This Is How We End It

Chapter Twenty Two

 Mikaela sat by her father, wishing that he'd wake up. The thought of him being gone was overpowering for her. She didn't want him to die. She held his hand, as it seemed lifeless and dead. She wanted to cry, but she knew if she did, she'd get babied. She desperately wanted to give her father blood. She was the only one that could, but her mother denied it. She just wanted to help, desperately. She began to caress his hand, hoping that that'd somehow affect him. Maybe he'd wake up. He didn't though. She could feel the tears begin to surface on her eyes, the congestion of crying suffocating her nose. She looked at her oldest sibling walk through the door.

"Hey." She said in a small voice.

Ethan walked to her side, holding something. A small doughnut.

"Mom wanted me to give you this. You need it, you've been here for hours." He said quietly.

She took it with a nod. "Dad's been asleep for hours."

There was a small silence. Only thing audible was the sound of the monitior, beeping ever second to count Rick's pulse. A drop of hair fell into Mikaela's face before she put it back into place. She stared at Rick's emotionless face. It seemed dead. 

"Anthony and Adam are coming in an hour." Ethan muttered as he sat down in a chair that was in the corner of the room. 

Mikaela just stared into Rick's closed eyelids. Nick and Lori were down the hall in the cafeteria, getting coffee. Nick was a coffee junkie, as Lori and Rick ran off of coffee. The hospital had a quiet day. Nothing out of the ordinary, as everything seemed normal.

Rick ran through the fields. Tall grass slowed him down, but he needed to find help. He carried Mikaela's seemingly lifeless body. He ran as fast as he could. The field breeze ran against his face, as he just wanted to collapse. He needed to get her to help. He then stopped, turning around.

"How far? How far?!" Rick shouted back, seeing Nick, Shane, and another man, the one who fired the gun, Otis, running. Adam was running beside Nick, weapons in hand.

Otis breathed heavily. He was a bigger man, as he was very overweight. He had hunting supplies, along with pants and a heavy shirt that was printed with camouflage. He panted very heavily, as Shane had to make sure that he was still running. He signaled to go forward with a hand, to Rick.

"That way.." he said, breathless. "Go talk to Hershel, he'll help your boy!"

Shane gripped his arm, pulling him. "Come on, you move shithead!" 

Rick sped up, seeing the house in the distance. The sun had already began going down as he ran, making him more concerned. Nothing could be done without daylight. Everything would be hard to see in the light of night. Shane continued to pull him along as they fell further behind. Adam stayed with Nick as the ran toward the house. The thought of Mikaela dying was too much for Adam. Nick too. Nick's little sister, dying? He never thought of that. Sure, it'd crossed his mind for a second, but that was it. 

Rick ran to the steps of the house as an older man walked out of the house, followed by 3 other women.

"Is he bit?" The older man asked.

Rick shook his head quickly, walking toward him. "Shot. By your man.."

"Otis?!" One of the girls asked, older, with blonde hair.

"Said to come to ask Hershel for help!" Rick pleaded, as the older man lead him inside.

The older man rolled up his sleeves. "I'm Hershel."

Rick nodded as they all walked into the house.