My Hunter || D. Dixon (On Hold)

Twenty-One - Life Or Death

My hands haven't stopped shaking since we got here. I stand on the porch, Rick holding a rag to my face to get the blood off that I had accidentally smeared on my face. Shane and Otis finally made it to the porch by now, looking at us out of breath. I let out a shaky breath, "Where is she?" Shane asks and I look to the house, taking a moment before leading him into the house, Rick at my side.

We get to the room, seeing Jessica on the bed with an IV in her arm. Carl's at her side, her chest slowly rises and falls. Herschel looks at us as we file in. "What's her blood type?" He asks, looking at me as my eyes dart around the room, trying to remember.

My Lip trembles, tears in my eyes. "A-A-positive." I stutter out and Rick looks to me then to Herschel. "It doesn't matter." Herschel looks at me in almost shock at my words. "I'm O-negative," I explain to him and he nods his head.

He seems pleased with my answer. "That's fortunate. Stick around, I'll need you." He looks from me to Otis. "What happened?" That was the million dollar question. My brother's daughter lays on a bed shot and the question is how did it happen, how did I let it happen.

Otis let out a breath from behind us. "I was trackin' a buck. Bullet went straight through and into her." His voice is full of guilt as he covered his face and looked down.

"Well, the deer slowed down the bullet which saved her life. But it did not go clean through. It broke off into pieces, six that I can count." He says, looking from Otis to me. "You related to her in any way?" I nod my head, the whole my eyes stuck on my hands.

I take in a shaky breath. "My brother doesn't know." My voice breaks as I look to Rick now in tears. "Caleb doesn't know his little girl's shot up here." Rick sets his hand on my shoulder.

Maggie looks to us, seeing me practically break down as we leave the room again. "Your group? I could go get him if you tell me where they are." She offers and I look to her and smile nodding my head.

Rick speaks up as I let a hiccup leave my lips. "Upon the highway. We lost a little girl in the woods not too long ago. We've been looking for her." Maggie nods and leaves, the door closing behind her. The moment the door closes the room fills with screaming causing us to look over.

Jess thrashes on the bed making me and Shane go over to hold her down on the bed. She was screaming and crying as Hershel dug a pair of tweezers in the now visible bullet wound. Patricia takes my arm, inserting a needle. The blood pulled filled a bag.

Carl leans over the side of the bed. "Don't worry Jess, Maggie's going to get your dad," Carl says. Not a second after Carl said that Jessica's eyes roll back, she stops thrashing and goes quiet.

I hold my breath, nails digging into my palms. "Wait...wait...what happened?" Shane asks frantically looking at Jessica.

"She just passed out, One down five to go," Hershel says pulling out a small bullet shard. Patricia takes the needle out of my arm and attaches the bag to Jessica.

"She's stable for now. But, there's internal bleeding. I need to open her up and stitch the wound, but she can't move. If she moves and screams like just now, I'll sever an artery and she'll bleed out in minutes. I'll need to put her under, but if I do that she won't be able to breathe on her own." Hershel says walking out to the porch with Shane, Otis, Rick, and me.

"You'll need a respirator, and the tube that comes with it," Otis says looking at Hershel. "Plus extra antibiotics and anything else you can find," Hershel adds. "There could be some at the high school about five miles from here. It was overrun last time I saw it, but it could be better now."

Shane laughs and rubs his head. "Looks like We're going on a run. Doc? You wanna draw me a map?"

"You won't need a map, I'll take you there. You probably don't even know what those look like. You'll need my help, and I'm responsible for that woman getting shot. Now we can stand here talking forever or we can go get it real quick" Otis said stepping up. I sit down next to the bed, a few sobs leave me as they talk about the run that Shane and Otis are going on.

I don't even remember Otis and Shane leaving. Carl never left the room and Rick only left to talk to Herschel, coming back with a glass of water for Carl or orange juice for me. My hands shake as I clasp them together, muttering a prayer as I hear the front door open and close real quick. My eyes open at the sound of Caleb's voice, seeing him in the doorway.

I stand up, seeing the tears in his eyes. "Cae," I call to him, my breath shaky as I take a step towards him. "I'm so sorry." I cry as he shakes his head, pulling me into his arms. "I'm so sorry."

Caleb doesn't say anything, a hiccup leaving him. "It's okay. It wasn't. . .it wasn't your fault." His voice cracks, taking in an unsteady breath halfway through.