

maggie chose not to pester him with any further questions. glenn seemed willing to provide her with mutterings of the day's events in between breaths. she stroked his hair softly between her fingers, a frown becoming a permanent fixture on her face.