When The World Caves In |C.G.

forty six

"Roo." Carl says, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You okay?" 

Rather than looking over my shoulder for the millionth time today, I look forward. Trying my best to ignore the way I feel like we're being followed. I'm paranoid about the man that attacked me, I attacked? Schematics.  I still feel his hands on me, and even if he did nothing the what if's run through my mind. 

"Yeah, I'm okay." I say, grabbing his hand. Ignoring the way he looks at me like he knows I'm a liar. 

"You wanna go hunting?" He asks and I'm grateful he changed the subject. Carl is good like that, that's part of the reason I love him. He'll never push me to talk if I'm not ready. "I'll let you do all the work while I stand there and look pretty. Won't even get in your way." 

"Promise?" I ask cheekily, taking my crossbow off of my back. He mocks feigned hurt, covering his heart with his hand and I take it in my grasp. "Let's go cowboy." 

I signal to Rick and Michonne where we're going, we'll follow the forest along the road until we meet up with them again. Carl's footsteps are extremely loud and every critter scampers away when they hear him coming. 

"Carl, you're a bull in a china shop." I tell him.

"Sorry." He tells me sheepishly and shrugs. His cheeks get red and I laugh shaking my head. 

"Deliberate steps, quit stepping on twigs." I tell him, it reminds me of the first time Daddy took me hunting. We didn't catch anything cause I was too loud, but I learned real quick after that how to not make any noise in the woods. "Look at where you're putting your feet at before you step. That'll help." 

"No twigs, got it." He says and I nod as we resume. 

There's a squirrel on the trunk of a tree about 20 feet from us. I raise my right hand, making Carl freeze in his tracks. We're starving, food out here is a lot sparser than it was back at that house. We had to leave all our supplies, luckily Carl and Michonne found some on their run. I line my sight up with the squirrel and take a deep breath. When I'm ready, I send my bolt flying through the air. It pins the thing to the tree and we make our way to it. I yank my bolt out, handing it over to Carl. 

"Here." I tell him, and he holds it awkwardly. 

"Why do I gotta hold it?" He asks, grimacing. 

"Cause you love me?" I say rolling my eyes. "But really because I'm the one feeding you. It's the least you could do."

"This is so unfair." He tells me. 

"File a complaint cowboy." 

A short whistle comes from the direction of the road. It's Rick, that's how we communicate out here. Another painful reminder of Daddy that I try to shake out of my head, whistling back to let them know we're on our way.

"Come on," Carl says. He leads us back to the road where Michonne and Rick are waiting for us, talking quietly. 

"There's an old convenience store, up ahead." Rick tells us, pointing down the desolate road. "We'll set up there for the night. Rest a little, before getting back on the road." 

We're heading to a place called Terminus. There's a community there, and with any luck I'll find my dad waiting for me too. Maybe we'll find the others, and we'll all be reunited. Just another obstacle we've overcome as a family. 

"Sounds good." I say nodding and we make the quarter mile trek to the convenience store that Michonne and Rick have already cleared. 

Rick gets a fire going while I prepare the squirrel for us to eat. I take my time doing it, Daddy's always been way faster at this than I ever have. It's a weird, painful reminder of the quarry.