HEART FOR BRAINS • the walking dead

002: half less than the rest

Maggie had left Rio on the countertop. He'd fallen asleep as she patched him up, head resting against the nearest cupboard. His leg was now fully cleaned and stitched but it still ached. The boy jumped down from the counter, groaning as he landed. A jolt of pain shot down his leg.

The first thing he noticed was that it was night. The sky was dark, black even, and everything seemed empty. Rio wandered around the kitchen, turning the tap on and turning it back off again. He looked through cupboards, not planning to take anything but just for the sake of looking. He walked around for any sign that someone was here, all he got was the first aid kit messily splayed out upon the table.

The boy left the kitchen making his way through the house. He wanted to find someone. Anyone.

The door furthest from the kitchen was left ajar. It was at the end of the corridor just before the stairs. Rio walked over, poking his head between the gap in the door, careful not to open it incase it creaked. Inside lay a boy, his hair was dark and his skin was pale. Blood seeped through the bandage across the side of his stomach and his chest rose and fell slowly. Too slowly.

Carl.

If his appearance wasn't enough to tell Rio who it was, the man and woman sitting at his bedside would do it. Rick sat facing away from his wife and ate a sandwich, some sort of tube hanging from his arm. He looked distressed and sweaty. Lori sat with her hands together, resting her chin upon them. She sat at Carl's bedside, unmoving. She almost looked like she was praying.

Rio felt like he was intruding, which he probably was, so he stepped away. He walked into the corridor, about to go upstairs when a vehicle pulled up outside. Rio squinted his eyes as the light shone through gaps in the closed curtains, trying to make out the figures.

He opened the doors, stepping outside, only to be met with Maggie who was sat in a rocking chair out on the porch.

"You were sleepin'." She said, turning her head away from the car and facing the boy.

"Uh.. I woke up." He replied, unsure of what to say.

Glenn and another man he didn't recognise exited the car, beginning to walk towards the porch.

"Suppose you did." She responded, already ready to greet the two men.

Rio scrunched his face in confusion. Was he not supposed to have woken up? He was going to respond but was cut short by Glenn anyway. As him and the other man approached, he began to speak.

"Hello. Nice to see you again." Glenn announced, he rocked on the balls of his feet, nervously. "We met before, briefly." He explained to Maggie. He saw Rio who was stood behind the woman and waved down to him.

Rio waved back to him, biting his cheek to hide his smile.

"Look we came to help. There anything we can do?" The other man added before letting out a grunt of pain.

Maggie looked down at the man's arm, blood seeping through the make shift bandage taped to his arm. Bandages didn't seem to be helping anyone today.

"It's not a bite." He explained. "I cut myself pretty bad though."

"We'll have it looked at. I'll tell them you're here." Maggie answered. She got up out of her seat, standing before the front door as she held it open.

"We have some painkillers and antibiotics. I already gave him some, so if Carl needs any..." Glenn continued.

"Come on inside. I'll make you something to eat. You too." She nodded at Rio, gently pushing him through the door.