❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter twenty-two ―― just worried

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE SAT ON THE BLEACHERS of the football field, she had just run her race and placed second. She panted slightly, but she wore a smile as she opened her green water bottle before tilting it up. She took down a few gulps before closing the bottle and she looked around at the crowd, hoping she'd see her dad or her mom. She knew it was a long shot, but she always hoped that one day they would show up for one of her track meets. She shook her head a little, her smile fading when she didn't see them. She turned back to the track, ready to cheer on her teammate when a whistle got her attention. She turned and her smile grew as Mason stood with Shane, Rick, and Lori – Lori had a five-year-old Carl on her hip.

"You didn't think we'd miss it, did ya?" Shane asked as the girl pushed herself up and she made her way over to them, wrapping her brother in a tight hug. "You did good, kiddo."

"Thanks, Bubba." She mumbled against his shoulder as he squeezed her a little tighter before pulling back.

"You ran a good race, kid." Rick smiled as he pulled her into a hug and she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his torso. "We're proud of you." He kissed the side of her head before pulling back and she turned to Lori, who wore a smile as she looked at the teenager.

"He stole what I was gonna say." She nudged her husband a little.

"You can tell me again, I don't mind." Charlie told her, getting a laugh from the woman as she wrapped her arm around her.

"I'm so proud of you." She told her and Charlie smiled, hugging the woman as tightly as she could before she pulled back and held her arms out to the kid, he smiled as she jumped towards her.

"You run fast." He told her, his small hand toying with the silver metal that hung around her neck. "Can you show me?"

"Absolutely." She grinned, kissing his cheek. "We can start now." She put him on his feet and he giggled. "Go." She did her best to act as though she was running as she and the kid raced.

"You're losing to a five-year-old!" Mason called out, his hands cupped around his mouth.

"He's fast!" She shouted back, making the three adults laugh as she and the kid ran in a circle around them. Carl laughed like he was having the time of his life and Charlie smiled at the sound, her greatest joy in life was making that kid laugh. "Okay." She panted. "You win. You win." She doubled over, her hands on her knees as she tried to caught her breath and Carl cheered before running to his mom to tell her that he had beat Charlie and that he was the fastest kid in the world.

Charlie gasped as she sat up, her eyes wide as she looked around the room. She pushed herself up, winching in pain, she was confused. She wasn't sure where she was or what really happened. She jumped when the door opened, she pushed herself to the far side of the bed.

"You're awake." She sighed a little when she saw Shane, he let out a breath as he neared the bed. "How you feelin'?"

"Where-Where are we? Where's Carl? How's Carl?"

"Charlie, you where shot-"

"I don't give a damn. Where's Ca-" She pushed herself up, letting out a yelp when she put too much weight on her arm – her shoulder throbbed and she stumbled back onto the mattress.

"Hey, slow up." He made her sit on the bed again. "You got shot. You're gonna be in a lot of pain for a few days. You need to take it easy."

"Not until I know he's okay." She shoved him back, keeping her left arm pressed to her chest so she didn't move her shoulder too much. "I need to see him. I need to know that Carl's fine."

"He's okay."

"Why are you lying?"

"Charlie-"

"Tell me the truth." Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him, fearing the worst. Her hands shook as she chewed in her bottom lip. "Is he-"

"He's alive." He nodded. "He's stable, for now."

"He has to be okay." She sobbed. "He has to be." She moved her hand up to her mouth – she noticed a slight pinch but she didn't pay much attention to it as she pushed herself up, looking up at her brother. "Can I see him? Please?"

"Yeah." He nodded, wrapping his arm around her waist and leading her down a short hall until they got to a room and she let out a soft whimper when she saw the kid laying in the bed – the sheet pulled up to his stomach. He looked pale, too pale. She pulled away from Shane and rounded the bed, she leaned over and kissed his forehead.

"You gotta be okay, kid." She mumbled. "You just gotta be okay." Shane watched the way her hand shook and her lip quivered, it was similar to the reaction she'd had when he had told her that Rick had been shot. He knew that they were more than just friends to her, they were family. They were the only family she ever really knew.

"Hey, Charlie." Shane got her attention as she sat in the chair next to the boy's bed. "I gotta head out, need to get a few things so they can do the surgery on Carl – get the rest of the bullet fragments out. You gonna be okay without me for a little bit?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her voice weak. "Yeah, I'll be alright." She told him as she stood up and made her way over to him. "I'm still mad at you, what you did at the C.D.C is unforgivable, but be careful. I can't lose you."

"I promise." He nodded, holding out his pinkie and she smiled a little as she wrapped her pinkie around his. "Take it easy, okay?"

"Sure thing, Bubba." She nodded and he pulled his pinkie from hers before pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her, he kissed the top of her head as she smiled a little, but she winced when he squeezed too hard.

"Sorry." He pulled back, checking her shoulder – there was gauze taped to the front and back of her shoulder to stop the bleeding. Her wound had been a lot simpler then Carl's, the bullet tore through her shoulder and hit him. There were no fragments left in her shoulder and it had missed her arteries, she had gotten lucky.

"Hey, she's up." Rick managed a small smile when he saw the girl – he had been on his way to check on Carl when he saw the Walsh siblings. "Come here." He stepped around Shane, his arms out and she stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around his torso as he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the side of her head and let his eyes fall closed as he held her.

"Carl's gonna be okay." She mumbled against his chest. "He's strong." He tightened his arms around her a little and she winched, but she didn't pull back as he sobbed a little – she knew he needed that hug more than she needed him to let go. "He's gonna be alright." She whispered, but it was more like she was trying to convince herself of that fact.

>>>>> • <<<<<

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ MASON STEPPED OVER A LARGE branch, following behind the group and keeping an eye on their surroundings. He was worried, mostly about Charlie. She and the others had yet to catch up to them and after hearing that gun shot . . . he was just a little rattled. He knew better than to assume one of them wasted a bullet on one walker and the possibility of it being anything else shook him to his core.

"You alright?" Josh asked, falling back a few steps so he matched Mason's pace. "You've been-"

"Just worried." The blue-eyed boy cut him off. "But Charlie can handle herself, I know that better than anyone."

"What's the deal with you two?"

"There is no deal." Mason told him. "We've known each other our whole lives, she's the closest thing I have to family."

"So you two never hooked up?" He asked and Mason turned to him, his eyebrows creased. "What?"

"No, we never hooked up." He shoved on his shoulder. "I just told you that she's like my sister. And if this is you trying to figure out why she's just not that into you, look around." He waved his machete out towards the others in front of them. "The second the world went to shit all she cared about was making sure Carl and Lori were safe. She just wanted to help as many people as possible. She found Dale, talked him into joining us. She was the one that talked the others into letting Daryl and Merle stay, they were both unpredictable but she just wanted to make sure people – even complete strangers were okay." He told him and Daryl turned his head ever so slightly when he heard his name – he hadn't known that Charlie was the one that had gotten the others to agree to him and his brother joining the group. "All she cares about is keeping everyone safe, not some silly high school drama."

"Okay." Josh nodded, he was otherwise speechless. He knew Charlie cared about the others, he had seen her nearly die trying to save them. He had seen her putting herself through more pain just to get them out of the C.D.C. It fell quite over the group as they continued – Daryl in the lead and the other's following close behind him.

"How much farther?" Lori asked, she was a little out of breath.

"Not much." Daryl answered. "Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies."

"Too bad we're not crows." Andrea mutterd, then it was quiet again. Josh had his eyes on the ground so he didn't trip over tree roots and Mason looked around the trees for any walkers or even Sophia, but he saw nothing. He looked at the group again, his eyebrows pinched when she noticed that they were missing someone. He stopped and turned to look around.

"Hey, guys, where'd Andrea go?" He asked, then a scream echoed. "That answers that." He mumbled as he started in the direction the scream came from, the others following him. Just as they reached the blonde, who was on the ground with a walker over her, a woman on a horse rode up. She took the walker out with a bat before stopping the horse and looking at the others as they neared her.

"Lori? Lori Grimes?" She asked as she looked at the group.

"I'm Lori."

"Rick sent me. You've gotta come now."

"What?" Lori asked, shocked by the stranger.

"There's been an accident. Carl and Charlie were shot."

"Charlie?" Mason's face fell, his blue eyes wide as he looked up at the women on the horse, beside him Josh's jaw fell open a little before he closed it and even Daryl shifted uneasily with the news.

"They're still alive." The stranger told them. "But you've got to come now. Rick needs you, just come." Lori pulled off her back pack and let it fall to the ground before making her way towards the horse.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Daryl tried to stop her, but she didn't listen. "We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse."

"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?"

"Uh-huh." Glenn nodded as he looked up at the woman, a sort of awe look in his eyes.

"Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene." She told them before she kicked the horse up and rode away. Mason blinked a few times, trying to keep his tears at bay but it wasn't working all that great. Charlie had been shot and he wasn't there for her, he hand tightened around his machete as the walker sat up, making a groaning noise.

"Shut up." Daryl stepped forward, aiming his crossbow at it before he shot it and Josh went over to help Andrea up. 

NOVA SPEAKS !

so, i'm feeling a little generous ― and impulsive ― so, here's the next chapter!!!!! i really hope you are all enjoying this book as much as i am! i truly do love this book with my entire heart!

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