Not Like Before (Discontinued)

Chapter 2

//Carl's POV

I was taking a walk through Alexandria when I heard an alarmed voice.

"Carl!" I heard Daryl call. He was on watch.

Confused, I jogged over to the gate, looking up at him.

"There's someone here who wants to see you," he told me, his voice worried.

I nodded and he opened the gate.

Standing before me was a girl around my age. Her blond hair was a jungle around her face and she had tears streaming down her cheeks. She was breathing heavily.

"Are you Carl?" she asked, sounding terrified.

I nodded in confusion. "Who are you?"

"I'm Lydia, Tess' sister," she cried.

My guard went up as soon as I heard Tess' name. I had been doing my best to shove her out of my mind ever since we broke up. I had been succeeding for a while.

I put my hand up. "I don't think I'm the best person to-"

"Carl, she's trying to kill herself!" Lydia yelled, cutting me off.

The world seemed to stop for a moment and the next thing I knew, I was running faster than I ever had before, following Lydia back to her camp.

She couldn't be. God, she better not be dead.

We quickly snuck in and Lydia led me to where Tess was.

I broke down the door and I saw her. She was lying on her bed, her eyes gently closed. She looked like she could be sleeping. There were a bottle of pills next to her.

Terrified, I quickly ran over to her and pressed my ear to her chest. I sighed in alarmed relief when I heard the faint bumping of her heart.

"She's still alive," I called over to Lydia. "But barely. We have to get her to Hilltop, they have a doctor. And we need to get there quickly."

I picked Tess up bridal style. "Do you guys have a car we could take?"

She shook her head. "We only have two motorcycles."

I paused a moment before breathing deeply. "Tess taught me how to drive one. Come on!"

Lydia led me out to the vehicles and I got on while Lydia wrapped Tess' arms around me and tied her sweatshirt sleeves in a knot so they would stay there. She then got on the other one.

We started the motorcycles up and headed out of the camp.

I blinked back a tear that was threatening to roll down my face. Even though I still felt awkward around Tess, in no way did I want her to die. Maybe I did still love her.

After what seemed like forever, we pulled up to Hilltop.

The guy on watch knew me and opened the gate.

Jesus met us at the gate.

"Carl, what is it?" he asked, alarmed.

"It's Tess, she overdosed," I panted, carrying her in my arms.

He gave me a suspicious look at the mention of Tess. "Carl-"

"God, Jesus, just help her!" I yelled.

Finally, he nodded and took her from my arms, rushing her to Doctor Carson.

I sighed and turned to Lydia, tiredly pulling her into a hug.

Now all we had to do was wait.