❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter twenty-six ―― swimmer

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE LOOKED UP when she heard footsteps approaching her – she still sat under the same tree – and she opened her eyes to see Hershel standing there. "What's up, doc?"

"I'd like to take another look at your shoulder." He told her. "Make sure it ain't infected and whatnot."

"Okay." She nodded as she pushed herself up and he leaned down to help her to her feet when she struggled a little. "Does this really make me useless?" She asked once they started towards the house and he looked over at her, his eyebrows creased. "I mean, I know it's serious, I was shot – never been shot before. But does it really mean I can't help look for Sophia?"

"You need your rest." He told her as he held the door open and she stepped into the house. "The body heals itself when you sleep and not getting proper rest hinders the healing process. But, no, you are not useless. I've seen the way you've kept Rick and Lori calm, the way you sat with Carl. The people in your group look up to you, you are so far from useless. Needing a little rest does not make you useless."

"Thanks." She hummed, her eyes on the floor as she sat in a chair and Hershel pulled the bloodied bandage off of her shoulder, making her wince a little.

"How's the pain?" He asked as she carefully took the bandage on the back of her shoulder off and she winced again.

"Manageable." She answered as he looked at the wound, dabbing at it with a cotton ball, she winced again.

"Now the truth."

"Nine." She sighed.

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"Yeah." She nodded, biting her lip when he cleaned the wound and the surrounding area.

"Maggie and Glenn are going on a run to a pharmacy later, we should have some painkillers soon."

"I can manage without 'em for a while." She told him as he put fresh bandages on her shoulder. "Did you stitch up my hand, too?" She asked, lifting her right hand palm up – it was wrapped up. She had noticed the stitches before but she hadn't thought to ask.

"I did." He nodded. "You're lucky it wasn't infected."

"Thank you." She told him. "You've been so nice to us and I don't think there are words to express how grateful I am that you saved Carl."

"We try to be good people."

"You don't have to try." She told him as he knotted the pillowcase around her right shoulder, making sure it was tight enough to keep her left arm stable. "You may have restored my faith in humanity, doc."

"You know I'm a vet, right?"

"After what you did for me and for Carl, you're a doctor." She told him as she pushed herself to her feet and he nodded.

"You should get some rest. I'll let Rick know you're laying down."

"Thanks again, doc." She told him before she made her way to the room she had been using and she closed the door before laying on the bed. She fixed the pillow under her head and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes drifting closed, she was more tired than she thought she would be.

>>>>> • <<<<<

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "OH, THAT'S DISGUSTING." Charlie's face scrunched up as she turned away from the well, her hand pressed to her mouth as the others looked over the edge at the walker that was wading in the water below.

"Looks like we got ourselves a swimmer." Dale mumbled, using a flashlight to get a better look at the creature.

"So gross." Charlie mumbled and Josh chuckled a little as he looked over at the girl.

"Come on, I'll take you back to the house." He stepped towards her.

"No, I'm okay." She shook her head. "I took a nap, and if Hershel asks, I'm still napping."

"Got it." Josh nodded as the two moved closer to the well again.

"How long do you think it's been there?" Glenn asked.

"Long enough to grow gills." Andrea answered.

"We can't leave it in there, god knows what it's doing to the water." Lori added, her nose scrunched up a little.

"We gotta get it out." Shane stated.

"Easy." T stated, getting everyone's attention. "Put a bullet in its head. I'll get a rope."

"Whoa, whoa, guys." Maggie intervened. "No."

"Why not?" Glenn asked, looking over at the girl that wore a cowboy hat. "It's a good plan."

"It's a stupid plan." Andrea corrected.

"Yeah, if it ain't already contaminated the water, shootin' it and spewing walker brains everywhere will." Charlie added, getting a nod from Andrea.

"She's right." Shane nodded before looking at the creature again. "Can't risk it."

"So it has to come out alive?" T asked.

"So to speak." The older Walsh shrugged a little.

"How do we do that?" Glenn asked, he was bent over, his hands on his knees.

A little later that day, they were all crowded around the well, Dale lowering a canned ham down towards the walker while Shane held the noose they had made to wrap around the walker's head.

"He's not going for it." Dale stated when the walker refused to go near the canned ham.

"Maybe cause a canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it." T mumbled.

"I told you it wouldn't work." Charlie told them as she sat on the ground a few feet from them, Josh was behind her – his back against hers to give her something to lean against.

"You hush." Mason pointed his finger at her and she pretended to zip her lips before tossing the key over her shoulder.

"They're right." Lori mumbled from where she was crouched down next to the edge of the well next to Maggie. "There's a reason the dead didn't come back to life and raid out cupboards."

"We need live bait." Andrea stated and everyone looked over at Glenn and he quickly turned to look at Mason, hoping the boy would save him from having to be the bait.

"Sorry, dude, you're smaller than I am." Mason patted his shoulder and the Korean boy sighed as he let his head hang. After Glenn agreed they found rope and Shane tied Glenn up real tight as the boy rambled about Shane's new hair cut and the nice shape of his head.

"Don't worry about it, bud." Shane patted his back once the rope was tied around his waist. "We're gonna get you outta here in one piece."

"Living piece." Glenn corrected. "That living part is important."

"You'll be fine." Charlie placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed, his hat was on her head. "I'm sorry about this, I'd offer to do it-"

"No." Shane, Mason, Josh and T-Dog chorused, giving the girl a look and she rolled her eyes before looking at Glenn again.

"I get it." He told her, a soft smile on his lips and she returned it before patting his shoulder once and walking over to the others – not that they were letting her help at all. Shane walked over and stopped in front of T-Dog, behind T, Lori, Andrea, Dale, Josh and Mason all had the rope. The rope that was tied around Glenn was looped around the water pump, acting as a sort of pulley system for when they lowered the boy down. "Nice and slow please?"

"We gotcha ya." Andrea told him as they all adjusted their grip on the rope.

"Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie mumbled as she shifted on her feet, clearly not comfortable with the plan.

"Worked for us so far." Charlie shrugged.

"Wanna get it out of your well or not?" Shane asked, rather harshly.

"Dick." Charlie muttered.

"Give us an eye there, Maggie." Dale told her and she moved closer to the well before Glenn pushed himself off the lip of the well and they started lowering him down.

"Doing okay?" Maggie asked the boy and Charlie looked from them to the woods, she had yet to see Daryl since he left that morning and she was getting slightly worried but she shook it off.

"Yup, doing great." Glenn told her. "Living the dream." He mumbled as she got the noose ready.

"Little lower. Little more." Maggie told the others as they let the rope move slowly, making sure not to drop Glenn down too fast then the water pump gave out, dropping Glenn farther down as the others rushed to grab it, Shane jumped but he missed it. T-Dog jumped and grabbed it, stopping it as Mason and Josh rushed over to help him hold it.

"Get me outta here!" Glenn shouted. "Get me outta here!" T had his legs braced against the lip of the well, holding onto the pump as the others grabbed it and started pulling. Charlie moved around them, her feet braced on the edge of the well as she grabbed the rope with both of her hands – pulling her left arm out of the sling – and pulled, tugging the boy up towards the top of the well.

Everyone was shouting, trying their hardest to get the boy to safety and when he was close enough Charlie held her hand out, grabbed the boy's arm and pulled. She knew she couldn't do much on her own but with one final pull from the others the girl fell backwards, her ass hitting the dirt as Glenn fell next to her, both groaning and Charlie held her shoulder as the others rushed over to check on the boy.

"Are you okay?" Andrea asked him as she and Lori squatted down next to him.

"You better be okay." Charlie mumbled, rolling onto her right side as she held her shoulder – she had popped a few stitches in her hand and her shoulder throbbed. Mason made his way over to her and sat her up, she winced with the movement, but she didn't really care all that much all she cared about was that Glenn was okay.

"Back to the drawing boards." Dale stated.

Glenn panted and he pushed himself up onto his knees, looking up at the old man. "Says you." He stood up and handed him the rope that he had in fact managed to get around the walker's neck then he made his way over to Mason and Charlie. "Stupid." He shook his head as he squatted down in front of her.

"You're okay." She told him, she was slightly out of breath. "That's all that matters."

"You, Charlie Walsh, are insane." He mumbled, leaning forward and kissing the top of her head. "Let Mason take you inside, you're bleeding." She simply nodded as the boy stood up and picked his hat up – it had ended up on the ground with all the commotion then he walked away.

"You heard him, to the house." Mason stated as he helped Charlie to her feet before he walked her to the house.

NOVA SPEAKS !

i plan to go back to just updating one tuesday, updating for then once a week is making it a little hard to keep up with editing and stuff.

i also wanna have a few chapters of book two written before i publish the rest of this book

big thanks to those of you who have read this book,
i really appreciate it! it really means so much to me! words cannot express just how amazing  it feels when people read my work.

if you ever have any feedback for me, please feel free to leave a comment. i love hearing what y'all think of my work and i don't mind some constructive criticism every now and then!!