"Bang!"
Rick's gun still fired, but his aim shifted instinctively at the last moment.
The bullet did not hit any of Eisenberg's vital areas. Instead, it buried itself deep in his right thigh.
Flesh tore open, and Eisenberg let out a shrill scream. His whole body fell backward, and the gun slipped from his hand.
Almost at the same time, driven by pain and the instinct to survive, Eisenberg grabbed the pistol that had fallen beside him and, without even looking, pulled the trigger wildly in Rick's general direction.
"Bang! Bang!"
Rick was still caught in that split-second shock, and his dodge came half a beat too late.
One bullet grazed his ribs, slicing open a burning gash.
The other slammed solidly into the area above his shoulder blade. The force of the impact spun him halfway around where he stood, sending him stumbling back as warm blood instantly soaked through his shirt.
"Rick!" Andrea and T-Dog shouted from the other side.
In that flash of time, Martinez and the others, who had already escaped some distance away, heard Eisenberg's scream and the rapid gunshots.
"Go back!" Martinez and Crowley exchanged a look, then growled through clenched teeth.
The two turned back and arrived just in time to see Rick stagger after being shot, while Eisenberg lay near the pile of rocks, clutching his thigh as blood poured from it and screaming in agony.
Crowley fired several blind shots in Rick's direction to suppress them. His aim was terrible, but it was enough to force the wounded Rick, along with Andrea and T-Dog, who were about to rush over, to take cover.
Martinez scrambled to Eisenberg's side and roughly slung one of Eisenberg's arms around his own neck.
"Move! Hurry!" he shouted, dragging Eisenberg as the man screamed nonstop. Crowley kept retreating while firing wildly to keep Andrea and the others pinned down.
The three of them stumbled desperately through the woods, soon vanishing into the trees.
"Rick! How bad is it?" Andrea was the first to rush to Rick's side. When she saw his shoulder soaked red, her expression changed at once.
T-Dog kept his gun trained on the direction where the attackers had disappeared, gritting his teeth. "Fuck! They got away!"
Rick slid down against a tree trunk and sat on the ground, his right hand clamped tightly over the wound in his left shoulder. Blood kept seeping through his fingers.
"I'm… fine." He gasped for breath and tried to stand, only to be hit by a wave of dizziness.
"Don't move!" Andrea held him down and quickly checked the wound. "The bullet might be lodged in the bone. We have to get you back right now! T-Dog, help me!"
T-Dog immediately put away his gun. He and Andrea moved to either side of Rick, draped his arms over their shoulders, and almost carried him between them.
"Are we… not chasing them?" Rick forced out through the pain.
"Chase, my ass! You keep yourself alive first!" T-Dog roared, his eyes red.
The three gave up the pursuit and retreated toward the prison as quickly as they could.
From the direction of the prison, scattered gunshots and walker snarls could still be heard faintly, but they were gradually dying down. The breach in the wall had probably been blocked for the moment.
...
In the prison infirmary, Rick lay flat on his back, his face as pale as paper. With each weak breath, bloody foam still seeped slowly from the gunshot wound in his left shoulder.
"Hold him down!" Hershel growled.
T-Dog and Tyreese immediately stepped forward and used all their strength to pin down Rick's unconscious, spasming body.
Hershel took a deep breath and slid the small knife into the wound.
Rick's unconscious body jerked violently, and a muffled groan of pain escaped his throat.
No one knew how long the operation lasted.
When Hershel finally pulled the bullet out with forceps, everyone swayed as if all the strength had drained out of them.
"The bleeding's stopped for now," Hershel said, exhausted, slumping to the floor. "But he's lost too much blood, and infection could set in at any time.
Whether he wakes up, and what state he'll be in if he does… that's in God's hands now, and Rick's own will."
Carl rushed to his father's side, biting his lip hard as he stared at Rick without blinking.
Meanwhile, in the guard office, Andrea, Carol, Jacqui, Dale, Jimmy, Sasha, and Boone had gathered together.
Jacqui rubbed her forehead. "We finished the count. Nearly seven meters of the northwest wall collapsed, and a section of barbed wire was torn open with it. We blocked it with everything we could find, but it isn't solid. It won't hold for long. The walkers are still slamming into it from outside. We have to repair it as soon as possible."
Carol added with difficulty, "Lizzie was near the breach. We couldn't find a complete… body. Old Tom couldn't sleep tonight and said he was going to check the vegetable garden… A stray bullet hit him in the neck. He died on the spot."
Old Tom had been a quiet, taciturn old man.
And Lizzie, that unsettling girl, had disappeared in such a terrible way.
"The attackers got away!" Andrea slammed her fist onto the table. "We killed one of them, and Rick wounded another. They couldn't have gone far. They must have left tracks. But at the time, we were too busy saving people…"
"We can't catch them now. And we can't go after them," Dale said, taking off his hat and rubbing his face hard. "We don't have enough people. Rick is down, and we don't know what's happening outside. We can't split our forces any more."
Carol said with difficulty, "Those people, whoever they are, know where we are. This time they blew up the wall and let walkers in. What about next time? What if they drive their vehicles here, bring more people, and charge straight in?"
No one could answer.
Rick's collapse had taken away their backbone. For the first time, the prison had suffered a blow like this.
At that moment, Hershel, who had just finished operating on Rick, slowly walked in from outside and spoke in a low voice.
"Rick needs better medical conditions.
Fever reducers, antibiotics, and possibly more professional surgical treatment. We don't have any of it!
As for the wall… the things we cobbled together won't stop another explosion. They might not even hold against a large walker horde."
Jimmy nodded. "We're short on people."
"We're short on everything!" Jacqui murmured. Then she suddenly raised her head. "Rock Fortress."
Andrea said the answer for her, her uncertain tone gradually firming. "Calista… she has a plane. She has doctors. Glenn and Maggie are there, and Lori is there too. Contact them!"
After a moment of silence, Hershel made the decision.
"We'll tell Calista everything that happened here and ask for support!"
...
Calista was woken directly.
"Calista, emergency communication from the prison!" Danny, who was on night duty, was outside the door, knocking urgently.
She sat up in bed at once, grabbed the shirt draped over the back of a chair, pulled it on, and walked barefoot to the door, opening it a crack.
Under the dim emergency lights in the hallway, Danny's face looked a little pale. He was clutching a transcribed message in his hand.
He looked down at the paper and spoke quickly. "Prison channel. The situation is bad!
They were attacked by an organized group. The wall was breached by explosives, two people are dead, and several are injured. Rick was shot and is unconscious. They urgently need medical and armed support…"
Not walkers.
Walkers did not use explosives, much less act in an "organized" way.
A chill rose from the bottom of Calista's heart and quickly spread through her limbs.
Her sleepiness vanished instantly. She was fully awake now, and almost immediately, she knew who had done it. Or rather, what kind of people had done it.
"Danny, go wake Leah and the others. Tell them all to come to the command center!"
Then Calista pulled on her pants, tightened her boots, grabbed her jacket, opened the door, and strode toward the command center.
If nothing unexpected had happened, the Governor had shown up early.
And she was about to get busy again.