Dead Love

Chapter Six: Feeding the Dead

Chapter Six

Lizzie

I shiver as the cool air travels through my shirt. I tighten my grip on Judith's crib and pull myself up. Judith is still asleep. Carl stormed into his cell after a few minutes of him and Rick arguing.

"Lizzie?" I hear Mika whisper from behind me.

I turn my head towards her and see her standing at the doorway of our cell. There are tears on her cheeks and she is hugging herself for warmth. It is very cold in here. She walks to me and hugs me. I hug her back as she softly cries into my shirt. I kneel down and look at her.

"I'm so sorry." I sob.

"It's okay, Lizzie." She answers.

The sun is setting and everyone is heading into their cells. I take Mika's hand and lead her into our cell. She lies on her bunk and I lie on mine.

"I love you." She says.

"Love you, too." I whisper. I fall asleep and for the first time in forever, I sleep in peace with no dreams at all.

In the morning, I wake up to Carol shaking my arm.

"Hey, how does that shower sound?" She whispers. I smile and get up. We walk to the bigger bathrooms where I guess the prison guards used. There are more showers and toilets. I am surprised that the showers still work.

Carol takes the shower two stalls away from me. I turn on the water and see the steam coming off. I take off my clothes and set them on a bench across from the shower. I walk under the shower hose and let the water melt into my skin. I have my hair become soaked and the same with my body. The hot water sends chills down my body. We only have one shampoo bottle that Carol and I share. The bubbles pop on my head as I use the access shampoo to wash the dirt off of my body. I wash out all of the shampoo and turn the water off. I ring out my wet, blond hair and grab a torn up towel that was on the bench. I step out of the stall and sit down on the bench. Carol is still in the stall.

I change into a new pair of underwear and my same clothes; a loose blue long sleeved shirt with torn jeans and cowboy boots. My hair is still a little damp but I still fix it into my usual one sided braid. Carol changes as I walk around the bathroom. There is mold growing out of the corners of the walls. There is some blood splots here and there but not a lot.

"Are you hungry?" Carol asks from behind me. I turn around and see her dressed and packing things up.

"Yeah." I say.

"Well, how about we go back to the cell block and get breakfast ready?" She says.

"Sure." I answer. We both walk back to cell block C and we get breakfast ready. We make peanut butter sandwiches with oranges. Carol makes the sandwiches and I cut up all of the oranges. We set the plates as more people wake up. First Rick, then Hershel, Mika, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Daryl, . . . Carl.

Soon, everyone is awake, including Judith, and we all eat.

Carl actually does his job today and watches me. He stays a good fifteen or twenty feet away from me though. I am out in the field with him in the afternoon. I sit down on the grass and he sits directly next to me.

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, PUT ON JESUS CHRIST BY BRAND NEW

"I'm sorry." He says.

"You know, your mood swings are really giving me a headache." I tell him.

"I like you, Lizzie. I really do." He says. I look at him to find him staring back at me.

"I thought you said we shouldn't talk to each other." I say.

"I was wrong." He says.

"What happened to just being friends?" I ask.

"Friends isn't enough for me." He admits.

"What about your dad?" I ask.

"What about him?" He replies.

"He hates me." I tell him.

"He doesn't need to know." He says.

"Just a thought." I say with a sigh.
He places his hand over mine and gives me an assuring look.

"Remember what I told you? I told you I would never let anything happen to you. I am keeping that promise." He says and leans close to me, colliding our lips together.
This takes me back to our scene in the watch tower. It was perfect. This is perfect. I pull away and look ahead, beyond the fence.

"What happens when the Governor comes? When he kills us all? He could kill me or you. What'll happen then?" I ask.

"I won't let it happen. When he comes, you will be by my side and I won't let you out of my sight." He says.

"Promise." I say.

"Promise." He says.

With that said we both lie back on the grass and lie in peace. Rick finally let me be on my own. Now that I have my freedom, I don't know what to do. I take a long walk by the other side of the prison. I see a rat scurry away from me. I smile. I run up to catch it.

"Hey, wait." I whisper. I catch it in my hands. It squeaks and I laugh. I hear a loud moan from behind me. I see someone on the other side of the fence reaching it's hands through the holes in the fence towards me.

"Are you hungry?" I ask him. I walk up to him and place the rat in his mouth. He eats it quickly and leaves a trail of blood dripping out of his mouth. A laugh at that and pull my sleeve over my hand. I wipe away the blood and pull my hand back.

"I'll come back tomorrow. Stay here." I tell him. I walk away and back to cell block C. Glenn, Hershel, and Rick are in the first room and I'm guessing everyone else is in their cells. I walk to the cell room and see Carl running down the stairs. While he passes me he whispers, "He's coming."

I turn around to see where he is going. He runs into the first room where Glenn, Hershel, and Rick are. I go up the stairs to Mika. She is on her bunk playing with some hay and a rock.

"What are you making?" I ask her.

"A doll. See." She says and shows me the contraction. The rock is an oval and she carved a face into it and tied the hay around the top to make hair I guess.

"That's cool. Where'd you get the rock and hay?" I ask.

"Carl gave it to me. He told me to just stay here and play with it. Then he ran downstairs." She tells me.

The Governor. He's coming.

"I'll be right back." I tell her. She nods and I run down the stairs. I go into the first room. Now, almost, everyone is in the first room. They're all discussing on wether to flee or fight.

"Rick, I think the best thing we can do, is when the Governor gets here, we try and talk." Maggie says.

"Do you really think he'll want to talk? Did you see what happened the first time he came?' Rick strikes.

As they talk, I tune out. All I know is that Mika could die. Carl could die. I could die.