My Redneck (Sequel to That Redneck/ Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

Chapter 3- Bleach and Blood

We stood outside of her room. A thin, white bed-sheet acted as a curtain, fluttering around every once in a while from a random breeze inside of the Prison. The sunlight emitted from the windows danced along the walls of the room, lighting up the dark aura and bringing life into the grim building. I shut my eyes and took a final deep breath before walking into her room.

Right away the strong scent of bleach and blood hit my nostrils hard, almost like a punch in the nose. I gaged on the horrid smell while Rick coughed deeply beside me, both of us choked on the strong stench. Carol and Hershel were seated beside the bed, both of them cranking their heads towards us in unison as we suppressed the repugnant odour.

Carol yammered something to Hershel in a hushed tone, too soft for me to hear before she turned towards us and started to leave the room. I noticed her lower arms were coated in dried blood, some of her clothing was stained as well but she didn't seem to mind. She gave a small smile before walking past us outside, probably to scrape that crap off of her arms. I know that's what I'd be doing.

"I've been wondering when I'd see you in here." Hershel stated in a tired tone, making eye contact with me. He patted the stool beside him where Carol had been perched earlier. "Come sit down." Hershel urged.

I sighed, dragged myself over to the stool and quickly plopped down beside Hershel, my eyes wandering over her body. She was sickly pale, dirt and blood from a few nights ago stuck to her hair in clumps. Her eyes were closed, her face filled with no emotion almost as if she was fast asleep in some beautiful dream with no fear, heartache or death.

Then I looked at the rest of her.

Her left arm was laying at her side, her 'bayonet' was removed leaving a stump with some cloth wrapped around it. Her shirt was removed around the wound, and white gauze coated the injury. Her right arm was strung high above her head, a shiny metal cuff wrapped around her wrist connecting her to the bed. I knew it. She was going to die. They think she's going to die and become one of those flesh eating monsters that plunged our world into hell. Why else would you handcuff someone to a bed?

I glanced down at her tummy, a very small bump came off of her stomach almost making her look like she had gained a bit of weight. If that was even possible with the lack of food we had at our disposal. "Oh Tayler..." I whispered sadly, fighting off the emotions that I continuously bottled up.

"I managed to get the bullet out, but she lost a lot of blood. Luckily Carol is the same blood type as Tayler, so we've been preforming blood transfusions." Hershel explained. Carol had been preforming blood transfusions to help her? And here I was thinking that she disliked us both or something.

"From my knowledge the baby seems to be alright but I don't know for sure. I've also been monitoring her blood sugar and I've been giving her doses of insulin. We're almost out." Hershel added.

"We can pick some up later." I mumbled.

"See nothing to worry about." Rick added as he scratched his beard. We really need to find Rick some razors or something. That beard is getting out of control. I'd hate to see him get some gum stuck in that thing, god he'd never get it out.

I shook my head from thoughts of Rick's beard and forced a smile. "Thank you Hershel." I said as sincerely as I could manage.

Hershel smiled and patted my shoulder "Don't worry about her Mariah. Everything will be okay." I nodded and stood up from the stool, not really knowing what to say. I took a final look at Tayler before sighing and slowly exiting the room with Rick.

It was silent as we both walked down the hallway, both of us lost in our own thoughts as our shoes pattered against the concrete floor. I wish I could have prevented this whole thing. This never needed to happen, we never needed to go out. We could have easily made it without food for one more night. "She'll be alright you know." Rick stated, breaking the silence.

"You said that earlier." I reminded him.

He nodded and looked at the ground for a second, before looking at me again. "I know, but you don't believe it."

I bit down on my lip, not wanting to answer him back and then I heard the soft roar of a engine in the distance.

"What the hell?" Rick mumbled to himself as he and I picked up the pace.
No one was suppose to be using the vehicles unless they were going out on a run. The vehicles were nearly out of gas, and we needed to be conserving every ounce of fuel we had. So either someone was screwing around, or someone had tripped across our safe haven. Rick and I quickly ran through a door leading outside and searched around for the roaring engine sound.

I looked down onto the old dirt road, a silver panther drove steadily up towards the entrance of the Prison, kicking up a cloud of dust behind it as it approached our home. It rolled to a stop in front of the new gates we had to put up since the Governor decided to 'charge into battle' and ram down our original gates.

Rick grabbed my wrist and pulled me down into a crouch beside him. "They may not be safe," Rick hissed. "We should stay out of sight for now."

"What do we do?" I asked, bewildered at the little, silver panther as it just stayed in park, the tinted windows kept the driver hidden from sight.

"Ask them the questions." Rick said. His voice sounded confident, but his eyes had an uneasy glimmer to them as he pulled his python out of his gun holder.

I copied him and also yanked out my crappy little pistol I got way back when. "What if they're dangerous?" I asked.

"Grab anyone you can and arm them. It could be the Governor." Rick nearly spat, leaving a look of distaste on his face.

I nodded and quickly ran inside. I was rather hesitant to leave Rick alone outside with a random vehicle full of either friend or foe but he was right. We needed to be prepared.

"Hello?" I panted as I ran into cell block C.

Tyreese and Sasha sat at the table playing a game of cards. Tyreese stood up and looked at me curiously as I caught my breath.

"You okay?" Sasha asked as she stood up as well.

"Grab a weapon, theirs a car outside. We don't know who it is." I said as I looked around for more assistance.

"Where do we go?" Tyreese asked as he pulled his hammer out.

"They're parked at the front gates. Grab guns in case, and stay out of sight." I ordered as I ran up the metal stair case.

"Daryl? Michonne? Glenn?" I called out hoping for someone to pop out of their cell.

"Mariah?" Beth called out as she slowly poked her head out of her cell.

"Beth, do you know where everyone is? Their's a unknown car outside and we might need some fire-power." I explained as I walked towards her.

"Glenn and Maggie spent the night in the watchtower again, Daryl's probably sleeping and Allison just left to bathe." Beth said.

"Michonne? Karen? Anyone else?" I asked hopefully.

Beth shook her head, "I can go look if you'd like?" She asked.

"No," I said putting my hand on her shoulder. "You should grab Judith and Carl, they're still sleeping. Victoria slept in Lizzie and Mika's room last night, so she should be sleeping as well. Try to find Carol and the other kids, then find somewhere to hide." I ordered.

"I'll see you soon." I mumbled before taking off back down the stairs and outside before she could argue.

I ran down the hallway and loaded my gun. Sure it was crappy, but right now I might need long distance weapons compared to my sword. I quickly slipped back outside and crouched down, looking around for Rick, Tyreese and Sasha.

Then across the yard I noticed four figures squatted down, all holding firearms. Rick, Sasha, Tyresse and surprisingly Allison were crouched down behind a wooden storage box. I awkwardly crawled across, making sure to stay out of sight. "Have they came out of their cars yet?" I asked as I peeked around the corner.

"No, the car hasn't even moved." Allison mumbled.

"What do we do?" I asked Rick again, looking for his leadership to solve the problem like he so often did.

Rick rubbed his forehead and looked intently at the ground, almost as if he was thinking about a elaborate plan but then he turned to us, the same look filled his eyes. "I don't know."