Safe and Sound | TWD

Chapter 2

The small campfire lit the faces of everyone around it. Shane, Glenn, Dale, Amy and Andrea, Morales and his family, and me with mine.

I sit next to Dad, huddled into his left side, Carl in his lap, and Mom on the other side. My hands are wrapped tightly around his arm, fearing that if I let go, he'll somehow disappear. He glances at me and gives me a small, warm smile before he places a kiss on my forehead. He then turns back to the group.

"How are you here?" I asked, my eyes not wavering from the side of his head.

After a while, he speaks.

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented."

The camp was silent, intently listening to his story. Nothing but the chirping of crickets in the distance.

"Fear, confusion--all those things but..." I sigh deeply trying not to cry. I lay my head against his shoulder, holding tighter on his arm.

"Disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things," Dale says, setting his mug down on the dirt ground. "Sometimes they fall short." I nod my head, knowing exactly how that feels. Words not being enough to describe how you feel.

"I felt like I had been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever." His voice was trembling, and my grip on him tightened.

"Mom said you died," Carl says, his voice soft, as if he was reliving it inside his head. Tears prick my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. He's here. He's alive and breathing.

I could feel him nod his head, and release a held breath. He looks down at Carl, smiling faintly.

"She has every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it," He says, his thumb running soft circles on Carls freckled cheek.

"When things started to get really bad, They told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Mom's voice was shaking. I glanced at Shane, and his face was unreadable, but his eyes hinted otherwise.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell. " He says, his head now resting on top of mine. "And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah looks don't deceive, I barely got them out, you know?" Shane looks at Dad, the glow from the fire casting shadows along his face. I fought the urge to roll my eyes because he was right. If it weren't for him, we would be dead, or worse.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." His tone was genuine. His best friend saved his family. If only he knew the real reason.

Shane's jaw was clenching but Dale caused my attention to go to him. "There go those words falling short again." He smiles, looking into the fire. "Paltry things," I say, almost a whisper.

The conversation shifted to what we should tell Daryl about what happened with Merle. Whether we tell the truth or lie. Either way, he's gonna be pissed.

In the tent, I lay on my sleeping bag next to Carl, who was already sound asleep. Mom climbs into her sleeping bag, and Dad follows after kissing my forehead.

I pull out my journal, reading my last entry over and over again. I grab my pen, click it, and begin writing a new one.

September 20th 2010

It was a hot day when a loud noise came
He came back into my life
And it was all okay
I never thought to see him again
But now I know that it is not a dead-end
My father Rick Grimes is alive and well
My soul is revived
And my heart is swell