Survive ( twd carlgrimes)

Chapter 43

MADISON'S POV.

Rick was right about Carl. The moment we stepped out of the church he was ready to go, standing by Ricks side. Rick kept quiet despite the concerns I know he has for his son. But it's not time that we can afford to waste, not while Bob is out here, missing, taken, possibly hurt.

We walk together in a close knit group, armed and ready. I walk beside Maggie, Glenn and Nick who decided to come along, ironically at the same time Carl did. Carl walks fractionally ahead with Rick, Daryl, Tara, Sasha and Tyrese. 

"Okay there ten of us. We should split up now and try and cover as much ground before it gets dark. Mads and Nick with me, Carl, Daryl and Tara together and then Glenn, Maggie, Sasha and Ty. Everyone okay with that?" Rick asks.
Nobody responds they just nod in a mutual agreement.

As the group pulls apart into their smaller groups the cold weather creeps around me. It's chillier than I realized and I suddenly regret not grabbing my coat before I left. When I look over at Tara in the other group she has her arms wrapped around herself and her shoulders tucked into her neck, keeping the cold away.

"Meet back up here in two hours. Lets hope we get some good news and remember if Madison is right, don't attack ! Just spy and report back so we can all go in together. There'll be more of them than our split up groups." Rick reminds us.
We all depart in our groups.
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It feels like five hours since we separated and went our own way. Rick, Nick and I walk in awkward silence and I keep myself busy by loading and unloading my bow over and over with my arrows to avoid the awkwardness.

The tension is almost unbearable and I know they feel it too. It's like they both know Carl and I kissed and this is punishment. I suddenly regret putting up a fight to come along.
A pang of guilt hits me as I remember the reason we're out here in the first place. This is about Bob, not me.
Still, it feels like Rick is waiting to confront me in front of Nick.

With all the thoughts bouncing around my head I almost miss the unusual mark on the tree next to me. My feet stop moving without me even knowing and they guide me over to the tree to inspect it. The boys stop walking too and follow me to the tree. It's tall and thick, it's bark three times the size of me. My fingers run along a chunk that's been taken from the tree, destroying it's flawless, wooden complexion.

Next to it are scratches, not like nails but straight and narrow, like a knife, but it's neither of these marks that caught my eye, it was the splatters and smears of blood dripping from the marks. The red glistens and my hand involuntarily reaches out to touch it. It's just dried into the old bark like I expected. Instead, when I pull my hand back to inspect it, it's stained in blood.

"It's fresh." I murmur.
"It must've happened recently." Nick adds.
We look to Rick but he knows the answer as well as we do. He nods his head in approval. "Which means Bob is in trouble. He's injured but not dead, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered with putting up a fight." He points to the scratches on the bark.

"Fight?" Nick asks.
"Look at the scratches Nick. Look at the ground." I point to two pair of footprints embedded in the mud at the root of the tree. How had we missed it before ?
"Oh." He breathes.
"I'm no tracker and I'm not Daryl, thank god, but i'm almost sure that he was knocked out and dragged this way. See the way the prints stop struggling, they're just dragged from here onwards." I point at the prints.

"You're very observant." Rick notes.
I shrug. "Yeah, well, when you spend eight years trapped in a box you notice the little things."
"Lets keep going before we run out of time. We could be close." Nick suggests.
"Yeah, good man. Come on." Rick encourages.