Forever Unfinished // Carl Grimes

Chapter 37

Lauren had made it from one corner of the camp to the other without being disurbed or spotted. Her fingers curled tighter around the string of her bow, the arrow between her index and third finger. She breathed evenly, her pulse only slightly elevated. Her back pressed against the wooden wall of the main building in the camp. She shielded herself behind a green wheeley bin as she thought of her next move.

Voices filled the silent air and the front door of the building opened.

"Jonah, you and Kirsty stay here while I go see what's happening," The voice ordered, Lauren recognised it as the voice of the leader who had questioned Carl. "If you hear gunshots, then you can come out."

The leader walked on, disappearing into the night. Once he was far enough away, Lauren moved. She crouched down, sneaking around the corner and to the front door. She pulled the handle and pushed the door open slightly, her jaw set in tension. She breathed out when noone immediately came to the door and she slipped inside, coming to face a staircase. She ducked away, slipping into the small broomcloset under the staircase when she heard movement in the room to her left.

"Kirsty!" The voice Lauren reconed belonged to Jonah yelled, opening the door, his voice aimed up the staircase, "You stay upstairs with the kid and watch out the windows."

"Okay."

The door then closed again and Lauren breathed yet another sigh of relief. She stepped out of the small room and back into the hall. She stopped outside the door to the room Jonah was currently inside and tightened her fingers around her bowstring.

I need to do this quickly.

She suddenly hopped up and pulled the door handle, as the door flew open she readied her bow. Jonah, a middle aged, bearded man, had his back to the far wall, a cigarette in his mouth as he reloaded his handgun. A box of opened bullets sat on the wooden kitchen table.

Before he could even slot the ammunition back into his gun Lauren had released her arrow, the deadly weapon imbedding itself in the dead centre Jonah's neck. His hands curled around the arrow which was stuck into the wooden wall behind him, pinning him as he died. He gagged, blood dripping over his lips and onto his grey beard. The handgun slipped from his hands and clattered to the ground loudly. Footsteps echoed from above Lauren and she cursed.

"Jonah!" Kirsty called from above them, her footsteps getting slighly quieter as she moved into the landing, "What happened!?"

Her footsteps became louder as she began to walk down the stairs. Lauren desperatly looked around, deciding to hide herself behind the open door. She sucked in, trying to make herself smaller, her head turned to the side and she stood on her tippy-toes. Kirsty reached the bottom of the stairs, stepping into the kitchen, a loud gasp escaped her mouth at the sight of the dead man pinned against the wall.

"Oh god," She turned her head away as she gagged.

Kirsty held her gun in a shaky hand as she tore her eyes away from Jonah with the intent on leaving. Before she could turn, Lauren stepped out from behind the door, machete in hand. She pressed the blade against Kirsty's jugular. Sucking in a sharp breath, she dropped the gun in her hand in surrender.

"Kick it away," Lauren demanded, and Kirsty complied. The gun skidded across the linoleum floor almost soundlessly, "Now sit down and shut up."