WHITE FLAG
chapter seventeen : pharmacy run
{ season two - episode four }
THEY ALL LUNGED forward and tugged on tightly onto the broken water pump while listening to Glenn's desperate yells, "Get me out of here! Get me out of here!" he repeatedly yelled.
The whole group was using all their strength to prevent the water pump from falling. Many grunts made their way through their teeth as they pulled on tightly.
"Get it off! Get it off!" Glenn continued to desperately scream, making Kloe's heart thump out of her chest with panic. "Get me out!"
Kloe frantically pulled the pump as hard as she possibly could, using all the strength her body had to offer.
"Pull! Pull!" Someone yelled with courage.
"Get him!" Someone else screamed.
"Come one! Come on! Come on!"
As they managed to pull the pump further back, Glenn's desperate yells grew louder and louder, "Get me out of here!"
Once the pump got pulled back, they simultaneously got onto their feet and gripped onto the rope. "Pull! Pull! Pull!" Shane gritted his teeth, pulling the rope as hard as he could.
The group pulled the rope with all their strength, strain was lacing in Kloe's yells as she was going way too far for her body to handle.
"Guys! Get me out!" Glenn frantically yelled, making Kloe pull harder.
Her breathing began to wheeze, meaning she was at the point where her asthma was acting up. "No, no, no. Not now, please," she muttered to herself while pulling more and more.
The second she saw Glenn appear at the top of the well, she released her grip from the rope and the siblings hurried over to him. Zayn reached out for him and pulled him onto the grass. They both knelt down beside him as he gasped for air, that's when she felt his body trembling with fear. "Hey, hey. Are you alright?" Kloe asked repetitively.
She rubbed his back, attempting to comfort him. She heard his breathing slow down, meaning he was calming down. "It's okay. It's okay. You're safe," she softly said, calming the boy down more than it should have.
Zayn, who had the look of anger written across his face, glared at the rest of the group, "Next time we say that something is a bad idea, you will actually listen to us and not bluntly ignore us, right? Because that was dangerously close to what Kloe and I were saying."
Everyone stayed quiet with remorse, not saying a word as they knew full well that Zayn was right. "That's what I thought," his sister muttered, loud enough so the group could hear.
"Back to the drawing board," Dale said, attempting to change the subject.
Glenn, who was still panting slightly, looked up at the man with a grin on his face, "Says you," he rose to his feet and handed the rope that was connected to him to Dale. He began to walk away, leaving Kloe on the ground by herself.
Suddenly, the growls from the walker got louder again and the rope Glenn had given Dale began to move. Kloe got up onto her feet and rushed over to the edge of the well, along with the rest of the group. The walker had managed to get inside the rope. "Nice," Kloe stated, staring at the walker who was snarling at every movement.
...
They had all came up with a plan to get the walker out of the well, and to be honest, Kloe was proud that they didn't come up with a stupid plan like the previous one. Maggie had tied the rope onto one of the horses to help pull up the walker, while the rest pulled onto the rope.
Zayn had told Kloe to stay on the side with T-Dog since her asthma was getting bad. Glenn had replaced her spot and had his hand tightened around the rope. Kloe glared down at the well as the walker got higher up from every pull. "You're almost there guys. Just a little bit more," she said.
"Come on, guys, pull!" T-Dog added as the group pulled even harder than before.
"Come on, y'all! Pull now," Shane encouraged.
Kloe took a few steps back as the walker's head appeared at the top of the well. The second the walker noticed T-Dog and Kloe, he reached out its arms and they both jolted back. Her hand flew to her mouth from the punted smell that radiated off of it.
"Come on, almost there!" T-Dog carried on, even with his hand covering his nose and mouth from the smell, "It's stuck. Pull harder."
As the group pulled harder, Kloe noticed the torso of the walker's body began to rip. "Uh, guys. Stop pulling," she stated, but they all ignored her. "Guys! It's gonna rip in half!"
Just as those words flew out her mouth, the walker then ripped in half and its lower body flew back into the well, along with its intestines. T-Dog and Kloe shared a glance and they looked back at the group in unison. Now, the smell was worse than ever and they both felt like they could throw up.
"Oh my God. Oh my God," Kloe repeated as she took numerous steps back away from the walker's half body.
"I think we should seal off this well," Dale suggested, tightening his lips at the sight.
Shane rubbed his shaved head. "Yeah, might be a good idea," he agreed.
"You think?" Zayn sarcastically added, biting his bottom lip as he stepped closer to his sister's side.
"So what do we do about-" Andrea was immediately cut off by T-Dog slamming an axe down onto the walker's head repeatedly. Kloe jolted back in surprise, feeling more sick than she already was as the walker's face deformed. She looked off to the side and noticed Maggie walking away, her face covered with disgust.
"Good thing we didn't do anything stupid like shoot it," T-Dog stated sarcastically, dropping the axe and stepping away from the now dead walker. Kloe swallowed down the bile that was rising in her throat and kept her eyes off the walker and breathed through her mouth to block the smell.
...
Kloe straightened her back as the horse she was saddled on moved forward. Maggie and Kloe were on their horses on their way to the pharmacy store and she had stayed quiet the whole way.
Kloe guessed it was because of what happened at the well, and she couldn't blame her. "You okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Maggie replied bluntly, her shoulders moving consistently as her horse galloped down the road.
"I saw the look on your face back at the well," Kloe admitted, causing Maggie to look over her shoulder and face her. "Have you never seen one killed up close before?" The girl only stayed silent and she looked back ahead. "I guess it's kind of a shock. You know, being out on the road, we've seen a lot, I've seen a lot. Guess we've gotten a little numb to it."
Kloe's voice lowered on the last sentence. Never had she imagined saying that she got numb to killing, even if walkers weren't human, well, they were, but not the humans they knew.
"Whoa," Maggie stopped her horse. "I guess so."
Kloe stopped her horse from walking and climbed off of it. She grabbed the horse reins and quickly tied them around a post next to the pharmacy that the pair were going into.
She noticed Maggie had already begun to walk over to the pharmacy, so she swiftly followed her. They stopped at a window where a cardboard sign was sitting laid up against it. Take what you need and God bless.
Kloe stared at the sign for a few moments, a small smile tugging her lips. She glanced over at Maggie, who had a stoic expression, causing her own to match hers.
The Greene girl stepped over to the double doors of the pharmacy and gripped onto the handle. She peered through the window to make sure there wasn't anyone in there.
As she pushed the door open, it creaked and the bell chimed. Before Kloe stepped in, she double checked behind her in case there were walkers straggling by, which there wasn't. She followed Maggie into the pharmacy and she shut the door gently behind her, making sure it wouldn't slam and attract every walker in the town.
Maggie turned around and faced her new friend, "I'll go see what antibiotics are left. What else is on the list?"
Kloe abruptly reached into her pockets where the two lists were kept and pulled them both out. She remembered that the one Lori said was personal was the smaller one, so when she examined them, she handed the big list over to the girl.
"Why don't you get started?" Kloe suggested, trying to hide the fact that she had a note that Lori specifically said not to repeat.
Maggie took the note out of my hand and unfolded it, "What about you?"
"Uh, I'm gonna search around, see what's worth grabbing," she shrugged, sliding Lori's list back into my pocket without Maggie noticing. "Just some general stuff."
Maggie briefly nodded and walked in the other direction towards the back of the pharmacy. Kloe exhaled quietly with relief as she grabbed onto a blue basket. She immediately grabbed onto the note Lori had given her and unfolded it silently.
Her eyes then widened at the words that were written on the small note. Pregnancy tests.
Trying not to look suspicious, the young adult walked by some shelves and pretended to be engrossed by them. She looked across at Maggie now and then to make sure she wasn't looking. When she wasn't, she snaked her way over to the feminine hygiene section. Half of the shelf was empty, but there were still a few items placed on it.
Glancing back one more time at Maggie to make sure she wasn't noticing, Kloe knelt down in front of the shelves and began to scan it frantically. The second she spotted the tests, she slid them into the basket and seized onto a few other items to cover the box.
As if her hearing had faltered, Maggie appeared behind the girl, "What have you got?"
Kloe's whole body leaped and with panic, she gripped onto another box that was in front of her without looking at what the product actually was. She quickly got onto her feet and stared across at Maggie. "Don't ever do that again, please. I know I said I had good hearing, and I do," her words rushed out of her mouth, "but I was distracted by finding some general-" she instantly cut herself off as she glanced down at the box she had grabbed, her face immediately shadowed with embarrassment.
Maggie's eyes stared at the box and amusement filled her expression, "Condoms?"
Kloe nervously laughed as she stared at the box and she shrugged with embarrassment, "I mean, yeah. Can never be too safe, uh-"
"I knew you and Glenn were a thing," Maggie muttered out.
"I- uh- wh- what?" KLoe stammered, almost choking on her own breath. "No, no. Glenn and I aren't a thing. Uh, I just picked these up in case-"
"In case you hook up anytime soon?" Maggie finished.
"No!" she blurted out. "This is probably the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me-"
"I thought you two were dating," Maggie continued, amusement getting the better of her, "You two are really close, so I thought you were dating."
Kloe stared at the girl with wide open eyes and parted lips. She shook her head and blinked frantically, "You know what, I might just, uh, put these back," she placed the box on the top shelf.
Maggie let out a small laugh through her nose, an amusing grin staying on her lips, "Okay, okay. Do you have all your general stuff?" she asked, glancing down at the blue basket she was holding.
"Yep," Kloe replied instantly, "You?"
"Yeah," she responded, making her way towards the doors, "Let's go."
...
The pair were both silent the whole way home, only Maggie having the biggest smirk plastered across her face, but she pushed that aside. Kloe felt if she had said anything more, she would just embarrass herself even more than she already was. So, she stayed quiet.
She hopped off the horse that she had used to go to the pharmacy with Maggie and wrapped the rope attached to the horse around a tree that Maggie had wrapped hers around. Staying completely silent, Kloe made sure the small back of Lori's pregnancy tests were secured in her pocket.
Her eyes flickered upwards to the Greene farm house. She noticed Maggie talking with her father, Hershel, the one who saved Carl. They spoke quietly so she couldn't hear, but she thought they forgot that she could hear very well.
"Everything go okay?" Hershel asked, barely above a whisper to his eldest daughter.
"Yeah, nothing happened." Without even looking at the Greene girl's face, Kloe could tell she was trying to hold back the amusement grin that had been stuck to her like glue the whole ride back to her home.
With that, the Greene girl brushed past her father and stepped up into the farm house, where Kloe spotted a very fast Lori whizzing out of it. Hershel looked at Kloe for a moment, only for a split second before following his daughter back into his farmhouse.
Lori hastily rushed down the steps and quickly headed over towards the younger Schmidt, sending Hershel and Maggie a quick smile. She waited to speak until she was close to the young adult so no one nearby could hear, but if Kloe was being honest, everyone in their group acted like they were deaf.
"Did you find it?" the Grimes woman rushed her words, biting her nails with anxiousness.
Kloe quickly stepped over to her without speaking, still embarrassed from what had happened at the pharmacy. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the small bag.
Lori swiftly took it from the girl's hands and pulled it up her shirt so no one could see. She stared at Kloe for a moment, unknowing on what to say. Honestly, Kloe couldn't blame her. She could see in her eyes that she was embarrassed too from what she had sent her out to do.
They both had something to be embarrassed about. Kloe parted her lips to speak to break the awkward tension in the silent air, but no words formed. Instead, she glanced up and noticed Zayn waving his hand to catch his younger sister's attention, Glenn standing beside him with the same innocent smile he usually had.
Kloe quickly smiled at the woman before brushing past her and jogged over to the two boys she had spotted. She got the sense that Lori was burning holes into her back, obviously hoping that she wouldn't tell them.
That's when it hit her. Secrets. She sucked at that, and from what she had told Glenn before they got to the camp in Atlanta about a cringe childhood memory, she knew he couldn't keep secrets either. She wasn't sure about her brother though. It seemed he had a lot of secrets for years, but he never spilled them.
"Hey!" Kloe called out as she got closer to them.
"Hey," Zayn called back, having a smile on his chapped lips. "How did riding a horse feel like again? It's been years since we've been on a horse. I've forgotten the feeling."
"Nostalgic," she replied, nodding her head, pursing her lips tightly from the same recurring embarrassment circling around her body.
Typically, Zayn noticed and the smile that was placed on his face hastily turned into a frown, "What happened?" Kloe stayed completely silent, tightening her lips even harder than before. "I can see it in your face, Klo. Something happened."
Her eyes transferred to Glenn in the corner of her eye, and he had the same look as her brother did, so she instantly knew that she was shit at hiding her emotions.
"Okay, uh," she began, blurting out random words, "Well, um, you see-"
"Spit it out," Zayn told.
"Something really embarrassing happened while I was at the pharmacy and Maggie is super suspicious because I called it general stuff when it wasn't-" she cut herself off to catch her breath. "Why did I have to grab that out of all the other things there?" she whispered to herself.
"Why, what did you grab?" Zayn asked, his eyebrows more furrowed than before. Kloe's slightly widened eyes darted back and forth between Zayn and Glenn.
She stayed silent, seeing if they could get the hint that she grabbed something weird. Glenn's eyes suddenly widened and his lips parted, and she immediately knew what he was thinking. "What, uh, aisle were you in?"
Her eyes narrowed, "Feminine hygiene," she answered simply. "And, no, Zayn, it's not what you're thinking. Maybe not as bad."
"Condoms?" Zayn blurted out, shock getting the better of him.
"Yup," she answered quickly, her hands covering her face with embarrassment. "And now she's suspicious. The fact that I called it general stuff too because I didn't even look at the box."
"Why was it in your hand anyway?" Glenn inquired.
Excuses ran through her mind, but none were coming to mind. She shook her hands with frustration and she sealed her eyes shut to come up with one.
"I can tell she's coming up with an excuse, tell us, Klo," Zayn stated.
"Okay, promise me not to tell anyone, and I mean that," she seriously said, opening her eyes promptly. The two nodded in reply, "Especially you, Glenn. I know what your ways of 'keeping secrets' are like." Glenn stood there speechless, his lips connected together tightly. "Anyway, so, uh, Lori asked me to get her pregnancy tests-"
She instantly got cut off with the two boys choking on their breaths. "She's pregnant?" Glenn questioned, glancing over his best friend's shoulder to look for anyone nearby.
Her hand subconsciously hit the side of his head, "We don't know that. That's the whole point of the test, dumbass."
"Your secret- well, Lori's, is safe with me," Zayn commented. "I'm quite good at keeping secrets."
"Uh, I'm not," Glenn spoke up, worry in his voice, "Secrets are my weakness."
"You cannot say this to anyone, Glenn. I mean this. This is a serious matter and it's Lori's place to tell the others. Also don't tell Lori I told you obviously. She trusts me and I've gone behind her back telling you guys," Kloe sighed, staring deeply into Glenn's eyes.
"Okay, I'll try."
"No, you will," Zayn corrected, also narrowing his eyes at Glenn's.
...
Zayn, Glenn and Kloe had finished their food before anyone else had since they had stayed quiet and never chatted. She knew why they were like that, because they had the exact same thought running through their young minds.
They had all decided to go behind the farmhouse where it was quiet, where no one else would be. The RV was out of sight, and so were the tents and cars. So no one could see them.
"I saw Lori sneak out into the field earlier," Kloe stated, sitting in the middle of Zayn and Glenn, their backs pressed against the hard wall of the farmhouse. "I'm guessing she's taking the test."
"What will we do if it's positive? It's gonna be one heck of a disaster if Hershel tells us to leave once Carl's on his feet and we're back on the road," Zayn explained, staring off into the distance, into the woods.
"We'll worry about that when it comes to it. She will be fine until she starts getting morning sickness and shit," she said. The two boys' eyes set on the girl and instantly, she looked at the two, "What? I used to babysit, I know a lot about babies. One of the mothers went into labor and at the time, the service was down so I had to deliver it," she explained. "Even before that, I worked at that house every weekend for a year. I took care of her since the father of her unborn child left. She was alone."
Silence occurred once again. Kloe felt like that was a huge part of this world now. Silence.
"I actually forgot you used to babysit," Zayn admitted, earning a glare.
"How could you forget? You were the one that suggested it to me because apparently I was good at looking after our baby cousin."
He shrugged, "I don't know. I feel like I've forgotten everything."
Kloe slowly looked away and stared up at the clear sky. The stars shined bright like always, calming her tensed muscles. "I feel like that too. It's only been a few months and it feels like I've been in this deadly world for years," she whispered, "All the happy memories are disappearing."
"Hey, maybe we can get some new happy memories for you guys. Even if the world stays like this, we can still be happy and earn some amazing memories," Glenn tried to cheer the siblings up, which worked somehow.
Kloe smiled, "I wonder what I'd be doing right now if the world hadn't gone shit," she wondered, her mind fading into an imagination.
"Probably working your ass off in college. Or sitting with your best friend, Norah, exaggerating how you almost fell off the stage like you always do," Zayn snorted at the end of his last sentence.
Kloe nodded her head in agreement, "Mhm, I can imagine that." Her eyes drifted over to Glenn, who was already looking at her, "What would you be doing, secret-keeper?" she asked, gently elbowing the boy's arm.
"Probably delivering pizzas. I miss doing that," he answered.
"Hey, I don't mean to change the subject, but it's running through my mind," Zayn spoke up again, causing Glenn and Kloe's attention to fall on him. "If Lori really is pregnant, what would we do if it starts crying and it doesn't stop?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. Like I said, I'm a baby expert. I can easily shut it up," Kloe chuckled, beginning to imagine Lori with a baby in her arms. "Although, I just have a feeling that she's just paranoid and she isn't pregnant."
"Maybe," Zayn muttered, "If she is, you're gonna have one hell of a new job, Klo."
"I know," she answered, "I'm prepared already."
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Words - 3689
- 4th February 2022
so, uh, another filler but i'm a little happy with how it turned out i guess? ALSO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1K READS! I'M SO FRICKIN HAPPY YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT!