CARL'S POV.
I wipe my eyes free of the tears that have too often been cried for the past few weeks. After the hospital we lost so many people. We lost Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Tara, Rosita, Thyrese, Daryl, Luke. But worst of all i've lost Madison and Judith.
I've completely isolated myself from the group. I'm sitting in a tree a few feet away from the group. I hate crying in front of them, so I don't. Dads a mess, everyone is. I lost my baby sister and my heart feels like its straining to beat again and again. I miss her. This isn't the first time she has been 'dead.' But I know now that she's dead now. And Madison probably is too. My Madison, I've always heard about heartbreak but I've never experenced it. I thought it was bullshit, until now. I hear crunching behind me and I look down expecting a walker but instead I see Abbie. We saved each other in the fire.
Flashback.
The alarm rings out loud and piercing. It signals a fire. I jump out of the bed that I was in for literally 5 minutes. I run to my dads room and I see him shoving clothes and weapons into a bag. I look around the room to find that Judith isn't in her crib.
"Where's Judith?" I ask dad.
"Madison has her. I think they're in with Abbie in Beths room. I run out into the hall looking for beths room. People flood the hall and run in all directions. I open her door and find Abbie and Beth but no Madison.
They were packing bags.
"Come on! Get out! Lets go!" I yell, Beth runs out ahead but I hold Abbie back for a minute.
"Wheres your sister?"
"She's not here?" She asks in a panic.
I shake my head and we run into Eugine who is leaving Madisons room.
He blocks my entering.
"She's not in there I checked. She went downstairs with the baby." He says not looking at me in the eyes. He looked scared and nervous before running for his life.
Abbie is already pushing past people and heading for the stairs.
"Abbie wait!" I yell running after her and running down the stairs. The smoke from the main story is making it hard to breath. Flames erupt from everywere and people run scared in all directions.
"MADDIE??" She screams
I yell also until a small walker creeps out of a room. It has a barbie doll in its hand as it reaches towards Abbie.
"ANNA!!" Abbie screams morified by her once best friends walking corpse. Abbie walks towards it and I pull her back so shes not biten. I lift Abbie in my arms and she screams at me to let her go. She screams for her dead best friend. I run upstairs and grab my stuff and look in my dads room. He leads me out and all three of us run downstairs looking for any remaining family we have left.
"MADISON? JUDITH?" I yell even though I know Judith can't respond.
A flame flicks out and catches Abbie's hand. She hisses in pain and holds her burned hand. We run further through the halls.
"Maybe Maddie is already outside with Judith waiting for us." Abbie cries.We climb out a window and look for Madison and Judith only to find a small group of our own group.
End of flashback.
Now we are still with our small group. It consists of me, Dad, Sasha, Michonne, Abraham, Eugine, Carol and Abbie. Abbie has climbed up the tree to sit beside me. She sighs and looks at the view that might have been beautiful but we've been through so much in the past few weeks that we don't care anymore.
"She can't be dead. She has to be alive. It's Maddie. She always finds away around things." Abbie say but the dry tear marks on her face say otherwise.
"I don't think so this time abbie." I say.
"Why not." She sniff.
"She was just too good to be true. Nothing that beautiful ever lasts." I sigh.
I look down to Abbies healing burned hand and she holds the barbie doll Madison once gave her.
"You know I never told anyone this but the night of the fire Maddie's bow and arrows were missing from the top of the closet. That has to stand for something. Doesn't it?" She tells me.
I think about it then shrug "maybe."
"We gotta go back to the others.". I take Abbie order and we climb down the tree and back to our decreasing group of family.
MADISONS POV.
Its hard enough surviving by yourself, alone, but surviving with another person who can't talk is worse.
Weeks have passed and I've bottled all my feelings. I know some of us are still alive out there. I just don't know who. I cried myself to sleep the first three night but then I got myself together and stayed stong for Judith. Having a baby in the apocalypse is the best kind of birth control. I suck at looking after her. I mean of course I'm always with her, but I don't know what she wants when she wants it. She cries when she's hungry, she cries when she's tired, she cries when shes uncomfortable but worst of all she cries when she misses her brother and her dad. I sooth her and feed her and help her sleep but it's getting harder as the days go by. The deeper I go into the forest the more walkers there are. I try to avoid them, but some manage to find us.
I won't let anything happen to Judith. I love her like my own little sister and I'd die before I let anything happen to her. She stays straped to my chest as the bags are on my back. Sometimes I switch it around that shes on my back and bags in the front. I havn't eaten in three days and my stomach is tearing me apart. I'm pretty sure the growling of my stomach attracts walkers. I found Small things like berries and nuts but nothing else not even a squirel. But I had no choice but to give them to Judith, she's a baby, i can't just let her starve. I've stitched up my injuries made by Dawn the night of the fire, but now i'm covered in blood and dirt. I look no different to when I came out of those train carts.
Judith starts to cry.
"Shhhhh, I know baby, I know. I'm gonna find something for you to eat." I coo. I lift up a bottle of water and she takes it. Shes old enough to hold the bottle by herself. I walk past trees and listen to the moans of a few stray walkers and the crunching of twigs beneath my shoes. A walker steps out from behind the tree and I send my arrow flying into its head. I keep going and soon enough I realise that I made it through onto a road. If someone came this way they would have followed the road. I turn right and follow the road. There is a sign that says a near by village isn't to far off. It's a risky move but someone might be there and we could find food. I travel down the road and keep my bow loaded incase of emergency. Judith throws her bottle on the ground when shes done and I pick it up, which she finds funny. I dont give her the bottle back because I know she'll make a game out of it and make me pick it up about 20 times before i'm even a foot away from where i'm standing. We travel in silence until we get to a sign that says:
Welcome to tanner village.
We walk a little further until we see houses and a lot of walkers. This village looks deserted. I walk quickly towards the center grabbing the attention of a few walkers. I shut myself in what seems to be a small shop. Someone has been here before because most of the food is gone. But i'm not complaining there is still some stuff left. I open my bag and throw whatever I find into it. A can of soup, dried fruit, some energy bars, rice and something called beef jerky. I watched as a few walkers piled up by the door. Usually I would take them out but I have a baby with me and I can't risk it. I go into the back and find some stairs. There must be a house ontop. I go upstair slowly with my bow up and loaded. I clear it and nothing is there. I sit down in what looks like a sitting room. I throw the bags on the couch and I take Judith out of her pouch. I sit her on the ground and let her play with a pillow as I drag an armchair infront of the staircase incase a walker gets up. It will stop them. I walk back to the sitting room and close the door. I see a small fire place and I make a fire to warm us and the cold house up. Once I get the fire started I rumage through my bag and get the food out. I find a few pots ad I bring them to the fireplace. I sit the rice in it and use a bit of water to help boil it. I save the rest of the food apart from the beef jerky. As Judith and I wait for the rice to boil we munch on the beef jerky. I cut Judiths into small pieces to help her eat it.
"Another day another dollar." I tell Judith as I look outside the window and watch the sun set.