𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 ↠ 𝘤.𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

61: The Next World

Since the walker invasion of Alexandria about three weeks earlier, the atmosphere has been different— in a positive way. Believing that any major threats were out of the way, people could go on with their lives and sleep peacefully at night. Most people.

Elle's eyes shot open as she woke up from yet another nightmare. She was covered in a thin layer of sweat and she seemed almost out of breath. She looked over at the digital clock that sat in her bedside table, 1:49. It was barely two in the morning, yet that's the longest she's slept in the last week and a half. She lifted the bottom of her tee-shirt, using it to wipe her face before getting up to go to the bathroom.

She quietly crept through the hallway and into the bathroom, turning on the light as she closed and locked the door. When she turned around, she was met by her reflection in the mirror— which wasn't exactly flattering. Her hair was frizzy and her eye bags dark, evident of the fact that when she did sleep, it wasn't very well. She sighed and decided to just get her business done and attempt to go to sleep again.

She washed her hands before leaving the bathroom, drying them on the hand towel that hung on the wall. She turned off the light and quietly made her way toward her room when she heard a small thump come from Carl's room. Whether or not Carl was good at hiding it, he was sleeping worse than Elle. Ever since his accident, nights have been rough. He has nightmares every night, but it's the same nightmare every time, and every time he wakes up at the same part. Like most nightmares, you wake up right before some big dramatic moment that shocks you awake to the point where you're sweating and your chest feels heavy, Carl had that every night. Except tonight, it seemed to be worse.

Elle walked as quietly as her socked feet would let her as she walked towards Carl's room. She softly knocked on the door, not wanting to disturb anyone else in the house. She didn't get a response, so she pressed her ear up to the door. She could hear heavy breathing and sniffles, so she slowly opened the door. "Hey, you okay?" She asked, seeing Carl sitting up in his bed.

He shook his head. Elle walked in and quietly closed the door behind her. She walked over to his bed and lied next to him, in the spot she usually slept in whenever she slept in his room. Carl shifted around to lay back down, facing her. The moonlight cast on his face, showing that he had been crying. "Sorry." He said, wiping his face. She shook her head.

"It's okay to cry, sometimes it helps." She spoke in a whisper. Carl looked away from her, still trying not to cry. He pulled the blanket closer to him, the room getting colder as a breeze made its way through the open window. Elle copied his actions, and they moved closer together, their foreheads mere inches from each other. "They're just nightmares, they can't hurt you."

Carl finally looked up at her, his eye meeting hers as it quickly began flooding with tears. She wrapped an arm under his, hugging him as he began crying again. His head settled into her neck, wetting her shirt. She didn't care about that, she just wished there was something she could do to actually help. You can't protect someone from nightmares.

The sun came through the blinds at just the right angle to wake Elle up. She rubbed her eyes and yawned while trying to avoid blinding herself. She looked around to process her surroundings. She remembered going into Carl's room several hours prior, but she didn't remember falling asleep. She noticed that she was laying down and Carl's head was lied against her chest while he slept soundly, his head slowly moving with each breath she took.

Deciding it was for the best, she easily fell back asleep.

"Elle, Carl." Elle quickly woke up when someone shook her shoulder. She looked to see Rick and relaxed. Then she realized it was Rick, and her and his son were currently sleeping in the same bed, on top of each other. She mentally face palmed herself as Rick shook Carl awake. "How'd you sleep?" He was terrible at hiding the smirk that sat on his lips.