It had been three hours since Glenn and Maggie had left with Leya in tow, and despite Carl knowing that all of them could take care of themselves just fine, he was getting worried. Even though his father had emerged from the prison, face washed and in a different shirt (and Carl silently praying- no, not praying, but hoping- that he hadn't noticed his jacket being slightly out of the place it had been earlier, and also that there hadn't been any blood on said jacket).
"They've been gone for a while," The first words Carl had spoken to his father in about twenty-four hours slipped out. "They left to get formula for the baby."
"They'll be just fine, Carl." Rick tried to comfort him, and effectively failed.
"I know," He grit his teeth. "They should get back before dark."
And that was when the father and son noticed a silhouette stepping out from the shadows of the woods. As the silhouette came closer, it became clear that it was a woman.
The woman was tall, with dark skin and long hair in dreadlocks. She had a serious face as well as what seemed to be a permanent scowl. Slung across her back was a sheath, and a white handle stuck out of it. There was dried blood on her jeans, but fresh blood was also seeping through the fabric. What made her intriguing, though, was the shopping-center basket in her hand, full of baby formula.
Walkers crept out of the woods, beginning to surround the woman, and the reached around to her back, pulled on the handle from her sheath, exposing a long, shiny blade. She swung with the ferocity of a bona-fide survivor, cutting off heads as easily as Daryl could track an animal.
Slowly, though, her strength began to dwindle. The wound on her leg weakened her, and it became clear that she wouldn't last.
"Dad," Carl looked up at him. "We've got to help her!"
The two ran towards the gate, not so far away, and Rick forced it open as fast as he could. Carl darted out through the gate, raising his gun and aiming at the walkers. None of the bullets land perfectly between the dead people's eyes but they get into the brain, and that's what mattered.
"Come on, get inside!" Carl waved towards the gate. "It's safe! Come on!"
The woman staggered inside the gate, and as soon as Rick shut it, she collapsed, drained of all energy.
"Dad, she's hurt!"
Rick bent down. "It looks like a bullet graze, that's all. Carl, grab the basket, we need to get her to Hershel!"
x-x-x-x
Glenn was separated from Maggie and Leya not soon after they arrived at... wherever they were. He didn't fight, because despite not ever being in a hostage situation before, he knew from a handful of action movies that fighting would only get Maggie and Leya into trouble. All he could do was hope that his thoughts of 'calm down, everything will be fine' were loud enough for Leya to hear in her sensitive state of mind.
He was taken into what appeared to be an old storage container, or possibly a shed. Old chairs and various debilitated bits of this and that strewn about, leant up against the walls. Merle had roughly duct-taped him to one of the chairs, dragged another over, then sat down across from him.
They stayed silent for a long time. Merle stared at Glenn with ferocity and violence in his eyes, and he stared back, nearly unblinking.
"So, where are your people?" Merle was the first one to break the silence. "Where'd you pick up the chick? That and the little girl?"
Glenn didn't answer. "You said that her dad would be angry, back at the store."
Merle crossed his arms. "Better hurry up and tell me your people are, so maybe he won't go kickin' your ass if you get back."
YOU ARE READING
United We Fall
Fanfiction"You look at her and you think, wow, that's one young kid, but then you look in her eyes and you realize... that ain't how a kid should be behind it." The world as it was known has come to an end, but for one, it has only begun.
