Our Life (Sequel to "Remnants")

Wake Up

-Carl-

Being unconscious was surprisingly comforting. You didn't feel the pain that you had suffered prior to it, and you weren't burdened by the troubles of whatever you were doing, but at the same time you weren't completely out of it; you still had a subconscious to keep you company. It was a sort of middle-ground between being alive and dead. But whilst you're enjoying this rest, there is a subtle and unavoidable realization in the back of your mind that sooner or later, you're going to wake up – and when you do, things won't be good...

That feeling now tormented me, until at long last, I awoke.

—

I awoke with a jolt, bolting upright with sweat pouring down my body. I breathed deeply, regaining my composure, with the expectation of finding myself in the same war-torn countryside that I had fell out cold in.

Instead, I was perplexed to realize that I was in fact sprawled out on a dust-coated single bed.

A grandfather clock in the corner of the room informed me that the time was approximately mid-day. Whilst I could not rely on its accuracy, the light streaming through the window supported this conclusion, but it also meant that I had been unconscious for about a day.

I thought back to what had happened prior to my awakening here.

Michael's un-primed explosive had somehow detonated in his pocket, and Riley and I were knocked out by the blast.

Riley!

Was he here with me? Was Alexandria in ruins? Where the hell is he? And where the hell am I?

"Riley!" I called out upon noticing his absence, and before I knew it a set of hurried footsteps began heading toward the room I found myself laid in.

I assumed it to be my boyfriend, but then I realized: what if it wasn't?

What if someone else had found me and brought me here? What if a group of scavengers had just come into the house, with the intention of killing anyone inside before robbing the place? What if...

My panicked thoughts were cut off as whoever the fellow survivor was burst into the room.

"Carl!" Riley Palmer breathed heavily, beaming in relief, "God I've been worried about you."

"How long have I been out?" I asked – the first of many questions I had to ask him.

"About two days," Riley explained, pursing his lips as my relieved smile faded, shocked by this answer.

Two whole days? But... Why aren't we...?

This answer provoked the next question on my list of inquiries.

"What the hell are we doing here? Where is here? Where's Alexandria?" I stammered, not waiting to ask each question individually. If something catastrophically bad had happened – which wasn't a rarity with people like Michael, Negan and Simon walking the Earth – I concluded that it would be better to get it over with in one big answer.

"We're in some house, in a village. We're quite far from Alexandria, I'm afraid. When Michael died, the explosion drew a pretty big herd from the forest nearby. They blocked off the road back to Alexandria, so I had no choice but to carry you to safety in the opposite direction."

It took me several seconds to comprehend the situation.

"You carried me?" I wondered jokingly, but also immensely grateful for Riley's devotion.

"I sure did," Riley grinned in reply, "and I gotta tell you Carl, you need to lose a few pounds – it was like lifting a bloody car."

I chuckled at Riley's remark, glad that being this far away from home hadn't drained whatever remained of his optimism.

At pessimistic as it was, however, I felt that I did need to discuss the fact that Riley had killed yet another human being – that was two living people in just two days. Most people wouldn't think twice about, but Riley Palmer would.

"I'm sorry to bring this up," I sighed, "but you... You killed Michael. And I'm really glad you did, but... How do you feel about it?"

I could have certainly asked that question to a less direct degree, and I regretted using the term 'killed' so bluntly, but Riley seemed reasonably unfazed by the question.

"I'm... I'm okay, really," he forced a smile, surprising me with his response, "I've realized now that people like Michael; they deserve death. The damned corpses out there are killing enough people as it is, and the last thing we need is freaks like Simon and Negan and Michael to be making more of them. I'm fine with it now. I'm ready to do what needs to be done."

I smiled lovingly at Riley's answer, admiring his determination and his realization that we have to kill to survive.

Since Riley seemed at ease with the concept of killing Michael, I took the liberty of asking one more question.

"So, uh... How did you kill Michael? I mean, that explosive wasn't primed. How did you get it to explode?"

"My dad might've been a piece of shit most of the time," he explained, "but he was a damn good engineer – worked with electronics pretty much all day, ever y day. I learnt quite a lot about that sorta thing from him. When Michael threw me that remote, I knew how to change the circuit so the electric current diverted. That meant that when he pressed the detonator, instead of a building in Alexandria exploding, the electric current acted on the nearest device available. In this case, it was the explosive he had in his pocket. Understand?"

"Nope," I grinned, before Riley walked over to me with a grin, and sat beside me on the side of the bed.

"Well I didn't expect you to be a good engineer anyway," he smirked, "you don't have the patience."

I took the liberty of thanking him for saving my life by take hold of his shoulder and pulling him atop me, placing my lips atop his.

I wouldn't – and couldn't – forget the captivating and utterly beautiful sensation of his soft skin gently touching mine, and this was enhanced by the fact that Riley had saved my life. He risked everything just to save me, and that was what made our relationship so perfect.

"I'm glad you're okay," I smiled once our lips parted.

"So am I, Carl," Riley beamed in response.

—-

Just a quick note to say thank you all so much for reading this book, and omg I've almost hit 20k reads on the first book in this trilogy! I never, ever, ever expected this series to be so successful! I'm glad it is though ;)