Undead

Flashbacks. (301)

MADISON'S POV.

Our feet hit the ground heavily as we run with Carl to the infirmary. Rick and I hold up Carl as he slips in and out of consciousness along the way. Daryl holds up Rick who stumbles two steps behind me and all the while, the group who follows behind us keep shouting at me, asking where I've been and why I'm not dead.

Maggie is the only one who walks beside Fangs and I silently. Maggie found me at the gate of the hilltop and from there we drove to Alexandria just before the fight with Beth, Enid and Jesus. They must be wondering where I was too but they don't ask the questions just yet.

Rosita who later found the group at the gates with the others runs ahead and opens the infirmary door, letting us pass through. We run inside and place Carl on the gurney. Wary glances are thrown my way and I block them out so I can concentrate. Michonne takes residence of the bed in the corner of the room. Gabriel wipes the blood off her face with a wet cloth, but otherwise he looks helpless. That's when I remember, we don't have a doctor. They've all been killed.

"Where do we start?" I panic, looking from Michonne, to Rick and then Carl.
"I can check Michonne for broken bones. I don't know what to do about the swelling on her face though." Beth speaks up.
"Ice. Ice will stop the swelling. Then we need to stitch the cuts on her head." Maggie helps her sister.

Daryl and I place Rick in a chair but he reaches for Carl. I pull the gurney closer to him and the wheels squeak against the floor noisily.
"Rick has a bullet in him. It needs to be taken out and stitched as soon as possible. He already lost too much blood." I pant, confused and dazed. Too much is happening at once.
"Rosita?" I plead. She knows how to stitch.
She nods and raids the presses behind us for equipment.

I turn to Carl and sigh. I don't know where to help him. He has a concussion, how the hell do I help him with that?
"Does anybody know what happened to him ?" I croak.
"I seen Eugene running away. I nearly killed him where he stood until I realized he wasn't running away, he was running to me. He knew I could've killed him but he ran to me anyways to tell me that it was Carl who set off the explosives. Carl saved us." Rosita explains.

The room falls silent and nobody knows how to respond to that.
"I suppose Eugene's isn't as big a coward as we thought." She whispers, pain clear in her voice.
"That must be how Carl hit his head." Carol suggests.
I nod in agreement.

Behind me I hear Rick screaming through gritted teeth. I glance back to see Rosita trying to extract the bullet.
"If you sat still it wouldn't hurt as much." She explains. Ricks grunts and cries drown out her advice. Daryl pats the back of Ricks head with a force that that could count as a smack and pulls his head into his shoulder.
"C'mon man, you got this."

I turn back to Carl who is still unconscious.
I pull his hat off his head and look at him, really look at him, drinking in his features that I've craved to see for so long now. He cut his hair short and the bandage that usually sits over his eye is gone. Small freckles are sprinkled across his nose and his jaw and lips are swollen, busted. Dark circles shadow under his eyes. This isn't how I left him.

"Madison? Did you hear me ?" Somebody interrupts my thoughts.
"Hm?"
"We need to figure out what's wrong with Carl." Jesus repeats.
I nod. "Hand me the stitching kit. Is Rosita finished with it ?" I ask.
"Almost. Give me two minutes." She calls.

Carl coughs, opening his eyes and then closing them again, constantly slipping in and out of consciousness. I push Carl's hair out of his face and wipe the blood off his head with a cloth that Enid hands me. She looks at me and smiles slightly. Any tension we had before disappears.

I create pressure on the wound on his forehead  with the cloth and wait for the equipment.
When it's placed next to me I get to work, grabbing the needle and stitching wire.
"Aren't you gonna numb it ?" Enid asks.
"There's no time. Besides, he can't feel it, he's unconscious." I murmur as I sew the wound together.