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chapter fifteen | the white flower
LAUREL WAS SITTING on the couch with her sister resting her head on her lap while Ethan was looking out the window in silence across from them. Laurel was brushing Cassie's oily and dirty hair to soothe her to sleep. She noticed her tear-stained cheeks and the darkened circles around the girl's eyes. Laurel couldn't imagine it was easy watching one of her friends get shot.
T-Dog, Glenn, and Maggie came to sit in the living room with them as well. Waiting to hear any news from Maggie's father, Hershel, or Rick about how Carl was doing. They all waited with anxiety filling their stomachs.
"Cassie, what happened?" Laurel asked, the curiosity how this happened gnawing at her.
Cassie opened her eyes before taking a deep breath, "we were just walking and you know, looking for Sophia when a deer walked out in front of us... Carl, he— he grabbed my hand and we walked up to it. And, it was the prettiest animal we have ever seen. It was looking right at us, the prettiest eyes and antlers, ever. They were bigger than me!" She exclaimed excitedly before she remembered what happened next and tears flooded from her eyes. Laurel wiped them away softly, smiling down at her, encouraging her to keep going. Cassie took another deep breath before continuing, "I was still holding his hand when he got shot. The bullet went right through the deer and hit him and we fell..." Cassie sobbed in Laurel's stomach.
"Otis shot the deer, he didn't see them behind it. He brought them to the farm... He and Shane left a few hours ago to get the supplies my dad needed to save Carl's life," Maggie explained quietly.
Cassie's sobs then filled the room, and Laurel tried to calm her down. Ethan rested his head on the window and let the cold glass cool him down. That bullet could have hit her as easily as it hit Carl, he realized.
Headlights shun in his eyes and he squinted. A green truck pulled up to the front of the house, "Is that them?" He asked.
Maggie yelled out for her dad, everyone rushing outside to greet Shane as he climbed out of the car limping with two large camping backpacks filled with the supplies Hershel asked for.
Hershel grabbed the bags from Shane before looking around for Otis, "Otis?" He asked Shane.
"No," he whispered.
The group fell into silence, Maggie and Hershel stunned by the heartbreaking news of their family member.
"We say nothing to Patricia. Not till after. I need her," Hershel ordered. He ran back inside while Rick and Shane shared a moment. Laurel embraced Maggie who stood by her as she tried to pull herself together but as soon as Laurel hugged her, she let it go—holding onto Laurel as she sobbed.
➸
Laurel sat at the kitchen table with Maggie as she talked about her uncle, holding her hand as Glenn stood by. "I've known Otis since I was a kid. He's run this farm since before my mother died."
