09 : BITTEN
" You're acting as if he's already dead. "
- ꜱᴏᴘʜɪᴀ ᴘᴇʟᴇᴛɪᴇʀ
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"OPEN the door. It's Hershel!" They heard Rick yell from downstairs. Lucy and Sophia looked up from their game of rock, paper scissors and shared a look before running out the cell.
Lucy leaned over the railing, peering down at Hershel who was lying on a metal trolley. The first thing she noticed was the amount of blood was coming from the leg he didn't have. It looked like someone had cut it off.
"Oh, my God." Sophia whispered, a horrified look on her face.
The group pulled the trolley inside a cell downstairs. Lucy ran down the stairs, Sophia following behind her. They stood right outside the cell, there was barely any space left inside as everyone had gathered around Hershel.
"Oh! Oh, I need bandages."
"We used everything we had." Glenn said.
"Well, get more!" Carol yelled over her shoulder. "Anything."
"Carl, go get the towels from the back, right next to my bed." Lori ordered. Carl left, brushing past the two girls that were still standing at the doorway.
"What the hell happened?" Lucy's eyes widened when she saw how much blood Hershel was losing.
"A walker got Hershel." Glenn explained, not taking his eyes off the said man. "We had to cut off his leg."
Lucy didn't even know that was possible. Come to think of it, it was kind off smart. On the other hand it was also really dumb, given the fact that Hershel was their only somewhat doctor and now he was the injured one. Sure, Carol learned a thing or two, but was she really gonna be able to keep him alive?
"He's already bled through the sheets."
"We can burn the wound to clot the blood." Glenn suggested, Lucy's face scrunched up as she thought about the pain that must come with. "I can start a fire."
"Oh, God. No, please don't do this." Beth whispered as she shook her head.
"No, the shock would kill him." Lori handed Carol some more pillows.
Voices were heard from outside the prison cell. Unfamiliar voices. It caught everyone's attention. "What was that?"
"Prisoners, survivors." Rick sighed.
"What?"
"It's alright everybody stay put." With that, he left the cell, leaving everyone pretty confused.
Being Carol's daughter, Sophia had learned a thing or two from her. While she was still grossed out by blood and gore, everyday she got more and more used to it. She insisted on helping her mother with Hershel. It didn't take long to convince her since Sophia 'knew' more about these kinds of things than anyone else in the group.
Lucy sat with Sophia and Carol, helping as much as she could. Unfortunately for them, she didn't know much about doctor stuff, let alone a man's amputated leg. On the other hand, she didn't need to know much to help as the two others instructed her what to do.
Lori was there too, but obvisiouly couldn't push herself too much since she was, believe it or not, still pregnant. Carl was standing outside, staying loyal to his job as 'prison guard'. Every now and then he was ordered to get more pillows but he was mostly standing at the entrance of the cellblock, waiting for the rest of the group to return.
Maggie and Beth were having a hard time, rightfully so. Beth had gone to her own cell, probably needing some space and alone time. Lucy didn't know where Maggie was, but she assumed Glenn was with her.
"Food's here." T -Dog's voice was heard from outside the cellblock.
Lucy looked outside the cell as she was sitting right next to the doorframe.
"What you got?" Carl asked, opening the door.
"Canned beef, canned corn, canned cans." He replied, walking into the cellblock with three boxes in his hands, Rick trailing behind him with two bags almost half his size in his hands. "There's a lot more where this came from."
Lucy's mouth watered by just thinking of the food. This prison really was a gold mine. Walls, beds, food, weapons, everything. Everything they needed to survive.
Rick stopped by their cell asking if anything had changed yet. "Bleeding is under control and no fever, but his breath is labored and his pulse is way down and he hasn't opened his eyes yet." Lori told her husband.
Rick took a glance at Hershel before turning to Glenn, who was now also standing outside the cell. "Take my cuffs, put them on him. I'm not taking any chances."
"Woah." Sophia spoke up after Rick left, breaking the silence. "Did you see all that food?"
"It was so much." Lucy let out a breathy chuckle while she watched Glenn cuff Hershel to the bed.
"God, I can't wait for dinner." The other girl mumbled to herself, already fantasizing about eating the food.
"What's going on?" Maggie questioned, startling Lucy since she didn't even notice her standing there. Maggie looked at her dad, then at the cuffs and then back at Glenn.
"We had to." He had a look of guilt painted on his face.
"It's just a precaution." Carol reassured.
Maggie sighed. She wasn't angry, she understood why, but it must be hard to see her dad, unconcsious and cuffed to some prison bed. "You think maybe I could have a minute alone here?"
"Of course." Lucy was quick to reply, already standing up. She gave Maggie a small smile that ,she hoped came over as comforting, before turning to her friend. "Come on, Soph."
Sophia stood up, following her friend back to their sleeping cell. Lucy climbed ontop of the top of the bunk bed. She had claimed the highest spot which was luckily no problem for Sophia, who stated she prefered the bottom anyway.
"Do you think Hershel's gonna be okay?" She leaned against the wall, frown on her face and crossed arms.
"I hope so." Lucy sighed, feet dangling from the bed. "But you know how things go these days. I mean, do you really think he'll survive this without a doctor or any type of medicine?"
"We have my mom." Sophia stated, though she didn't seem so sure if Carol could actually do that much.
"Your mom learned a few things from Hershel." She shot back. "Doesn't make her an experienced doctor."
"You're acting as if he's already dead." Her friend frowned, clearly not satisfied with Lucy's reply.
"I'm just saying, we can't get our hopes up."
Sophia sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I know it's just- I don't want to lose anyone else, you know?"
Lucy nodded in understanding before climbing her way down to the floor. She wrapped her arms around Sophia, rubbing her back comfortly.
"We'll be okay. We always are."
Everyone was gathered around Hershel for what seemed like the 10th time today. Lucy was sitting against the wall, Sophia right next to her. Maggie and Beth were staring down at their dad, hurt looks on their faces while Glenn was leaning against the door frame, playing with some kind of clock in his hands.
The creaking of the gate was heard from outside, grabbing everyone's attention. "I thought you were organizing the food." Glenn said with furrowed eyebrows as he saw Carl walk up to them with a bag in his hands.
"Even better." Carl grinned before placing the bag down infront of Hershel's bed. "Check it out."
Carol gasped when she opened the bag. "Where did you get this?" She asked, gaping at the medicin that was lying inside.
"From the infirmary." He looked pretty proud of himself. "Wasn't much left, but I cleared it out."
"You went by yourself?" Lori questioned, taking out some of the bandage.
"Yeah."
"Aw man." Lucy frowned. "And you didn't take me with you?" Sophia elbowed her in the side, earning a small 'ow' from Lucy.
"Are you crazy?" Lori paused, looking at her son with wide eyes.
"No big deal." Carl shrugged his shoulders, the smile already wiped of his face. "I killed two walkers."
"You-" The brunette turned to Hershel, gesturing towards him. "All right, do you see this? This was with the whole group."
"We needed supplies, so I got them."
If she was being completely honest, Lucy was on Lori's side for this one. She knew Carl could take of himself, but leaving without telling anyone was a pretty dumb decision. No matter how smart or strong he was, something could of happened. Something, someone, anything, could have caught him of guard. He could have died and no one would know because he didn't tell anyone.
"I appreciate that, but-"
"Then get off my back."
Sophia and Lucy shared a look before looking back at the Grimes. They both knew Carl had gotten a little more snarky towards both his parents, but they hadn't seen him act so mean, especially to his mom before.
"Carl!" Beth was quick to defend Lori. "She's your mother, you can't talk to her like that."
Carl looked at Beth before looking back at his mother. "Listen, I think it's great that you wanna help-" He didn't give her the chance to finish as he was already storming the room out.
Lori looked at the verge of crying. Lucy wouldn't be surprised if she would have a whole mental break down right now. Her husband hasn't been talking to her at all, if he did, it was usually something rude with a cold tone and a mean glare. Now, Carl has been acting like a little asshole and ontop of all that, she was also pregnant and close to giving birth any day now. The only doctor they had was Hershel who was unconcious, and completely unable to help in any kind of way.
Lucy wanted to go after Carl, but figured it was best to give him his space. Besides, she didn't want to leave Maggie. Sure, she had Glenn, but Lucy wanted to comfort and be there as much for her as possible.
Carol seemed a bit hesitant before turning to Glenn. "I need your help with something."
"Now?"
"Yeah, now."
"What is it?" He asked, dropping his crossed arms with a worried look on his face.
"Not here." Carol stood up, already making her way out the cell.
Glenn stopped her. "I can't leave Hershel."
"This is important." She insisted.
"Is everything okay, mom?" Sophia was already getting a little panicked at her mother's secret behavior.
"Yes, everything's alright, sweetie." She reassured. "But it is important."
"Carol, I can't-"
"Go on." Lori leaned back slightly. "We got it."
Glenn shook his head. "No way."
"We'll be fine."
"Rick said for me-"
"Glenn." Lucy interrupted his sentence. "They're not made of glass, you know? We'll be alright."
Maggie nodded at him, giving him a small smile. "We're fine."
Though Glenn still seemed hesitant, he didn't fight back, following Carol instead. "We won't be long." Was all she said before walking away, leaving the others by themselves.
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Lucy was asleep when Hershel stopped breathing. She had heard from Sophia that Lori had saved his life. While she kept telling herself she would stay by Maggie's side at all times, sleep took over. Her eyelids kept getting heavier, causing her to fall asleep for just a second before blinking her eyes back open.
Maggie eventually told her to take a nap which took a lot of convincing since Lucy was pretty stubborn. She didn't know how much time had passed when Sophia came bursting into the cell, claiming that Hershel almost died but Lori saved him.
Now she was sitting infront of Hershel once again. Rick and T -Dog were here too this time, she didn't even notice they had come back from whatever they were doing. Lucy hadn't bothered keeping up with everyone's tasks anymore.
Hershel gave, what looked like, a small gasp. Maggie immediately leaned forward which didn't seem like the best idea. Sure, he could finally be awake, but he could also turn into a walker and try to bite your ears off. The man groaned softly, but didn't open his eyes. Before anyone could feel dissapointed they noticed Hershel opening his eyes.
"Daddy?" Maggie called, voice full of hope, as she leaned down a bit.
"Daddy." Beth smiled as Rick removed the cuffs. Hershel reached out his hand, Rick grabbed it. Beth and Maggie were hugging and crying out of happiness.
Lucy let out a sigh of relief. He's going to be okay.
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I know this chapter is short but I really haven't had much time to write or update. Hopefully I'll be able to update more often.
Hope you enjoyed either way!!