Savage World •••Daryl Dixon•••

Out of the Woods

Gunshots sizzled through the air above Asher who laid prone in the grass, body still reeling with the realization that she had been truly shot. She could hear the howls of Meeko as the serval skulked through the grass towards her.

"Asher!" She took in a few deep breaths and waited for the few seconds of silence to mean that everyone was reloading and she pushed to her feet.

"Meeko, follow!" She yanked her crossbow off her back and forced her arms to comply and hold the weapon in both hands, blood running in rivulets down her fingers that were starting to shake.

"Asher!" She spotted Daryl and Merle with the others on the other side of the fence, slamming magazine clips into machine guns to prepare to keep firing at the attackers.

"Dixie! Merle!" She got almost halfway across when a big truck slammed into the main gates, Asher jumping out of the way with Meeko quick behind her. The back of the truck was faced towards her and she watched the metal grating start to drop down at her.

"Meeko, run!" The two split in different directions as the ramp slammed into the dirt, followed by over a dozen walkers snarling and looking for blood. Asher jumped to her feet and looked for the clearest way to the others but found none. There were walkers everywhere, and more were piling in by the second. She lifted her crossbow and shot at the closest walker. The kickback sent white hot pain burning down her arm and her ribcage, making the girl shriek in hurt. She couldn't use it again, another shot could make her pass out and that would be the death of her.

Slinging her crossbow over her back, she drew her sword instead and sliced a walker in half from the top of his head down. But even that hurt, and she knew that if she didn't get to safety and close up the bullet hole then she was going to die out here. A silver truck barrels by and slams to a stop, the door opening to show Glenn, Hershel, and Michonne inside.

"Asher! Get in!" She let out a shrill whistle, spotting Meeko sprinting through the grass and launching into the truck bed, hunkering down below the edge so the walkers couldn't see her. With her friend safe, she shot forward into the truck and slammed the door closed seconds before a walker smacked into the glass.

"Were you bit?" Asher looked weakly over to Michonne beside her, shaking her head softly to say no.

"Gunshot. Can't tell where, it all hurts like a bitch." The truck stopped inside the gates and everyone got out as fast as possible to make their run for the prison before anyone else got shot. As they were retreating for the cell block doors, she caught the glint of a gun barrel taking aim for Merle, who was acting as a human shield for Beth and Carol.

"Look out!" She shoved Merle forward so he pushed into the two women and closer to safety. A single gunshot boomed through the world, the bullet burying deep into flesh and blood spurted from the body it slammed into.

"No!" Daryl and Merle whipped around to Asher, the girl on her knees with a hand to her abdomen just below the ribcage, crimson blood seeping between her fingers. "Asher!"

"Dixie?" She looked up from her blood soaked shirt, features marred in pain. "I'm sorry." Her eyes rolled and she collapsed, Daryl lurching forward to catch her while Merle lifted his gun to cover them both.

"Get 'er inside! Now!" Daryl scooped up the girl and didn't waste a second breaking for safety. Once he was inside, Merle followed and slammed the door closed.

"Hershel! Hershel, help!" Daryl's voice echoed through the prison and he found the elderly man waiting in what they called the medical cell. He set the girl on the bottom bunk and hovered stupidly, waiting for Hershel to tell him what to do.

"Daryl, you need to help put pressure on the wound. She'll bleed out if you don't. Merle, you too. If she starts to thrash, she'll rip her wounds further or open up any old ones. Now!" Daryl pressed down on her abdomen while Merle took the shoulder wound. Hershel sent almost everyone out to gather some form of supply, be it towels or hot water or anything else he would need.

"Need to see if the wounds are clean. Turn her on her side for me." The brothers moved in gentle unison to lift her on her side so Hershel could feel for an exit wound.

"What's the word?" He sat back and motioned for them to put her back on the bunk.

"Luckily the one to her abdomen went through clean, but that one on her shoulder fragmented. Not sure how many pieces she could have buried in her bones, and I can't open her up to see I don't have the supplies or the equipment. I can only close them up."

"Will she be alright?" Daryl eyed Hershel as he prepped the sutures and needles. "Hershel, will she be alright?"

"As long as she can keep out an infection." He started to close up her wounds, everyone pausing when her breathing started to rattle and grow labored.

"What's going on?!" Carl demanded from his place beside his dad. Hershel leaned down and pressed his fingers against her ribs, feeling for any punctured lungs but found nothing until he felt around her bullet wound.

"The bullet must have nicked her lung, it's filling up with blood. If I don't empty it and close the hole, she'll drown. I need a blade, any will do. And I need a short straight tube." Carl handed him a short and thin pocketknife while Beth returned with the tube he asked for. Asher took in another rickety breath, this one louder than the first but shorter and more labored.

"Oh my god!" Maggie whispers to herself as Glenn wrapped his arms around her protectively. Carol reached out for Beth, who looked on the verge of tears and Carl, looking very much in the same boat as the Greene daughter. Keeping the comfort chain going, Beth held Maggie's hand and Carl reached for his dad- who in turn gripped Daryl on the shoulder.

Hershel held the tip of the blade above the wound between two ribs and waited a second before slamming down on the back so shove the blade hilt deep into her lung. Quickly removing the blade, he slid the tube through the new opening and scooped up a syringe they used for her feeding tube. Instead of pushing food down, he pulled back to draw blood out. Blood filled up almost half of the large syringe before she took in a breath that didn't sound terribly painful. A sigh of utter relief swept through the group, and Hershel set the syringe to the side before turning back to the unconscious teen.

"Don't get too excited, there's still a lot to do. She ain't out of the woods yet."