Cassie didn't think of anything else as she ran as fast as she could. She clutched her bleeding nephew close to her chest as she did feeling the warmth of his blood coating her white vest red. Rick ran alongside her carrying her bow as he did. Rick had wanted to carry Carl himself but both twins knew she was faster.
Cassie stopped running for a moment to catch her breath and turn around. As she did she saw Shane and Otis the man who shot Carl run closer.
"How much further?" She shouted at the man who was panting heavily "How much further is it?!"
"Just keep running that way half a mile there's a farm house. Hershel's there. Talk to Hershel he'll help the boy" Otis panted out before Cassie sprinted off again. She clutched Carls body close to her as she ran through the grass heart thumping in her ears.
She saw a farmhouse in the distance that was white with a green roof. Upon seeing the farmhouse so close she picked up her speed desperate to get Carl there as soon as possible.As she got nearer she saw someone standing on the porch before they shouted something and headed inside.
As Cassie approached the house a group of people came out. At the front of the group was an old man who looked her over noticing Carl in her arms.
"Was he bit" the man Cassie assumed to be Hershel asked as he walked over to her.
"Shot. By your man" Cassie panted out as Rick came running over coming to a stop beside her. He looked at Carl in her arms before turning to Hershel.
"Otis?" One of the woman stood by the farmhouse asked but she was ignored.
"Please help my nephew please!" Cassie begged as her and Rick walked over to Hershel
"He said find Hershel if that you? Rick asked but before he could get a response he begged "please help him help my boy"
Hershel didn't answer Ricks question but shouted "Get him inside, get him inside!"
As Cassie began to walk over to the door with Carl in her arms Rick stopped her taking Carl from her as he could see how tired she was. Rick carried Carl into the house with Cassie right behind him.
As they walked in Hershel began to call out to different members of his family different pieces of equipment the needed. He walked through the house rolling up his sleeves leading Rick and Cassie to a room with double bed tearing the duvet off before Rick laid his son down on the mattress.
"I-is he alive?" Rick stuttered out but Hershel never answered him rushing about to get everything ready. Hershel saw how in bad a state Rick was so turned to Cassie stood next to him.
"Who are you?" He asked in an urgent but gentle voice to the sniffling women.
"I'm Cassie" she chocked out another sob threading to come out.
"Cassie I need you to grab that pillow case,make a pad with it and put pressure on the wound" hershel explained as Cassie followed his words placing the makeshift pad onto her nephews stomach and pressing down.
Rick came up behind her as they both looked down at Carl whilst Hershel got out a stethoscope placing it on Carls chest. He listens for a minute before announcing he had a heart beat. At that news Cassie let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in and Rick let out a small sob.
A women then stepped in for Cassie to help Hershel as she and Rick took a step back away from the bed watching the doctors work. A brunette women came over to them and gently pushed them back slightly as she asked them for space to work.
"Your Cassie what's your name?" Hershel asked Rick who stutter out his name for Hershel.
"Rick, Cassie we're gonna do everything we can okay? You need to give us some room" hershel told them as Cassie nodded slowly at the man before taking Ricks hand in her own beginning to slowly drag him out the room. Whilst leaving the room they Rick turned to look out the window. Cassie turned to see him staring at Shane who was still running with Otis behind him.
The two twins walked out Hershel's house hand in hand as Cassie gently pulled Rick behind her until they made it to the porch and they both stopped. When Shane arrived at the porch he stood on one of the steps not saying a word. He had never seen Rick like this before but he recognised how Cassie was from the day rick was shot.
"He's alive. He's still alive?" Otis asked to which neither grimes twin replied. Cassie ran a hand over her face unconsciously spreading blood all over her face. Shane saw her face covered in carls blood but when he went over to wipe it off she slapped his hand away from her.
"Don't!" She sobbed out backing away from Shane who backed away turning to Rick who had done the same thing. Rick let Shane wipe the blood of his face as Shane tried to calm Rick down. Whilst they did so Cassie looked down at her hands covered in dried blood and only then did she notice that it looked like she had been stabbed with all the blood covering her t shirt. She slowly removed the quiver that was still secured to her back thankful no arrows were missing before dropping it onto the deck near where Shane had placed her bow he had recovered from where Rick dumped it in the grass just before the house.
Shane asked where Carl was so Rick and Cassie slowly began to make their way back into the house leading Shane to the room Carl had been put into. Once they reached the room Hershel looked up at them his hands on a towel that was keeping carls wound from bleeding too badly.
"What's his blood type?" Hershel asked the twins.
"A-positive, same as both of us" Rick replied.
"That's good there's two of you. Don't wonder far I'm gonna need you both" he told them before turning to Otis "what happened?"
"I was tracking a buck. Bullet went through it. Went clean through" Otis explained to Hershel.
"The deer slowed the bullet down which certainly saved his life. But it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out I count six" Hershel told them as Otis walked over to the women Patricia.
"I never saw him not until he was on the ground" he told Patricia who pulled him in for a hug,
A sudden wave of realisation hit Cassie as she turned to face Rick asking "what about Lori. She doesn't know"
Rick listened to Cassie words before he began to cry harder again sobbing "my wife doesn't know" over as Shane held him close. At the same time Shane extended an arm to Cassie who took it letting Shane wrap an arm around her neck and pull her close.
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As Daryl led his group through the woods he was beginning to grow fed up of Lori constantly stoping or turning around. There had been a gunshot and sure she was worried about her family but they had a little girl to find.
Andrea saw Lori had stopped and asked "you still worried about it?"
"It was a gunshot" Lori replied still staring out into the distance.
"We all heard it" Daryl told her causing Lori to turn quickly on her feet to face him.
"Why just one? Why just one gunshot?" She questioned him the worry for her family growing as hundreds of different possibilities ran through her head.
"Maybe they took down a walker" Daryl suggested to her wanting to get the women moving again.
"Please don't patronise me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane plus Cassie had her bow." Lori argued back.
The mention of Cassie made something in Daryl worry slightly incase the women had gotten herself into danger. But why did he care? It wasn't like he felt anything for her was it? He shook of the feeling as carol spoke.
"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?"
"There's nothing we can do about it anyway. Can't run around these woods chasing echoes." He told them.
"So what do we do" Lori asked Daryl seeing as he had taken his role in charge of the group now.
"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway" he explained before getting ready to start walking.
"I'm sure they'll hook up with us at the rv" Andrea tried to reassure Lori who simply took one more look around the woods as if they would simply appear before she started walking.
———————————————
The trio sat in the room just outside the one Carl was in in silence the only sound the ticking of the clock on a wall. Cassie was sat with her head against a wall on the floor whilst Shane and Rick sat on a small bench type chair.
"Why'd I let him come with us" Rick asked no one in particular. "I should have sent him with Lori"
Cassie shook her head at her brother's statement as she tried to stop him from thinking that saying "you couldn't have know what would happen Rick"
"Cassie's right" Shane agreed "and if you start that you'll never get that monkey off your back" which made Cassie smile slightly.
"Why's you call it a monkey?" She asked him with a small chuckle.
Shane looked down at her with a smile before saying "i don't know"
"Little girl goes missing you look for her. Simple"Rick said which made Cassie suddenly remember why they had been out in the woods in the first place. In all the chaos she had forgotten. "You said call it head back" Rick recalled as Shane shook his head.
"Doesn't matter what I said"
"Carl got shot cause I couldn't cut bait it should be me in there" Rick argued back to Shane who chuckled before saying.
"You've been there partner. Right? And you pulled through. So will he"
"He's strong. Just like you" Cassie added as Rick looked up to meet her eyes but then he shakes his head.
"Is that why I got out of that hospital? Found my family for it to end here like this? This some kind of sick joke?" Rick rambled on before Shane cut him off.
"You stop that. Just stop." He said before the trio went silent for a minute.
"A little girl goes missing....you look for her. It's plain and simple" Rick repeated.
Just then the door to the room Carl was staying in swung open and one of Hershel's daughters, the one with short brunette hair walked out asking for them. The three walked into the room after the women told them Carl would need blood. When they walked in they were met with the sounds of Carl crying and groaning in pain.
Shane moved to hold Carl down as Hershel requested as Carl cried out for his dad and Aunt Cassie. Rick moved to carls bedside as Patricia got ready to take his blood. As everyone around Cassie was moving about trying to help Carl she couldn't move. She felt frozen to her spot as she had to listen to carls cries of pain.
She stumbled back slightly her back hitting the wall as she let out a sob hating to have to see and her nephew in pain. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Hershel's daughter giving her a comforting look. She leaned into the Maggie's hold when all of a sudden Carls cries stopped and Cassie looked over to the bed to see carls eyes closed his face pale.
"Wh-what's happened to him" she stuttered out as Hershel continued to try and get the bullet fragment out.
"It alright he's just passed out" Maggie tried to reassure her rubbing her back. Maggie saw the blood that coated Cassie's hands did she turned and asked her "You want me to help you get rid of this blood?" To which Cassie nodded softly.
Maggie gently led the women to a small kitchen sitting her down on a chair at a wooden table before filling a bowl with warm water and grabbing a cloth. She set down opposite Cassie and took her hands gently in her own. As she did Cassie looked around in awe having not been in a fully functioning house for the longest time.
"You have a beautiful home." She told Maggie who looked up from the job she was doing and smiled.
"Thank you. We're lucky to still have our home. How long have you been out there?" She asked. Maggie hadn't seen much of the of the infected world only the small town she went to on runs for medicine.
"Since the beginning. We had a camp by this quarry near Atlanta but it got overrun by walkers" Cassie explained. She noticed how at the mention of walkers Maggie tensed up slightly. Maybe she had lost someone to the virus. "Then we headed to the cdc but that didn't last so we decided to head to fort benning. But then Sophia got lost. That's why we were in the woods when Carl got shot" she told Maggie feeling a shiver run through she as she mentioned the two children who weren't doing very well at the moment.
Maggie looked up at the blonde women that sat across from her and saw the saddens in her eyes. "Did you lose somebody?" She asked her pulling from her thoughts as she began to wipe her face clear of blood.
"A few members of our group but nobody that I was too close to.How about you?" She asked hoping Maggie didn't find it too personal.
"My step mom and my older brother Shaun" she sniffled looking at the pictures of her lost family members on the fridge behind Cassie. Cassie followed the women's gaze and saw the pictures before taking Maggie hands in her own stopping Maggie from cleaning them.
"I'm sorry" she told her squeezing her hands. Maggie let out a small sigh at the comfort Cassie had given her. Maggie looked down at their hands and saw Cassie's blue ring with silver stars and moons on it.
"I like your ring" she told her which caused Cassie to smile.
"Thanks"
Maggie then finished cleaning Cassie's hands and got up from the table to empty out the red water. Cassie got up from her seat before walking over to Maggie.
When Maggie turned around Cassie moved forward and wrapped Maggie in a hug. Maggie leaned into Cassie's embrace putting her arms around the blondes shoulders. Cassie mumbled out a "thank you" that Maggie copied before the two women pulled away sharing a small smile before heading through to the living room.h
When they got through she saw Otis sitting in an armchair as Rick and Shane sat by the door to carls room. She didn't know what they were talking about but as she walked over she heard Shane talking.
"The strength of those women, Cassie and Lori you can't imagine it"
Cassie let out a small chuckle as she walked over to the two men saying "I am pretty amazing huh". This caused them both to look over to her.
"That. That's what you gotta have now. Carl he needs that from you. You guys got the hard part just leave the rest to me. All right?" Shane announced looking between the twins for a sign of agreement. Both twins said all right and Shan pulled Cassie in for a hug. When he let her go she rest his head against ricks before Hershel came out the door causing the three to stand up as well as Maggie and Otis.
"How is he sir?" Cassie asked Hershel.
"He's out of danger for the moment. But I need to remove those remaining fragments" Hershel explained to them.
"How? You saw how he was" Rick asked Hershel.
"I know and that was the shallowest one. I need to go deeper to get the others." Hershel told them causing Cassie to sigh and run a hand through her hair. "There's more. His belly's distended his pressure is dropping which means there's internal bleeding. A fragment must have nicked one of the blood vessels. I have to open him up, find the bleeder and stitch it. And he can't move while I'm in there at all. If he reacts the same as before I'll sever an artery and he'll be dead in minutes"
Cassie and Rick shared a look of worry before Cassie asked "Is there any way you'd be able to do it?"
"I could try but I'd have to put him under. But if I did he wouldn't be able to breathe on his own, same result." Hershel answered.
"What will it take" Rick asked Hershel but Otis responded.
"You need a respirator" he said as Hershel nodded his head in agreement. "What else?"
"The tube that goes with it,extra surgical supplies l,drapes,sutures" Hershel listed.
"If you had all that you could do it" Rick asked his voice full of hope.
"If I had all that I could try" Hershel told them trying not to get their hopes up.
"Nearest hospital went up in flames a month ago." Otis added.
"Is there anywhere else you could get what you need?" Cassie asked and a spark of realisation went through Otis.
"The high school" he announced.
"That's what I was thinking. They set up a FEMA shelter there they would have everything we need." Hershel agreed putting the plan back on track.
"Place was overrun last time I saw it you couldn't get near it. Maybe it's better now" Otis added on.
"I said leave the rest to me. Is it too late to take that back?" Shane jokingly asked.
"I hate you going alone" Rick told Shane. Cassie looked over at Shane and he knew what she was going to say before she even said it.
"I'll come with you" she told Shane before she was immediately told 'No' by both Shane and Rick.
"Cassie you need to stay here. Be there for Carl in case he needs blood and you need to be here for Rick." Shane told her putting two hands on her shoulders.
Cassie could hear the firmness in Shane's voice and she knew there was no way of convincing him to change his mind. Even if she did she'd have to convince her brother as well and she knew that that would never happen.
"Okay" she softly said pulling Shane in for a hug. When she pulled away Shane turned to Hershel.
"Doc why don't you do me a list and draw me a map?" He asked.
"You won't need a map" Otis told him "I'll take you there. Ain't but 5 miles"
"Otis No" Otis's wife Patricia tried to argue trying to convince him not to go but he simply argued back.
"Honey we don't have time for guesswork and I'm responsible. I ain't gonna sit here while this fella takes this on alone. I'll be alright" he said trying to reassure her.
"Are you sure about this?" Shane asked Otis making sure he was fully onboard.
"Do you even know what any of the stuff he's talking about looks like?" Otis asked Shane.
"Come to think of it no" Shane replied with a small smile as he realised he was quite out of his depth.
"I e been a volunteer EMT. I do. We can talk about this till next Sunday or we could just go do it real quick"
"I'll take right quick" Shane said nodding his head.
"Thank you for doing this" Cassie said smiling at Otis.
"No need ma'am. You wait to ok that boy is up and around and then I'll accept it." He said making it clear to Cassie he still felt guilty about the accident.
As Otis left to gather some things Maggie approached Cassie and Rick. "Where is she? Your wife?"
Rick told Maggie the general area of where they would be and she set off out the house to get ready to go find them. As she did Cassie's mind wandered to Daryl. They were meant to catch up with them and they hadn't. She didn't know wether or not Daryl cared about if she was safe but she needed to get a message to him somehow.
She went out to the porch and grabbed an arrow from her quiver before going inside asking Hershel's youngest daughter Beth for a pen and paper. She wrote her message down before taking an elastic band she had gotten and securing it to the arrow. She ran out the house to find Maggie getting a horse ready to go out as she approached her. Maggie turned to see the blonde women approaching her she stopped her movements.
"Listen in the group there's s guy wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off,baggy jeans,had a crossbow his names Daryl" Cassie rambled to Maggie who gave her a confused look.
"Okay?" She asked.
"I need to you to give him this please" she pleaded with Maggie handing her the arrow and message. Maggie looked at Cassie before taking the arrow out her hands and securing it to the horses storage space.
"So is Daryl a boyfriend orrr?" Maggie said suggestively wiggling her eyebrows at Cassie who had turned a dark red.
"Daryl? Oh no he's a friend. Just a friend" she said with a sigh that Maggie definitely noticed.
"Okay then I'll give this to him" Maggie told her saddling her horse and riding off as Cassie called out a thank you.
As Cassie went back in the house she noticed Shane and Otis getting ready to set out. Rick had seen her interaction with Maggie and went over to speak to her as they headed to say goodbye to Shane.
"So your giving Maggie something for Daryl huh?" He asked suggestively.
"Oh don't you start Ricky I don't need it from you. We're friends that's it" she scoffed although her face showed a different meaning to her words as she cheeks went pink.
"Yup totally" Rick said nodding sarcastically. Cassie stopped walking so she could say goodbye to Shane as Rick walked over to Otis he turned around to say "By the way he looks at you the same way"
A/N: Thank you so much for over 1k reads I really appreciate it :)
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