I promised some of you I would post the next chapter by today so here it is. Enjoy!
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[3rd POV]
"I won't do it. We can't just leave." Carol says argumentative.
"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale says tiredly.
"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen." Carol says worridley.
"If Sophia found her way back and we're gone, that would be awful." Andrea agrees.
"Okay." Daryl says, stopping his pacing in front of the RV. "We got to plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV." He says, not wanting to leave Ash.
"If the RV is staying, I am too." Dale says.
"Thank you." Carol says looking at them. "Thank you both."
"I'm in." Andrea says.
"Well, if you're all staying then I'm--" Glenn begins but is cut off by Dale.
"Not you Glenn. You're going." Dale says. "Take Carol's Cherokee."
"Me? Why is it always me?" Glenn asks.
"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most important, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option." Dale says. "That cut on his arm has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not, T-Dog will die, no joke."
As he was talking, Daryl walked up to his bike. He pulls out a plastic bag full of pill bottles. "Keep your oily rags off my brothers motorcycle." He says as he throws an oil rag at Dale. "Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brothers stash. Crystal, X. Don't need that. Some kicka** painkillers." He says as he tosses the bottle to Glenn who catches it. "Oxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class." He says as he tosses the next bottle to Dale who also catches it. "Merle got the clap on the occasion."
Later that night, Daryl, Andrea, and Carol were in the RV. Carol was on the bed beside Ash, crying and sobbing as she played with Ash's golden locks. Andrea was taking the gun apart and reassembling it over and over. Daryl got up, got his clip back from Andrea and they both walked out to look for Sophia, calming Carol a bit.
Carol continued to look down at the girl. Her arm was above her head, tied to the post and her ankle was as well tied up. Carol wiped the girls forehead with a damp rag, trying to cool her down. She knew that Ash was bit and was going to die. She just had to have hope for the girl like she had hope for her daughter. Hoping that both would survive and come back to them.
Carol gets up after a while and walks out of the RV, leaving Ash to sleep alone. She climbs the ladder on the side of the RV and sees Dale putting a pack of cigarettes back into his pocket. "Can't sleep?" He asks.
"I'm gonna wait for them to come back." She says looking around. "You can go down and sleep if you want to."
"No, we can keep watch together." Dale says and they stand side by side and look into the trees.
"Which way did they go?" She asks.
He points in the direction they went and they both look in that direction. "How is she?" He asks.
Carol sighs. "Her fever is still high. Dale, I don't think she's gonna make it. She's been bit."
Dale sighs heavily. "I know. But Rick, he...he wants us to hold out on her as long as we can."
"But she can't go on for much longer. We both know that."
"I know."
The next day, the group on the highway pull up onto the Greene's lawn and park their vehicles. They all get out of their cars and stand in front of a large group of unfamiliar faces. Rick walks out of the house in a stumble and makes his way to Dale. "How is he?" Dale asks.
"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori answers.
"And Shane." Rick says. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him." It's silent for a minute before Rick speaks again. "And Ash? Is -- Is she okay?"
Dale shakes his head as the rest of them puts their heads down. Rick becomes worried. "She...she has a fever. She uh....she needs help." Dale says.
"No..." Rick says worriedly.
"Bring her inside." Hershel automatically says. Daryl walks into the RV and walks over to Ash. He unties her restraints and gently picks her up.
He carries her out of the RV and as soon as the sun hits her skin, she gasps as the warmth touches her. Her skin glistens from the sweat and momentarily blinds all of them. Hershel leads him into the house and into another bedroom, not the one Carl is in. Daryl sets her on the bed and Hershel pushes everyone out of the room except Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog.
"What happened?" Hershel asks.
"She had Clostridium Botulinum or something. It caused her to be blind and paralyzed. She got the antitoxin for it but --" Rick began but was cut off by Hershel.
"The antitoxin has not been tested on humans before." He says in shock. "Why would you give that to her?"
"Dr Edward Jenner, the Dr at the CDC, gave it to her. It was the only way to save her." T-Dog says.
Hershel nods as he checks her heart beat. He notices the bandage on her shoulder and stands straight. "She was bit?"
Everyone in the room was quiet. "You can save her, right?" Rick asks looking down at Ash.
"How long has she been bit?" Hershel asks.
"About two and a half days." Daryl says.
"And she still hasn't turned?" Hershel asks, mostly to himself, as he opens the bandage and looks at her bite.
Hershel stares at it for a while before gently placing the bandage back over the bite and turning to the three. "It looks unnaturally clean for a bite. And you said this happened two and a half days ago?" He asked for clarification and the three males nodded. He sighs and rubs his hand down his face. "This...this is...unnatural. She should have turned by now." He turns back to Ash and puts a thermometer in her mouth. It reads 103 degrees Fahrenheit.
"She has a high fever. She just needs some rest and proper care and hope for the best." Hershel says, hoping that he can finally save someone who was bit.
They tie her wrist and ankle to the bedpost and lay the comforter over her. Hershel and T-Dog leave the room but Daryl and Rick stays. Rick sits in the chairs beside the bed as Daryl leans against the wall, staring at the floor.
Rick lays his head on the bed beside her and sighs heavily. Tears slip through his closed eyes as he tries to silence his pain. Daryl pretends not to notice as his own tears fall free. Outside, in the packed yard, Lori and Shane are leaned against the house.
"Why does he care so much for her? He just met her." Shane says angrily as he clenches his fists together in his folded arms.
"Give him a break. God knows what the two of them have been through trying to find us." Lori says shaking her head, trying not to think too much into it.
"You've seen the way he acts around her. You can't stand there and tell me you don't see it." Shane grumbles, trying to get her to take his side.
"Shane, they just met. There is nothing going on between them." She says, trying not to even believe her husband would do that.
"This is the end of the world, Lori. It doesn't matter anymore." Shane says and Lori pushes herself off of the house, walking away.
"Yes it does."
YOU ARE READING
Into The Dark
Fanfiction[Currently Under Rewrite] She was lost. She was alone. She was scared. She was surrounded by the dead. Ashley Grant was thrown into the terrifying world of the dead walking the streets. All she wanted was to go to the grocery store but she ran into...
