June 16th, 2011

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asked. Winter turned to see a group of prisoners

"Who the hell are you?" One of them asked

"He's bleeding out. We gotta go back. Come around here. Put pressure on the knee. Hard, hard! Push, push" Rick said. That's what Glenn and Winter did

"Why don't you come on out of there? Slow and steady" Daryl told the group. They did just that

"What happened to him?" One asked, referring to Hershel

"He got bit" Daryl said

"Bit?" The man asked. Winter wasn't sure what was happening since her back was faced towards the group. She kept applying pressure

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy now. Nobody needs to get hurt" Daryl said

"I need you to hold this" Rick told Maggie. She rushed over

"Okay" She said

"As hard as you can" Rick told her

"Yes" She said

"You have medical supplies?" Glenn asked

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" T-Dog asked. Then Winter heard walkers banging against the doors as they snarled

"Who the hell are you people, anyway?" One of the prisoners asked

"Don't look like no rescue team" Another said. Rick and Sam helped sit Hershel up

"If a rescue team is what you're waiting for, don't" Rick said as Winter heard a bunch of noise. Then she heard the sound of a cart

"Come on, we gotta go. Now! Come on!" Rick yelled as Glenn came over with a cart. They had lifted Hershel onto it

"T, the door!" Rick yelled

"Are you crazy? Don't open that!" One yelled

"We got this" Rick said as T-Dog removed his weapon from the door. Winter pulled out her weapon as a walker came in. T-Dog killed it and then they left, leaving the prisoners behind. They ran around like mice in a maze, trying to avoid walkers. Winter felt adrenaline rushing through her veins as she worried for Hershel. Then, they heard the prisoners

"Follow the flashlight" One said. So, the group went faster. When they made it, they entered in quickly

"Open the door! It's Hershel!" Rick yelled as Carol stared at them from the other side. Carl ran over and unlocked the door

"Daddy!" Beth cried as they all went in. T-Dog closed the door and stayed on the other side. Winter kept applying pressure as they all began to speak frantically on what to do

"Get him on the bed" Rick said as they wheeled him into a cell

"He got bit" Rick told them

"Oh, my God, he's gonna turn" Beth said

"Did you cut it off?" Lori asked

"Yeah" Rick said

"Maybe you got it in time" Lori said as they lifted Hershel up and placed him on the bed. Hershel was out cold. Carol moved over, and took over for Winter

"Oh! Oh, I need bandages" Carol said

"We used everything we had" Glenn said

"Well, get more. Anything" Carol said

"Carl, go get the towels from the back, right next to my bed" Lori told him. Carl rushed out

"Is he gonna die?" Beth asked. Lori looked at Beth

"No, no, no, no. He's gonna be okay. He's gonna be okay" Lori reassured Beth as she hugged her

"You think you can stabilize him?" Rick asked Carol

"I need to keep his leg elevated. Get some pillows!" Carol yelled. Winter rushed out to get pillows. She went into the cell beside the one she was previously in and grabbed the pillows. She ran back in with the pillows. Carol lifted Hershel's leg up, and Winter placed the pillows down. Carol let Hershel's leg rest upon the pillows

"We need to just keep it dressed and let it heal on its own" Carol said. Glenn checked Hershel's pulse. They started to hear people arguing in the background

"What was that?" Beth asked

"Prisoners, survivors. It's all right. Everybody stay put" Rick said before giving Sam and Glenn a look. They both followed him out to help deal with the prisoners. Time had passed and Hershel's wound had slowed down on the bleeding. Carol's hands and arms were covered in his blood

"If we can get him through this-" Carol was cut off

"When we get him through this" Lori said

"We'll need crutches" Carol said

"Do you think there's any antibiotics here?" Winter asked

"There's got to be an infirmary here" Carol said

"If there is, we'll find it" Lori said

"You've gotta be worried sick about delivering the baby" Carol said. Lori turned to her

"Look at me. Do I look worried?" Lori asked. Carol looked at her

"You look disgusting" Carol said with a smile which seemed to lighten the mood a bit. Lori smiled

"So do you" She said as she laughed. Lori began to put her hand on Hershel's face

"We'll get through this" Lori said

Sam had gone with Rick, T-Dog and Daryl to get supplies. The group of prisoners were leading them

"Pantry's back here" The one with a tank top on said

"You never tried to break out of here?" T-Dog asked

"Yeah, we tried to take the doors off. But if you make one peep in here, then those freaks'll be lined up outside the door growling, trying to get in. Windows got bars on there that He-Man couldn't get through" The bald one said

"Bigger than a 5x8" The blonde one said

"You won't find me complaining. Doing 15. My left leg can barely fit on one of those bunks" The tall one said

"Yeah, they don't call him Big Tiny for nothing" The bald one said

"You done jerking each other off? Sick of waiting back here" The guy in the tank top said. The group followed him, of course they were on guard. The prisoners had led Sam and the group to the pantry. Sam took a look at all the food. That could keep them fed for months, maybe even a year or two if they rationed correctly

"This what you call a little bit of food?" Daryl asked

"Goes fast. You can have a bag of corn, some tuna fish-" Tank top was cut off

"We said half. That's the deal
What's in there?" Rick asked referring to the freezer

"Don't open that" One of them said. Rick opened it and immediately gagged. The prisoners chuckled

"He wanted to know" Tank top said as Rick slammed the door shut

"Can't wait for my own pot to piss in" The blonde said

"Now, you gonna fulfill your part of the deal?" Rick asked. The guy in the tank top scoffed before nodding. So, Rick's group took their share and brought it back to the cell block with everyone else

"Food's here" T-Dog said as everyone carried food. Sam was holding boxes of cans

"What you got?" Carl asked as he opened the gate

"Canned beef, canned corn, canned cans. There's a lot more where this came from" T-Dog said as he, Rick and Sam walked through the gate. Carl closed it behind them

"Any change?" Rick asked Lori. Sam saw Winter who was beside Carol watching Hershel

"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 said. Sam decided to go put the food down as it was starting to get a little heavy. Carl rushed over to help Sam and T-Dog who were putting the food away

Some time had passed and Winter was currently wiping her hands with a rag as she tried to get Hershel's blood off of them. She had remembered that Lori also probably needed to clean her hands as well so she went looking for her

"Hey, Lori?" Winter asked. As she went up the stairs looking for Lori, she heard quiet sobbing. Winter went to investigate, only to find out that it was Lori. She was sitting on one of the beds as she cried. Winter stared at her concerned as she approached

"Lori, is everything alright?" Winter asked. Lori slightly jumped as she stared at Winter with wide eyes. Lori quickly wiped the tears from her eyes with her arm considering she still had bloody hands

"No, um.. everything's fine.. pregnancy causes your hormones to go all crazy.." Lori said as she fake laughed. Winter could see something was bothering her. Winter took a seat beside Lori, before handing her the rag. Lori took it and began to wipe her hands off

"Lori, it's okay if something's bothering you. I don't mind listening. I won't judge, I promise" Winter reassured her as she put her hand on Lori's shoulder. Lori's lower lip trembled as she began to cry once more

"I've ruined everything.. me and Rick.. it's falling apart.. I've done my best to pretend like everything's fine, but it's not.. I cheated on Rick, I mean.. I didn't mean to.. I really thought he was dead.. and.. I just wanted to feel something.. anything.. I.. and this baby.. and I know it's not his.. and I've just been treating him like he's a monster.. but I know he's not.. I just.. I wish it could be like it was before.." Lori cried. Winter felt bad about how Lori was feeling. It wasn't fair of her to put that much guilt on herself

"Lori.. he knows that it wasn't like that.. Your relationship with Shane, that was never your fault. You can't blame yourself" Winter told her. Lori looked at her

"But I was okay with it" Lori cried

"No, you thought Rick was dead.. the world was collapsing, everything you knew was falling apart. You were vulnerable, and grieving, and Shane took advantage of that. I know Rick doesn't blame you. You can't blame yourself either. Things are going to be rough, not just because of the tension between everyone right now but because of the world we live in. And right now, everyone is still trying to cope with what happened.. how the world just fell apart. But right now, you're holding the hope of this group. Your baby is the future. And as long as we have hope, we can get through anything. I'm sure of it" Winter told her. Lori nodded as she wiped her tears

"We should go check on Hershel" Winter said. Lori nodded

"Yeah" Lori said as she got up. She and Winter walked out of the cell and down the stairs. They entered the cell that Hershel was in. He was handcuffed to the bed as he laid unconscious. Winter knew it was a precaution incase he turned but it still hurt to see him being handcuffed. Lori took a seat beside Hershel as Beth, Carol, and Maggie were in the cell staring at him. Glenn was by the door. They heard footsteps approaching. Glenn and Winter looked out the cell to see Carl approaching with a duffel bag

"I thought you were organizing the food" Glenn said. A grin appeared on Carl's face

"Even better" Carl said as he walked into the cell and opened the duffel bag which contained medical supplies. Carol and Lori gasped. Hershel had a better chance now

"Where did you get this?" Lori asked

"From the infirmary. Wasn't much left, but I cleared it out" Carl said as Carol began to cover Hershel's wound. Lori looked at Carl shocked

"You went by yourself?" Lori asked

"No, he didn't. I went with him" Sam said as he walked into the cell. Lori stared at Sam betrayed

"And you didn't think to run this by me? What if he had gotten hurt? Do you see what state Hershel is in right now?" Lori asked

"Listen we needed supplies, I was gonna go on my own, but Sam caught me and tagged along" Carl said

"I appreciate that, but-" Lori was cut off

"Then get off my back" Carl raised his voice at Lori

"Carl! She's your mother. You can't talk to her like that" Beth said

"Listen, I think it's great that you wanna help-" Lori stopped as she watched Carl storm out. Sam felt extremely awkward, as did Winter. Lori sighed and looked at Sam

"I.. I didn't mean to take it out on you.. It's just.." Lori trailed off. Sam nodded

"No, I get it. I should've said something. I wasn't thinking" Sam said apologetically

"Atleast he wasn't by himself, so thank you for that" Lori said. Sam nodded. Carol had finished bandaging Hershel's leg

"These bandages will help prevent infection" Carol said

"It's good. It's good that he taught you all this stuff" Glenn said

"He didn't teach me everything. I need your help with something" Carol told Glenn

"Now?" Glenn asked

"Yeah, now" Carol said

"What is it?" Glenn asked

"Not here" Carol said as she got up

"I can't leave Hershel" Glenn said

"This is important-" Carol was cut off

"Carol, I can't-" Glenn was cut off

"Go on. We got it" Lori said

"No way" Glenn said. Sam put his hand on Glenn's shoulder

"Hey, I'll be right here. I won't let anything happen" Sam told Glenn

"We're not gonna be gone long" Carol said

"Rick said for me-" Glenn was cut off

"We're fine" Maggie said. Glenn took a moment before agreeing

"All right" Glenn said before he left with Carol. Winter turned to Hershel and stared at him. She wished he would get better. She wished that he hadn't gotten bit, but she can't change what had happened. Winter felt a hand grab hers. She looked to see that it belonged to Sam who was giving her a reassuring smile, like it would all work out. But would it really? That's when Maggie got up worried

"What's happening?" Beth asked concerned. Maggie didn't respond. Winter approached Hershel and noticed he wasn't breathing

"Oh my God. We need to do CPR" Winter said. Beth started screaming as Winter began doing chest compressions. Lori ran in

"Here, let me take over" Lori said. Winter nodded and they switched places. Lori went to do mouth to mouth but all of a sudden, Hershel jolted. Winter and Maggie pulled Lori away from Hershel as Beth screamed, only to find out, he wasn't a walker. It was just Hershel. He was alive. Winter felt relieved as Hershel went back to sleep and snored

"Holy shit" Sam muttered

(2408 words)
01/14/23