❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter thirty-six ―― shoot something

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE STOOD NEXT TO Mason's chevy, making sure the clip of her kimber was full before she tucked it into the holster on her hip. She then reached up, pulling the hair tie from her hair, letting her dark waves fall down her back before she shook her head a little. Then she pulled her hair up into a ponytail before smoothing her hand over her head to try and push down all the little flyways but it was a useless endeavor.

"You okay?" Josh asked, stopping next to the girl and Shane looked over at the two – Charlie had been ignoring him, she wouldn't even look at him and he was worried about her.

"I'm fine." She gave the boy a smile, it was small and didn't reach her eyes. "Stop asking." She shoved his shoulder and he chuckled, taking a step back from the push. Then Charlie turned and made her way to the bed of the truck, she lifted herself up and pulled the suitcase she had kept out. She flipped it open and dug around, pulling a black t-shirt out, she smiled to herself as she stood up and reached for the tail of the sweater she wore.

"Charlie!" Shane stopped her and she rolled her eyes. "You a stripper now?"

"If it'll piss you off." She muttered, pulling her sweater up and Shane looked away but the other guys that stood there had yet to look away from the girl – even Daryl couldn't peel his eyes from her. He smirked a little when he saw that under the sweater she had been wearing a tank top, he knew she had made it seem like she was stripping just to piss Shane off.

"You had me going." Josh chuckled, shaking his head. "Thought we were gonna see something."

"You've seen me naked." She stated as she pulled the t-shirt over her head.

"Yeah, I know." He grinned.

"What?" Shane asked, looking over at the two. "How did you-"

"Oh, yeah." Charlie chuckled, but a smirk pulled at her lips like she was enjoying pissing Shane off and she was. "I forgot to mention-" She jumped over the side of the truck, landing next to Josh. "I had sex with Josh." Shane narrowed his eyes at the girl, smoke practically coming out of his ears.

"Yeah, right." He stated, not believing her for a second and she raised an eyebrow at him before turning towards the boy that stood next to her, his eyes wide as she reached up and grabbed the back of his neck as she stretched onto her toes. She was being petty, but she didn't care. Then their lips met and Shane's demeanor changed. Josh was taken by surprise, but his hands quickly found a home on her waist, tugging her closer to him as she kissed him harder, their tongues tangling together.

Mason bit his lip to hide his smirk as he watched Shane fume, his eyes narrowed at the two that stood before him. Petty wasn't something that Charlie was, she was better than that, but he had seen a few times when she was her most angry that she did the most petty of things. And this had to be at the top of the list but he couldn't say that he didn't enjoy that fact that Shane hated every second of it.

Daryl looked away from the two, his eyes dropping to the dirt, he didn't even look up when Charlie pulled back, smiling up at the boy before she walked away, not sparring Shane another glance. Josh stood there completely stunned, blinking rapidly as he looked up at Shane. His face paled slightly and he turned, following Charlie away from the cars.

"What was-"

"Sorry." She told him, glancing up at him as they came to a stop far enough away that Shane couldn't hear them, still she kept her voice low. "I know that using you like that was wrong, it was petty, selfish."

"Never apologize." He told her, stepping closer to her. "Not for that." His smile grew and she chuckled. "But you should kiss me again, you know, before your brother kills me. I'll die happy."

"Idiot." She giggled, shoving his chest a little and he laughed, his eyes not moving from the girl. "I don't like using people." She added, her eyes dropping to her boots. "That's not me and I don't want it to be, but Shane has been such a dick lately and I knew it would piss him off."

"Well, you can use me anytime you wanna piss him off." He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head back to look at him. "I promise it won't be more than that, no relationship. Just friends who occasionally kiss to piss Shane off."

"I don't-" She shook her head a little.

"I don't mind." He leaned down. "I really don't. Not just because I have a massive crush on you. Because we're friends and I know that he's been a dick lately. Let me do this for you, please?"

"I don't wanna hurt you."

"You won't." He gave her a smile and she chuckled, nodding her head. "Great." He grinned as he leaned down and captured her lips in another kiss. She was surprised, but easily fell into a nice rhythm as he let his hand fall from her chin to her waist, tugging her closer.

"Get a room!" Mason shouted, his hands cupped around his mouth and the two pulled away from each other laughing as they looked over at the boy that was leaning against the front of the truck. Charlie couldn't help the fact that her cheeks had flushed and she took a breath to try and make it go away as she grabbed Josh's hand and pulled him back towards the truck.

"Well, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" She asked as Josh pulled the passenger side door open for her, but before she could lift herself into the truck they heard a car approaching and they all looked over to see a red truck making its way towards the house. "Oh, thank God." Charlie let out a breath when she saw Rick behind the wheel and she made her way towards the house in a jog, Mason and Josh right behind her. Rick put the truck in park and climbed out, getting a hug from Carl and then Lori just as Charlie reached them. "Jeez, big brother, you look rough." She stated and he managed a small smile before wrapping his arm around the girl and she squeezed him with her right arm as Maggie ran past her dad to hug Glenn.

"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery." Hershel told the woman as he walked by her and up the porch steps.

"Are you hurt?" Lori asked once Charlie had pulled away from Rick.

"No." He answered, looking over at her and he finally got a good look at her. "But what happened to you?"

"I was in a car accident."

"Accident? How?" He asked and Carl stepped closer to Charlie as she wrapped her arm around him, keeping him closer to her side as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I went looking for you." Lori told him.

"Snuck out on her own." Charlie added. "I should've stopped her, I'm sorry." She shifted on her feet as she looked up at Rick then over at Lori. "I didn't think she'd go alone."

"We brought her back." Mason told him and Rick bent down a little to look at her, but she let her eyes drop to the ground.

"Are you crazy?" He asked. "You could've–"

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asked, pointing towards the truck and everyone turned to see a boy with a blindfold over his eyes in the back seat.

"That's Randell." Glenn answered.

"That's helpful." Charlie mumbled as the others moved closer to the car but she kept Carl against her, not wanting him too close to the stranger even if he was passed out, and Josh stayed next to her.

>>>>> • <<<<<

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE SAT ON THE FLOOR against the wall in the dining room with Mason and Josh on either side of her, the others were either at the table or standing around the room. All eyes were on Rick as he stood leaning on the back of the chair that sat at the head of the table.

"We couldn't just leave him behind." He told them, explaining why they had brought Randell to the farm. "He would've bled out, if he lived that long."

"It's gotten bad in town." Glenn added, his eyes briefly meeting Maggie's before he looked at the table.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked from where she stood next to Shane by one of the windows.

"I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage." Hershel stated as he entered the dining room, wiping his hand on a towel. "Won't be on his feet for at least a week."

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way." Rick told them as the door opened and Charlie looked back to see Daryl walk in.

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea asked.

"He'll have a chance." Charlie added, looking up at Rick. "He'll have to fight if he wants to survive."

"Just gonna let him go?" Shane asked. "He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's not a threat." Rick shook his head.

"Not a threat." Shane scoffed and Charlie rolled her eyes, letting her head hand to the side so it rested on Mason's shoulder. "How many of them were there? 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. No one is looking."

"We should still post a guard." T-Dog stated.

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours." Hershel told them.

"You know what? I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." Shane scoffed as she started across the room. "Look at this, folks – we back in Fantasyland."

"Dick." Charlie muttered, not so quietly then she looked up at Hershel. "Sorry." The old man simply shook his head before following after Shane.

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet." He stopped the oldest Walsh from leaving the house. "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."

"Tell him, doc." Charlie mumbled as she picked her head up, a smile on her face and Shane looked over at her, his eyes narrowed before he left the house.

"You actually enjoy pissing your brother off, don't you?" Josh asked and Charlie turned to him, her smile wide.

"He deserves it." She told him as she pushed herself up. "Now, I wanna shoot something."

"Charlie." Rick stopped her.

"Don't worry, I ain't gonna shoot Shane." She gave him a smile as she made her way out the door and to Mason's truck to get her little crossbow before she started across the field to the trees she had been using as target practice. But before she got too far, Josh ran up beside her, a smile on his face.

"Want some company?" He asked and she raised an eyebrow at him and he just smiled.

"Okay." She nodded slowly and he moved to stand in front of her, bringing her to a stop. "What are you doing?" She chuckled.

"Piggyback ride?" He looked over his shoulder at her, a wide smile on his face and she couldn't help but smile before she jumped onto his back. He bounced her a little, adjusting his hold on her then he started up the hill, both laughing as they went. Mason smiled at the two, he liked seeing her happy, he liked seeing that smile on her face but he didn't miss the way a certain blue-eyed man watched them, an emotion he couldn't place in his eyes before he turned away from them and walked away.