Chapter 15

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Carl's POV

Lydia and I walked through the forest, both of us keenly aware of our surroundings.

Lydia didn't have any problem with killing walkers. In fact, every single we encountered would be stabbed in the head by her. I was impressed. She's really strong.

We eventually came to this rotted log, which Lydia sat down against. I was immediately reminded of the log that Enid and I went to very frequently back at Alexandria. I really missed that log.

Lydia snapped me out of my thoughts. "You gonna join me down here or what?" she said playfully.

I smiled slightly and sat down next to her.

We stared off into the distance for a few moments until Lydia spoke up. "Your sister is so cute," she said.

I smiled and looked down. I then did something I never thought I'd do.

"My mom died having her," I blurted out.

Lydia immediately looked at me, sadness in her eyes.

The rest of the story kinda fell out.

"It was about two years ago," I explained. "Me and my group, we were staying at this prison. It had walls and everything. I actually thought my mom would make through birth okay. Anyway, one day walkers got inside the walls, split us up. I ended up with my mom and Maggie."

"I think I heard Glenn talking about Maggie," Lydia said. "Was she the one who died?"

"Uh, yeah," I managed to get out, the memory of Maggie's death still haunting me.

Lydia simply nodded.

I continued the story. "Me, my mom, and Maggie eventually got to a room that didn't have walkers in it. And, of course, my mom started giving birth. But she knew something was wrong. There was too much blood. She knew she had to get a c-section, like she did with me."

Lydia looked away at this point, as if it were too much for her. I continued anyway.

"She knew she wouldn't survive, but she wanted to do it anyway, for Judith. And so Maggie cut her open....it still saddens me to look at Judith knowing that she is never going to be able to meet her mom."

Lydia looked back at me, a few tears swimming in her eyes.

"Maggie and I knew that one of us had to shoot her so she would become a walker. I ended up doing it. She was my mom. It had to be me."

A tear rolled down Lydia's face and I came to my senses.

"I can't believe I just told you all of that," I said, shaking my head to clear it.

"I'm glad you did," she said softly.

I suddenly felt the urge to be away from her.

I looked away from her and stood up. "We should head back," I said awkwardly. "My dad and Enid should be back soon."

"Okay," I heard Lydia say, but I was already walking back.

I saw a walker and immediately ran up to it, stabbing its head angrily.

Tears were threatening to spill, but I held them back. I hadn't talked about my mom's death since it happened. I forgot how hard it was and always will be.

I shook my head and continued walking, hearing the footsteps of Lydia behind me, though I didn't acknowledge them.

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