❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter twenty-three ―― i'm brave

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "SHOT? What do you mean shot?" Dale questioned as the others neared the road, Glenn had told him what the stranger on the horse had told them.

"I don't know, Dale." Glenn panted as he stepped over the guardrail. "I wasn't there. All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."

"You let her?" The older man asked, looking over at Daryl as he stepped over the guardrail.

"Climb down outta my ass, old man." He huffed, walking right by him – the news about Charlie had upset him more than he thought it would. "Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name. And Charlie and Carl's."

"And I heard screams, was that you?" He asked Andrea, but she made her way around him and Mason made his way to his truck, his hands clenched into fists as he wiped his nose on the back of his hand. Even though he had heard that Charlie was alive, it didn't make knowing that she had gotten shot much easier. She had been his rock since the moment they met and he wouldn't know what to do if he ever lost her.

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "THANK YOU." Charlie smiled as a brunette put a plate of food in front of her – she was sitting at the dinner table. "And thanks for getting Lori."

"'Course." She smiled before putting a glass of water in front of the girl. "My name's Maggie."

"Charlie." She told her as she reached for the water and took a couple of sips before looking down at the food. "Looks delicious." She mumbled, mostly to herself as she picked up the fork and scooped up some of the eggs that were on the plate. She let her eyes fall closed as she moaned softly, a smile tugging at her lips as she chewed. "Best eggs ever."

"When you're finished eatin', you can take a shower." Maggie told her. "Daddy cleaned your shoulder and we don't wanna risk it getting infected. I put some clothes in the bathroom for you."

"I really appreciate this." Charlie told her. "And everything y'all have done for us. I was starting to lose faith in humanity, but y'all are good people."

"We try to be." Maggie gave her a smile before she left to let the girl eat and she chuckled to herself when she heard Charlie make another very delighted sound when she took another bite of her food. After eating and showering, Charlie made her way back to the room Carl was in. The boy was still laying in bed, unconscious, Hershel – the man who had stitched her up – sat on the edge of the bed taking Carl's blood pressure, Rick sat in a chair next to bed and Patricia was leaning over Carl as she adjusted the tube that they used to transfer Rick's blood to his son. And Lori stood in front of Rick, but she looked over and smiled a little at the girl that stood there with her hair wet and her shoulder bandaged up – she wore a tank top and a pair of jeans that Maggie had leant her.

Lori opened her arms and waved the girl forward, Charlie smiled as she made her towards her. When she was close enough, Lori wrapped her arms around the girl, being mindful not to squeeze or even touch her shoulder. Lori kissed the side of the girl's head, bringing a smile to her lips as she squeezed the woman who was like family.

Rick smiled a little at the two, it was obvious that he was little out of it even as she stood up. Both Charlie and Lori moved forward, pushing him a little until he sat back down, they had taken a lot of blood from him, not that he minded. He just wanted his son to be okay.

"How many transfusions?" Lori asked as she sat on the edge of the bed so she was closer to Rick.

"Two." He answered. "Only two."

"You look rough." Charlie told him as she moved to stand next to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. And he did look rough, he was pale and it was clear that the blood loss was getting to him.

"He wanted to do the same for you when you were in the hospital." Lori told him, her eyes drifting over to the boy in the bed as Rick lifted his arm a little and placed his hand on Charlie's forearm. "I had to talk him out of it." After a while, Charlie stood up, keeping her left arm close to her chest as Lori helped Rick to his feet. "You comin'?"

"No, uh, I'm gonna sit with the kid for a little bit." She told her as she sat on the edge of the bed and Lori nodded as she kept Rick steady as she led him out of the room. Once they were gone she looked at the boy, a smile pulling at her lips as tears filled her eyes, in all her life she had never felt more helpless. "Hey, kiddo." She whispered as she shifted closer to him. "I don't know if you can hear me, but you gotta pull through. I know it won't be easy, but you just- you have to be okay. I need you to be okay.

"You, uh, remember when we went camping?" It was a rhetorical question. "It was your ninth birthday and all you wanted was to go camping, but you mom said no cause you had school the next morning. We did it anyway. We put the tent up in the front yard and had a little fire, we roasted marshmallows, made s'mores. When it was time for bed, you got scared. An owl had made a noise and I told you that we could go inside. No, I'm brave is what you told me and we stayed out there all night. You were brave. And you were brave when your dad got shot. And through this whole thing with the walkers, you've been the bravest I've ever seen.

"I guess what I'm tryin' to say is, you made me brave. And right now, I'm gonna be brave because our family needs me to be. Right now, if I'm not brave, I think I may break. Cause you mean everything to me, kiddo, and I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you. So, you be strong and you hold on, and I'll be brave enough for the both of us, okay?" She sat up a little, tears in her eyes as she looked at the boy who was unmoving. She took a breath and wiped her cheeks free of her tears as she pushed herself to her feet. She looked at the boy again before leaving the room.

"You should get some rest." She turned to see Hershel standing at the bottom of the stairs – like he had just entered the room. "You need sleep to heal properly."

"Yeah." She nodded, giving the old man a smile. "Thank you. For everything." She told him and he nodded before she turned and made her way towards the room she had woken up in before.

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "I WON'T DO IT." Carol shook her head as she looked around the group. "We can't just leave."

"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale told her as he leaned against the rv.

"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen."

"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Andrea added, agreeing with Carol.

"Okay," Daryl nodded, trying to make a plan that suited everyone. "We gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Gives us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the rv."

"If the rv is staying, I am too." Dale added.

"Thank you." Carol nodded, giving both men a grateful smile. "Thank you both."

"I'm in." Andrea nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Josh stated, his arms crossed over his chest as she leaned against the side of the rv.

"I'm going." Mason huffed, it was clear to everyone that the news about Charlie had him on edge. "I gotta make sure Charlie's okay." His eyes moved to Carol. "I'm sorry, I really am but she's the only family I have."

"No, I get." Carol put her hand on his arm, squeezing a little as though to reassure him.

"Thank you." He told her then he looked over at Glenn. "Wanna come with?"

"I think that's a good idea." Dale nodded before Glenn could answer. "You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most importantly, you have to get T-Dog there." He pointed over to the guy who was leaning on the back of the rv, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "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, no joke."

"Okay." Mason nodded. "I'd really appreciate it if you joined us." He looked over at Glenn, who nodded as Daryl turned and walked over to his motorcycle and opened the saddle bag before pulling out a bag of pills.

"Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle." He tossed the grease-covered scraps of fabric towards the old man before sitting the bag on the hood of the Cherokee. "Why'd you wait til now to say anything? Got my brother's stash." He told him as he dug through the bag. "Crystal, x . Don't need that. Got some kick ass painkillers." He tossed the bottle to Glenn before turning back to the bag. "Doxycycline." He tossed a bottle to Dale. "Not the generic stuff either. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."

"Of course he did." Mason mumbled, mostly to himself – making a note to tell Charlie because he knew she'd get a kick out of it.