❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter four ―― someone's head

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ EVERYONE WATCHED AS ANDREA jumped of the back of the truck, a smile on her face as she looked for her sister. Amy ran to hug her, letting out a relieved breath, and both held onto each other tightly as they rocked side to side. Next was Morales and his kids ran to meet him. He picked up the girl and patted the boy on the head, smiling as his wife neared them. Charlie smiled at them, they were a cute little family then T-Dog jumped out and with Jacqui following him and behind them she saw that head of curly, light brown hair.

"Oh, thank God." She let out a breath, her body relaxing, he smiled when his blue eyes landed in her and she made her way towards him, jumping slightly as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her waist, her feet dangling above a few inches the ground. "I was worried about you."

"I told you I'd come back." He told her and they held onto each other as the others greeted the rest of the group.

"You got your boyfriend back, forgive me now?" Shane asked, not bothering to look at the two, and they two pulled apart.

"He's not my boyfriend." She told him, it was a common thing between the two – Shane would call the boy her boyfriend and she'd set him straight – and he wasn't her boyfriend. They were merely best friends, had been since they were little, they were practically family. "And I'll think about it."

"At least that's something." Shane mumbled.

"You'll never guess who we found." Mason told the brunette and her eyebrows pinched as she looked up at him.

"Hey, helicopter boy!" Morales called out. "Come say hello!" They all looked over as a man climbed out of the truck, he had a cop uniform on and his head down. "Guys a cop like you." He nodded towards Shane.

Charlie stumbled back, her eyes going wide when he looked up and she saw who it was. "No way." She mumbled and Mason steadied her ― his hands on her waist ― as she looked over at Carl and Lori just as the boy turned his head. She saw the smile pulled at his lips before he took off running. The newcomer bent down and engulfed the kid in a hug before he lost his balance and fell over, keeping his arms tight around the boy.

He stood up, holding the boy tight as he made his way towards Lori, who looked completely stunned. She moved eventually towards them and wrapped her arms around them, tears in her eyes. And Charlie didn't miss the look between Lori and Shane, but she didn't really care. She took a few steps towards them, chewing on her lip then she met Lori's eyes and the woman nodded, waving her forward.

"Hey, big brother." Charlie mumbled and Rick pulled away from his wife to see the girl standing there, tears in her eyes.

"Charlie." A smile pulled at his lips as he let the kid down then he turned to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him, her hands fisting into his shirt as she squeezed her eyes closed. "I don't wanna hog you." She mumbled against his chest and he chuckled as he pulled back, kissing her forehead as he extended his arm out and pulled Lori into his side, keeping his arm around Charlie as Carl wrapped his arms around his waist.

Everyone turned when they heard footsteps to see a boy -― in his twenties at least. His lip was busted and his jaw bruised. Charlie pulled away from Rick, her hand moving to her gun as she looked at the boy, but Rick's hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Who the hell are you?" Shane asked, his gun resting on his shoulder and the boy came to a stop, his eyes roaming over the group.

"That's Josh." Rick stepped away from his family and towards the boy, patting him on the back. "Got separated from his group, he was hurt pretty bad but he helped us get out of the city."

"It was his idea to steal the car." Glenn added. "That was the only way we could get everyone out of the store."

"Then he's alright by me." Charlie stated before she turned to Rick. "You, however-" She punched his shoulder. "-you scared the hell out of me."

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE SAT NEXT TO THE FIRE, not far from Rick, who had Carl and Lori wrapped tightly in his arms. She couldn't help but smile at them, even as Mason laid back on her legs, his eyes closed as he rested his hands on his stomach.

The two had just come back from a sweep of the woods and everything was all clear, so they decided to join the others by the fire as Rick answered questions anyone had for him. Josh sat a little ways away from the group, it was clear that he didn't want to talk and everyone thought it best to leave him be, at least for a moment.

"Disoriented." Rick spoke, his eyes on the orange embers. "I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion - all of those things but. . . disoriented comes closest." He told them as the thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Words can be meager things." Dale spoke as he put his mug on the ground. Charlie shifted a little, getting a groan from the boy who had decided to use her lap as a pillow. "Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I had been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else." Rick continued. "For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

"Mom said you died." Carl mumbled, leaning his head back to look up at his father.

"She had every right to believe that." Rick told him and Charlie glanced over at Shane, who still seemed to be in shock that Rick was back, but she knew it was mostly the fact that now Rick was back, Lori would end it with him. She could tell that he knew it was over with just the look in his eyes. "Don't you ever doubt it."

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Lori told him, running her hand through Carl's hair.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick nodded. "And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive, I barely got them outta there, you know?" Shane motioned to the kid and his mom. "Charlie was big help."

"And Mason." Charlie added, running her fingers through his hair.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. And to both of you." He looked over at the duo and the girl smiled at him. "I can't begin to express it."

"There go those words falling short again." Dale mused. "Paltry things." Then Ed ― Carol's husband ― threw another log on the fire that he, Carol and Sophia sat at, gaining the attention of the others.

"Hey, Ed, you wanna rethink that log?" Shane asked.

"It's cold, man." Was all he got in response.

"Cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane asked. "We keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. Why don't you mind your own business for once." Ed told him and Shane pushed himself up before making his way over there. Charlie followed her brother with her eyes before they landed on the new guy, who hadn't moved from where he sat, his eyes on the tree line.

"Move." She patted Mason's head and he sat up enough for her to get up then he laid back down, using his arms as a pillow as the girl made her way over to Josh and sat next to him. "You good?"

"Yeah." He told her, only glancing at her for a moment.

"Well, I don't know if anyone's talked to you about sleeping arrangements, but you could take my tent. I share with Mason, but I don't mind bunking with my brother."

"You don't have to do that." He turned his head to look at her, not that he could see much in the dim glow of the embers.

"It's only gonna get colder and you look like you've had a rough go of it, I don't mind." She gave him a smile and he nodded. "I'm Charlie, by the way." He held her hand out to him.

"Josh." He took her hand in his and shook before they pulled back.

"Why don't you come a little closer to the fire, get you warmed up a little before bed." She nodded her head towards the others and he looked over at them as she pushed herself up, dusting off her butt a little. "We don't bite." She joked, a smirk pulling up her lips and he chuckled a little as he took her outstretched hand and let her pull him to his feet before they walked over to the fire. "Sit up." She lightly hit Mason's side with the toe of her boot and he huffed as she sat up, giving the two room to sit down as Shane joined the group again.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale asked, looking towards Shane. "He won't be happy to hear that his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him." T-Dog stated. "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick told him.

"Guys, it's not a competition. And I don't mean to bring race into this," Glenn started. "But it might sound better coming from a white guy."

"Whoever tells him is gonna catch hell. So be prepared." Charlie told them as she toyed with the sleeve of the sweater she wore ― it was one of Shane's old police academy sweatshirts.

"I did what I did." T-Dog told them. "Hell if I'm gonna hide from it."

"We could lie." Amy suggested.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea stated. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She looked over at Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked, looking around and Charlie sighed as she stood up.

"Doesn't matter what you say or who says it, he's gonna want someone's head on one of his arrows." She told them. "Now, I'm going to bed. Bubba, I'm sleeping in your tent. Josh is taking mine." Shane nodded then the brunette walked off to get what few things needed for bed.

NOVA SPEAKS !

i honestly love
mason so much!!!