Forever Alone // Carl Grimes (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 30

"Lauren.. I'm bit."

The words rang through my head loud and clear but I willed myself not to believe them, she couldn't die. I need her.
"What? It's not true." My eyes welled up with tears.

Chelsie shifted.
"Back at the gas station..."

Chelsie sat up and pulled off the shirt that covered her back. She then turned around and I saw it with my own eyes. In the middle of the skin between her shoulder blade and shoulder was a big red, infected wound. In the shape of human teeth. I threw my hand to my mouth to prevent myself from crying out. I let the salty tears spill down my cheeks.

"It's okay, Lauren. I love you." She choked out, tears falling from her own eyes.

"You can't die." I cried and Chelsie grabbed my hands.

"You need to kill me, Lauren. I don't want to be one of them things." She stared straight into my soul, begging me to do this one last thing for her.

"I- I can't." I cried, wiping away the tears from my stained cheeks. Chelsie's expression softened and she took my hands in hers.

"I need you to do this, Lauren. For me. Please. I don't have much time." She wiped away the tears that continued to fall from my eyes.

I stayed silent and Chelsie held her handgun to me.
"Take it." She mumbelled.

I gripped the cold metal in between my fingers and the tears only grew. Chelsie grazed her neck with her fingertips and pulled off the small butterfly necklace she had kept since this all started.

"I want you to keep this. Please." She held it out to me and I accepted it dropping it into my jeans' pocket.

The tears continued to fall from my eyes when Chelsie pointed the gun, that sat in my hand, at her head. I stood up, not letting myself see her face.
"Together.."

"...Forever."

With my heart falling into a black abyss, I pulled the deadly trigger. I heard the thud of her body drop to the ground and I turned my head. I couldn't see her like this. I needed to remember her as Chelsie. The bubbly, funny girl that was with me all my life.

I ran into the forest and continued to run until I was far from the corpse of my best friend. I found myself in a meadow surrounded by flowers and tall grass. Chelsie would have loved this. I screamed and dropped to my knees, throwing the gun as far away as I could. I couldn't own it. Not after that. I sobbed, rocking back and forth until finally the tears stopped coming.

I'm alone.

I dropped onto my back and stared into the sky that lay before me. It had only been an hour since I killed my best friend. I need her. Where will I go? What will I do? I inhaled and exhaled in an attempt to calm myself, which only made things worse.

I dipped my hand into my pocket and picked out the small golden butterfly necklace that Chelsie gave me. It was so beautiful, a ruby gem graced the gold to signify the butterflies wings. I could have her with me. I hooked the necklace onto my neck and toyed with it in between my fingers.

I don't know where I was. Surrounded by green trees, sitting in what felt like the dead centre of a meadow. I couldn't tear my gaze from the ground. I didn't want to see the world without Chelsie beside me, she was all I had for so many months and now I have nothing. I'm back to where I was when I lost her the first time, only this time, she isn't coming back.

My knees were boney and I could feel the hard bone protruding from my elbows. I couldn't eat then, not after that. I sighed deeply and let the breeze wash over me. Where would I go now? How will I survive? I'm to weak to live on my own, I need to at least nourish myself before I can be alone.

The meadow was beautiful, so untouched in all this. I kept my gaze to the sky. The only thing in this world that wasn't tampered with. I willed myself to get up. I rose up and grabbed my machete and rucksack, the only possessions that I had left.

I looked forward, back to the way I came. I couldn't go back there, only forward. I turned around and began to jog through the meadow. I ran and I felt free. I jogged uphill and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what was less than a hundred meters from me.

A complete walled town lay infront of me. It looked safe, secure. Completely surrounded by walls higher than the prison fences, made of strong metal.

Safety.