Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 16 (Ran Into Some Trouble)

Dale was stood atop the RV with his sniper rifle hanging on his shoulder and his binoculars lowered. As he scanned the area surrounding the farm he saw a movement by the gate. He held his binoculars up to his eyes to get a closer look. He quietly gasped at the sight of an obviously injured CJ stumbling down the dirt road toward the house.

"Oh my god..." he whispered to himself. "Rick!" he yelled out, turning to where the sheriff was standing with Shane.

Rick ran over as Dale quickly climbed down off the RV. "What's going on?" he asked, noticing Dale's urgency.

"It's CJ, she's walking back but she looks hurt," Dale said.

Rick called Glenn over and told Lori to get Hershel. The three men ran over to a dishevelled CJ as she tried to made her way down the path towards them. As they got closer, they noticed a huge black eye and bruising in the shape of hand prints all around her neck. She had dried blood on her arms and the front of her clothes, but it didn't look like she was bleeding.

"CJ! Oh my god, what happened?" Glenn asked as they stood in front of her.

"I-uh..." she stuttered. "There was... there was this guy. Couple miles out." Her voice was low and raspy, it was painful to talk thanks to the strangling from that asshole.

"A guy?" Rick asked, taking a step forward towards her. "Who was he?"

"I don't know," she answered, blinking slowly. She was reluctant to tell them the whole story of what he did. "He attacked me. Think he just wanted to rob me, even after I told him I had nothin' worth stealin'." She slowly lifted her head to face Dale who was stood beside her, holding her arm with one hand while the other was on her shoulder. "I killed him... I killed him," she said, barely above a whisper as she nodded her head.

"Okay, it's okay," Dale said after a few seconds. "Come on, let's get you to Hershel," he added softly, leading her towards the house.

Glenn and Rick shared a look filled with both concern and confusion. Before following CJ and Dale down the path.

"Is Daryl back yet?" CJ asked, looking around to try and spot him. Carver had told her that he was the only one out in the woods but he could've been lying.

"Not yet. Don't worry about that right now. You need to let Hershel take a look at you," Dale replied.

As they walked past the RV, CJ noticed that the others had set up a small camp in front of the house. There were tents dotted around and a small campfire was lit, the flames dancing low in the dimness of the early evening.

The others in the group all looked over with wide eyes but Dale quickly shook his head at them before they could ask what had happened.

Lori and Hershel came out of the house as CJ, Rick, Glenn and Dale climbed the steps . "CJ, are you okay? What happened to you?" Lori asked with slightly wide eyes as she noticed the bruises and the blood that covered her.

"You could say I ran into some trouble," CJ huffed out.

"Come inside, I'll take a look at that eye," Hershel said softly as he lead the group into the dining room.

"You guys, I'm fine," CJ protested, her voice breaking slightly.

"You're not. Let Hershel look at you, then we'll talk," Rick said with a small nod. "We'll be right outside."

CJ sighed as she sat down at the table. Rick, Lori and Dale all left the room but Glenn insisted on staying with her, which CJ appreciated. Hershel came back into the room with a first aid kit and sat across from CJ so he could clean up her black eye and the few bloody scratches she had on her arms.