Carl & I

Chapter Nine Visitor

Carl, Judith and I sat silently in a closet that was locked from the inside. I was scared and I looked at Carl with confusion. "What's happening?" I whispered very softly trying not to be heard past the door. "I don't know, but whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing." he rubbed my cheek reassuringly as I smiled in return.

Judith sat still on my lap. She was well trained to be quiet because of the many walker encounters they've had. She pulled my hair occasionally and I would give her a little kiss on the cheek. She was the first baby I had seen in a long time.

Suddenly we heard footsteps creeping up the staircase and my heart plummeted. I turned my head towards Carl trying not cry. He grabbed me and moved me in behind him and put Judith in the middle. I sat there staring into blackness in utter confusion as to what was going on.

The footsteps entered the room we were in, and walked around a few times before they came to the closet. The handle jiggled as whomever tried to open it. Carl pointed at the lock to show that we were safe.

After nearly a minute of attempting to get the door open I heard a voice yell "THERE IT IS!" I heard a knife slide out of its case and a walker make the last noise it would ever make. It thudded to ground and I heard the voice once again. "Is anyone in here? It's okay to come out now." Carl stood up and equipped his knife before violently opening the door to see a black man standing in front of us.

"Who are you?" Carl asked. "I know everyone here and I've never seen you before." The man smiled and stuck out his hand. "I'm Morgan Jones. I helped Rick Grimes a few days after the outbreak and he sent me in this house to check for walkers. I just got here though."

I looked at Carl with confusion. "Yeah, my dad has talked about you, and I remember when you nearly killed me back in my hometown. How did you find us?" Carl asked politely.

"After you left, sanity hit me again. I started to follow the way your dad said he was going. To Terminus. I followed the signs until they eventually said ""No Sanctuary"" I got lost, but I found a map. It said ""Sorry for being an asshole, this worlds gonna need a Rick Grimes"" and had the route to Washington D.C. on it. I followed it, but I got lost. I saw two survivors trapped in a van. I showed them the map and I was brought here by Daryl and Aaron." he told the story entirely and Carl's mentioning of knowing him had calmed me.

"Where's my dad?"

"He just shot a man, but he is at a meeting with the head lady." The words that came out of his mouth startled me. Shot someone? Rick?

"What?!" Carl started to run in search for his dad. I snatched Judith in my arms and ran after him.

"Carl! Stop! We don't know if all of the walkers are dead!" I screamed loud enough for him to hear me, but quiet enough that no walkers in the distance would hear.

"I don't care!" He yelled back at me and it was loud. I continued to chase after him until we approached the area where the community gathered around two people who I assume were dead. I gave Judith to Maggie and she walked away with her.

"Dad, I thought we came here so this wouldn't happen anymore?" Carl screamed at his father.

"He sliced open Reg's throat and killed him. He tried to kill me Carl. Deanna told me to do it." Rick looked deep into Carl's eyes. Carl turned towards to Deanna to see Reg's lifeless body lie in her arms. She looked up at Carl and nodded to him showing that she did tell Rick to kill him.

I saw Carl run to his dad and hug him. I miss my parents. I want that reassuring hug from my dad. As I tried to hold back the tears I was grabbed from behind by a walker and pulled onto the ground. "HELP" I shouted. Immediately everyone sprang to action. Daryl drove a knife through the walkers skull and it fell on the ground beside me.

I couldn't hold the tears back anymore. My vision became blurry as my eyes filled with tears. Carl quickly came to my side and wrapped his arms around me. I let the tears flow into his shoulder while we sat on the ground holding each other.