Safe and sound, Carl Grimes

007. THE FEAR OF LOSING SOMEONE

Chapter seven

"The fear of losing someone."

When Katniss had said that being out in the woods on her own was the scariest moment of her life, Carl getting shot in front of her had officially taken that spot, as she was out of the woods, her feet were pounding against the green pasture as she was running as fast as her feet could take her, her adrenaline was pumping as the fear of him dying coursed through her veins, as Rick was running behind her, he was struggling to hold Carl, while Shane was in the back making sure the man, Otis, who had been the one who shot him was staying with them "hey, you move, shithead. Come on, get us there." Shane shared.

As Rick stopped "how far? How far!" he voiced "another half mile that way. Herself. Talk to Hershel. He'll help your boy." Otis said, and as he did, Katniss heard his voice, where unlike them her feet hadn't stopped, she couldn't stop, if she stopped, he died, and she wasn't gonna let that happen "Katniss!" Rick voiced, as he was running after her, the two of them soon began reaching the farm house, where an old man, an older women, a teenage boy with a baseball bat, a young women, and a teenage girl walked out onto the porch "was he bit?" the old man asked.

"Shot. By your man." Rick shared "Otis?" the older woman asked, as they all walked down to them "he said to find Hershel. Is that you? Help me. Help my boy." Rick shared "get him inside." Hershel said, as they all turned walking inside "Patricia, I need my full kit. Maggie, painkillers, coagulants..grab everything." Hershel shared, as he was leading them through the foyer to the living room and into a spare room "clean towels, sheets, alcohol. In here." Hershel said, as he lifted up the comforter of the bed, Rick then put Carl down "pillowcase." Hershel said, as Katniss moved to grab it.

"Is he alive?" Rick asked, as Patricia and Maggie came in with everything else he asked for "fold it make a pad." Hershel told Katniss, but as he did, he then noticed that she gauze were tied around his chest to stop the bleeding "you did this?" he asked, looking at the twelve year old girl "yeah.." Katniss shared "put pressure on it." Hershel told her, as Katniss put her hands down, Hershel put his stethoscope on and put it on Carl's heart "I got a heart beat. It's faint." he said "I got it, step back." Patricia told Katniss, as she stepped back.

"Maggie, IV." Hershel told her, as Maggie looked at Rick "we need some space." she told him "your names?" Hershel asked "Rick." Rick told him "Katniss." Katniss told him "Rick and Katniss?" Hershel asked "yes!" Katniss voiced "Rick and Katniss, we're gonna do everything we can, okay? You need to give us some room. Now." Hershel shared, as Katniss and Rick backed away, they both had Carl's blood on their hands "move!" Shane's voiced filled their ears, as the two turned seeing him arriving with Otis.

The two then walked out of the room, through the living room and onto the front porch just as Shane and Otis walked up it "he's alive? He's still alive?" Otis asked, as Katniss took a deep breath, her hands staying at her sides while Rick wiped the sweat off his forehead getting blood on him "okay..it's okay." Shane said, pulling out a rag and wiping the blood off of Rick's face "you got blood, man. Hey." he said, handing it to him, Rick cleaned off his hands and as he did, he turned noticed Katniss's as he grabbed her hands and cleaned them off for her "where is he? Where is he? Is he okay?" Shane asked.

As Rick, Katniss, Shane and Otis headed inside, they walked through the living room and into the room "you know his blood type?" Hershel asked "a positive, same as mine." Rick shared "that's fortunate. Don't wander far. I'm gonna need you." Hershel shared, as he looked to Otis "what happened?" he asked "I was tracking a buck. Bullet went through it. Went clean through." Otis shared "the deer slowed the bullet down, which certainly saved his life. But it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out...I'm counting six." Hershel shared.