Fen slumped against the wall, his breathing ragged. The barbed arrowhead remained lodged deep in his shoulder muscle, a dark stain spreading beneath Glenn's makeshift compress. "Gotta dig it out," Fen rasped, sweat dripping into his eyes. Lily nodded, pouring moonshine over her knife blade. The run down store air thickened with the sharp tang of alcohol and blood. "Bite this," she ordered, handing him a strip of leather. Fen clamped down, his knuckles white.shane would be back any moment with a car, the hunter long gone, the group was just them and the grey wolf its new born pup.Fen's jaw locked around the leather strap, teeth grinding as Lily positioned the knife. The blade glinted in the dim light filtering through boarded windows. *Focus on the wolf,* he told himself, staring past Lily's shoulder where the grey beast lay panting, its flank rising and falling too fast. The newborn pup whimpered against its mother's belly, blind eyes searching.The knife bit deep. A muffled roar tore from Fen's throat as steel scraped bone. Lily worked with brutal efficiency, her fingers slick with blood and moonshine. "Barb's lodged sideways," she muttered, twisting the blade. Fen's vision whited out. He tasted copper, felt the leather strap strain against his molars. Distantly, he registered the wolf's low growl – not aggression, but shared agony. The pup's cries sharpened.Metal clinked against the concrete floor. Lily held up the arrowhead, jagged and dark. Fen spat out the strap, sucking in air that burned like broken glass. "Pack the wound," he gasped. Lily pressed the compress hard against the torn muscle. Fen arched off the wall, a strangled curse escaping him. Blood soaked through the cloth instantly. Outside, the distant rumble of an engine grew louder – Shane. Too loud. Too careless. might draw the walkers to them as he drove their way, but he didnt seem to car they had a car now.they can go farther now then they could on foot.The engine's roar crescendoed, rattling loose bolts in the store's shelving. Lily's head snapped toward the boarded entrance, her blood-smeared hand still pressing the compress to Fen's shoulder. "Idiot," she hissed under her breath. The sound wasn't just careless—it was a dinner bell echoing through the hollowed-out streets. Fen followed her gaze, sweat stinging his eyes as he imagined the dead already turning toward the noise, drawn like moths to a flame. He could almost hear the wet drag of decaying feet over asphalt. Shane's urgency would get them all killed if he didn't throttle back.glenn and sophia and carl stood next to the window, rick guraded the door, while coral and lori gossip about what they missed. glenn peered through a crack in the boards, his knuckles white on the stock of his rifle. "He's coming in hot," he muttered. Sophia pressed her face to another gap, her breath fogging the wood. "Walkers," she whispered. "Lots of them. Dragging from the alley behind the old pharmacy." Carl shifted beside her, his own rifle too big for his frame. "Dad?" Rick didn't turn from the door, his ear pressed to the wood. "Stay sharp. Shane's bringing the car right to us. We move the second it stops."Outside, the engine stop at the door, daryl grab saila and lily grab the pup from it mothers tits and the mother wolf growled softly, but didn't resist. Shane slammed the driver's door open, his face flushed with adrenaline. "Move it!" he barked, already yanking open the rusted rear doors of the battered van. Rick didn't hesitate. "Glenn, Sophia—get Lori and Carl in first!" The boy scrambled toward the van, Lori clutching his shoulder, her eyes wide with fear. Glenn shoved Sophia ahead of him, his rifle sweeping the street as walkers emerged from between crumbling buildings, drawn by the engine's growl.Fen gritted his teeth as Daryl hauled him upright. Blood seeped through Lily's compress, hot and insistent. "Lean on me," Daryl grunted, half-dragging him toward the van. Shane revved the engine impatiently. A walker lurched around the corner, jaw hanging slack. Sophia's shot cracked through the air; it dropped. Another took its place, then three more. Rick fired twice, buying seconds. "Now, Fen!" Lily shoved the whimpering pup into Sophia's arms and climbed in after Daryl and Fen. The grey wolf followed, ears flat against her skull.Inside the van, chaos reigned. Carl crouched beside Lori on the floorboards, while Glenn slammed the rear doors shut. The van lurched forward before they were fully sealed. Fen collapsed onto a stack of moldy blankets, pain radiating through his shoulder with every bump. Lily ripped open a first-aid kit scavenged from the store. "Hold still," she ordered, pouring moonshine onto fresh gauze. The pup nuzzled against the mother wolf's belly, seeking milk as the van swerved violently. Outside, fists thudded against the metal—walkers drawn to the noise and motion.Shane cursed, wrenching the wheel. "They're boxing us in!" Rick leaned forward, gripping the dashboard. "Take the alley behind the bank—narrower, might shake 'em." The van screeched sideways, crushing a walker beneath its tires. Sophia braced herself against the wall, clutching the pup as it yelped. Daryl watched the rear doors, crossbow loaded. "Got two clingers!" he shouted. One rotting hand clawed through the gap in the doors. Daryl's bolt punched through its skull.Fen hissed as Lily packed the wound. The moonshine burned like hellfire. "Thread," she demanded, holding out a needle. Glenn fumbled through the med kit. Outside, shadows flickered against the boarded windows—buildings blurring past. The mother wolf whined, licking her pup's head. Fen grabbed Glenn's wrist. "Give it here." He took the needle, jaw clenched. *Just sew. Don't think about the bone-deep ache.*Shane jerked the wheel hard left. Metal screamed as the van sideswiped an abandoned sedan. Carl slammed into the wall. "Jesus, Shane!" Lori yelled, clutching her son. Rick's knuckles whitened on the dashboard. "They're funneling us toward the river!" Walkers poured from side streets, drawn by the engine's roar. One lurched onto the hood—rotten teeth snapping against the windshield. Shane floored it. The corpse tumbled under the wheels with a sickening crunch.
