Carol POV:
I run my hand across my forehead to wipe the sweat off my face as the sun slowly set over the Alexandria sky.
After a long, hot day full of work, all I wanted to do was lie down on my bed, close my eyes, and let my mind drift into the universe of dreams.
I look around, after the war against the Whisperers, the city was devastated, but after so much effort, so much sacrifice, all of us, together, could begin to raise it little by little from its ashes.
Lydia approaches, waving at me; I'll never forget what she did for me, keep me from throwing me down that ravine with Beta's horde weeks ago.
I was wrong about her, the girl's always been one of us, she was part of Henry, and now she is part of me.
-Hey Carol, need help to finish securing that fence? - She asks me when he reaches my side.
-In the morning, today we've all worked enough, we need to regain strength, and even more knowing that there are new dangers lurking-I say referring to the incident with the soldier 3 weeks ago.
She nods in agreement with me. She turns to leave but my voice stops her.
-Hey Lydia, would you like to have dinner with Jerry's family and me tonight? I've made soup.
"It won't be rat soup, right?" She replies with a mischievous smile when she sees my expression.
-Jerry told me about the incident you had with the rodent, a bad day huh?
-You've no idea.-I say before we both laugh. Laughter wasn't very common lately so moments like this were appreciated.
Our laughter is interrupted by distant barks which I recognized as belonging to Dog, but these sounded desperate and nervous, they weren't the happy and enthusiastic barks that he used to emit.
Jerry's voice comes from the lookout post.
-Carol! -He yells.
I look up to look at him and he continues:
-It's Dog, he seems very nervous and Daryl is not accompanying him.
-Let him in!-I reply before he began to open the city gates, but Dog doesn't enter, he trots forward, barking and stops, then turns back, looks at us and does the same thing again.
I approach him.
-What's up boy? Where is Daryl? -I ask him worriedly extending my hand to pet the animal, but he turns to run away, stops in the middle of the road and look at me.
-Every day that pooch is more like his owner, his behavior is sometimes as disconcerting as Mr. Dixon's.- Jerry tells me with a laugh.
-No.-I answer.
-Something's wrong, he wants us to follow him, Lydia!.- I turn to the dark-haired girl.
-Tell Maggie to get ready, in case there are problems.
She nods and runs off to carry out my order.
I continue:
-Jerry, call Gabriel on the walkie and tell him to take your place, I need you with me, we must go find Daryl and running we won't reach the dog, you drive.
My friend agrees, also doing what I ask of him.
I grab my bow and we both get into a gray car to rush out of the safe zone, Dog leading the way down the road.
Jerry takes me out of my thoughts when he notices my haunted face.
-I'm sure Daryl will be fine, don't worry.
-We don't know, after what happened with that soldier, we have reasons to worry and Dog would not be like that because of a stupid hunting accident, Daryl knows how to manage by himself.-I answer him, remembering the accident he had so many years ago looking for my little girl, that day when Andrea accidentally shot him after have stabbed his own arrow when he was knocked down by the horse he was riding, falling down a ravine.
Jerry looks at me, alternating his eyes between mine and the road.
I look at him, being thrown forward when he slammed on the brakes.
Dog had stopped, wanting to make us understand that the road continues across the forest.
We have no choice but to get out of the vehicle and follow him in a hurry.
Each time the sky grew darker, and the walkers appeared little by little, attracted by the barking of the animal.
-Dog Dog! A voice among the trees calls.
-It's Daryl!.-I affirm, calling my best friend.
A ache inside me appears as I remember our damaged relationship.
-Daryl! You ok?! Daryl please answer!
-Carol! Is that you?! Follow my voice, I need help! This time his voice comes out desperate, definitely something bad has happened, so Jerry and I run even faster in the direction of Daryl's voice and soon we reach him.
What we found left us both frozen.
An exhausted and sweaty Daryl runs toward us with the crossbow hanging over one shoulder and an unconscious, blood-covered woman in his arms.
This is no time for questioning, the 4 of us run to where we'd left the car to get back to Alexandria as quickly as possible.
Jerry takes the wheel again, Dog is in the passenger seat with me while Daryl holds the unknown woman in the back seats.
He raises his voice, scared:
-Jerry, if you don't go faster we won't be in time, she's losing a lot of blood.
-I'm going as fast as I can Daryl.-answers the big man next to me.
-If I step on the accelerator further, I'll go through it.
I soon recognize the familiar path that leads to the gates of Alexandria.
I take the walkie talkie out of my jacket pocket and speak:
-Gabriel, Gabriel,this is Carol,do you receive me? -Carol, is it you? I receive you.-the father's voice comes out of the device.
-It's me, you have to notify Gladys Johnson we have an emergency and there is no time for questions.
-Consider it done,over and out.- Gabe responds before cutting off the transmission.
About 5 minutes later, which seemed eternal to all of us, we turned a ring road to come face to face with the city gates already open with Maggie leading a group of people armed and ready to open fire.
Jerry puts his hand out the window gesturing at them, indicating that ain't no danger nearby, causing the residents to put down their weapons.
The car flies between the doors of the safe zone. -What the hell happened? And who is she?.- Maggie reaches us pointing at Daryl as he takes the unconscious woman out of the car.
She has lil' Hershel by the hand, Gabriel, Rosita and Lydia follow her.
-Ain't no time,gun shot, trouble.
-This way, quick! -We all turned to see a black woman in her 50s in front of the infirmary door. Dr. Johnson was already prepared.
-Hershel honey.- Maggie leans down to look at her son.
-Do you see that red-haired woman over there? .- She says pointing to Barbara in the distance.
-I want you to go with her ok?
The boy nods and runs off to find his new babysitter, obeying his mother, her inseparable cap tightly fitted on her head.
"He is the spitting image of his father" .- Maggie thinks with a nostalgic smile on her face, before following the group in the direction of the infirmary, not without giving Negan,who takes a large drink of water before being led by Scott to his cell for the night after helping rebuild the community,a death look.
Third Person POV:
Everyone enters the infirmary, ignoring the puzzled looks at such an uproar from the people preparing to go to bed.
-Bullet wound in the thigh.- Daryl exclaims between gasps.
-There, lay her on that gurney and take off her pants.-Dr. Johnson turns to Daryl putting on white gloves, ready to treat the patient.
Daryl does what she asks of him immediately.
Gladys stands in front of him and examines the wound, her black eyes reflecting years of experience.
-The bullet hasn't come out, luckily it hasn't disintegrated and is superficially lodged in the vastus lateralis muscle and thank God it has only grazed the lateral circumflex artery, if it had been only a few millimeters lower,
it would have perforated it and this woman would have died completely bled.
Even so, she's lost a lot of blood and she'll need several transfusions but ...- Johnson is silent now.
-But what?- Daryl asks, his voice coming out louder than he would've wanted.
-We don't know her blood type.-Johnson sentence.
Daryl feels his strength gradually fade upon hearing this, knowing what it means.
It's Jerry who casts a ray of hope when he interrupts on the scene.
-"My blood is type 0".
-Universal donor,we are lucky, in that case Jerry, don't go too far, I'll need you close to her to be able to do the transfusions.
-So you can help her right? She'll be fine? .- Daryl questions alarmed and moving from side to side, under everyone's watchful eyes.
-We have to extract that bullet immediately, if it moves just a few millimeters, it would reach the artery and die in just minutes.-explains Johnson while preparing all the instruments she needs. -Maggie, I need you here with me, I won't be able to work without assistance.
-"Sure." Maggie nods putting a dropper on the injured woman.
The doctor turns to look at the worried man.
-There are no guarantees but I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to save her.
He nods, trusting what the professional tells him.
Carol looks at her friend, puzzled by his behavior. "Does he know this person"? She lays her eyes on the stranger on the brink of death and suddenly, she sees something that catches her attention.
The tattoo on her right shoulder, a skull wearing a beret with 3 rays on each side of its face, a phrase decorates the design.
"Fortitudo Saludis" .- Peletier reads to herself. -That phrase ... is so familiar...
-I have to ask y'all to wait outside, we need as much space as possible to help her.-the doctor's voice takes her out of her thoughts.
Dixon hesitates but Carol touches his arm, telling him with her eyes that everything will be fine, making him give in to the doctor's request, moving away from the scene and touching the doorknob but not before hearing the woman murmur:
"I need to make a horizontal 2 inches incision a little below the wound,extract the bullet and cauterize the artery."
The man takes a deep breath, opens the door and closes it behind him, leaving Leah's fate to be decided without him present, just this once.