These Awkward Moments

Chapter 6 The Fight

Roe jumped up and got me and Mercy inside as people around the tables began to scramble. He took me upstairs and got Mercy settled into the sling on my back.

He put a large hand gently on my cheek. "You stay safe Lila girl. Stay away from the windows, and take care of our angel." He kissed my forehead, them kissed the top of Mercy's head.

I nodded up at him with a tear in my eye. "You be careful too." I sniffed.

He smiled. "Ya know I always am!"  He turned and walked to the door. I noticed Daryl standing in the doorway with a box in his arms.  He and Roe nodded to acknowledge each other as Roe left.

Daryl came into the room. "Hey Doc. Just wanted to bring this in. Looks like Carlos and Billy missed this box a stuff in the van."

I turned away so he wouldn't see my tears and nodded. But I couldn't hide my sniffling. I felt his hand on my shoulder. "C'mon. Don't cry. Roe's a tough fella and a helluva fighter. He's gonna be ok. I'll watch out for him." I dashed away my tears with my sleeve.

I turned to face Daryl.  "I'm ok. It's always harder not to worry about the people we care the most about. But... we don't get to be upset. We all got jobs ta do."

A strange look passed over his face, like he was remembering someone or something. He blinked. "Yeah. Yeah... I been told that before. Just be careful like Roe said, and stay away from the windows." He said in his beautiful, gruff voice.

I put a hand over his hand on my shoulder. "Thanks Daryl. And I know Roe can take care of himself. You watch out for you, ok?" He nodded and walked out.

Not knowing if or when things were going to start happening was the worst part. The sun had set, and it was getting dark outside. From inside we could hear voices yelling, but couldn't make out what was being said. Then we heard a single gunshot, followed by more shouting, and then a few minutes later a loud crash like something had come through the fence. This was followed by loud music and more gunfire that sounded more like automatic weapons.

We heard the sound of the doors downstairs opening and people running inside and upstairs. There were more sounds from outside that sounded like motorcycle and car engines. This was followed by more crashing sounds closer to the main building and a lot more gunfire.

I heard Michonne yell from an upstairs window "The gate. They're still coming in the gate. Look out!"

It wasn't long after that before we received our first casualty. Marcus, one of the men from the Kingdom had been stabbed. I went to work assessing his wound and stitching him up.

Nick from the Hilltop was the next one in. He had a knife wound on his back that would just need to be cleaned and bandaged. Rosita worked on that while Brianna checked on Marcus.

Right after Nick came in, Daryl walked in supporting Rick who had been shot in the side with a crossbow bolt by Dwight. I knew we were going to have to remove the bolt. Looking at the position, I was initially afraid that it may have damaged a kidney, but I was even more worried about a bowel perforation.

Rick was more worried about the other injured people and kept trying to convince me to take care of them first. "Rick. I hate to pull rank on ya mister, but I'm the doctor. I get to triage my patients and decide who the most urgent case is."

Daryl grunted in agreement. "Yeah man, you made me sit still so the doc could fix me up. Now it's your turn. Shut up and do what she says."

At that moment bright lights from outside shone onto the house and the yard below. Headlights from the cars around the perimeter had been switched on, and the Saviors could no longer hide in the dark. We heard bursts of loud gunfire coming from the upstairs windows as our snipers there opened fire on the Saviors.