"And you just let her go?" My dad asked me in a clearly enraged, but hushed whisper.
"Dad, it's Maggie. She knows the land just as well you or I. She took a horse; she'll be fine. Someone needed to find Rick's wife. Shane and Otis are leaving for the school, Rick could barely make it across the paddock, I wasn't going to send Beth and you might need me a Patricia. Nelly is the fastest horse, but she'd throw Jimmy. Maggie and I have gone on a dozen runs before, she knows what she's doing."
"I know... I'm just surprised you of all people let her." Dad raised his eyebrows up at me.
"I would have gone myself if I could."
"Alright... Go and look after Rick. Get him some water and something to eat." I nodded in agreement before heading over to the man.
"I'm gonna fix you something to eat, you like chicken?" I asked him.
"Ah... yes." He answered with an almost head shake, snapping himself out of a dazed look at the open door into the room where his son lay.
"Why don't you come with me into the kitchen, have some water. It might do you some good to stand on your feet for a little while." Rick barely managed an agreeing nod, stumbling to his feet and letting me lead him to the kitchen. "So, you were a Sheriff?" I asked, wanting to keep his mind distracted. Of course I had noticed the police uniform the second I had seen him, but I paid no attention to it, a little too distracted.
"Yeah, King County, Georgia." He explained in a gentle voice as I handed him a glass of water.
"King County? I've been there, only briefly though. Used to drive through when I was travelling back and forth from college."
"Long trip." Rick replied weakly.
"Yeah, I didn't mind though. I like driving, particularly on my own."
"What were you studying?" His voice clearly said he didn't particularly care, but I think he was also trying to keep his mind a little distracted.
"Veterinary medicine."
"Katie." Otis interrupted, walking into the kitchen with an empty bag thrown over his shoulder and his only rifle in his hands. He and Patricia were the only people who called me Katie. Well... Shawn used to and whenever I heard it I got a dull ache in my chest thinking about my brother, but I never said anything. It would sound unnatural if Otis or Patricia called me anything else.
"You heading out now?"
"Yeah, I was wondering if we might take your pickup? It'll be easier to throw what we need in the back."
"Yeah, yeah, of course." I nodded right away, pulling the keys for my sky blue 1966 Ford F-100 out of my pocket. I always kept my keys on me, always. With a place as big as ours they came in handy. I had my car keys, house keys, shed keys, padlock keys for a few of the fences, you name it on there... and of course the keys to the barn.
I took off the car key and held it out for Otis. "Take care of her." I warned and he smiled. The pickup truck used to be my dad's, but I had been in love with the vehicle since I was a kid so when I got my licence he gave it to me and bought himself a Suburban.
"Of course." He nodded as I reached up and gave him a friendly hug.
"And take care of yourself. The equipment should be in the mobile medical vehicles out the front; you shouldn't need to go inside. I would suggest that one of you just drive one of them back here, but they haven't been turned on in a while and I'm not sure how much fuel they have."
"Got it."
Rick suddenly grasped Otis's shoulder firmly. "Thank-you." He said adamantly to the man who was trying to save his son. Otis responded with a curt nod and began to make his way outside. Rick followed him and I trailed along behind, but never made it out the door before Beth grabbed my hand.
"Hey, what's up?" She threw a worried glance out the open door to where Otis and Patricia were exchanging a hug, Patricia allowing a few tears to roll down her cheeks. "They'll be fine." I reassured her, knowing how easily worried Beth got; although I had to admit even I was worried. This wasn't a run to be taken lightly, not where they were going.
Beth nodded in agreement. "Maggie should be back soon, yeah?"
"Yeah, it depends how far out Rick's group is and if she can find them easily enough." Otis and Shane got into my car, after Rick had handed his gun over to Otis, and they drove off. Patricia shook her head before heading up to the house. I gave her hand a light squeeze as she walked by and threw me a small smile before I turned back to Beth. "Come on, I'm making some afternoon tea. Where's Jimmy? He's always hungry." I asked and Beth smiled.
"He's still on guard duty, doing what you told him."
I smiled at that. I liked Jimmy. He was a good kid and he always looked out for Beth. Like Patricia and Otis he had lived on a near by farm that had been overrun. His family didn't survive and he ran to us. He and Beth had been dating for three months at the time and it was now closer to four.
I went out onto the deck as Dad and Rick came inside and turned to face Jimmy. "Jim, come one, take a break. I'm making some sandwiches." At the mention of food he leapt to his feet in a heartbeat.
Another fifteen minutes or so past until Maggie got back with Lori, Rick's wife. We didn't hear them until Maggie came into the kitchen where Jimmy, Beth and I all stood, Jimmy still munching away on his second sandwich.
"How'd it go?" I asked.
"Lori's in with Carl, Rick and Dad now." Through all of this, it had completely slipping my mind to ask for the boy's name, which was apparently Carl. "Dad's going to give Carl another transfusion."
"Does he need a hand with anything?" I asked.
"No, Patricia is with him, they're right for now."
"What about this group? Did you see how many there were?"
"I don't think it was all of them, but there were five including Lori. Two other women and two men."
"What did they have on them?" Rick and Lori were hardly a threat, not while their son was like this. I doubted their group was at this stage either, but we still needed to know.
"Nothing big. I saw two handguns, a couple of knives, and one of the guys had a crossbow. I told them where they could find us, they'll probably be here after dark."
"Alright, I'll wait out front." I declared.
Once I was out on the porch I saw Nelly standing at the bottom of the steps and was soon joined by Maggie. "I'll put her away." She said, beginning to head down and leading the horse away.
She was back within twenty minutes and went back inside to eat something before coming back out to join me on the porch. The sun had now set and only the sound of crickets around the house could be heard.
"Otis and Shane should be back by now." I stated as my sister sat down in the deck chair while I rested on the windowsill.
"I know. Otis goes out all the time, he's the one who puts the sick in the barn and he always comes back. And this Shane... he looked like he could handle himself." I smiled at my sister. "What?"
"You sound like mum." I whispered.
"Really? I thought I sounded like you." We smiled again just before becoming distracted by headlights from a vehicle approaching the house.
"That's not Betty." I observed, knowing my car even in the dark with blinding headlights facing us. Yes I named the pickup truck Betty. I was five years old and I asked my dad what the name of his truck was. He said it didn't have one and I responded with she deserves one. So with a loving fatherly smile he asked me what we should name her... and my brilliant five-year-old mind came up with Betty even though a more masculine name would have suited the F-100.
"It'll be Rick's group."
"Just one car?"
"Maybe some stayed behind. Do you know why they were out in the woods?" I shook my head as a no. "They lost a little girl. She ran off into the woods and they were all looking for her."
"Guess today was their unlucky day." I stated as the car pulled up at the front of the house and the driver turned the engine off. Neither Maggie nor I moved as a young Asian boy and an African American in his late 20s got out and began to head for the house. Once they had turned the headlights off I recognised the car as a Cherokee in the dimly lit night sky.
"So... Do we ring the bell? I mean it looks like people live here." The young Asian observed, neither of them seeing Maggie and I in the dark shaded area of the porch. They had stopped at the bottom of the stairs, obviously not knowing how to handle this situation. The young guy was holding a rifle, but the other had a blanket thrown over his shoulders and did not look well at all.
"We're past this kind of stuff aren't we... having to be considerate."
"It would be nice if some things didn't change." I spoke up as they began to walk up the stairs, both a little startled.
"Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?" Maggie then asked, her knees pulled to her chest in the chair. I had one knee pulled to mine with the other leg dangling down over the windowsill.
"Ah... hi... yes, we closed it." The young guy nodded. "D-did the latch and everything." Maggie leant forward, dropping her feet back to the ground and resting her elbows on her knees, coming into the light a little more. "Well... ah... nice to see you again." The Asian boy nodded with a little smile at my sister. "We... met before... briefly." He stumbled out. He was obviously one of the two guys in the group Maggie had found in the woods, but by looking at the state of the other guy I doubted he was. He was barely standing.
"We came to help." The other guy said, half dazed and clearly running a fever judging by the sweat on his brow. "There anything we can do?" He added with a pained grunt.
Maggie and I both slowly got to our feet, Maggie standing in front of the young boy, and by young boy I actually mean her age, while I went and stood in front of the clearly not well African American.
"I don't think there's much you can do at the moment, sweetheart. Can I see that?" I asked, gesturing to the wound on his right arm that had been poorly bandaged and was still bleeding a little.
"It's not a bite." He insisted before I could inspect or ask. "I, ah, cut myself pretty bad, though."
"I'll have a look at it." I nodded.
"We, ah, have some pain killers and antibiotics." The boy said, digging through his bag. "I already gave him some, but if Carl needs any."
"Come on inside, I'll make you something to eat." Maggie stated, taking the lead while I followed in behind them, making sure that the man stayed on his feet and didn't topple over like he looked like he was about to do.
We stopped by Carl's room so they could see Rick and Lori briefly before heading to the kitchen.
"What are your names?" I asked once we were in the kitchen and I pulled out a chair for the man to sit down in while I grabbed a first aid kit.
"I'm Glenn Rhee," the Asian answered, "and this is T-Dog, ah, Theodore Douglas." He quickly corrected with a shake of his head.
"I'm Katherine and this is my sister Maggie." I responded, pulling up a chair next to T-Dog with the first aid kit and gently removing the bandaging job.
"You know what you're doing?" He asked as I inspected his cut.
"Yes, sir." I smiled.
"She's a veterinarian." Maggie added which actually caused T-Dog to chuckle.
"T-Dog being looked after by a VET, there's a joke." He was clearly running a fever, but I still smiled a little.
"You have a blood infection, you got here just in time. This couldn't have gone on for much longer without treatment. I'll stitch it, the iodine is going to sting like a bitch, but with the help of the antibiotics you should be feeling better in twenty four hours with some rest and decent food, water." I explained.
Taking that as his queue, Glenn held out the bottle of tablets for me to take. "If he needs more." He nodded. I took the container and examined it.
"Merle Dixon... friend of yours?" I asked, reading the name on the container.
"No Ma'am..." I raised my eyebrows up at Glenn, "I mean... miss." He said in a panic with a headshake.
"Kat." I corrected.
"Kat." He nodded. "Merle's no longer with us... Daryl gave us those, his brother. The guy with the crossbow." He explained, turning to Maggie who had apparently met this Daryl.
"And I'm not sure I'd call him a friend." T-Dog cut in.
I placed the bottle down on the table and pulled out the needle and threat. "He is today, this Doxycycline just saved your arm, maybe even your life." I began to stitch up the wound and T-Dog grunted in pain, the blood infection making the agony ten times as bad as it should have been. "Do you know what Merle was using it for? It's a strong drug." I asked.
"Clap." Glenn responded right away. Maggie looked over to him as she handed him a cup of tea and he then corrected himself again, feeling awkward. "Ah, venereal disease. That's what Daryl said." Glenn stated, breaking eye contact from Maggie who was somewhat amused.
"Well... I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing to ever happen to you." I mused, turning to T-Dog.
"I'm really trying not to think about that." He grunted out, cringing through more pain.
"Katie?" Patricia came into the kitchen. "You need a hand?"
"No, we're right, Trish. Almost done." I responded, using the nickname I often used for Patricia. She nodded and took her leave just as T-Dog grunted in more pain.
Glenn rubbed his forehead before walking out to the deck, obviously not liking seeing his friend in pain. I looked where he had disappeared and nodded for Maggie to follow him. I didn't want them walking around on their own; despite how nice Glenn appeared to be.
"Alright, you're done." I said. "I'll wrap it up, change the dressings tomorrow. It's going to leave a hell of a scar, but it's some story to tell."
He scoffed, "Not much of a story."
"Depends on how you tell it."
"Saved a life by risking my own, jumping in front of a heard of walkers." He joked.
"There you go." I smiled triumphantly, beginning to wrap the bandage around his arm. "Walkers, huh? That's what you call them?"
"Yeah, what do you?"
"Names mostly, if we know them. If we don't we just refer to them as the sick. We're lacking in creativity, but they used to be alive... thoughtful. But I guess it's hard to refer to people you love as anything else." Maggie came back in with Glenn's empty teacup, an almost smile playing on her lips, as I got to my feet and grabbed some fruit and water for T-Dog. "Eat this and stay hydrated. I think Glenn went out onto the porch if you wanted to find him, but I'll check on you in a bit."
T-Dog nodded as I helped him to his feet. "Thank-you." He seemed okay to walk on his own so I let him go and find his friend, waiting until he was gone before turning back to Maggie.
"What was that?" I asked.
"What was what?"
"Don't think that smile when you came back in went unnoticed, young lady."
"Really, Kat?"
"What? He's kind of adorable." I shrugged as Maggie rolled her eyes.
"You're meant to scare men away from me, not encourage."
"I didn't scare Jimmy away from Beth and Glenn is hardly anything like Jacob." I said a hint of disgust over the name.
"You still haven't let that one go, huh?"
"The guy was an ass, no amount of biceps can make up for that."
"Yes... and you scared him away before Dad even had the chance to, but he was better than Mike."
"Okay, Mike and I weren't actually dating." I said with a hint of a laugh.
"It counts when you don't really ever date." Maggie counteracted.
"I date." My voice was probably a little too high for that to be convincing. "Well... dated before all this."
"You used to go out every known again, but it never results in date number two and if it did you were never with them for longer than a month or two. Beth and Jimmy are beating you."
"Alright, Judgy." I rolled my eyes.
"Katherine!" I heard my dad yell and I instantly bolted out of the kitchen and into the room where Carl was just as dad and Rick were picking him up and placing him on the metal operating table that we had only ever used for things like cats and dogs. "We need to do this now."
"They aren't back yet." I protested.
"We're running out of time, we can't wait any longer. Rick and Lori have made the decision." I glanced over at the boy's parents. Lori was a wreck; dry tears clear on her cheeks as Rick tried to hold her. Patricia came in and set up a bright light while Dad put on some gloves and grabbed a scalpel. "Rick... Lori, you may want to step out." Dad offered just as I heard an all to familiar engine making it's way to the house.
"That's the pickup. They're back." I stated, grabbing my dad's wrist before he could start the operation even though I didn't really have too.
"Patricia, you stay here with him." My dad ordered as the rest of us ran outside to greet them.
With Rick's still weakened state from the transfusions, I was the first one out to meet Otis and Shane, running straight for the drivers side, expecting it to be Otis who got out from behind the wheel.
But it wasn't.
I was met by the tall, muscular frame of Shane. Peering over to the other side of the car, I saw no Otis. He didn't need to say anything as I lightly shook my head, stumbling back a step.
"I'm sorry." Shame managed in a whisper, holding out the car keys for me. I took them and cupped a hand over my mouth for the briefest of moments before composing myself through a few shaky breaths and stepping aside so Shane could walk over to the others with the two bags filled with the medical equipment we needed. He was hobbling on one ankle meaning he didn't come out of it completely unscathed.
"Carl?" He asked Rick.
"Still a chance." My dad and Glenn grabbed the bags from him, as I remained standing back.
"Otis?" My dad asked, looking around and not seeing him. All Shane could do was shake his head. I looked to Maggie and immediately went up to her as she tried not to cry. I gently rested a hand on her shoulder, forcing back any emotions that were making their way to the surface. Now was not the time and like always I had to stay strong for them. Just like with mum and Annette and Shawn. My dad's professionalism kicked in, knowing that a boy's life was on the line. "We say nothing to Patricia. Not till after. I need her." He immediately went inside with the bag while I quickly went to Glenn, taking it from him and following after.
I couldn't say how long the operation took. Patricia stood back, handing over whatever we needed while dad did most of the work and I assisted with the operation, making it go by as quickly as possible.
When it was over, the boy seemed to be doing okay. His vitals were as strong as they needed to be and things looked hopeful. We laid him back down on the bed and washed and packed up the equipment while dad went out to speak with Lori and Rick.
I peered out the window during their interaction, just seeing Rick engulf my dad in a grateful hug. While Patricia was doing the last of the tidying up, I made my way to the screen door at the front.
"How do I tell Patricia about Otis?" I just heard my dad ask as I approached.
Rick looked to his wife. "You go to Carl." He said before turning back to dad. "I'll go with Hershel."
They turned to come inside and I held the door open for them. Shane was making his way towards the house and I turned to Maggie.
"Can you grab him some clean clothes?" I nodded to Shane. She nodded lightly as I rubbed her arm a little when she went back inside with Glenn and T-Dog just behind her.
I waited for Shane to walk through the door before closing it. We both stood in the doorway as a great sorrowful cry sounded throughout the house and I turned to see Patricia in dad's arms with Rick to the side as they guided her gently to a kitchen chair.
I took in another shaky breath, steadying my hands from shaking before turning to Shane. "Is it bad?" I asked, gesturing to the ankle that he had been limping on, wanting a distraction.
"Sprain, I think." He replied in barely a whisper.
"Maggie is grabbing you some fresh clothes, you can wash up downstairs. I can look at that now, if you like?" I offered.
"S-sure." He nodded.
"Here." Maggie came over to us. "They won't fit well... they were Otis's." She added in a broken whisper before briskly walking away after Shane had taken the neatly folded pile from her arms
I was about to take Shane to the kitchen, but remembered that's where Patricia, Rick and Dad were, so I opted for the main living room. I quickly grabbed a first aid kit out of Carl's room, throwing Lori a smile and nod as I did.
"Take a seat." I offered Shane the couch as he removed the boot from his injured foot. "How did it happen?"
"We... We were swamped after we grabbed the gear, had to run inside the school gym to get away from them. I... I covered Otis from the grand stand so he could run out on the ground before I climbed through one of the windows and jumped. Landed on it hard and at a bad angle." He explained. His voice was soft and almost distraught, taken back by the trauma.
"And then what?" I whispered, beginning to put some cold gel on his swollen ankle. I wanted to know what had happened, how Otis had died. I needed to know.
"We met out the front, started running for the truck. They were coming up behind us and... I was limping pretty bad. Otis threw me his bag and told me to run. Said he'd cover me. I did. I made it to the truck and planned on covering for him as he ran for me, but when I turned around...they were everywhere. Swarming around him. I got in the truck and I drove. He was a good man... I'm sorry." Shane nodded.
I managed a weak smile, getting to my feet. "Bathroom is down the hallway on the left. You'll find everything you need in there. There are ice packs in the freezer once you're done. You should lay off it, keep it elevated and we'll strap it tomorrow."
"Thank-you." Shane said, getting to his feet. I nodded and turned and left, heading out to Betty, my truck.
I grabbed out my keys and slipped into the driver's seat before driving her to the shed, undercover. I was getting out and about to close the door when I noticed the guns on the passenger's side. Reaching through I grabbed them all, pulling them out. Shane had left them in the car, only needing the bags with the medical equipment inside.
I counted four. Shane's handgun, Rick's hand gun that he had lent to Otis, Shane's Rifle and Otis's shot gun. My stomach twisted as a lump formed in my throat. I placed the guns back on the passenger's seat and locked the car door. My back pressed up against the truck as a quick loud sob broke through my lips. I clamped my hand over my mouth to silence myself; thankful I was in the shed and not the house so no one could hear.
After a few moments I pulled myself together and walked back to the house, taking in a deep breath before walking through the front door and locking it behind me.
I couldn't see Patricia. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Not now. I went upstairs and gently knocked on Beth's door before quietly opening it. Jimmy had gone to bed and Beth had earlier, but Maggie would have come and seen her to tell her about Otis.
She was curled up on top of her mattress, crying quietly to herself. I quietly lied next to her, giving her a hug before she turned around and cried into my shoulder.
Shane had said Otis had covered him. In order to do that he would need at least one gun. Shane came back with all of them.
I wasn't sure if I could say anything. These people had more weapons and bodies than we did. If I told dad, he would kick them out without a thought, but if Shane had killed or sacrificed a man who was trying to help him... I didn't want to see what he would do when confronted by it.
I would keep my mouth shut for now. Let Shane deal with the guns in the car and see if Rick worked it out. See if he would do anything.
Ignorance isn't always best, but sometimes it's safer... and I wasn't loosing anyone else.
I let Beth cry herself to sleep and tucked her in once she was out before checking in on Maggie discovering she was already in bed asleep. I then went to my room and curled up, now allowing a few silent tears to roll across my face and onto the pillowcase.