[Rough Draft] Keres : The Walking Dead

Death to the deer

The rest of the group heads back to the highway while Rick, Shane, Carl and I keep searching.

"Keres! Have you ever shot a gun before?" Carl asks me excitedly.

"Yeah." I say trying not to engage too much.

"Have you ever shot something?" He asks.

"Define something." I say as I watch Shane almost trip over a tree root.

"Like a living creature? I had a BB gun and shot a bird once. Have you ever shot something alive?" He asks with a curious gaze.

I give a side eye to Shane before I respond. "Yup."

"Cool! What was it?!" Carl asks excitedly.

"A kid who wouldn't shut up." I respond with no emotion in my voice and Carl gulps.

"Don't listen to her, she's not a people person." Shane comforts Carl and I just roll my eyes and keep searching ahead of them.

We start walking into the woods for a while until I hear a twig snap. I signal for them to stay behind me, I look around and see something move. It's a stag. It's probably 30 feet from me, minding it's own business, not knowing that possible danger is near.

I think of shooting it but then I hear Carl behind me and decide against it. He seems so intrigued and awestruck. I turn my head and see his eyes look at it in amazement. Some small part of me is happy for him, that he still has a bit of innocence left.

Suddenly a gunshot tramples the silence and the deer runs off and Carl starts falling to the ground. I stop him from hitting his head on a rock and see blood seeping through his shirt. Rick runs over, panic obviously rushing through his veins.

I look around and see a large man and he's repeating that he didn't see us until it was too late. Shane grabs him by the shirt and about throttles him.

"I can help him! I know a doctor who lives not far from here." The large man pleads.

"Where?!" Rick yells as he gets a limp Carl in his arms.

The man tells Rick to ask for Hershel and that Otis sent him and Rick starts running with a bleeding Carl in his arms. Shane and I follow behind the oaf of a man named Otis. My blood is boiling with rage.

After a few minutes we get to a white farm house and an old man with white hair opens the door and rushes to Carl's aid. Rick is panicking, and Shane's threatening Otis. Suddenly a woman gets in between the two, stopping things from spiraling. Shane huffs and rubs his head after taking a step back.

Hershel asks Rick what Carl's blood type is and he says it's the same as his, A positive. He tells Rick that he's gonna need to give Carl some of his blood and Rick nods his head.

A few minutes later Rick goes out on the deck with Shane. I stay inside to give them some privacy see that the lady named Patricia is serving as Hershel's nurse.

"I don't understand...the bullet should have gone all the way through the boy...it shouldn't have created fragments like it did..." Hershel comments clearly confused.

"Otis did you hit the deer?" Hershel asks the large man.

"No, it ran off just as I took the shot." Otis answers.

Rick and Shane come back inside from the porch and they both seem a little calmer. Rick nods to me and I can tell he's been crying.

"The only reason this boy is alive is because it broke off into fragments. It had to have hit something before it entered the boy." Hershel explains, still stumped.