I Saw The Lights Go Out - Carl Grimes

Chapter Seventy Seven - A Withering Family Tree

"Michonne!" I called out to the woman and her dreads whipped around at the sound of my boots pounding against the concrete. She caught me in her arms as I struggled to stop my sprinting feet.

"What's going on?" Rick asked before Michonne could process my emotions. They stepped away from the broken down fence wall; the expression in my voice drawing them closer to me.

"Tyreese is bit, his forearm. Follow me, hurry." I spat out between breaths. 

The three of them bared all different facial expressions; horror, anger, sadness. I didn't allow myself to go into more detail of the situation, my feet already taking me back to the little blue bungalow.

As we rounded the block the house stood on Rick sprinted past me, his long legs carrying him further down the street toward Noah who waited at the end of the driveway. His hands were soaked red, his face full of worry before leading the three to the source of the blood.

I rested my hands on my knees just outside of the broken in front door, my heart beating fast and my throat sore; begging for water. I swallowed hard, coughed, and wiped my tears. I got them here but the fight wasn't over yet. I wouldn't accept defeat, and I most certainly couldn't lose control.

"Avery, we need you in here!" Pulling myself up by my bootstraps I pushed everything dark inside of me into the corners of my mind. I stumbled my way down the hall moving my sore legs as quickly as they would carry me.

Just as I walked into Noah's little brother's room Michonne raised her katana high in the air. As swiftly as it went up she cracked it down slicing clean through Tyreese's infected arm. The arm fell into Rick's hands who quickly discarded it and wiped the freshly sprayed blood from his cheek. Glenn worked quickly to wrap the raw stump while Noah struggled to keep Tyreese's limp body upright.

I stood speechless at the threshold of the room. Blood surrounded the five of them, pooling around Tyreese's cargo pants and dripping from Michonne's sword. I had to remind myself that this blood was out of survival, out of the nurturing act of saving a life and not due to malicious intent. Surprisingly, the adrenaline that pumped back into me wasn't fueled by fear and craze, but the rush to save a friend.

I stumbled over to Tyreese and his closing glossy eyelids. With the help of Noah and a loud groan we pulled him to his feet; my knees wavering under the weight of the halfway conscious man in my arms. Rick encouraged him to keep his eyes open while switching places with me.

"Avery, get the doors." Glenn called out as he lifted Tyreese's boots out of the puddle of blood.  His voice was unusually calm in such a tense situation which only made me wonder how many times they'd done this before.

Working on autopilot, I began moving tables and chairs out of the pathway to the exit. I pushed open the front door and maneuvered the others down the steps as they barrel out of the house. Tyreese hung his head, his eyes moving and squinting at the sudden burst of afternoon light. He was responsive, and that was all that mattered.

The team stumbled swiftly down the street as they all struggled to keep Tyreese in the air leaving behind a trickle of blood. I snatch Rick's walkie-talkie off of his hip before running ahead to remove debris from their path once again, kicking fallen stop signs and garbage bins away.

"Carol has the first aid kit. Talk to her, then open the gate." Rick struggled through his words as he grit down on his teeth readjusting his grip on Tyreese's back. I nodded and ran further ahead before pressing my lips against the device.

"Carol, come in!" I called out quickly, my voice choppy with each step back to the intersection. I held my rifle still as it bounced underneath my backpack.