Junebug • TWD

26. Halloween.

The sun is going down, making the sky a mixture of all sorts of pinks and oranges. Carl came back from the woods a few hours ago, his clothes covered in mud. I was getting nervous for a little while there. If he didn't come back, I was gonna have to go looking for him. But, lucky for me, he came back unharmed. Dale was right.

Speaking of Dale, that's who I'm walking with right this very second. We're walking towards the house together. The adults are about to have their talk about Randall. I really hope people agree with Dale. Maybe it's just the goodness in my heart that's blinding me and making me stupid, but I really don't think Randall should die.

That's why I'm trying to distract my brain. I look around at my surroundings and take in the sight of the beautiful fall leaves covering the ground beneath the trees. Some trees still haven't lost their leaves, but some have, and it sure is beautiful.

"Hey, Dale?" I say, looking over at him. He looks back at me, but he doesn't say anything, so I go ahead and ask my question. "How many days do think it is until Halloween?"

"Based on the weather, I'd guess that it's coming around here any day now. It may be Halloween today," Dale tells me. And that makes me feel a little happier. I know we can't celebrate Halloween, but it's still fun to know that it's around.

"Man. I wish I had a costume," I say. Goodwill usually had good costumes.

"Well, here," Dale says. He stops walking for a moment, so I stop walking, too. He starts undoing his watch, and then he puts it around my wrist. Then he takes off his bucket hat that he wears all the time and he plops it down on my head. "You can be me for Halloween," he says.

I laugh a little. How didn't I think of that earlier? "Thanks, Dale. Now all I gotta do is get better at reading and I'll be just like ya," I joke, smiling wide.

Dale chuckles at that just as we reach the front porch. "Just keep reading. You'll get better," he says. I nod and he goes on inside.

Just as the creaky door swings shut behind Dale, someone puts their hand on my back, and I jump without meaning to. But it's just my dad. "What're you wearin' that hat for?" Dad asks me, scrunching his face up a bit.

"I'm Dale," I tell him, giving him a tight-lipped smile.

He scoffs out a little laugh. "A'right. Go on inside, stay with Carl and Jimmy," he tells me. I nod and walk up the steps. I honestly don't even want to listen. I think it might just make my heart hurt, listening to that.

So, I go inside and I follow Jimmy. Carl, though, ain't so much of a good listener. He stops in the middle of the living room and everyone stares at him. And then he huffs out a sigh and follows me and Jimmy down the hall reluctantly. The three of us go into a bedroom and Jimmy starts reading a book.

"Why are you dressed like Dale?" Carl asks, giving me a funny look as we sit down on the bed.

"Because Dale says it might be Halloween, so I'm bein' Dale for Halloween," I explain. I probably do look a bit goofy, wearing this hat and this clunky watch on my wrist. Carl gives a little laugh, and my eyes are drawn back to the mud all over his clothes again. "What happened?" I ask. I peek over at Jimmy. He looks pretty enamored in that book, lucky for us. "When you went out there?"

"I saw a walker stuck in the mud," Carl tells me, acting all casual about it. I can't tell if he's really brave or if he's faking it.

"Did you kill it?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

"Nah," Carl says. He looks at her muddy boots with his eyebrows furrowed. "It was stuck, anyway. It would've been a waste of a bullet."

Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense. We don't got that many bullets left, and it ain't like there's anyone producing them no more. I'm still intrigued by this story, though. "What did it look like? Was it scary?"