Forever Unfinished // Carl Grimes

Chapter 41

During the journey, Lauren and Carl explained what had transpired the last few months, their trials and all they had lost and gained. Their friends, their newfound safety and happiness. For the first time in a long time, it felt like nothing could split them apart, that nothing could jeopardise their contentment. They felt like if they stood as a team, nobody could tear it away from them again.

Lauren felt like she knew a lot about the world, she felt experienced. She had faced almost every antagonist, the bad and the downright evil and she had surpassed them all, with the aid of her extended family. In a small part, she felt more dangerous than anyone she had faced, more determined and more cold-blooded. She had spilled blood, she had wallowed in her guilt but she came out stronger, she knew what she had to do to survive, and she would always kill without hesistation.

"So Ethan..?" Rachel said aloud, "He tried to have Carl killed thinking you would chose him?"

"Yeah," Lauren grimaced at the memory, "He had him beaten infront of me and dragged away. He told me he was dead and I lost myself. I willed myself not to believe him but he wouldn't even tell me where he had him taken. I lost control, and I slit his throat. It took a day before I found out Carl was still alive."

The convirsation lapsed into silence, a state of disbelief but Lauren knew it was what she needed to do. It would have turned out worse had she not killed him, she knew that now. She felt Carl's hand brush against her own, a silent comfort between them both. She smiled ever so slightly and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Once she had her lifeline, she could pass any obstacle.

"We're here," Lauren announced, feeling oddly nervous at returning to Greenview. She had left because she could no longer cope with what had happened. She turned down the pathway, large iron gates looming onfront of her. She waved up at the two guards standing atop the high stone wall.

"I'm back with the rest of my group," Lauren shouted up, making sure they could see her properly, they lowered their guns and nodded.

"Welcome back Lauren.. and Carl."

Seconds later, one of the guards climbed down from the wall and pulled on the large gate, the metal creeking eerily as it opened. She smiled to him, walking through the gates and into the area of the Survivors. Large green fields surrounded them as they walked, overgrown from years of neglect. A lone golf flagpost stuck from the ground, its once vibrant yellow colour faded.

Greenview was a welcome sight, the large building towering high, getting bigger as they approached. She could see the courtyard, and beside it the small plot of graves, where Diggy was laid to rest. She sucked in a deep breath and tore her eyes from the patch of grass. People bussled about, digging and tending to the farms out the front.

"Samantha!" Lauren mocked jokingly as she spotted her friend outside the front of the large hotel. She waved as Sam turned, her cold demeanour replaced for joy. She bolted forward, wrapping her arms around Lauren's thin frame.

"You took so goddamn long I thought you both got killed," Sam breathed out, squeezing Lauren for dear life. She found it amusing how Sam was always so serious but her mask fell when it came to the people she cared most about, "Where have you been?"

"It's a long story," Lauren mumbeled with a short laugh as she detached from Sam. She took a step back and surveyed the group, her eyes landing on Carl.