THEY SAT BY THAT WINDOW FOR HOURS.
The pain against Marcie's side had began to dull into a small throbbing. She could almost ignore it at that point.
Daryl finished his bag of chips and tossed them to the side before glancing at his friend, who was sitting in the windowsill, "You said I ain't like how I was before?
"Yeah." The grey haired woman answered, not moving her gaze from the hospital,
"How was I?"
"It's like you were a kid." She responded, looking at him for a small moment, "Now you're a man."
Daryl was never immature, well, maybe a bit emotionally. He always acted with his heart, even when he acted like he didn't care. But now he had learned to contain his emotion, reacting with his head.
Marcie wished she could have seen him after the farm. Vivian told her that he really stepped up, became someone they could count on, and Marcie was proud of him.
"What about you?" Daryl asked his friend,
Carol didn't answer right away, "Me and Sophia stayed at that shelter for a day and a half before I went running back to Ed. I went home, I got beat up, life went on, and I just kept praying for something to happen. But I didn't do anything. Not a damn thing." She explained, "Who I was with him... she got burned away. And I was happy about that. I mean, not happy, but... And at the prison I got to be who I always thought I should be, thought I should've been. And then she got burned away. Everything now just... consumes you."
Daryl tapped the machete against the windowsill, "Well, hey... we ain't ashes." He turned to look at Marcie but before he could say anything, they heard the sound of a door opening within the building.
They quickly grabbed their things before going to investigate. The trio went down a long, dark hallway towards the sound of a walker. They paused when they spotted the walker, pinned to the wall by a bolt in its' throat,
"Is that yours?" Carol asked the hunter,
"Yeah." He grunted,
That only meant one thing. The kid was nearby.
Daryl put the walker down before taking the bolt back, and Marcie jumped at the sound of Carol's rifle firing in the next room.
Marcie and Carol rushed over to see the kid struggling with another walker. He pushed the walker towards them and Marcie raised her knife to stab the undead.
She paused, feeling the pain in her ribs resurface as she raised her arm. The walker tackled to the ground and Marcie let out another cry of pain before stabbing the walker in the head. Daryl ran in and he and Carol lifted the rotting corpse off of Marcie,
"I'm good." Marcie panted, staring up at the ceiling, "Go."
Daryl ran after the kid and Carol helped Marcie to her feet, "Seriously, Carol, go, he's the one with the gun and crossbow, I'll be fine." She pushed the older woman away, "Go help Daryl."
Carol gave her one last look before following after her friend. Marcie took a moment to gather herself before following after them.
She made it to the next room to see the kid on the ground, underneath a bookshelf, while a walker was attempting to get in through the door that the shelf was blocking.
"Plea- please. I had to protect myself." The kid begged while the other two retrieved their weapons from the ground,
"Why you followin' us?!" Daryl yelled down at him,
"I-I didn't, I swear! I thought you followed me!"
"Bullshit." He spat at him before leaning down and grabbing a carton of cigarettes,
"Come on, man." The kid tried to push the shelf off of himself, "Plea- please!"
"Nah," Marcie watched as he placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it, "I already helped you once. It ain't happenin' again. Have fun with Hoss over there."
Daryl began to walk away and the kid cried out, "No. No, no, no. No. No, no, no! Please! Please! Please! I'm sorry, please!"
"Daryl." Marcie watched him walk towards the exit, "Daryl. Stop."
This kid... wasn't a bad guy. He just wanted to be able to protect himself, and Marcie couldn't blame him for that.
"You almost died 'cause of him!" Daryl exclaimed, "Carol, too!"
"But we didn't."
"Nah, let him be." He continued to walk away and Marcie killed the walker that was trying to get through the door before kneeling down next to the kid,
"Alright, let's get this off you." She gripped the shelf tightly and tried to lift, grunting at the pain in her side,
Carol tried to help, but only could do so much with one good arm. Marcie wasn't able to get much progress, but suddenly, the shelf felt much lighter and was lifted farther off the kid,
Daryl stood on the end, lifting it high enough for the kid to scoot out from underneath.
Marcie placed her hands on the back of the shelf, trying to regain her breath as her ribs ached.
"You okay?" Daryl asked, kneeling down next to her,
Marcie nodded and let him help her up before she moved her gaze over to the kid, who was staring out towards the hospital.
"I gotta go. I gotta go." He mumbled to himself, "They're gonna come. They probably heard the shot. If they find me..."
"Who?" Daryl asked, letting go of Marcie's hand,
"Them, people at the hospital." The kid explained as he moved back away from the window,
Carol and Marcie shared a quick look. If that kid was from the hospital, maybe he's seen Beth.
Daryl stepped in front of him to stop him, "Wait, wait, wait, just tell us- is there a blonde girl there? You see a blonde girl?"
The kid furrowed his brows, "Beth?"
Marcie moved her gaze over to Daryl. Finally, a good lead.
Beth was alive. They had a chance.
"You know her?" The kid asked them, "She helped me get out, but she's still there."
Carol glanced down towards the street, where a car with a white cross was painted on the back window, "They're coming."
"We gotta go now. We gotta go. We gotta go."
They followed the kid to the main floor of the building, limping as fast as he could, "The building next door has a basement. It's clear. We'll be safe."
He fell to the floor in pain and Marcie stopped to help him. Daryl pushed her away gently, "Go, I got him."
Marcie and Carol headed towards the front door, with the brunette holding her side in pain as they all limped along. Carol opened the door, holding it for Marcie. She gave her a nod in thanks before walking out onto the courtyard between the buildings.
She paused, turning around to see the other three in the building, which Carol waiting for the men. Before Marcie could say anything, the sound of tires screeching filled her ears.
Pain filled her body before it all went dark.