~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Fast Forward Roughly 1 1/2 Years~~
I heard the brown, golden, and reddish leaves crunch underfoot as we marched through the forest. I turned to Trinity and asked, "Why don't we take a break?" She nodded and sat up against a huge maple tree. I sat beside her and pulled off my backpack. I opened it and pulled out two apples from an orchard we found earlier that day. Only a few trees were left but I took fourteen apples from them. I handed over the red apple to Trinity and started munching on my granny smith. Trinity smiled and bit into her apple.
I looked up and noticed the beauty of the peaceful autumn woods. The light shone through the deep red leaves delicately, as if to not disturb the leaves. I stared up at them, wishing the leaves were yellow. Yellow has always been my favorite color, mainly because sunlight shining against yellow leaves is the perfect hue of gold. I glanced back down and finished off my apple. I kept the core in case we came across any deer. I stood up and Trinity did the same. She kept chewing her apple as we walked. I glanced around and noticed a cammy (that's what we call the dead who come back as monsters... after the name of the virus) trailing far behind us. I sighed and pulled out my axe.
I waited for the cammy and as it got closer I heard more loud moans of the undead. I glanced around, narrowing my eyes, and saw dozens of them. I turned and sprinted towards Trinity. I grabbed her hand and we flew across the dead leaves of the forest floor, staying as silent as possible. I heard the horde behind us which only made me run faster. Anytime a particularly fast cammy got too close I chopped its head in two. We were putting distance between us and most of the cammies, but they were still fairly close. We ran up a hill, breathing heavily. We reached the top of the hill and I saw a large prison.
"There," Trinity said, pointing at the prison. "We can hole up in a guard tower and pick them off." I nodded, slightly surprised. I was pretty sure that was the most she'd said since we got separated from our mom. We kept running and reached the gates. I was pleasantly surprised that there was no lock on the gate. I forced the door open enough for Trinity and I to barely squeeze through the door and shut it again behind us.
"Stop. I have a gun pointed at the blond one's head so you might want to cooperate." a boy called down. I turned slowly and squinted my eyes against the sun, but I still couldn't see the boy.
"Please help. Those monsters are coming! A horde!" Trinity called.
"What, walkers?" The boy called back to her.
"Uh, yeah if that's what you call the infected," Trinity shouted, "Now please help us! Are there more people here?"
"Yeah. Inside. Go on in. Tell them Carl sent you and drop your weapons as soon as you get in. Me and my gun will be watching." he called coldly. Trinity walked quickly up to the prison doors, knocked, and tugged the door open. A man raised his crossbow, stepping in front of a blond girl who looked like a deer in headlights. In her arms was an infant. Trinity put her pistol down and raised her hands. I did the same with my axe but left my hands down.
"Up." the man said, gesturing to my hands with his crossbow. I followed orders.
"Carl sent us in." Trinity said, fear in her voice. It was like she was steadily coming back to life. The man loosened up a little.
"After pointing a gun at your head, right?" he asked. I smiled.
"Basically. He needs to work on his people skills." I said. I couldn't help it. It had been so long since we had encountered people who weren't trying to kill us for our supplies.
"Yeah he does. Don't try anything." he said, lowering his crossbow. Trinity and I both nodded in acknowledgement and lowered our hands. "So what brings you two here?" he asked as the blond hurried away and set the infant in a crib against the wall. The crib was blue so I guessed the baby was a boy. She came back and stood behind crossbow man again.
"A horde of the infected people." Trinity said with a small laugh. I could tell she faked the laugh. I could always tell. "They were coming after us and we figured we could hide here. We didn't expect anyone... living.. to be here," she was coming right back as if she had never stopped being herself, "I'm Trinity by the way." she added. The man nodded. "And you?" he asked, nodding at me.
"I'm Nicole," I said, then added "but call me Nikki."
"I'm Daryl and this here is Beth." he said, stepping aside to reveal the blond girl who was no longer a deer caught in headlights. She smiled at us.
"I haven't seen anyone my age for a while. How old are you?" she asked Trinity.
"Eighteen," Trinity said unsurely, "I think so anyway."
Beth smiled "I'm seventeen." she said. Trinity smiled back at her. Beth turned to me, "And how old are you?" she asked.
"Probably fifteen. I might still be fourteen. I had recently turned fourteen when everything started." I said.
"Ooooo you're the perfect age for Carl." she said, grinning."He's fourteen." she added.
"He didn't seem too friendly." I said, raising my eyebrows. The smile dropped from her face.
"He just needs someone to crack his hard ass shell. His mom died not too long ago and his dad has been different since then. Carl just feels unloved, I think. I guess it's understandable but he probably should be over it by now." Daryl said, reentering the conversation. I shrugged. That was a little harsh.
"So is he yours?" I asked, gesturing to the baby in the crib. I glanced between Beth and Daryl.
Beth turned to look at me, a horrified look on her face. "Uh, NO!" she said with a laugh. Daryl just shook his head and chuckled a little.
"That's Lil' Ass Kicker, and she's a girl. And most definitely NOT mine." he said. Trinity giggled beside me.
"Oh.." I said, smiling. That was embarrassing.
"Her real name is Judith and she's Carl's sister." Beth said. I nodded.
"So, uh.. how long were y'all planning to stay?" Daryl asked casually.
"We'll leave as soon as the horde passes if you want us out," Trinity said,"but we'd love to stay longer." Daryl just nodded, not making any promises. Trinity quickly changed the subject by asking, "Are there others in your group?"
"Yeah. We actually just took down a town of people after they attacked us. Our people are all out at the town, checking out the supplies. Well, except for Hershel. Beth's dad that is. He's napping and I'd rather not wake him up unless I have to. He gets pretty grumpy. Our people wanted to see how the town had running water and electricity and whether we could set it up for the prison. That's why Carl is particularly moody today. He wanted to go but his dad wouldn't let him." Daryl said matter-of-factly. Trinity and I both laughed a little.
"Why don't you sit down?" Beth asked, gesturing to a beat-up old couch facing away from us. We nodded and took a seat. Beth sat on the couch with us and Daryl sat on a rocking chair.
We all sat around somewhat awkwardly, trying to pass time. Beth tried to start a few conversations, but they didn't really take off. I just stared at the couch, lost in my own thought. I didn't even remember what I'd been thinking about when the door slammed open. I turned and Carl stalked in. Daryl got up.
"My shift?" he asked. Carl nodded and fell onto the chair that Daryl had been sitting on. Daryl left, shutting the door behind him. I just stared down at the couch, afraid to say anything.
"So who are you?" Carl asked. I glanced up to see him looking at me, then shifting his gaze to Trinity.
"I'm Trinity. She's Nicole, but we call her Nikki." Trinity answered. We always clarified that my full name was Nicole. I had no idea why.
"I'm Carl. How old are you?" he asked, then added, "And where are your parents?"
"She's eighteen and I'm fifteen. What's with the interrogation?" I spat back. I already hated him. Beth glared at me when I said that. It had made me angry that he asked about my parents, considering how he was lucky enough to know where at least one of his parents were. He sat forward in his chair a little.
"Just.. curious." he said, practically snarling. He got up and turned down a hall.
"What was that?" Beth asked, whisper-shouting.
"If he wants to be moody I'll be moody right back." I said with a shrug. Trinity frowned at me.
"At least try to be nice." she said, annoyed. I rolled my eyes.
"Fine. I'll try to be nice. Only because there's a tiny ounce of hope for him. Plus you're nice and you like him, Beth." I said with a smile.
"I don't like him!" she laughed, hitting my arm. It wasn't that giggly denial that was obviously false, she was serious. "I'm pretty sure he likes me, though. He's sweet but he's just not my type." she said thoughtfully.
"I meant as a friend, but okay. Now I know you like him like that." I said, deciding to tease her even though I knew she didn't have a crush on Carl. She just laughed and shook her head.
We sat for a while, just talking. It was nice to have someone other than Trinity to talk to. Especially since Trinity hadn't been very chatty lately. Beth was extremely nice. I found out she was very religious. Trinity and I were never very religious, but I didn't mind people who were. Beth was from a farm not too far from here. The farm had been overrun by cammies, which they called walkers. I laughed when Beth told me they called them walkers. It was a pretty good name. It had somehow slipped past me when Carl called them walkers from the tower.
After a while of talking, Carl came back in.
"Hey. Sorry I was a jerk before," he said, "Let's start over. I'm Carl Grimes." he said, standing in front of me and putting out his hand. I glanced over at Beth, who just smiled and shrugged. I shook his hand.
"Uh, yeah.. I'm Nikki.." I said, surprised by his actions. He pulled me up by the hand I was shaking and sat down. I turned, surprised again and looked at him. He grinned.
"This is my spot." he said, still grinning. I rolled my eyes and smiled. I sat down on the couch again in the only place left, between Trinity and Carl. I layed down, resting my head on Trinity's lap. She stroked my hair. Eventually, everyone started talking again. I was too tired to even listen. I fell asleep to the murmur of Beth's gentle voice.
~Author's Note~
Hello! Here is another chapter for the little giraffes. =] I'm in Florida, which is my excuse for taking a few days to update. Another chapter should be up in a few days. I hope you enjoy this one! Love ya! ~Julia