Forever Unfinished // Carl Grimes

Chapter 34

They passed offices, a staff room and the waiting room. Decayed Walkers lay beside the entrance and they covered their noses at the rancid smell that came off the rotting corpses.

"This town is too quiet," Lauren mumbelled through her shirt sleeve, "It's making me nervous."

"Yeah," Carl agreed, "It looks like someone cleared the whole place out."

"Let's hope they aren't still here."

They passed the front door, leaving the bodies and the smell as they progressed down a hallway, the pastel orange walls feeling as they were closing in on them both.

"Here's the store," Carl murmered, pushing open another door, his handgun poised and ready for a shot. He relaxed when the room proved to be clear and he stepped inside, shining his flashlight through the various shelves. "It looks like someone cleared this place out but there is still some good stuff left."

"Loads of bandages, disinfectant, stitches," Lauren scanned the shelves, "Most of the medication has been cleared but there is still some painkillers and generic antibiotics."

"Help me pack this up and we'll see what else we can find in this town before dark."

Carl stuffed supplies into Lauren's backpack as she held it open, he cleared the shelves and nodded to her when he was finished. They packed up and left as they came.

"We have about an hour or two before dark so what should we do?" Lauren asked and Carl shrugged.

"I don't know about you but I could do with some less.. shreaded and dirt-caked clothes."

Lauren chuckled and pointed to a small charity shop.
"We can look in there."

The door chimed as they walked in, dust and abandonment lingered in the air and Lauren coughed. She let her hand run over the clothes as she walked past rack after rack. She laughed as she pulled out a black prom dress, decorated with tiny sparkling diamonds. She held the dress up to her and turned to Carl.

"What do you think?" She asked with a smile, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I would totally love that if I was your prom date," Carl flirted, and Lauren shook her head, chuckling.

"I'll try this on and we can pretend it's prom for like five minutes," She smiled, biting her lip. She never saw herself as a prom kind of girl but she was spontaneous, and she wanted to feel a superficial kind of beautiful for just a short while before she went back out into the world of decay.

"I'll pick up some clothes while you're changing."

Carl collected various band t-shirts, jeans, hoodies, and a jacket in both his and Lauren's size. He smiled at a large black and white checkered flannel he knew Lauren would love. He tossed it onto the top of the mounting pile and grabbed some clean socks and underwear for himself, deciding with a chuckle to leave Lauren's choice to herself.

"Can you help me zip this up?" Lauren called from behind the curtain in the tiny one-person cubicle. He gently placed the pile of clothes on a leather chair and stepped into the changing room. His hand brushed against her back as he zipped up the silky material. "I feel so stupid wearing this."

"Show me," Carl said softly and Lauren's cheeks tinted pink as she turned around.

Carl smiled brightly at the sight of her. Even with the dirt that covered her face and skin, she was still the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on. The dress reached the floor, a silver, diamond covered belt held the dress tightly to her waist. The neckline fell in a V, the rim covered in the same sparkling diamonds. It was simple yet beautiful.