After the Storm [1]

8 • Life & Blood

How had they ended up here?

It was all a blur- the gun shot, the woman on the horse, Daryl shouting at her not to go.

Carl.

Her entire body had been screaming to shut down. The grief was overwhelming. But she persevered. She had to, for him. Maeve was his only hope, she couldn't falter.

"Whoa Maeve, cmon, slow down," Lori says as her sister stumbles. "Both of you, you've given too much blood." Lori catches Maeve's arm, helping lower her into the chair at Carl's bedside.

Maevys and Rick had been taking turns doing transfusions, both of them sharing Carl's A+ blood type. None of it would have been possible if not for Hershel Greene. Maeve could hardly believe her eyes when they'd reached his farm. Completely untouched by the chaos of the outside world. Hershel had taken them right in and set them up in a guest room at the front of the house, helped her stabilize Carl, and helped her with the blood transfusions to keep him alive.

It'd had been Hershel's man Otis that had shot Carl. A stupid hunting accident that left the little boy unconscious on a bed with bullet fragments stuck in his abdomen. The sight of him lying there was even more ghastly than when Rick was in the same position. He was so small, with his belly distended due to internal bleeding. Maevys and Hershel had worked together to get a fragment, but Carl screamed something horrible and they were forced to stop. There was five more to go, but they couldn't touch them without a respirator.

It was up to Shane now, who had taken Otis to a nearby fema shelter. They had to return with the necessary supplies that night, or Carl wouldn't make it. The stakes were high, and Maevys was the only one fully qualified to do the surgery. Hershel had been a veterinarian before the end of the world, but his skills only got them so far. As soon as the bullet had entered his son, Rick knew he'd need his sister to save his boy's life.

Maeve hadn't left Carl's side since she'd arrived, and she hadn't said much either other than to Hershel. Rick and Lori could see she was trying to keep it together for them, giving them the space to grieve and be terrified. Her own fear would only scare them, and it would make it harder for her to do what she had to do. But if Shane didn't make it back in time... well, she didn't want to consider that as an option.

Maeve tapped her foot anxiously as she watched Hershel Greene take Carl's blood pressure. He was an elderly man, with snowy white hair and a love for suspenders. Kind, but stern. That much she had observed as he spoke with his daughters and with Rick.

"His blood pressure is dropping again," Hershel tells her as the puff of air leaves the pressure cuff.

"We can't wait much longer," Maeve voices, her eyes fixated on Carl's sleeping face.

"Take some more," Rick says as he holds out his arm. "Whatever he needs, then I'm going to go."

"Go- Go where?" Lori huffs.