pulse || c. grimes TWD

2

I couldn't sleep that night, I was thinking of the many ways I could've prevented Jayce from running away, How I didn't even hear him sneaking away, What if he saw something and went to go look at it but when he went back I wasn't there, These thoughts sunk deep under my skin

I look around the house we were staying in, I hear gunshots outside, My head instantly turns I walk outside and see Max shooting his gun at a walker and missing every bullet, I hit the gun out of his hand "Max stop!" I yell at him, a gunshot shoots the walker in the head by Mark "Max I told you not to use your gun!" Mark exclaimed

"There was a walker" Max said, "Rio get the stuff we're going!" Mark yelled, I scoff at Max, he returns with an eyeroll, We leave with our stuff and start walking down the road, "I'm gonna look for Jayce, Can we split up? We can meet back here in two hours" Rio asked, Mark sighed and looked down

"Nyla go with Rio" Mark told me

"No I'm fine, I can go on my own" Rio said

"Just don't die on us okay?" Max said to Rio, Rio chuckled then almost immediately left, Max stopped "Wait, Rio can I come with you? Just make sure you stay safe" Max asked her, She furrowed her eyebrows for a second and slowly nodded with a slight smile

They leave for the woods, "Well that makes two of us" I sigh and then I chuckle, I see the old pudding can and start to kick it the way I did yesterday, I kick it at a house and carry on walking

carl pov:

"You shouldn't have risked it going out there like that, It's dangerous" My Dad told me, I turn to him "I was careful" Rick scoffs "It's good that you found more food" Rick said, I think of the large tin of pudding I ate yesterday "I found even more, but I ate it" I admitted, "What was it?" He asked

I sigh "A 112 ounces of pudding" I chuckled, "I know we'll never get things back to the way they used to be." He admitted, I turned to him again "What?" I say confused, "I only clung to that for you, for judith, now she's gone, and you- you're a man, Carl you're a man, I'm sorry" Rick muttered

"You don't need to be." I say, I hear a metal tin rolling outside, Me and Dad turn to the window "It's probably the wind" My dad ensured me, I hear the tin of what was most likely the pudding can I left outside our temporary house be kicked into the house next to us

Rick shakes his head "Or a walker" He corrects himself, "Carl Im gonna go get some rest upstairs, don't go anywhere again" He told me and slowly made his way upstairs while holding onto the railing

After I hear the door shut I go to the window at the side of the house, I see a girl and man walking in the woods, I had nothing better to do and haven't seen any strangers in a while, I decide to follow them

I sneak out through the back door and went across the road into the woods, I hide behind trees while watching them, The girls radio goes off, "Nyla you there?" A boy spoke through the radio, "Yeah, what it is it?" She asked, My thoughts instantly think of Nyla, I think of her a few times a week

"Me and Rio ran off to far, We found an old garage we're gonna stay here until morning" He said, The girl turned to the man "Tell him that's fine as long as he's back by 7AM" The man told her, The girl turned her radio back on "Max, Be back by 7AM over and out" She said and shut off her radio

They carry on walking, I switch from tree to tree breaking branches accidentally while i'm at it, They turn, I couldn't see them, I sigh I turn my head both ways to see if I could see them, I hear a gun click from behind me, "Who are you? Why are you following us?" The man who pointed the gun at me spoke, My eyes widen

"I was bored" I pleaded, looking at the man "Who are you? What's your name?" He demanded me to ask, "Carl, Carl Grimes" I muttered, I didn't bring any weapons with me even though looking back I should've, The girl walked up to the man "Where did you go?" She asked and stopped when she saw me

She looked very familiar, And it seemed she thought that about me too, She looks at me for a moment and back to the man "Who's that?" She asks, "He said his name is Carl Grimes" He told her, She lowers his gun "Come on it's not worth the bullets" She told him

"Go scram kid" He sneered, I stop for a moment and had one last glance of that girl, She glared at me back and with that I left back to the house where I should've stayed

I sneak back in the back door and shut it quietly, I sit down on the dining room table, My mind goes to the girl who was called Nyla, I go in the living room and open the front pocket of my backpack a picture of me, nyla and her brother max when we were kids, I take the photo out of the rubber bands that have been wrapped around the photo since the start of this whole thing

I sit down and look at the picture, They were almost identical except for the fact the girl looked older which she would be by now, Was Nyla still alive? or was it just someone who looked similar to her and coincidentally had the same name as her

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ty for reading my second chapter <3