» Time Is Dancing « | » Carl Grimes «

» AFTER «

The Only Person I Could Talk To Was Myself

It had been hours since the prison fell. I didn't know where my family were, I didn't see any of them escape. They could all be dead, for all I knew. I used my sword to cut through the long branches and leaves.

I sat in the passenger seat of the car, gazing out the window as Daryl sped down the road. Music played, the windows were down, I sipped cold water from my bottle.

"Hey, check it out." He pointed ahead, into the shallow tree line. From here, I could barely make out three figures making their way over to investigate. I hopped out, following Daryl. I almost reached for my gun when something made me hesitate. It was two young girls, holding hands behind the man that led them, presumably their father. I glanced at Daryl and he nodded. This meant we would give them a chance. I stepped forward, holding my hands up to show I wasn't a threat.

"You got names?" I asked. The man answered.

"I'm Ryan. These are my girls, Lizzie and Mika. We-we won't hurt you." He answered.

"We got a place, a prison. You seen it?" Ryan nodded his head. "We live there...there's room for more."

He looked behind at his daughters, who had eager expressions on their faces. That seemed to be all the conformation he needed.

I nodded my head, letting my arms fall to my sides. "I'm gonna ask you three questions, okay? How many walkers have you killed?"

"I-I've lost count by now."

"How many people have you killed?"

"None."

"Why?"

"To keep my girls alive."

I nodded at Daryl. These seemed like suitable answers to me. We went to the car, me getting in the back with the two kids. Daryl and Ryan talked in the front, discussing what would happen once they arrived.

"So, who's Lizzie and who's Mika?" I faced the girls. They weren't looking at me, they were looking at Daryl with nervous eyes. I chuckled to myself.

"You know, I was new once, too. I used to be so scared of him. But once you get to know, he's really a big softy." I assured them.

They switched their eyes over to me and the youngest one smiled. "I'm Mika. That's Lizzie. What's your name?"

I heard the growls before I saw the walkers. My sword was raised and I whistled, waiting for them to make an appearance. I saw the movement over by a tree, two of the dead being drawn to me. I didn't think anything of it as I brought my weapon down on its head, stabbing the other one through the eye. I flicked the blood away from me and kept walking.

"You look mad. Are you mad?" Patrick was sitting at the table with me, messing around with Lego bricks. I sighed in frustration.

"I'm not mad. I just can't do these stupid equations. Why the hell do I gotta know what X equals?" I slammed the pencil down against the paper. Patrick brushed it out the way, glancing at the worksheet.

"See, you just did this one wrong. You've been trying to divide by three, but really you should be dividing by two. Here..." He started writing out the method on the sheet, everything becoming clear once he explained it.

"Are you a genius? Seriously. How do you learn this?" I scoffed in jealousy. He pushed his glasses up and laughed.

"Hey, I might be good at math, but there's no way I could shoot a gun like you do." He complimented.