"What? What do you mean he's gone?" I was utterly confused. I was just with Randall only minutes ago and now he's gone?
"I heard a loud noise in the shed and when I went to check on Randall, he was gone" Dale said between breaths.
"That can't be possible, I was just with him like five minutes ago" I said.
Dale looked around, "Well if what you said is true then he couldn't have gone far"
"Where's my dad and Shane? Do they know?" Carl asked.
"Rick is in the barn... I don't know where Shane went, no body knows except us" Dale said.
I nodded, "I'll go find Rick. Carl and Dale, I need you to gather everyone up, tell them what happened" I ordered. They both nodded.
I ran down to the barn where Rick was tying a rope to the ceiling. "Rick!" I shouted. He looked down from the window of the barn. "It's Randall... He's gone?"
Rick dropped the rope, both of us running back to the group where a beaten Shane panted for air. "Shane what happened?" Rick asked.
His eyes were swollen, his nose croaked. Blood streamed from his bruised forehead. "I took Randall to the woods, he got lose. Beat the crap out of me"
Why did Shane take Randall to the woods in the first place? By the look on Ricks face, he never knew about it and neither did the group. "Daryl, Glenn, Shane, gather your weapons. We need to find Randall before he gets back to his group. Who knows what they'll do to is when they find him" Rick ordered.
All four men ran into the woods when I had realized Carl wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Hey Lori, have you seen Carl?" I asked.
"I think he's inside the house sweet heart" Lori said as folded clothing.
I walked inside the barn house to only find Maggie and Beth chatting at the kitchen island. "What are you looking for Hun?" Maggie asked.
"Carl, is he in here?" I asked.
Both of them shook their heads, "He hasn't ate a foot in this house all week" Beth said.
I sighed, "Okay thanks" I walked out of the house, circling the camp.
Where in the world is Carl? I told him to gather everyone up with Dale unless...
He went after Randall. I knew he would do that! He had one job and instead he decided to play hero and hunt down Randall. If Randall nearly blinded Shane, he'd for sure murder Carl. I swear that boy never thinks! Anger boiled inside as I ran into the woods.
"Carl!" I whispered loudly. Silence.
The sky turned dark as the sun slowly slipped beneath the horizon. A couple minutes passed and I still haven't found Carl. Why didn't he just do what I told him to? With the night sky and Randall still lose, I was in a death zone. It was almost too dark to see which way I was going.
"Carl!" I whispered loudly again. Still nothing.
My teeth began to chatter from the cold air, goosebumps growing along my bare arms. Sudden growling broke the silence. I spun around to see arms emerge from dark shadows. I placed my hand on my gun to only realize I had used all my ammo back at the bar.
I ripped out the blade from my pocket. The walker's pale skin started shredding around his jaw, fresh blood pouring from its mouth. Wait a second. That walker looks a lot like... I froze. "Randall?" I gasped.
Randall stumbled towards me, reaching for my neck. I took a step back, holding the blade at his head. An arrow oeuvres the side of his head causing the walker to collapse to the floor. I turned my head to see Daryl and Glenn starring at me confusingly.
"You've never seem a walker be killed before?" Daryl snickered sarcastically.
I shook my head, "not just any walker... Randall"
Daryl ripped his arrow from Randall's head. Glenn inspected the body. "That's strange" he started.
I knelt down beside Glenn, "What?"
"There's no bite marks" Glenn said. Daryl lifted Randall's chin, purple and black bruises covered his neck.
"Looks like he broke his neck" Daryl added.
"If there's no bite marks then... how did he turn?" I asked. Both of them shrugged they're shoulders.
An agonizing scream came from the field followed by gun shots. All three of us bolted back to the barn house to see the group huddled in the feild.
When I got to the group feel to my knees. There Dale was, laying on the grass. His stomach ripped open and a walker crumpled up dead beside him. "Oh... Dale" Andrea mumbled, pulling back tears as she grabbed his hand.
Dale opened his mouth but not a single breath could escape. Tears ran down his face, he was in too much pain. Everyone stood silent as they watched Dale suffer. I looked up at Rick who pulled his gun out, aiming at Dale's forehead. Rick was really going to do it. As much as it hurt to end Dale, it would hurt more to let him die suffering.
Rick pulled his arm back, looking down. Daryl took his cross bow instead. "I'm sorry" he said before releasing the arrow into his head. Dale was gone.
I didn't know Dale very much but seeing Andrea made my heart break just a little. She had lost everyone she loved and it was harder on her than it was for me. At least when my family died, I wasn't there to see it.
We all have our respect before walking back to the camp. That's where I spotted Carl sitting on the porch, looking at his pistol.
I joined beside me. Strangely I wasn't mad at him anymore. Instead I just wanted to dig next to him and not talk. Silence was nice for the first time.
After a couple minutes of starring into the dark sky, I could tell something was bothering him. "Are you alright?" I asked. He continued to stare at his pistol. I took it softly from his hand. He didn't fight but just let me take it. I placed the gun next to me and took his hand into mine, laying my head on his shoulder.
"It was my fault" Carl mumbled.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Carl rubbed the palm of my hand with his thumb for a silent moment. "It's my fault Dale died"
I lifted my head from his shoulder, "it's not your fault, a walker attacked him. There was nothing we could do" I reassured him.
Carl shook his head, "When I went into the woods to find Randall, I came across that same walker. It was stuck in the mud so I didn't kill it. I told myself it wasn't going to do any harm. That walker killed Dale because I didn't kill it"
My eyes trailed down to my shoes. I think if I knew Dale more than I did, then I would believe it was Carl's fault but I know it's not. "Things happen for a reason and maybe it was just his time to go? No one could prevent what happened Dale, what happened was meant to be" I reassured him.
He shook his head, "You don't get it, I could have saved him if I wasn't so... sympathetic!" He said angrily.
"And that's what makes you human, Carl. That's how you survived this long, that's how you stay alive." I said. "People die everyday, we just need to accept it. Don't blame yourself."
He nodded, "Thanks, I really needed that" he half smiled before leaning in. His lips brushed mine, wrapping around mine softly and gentle.
When we pulled apart, I bite my lip. "I didn't realize how much I've missed that"
Carl laughed before looking over to the field. "What are Shane and my dad doing out there?" He mumbled to himself. I followed his gaze to see Shane draw his gun on Rick.
Without a word, Carl sprinted to the feild. "Carl?!" I ran after him.
I grabbed a hold of his shirt half way up the hill, forcing him to stop. We watched as Rick motioned Shane to lower his gun, neither if them aware of Carl and I.
"Just put away the gun Shane, please we can fix this" Rick said.
"No, you-you can't protect them! Carl, Lori, I love them more than you ever could. I can't have it anymore!" Shane yelled.
"We can walk away from this, talk about it down in the barn house, Shane you've been my best friend for as long as I can remember. You know you don't have to do this" Rick pleaded. Shane slowly lowered the gun as Rick inched himself closer to him. "I'm sorry"
Rick ripped a blade from his pocket, lashing it into Shane's chest. My jaw dropped. Shane's limp body crumpled to the ground.
Rick dropped to his knees, quietly sobbing over his best friends lifeless body. Carl had pulled out his pistol, holding it to Rick's head. "Carl don't!" I shouted at him. He didn't move.
Rick turned around to see both Carl and I in standing in disbelief. "Oh Carl..." Rick cried.
Carl's arm shook as I shuts my eyes. A loud gun shot echoed on the hill. I opened my eyes to see smoke rising from Carl's gun and Rick still standing.
Shane was standing behind Rick. Carl's bullet went through Shane's skull. His corpse dropping to the ground one last time.
Rick limped to both of us, wrapping his arms tightly around Carl and then me. The three of us began walking down the hill in silence.
It wasn't right for Shane to die like that but I saw how he was. This world wasn't meant for him, he wasn't ready for this reality yet. I saw how he slipped with every lie, every time he looked at Lori, every time blood stained his hands.
Snarling came from behind us. I grabbed my blade. "I got this one" I told them, turning around. With what I thought was one more walker to kill turned out to be a hundred that limped only a few hundred feet behind us "Guys.." I gulped.
Carl and Rick turned around. "No.." Carl said, his eyes widening.
"Run!" Rick yelled. We stumbled down the hill.
"Walkers!" I screamed. Everyone at the camp jumped out of their tents, running for the barn house.
I grabbed my gun, "I've got no bullets!"
Rick threw me his gun, "get to the house!" I took the gun, shooting down as many walkers as I could. Hundreds surrounded the front of the barn, forcing Carl, Rick, and I to run back. Guns fired into the crowd.
"Into the barn!" I yelled. We sprinted into the red barn.
"Crap were trapped" Carl panted. Rick searched the barn. He gave Carl a small lighter.
"When I say go, you light that lighter and drop it, no matter what" he ordered.
"But-"
"No matter what"
Carl nodded, taking me by the hand as we climbed up a ladder. Rick took a container of gasoline, splashing it over the ground. Walkers bursts through the doors, tumbling over each other.
"Come on! Over here!" Rick lead them to the ladder as he climbed up. He dumped the rest of the gasoline onto the walkers. "Now Carl!"
Carl lit the small flame, dropping the lighter into the crowd of flesh eating corpses. Fire erupted from the ground, wrapping it's flames around each walker. Smoke rose, forcing the three of us to cough. "Now what?!" I shouted, sweat dripping from my forehead. Rick looked out the window.
"Jump" he said.
"I'm not going to jump out of the window, are you crazy?!" I shouted.
"Trust me" he said as the smoke grew thicker.
I nodded as Carl gripped my hand tightly. We jumped out the window. In seconds my feet hit hard. I lost my balance, rolling off the RV. "Adara!" Carl screamed.
I pulled myself off the ground. "I'm okay!"
Walkers surround the front of the RV, ripping through Jimmy's flesh, who had drove the RV to the barn. Rick pulled Carl back, running the opposite direction. I could here Carl's distance screams as his father dragged him further away. I had to get out now.
I pushed through the walkers, shooting bullets in their heads. Knocking them down, I ran through. I got to the barn. Everyone had left, driving away in the only cars we had. I tried screaming for them but it was too late. They disappeared behind the walkers who surrounded me.
I ran. That's all I could do. As I pushes through the walkers with only a few bullets left, my eye caught something. A car. I bolted to the car, not knowing if it worked or not. I yanked on the handle of the car door. Locked.
Panic set in, adrenaline pulsed through my head. I can't die, not today. Not ever. I uses the last bulletin I had, shattering the window. I jumped in. I searched for the keys, finding them in the glove compartment.
I jammed the keys in the ignition. The engine wheezed. "No, no, no, no!" I shouted, twisting the keys again. A walker leaned through the car window, grabbing my hair. The car roared with life. I lashes my blade into the walkers eye, shoving the corpse out the window.
I stomped on the gas pedal. The car bursted through the pile of walkers and onto the open road.
I panted heavily, my knuckles turning white from gripping the wheel to hard. I was only fifteen but my dad thought I had to learn earlier so he taught me how to drive in the parking lots. I was able to drive the car, saving my life.
I looked into the rear view mirror. The flames that engulfed the barn, slowly extinguished from my sight. I held the necklace, that Carl had gotten me for my birthday, in my hand.
I'm on my own now.
*****
That's the end of book one!! With 17 chapters already, I wanted to leave it at the end of season two.
Don't worry though, I'll start on the second book in about a week :)
Please share, vote, and let me know what you think in the comments below
Also let me know if I should add Carl's point of view?
Thanks soo much for being supporting fans and inspiring me to finish the first book <3