Scarlett Greene hadn't spoken since she was twelve. After her Daddy was arrested for abuse when she was seventeen, she is sent to live with her Uncle Hershel. Her life gets better, but the trauma is still there.
When the apocalypse begins, she take...
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the copper and the bleeding boy
SCARLETT WAS SHOCKED TO SEE A MAN RUNNING ACROSS THE FARM WITH A BLEEDING BOY IN HIS ARMS. She was not sure what to be more shocked about—the bleeding boy or that there were other people alive so close.
She was glad when Jimmy opened the gate for her, closing it quickly as her truck passed. She revved the gas to get to the house as quickly as possible, not even bothering to turn off the car before jumping out and rushing inside.
Hershel was talking to Patricia quickly before his eyes grazed over Scarlett's figure, seeing some bloody spots but no real danger. "Scarlett, I need your help. Come."
She walked into the room to see the young man on the bed, and what she believed to be his father leaning over him.
Hershel had let them into the house before asking any questions. He was a good Christian at heart. He had to be in this world. "Was he bit?"
The man shook his head. "Shot, by your man."
Patricia seemed shocked. "Otis?"
"He said find Hershel. Is that you? Help me—Help my boy," the man pleaded.
Hershel told Scarlett what to grab, though she was already grabbing everything she would need to help him. Once they found a heart beat, she saw a bit of relief hit the man's shoulders.
"What's your name?" Hershel asked.
"Rick," the man—Rick—stammered.
"Rick?" Hershel confirmed.
"I-I'm Rick."
"Okay, Rick, we're gonna do everything we can, okay? You need to give us some room," he told him before looking at Scarlett. "C'mon, Scarlett. Get the IV set up."
Scarlett wasted no time, getting the little boy as comfortable as possible. Another man ran in, Otis following. Rick stood in the corner as the other man held him close.
"You'll be okay to give blood?" Hershel asked Scarlett.
Rick shook his head. "She don' have to do that. Carl's blood is the same as mine."
"That's fortunate, but she's O-Neg. She'll go first. If we need more, we'll take yours," Hershel said before looking to Otis. "What happened?"
"I was tracking a buck. Bullet went through. Went clean through," Otis mumbled.
Hershel nodded as he watched Scarlett get Carl prepped. She looked at the wound, making a tsking sound before holding up the number six. "The deer slowed the bullet down, which certainly saved his life, but it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out... and Scar is countin' six."
"I never saw him," Otis murmured, still shocked. "Not until he was on the ground."
"Lori doesn't know?" Rick asked the unnamed man. "Shane?"
"No," Shane replied. "She—"
"My wife doesn't know," Rick mumbled before falling to his knees and staring at his little boy on the bed.
Patricia sat Scarlett down, letting Scarlett shut her eyes before she stuck the needle in her vein. Blood poured out like a stream, and she just kept her eyes shut.
"I really could do it," Rick told her.
She did not respond.
Patricia smiled tightly at him. "She don' talk."
"What?"
Patricia just went back to her work, getting the blood from Scarlett. When Hershel began working on Carl, Carl woke up screaming.
"You hold him down!"
"DAD!"
"I got him," Shane said as Rick stared at the blood everywhere.
"Almost there," Hershel muttered as Rick tried to stop it. Scarlett's blood was going into Carl's little body as Hershel got one of the pieces out. Carl passed out quickly from blood loss or pain... or both. "He just passed out. One down, five to go. Pressure's stable," he finished as Scarlett felt Patricia fiddling with the needle.
"Lori needs to be here. She don' know what's goin' on. I got–I gotta go find her, bring her back," Rick muttered.
"You can't do that," Hershel argued.
"She's his mother! She needs to know what's happened. Her son's lying here, shit!" Rick yelled.
"And he's going to need more blood. When Scarlett can't take no more, you'll need to be here! You can't go more than 50 feet from this bed!" Rick began to walk out. Shane followed him saying he was going to get him.
Scarlett heard the two men muttering to themselves out the door, and she felt Patricia take the needle out as they got two bags full. She was given a bandage and told to go drink something to keep her from passing out. She nodded, knowing to listen to them.
Walking down the stairs, she passed Rick and Shane who gave her nods and smiles. She was still afraid of new people, but they did not seem so bad at the moment. She gave fearful smiles to the both of them before hauling ass down the stairs.
She felt dizzy as all hell, so she ate a cookie and grabbed some soda that they kept for special occasions. She needed one, so they could suck it.
Letting the fizziness go down her throat, she let out the classic 'aaahhh' afterward.
Maggie chuckled softly as she came down the stairs. "You okay, Scar?"
She gave an okay sign before questioning with a tilt of her head as to where she was going.
"Gotta get the copper's wife. Otis and Shane are going to the old high school to see if they can find the medical supplies to save little Carl," she started and saw Scarlett standing. "And no, you're not going with!" she finished, watching Scarlet sit down with a huff. "You gave lots of blood, and you might have to give more so just sit tight."
Scarlett nodded before she remembered the guns. Standing up, she ignored the protest of Maggie as she walked outside. She saw Jimmy by her truck, keys in his hand meaning he turned it off. He was staring at the guns.
She snatched the keys from him, telling him to never touch her baby truck ever again with her eyes, before opening the duffle bag of guns to show Maggie. She grabbed a small pistol, loaded it, and made Maggie take it. The eldest Greene was reluctant, but she eventually took it, sticking it in the back of her pants with a reluctant sigh.
