ch.12

broken

me and daryl clung to each other for support, slowly making our way toward the small plot of land.

when we made it to land, my eyes shifted to the arrow still in his side. he reached down, about to pull it out, only to get scolded by me.

"no, don't! here let me help you" i stated, looking around for any supplies, but was out of luck. i looked at my long sleeves, soon afterwards ripping them off my arms, leaving me in a tank top.

i knotted the two sides together, wrapping it around his body and the arrow, making it so it didn't move.

"if we get home, i'll pull it out, and stitch you up. i can't risk pulling it out while we're stranded like this"

he nodded, moving his eyes away from mine and to the steep hillside. "stay here, i'm gonna go search for my bow"

i gave him concerned eyes, pointing to his wound, "what? no. i told you it'll get infected"

he rolled his eyes, "that's one of my last worries right now"

i opened my mouth to talk, but he had already jumped back into the water. i couldn't even go and help.

after awhile he returned with his bow, and a long stick. "okay, strap this over your shoulders" he instructed, handing me his crossbow.

i obeyed, placing it on my back, looking up to him. he reached out his hand for me to grab, which i did, making sure that i didn't make my ankle worse as he pulled me to my feet.

"hop on."

my eyes widened, grabbing his shoulder so he could face me, "no, i'll risk hitting your arrow"

he yanked his arm away from my grip, staring deep into my soul, "enough with the risks, it's life or death now."

i hesitated before nodding, hopping onto his back, avoiding the arrow as much as i could.

i watched as he started climbing the hillside, using the long stick he found for support.

we got up so far, only for daryl to grab the wrong branch, sending us flying off the hill again.

this time, the fall knocked the wind out of me, causing my body to tremble. i wheezed, unable to catch my breath.

i slowly started to take deep breaths, trying to get my breathing under control. "da-daryl" i uttered, holding back tears from the amount of pain i was in.

i didn't get an answer, causing me to turn and look to where he laid. i quickly put myself together, crawling to where he was, unconscious.

"daryl, come one" i whimpered, shaking his body. a growl caught my attention as i turned, seeing a lone walker, stumbling near me.

i crawled away from daryl, leading it away from him, getting out my knife during the process.

he tripped over his feet, launching himself towards me, pinning my arms to the ground. grunts and whimpers escaped my mouth as i fought him off, finally taking my chance to nail him in the head.

i let out a sigh, pushing the lifeless body off of me and to the side. my eyes slowly shifting back to where daryl was.

the relief didn't last long as another walker appeared, gnawing on daryls shoes.

"daryl! wake up!" i shouted, watching his eyes flutter open, realizing his situation.

he slid himself back up against the hillside, smacking it in the face with his foot . i knew it was already too late to crawl and help him.

but to my surprise, he fastly outsmarted the walker, shoving a sharp stick through its head.

i noticed that his arrow had been pulled out, causing me to look at him in shock that he wasn't bleeding out.

"you okay?" he asked, earning a slight nod from me, as i was still in shock from everything that just happened.

"come on, we're trying this again." he started, talking about climbing the hill, "but this time we both need to contribute and make sure we don't fall."

i nodded, watching him cut the ears off the walkers, stringing them onto two separate homemade necklaces.

"here, it shows our achievements"

i chuckled, taking the ear necklace from his hand, pulling it over my head and onto my neck.

"let's do this." i stated, earning a confident nod, "let's do this"

i helped contribute, by holding most of my weight up off his back by pulling on branches.

"come on, one more step" i assured, watching him struggle to get to the top, but soon felt myself feel the surface.

"we made it" i stated, out of breath and dehydrated. in a quick movement, daryl swung my arm around his shoulders, helping me walk. _____________glenns pov

"shouldn't mel and daryl be back by now?" i questioned dale as we stood outside the rv door.

he shrugged, "i'm sure they're fine, they're the two most headstrong people i've ever met"

i nodded, looking up to andrea who was yelling, "walkers. walkers!"

my head shot to where she was looking, seeing two little specs in the distance. "how many?" rick questioned, appearing from behind me.

"only two, i bet i can nail them from here" she insisted, grabbing the shotgun off the floor.

"no no, andrea. put the gun down." rick instructed, as i grabbed a weapon off the floor, as did tdog and shane.

"you'd best let us handle this." shane stated, making his way to where we were.

"shane, hold up. hershel wants to deal with walkers." rick added, causing him to scoff, "what for, man? we got it covered"

shane led the way, me and tdog following behind, and soon rick.

i watched as the two bodies trudged through the long grass, seeming almost familiar.

"is that daryl and melanie?" i questioned, seeing the two beaten bodies, dirt covering every inch of them.

"that's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head" daryl sneered, giving rick a dirty look. i watched as the two clung to each other for support.

"for gods sake, put the damn gun down!" mel shouted, causing rick to obey her, dropping the gun to his side.

a gunshot rang through the air, my eyes shot to where the two once stood, both now falling to the ground.

"no! no!" rick screamed at andrea. my heart dropped to my stomach, rushing to her side.

she was no longer conscious, but not because of a bullet wound. none of the blood on her body was hers.

i swung her arm around my shoulder, sliding my arm under her legs to fully carry her, bridal style.

"oh my god. oh my god. are they dead?" andrea called out, seeing both melanie and daryl unconscious.

"just unconscious. you just grazed him, i'm not sure about melanie." rick informed, his breath shaking.

"look at them. what the hell happened? they're wearing ears" i pointed out, ripping them off from around melanies neck.

"let's keep that to ourselves." _____________melanies pov

my eyes flickered open, feeling discomfort throughout my body. i groaned, trying to sit up.

"hey. hey, take it easy killer" i heard a familiar voice say, causing me to turn to my right, seeing glenn beside me.

i gave him a weird stare, before looking around the room, memories of me and daryls expedition flooded my mind.

"my ankle feels like it's been smashed with a hammer" i uttered, looking down to see a grey walking boot on my foot.

"you've got to be fucking kidding me" i mumbled, knowing i was much weaker now.

"watch the language, the greene's don't swear" glenn advised, placing a hand on my arm.

"oh my god, where's daryl? is he alive?" i questioned, remembering the gunshot before i passed out.

glenn nodded, "he's in the other room, i'd give him some space"

i nodded, finally getting all my questions answered.

i grabbed glenns hands, pulling him from sitting on the chair to the bed, "the scariest part was thinking i might not see you again." i frowned

glenn pulled me into a gentle hug, trying not to press on any of my bruises. "the scary part is over, i'm here now..."

he sighed pulling away from me, still keeping his arms on my sides. "and i'm gonna do everything in my power to keep you safe"

i smiled, looking down at our intertwined hands, "glenn.." i started, causing him to let out a hum, "i'm hungry"

his chuckle caused my head to shoot up, and watch as he nodded while giggling. "come on, dinner should be ready."

i clapped excitedly, watching him stand up and grab two crutches leaning against the wall. he smiled down at me, handing me them.

once i was up and steady, we headed to the dining room, getting a whiff of savory smells. "smells good" i complimented as i entered the room.

lori and carol turned from the sink, sending both me and glenn smiles. "have a seat, i'll bring you a plate" lori stated, earning a nod.

i took a seat at the second table where hershels two daughters sat, maggie and beth.

the younger blonde smiled, greeting me after i got my food, "the crutches must suck, huh? hopefully you won't be on them for long"

i nodded, grabbing the salt, "yeah, hopefully." ___________

    "it's weird to see you up this early" dale remarked, watching as i limped to where he stood, "good morning"

   "good morning, dale." i started, taking a seat by the swing he stood by, "couldn't sleep, my ankle hurt too much."

   he nodded, looking to where shane and rick were, packing up the car for gun training. "the bag of merles stash is in the rv, take what you need."

   i shook my head, "it's not too intense, i'll save it for someone who really needs it."

   "suit yourself, kid" he mumbled, raising his hand to rest on top of the swing. "you coming?" shane yelled, making my head to turn and look in his direction.

   "i got to help dale clean the spark plugs in the rv. he's gonna teach me and mel mechanics" glenn informed, causing dale to scoff lightly.

   "what is this boy talking about?" he mumbled, watching glenn point behind himself, not realizing we were there.

   "i should probably go look for him."

   "you found us" dale chimed in, causing glenns head to whip around, looking at us. "they're good learners!" dale assured, covering glenns ass.

   shane shrugged, hopping in the car, leaving the three of us alone. "spark plugs, huh? want to tell me what's going on?" dale questioned glenn who slowly walked towards us.

   "you're old... you're- you know things. so what if somebody told you something that somebody else should know—?"

    i raised my eyebrows, crossing my arms over my chest, "glenn, stop being dramatic. spit it out"

    he glanced between me and dale hesitantly, "there's — there's walkers in the barn and loris pregnant" he stammered, his words causing me and dales eyes to widen.

   "ho- how do you know?" i questioned, causing glenn to shift uncomfortably.

  "last night, i was heading to the barn to try and set up a place for us to have a date because you had went through so much and i thought it would be something nice." he explained, while dale looked at him as if he was crazy, "and with lori, she asked me to get her a pregnancy test."

    dale looked away, trying to figure out what to say. "okay. okay, i'm gonna talk to hershel." he started, clearing his throat, "don't tell anyone until i talk with him, okay?"

   we both nodded, "i promised lori id help carl with school. i'm gonna prepare for when he gets back." i informed, now stepping away from the two.

   i limped to where lori was sitting by the fire, "you okay?" i questioned her, seeing a sickness wash over her face from the smell of food.

   "yeah, i'm not sure what's gotten into me." she replied, lying. i shook my head, "i think you do. you don't need to be a doctor to see the main cause of nausea"

    she gave a weird look before realizing glenn had told me, "glenn told you?"

    i scoffed smiling, "what did you expect? he's my boyfriend." i started, placing a hand on hers for comfort, "you're secret's safe with me, and i'm here if you need anything."

   she smiled, squeezing my hand, "thank you, i appreciate you and glenns help. i'm just not sure what to do."

i quirked a brown, giving her questioning eyes, "memories keep me going now. memories of what life used to be. i've got a deep well to draw on, i still remember joy." she started, tears starting to brim her eyes, "but i think carl's well is already running dry. and this baby, won't have any good memories at all. only fear and pain."

i slid off my seat, kneeling in front of her, "lori, you can't think like that. we can still find joy-."

before i could continue, the other vehicles appeared, causing me and lori to stop our conversation.

i stood up, waving to greet rick and carl as they walked towards us. "you ready for school?" i asked, earning a disgusted look from carl.

we all chuckled watching his facial expression. i shook my head, "come on,rascal."___________

glenn had informed me he was going on another run into town with maggie, which made me feel better.

i regret that i couldn't go, but with my ankle it was too much of a risk. plus i was already having a good time with carl, and he needed me now.

"how's my boy doing?" lori questioned, smiling to carl as she sat down next to us. "even better than i had expected" i smiled, reassuring her.

"can i have a break? i've been doing school for hours." carl complained, looking between us, "am i really that boring?" i joked.

he shook his head, "i'd rather be reading comics."

i scoffed closing his school book, "go on, schools out." i smiled, watching him quickly run off to where his dad was.

"mind keeping me company while i fold laundry?" she questioned, causing me to nod, "i think i need some girl talk, glenn might kill me if he has to hear anymore of it"

she chuckled as she stood up, i slowly did the same, trying not to make my ankle worse. before we could even make it to the clothes, my eyes spotted maggie, storming towards us. glenn followed close behind, yelling her name.

________________________________2/18/2021