Survive ( twd carlgrimes)

Chapter 47

MADISON'S POV.

"CARL?" His name falls from my lips as I gasp for breath. Every thought runs through my head on high definition. My eyes take in every ray of light and I know without a doubt that I've been asleep too long. My muscles ache with stiffness and I feel heavy. The pain in my head is uncontrollable and although I can hear people calling my name I find it hard to concentrate.

Where am I ?
How did I get here?

I press my hand against the pain in my head as if to dull it long enough for me to concentrate on my surroundings. My eyes spot Carl first, standing over me. He looks different, tired. His hair is disheveled under his hat and a large purple bruise spreads across his jaw. I suddenly remember calling out his name.
I look next to him and see Abbie staring down at me too, tears filling her eyes.

I try to sit up but my head pounds intensely and I suddenly feel as if there's no surface beneath me.
A pair of hands rest on my shoulders, steadying the whirlwind in my head and gently pushes me back down onto the flat surface beneath me.

"Shhhh, don't sit up. You're gonna be fine. Relax." Maggie's voice orders. My eyes hurry to find her but they close automatically, giving into the pain. I groan and will myself to go back to sleep to get rid of the pain but my body and brain aren't compatible. They won't listen to each other.

"My head." I moan.
"I know hun, I know. I'm doing all I can." Maggie tells me.
I open my eyes as wide as they can go and try to make out whats going on. I see Maggie fiddling with some medical supplies that i've never seen before and when I turn my head the other way I realise i'm surrounded by a lot more people that I thought.
"Carl?"

His blurry figure stands in front of me and I feel him take my hand.
"Welcome back sleeping beauty." He teases.
"Ha. Ha. Very funny." I say sarcastically but I feel myself mimicking his smile.

"What happened?" I ask more seriously now.
"Where's Nick?" I remember being with him last but I struggle to recall why.
Carl brushes back some hair that stuck to my face with sweat.
"It's a long story. Dad can tell you. Nick is fine. He's here" Carl explains.
I twist around to find Nick standing with the others.

I look around the group, taking in each face. Everyone seems to have made it back, well almost everyone.
I look to Sasha. "Bob?"
She shakes her head and fights off the tears that already begin to glisten in her eyes.

"How you feeling Mads?" Nick distracts. I turn my head back to him.
"What happened?"
"You got shot."
"Well then, I feel like I got shot."
"Technically, it just grazed you." Daryl shares.
"Still doesn't feel great." I mumble.

I wince as Maggie does something to my other arm.
"What the fuck-"
"Don't concentrate on it." Maggie suggests.
"That-" I start but give up, I'm too tired to argue.

I turn back to Carl instead to distract myself.
"You look terrible." I chuckle dryly.
"You're one to talk." He gestures to my head. I'm sure he's right. I probably do look a mess.
"Please, I'd look better than you on my worst day." I joke. He laughs.

"Hey Mads." A voice calls from behind Carl.
"Rick?"
"Yeah." He strides towards us and takes Carl's place, although he doesn't hold my hand. Good thing too, I would've hit him.
"Are you gonna tell me what happened now?"
He chuckles. "I'll tell you later when you're not in as much pain."
"I'm fi-"

A sudden weight is pushed onto my body and I look up to find Abbie with her arms wrapped around me.
"Abbie be careful, Madison is-" Maggie is cut off by Abbie blubbering. I don't hear most of what she's trying to say, her sons muffle most words.
"I couldn't sit and listen to anymore small talk. You're the worst at it Mads."

She launches into a rant which I have to focus on very hard to understand what she's saying.
"Oh my god Maddie, I thought you were dead when they brought you back. You were covered in blood and... and then the waiting. Th e waiting was worse. You didn't move, you didn't squirm, you never opened your eyes....." She rambles on and on and it's too much for me to concentrate on. I catch little words that help me piece back together my jigsaw pieced memories. Words like "Nick...Carl...gave blood...hours...waiting."

Slowly things were coming back to me. I try to place Carl in my blurred visions but I can't. I do remember looking at Nick. He was upside down. That couldn't be right... I WAS UPSIDE DOWN!
"The net!" I sing loudly the minute the memory resurfaces.
"I was in a net." I mumble more quietly this time.

"You remember?" Glenn asks shocked.
I nod my head slowly, unsure.
"Kinda." I look at Rick again and his face bubbles into the same memory Nick was in. In fact he was closer, he was helping me.
"You were there too." I note, looking at Rick. He nods.
"I was trying to cut the net but I was stuck. I couldn't move fast enough and then I seen a man... he had a gun."

"Do you remember anything after that?" Daryl asks.
I remember a bang and that was it. I shake my head.
"I think I have the rest figured out." I point to my throbbing wound.

Its quiet for a few minutes and I close my eyes trying to think. I don't open them even when I ask a round of questions.
"What happened to the man?"
"We killed him." Nick replies.
"We?" I find it hard to believe him.
"Well, just Rick really. But I helped." He adds.

"They have to be the people who took Bob. It's all connected." I mutter.
"We think so too." Rick agrees.
"When do we go after them?"
"You will not be coming with us. We'll try and scope out their traps and aim to get them before tonight."
For once I don't argue with Rick. I don't feel like going anywhere. I'm in too much pain.

"They're pretty near. Do you think they know where we are?" I ask.
There's a slight hesitation before anyone responds.
"They would've attacked by now." Abraham assures.
"You think?" Glenn adds curiously.

I finally peak one eye open to look at everyone's reactions. They're all looking at Glenn.
"What?" He shrugs defensively.
"I'm just saying, we don't know where Bob was taken. It could've been by the river, it could've been a few miles out, it could've even been on the porch steps outside."
"He's got a point." Carol backs him up.

"So, if it was outside then they know we're here." Abbie frowns.
"And they must be watching."
"Which means they know who we are, how many of us there are..."

"They're watching us. Analysing our every move, waiting to attack." Nick chimes in.
"They're coming for us." I breathe.
"And we'll be ready" Daryl tells me.
Sasha finally moves to the middle of the alter and stands taller than I've seen her stand before. She's ready.
"And we will get Bob back."

"Okay, okay. All this talk isn't helping Madison. She should be resting." Maggie insists.
Just then the wind begins to pick up and the wooden frames from outside begin to creek loudly. The trees outside blow wildly in the wind, their branches scraping along the stained glass windows.

"Creepy." Abbie states. I nod.
The noise had finally made the group fall quiet. A tense feeling lingers in the air.
"Something feels wrong." Rick announces, his face contorted with angst.
"What do you mean-"
He places his fingers on his lips to silence me and that's when I hear shuffling outside from the porch.

Rick swats his hand, ordering us to get low as he grabs his gun with his other hand. Everyone drops behind the alter table except for Abbie who clings to my body like a shield. I wrap one arm around her and the other hand dangles off the side of the table clasped in Carl's. Suddenly a piercing scream of pain bellows louder than the wind from outside.
"They're here."