season two, episode three & four.
"bloodletting"
"save the last one"

012. there's still a chance.

LYDIA TURNS around worriedly after hearing a gun shot faintly echoing through the woods. she looks over at the others who look equally as worried.

"why one? why just one gunshot?" lori thinks out loud.

daryl shrugs reassuringly, trying to keep everyone calm, "maybe they took down a walker." he says, trying to get her to not worry.

"don't patronise me." lori snaps back as daryl sighs and lori continues, "you know rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. or shane—they'd do it quietly."

"shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" carol speaks up as daryl tries not to roll his eyes, he just wants to get back to where their vehicles are and think about the problem later.

"there is nothing we can do about it anyway. we can't run around these woods chasing echoes." lydia speaks up, a hand on her hip as she stops walking along with the others.

"so what do we do, captain?" lori turns to her with a raised brow as lydia sends her a look, rolling her eyes.

"same as we've been. beat the bush for sophia and work out way back to the highway." daryl defends lydia, who sends him a thankful nod.

"i'm sure they'll catch up with us back at the rv." andrea says as they begin to start walking again.

andrea stays back to talk to carol, telling her she is sorry and they all stop again as carol's eyes filled with tears. "the thought of her out here by herself... it's the not knowing that's killing me." carol whispers.

"i get you, carol. if that was eden i'd be the same and i wouldn't stop until i found her. and that's what we are doing. daryl, rick and shane have been looking for her ever since she went missing. if she's out there, we will find her." lydia tells carol with a reassuring smile as carol returns it.

"i just keep praying she doesn't end up like amy." carol says between small cries as lydia's jaw visibly drops and she glances at glenn and daryl who looks slightly stunned.

"oh, god. that's the worst thing i've ever said." carol hugs andrea who reassures her it was fine, looking slightly stunned at carols words.

"we're all hoping and praying with you... for what it's worth." andrea replies awkwardly.

"i'll tell you what it's worth. not a damn thing. it's a waste of time all this hoping and praying. cause we're gonna locate that little girl, she's gonna be just fine. honestly, am i the only one zen around here?...good lord." daryl speaks up as lydia begins to clap sarcastically.

"10/10 speech." she replies as daryl sends her an annoyed look, glenn laughs slightly as they continue walking again.

"i swear if dale and t-dog took their eyes off eden for one second." lydia begins as daryl almost bashes his head against the tree.

"you ever stop talking about that little girl?" he raises a brow as she grins sarcastically in response.

"love that we're such good friends now, daryl." she says sarcastically as he scoffs in annoyance.

"we ain't friends." he mutters back as she shrugs.

"we will be, just you wait."

they continue for what felt like hours as lori speaks up, "how much farther?" very impatiently.

"jesus christ." lydia complains quietly, sick of all the 'are we there yet' questions.

"not much. maybe a hundred yards. as the crow flies." daryl replies as lydia looks at him in confusion.

"honestly, how do you know that shit?" she asks in disbelief just as andrea says, "too bad we're not crows." back to daryl's comment.

lydia laughs slightly as she gets stuck in cobwebs, glenn joining in. "as the crow flies, my ass." she scoffs.

lydia's blood runs cold as she sees a walker next to andrea, "look out!" she exclaims as daryl and the others immediately glance at andrea who screams and falls back.

before lydia can react, someone on a horse came over and knocks down the walker. they all look at the woman in shock. "lori grimes?" the unknown woman calls out.

"i'm lori." lori calls out, stepping forward, almost knocking lydia on her ass in the process.

"rick sent me. y'all have gotta come now." the lady exclaims as they all share a confused look.

"what?"

"there's been an accident. carl's been shot." the woman tells them as lydia's eyes widen in horror as lori looks at her in disbelief. "he's still alive but you've got to come now!"

lori stays still as they all stare at her expectantly. "fucking go!" lydia exclaims as lori slowly gets onto the horse.

"whoa, whoa, whoa. we don't know this girl." daryl calls out in annoyance as lydia glances at him.

"how would she know lori, rick and carls name?" lydia points out. "plus, we heard the gunshot!"

"rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl? a baby and two men?" the woman tells them as glenn looks at the woman in awe, which lydia notices.

"yeah," lydia nods immediately at the mention of eden.

"backtrack to fairburn road. two miles down is our farm. you'll see the mailbox. the name is greene!" the lady exclaims before taking off with lori as as lydia looks around at them.

glenn looks in shock as she smacks his neck, laughing at his face. andrea slowly gets up as the walker the lady took down sits up and growls.

"shut up." daryl snaps and shoots it through the head with his crossbow.

"SHOT?" DALE questions as lydia takes eden from t dog and daryl tells them both what happened. "what do you mean shot?"

"i don't know dale. we wasn't there." glenn says breathlessly, "all we know is this hot chick rode out of nowhere like zorro on a horse and took lori."

"you let her?" dale exclaims.

"climb down out of my asshole, old man." daryl rerorts. "ask miss lydia."

lydia rolls her eyes at him, before looking at dale. "rick sent her. she knew lori's name and carl's." lydia says, putting eden down for a moment to grab her backpack.

she looks at eden in disbelief as the girl begins to crawl slightly. "what the fuck is she doing?" she says in disbelief, slowly smiling as dale looks at her with a proud smile. "she's crawling...how the hell?" lydia gasps quietly.

"me and t worked on it with her the whole time you were gone. she's getting the hang of it." dale says kindly as lydia beams at him, picking eden up to cuddle her.

"i'm teaching her to walk next." t dog says as lydia chuckles, smiling down at her little bundle of joy.

"let's just hope she has enough common sense to not crawl over to a walker." daryl says sarcastically as lydia flips him off.

they gather their things and get ready to leave to where the woman has told them to go. "i won't do it." carol tells them. "we can't just leave."

"carol, the group is split. we're scattered and weak." dale says to her.

"what if she comes back and we're not here?" carol asks desperately. "it could happen."

"if sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." andrea agrees.

"okay." daryl nods, thinking of something. "we got a plan for this. i say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. give us a chance to do a big sign, leave her some supplies. i'll hold here tonight, stay with the rv."

"it the rv is staying, i am too." dale speaks up with a nod.

"thank you. thank you both." carol smiles.

"i'm in." lydia shrugs, nodding at them. "me too." andrea agrees.

"well, if you're all staying then i'm..." glenn begins as dale cut him off.

"not you, glenn. you're going." dale tells him. "take carols cherokee."

"me? why is it always me?" glenn complains.

"you have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. but most important, you have to get t-dog there. it's not an option." dale says firmly.

"you can't go on your own. i'll come too." lydia offers as glenn sighs, but nodded.

"that cut has gone from bad to worse. he has a very serious blood infection. get him to that farm. see if they have any antibiotics. because if not, t-dog will die."

daryl scoffs and went to his bag, "why'd you wait to say anything? got my brother's stash." he pulls out a bag full of meds. "crystal, x, don't need that...got some kick ass painkillers." daryl chucks the tub at glenn, who catches it.

"oxycycline." daryl throws it to lydia. "not generic stuff either. first class. merle got the clap on occasion."

"thank you." lydia says seriously as daryl nods in response.

LYDIA, GLENN and t-dog arrive at the farm and stare up at the house awkwardly. glenn glances at them, noticing t-dog was visibly getting weaker.

"so do we just...ring the bell? it looks like people live here" glenn asks hesitantly as lydia scans the windows, trying to see if she could spot anyone.

"i think we're past ringing the bell, glenn." lydia replies as her eyes land on the girl from the woods sat on the porch bench.

"hey, you!" she calls out.

glenn and t-dog look at where she is walking over to and follow as the woman looks at her. "did you close the gate up when you drove in?" the girl asks.

"uh...hi." glenn smiles bashfully.

"yes, we closed it." lydia elbows him in the ribs subtly as glenn winces. "with the latch and everything."

the girl leans forward so she can see them better as glenn looks down. "nice to see you again...we met before briefly." he continues as lydia rolls her eyes.

"we came to help. anything we can do?" t-dog asks, wincing at the pain of his arm.

her eyes lands on his arm and she widens her eyes, stepping back. "it's not a bite. he just cut himself pretty bad." lydia says immediately.

"we'll have it looked at. i'll tell them you are here." the girl replies with a small smile.

"we have some painkillers and antibiotics. i already gave him some—if carl needs any." glenn hands her the bottles.

"come on inside. i'll make you something to eat." she tells them as lydia thanks her and they follow her in.

they walk inside where carl is with hershel, rick and lori. carl looks awful. "hey." glenn says quietly.

they glance up at them and rick smiles in relief. "hey." he answers quietly, before looking back to carl.

"um, we're here for yall, okay?" glenn reassures as lori thanks them.

"whatever you need." t dog continues, before walking out.

a little while later, lydia hears lori and rick arguing pretty loudly. she tries her best not to listen, but couldn't help but wince when she hears lori admit to saying it will be easier if carl doesn't survive.

not long after, rick storms outside where lydia is sat on the porch, "hey, you okay?" she asks, pretending to be oblivious to their loud yelling.

"i'm okay." he confirms, although lydia isn't convinced. 

"where's eden?" he suddenly frowns as lydia sighs.

"with carol. i feel like a terrible mom for leaving her." she complains as rick smiles lightly.

"i think you'd feel less terrible if you knew what lori was thinking right now." there it was. he said it.

she raises a brow and he blinks in regret, shaking his head. "you wanna talk about it?" she asks as he shakes his head.

"long story. wouldn't wanna bore or stress you out."  he says as she nods slowly, smiling lightly.

"on that note, i'm not sure i wanna know." she jokes as he laughs with a nod.

"rick." lori's cold voice cuts them off as they glance at her. "carl's awake."

rick looks over at lydia who nods with an encouraging smile, "go."

rick turns to leave as lori sends lydia a slight glare, before disappearing inside. lydia shrugs and also went back inside where the girl's mother, patricia, is stitching t-dog up, so lydia sits down and joins them, engaging in conversation every few moments.

shane arrives back, where he was meant to go with otis and get the supplies to help. "carl?" he asks in a panicked tone.

"there's still a chance." rick tells him as shane hands them the bags.

"where's otis?" hershel asks.

"no." shane whispers. "he...he..."

silence. no one knows what to say. until hershel finally speaks up. "we say nothing to patricia!" he orders them all. "not til after. i need her."

they all rush back in as rick gives shane a hug, and lydia frowns at the look on shane's face before going inside, not bothering to listen to shane's story.

glenn goes to comfort maggie as lydia stays in the living room, where she meets a young girl with blonde hair. "hello, lydia." she smiles.

"uh hello." she replies awkwardly.

"i'm beth. you wanna sing a song with me while we wait for carl to get better?" she asks with a wide grin.

lydia glances at her, "um...how about you sing, and i'll listen." she replies as beth nods and began basically belting out a nursery rhyme.

lydia has to stop herself from wincing at her loud belts of twinkle twinkle little star, praying carl will finally wake up and save her from this.

after what feels like hours, hershel returns and told them carl seems to have stabilized. he is going to get better. they all thank him, rick even gives him a hug and waits for carl to wake up.

all that can be heard moments later was patricia's loud sobs after being told about otis.

"so much death in this world." lydia sighs at glenn who nods tiredly.

shane be bald next ep

SaltySeaMonkey here u go i actually remembered to publish it 🙏🏽🙏🏽