NICOLETTE
She had managed to calm down. Nicki felt so relieved to see her sister that tears started to wet her cheeks even before she could notice it. She was tired and nervous, and all she wanted was for that day to be over soon.
"What happened?" asked Sarah as they walked to get back to the highway. Nicki took a breath.
"We were in the woods," she started to explain. "We had walked maybe for a couple of miles, I'm not sure. Then a deer appeared," she stopped to rub her nose a little. "It was a few feet away, and Carl walked closer to it." he had seemed so charmed by that deer, "All I know is that after a second, he was passed out on the ground."
"Oh my god," Sarah muttered with a trembling voice. "But who shot him?"
"Some random dude," she answered, still not believing that all of that could have happened. "The only positive thing is that Maggie's father seems to be some kind of a doctor." Sarah frowned a little, muttering Nicki's words in her voice, and then she shook her head before turning in her direction.
"So, how is he now?" Sarah asked.
Five fragments were still inside him; they needed to operate him inside a house. In all honesty, Nicki wasn't sure Carl would survive the night. She couldn't believe that that could be the end of 'little shit'; he was tough, and he was stubborn. Dying in that way...
As they arrived at the highway, they could spot Dale taking guard on the road, and as they got closer, Glenn started to say that they needed to go from that place.
"Why? What happened?" asked the man.
"Carl's been shot," Glenn said.
"Shot?" Dale repeated with wide eyes, "What do you mean shot?"
"A guy shot him," said Nicki, sitting on the guardrail and putting her head between her hands.
"Nicki was there," explained Glenn. "Then she and this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori." Dale seemed to be getting more and more shocked by the minute.
"You let her?" the man asked, turning to Daryl.
"Climbed down out of my asshole, man," he argued as he walked by Nicki and Sarah, who took a breath.
"Daryl..."
"Nicki was there," Daryl said after taking a short breath. "Rick sent her."
"I need to take a walk," said Nicki, getting up from where she was sitting.
"Don't get too far," she heard her sister say, making her nodding her head.
She was so tired of being on standby, looking at everything that was going on around her without doing anything—just something.
Sophia had run away under her gaze and was now missing. Carl was just a few feet away from her and got shot in the stomach. Rick was feeling guilty and guilty by the minute, and she had never felt all of them as tired as they had been that day. And being outside, in the world, it was even worse.
Then, suddenly, she heard a rustling noise coming from a few meters away from her. Nicolette turned her head as her heart started beating faster. Could it be Sophia? Or was it a walker?
She took another breath, took an arrow from the quiver, and nocked it on the bow. Nicki could feel her hand trembling, and she could spot a figure moving, dangling from side to side.
Walker.
Her hands started sweating as she aimed the head at the monster that was already making its way towards her. She could hit it. She had to. Nicki took a deep breath, trying not to focus on the closer figure. She released the arrow, but she grunted when the arrow flew next to its head.
She needed to take another. Nicki looked up briefly to check where the walker was. She was still out of reach, but she could do it. She took another arrow and nocked it, pulling the string, aiming again.
"Shit!" she exclaimed when another arrow missed its target.
Lucky shot. It had just been one single lucky shot.
She growled as she took another arrow and released it. This time, the arrow hit the walker through its neck—not enough. It was not enough.
"Nicolette!" she heard Sarah yell, but she ignored the voices around her calling for her name.
"Hey!" Daryl was coming closer. He would have shot it; he would have. But she couldn't let him. She had to do it. She had to.
She pulled the bowstring towards her and aimed at the closer walker. She had no time. She had to do it.
She released the arrow, and it finally hit the walker in the eye. The walker went limp and fell to the ground.
"What ta hell do ya think yar doin', girl?" she heard Daryl ask in a growl.
"I had to," she said, feeling just a little proud of herself as she looked down at the walker's body just before someone gripped her by the arm to make her turn.
"Are you crazy?!" asked Sarah in a panicked tone. "What the hell were you thinking? After everything that happened. After Sophia and Carl?! How could you do that?! " Her sister was trembling and almost crying as Daryl observed them, and Glenn and Dale came running to them.
"This is what I have to learn," Nicki said, making her sister frown.
"What?"
"I got a lucky shot," Nicki said, turning towards the others. Now, even Andrea, T-Dog, and Carol were there. "That's what it was. I saved Rick by chance."
"Nicolette..." tried Dale, but Nicki shook her head.
"I don't need kind words; I need to learn. I know I can," she said, looking towards Daryl, who was observing her.
"I have to," Nicki said again. "I need to".
There was silence between them. Heavy, almost sad. She wasn't scared; she hoped they knew that. She was tired, tired of freezing in fear, tired of waiting for the next rustling noise. Nicki knew she could learn. She wouldn't die like that, knowing she could manage to do something for herself and the others and not doing it because it wasn't safe or because she was too young.
"Ya wanna me to teach ya?" Daryl asked, observing her with frowned eyebrows.
"Whenever you got time," Nicki said, "But yeah, I want you to."
Sarah was still shaken up about what had happened, so Nicki decided to avoid her for a bit. She hated making her sister worried, but it was needed. She needed to feel a little bit in control. Everything was moving too fast.
"Nice show you put out there."
"It's not really the time, Andrea," Nicki said, taking a breath as the blond woman sat down on the steps of the RV next to her.
"I wasn't trying to be mean," she answered.
"For the moment?" asked Nicki, looking up at the woman when she heard her chuckle.
"For the moment, yeah," Andrea nodded before nudging Nicki's leg with hers. "I get what you feel," she said.
Nicki observed her for a moment before nodding her head. That was fair enough.
"Nicolette," Glenn's voice made her look up. She was surprised to find that it was almost twilight—finally.
"I need your help with the location of the farm," he said. "Need to be sure I got that right. "
Nicki got up and followed Glenn to stop in front of a car's hood, where he put the map.
"Backtrack to Fairburn Road," Glenn repeated Maggie's words, following with his finger the road drawn on the paper. "Two miles down is our farm. Could it be here?" he said, looking towards her.
"Probably," Nicki said. "We've been fast, so it shouldn't be that far." Glenn nodded his head. "You'll see the mailbox" he kept remember "Name's...."
"Greene," Nicki finished. Glenn took a breath.
"Alright, it could be 20 minutes with the car," he thought out loud.
"Found anything?" asked Dale, making his way towards them. Glenn nodded his head as everyone started to gather next to the car.
"Just a few miles from here," he explained. "We don't need much gas."
"You mean leave?" Carol's voice made them turn. "I won't do it. We can't just leave."
"Carol, the group is split," Dale said, trying to reason with the woman. "We're scattered and weak."
"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol argued back.
"That is a possibility," Sarah said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone," said Andrea, too. "That would be awful."
That was a good point. She could panic and run away again, but Dale was right, too. They needed to stay together. Nicki hadn't told them how Rick was or where Shane had been. They didn't know how bad Carl was. What if he didn't survive the night? What if Shane would never make it back?
"Okay. We gotta plan for this," said Daryl. "I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign; leave her some supplies." She saw Sarah and Andrea nod their heads. "I'll hold here tonight; stay with the RV."
"If the RV is staying, I am, too," Dale said stubbornly.
"I want to stay too," Sarah said, taking a step forward. "There's nothing I can do to help Carl right now, but maybe I can do something for Sophia."
"Thank you," Carol said as tears left her eyes. "All of you," Nicki saw Sarah smile at the woman as Andrea raised a hand.
"I'm in."
"I'd like to go," said Nicki before looking towards Carol. "I'd like to stay here, but... I was there when Carl got shot; I was there when they took out the first fragment." She could still hear his screams. "I was there when Shane went to look for medical staff to save his life and for Rick to feel desperate. I think it is the right thing for me to do," They were all looking at her with sorry eyes.
"If that's the case, then Glenn should accompany you," Dale said, making Glenn frown.
"Why me?"
"You and Nicki have to find this farm, reconnect with our people, and see what's going on," he said, making Nicki smile a little. "But most importantly, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option." Everyone looked over the man who was resting under the shadow given by the RV. He didn't look good at all.
"That cut has gone from bad to worse," Dale explained.
"How much worse?" asked Sarah, looking from T-Dog to Dale, who seemed very worried.
"He has a very serious blood infection." Then he turned to Glenn, "Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics."
"I'm sure they have it," Nicki said. "That old man is some kind of a doctor."
"That's good," Dale said, "Because if he won't go there, T-Dog will die, no joke."
They couldn't afford another loss. T-Dog couldn't die. He was a strong man; dying because of a cut on the arm was even more than unfair.
Suddenly a rag thrown at Dale made Nicki turn find Daryl walking back from his motorbike.
"Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle," he said before putting on the hood of a car a bag full of what seemed pills.
"Why'd you wait till now to say anything?" Daryl kept saying, "Got my brother's stash."
"Was he dying or something?" Sarah asked, getting close to the car. When her hand was about to touch the bag, Daryl weakly slapped her hand away.
"Hey," Sarah said as Darly growled a bit before turning towards the plastic bag.
"Crystal, X... Don't need that," he muttered as he searched through the many drugs in there. "Got some kickass painkillers," he said, throwing a packaging at Glenn, who caught it. "Doxycycline. Not the generic stuff, either. It's first-class," he seemed far too proud of his brother.
"Doxycycline?" asked Sarah with a frown, making Daryl nod his head, biting the side of his lips.
"Merle got the clap on occasion," he said, making Nicki's sister observe the man walking away with confusion.
Nicki found herself letting out a snort before she started gathering her very few things as Glenn walked towards T-Dog.
"Here, take this." She looked up when she saw her sister giving her the red licorice bag. Nicki smiled as she took it in her hand.
"You found it with Carl," Sarah said. "Maybe you'd like to share it with him as he gets better."
"I don't think the little shit is going to eat something solid for a long time," Nicki said, putting the candies in her bag. She didn't want to think about Carl dying anymore. He's got his parents with him; Shane was going to bring back what was needed. He was fighting the shot. Six fragments. He could hold on for a little more.
"I'm sorry, Sarah," Nicki said at some point. "I don't like making you worry."
"I don't like you making me," Sarah said, surely thinking back at what Nicki had done with that walker. "But I'm afraid that we'll never stop worrying. This world is dangerous, but you're fighting, and even if I hate to say it, you are doing the right thing."
"Thank you," said Nicki with a smile, and then she felt her sister nudging her leg.
"Maybe you're going to teach me," Nicki chuckled at Sarah's words.
"Nah, I don't think so," she answered. "But there are few people here that can really teach us to be useful."
Sarah nodded her head.
"To survive."
"To survive," Nicki answered.