Hopeless

Chapter 41

I pace around the yard impatiently waiting for everyone to return. I hope with everything I have that, they're all alright. My heart jumps into my stomach when I see headlights turning into the driveway. Daryl runs up to open the gate then closes it behind them. Lori jumps out of the car, bruised and cut up. I rush up to her. "Oh my God what happened? Are you okay?" She runs a hand through her hair.

"I'm fine."

"She crashed her car." Shane puts in from behind her.

"What??" I cry worriedly.

"It wasn't that bad, really I'm fine. Where's Rick?" Everyone looks around at each other not quite sure what to say.

"He's..he's not back yet..." I say quietly. She turns angrily to face Shane.

"You lied to me!?" She yells.

"I had to get you back here some how, you almost got yourself killed!" He yells back.

"You son of a bitch!" She screams shoving him.

"Mom!" Carl calls happily as he runs over to us. She bends down engulfing him in a hug. He cries into her chest.

"It's okay baby, I'm okay." Patricia comes up to us.

"Will you at least let me check you out?" She asks Lori. Lori looks to Carl whose eyes are red and watery. She nods. "Alright, come on let's get you two inside." She takes Lori and Carl inside leaving the rest of us in an uneasy silence. I wrap my arms tightly around myself fear and worry eating away at my stomach. Daryl wraps his arm my shoulders.

"He'll come back you know, he always does." He says placing a gentle kiss on the side of my head. I nod.

"I know." I say still not convinced I'll ever see my big brother again. I hear Shane scoff beside us then he grumbles away, sulking to his tent. A small part of me mourns the loss of the relationship I've always had with Shane. Even before we were together he was like family. Him and Rick were inseparable and with the way Shane's parents were he was always at our house. I haven't only just lost my boyfriend, I've lost my bestfriend. Even though I know it's for the best I still feel guilty for ruining the friendship we had. I snuggle closer to Daryl and push Shane from my mind. My hope weakens with every passing minute. Gradually, one by one, everyone goes inside. Leaving only Daryl and I waiting in the darkness of the night. The faint porch light our only source of light.  I shift uncomfortably my feet aching from standing for so long.

"Maybe we should-" I cut him off.

"No. You can go if you want, but i'm staying here. He'll be back..I know he will."

"Okay" He says staying put.

"You're staying?" He looks at me, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"I'll always stay." Butterflies erupt in my stomach as he leans in, kissing me gently. I lose myself in him, the touch of his lips gliding against mine, his rough calloused hands cupped around my face. I feel one of his hands leave my face, his fingertips grazing the skin just underneath my shirt. I'm snapped back to reality when a pair of headlights break through the trees down the road. My heart races, happiness flooding through me. I knew he'd come back. I call to the rest of the group as Daryl runs to the gate opening and closing it again. Everyone gathers outside waiting for Glenn, Hershel, and Rick to climb out of the car. I throw myself into my big brother the second he steps out of the car. He laughs wrapping his arms around me.

"You came back." I cry.

"I promised I would." Lori and Carl join our embrace and suddenly my heart feels whole again. I treasure this moment with our little family. We're interrupted by whimpering coming from the back seat of the car. I look to Rick questioningly. He opens the door revealing a kid probably about my age if not younger. A black shirt was tied tightly around the majority of his face, a set of headphones covering his ears. I notice the blood gushing from his knee, it seeps into the seat as he wiggles and writhes in pain. Something about him seems familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it. I shrug it off.

"This...is Randall." Rick announces. Suddenly it's all clear. I know exactly where I know him from. I shiver in disgust.

"We had a run in with his group in town they pulled their guns on us. We fought back but it attracted walkers he was hurt trying to get away. There were walkers coming from everywhere.." Glenn explains. "We couldn't just leave him there."

"So you brought him here?? The one safe place we had!?" Shane yells.

"He was blindfolded the whole way and he couldn't hear a thing. There's no way he knows where he is." Rick says calmly.

"What exactly do you plan on doing with him?" Dale asks.

"Hershel's gonna fix him up, let him heal for a couple weeks 'till he can walk again, then we'll drive him far away from here and let him go." Rick answers.

"You're just gonna leave him for the walkers?" Andrea asks.

"We're gonna give him a chance." Hershel says.

"He'd already be dead if we'd left him there. The place was crawling with walkers." Glenn says. "We couldn't just let him die."

"So instead now you're gonna risk the lives of everyone here? For some low life kid that was shooting at you?" Shane spits back.

"If it was Carl in that same position I'd want someone to help him, no matter what he'd done." Rick answers.

"But it's not Carl man, Carl's right here. He's right here! And now him and everyone else in this group might be in danger because you brought him here!" Shane yells. Rick looks to a wide eyed Carl, his arms wrapped tightly around Lori. Rick hangs his head.

"We're not gonna argue about this, not tonight. Hershel's going to fix his leg we'll decide what to do with him later." With that, he walks away leaving everyone to their thoughts. Hershel breaks the silence asking Patricia to grab him the things he'll need to preform the surgery. Then he enlists Jimmy, Daryl, and Glenn to help him carry Randall to the shed where he will be staying for the time being. He screams out in pain as they lift him up off of the seat. I turn away unable to face him any longer. Maggie notices my disgust. I flinch as she places a hand on my shoulder. I relax when I see it's just her.

"What was that about? Do you know him?" I nod uncomfortably. "Who is he?"

"Not here." I answer. She grabs my hand and takes me to her room. She closes the door and locks it behind us.

"Okay...let's talk."

***Author's note: Thank you all so much for the 21k views!! I love you all so much and i'd really appreciate your feedback. How do y'all think this story is going so far? <3***