How to Save a Life

Everything was an eggshell white, we ruined that. Drops of blood now stained the hardwood floor leading to an upstairs room. I sat hunched over in a wooden chair, an eggshell white cushion placed under my butt. The screaming had stopped at this point as Carl had eventually passed out from the pain. The man who fired off the shotgun led us to his close friends' country farmhouse. His friend, Herschel, had been a veterinarian who had the experience and enough supplies to try and help Carl. We sprinted here, it was a long run through the woods. Rick carrying Carl's pale-lifeless body while weeping. There were no questions asked when we got here, but everyone in the house knew they had to act fast and help.

The daughter of the veterinarian placed a cup of tea in front of my face, offering it to me. I sat up, "Thanks," I half smiled and took the cup from her. My hands shook, a smear of blood staining the delicate china.

"What's your name?" she asked me, her southern accent noticeable.

"Scar."

"I'm Maggie," she smiled.

"Nice to meet you," was all I could get out to her, holding a conversation didn't seem to be in my books right now. Maggie noticed that.

"My daddy's real good you know. He's never worked on a human before, but not one animal on the farm has died unless it's been from old age," she tried her best to reassure me. She seemed to be a quirky girl, but then again that could just be her southern accent making her sound that way. She didn't look to be that old, I would peg her around the same age as Glenn and I. I just smiled.

Rick then came tumbling down the stairs, his shirt stained red and blood smeared across his forehead. I immediately got up and followed him out to the porch, grabbing a towel from the dining room table on the way. He stood knelt over the railing, staring down at the grass, his blue eyes bloodshot from crying. I grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards me.

"Why did I let him come with us, he should have stayed with Lori, he would have been safer with Lori," he cried as I wiped Carl's blood off of his face.

"No, you can't go down that road. You did nothing wrong, he wasn't in any danger until that gunshot went off," I reassured him. "Here clean your hands." I handed him the towel, trying to distract him.

"Lori has to know, Carl can't be here laying on that bed without her here. Scar, she doesn't even know," he said distraught. He began to pace like he was debating on leaving just so he could go get her.

"Rick, I'll take care of that. You have to stay here with Carl. God forbid anything happens-" he immediately looked up at me and I stopped myself. "I will go get Lori, you need to stay with Carl," I said and he nodded his head, more tears pricking his eyes.

"Rick!" Maggie called out. We immediately ran back inside. "My dad needs to talk to you."

"What is it doc?" Rick asked as we approached the bedroom they had Carl in.

"Well he's out of the weeds for now," he explained. "But I need to remove those remaining fragments."

"How? You saw how he was." Rick asked.

"I know, and that was the shallowest of the pieces, I need to go deeper to get the others."

"Oh man," I exhaled.

"There's more, his belly is extended, his pressure is dropping, which means there is internal bleeding. I have to open him up, find the bleeder, and stitch it back up. The problem is that I can't have him moving like he was before or there is no way he's gonna make it back from this." Herschel explained.

"So what do we do?" I spoke up.

"Well I'll have to put him under, but he won't be able to breathe on his own, so we'll need a respirator."

"Where are we going to find that? The nearest hospital went up in flames about a month ago," Otis, the man who shot Carl, asked.

"I was thinking the High School-"

Rick then cut him off, "If you had all the supplies you needed, you could save him?"

"If I had all that I could try," he said, telling Rick that he could do his absolute best without getting his hopes up.

"Last time I saw the High School was overrun with walkers, it could be better now," Otis said.

"I'll take care of that," Shane finally spoke up.

"I don't want you going alone," Rick shook his head.

"I'll be fine. Doc if you just made me a list and draw me a map-"

"You won't need a map, I'll take you there.. I was the one who did it anyway," Otis offered. He was clearly feeling the guilt of his unfortunate shot.

"I should thank you," Rick said.

"Wait 'til that boy of yours is up and around and then we'll talk," he faintly smiled.

"Where is she? Your wife?" Maggie stepped forward to ask Rick.

"I'll be going to get her, if I could borrow one of your horses," I spoke up.

"For sure, I'll go with you," Maggie nodded.

-------

We were quite a ways into the woods, pushing the horses into a canter to get to the group as fast as we could. They should be back at the highway by now and I was leading the way there. We were about 200 yards out from it when a blood-curdling scream rang in my ears, coming for just ahead. I could tell it was Andrea and I kicked my horse along faster, Maggie followed close behind. From the distance I could see two walkers cornering her, one grabbing at her shoulders and pushing her to the ground. The rest of the group came running from the side, trying to save her but they were in no way going to be able to get to her in time without letting off a shot and drawing more towards them. I was about 10 meters away when I yanked my crowbar out of the pocket on my saddle and readied it to hit the walker's head clean off. Andrea was on her back pushing herself away as fast as possible until I rode by and made direct contact with the walker's skull. Maggie followed my actions, whacking the second walker with her baseball bat.

"Lori Grimes?" Maggie yelled out, turning her horse to the group.

"That's me?" Lori questioned jogging towards us. Glenn followed her looking to be in complete awe at the girl before him.

"Lori, it's Carl.. he's been shot," I told her and her face went as white as a ghost.

"We need you to come with us now," Maggie was very urgent, grabbing Lori by the arm and helping her onto the back of her horse. They immediately rode off.

"Man, the hell's going on," Daryl yelled.

"We're at a farm just on the other side of the Church, they're trying to save Carl's life," I explained.

"You're just gonna let Lori get on a horse with a girl we don't know?" Daryl was rattled.

"Daryl, they're good people, just trust me," I said. He huffed, his way of obliging. "From the highway backtrack to Fairborn Road, two miles down is the farm, the name on the mailbox is Greene." I gave them directions, Daryl already walking away. "Glenn you coming?" I asked, reaching out my arm for him. I knew Daryl and Dale would be able to get them there just fine. He reached back out, hoisting himself onto the back of my horse. We rode off as soon as we could.