Promise? »» C.G.

Chapter 25»«I'd Be Fine If You Died

Carl

I kept walking. We found a restaurant.

"Wait outside, okay?" Dad asked. "Keep watch."

"You keep watch," I said. "You can barely stand. I'm not gonna let you go in there alone."

"Excuse me?"

"We've done this before. I'm gonna help you clear it. You should just let me do it myself." There was a silence for a second.

"Let's go," Dad said. He opened the door and we ran in. We looked around. It was mostly clear.

"Kitchen's clear," Dad said. A walker came out of nowhere.

"That might be all that's left," Dad said motioning towards the food on the shelf.

"I can get it from here," I said.

"No," Dad said. "No, it's weak. I'll draw it out." I looked at a paper.

'Please do what I couldn't

Joe Jr.'

"Stay back," Dad said. I put the paper down as Dad began to draw it out. He tried killing it, but the axe got stuck. He cursed. I aimed my gun.

"Don't," Dad said, but I shot it anyway.

"I said not to," Dad said.

"You couldn't do it with the axe!" I shouted.

"I had it. Every bullet counts. What if you needed that one later? See what you can find. Then let's move on." We looked around and gathered the food. Then, we started back on the road. I was still ahead of him. We found a house, so we went inside. I walked down the halls towards all the open doors. Which I had to remind my father that.

"Just stop," Dad told me. I had enough. I put my gun at my side and turned towards Dad. I banged my fist on the wall shouting loud enough for any walkers to hear,

"Hey asshole! Hey shit face! Hey-!"

"Watch your mouth!" Dad told me.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. "If there's one of them down there, they would've came out." I sighed and walked off. Venturing the house. It was pretty empty. I went upstairs and found some rooms. A room with a pretty sick set up. I took the cables and went down stairs.

(Y/n)

We walked in rain, she told me about her family. She had blood all over her face, I had blood down my left side. She looked around and got out her knife. I got mine out too. We hid behind a sign as walkers passed. She clutched her knife. Then, she wrote JSS in the dirt. We walked in shine, I talked about my family.

"Tell me about them," she said.

"About who?" I asked.

"Your family. Friends."

"Oh, where do I start?"

"How about your parents?"

"Well, I'm adopted, but my mom, her name is Maggie. She raised me herself. Glenn, my dad, came to my farm when this all started."

"Why'd he come?"

"Because, in his group, their leader's son got shot by my buddy Otis. Otis died. He got killed."

"Tell me about the group. Your group."

"There's my Aunt Beth, and that's it. My Papa got killed. That's why I'm out here. With you."

Carl

I woke up after a long night. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. I sat up and looked at Dad. I grabbed my holster and some food. I poured some cereal in a bowl. I made another one. For Dad. I went upstairs to a room and read while I ate. I thought about (Y/n) again and put my book down. I went downstairs to check on Dad.

"Dad?" I asked. "Dad?" I kicked his foot. I got down next to him.

"Dad, wake up," I said. I started to shake him.

"Come on. Wake up," I said. "Dad, wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Then, there was banging the front door. Shit. I put on my hat and went outside though the back door. I held my gun up. There were two walkers at the door. I drew them away. I liked around and shouted at them.

"Hey you! Fresh meat right here. Come and get it," I said. I began back away from the house.

"Let's take a walk. Keep up," I said. "That's it." I walked away from the house, down the street.

"Come on. Very good. Come, keep coming. Come on. Right here, look at me. There you go. Come on. That's it. Just a little farther." As I backed up, I backed right into another walker. I pushed it away, but they all ended up falling on top of me. I shot them. Wasted three on one, because I was stuck. I got out from underneath the three walkers and put my hat on. I threw up.

(Y/n)

"Sorry. The other group, tell me," Enid said.

"First, there's Carol. She's really nice, and a bad ass. Then there's Daryl, he's like my uncle. He's also a bad ass. There's, well Rick. The leader. He used to be a sheriff. Then, there's Judith. Rick's daughter. The mother died and-anyway, Carl. He was my best friend and now he's just my friend. Carl is Rick's son," I replied.

"The boy who got shot."

"Yeah. I miss him though. He and I had to, 'put down' his mom. I felt so bad. After that, he became a jerk, but he felt bad. There's also Michonne. She was the newest, but I think she died." There was silence for a while.

"Let's change your bandage," she said. We stopped so she could.

"Ouch," I winced as she tightened it.

"Sorry. Hopefully we'll find some antibiotics soon," Enid replied. "I never asked."

"Asked what?"

"Were you and Carl a thing?"

Carl

I went back to where we were. I took off my flannel.

"I killed three walkers," I told my sleeping, possibly dead, father. "They were at the door. They were gonna get in, but I lured them away. I killed them. I saved you. I saved you. I didn't forget while you had us playing farmer. I still know how to survive. Lucky for us. I don't need you anymore. I don't need you to protect me anymore. I can take care of myself. You probably can't protect me anyway. You couldn't protect Judith. You couldn't protect...Hershel or Glenn, or Maggie. Michonne, Daryl,
(Y/n), or Mom. You just wanted to plant vegetables. You just wanted to hide. He knew where we were and you didn't care! You just hid behind those fences and waited for...They're all gone now. Because of you! They counted on you! You were their leader!" I sat down.

"But now...you're nothing," I said. I sniffled. I wiped my eyes and took the bag to find more stuff. I said,

"I'd be fine if you died."