Chapter Text
The blade of the sword shines under the sunlight when I take it out. The sound of the draw lingers for a moment in the room as Carl and I wait in silence.
There are at least two walkers in the infirmary of the prison, but I wait for Carl to listen closely before turning his head towards me and raising three fingers. I gently shake my head and patiently let him try again.
When he finally raises two fingers, I nod and, proud of himself, he makes his way further into the room, a medium-sized hunting knife in his hand. Gripping his fist around it, he slowly raises his hand at eye level right before he gently taps his foot against the floor.
It’s loud enough to get the attention of one walker, which growls loud enough to pull the other right towards us.
I watch as Carl quickly forces one of the walkers first to its knees, then to its back with a little bit of effort and I only move when the other walker gets a little too close to him.
I kill it with the sword. And it still feels weird how easily this thing pierces through flesh, muscle, and bone.
I let Carl finish off the other one after he makes sure with me that his grip is good enough so he doesn’t hurt himself with the blade.
He pants a little before glancing at me, momentarily forgetting we still need to make sure there are no more threats in this room. Both living and half-dead.
Knowing there are prisoners still alive here makes me feel uneasy at best.
We sweep through the infirmary twice just to make sure there are no threats before Carl gets his hands on a bag.
We clear the infirmary with that single bag. It’s not much considering Hershel got his leg cut off from being bitten more than half an hour earlier, but it’s much more than I originally expected.
And I hope it’s enough. At least enough to get more when we’re able to make some runs around this area.
If Hershel dies, Lori won’t have an experienced person —even if that person is a vet— to help her when she goes into labor, two women will be left without a father, and…
And I will have lost the opportunity to keep repaying him for saving my life.
It was stupid of everybody to let him go and make me stay behind. I only accepted because Rick Grimes is clearly worried about a wife he can barely look at and I’m pretty much the only person that read every single book about pregnancy and labor all winter long. That and also because Hershel seemed eager to accompany his oldest daughter and her boyfriend.
Stupid. All of us, stupid.
So here we are, me rectifying my mistake by keeping an eye on Carl, who almost does this by himself, to get the medical stuff we need.
“Will this be enough?”
He asks me in a quiet voice, looking up at me.
I thin my lips, unsure. He doesn’t insist and grabs the bag with one hand, having to switch his weight to the other side to avoid swaying.
“Let’s hurry up.”
He says. I nod and take point, looking at everything around us every five seconds until we finally get to the cellblock we cleared just yesterday.
The steel door creaks when Carl opens it as I glance at the dark hallway behind us, noticing a couple of walkers coming up. With a simple head tilt, I ask him to move into the cellblock before I head over to deal with those nuisances.
It is still weird to kill with the sword. But at least I’ve learned to manage it better than during the winter and I’ve gained more muscle from the training. Alone and with Carl and Beth.
I go back to the cell block, being careful to lock the door behind me as I hear voices coming from the cell Hershel’s in.
Carl and Lori. And they are fighting.
“Dalilah had my back. She always does.”
I hear Carl say as I look over at Glenn who is standing on the threshold of the cell. He turns his head towards me when he notices the movement from the corner of his eye and gives me an uncomfortable look.
“And that’s fine, but…”
“What’s the problem? We needed supplies, we got them!”
“And I appreciate that...!”
“Then get off my back!”
“Carl!”
The one that puts an end to the discussion is Beth. A few seconds later, Carl runs out of the cell, immediately hiding the obvious tears in his eyes from me as he goes into the cell he and his father picked last night, the one right beside the one I picked to sleep in.
Carl’s and Rick’s relationship with Lori has worsened over the winter. Overhearing a conversation between Rick and Hershel made me find out that Lori, in essence, put Shane and Rick at odds somehow and after finding out Rick had killed the man who used to be his partner, Lori treated him as if she was dealing with the worst monster of all for it. So, Rick’s reasons make sense.
Carl, though… I’m still not sure why Carl has distanced himself from his mother. Maybe it’s to take sides with his father. Maybe it’s his lack of patience with Lori’s overprotective tendencies over him, understandably so.
Maybe he’s just hitting the early stages of puberty since, according to his mother, he should be thirteen by now.
I really can’t believe it’s a year, or almost a year, into this fucking madness.
Instead of joining the rest of the group in watching whether Hershel lives or not, I go to the cell where Carl’s lying on the bed in a fetal position.
“I don’t get why she gets mad.” He says with a strained voice.
I step further in to sit down on the floor in front of him. His blue eyes set on mine.
“Why can’t she just leave me be?”
I wish he’d be able to see how lucky of a boy he is, despite the dead walking around. If only I’d gotten a chance to have a family instead of what the Universe kept giving me, I would’ve led a normal life.
I also wouldn’t have met Carl.
I clear my throat as if that could clear my mind and look at him with the best sympathy look I can come up with.
“She’s your mom,” I say in a soft voice. “It’s sort of her job to protect you.”
“But you protect me.” He counters. “And you train me.”
I nod.
“And she’s still your mom. You also need to keep in mind that she’s pregnant; which makes her hormonal. On top of that, she’s got a thousand things to worry about.”
He takes a moment before nodding softly.
“I guess.” He answers, his voice a bit calmer. “I’ll be more patient.”
He promises, making me nod gently at him.
Carl moves against the mattress, getting a little bit more comfortable.
“But not right now.”
I’ll go ahead and suppose it will not be a good idea to rush him, especially when he’s been a little too stubborn lately.
I wish I had that option; to be stubborn about stuff as any kid should be.
We remain silent for who knows how long. I only move because I suddenly start hearing something from the cell Hershel’s in and when I lend the ear more, I realize it’s Beth crying before loudly asking for help.
I move quicker than Carl and I get there just as Lori is coming into the cell to see what on earth is going on.
Hershel has stopped breathing. That’s what’s going on.
I watch as Lori moves Maggie and Beth out of the way as the latter gives me a desperate look. Carl joins in when Lori herself starts to try and reanimate him with the usual CPR method Rick taught me during the winter.
My heart skips a beat, though, when we hear Lori gasp from Hershel moving violently all of a sudden.
It’s the quickest draw Carl has ever done. It's not two seconds later that he has his gun pointed directly at Hershel, ready to put him down as both Maggie and Beth drag Lori back.
I put a hand on his shoulder when I realize he’s not a walker. Thank the Stars. It takes him a moment, with trembling hands, to lower his gun, hastily putting it back, and running to his mother to hug her.
She pants to regain her breath and calmness, looking down at her son surprised to see he’s hugging her when he hasn’t even looked at her these past few weeks, then glances at me.
What?
♦ ♦ ♦
Rick doesn’t take longer to get back after that tense episode. He, Daryl, and T-Dog come back without any new injuries, which is good considering the prisoners that have been living here since the start.
“Hershel stopped breathing,” Carl tells him the second he sees him, moving a little to the side to let him get into the cell.
“Mom went and saved him.”
Glenn, who put himself on the other side of the threshold a while ago, nods to Rick when he glances at him.
“It’s true.”
Rick gently nods, glances at me while patting his son’s shoulder, and then steps into the cell, close to Hershel.
Daryl and T-Dog also move to peek into the cell as Lori mentions Hershel still doesn’t have a fever.
I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing but we don’t have to wait long for something to happen: Hershel’s eyes open.
I guess that’s a good sign.
Both Beth and Maggie lean in gently, calling out to their father in soft voices and making him slightly smile before his eyes flick to Rick whom he holds out his hand to.
Rick takes it and both men nod at each other in understanding before Rick rests his legs by crouching next to Hershel who simply goes back to sleep.
I was expecting more… but I guess Hershel waking up for a few seconds is a very good sign already.
Carl and I both move out of the way though when Lori moves to get out of the cell, slowly thanks to the big bump in her belly.
I give her a glance before I turn my head to look at Rick, who’s already looking in my direction to begin with. We lock eyes and I make a tiny movement with my head towards where Lori went.
He seems to get what I’m trying to tell him because he thins his lips, looks back at Hershel, and asks Beth for her hand so she can hold his father’s.
He surprises me by then stepping out of the room, giving me a nod.
Wow. Wow. I’ve been trying for him to talk to his own wife for a few months now but he was being stubborn. I’m not trying to get them to talk because I think she deserves forgiveness. It’s not my place to decide that; I do it because she might die. Whether that is during childbirth or before or after.
At least he’s taking a step forward right now.
Dumbass.