Forever Unfinished // Carl Grimes

Chapter 23

"I honestly hate walking," Lauren groaned, exhaustidly placing one foot infront of the other. Carl fell into the same rhythm as her, both of them in sync.

"You're not the only one," He chuckled, scanning the forest where they walked. "Where are we even going?"

"I don't know," Lauren blew a strand of hair from her face. "How did you find me?"

"I kind of just went with the flow," Carl laughed while his feet crunched on twigs and leaves, "Y'know, hoped for the best."

The canopy of leaves blocked out most of the sun that beat down on their backs. Lauren attempted to navigate from the map she had, but failed. She sighed and continued to walk into the nothingness.

"You're lucky that worked," Lauren replied, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

"I know."

The had walked for hours and the afternoon sun began to fade away, the rain had dampened everything, and the moist air was calming. Silence had followed them everywhere they walked and Lauren felt on-edge because of this, she chose to ignore it as much as she could, but she had a feeling that something was wrong.

"Where are all the Walkers?" She finally voiced her silent worries, "Why is it so quiet?"

Lauren spun around, desperatly trying to find something alive. Carl raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"I'm sure it's fine," He said, "Isn't it good that we don't have to fight anything? Just enjoy it while it lasts."

"I can't explain it," She shook her head, "I just have a weird feeling about this."

Lauren bit her tongue and they continued to walk, slowly becoming more comfortable with the silence. She relaxed after another hour while the sky slowly transitioned to purple. They talked about the past, and the future. Their little wishes and dreams, their hobbies before, and their memories from when it all started.

Lauren suddenly stopped talking and Carl snapped his head towards her. She had her gaze trained on something hidden behind the trees, her hand already placed on the hilt of her machete.

"Carl, run," She said slowly, and so quietly that Carl knew the urgency to start moving. Lauren turned on her heel and made it two steps before she stopped again, this time, Carl saw why.

Before them stood three people, dressed in black cloaks, hockey masks covering their faces. To their left and right, two more and behind them three, meaning that eight people circled them. Lauren defensively held her machete, her back pressed up against Carl who had his gun, unsure what to do.

Each of the people had some form of melee weapon, but Carl could see the outline of a gun on their hip, covered by the cloak.

Lauren lunged at the first, who had come closer than most of them. His weapon was a large strong wooden pole with two sharp daggers strapped to each end. He smirked when Lauren lunged, his mouth being the only visible part of him. He swung out his spear, almost catching her directly in the abdomen, but a well-timed twist from Lauren evaded it.

Before he could pull his weapon back she lunged and sliced his bicep, not enough to injure him fatally. All of the others watched as they fought eachother. He pulled his spear back, and Lauren jumped just before it managed to sweep her feet. Carl wondered why he wasn't fighting with the sharp ends of his spear, but rather the middle part.