Collision

Chapter Fourty Six

~ Chapter Fourty Six ~

Carl's P.O.V.

The walk away from Terminus was depressing. The five of us kept quiet and Judith noticed the sullen vibe, so she wept. I bit my lip from wanting to yell at her to keep quiet. We were wandering in the woods with groups of walkers coming from every direction because of the attraction to the sound of the explosion.

None of us even bothered to ask Carol what she did. We were just thankful that she got us out of there just in time.

Daryl, though as tough as he was, became numb and Carol had to take away his cigarettes so he wouldn't burn himself anymore. Tyreese was glad for our presence; he was probably lonely having to take care of Judith all by himself.

"Could you take her, Carl?" Dad croaked, leaning to hand me Judith. I nodded and took my sister in my arms.

Terminus was already a far sight, thanks to our never ending walk. Sweat poured from my head and trickled down my hair. Jeez, I need a haircut. I looked at dad's beard. It was growing long enough to be able to hide a gun in there. Smiling with the last bit of humour I had left, I kept my comments to myself.

"Let's take a break, Rick," Michonne suggested, seeing the heavy faces on everyone. "At this rate, we'll die of fatigue more than starvation."

My stomach grumbled at the sound of being hungry. Suddenly, I was reminded of one of my classes where my teacher told us that humans could live more than a week without food. Less than a week without water. Terminus was smart enough to hand us water, but we were smart enough not to eat the meat they offered. Shivers made its way up my spine when I thought about the food the lady behind the grill would've given us if it weren't for Beth's necklace.

"Alright. Let's stay here for a while," Dad agreed, letting out a breath as he sat down on the wet grass.

Daryl didn't rest. "I'll go out huntin'."

Carol was close to stopping him, but she let him go, shaking her head at his actions. At this rate, Daryl would be a ticking time bomb, just waiting to explode and hurt only himself in the process.

"So what's our next destination?" Michonne inquired, borrowing my knife and sharpening her katana.

Dad shrugged, as if not knowing where we would go next. We're going to New York to find Ellie and Joel! I wanted to scream at him. "Wherever the roads lead us."

"I thought you made a deal with Joel about finding 'em after you found Judith," Carol stated. I wanted to hug her more than ever, at that instant.

"It's a risk, going on up there. What if we waste gallons of gas to end up no where? And besides, we've got no vehicles to take us. No food. No water."

My insides were burning hot as he just threw away the plan to go to New York. Michonne noticed how I was holding back my feelings and tried to talk dad out of it, "Rick, you made a promise. And right now, that place sounds better than being stuck on the roads with no destination."

Dad let out a huff of air, "let's just sleep on the topic. Find shelter, take rest, then vote on where to go."

"No need," Daryl walked out of the forest, his crossbow slung over his shoulder. "Found a barn out ahead with no one in it."

After Daryl led us to the abandoned barn, we settled in and locked up. We figured no one would need to watch since the barn was heavily secured.

"So where have you been all this time?" Tyreese questioned.

"Mostly roaming around. We found another group and went with them. Which reminds me, Sasha and Bob went with Maggie and Glenn to join some people to Washington," dad replied.

Tyreese's eyes grew wide with wonder. "My sister's alive?" We all nodded with a smile as the gentle giant gave out a bright smile.

"So Tyreese is set on staying here to find Sasha," Michonne stated. "Who's staying? Who's leaving?"

Minutes passed by before anyone came up with an answer. Carol was the first to speak and break the silence, "I have to stay. This is my home."

"Mine too," Daryl added.

"But I have to go find Ellie," I started, hoping that dad wouldn't end it there.

"And I'll go wherever Carl goes," Michonne smiled at me.

"It's just not that easy, Carl," dad sighed. "Our family's here. And there's no assurance that New York's the safest place to go."

"But what place have we been safe in?" I cried, falling to my knees in desperation. "Dad, please. We have Judith, and Joel and Ellie are our family now too."

"Carl..." Dad trailed off, not knowing how to reply. Maybe it was just hopeless. Maybe, somewhere in his stubborn mind, it had already been ingrained that we would never make our way to New York.

This thought depressed me enough until I was able to sleep from getting tired of wallowing in my own self pity.

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When dawn arrived, I opened my eyes slightly to see that the barn doors were open. Everyone around me was already outside, with some bags still scattered inside. Gingerly, I stretched and walked out to find out where they were.

"You sure about this?" I heard Daryl ask. Following his voice, I saw that Michonne was standing alongside dad with Judith in her hands. Carol and Tyreese were holding on to their belongings, a jug of water at hand.

"Dad?"

Heads turned to me as I came out of the clearing and into their view.

"Carl, perfect timing," Michonne smiled, still tending to Judith.

"What's going on?" I asked, hinting at the fact that Carol, Tyreese and Daryl already had their packs with them. Carol came with a withering smile and gave me a hug. I didn't decline the warm offering, but I did question it.

"It's time for us to part ways," Dad breathed, scratching his beard. When I raised my eyebrow at him, he further explained. "Michonne and I both decided that it would be a good idea for us to head to New York. But with that comes the fact that Carol, Daryl and Tyreese stay here."

"Oh." The bittersweet pang came in a heartbeat.

The next five minutes seemed like eternity holding on to each other. It really was goodbye this time.

Daryl, being the tough guy, gave me a simple head rub, smiling comfortably. "See you in another life, little man."

I gave half a smile and walked to Tyreese, who gave me a side hug. "Grow up and don't forget about us, alright?" I nodded.

As words were exchanged, tears were dropped, and emotional strings were tugged at, I could not help but smile at how far every one of us had gotten. From complete strangers to a family; we went from a completely different set of people to a heavy task force made for surviving together.

Dad and Daryl took the longest time separating.

"You are my brother now," Dad spoke carefully. "Family."

"Ain't never forgettin'," Daryl croaked, his voice still crumbling from yesterday's events.

"Well, we'd better go," Carol hushed, a gentle smile was on her face.

"If things don't go right in New York, we'll come back down here to find you, just remember that," Dad concluded.

The farewell was simple enough. Hard, but simple. The three of them left onwards, each helping Tyreese in the quest to find Sasha. I took Judith from Michonne's arms as the three walked away from our sights, and we started moving along as well.

Dad was solemn and quiet, only speaking here and there when he needed help to get something done. Michonne tugged us on, knowing that the split hurt, but we were still alive. God only knew what would've become of our family without Michonne.

"C'mon Carl," Dad spoke, urging me to stop staring at the road behind.

We had a long journey ahead and we couldn't waste a precious second of our time.