All Out War

Chapter 20

"Are you okay?" I leaned back and asked.

"Yeah," he said.

He wasn't sweating like in my nightmare. I pressed his side where the bite was in my dream.

"Amelia. I'm fine," he said.

He lifted his shirt and there was no bandage, no bite. I exhaled. I hugged him again. He looked passed me to see who else had come along.

"Where's Michonne?" he asked.

I looked down.

"I don't know. She came back with us but she took off once we were all down here. Maybe if I'd stayed there, I could have done something," I said.

"It's not on you. She'll be back," he said.

I looked around then caught sight of someone I'd never seen before.

"Who's this?" I asked.

"This is Siddiq. The man I told you about. I brought him here. I was gonna tell you about it earlier but we never got the chance to talk after," he said.

I looked at the man again. He didn't seem hostile in the least.

"I take full responsibility for him. I was wanting to talk to dad about him but then all this happened," Carl said.

I looked back at him. He'd really grown up in front of my eyes. I sighed.

"Why bring him down here? Why didn't you bring him through the front gate?" I asked.

Carl sighed in relief.

"I wasn't all that sure you or anyone else would take kindly to a stranger," he said.

"If you'd explained the situation, I would have. And I'm sure everyone here would have done the same. We trust your judgment, Carl," I said.

"Everyone's been on edge lately with the Saviors," he said.

"Yeah. The Saviors. You say he's not one of them and I believe you. Did you ask him the questions?" I said.

"Yeah," he said.

"Then that's enough. For now at least," I said with a smirk.

I moved passed him and went to the man who was sitting the farthest away from any of us. He seemed frightened. I knelt down and held out my hand to him.

"I'm Amelia. Carl's my cousin. He's told me quite a lot about you," I said.

He shook my hand.

"I told him he didn't have to bring me here. But he insisted," he admitted.

"I assure you, I'm not upset that you're here. If Carl can trust you enough to bring you back home, then nothing else needs to be said. Welcome," I said.

He nodded his head.

"Thank you," he said.

I nodded then stood up.

"Thanks, Amelia," Carl said.

"No thanks needed. I know you. I trust you. I look forward to seeing him find his place with us," I said.

I then turned and faced everyone.

"It's hard to say exactly how long we're gonna be here. I wish we had time to grab some food or something," I announced.

"We were able to grab as much food as we could," Scott said signaling to three bags.

"Thanks, Scott. That means a lot. We have enough weapons for us all. We all stay here until we can figure out what to do next," I said.

Daryl sat down with Judith in his arms. I went and sat next to him.

"How bad was it?" Daryl asked Carl.

"Almost all the houses...so much was up in flames when I came down here," he said.

"We can rebuild it. We've done it before," I said.

"We have each other. That's what the take away is from all this," Rosita said.

I looked over at her.

"Yeah. You're right. And together, we're able to do anything," I said.

Daryl took my hand and kissed it. I looked over at Dwight. He was still holding onto his arm. The bleeding needed to stop. Otherwise it would pose a threat to the rest of us. I stood up and went over to him. I got hold of his shirt and ripped a piece big enough to wrap around his arm. It got real quiet.

"Let me see it," I said.

He carefully undid his shirt and showed me the arm. I grabbed a light and looked over the wound.

"The bullet is stuck in there. If we don't get it out, it could be deadly. Can I borrow a knife from someone?" I asked.

Rosita came up to me. She pulled her knife out and handed it to me.

"You're gonna need to sterilize it," she said.

"Yeah. I don't know if we have any alcohol. But a lighter could be just as effective," I said.

I wiped the blade of the knife, making sure there wasn't anything that could cause any sort of infection.

"Amelia. We were actually able to grab some bottles of liquor. It's not much but it is something. I figured it be best to bring a few. In case someone was badly cut or something," Tobin said.

"Thank you, Tobin. That was quick thinking," I said.

He handed me a small bottle of vodka. I had almost forgotten that we still had these. Back when we had gone to the apothecary with Denise. There was only three bottles left.

"Take off the shirt and roll it up. Put it in your mouth cause this is gonna sting and we don't need your screams drawing attention to us," I told Dwight.

He did as I said. I poured it over his wound and he reacted just as I thought he would. It was a good thing he had the shirt in his mouth. I then quickly poured the alcohol on the blade and got to work. The bullet came out rather quickly. Dwight squirmed in pain the entire time. To be honest, it gave me pleasure to see him that way. I cleaned up and wrapped the shirt around his arm to keep it from bleeding anymore. He took the shirt out of his mouth.

"Thank you," he said once I had finished.

"Don't get any ideas. I only did this cause I didn't want you dying. If you did, you'd pose a threat to my family and I was not going to let that happen. You've already done enough," I said coldly.

He nodded his head. I went and took a seat next to Daryl. Judith reached for me and Daryl handed her to me.

"Hey you," I said.

I kissed her forehead. She rested her head on my chest. I looked over at Daryl.

"You good?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Just thinking...about the shit that's going on up there," he said.

"We just have to wait a little. We'll take them on afterwards," I said.

He grabbed my hand and held it tightly. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.