The Warrior Within

Healing and a Funeral

Chapter 13

~Charlotte~

I sit on the porch right next to the door. Lori and Rick are sitting on the steps, Shane is leaning on the car, T-Dog is sitting on the rocking chair, resting his arm. Everyone waits for the news on Carl. Glenn and Maggie are inside, Hershel and Patricia are still working on him. Everyone sits outside patiently. It's night time. I have nothing to do so I look at the stars, see if I can see any shooting stars. I can't see the moon, it must be behind the house.

I don't manage to see any shooting stars. I rarely ever see them. I don't really look up at the stars, but the apocalypse can be quite boring, so when you have nothing else to do, looking at the stars is an option.

As I begin to count all the stars that I can see the front door opens and Hershel comes out. Everyone stands up to hear the news.

"He seems to have stabilised." he tells us. Everyone smiles at the news, Rick and Lori of course look the happiest out of all of us.

Rick goes up the steps and hugs Hershel to thank him for his services. When they pull apart Lori speaks.

"I don't have words." she says, a huge grin plastered on her face.

"I don't either. I wish I did." Hershel says. "How do I tell Patricia about Otis?"

When he asks the question I look at Shane.

"You go to Carl." Rick tells Lori. "I'll go with Hershel."

One by one everyone goes into the house, Hershel first, then Rick, Maggie, Glenn, T-Dog, Lori then Shane. I stay outside, wanting to take in the stars a little longer. I make my way over to the rocking chair that T-Dog was sitting in. I rock in the chair gently, I've rarely ever sat in a rocking chair. As I stare into the black sky, I hear weeping from inside the house. I get up from the rocking chair and walk to the window that will show me who is crying.

In the kitchen I see Patricia, being comforted by Rick and Hershel. She looks like she is about to fall, but they grab her before she can collapse.I step away from the window and walk back to the chair. I sit down and put my legs up to my chest. I rest my chin on my knees.

I cannot start on how glad I am to hear that Carl will be alright, but I feel so sorry for Patricia, losing her husband.

It has been a long day.

~

We all start our day by collecting rocks. I was told it was for Otis' grave. Everyone except for Hershel, Rick and Lori are collecting rocks. Shane decided to get a new haircut last night, shaving all his hair off. I don't know why. I talked to Glenn about it, but he doesn't know either. I've finally met Beth and Jimmy. Beth is Hershel's other daughter and Jimmy is her boyfriend. We haven't talked a lot today, but hopefully I will learn more as the days go by.

We've spent over ten minutes, possibly twenty gathering rocks and throwing them in a nearby wheelbarrow. As I chuck a couple in the wheelbarrow, a low rumble of an engine can be heard in the distance. Everyone stops what they are doing and looks at what is making the noise.

Coming round the corner is Daryl, riding his motorbike, a car and the RV. They continue driving down the road, about to make their way to us.

"I'll go get Lori and Rick." T-Dog says and starts to jog back to the house. The three vehicles drive past us and they all park near the house. Everyone starts to head back to the house, leaving the wheelbarrow.

T-Dog, Rick, Lori and Hershel all walk out of the house. Carol, Daryl, Andrea and Dale start making their way up to the front of the house.

"How is he?" Dale asks when he gets close to them.