Twist of Fate

9

Her heart was pumping in her ears and her breath came in short gasps. Her legs were pushing harder and harder, her muscles straining as the soles of her shoes pounded against the ground. The only sound in her ears was her heartbeat and the thuds of her footfalls. Her hair whipped behind her, sweat beading on her forehead and neck.

"Hershel!!" She screamed as she sprinted through the grass toward the farmhouse.

There were 5 people on the porch, Aurora yelled "We need Hershel! He was shot!" as she got closer, Rick followed behind her as fast as he could.

An older man stepped forward as Rick caught up, heaving, "He was shot by your man. Help me. Help my boy!"

"Get him inside!"

Hershel led them inside the house, ordering Patricia to get a med kit and Maggie to grab painkillers, coagulates, and everything else they had. The old man was rolling up his sleeves, shouting instructions to his family, and showing Rick where to put his son.

Hershel asked Rick for a pillowcase as he stumbled backward and muttered "Is he alive?"

Aurora grabbed the pillowcase instead and handed it to him as he pressed it into Carl's wound.

Hershel placed a stethoscope on Carls, chest, "I've got a heartbeat. It's faint."

Patricia was pushing them away from the bed, her voice stern "I've got it. Step back."

Rick was still staring at his son, and Maggie pulled him away, "We need some space."

Hershel asked Rick and he stuttered, fear clouding his brain as he tried to introduce himself.

The older man stepped into Rick's line of vision, "Rick, we're gonna do everything we can, okay? You need to give us some room."

Aurora grabbed Rick and tugged him away, guiding him out of the room as he stared behind him at his son.

They stepped into the entryway of the house. Rick had a look of pure shock on his face, she grabbed his arms and looked him in the eye, "He's going to be okay. There are people in there helping him. He's strong, he's going to make it." Rick was staring straight past her, no indication that he was listening to what she was saying so she raised her voice, "That's your kid, which means he's gonna pull through. Got it?"

Carl had 5 bullet fragments that needed to be removed. He was bleeding internally and Hershel needed to perform surgery.

So far, after Aurora woke up in the hospital, almost everything that could go wrong went wrong. That reminded her of that quote, an actual scientific theory if she could remember correctly, that 'everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.'

Shane joked if it was too late to take back saying the rest was up to him. The supplies Hershel needed were at a nearby high school that was overrun. Otis volunteered to go with Shane and Maggie sent out to find Lori.

You could hear the horse galloping up to the farm as Lori was brought to see her son. She grabbed Rick, crying in disbelief at the news. He brought his wife inside, and Aurora hugged her, offering reassurances. Lori nodded at her, eyes wide, as she continued to the room Carl was in.

Aurora left the tense atmosphere of the living room, opting to sit on the Porch. She pulled the pack of cigarettes that Carl gave her out of her pocket. She smiled sadly as she looked at them, grabbing the lighter he also gave her. Smoking wasn't the best idea with all the running she's had to do lately, but the two kids of the group were in trouble, and at the moment there was nothing she could do for either of them.

Watching the sunset on the Greene property was beautiful. For a moment, as the sky turned orange, yellow, and red, she forgot what the world had turned into. When night had officially fallen Maggie stepped outside, sitting next to Aurora on a rocking chair.