I Know The End

Thirteen. you can let it go

"Sure, since it was my idea." Mia grinned. "Umm. . . What was your childhood like before the apocalypse?"

"That's a good question. Well, I was on the soccer team."

"Really? She said with wide eyes. "No way. I couldn't tell."

He faked a gasp. "That's so mean."

"Joking!"

"Did you play any sports or anything?"

"I liked playing volleyball."

"Volleyball." He repeated. "For some reason I was getting softball vibes."

She chuckled. "No way. I have horrible eye coordination."

"Bad feet coordination too. You can't kick a soccer ball to save your life."

"I've been around you for too long."

"Don't act like you don't love my company."

Mia shrugged again. "No comment. Were you scared when the apocalypse first hit?"

Carl shifted on the uncomfortable floor. "I think I was more scared about the chaos. I didn't really understand what was happening at first. But having to leave my dad is what scared me the most."

"Yeah." She whispered and nodded. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"What was your family like?"

The forbidden question. Mia froze, her eyes still, and she contemplated on answering. "They were the best." She spoke with a shaky voice. "It might sound cliche but we really were the perfect family.

"My mom passed away from a brain tumor after the sickness was announced. She was already dying, but, it got worse. We tried everything to keep her from getting sick but she was already too far gone. She died in her sleep."

The smile on his lips turned into a frown.

"She's was the most amazing mother. She loved us all so much. I miss her but I'm happy she doesn't have to suffer through this." Mia continued. Her voice was starting to crack.

He stared at her with sadness swimming in his eyes. The look on her face. The crack in her voice. The grief she exuded. Carl knew. "The way you are with Judith and Luke. The way you care for the kids. You had a sibling, didn't you?"

Mia didn't know why she had put so much trust in him. For years, she bottled up her pain and kept everything to herself. Was today the day she would be willing to spill the secrets of her past? She wanted to keep her past bottled inside of her forever because talking about it was painful. But she trusted Carl. For some unknown reason, Mia trusted him. "I had a twin brother." Her mouth went dry. "And a little sister."

He didn't dwell on it. "What were their names?"

She cracked the tiniest smile. "Lucas and Paris."

"What happened to them?" Carl continued with the softest voice she'd heard him use.

She didn't realize how close they had gotten. Both of their hands were positioned under the side of their heads and they were so close she could feel his breath hit her face. They spoke quietly to keep from waking everyone around them.

She flinched when she suddenly heard breaking glass. "We were in a bad car accident passing through Atlanta. My dad had put us on the move in search for shelter somewhere. Somewhere safe. The impact from the serve was so hard it flipped the car and few times and my dad and Paris ended up flying out of the car. Lucas and I hid in the backseat so we would be seen. W-We didn't know they were gone till they walkers got to them."