Found Book One

Hurt

"Hey look!" Carl yells quietly, pointing to a car on the side of the road. He looks at me, we've finally found something after four days of being out on the road.

Michonne smiles and moves to kill a walker, grumbling on the ground. "Come on. Let's get some firewood," the taller woman says. I nod and follow her into the woods.

"You did a good job patching Rick up. How'd ya learn to do that," she asks, my breath hitches at the question. "Just something I learned before, I took a first aid class," I mumble avoiding branches that could attract walkers.

I bend down and collect some of them, sticks from the crunchy leaves, "I'm sorry. About your dad and Mika," she says, kneeling beside me. I chuckle and shake my head, "Carol and her got on the bus. And Daryl is Daryl," I say glancing up at her.

Her eyes soften and she grabs my shoulder, "It's okay to miss them," she whispers taking my hand. "We stay alive for them," she says wrapping her hand around mine, I lurch forward and into her arms.

She strokes my hair and kisses my temple. "We are gonna find them. You know that right," she asks, I nod against her chest before pulling away.

"Yeah I do," I mutter wiping my cheeks, she nods and pulls me to my feet as she stands. We gather the sticks and branches we need for a small fire.

"On a scale of one to ten, how hungry is everybody?" Rick asks. Carl looks up from his rabbit leg. "Fifteen," he says, Rick looks to me, "Twelve," I answer.

Michonne raises her hand, "Twenty-eight," she challenges.

I laugh and take another bite of my rabbit meat. "After you two finish that you should go get in the van," Michonne says.

I smile and place my hands closer to the fire, "We shoulda gotten you some warmer clothes," she says rubbing my arm.

I shrug and throw my rabbit bones to the side of the road. I stand up and brush imaginary dirt off my hands.

I walk toward the blue van. Carl's fingers lace with mine as he opens the front door. "I'm not used to this anymore," he admits. I plant a kiss on his lips, "It gets easier," I whisper,  "I know."

I hear a clatter from outside the car. I sit up slowly when unknown voices start up a conversation. Carl jerks awake, I grab his jacket.

"Get up asshole," a gruff voice says. "You hear me. You screwed up!" a man says with a gun to Rick's head.

"Today's the day of reckoning sir! Restitution! The balancing of the whole damn universe!" he yells. Carl presses a finger over his lips. 

I gasp when a man slams his hands on the passenger side window. He presses a knife against the glass and Carl lets out a breathy dammit.

He pushes his back to me, "Shit! And I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve!" the old man laughs.

"Now who's gonna count down to the ball drop for me. Huh," he says before beginning his countdown.

I look around the area, six guys all with heavy guns. There are two guys with Rick and Michonne, one on either side of the car and two are standing in the middle of the road.

When he gets to eight someone calls what I assume is his name. A man walks forward to Michonne and Rick.

I look out the window to see Daryl, "Hold up," he says pointing to Joe. "You're stoppin' me at eight Daryl!" he yells, clearly annoyed.

"Jus' hold up," Daryl says again, the other men point their guns at Daryl as he continues to walk forward.

Joe starts ranting about how one of us killed two of his men. But the conversation fades away as I focus on the growing pit of fear in my stomach.