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"DONT GO OUTSIDE, stay safe."
Those were the exact words Rick had wheezed out last night as Carl was pointing his pistol to his head. He was nearly pulling the trigger when his Dad's eyes had rolled backward, and his finger left in an instant when watching him fall back into complete unconsciousness.
Carl's brief hesitation beforehand, saved Rick. I had spent many seconds trying to convince the boy that it was what had to be done. If he'd listened to me any sooner, Rick would be nothing but another rotting body.
Both Carl and I were left in a state of shock for the remainder of the night. We'd opted to sit many feet apart against the couch we'd worked together to lift Rick back onto, staring into oblivion as actuality set in.
Rick was alive.
On the rooftop, I attempted at assuring both Carl and I that he was going to be fine after resting, but when it came down to it, I couldn't bring myself to believe he was waking up. It shouldn't have been possible for someone's body to be so resilient. Fathers weren't supposed to have so much perpetual love. It wasn't normal for them to keep their hearts beating with the mere idea of leaving their children alone for the world to take.
He refused to do that to his beloved son, and it was the most admirable thing imaginable. Watching someone protect another that they love, with everything in them.
Many hours passed since discovering Rick was alive. I found myself drifting in and out of my senses on a couch opposite to the one Carl and his weak—but awake—father sat. I tiredly tried to hold onto the words that Carl spoke to his father, but it came to me muffled and low. I could only vaguely listen as he narrated, in detail, the day we'd left the house.
He claimed to have found the jar pudding himself, but I accepted this small lie for reason that he skipped past the part where I locked him on the roof. I was thankful for the small act, even in my extremely hazed state. I hadn't slept well for multiple days in a row now, and I could feel as it slowly grew against my need to stay awake, relaxing my muscles like a poison spreading through my veins. My surroundings felt misted, making me almost unsure if everything I was experiencing, and seeing, was real.
