Destination Life or Death

3.

The first few weeks at the prison were not bad. It took awhile for people to trust me. Understand that I was a lone teenage girl in this dead world. Beth was sweet, her angelic voice could be heard singing to the younger kids she had watched. I would help some days but I could never handle the sound of babies crying. I remember holding Judith. She never cried, she was always so peaceful, not realizing the world she would have known, was gone. This is all she would know. Judith was like a diary for me. Someone I would go to after breakfast and just hold and rock her to sleep while I told stories to her about my brother, and my father, even some of my mother. Everyday I felt less alone. Yet I was alone. I never saw the blue eyes I saw that day on the road, I never heard his raspy voice. Until today. I was sitting alone in an empty cell block talking to Judith about the first time I visited my brother at college, Red Rocks, a college in the smack dab middle of Colorado. I was telling her about how we always loved Colorado. It was always better weather than they had here in Georgia. I saw a shadow cover the light that had been peeking through the windows and looked up to be met with the ice blue eyes staring back at me. "Can I have my sister?" he asked, holding his hands out in front of him waiting for the small baby to be placed in his hands. "She's your sister?" I asked looking at him and then the baby once more. I should've known. Her sloped nose, just like his, yet she had brown eyes. I could see the small differences between them but all around the same look he had compared to his dad, they looked alike, they looked like family. I put the baby in his arms expecting him to leave after I did so, but he didn't. He went and stood against the wall humming a small unidentifiable tune to his sister. He was bouncing her to a deep sleep, and once her eyes closed, he started the conversation "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cut you off like I did. Especially knowing you were alone-" his eyes shot up, almost worried he hit a nerve. He did, but I didn't show it. I didn't want him knowing that being alone was a weakness of mine. "I just wanted to be alone I guess, just for a while." His voice was soft yet sincere. I could feel his eyes still on me. "What's your name?" I asked, looking at him then the ground again. I was ecstatic he was talking to me, yet I wanted to hold back. I wanted to be a mystery so he would keep coming back. When he didn't answer right away, I looked at him, holding his gaze this time, noticeably waiting for his name to slip from his mouth "Carl. Carl Grimes". I looked at him up and then stood up putting my hand out to meet his "it's nice to meet you Carl Grimes." I said, keeping a small smile laced onto my lips. As his hand met mine, I nodded, "You just agreed to being my best friend without even knowing" I said winking and then moving quickly to leave the cell block. Before I was completely gone I heard a small chuckle and then the quiet whispered words say "It's nice to meet you too Dezzy." I smiled but didn't turn to show him and continued walking like I didn't hear what he had said.

As the days went on, I would see Carl around the prison, doing laundry or farm work. We had finally gotten some crops and animals at the prison. But he never talked to me. Not necessarily avoiding me but seeming like he barely remembered I was there. I decided I was done sitting around doing nothing other than helping Beth with Judith and some of the other kids. I started cleaning and doing dishes, it got me praised by Rick, as I was doing so without being asked or told. "My dad talks about how I should be more like you, ya know?" the raspy voice that only belonged to Carl, spoke from behind me. I had been at a bowl of water scrubbing off the leftover oatmeal from that morning. "Maybe you should be more like me," I said laughing and flicking some water at him. I was always outgoing even before the apocalypse. I enjoyed talking to and meeting people. Maybe that's why it was so easy to joke with him. "Oh haha " he said rolling his eyes followed by a small laugh. "You need help?" he asked, moving next to me and leaning against the scratched up coffee table that had been moved into what now was the kitchen. I shook my head no and then looked at him. "Not unless you want to," I said smiling and then scrubbing a bown again. I must've missed it but there was a large knife, the one I bought from my kitchen back home. I looked at him and reached into the bowl of water, grabbing the knife by the blade and yelping in pain as I pulled my bloody hand out of the water. "Woah Dezzy, one sec," the boy said frantically before running out of the room and bringing back Herschel. He was an older man, with white hair. He was always so nice and was also the father to Maggie and Beth, along with the doctor here at the prison. "A few stitches, and no work using this hand for a good few weeks will fix it up good" He said looking at the deep cut that went across the palm of my hand. He stood up and gestured to me to follow him, which I did, along with the tall, long haired boy following behind us.