I gripped Carl's hand tightly as I struggled to keep the heat between us.
It was winter time and those undead bastards were still out and about in their journey to depopulate the world.
"Hey Espi," he whispered.
I hummed in response to let him know I was awake.
"Are you still cold?"
I nodded, but kept my mouth shut.
I was exhausted. A full day of running, searching, and escaping... It was tiring. And what made it all the more tiring was knowing I would have to get up again and do it tomorrow.
Before I knew it, I slipped into a not so peaceful slumber filled with images of death and decay.
/-/
"Espi," I heard, "Come on love. Get up."
I opened my eyes to find my beautiful boyfriend looking back at me, "Do I have to? When will be the day when I can wake up and not have to worry about running for my life?"
Carl sighed and took my hand into his own," I know baby girl. I want that just as much. It'll happen one day."
He kissed my forehead before scooting off of our makeshift bed and into the next room of the house where our friend, Artemis, was sleeping.
"Arti," I heard, "You gotta get up."
I groaned and sat up, feeling a pain shoot through my back. Lying on thin blankets on a cold, wooden floor wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world.
Pretty soon, the three of us were well on our way.
Our goal for the day was to make it to this mall that we had seen on our way into the small town we had found a few days ago.
The only issue was that it was overrun and it would be an against all odds battle to get in there. Normally, we wouldn't risk it, but we had run out of supplies, and the mall was our only other option.
As we approached the large building, I saw a few walkers walking around through the glass windows.
"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," Artemis said, "Maybe we should just go through the neighborhood and try our luck."
Carl sighed,"You know that's not going to work. The houses have been checked already. There's nothing left."
I nodded, knowing that even if there were anything left, it wouldn't be enough to last a decent amount of time and we would be back to where we started. At least by checking the mall, there might be enough food and clothes to stay a while.
Carl took the lead and pulled on the large entrance doors.
"They're locked from the inside," he stated,"We'll either have to break down the door or break a window."
I shook my head,"Too much noise. It'll attract all of the walkers in the building. We need something quieter."
"I know how to pick locks," Artemis said,"I think I could open it."
I nodded and backed away to give her space.
Glancing to my right, I noticed a small patch of wild daisies sprouting in the dirt.
Despite all the bitterness and pain the world was causing, it still could still produce something as beautiful as wild flowers.
Carl took my hand and smiled at me, "They're beautiful, aren't they?"
I nodded," I love flowers. They've always been something I found beautiful."
"Hey guys," Arti called," I got it."
Carl I backed away from the flowers and stood at Arti's side to face the living dead.
"I'll open it on three," he said,"One..."
I sighed.
"Two..."
I raised my knife.
"Three!"
He swung the door open and a mass of walkers fell out onto the sidewalk.
Carl, Artemis, and I wielded our weapons with great force and speed, but hundreds against three wasn't really great odds.
I heard Artemis scream from somewhere to my rights and I was able to turn just in time to see a walker pull the flesh from her arm.
"No!" I yelled, feeling a hot wave of tears spring into my eyes.
Her arm gushed red, but she continued to fight.
My hands began to shake as we fought and fought through the last of the undead.
As the last walker fell, I turned to my injured friend.
"Espi?"
Her face was getting paler and paler by the second.
I ran over to her just as she fell to the ground.
"Hang in there Arti," I said, tears running down my face.
Carl rushed to my side and lifted our fallen friends head into his lap.
"Don't let me turn," she stammered," I don't want to be like them. If I'm leaving the world, I'm leaving as me."
I looked at Carl and shook my head.
I couldn't do it. She had been my friend for so long. She helped me when I couldn't see the point in living in this world anymore.
She was the reason I was still alive.
It wasn't fair.
"Hey hun," Carl said,"Look at me. I'm not going to let you turn. Alright."
She nodded and closed her eyes,"I love you guys. You gave me a reason to live."
My heart broke at the sight of her last breaths and I collapsed in a fit of tears.
"Es," Carl whispered," I need you to back up."
"No," I resisted, "I'm not leaving her."
"If you don't move, she'll turn, and she didn't want that."
I looked down at my fallen friend.
"Okay."
I slowly stood and walked over to the patch of daisies I had seen earlier.
They were no longer standing in their beauty, but rather trampled and smashed on the sidewalk.
I heard a gun go off.
Dead.
Hmmm... This is kinda okay. I think I liked it?
So, shall I update y'all on my life... I feel like people skip over this anyways, but I like to go back and read them because I can see where I was years in the future
So, while I was working at McDonalds, I met this really amazeballs person, Kaitlin. (I'm pretty sure she's been in a couple of imagines...) but we got a lot of closeness going on here. It's amazing....
Thing is... the little butt nugget doesn't see how amazing she is, so I thought I would show you guys, and y'all let me know or I don't know. Words of encouragement? because I suck at encouraging people.
This is my Kit Kat
I made her this because she didn't believe me that she was beautiful... At this time she's sending me pictures of her and her cat.. awww
But she's practically my sister, so I want to encourage her like she does me, but I don't have any words... She thinks I'm biased.
Anyways... Thank you all for the votes and comments and reading and helping and all of it.
Luv ya ~Miki