"Cherokee Rose Dixon, wake up." Dad says nudging my shoulder. I peek my eyes open just a bit and wince from the light.
"Okay, I'm up! I'm up." I say sitting up and yawning while looking at my father.
"Finally. You were out." He says.
"Haven't slept much lately." I state rubbing my eyes.
"Can't disagree with that." He murmurs before speaking up. "I'm going with some the others to look for Rick, Glenn, and Hershel. Stay by the house okay? Don't go wandering off."
I nod before grabbing my knife and attaching it to my belt before getting out of the tent, dad following me. He pats my shoulder and heads over to the vehicle I assume they'll take to find the others.
I head to the house and sit down on the front porch steps, enjoying the heat of the sun on my skin. It's only a matter of time before I open my eyes to the sound of a car pulling into the farm while everyone who was inside the house comes out. Rick gets out of the car and Carl runs over giving him a hug.
When Hershel gets out he simply tells Patricia to get the she'd ready for surgery and keeps walking towards his home. Glenn has a solemn expression on his face and something tells me that they saw things no one should have to see while they were gone.
"Are you crazy?" Rick asks once Shane explains how Lori went out and was in a car accident looking for him.
"Who the Hell is that?" T-dog speaks up pointing to the back of the car. Everyone looks over to see a boy with blindfold over his eyes. He seems unconscious, or close to it anyways.
"That's Randall." Glenn says and everyone starts walking towards the boy.
When Rick tells everyone that we're going to have a meeting I don't hesitate to join. For the first time in forever I'm actually wanting answers.
"We couldn't just leave him behind." Rick says. "He would've just bled out, if he lived that long."
"It's gotten bad in town." Glenn says quietly.
"What do we do with him?" Andrea asks shrugging her shoulders. Before we can get the answer to her question, Hershel comes in, explaining what he did with Randal's leg, he won't be able to do anything for a week.
"When he is we'll give him a canteen, take him out to the main road and send him on his way." Rick states, if only it were that simple.
"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea asks as my dad steps into the house. She's right, why should we waste the medical supplies on him when we're just going to feed him to the walkers?
"He'll have a fighting chance." Rick tells her.
"Just gonna let'em go?" Shane asks. "He knows where we are." Leave it to captain obvious.
"He was blindfolded the whole way here." Rick reassures him. "He's not a threat."
"Not a threat? How many of them were there?" Shane asks like a smart ass. "You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking?"
"They left him for dead." Rick snaps at him. "No one is looking."
"We should still post a guard." T-dog speaks up from his spot next to Patricia and Andrea.
"He's out cold right now," Hershel says. "Will be for hours."
"You know what?" I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." Shane scoffs angrily leaving the house. "Look at this folks! We back in fantasyland!"
"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet!" Hershel yells at him following him slightly. "Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all, this is my farm, now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor, keep your mouth shut."
"Oh snap." I whisper watching as Shane angrily leaves the house.
"Look, we're not gonna do anything about it today, let's just cool off." Rick tells Hershel. I watch as Andrea goes off and follows Shane. They definitely have something going on.
Carol tries to approach my dad but he just gives her a look before leaving the house abruptly. What's with all this leaving?
~~~
I sat in the kitchen as Maggie and Lori made lunch. I was munching on some carrots as they did so.
"Did Rick say anything to you about Glenn when they got back from town?" Maggie asked.
"Just that it had gotten pretty bad." Lori said continuing to cut chicken up.
"He's not the same." Maggie says putting the tomato she finished cutting onto a plate. "Says he froze, blames me. Says I got inside his head."
"He came back." Lori states. "That's what matters. Men have to do certain things, we know that and they're either gonna blame the little woman as the reason they do'em or the reason they don't." She then looks at me. "Keep that in mind miss Cheri."
I snort and choke on my water. That's an attractive sound when talking about boys. Man, I wonder why boys aren't lining up yet, could it be that most are dead or that I make unattractive sounds. Who knows?
"And with that, I'm leaving thanks for lunch guys." I say walking out of the kitchen. I sit in the rocking chair on the front porch for a while until I hear Maggie and Beth having a screaming match. It reminds me of Merle and Will so I leave not wanting to bring bad memories up.
I decide to go on a small walk around the farm. It was peaceful and I didn't really have anything else to do. I could help Carol, but things might be awkward after all the tension with my dad. Lori's talking in the kitchen with Andrea, but I don't want to be in the same room as both of them at the same time all alone.
Maggie's with Beth, she wants to kill herself. I understand why, it's the same reason Dr. Jenner and Jacquie did. They didn't want to be torn apart by walkers. But that still doesn't make it right in my eyes.
I'm walking into the house when I hear Maggie yelling Beth's name and glass shatter. I hear Lori go into the Beth's room and pounding on the door.
"I left her with Andrea." Maggie states jiggling the door handle. They struggle with the door for a moment before Lori grabs a fire poker and wedges it in between the doorframe and door. When it breaks open I see glass all over the floor and Beth's covering a bloody wrist.
As Lori and Maggie comfort Beth I run out of the house and I don't stop until I'm at the edge of the woods. My best friend wants to die. "Not again." I whisper sliding down a tree so I'm sitting.
My stomach hurts and I'm having a hard time breathing. Before the world ended, Donnie and I had Andi. We were the three musketeers and rarely left each other's sides at school. But she was in a car accident. It left her paralyzed in a wheelchair and she just didn't want to live like that. We didn't know until three days later when Donnie and I were called into the principles office.
I stay in my feeble position with my knees tucked to my chest and my head between them rocking back and forth until a hand touches my back. Scrambling out of my position I reach for my knife only to see Carl.
"What's wrong Cheri?" He asks sitting down across from me.
"Beth, she-" I stutter. "wanted to die." He sits silent and I'm glad, I really don't want to talk right now. When it gets dark he grabs my hand and helps me up, leading me to my tent. Before he leaves he places his arms around me, embracing me in a hug.
"I'm glad you're my friend Cherokee." He whispers before leaving and heading back to the house. I stand there for a moment before my dad walks over with a confused look. It probably matches mine.
"What was that all about?" He asks with a toothpick sticking out of his mouth.
"I don't know." I whisper staring at the boy in the cowboy hat making his way across the front lawn.
~~~
Word count: 1428