NOVEL WEB Chapter 16: Meeting
Paul felt his eyelids open and found himself in an unknown room with his bloodied trench coat and shirt missing, leaving his toned body open for others to see.
Looking at his arm, he found an IV dripping saline into him.
Probably for the best after he passed out from dehydration and exhaustion.
Turning the machine off and taking the I.V. out, he bandaged the arm before putting on a black T-shirt he found placed next to the bed.
His pistol and knife were also placed next to the shirt, but his trench coat and holster were missing, so he just put the pistol in his waistband.
He didn't know whose shirt it was, but it would do until he was able to get to his bag of spare clothes in the truck he and Carl had driven in.
Walking to the window, he found the sun was still up, though it was considerably darker outside as the sun was going down.
Creak!
Paul heard the door open and turned around to find a young, beautiful, tanned woman with short brown hair looking back at him.
"Good, you're finally up." The woman said with a southern drawl
"Paul, and you are?" Paul put his hand out, and the woman took it.
"Maggie, Maggie Greene."
"I assume you're the one who took off my shirt, Maggie," Paul said while wondering where his trench coat went, since each one meant something to him.
"That's right, don't worry, I didn't do anything. Though your body has quite the story to tell." Maggie said while remembering the scars she had seen all over his body.
"Is that right? Maybe a story for another time. How's Sophia doing?" Paul walked past Maggie, who was in the doorway, and out into the hallway.
"She's stable, the bullet came out clean, though she needs blood. Where did you say her mother was?" Maggie asked while they walked toward Sophia's room.
"Carl should have grouped up with them by now. They should be here soon." Paul walked into Sophia's room and saw her Pale face, but thankfully still alive.
Hershel was off resting somewhere with Patricia while Maggie was on watch duty.
"There are a couple of packs of crackers right there if you're hungry." Maggie pointed to the dresser next to Sophia, and Paul nodded.
"Thanks." He grabbed a pack.
"Do you know where my dirty clothes went?" Paul asked while taking a bite of a cracker and looking at Sophia.
"Oh, those dirty things, Bethy is washing them. They should be clean tomorrow." Maggie said
Paul looked at Maggie and nodded
"Give her my thanks."
As he was about to take another bite of his cracker, he heard a bunch of vehicles outside, making him and Maggie look at each other.
"That must be them. Sounds like a lot of 'em to."
Paul had to agree, he didn't expect that many, though he didn't really care as long as Carl and his parents were fine.
Walking out onto the porch, Paul found a whole bunch of different vehicles parked outside, making his eyebrows raise a little before settling back down.
It looked like the group was even bigger than he had thought.
On the far left he spotted a hillbilly like man sporting a crossbow on his back sitting upon a 1976 triumph chopper hardtail frame conversion bike.
'I like the man already.'
Next to him was a 1979 Chevrolet C-10 with a Korean man in the driver's seat and a sick-looking black man in the passenger seat.
He also spotted the large box truck that he and Carl had driven down, though he saw an older-looking man getting out of it.
'Why the hell is he wearing a sheriff's uniform?' Paul looked at him for a second before moving on.
He saw a light green 2011 Hyundai Tucson with a serious-looking man sitting in the driver's seat staring him down.
Paul finally glanced at the large RV that was on the right and spotted a few people getting out before he finally spotted Carl walking out with a calm and happy look, though a hint of worry could be seen around his eyes.
'That's a good sign.'
Paul saw Carl walking up to him with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Is she…?" Carl asked while Paul saw an older lady behind Carl, looking worried.
'She must be Sophia's mother.' Paul thought
"No worries, she's alive." Paul patted Carl's shoulder and heard a few sighs of relief all around while the older woman almost teared up.
Paul heard the door to the house open and saw Hershel walk out with Otis's wife Patricia.
Hershel talked with Rick before taking Carol inside to give Sophia some blood and treating another man named T-Dog, who got injured.
"Paul, let me introduce you to my parents." Carl smiled
"Sure."
Paul walked with Carl over to his mom, who he noticed looked a little rough, though he guessed that wasn't too weird after losing a kid.
She still looked pretty, though with her long brown hair and pale white skin that didn't seem to have done a day of hard work.
How that would eventually change.
"Mom, this is Paul, who I was telling you about." Carl smiled and introduced Paul, but before either of them could react, Lori brought Paul into a hug, catching him off guard.
"What you did, for my boy, for me. You have no idea how much it means. Thank you." Lori started tearing up and Paul felt nervous as he never got a hug before in his life.
Where was he supposed to place his hands?
He had to say that the feeling of receiving Lori's gratitude was a great feeling.
"Alright, mom, you're embarrassing him," Carl said, making Lori chuckle and releasing Paul from her bear hug.
"You're Paul."
Paul heard another voice and glanced over to see the man in the sheriff's outfit next to Carl smiling.
"Hm," Paul nodded while looking down at the hand Rick put out and shaking it.
"Words will never be enough to convey my gratitude for what you did. You're a part of the group now." Rick smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder before they rejoined with the others.
"We need to set camp for tonight. We'll check Sophia's status in the morning and see what our game plan is." Rick said
"Sounds like a plan."
They spent the rest of the night setting up their tents in a little clearing on the farm before everyone finally called it a night after a long day.