The Girl Next Door • Carl Grimes

Chapter 2: New Beginnings

Grace

Shane drove through the night and we saw some other cars pass us quickly. It seemed like others had the same idea as we did. We arrived at the hospital and saw many dead bodies, army vehicles, helicopters, and people screaming in terror.

Shane ran in to get Rick. He said that apparently before my dad died, he made Shane promise that he'd go get Rick. That we couldn't leave him behind. Shane intended to keep that promise. They were all friends after all.

Minute after minute we waited. A crowd of about ten of these "things" began to come near our car. Lori was about ready to leave to protect us when she saw Shane running at us. Lori and Carl both looked very sad to not see Rick. I wondered where he was. Shane hopped in the drivers seat and he drove off.

Carl and I sat in the back seat in fear. I whispered to him so only he could hear me, "Are you scared?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Me too." I continued.

"I- umm..." I was too embarrassed to ask him what I was about to ask. I felt like a child, even though I was 13.

He nodded at me to go on.

"Will you... hold my hand..." I asked nervously. I felt like such a loser to be asking him this, but god I was terrified.

He was still looking out the car window, but he grabbed my hand and held it tight. I was surprised when he held it, but I also wasn't. He's a good friend like that. We've always been there for each other, so why would we stop now?

We were both tired. We put our heads on each others shoulders and fell asleep. Lori looked at us and smiled, as if she knew everything was bad, but that this wasn't. Almost as she knew that this was what would make things better.

***

When I woke up, Carl was staring out the window but he was still holding my hand. Lori was now driving and Shane was asleep. I can't imagine how tired they must've felt.

We were listening to everything we could on the radio, hoping to find some more information or be lead to somewhere safe. They said there would be military camps, but I didn't think those would last forever.

***

We had been driving for a long time, so long that the sun had set once again.We met some people on a highway when everything got backed up. Cars were blocking the freeway and nobody could move. We were essentially trapped inside.

They was a woman with short gray hair and a very sad but sweet smile. There was a big and not so nice looking man named Ed. Then there was a girl named Sophia. She was Carl and I's age. She was very kind, I don't think she had a mean bone in her body.

We saw helicopters flying ahead, I thought maybe they'd come to help us. We thought that was a good sign until they started bombing the city. I was horrified, why would they do that? What was that going to do?

"But there are people who are still alive there! They're still alive and they have a chance. They don't deserve to die!" I screamed with pain in my voice.

Lori grabbed me and then held Carl close and told us it would be okay. We stayed with the others we had just met, assuming that there was safety in numbers. Later on we met this sweet older man named Dale. He wore a bucket hat and had an RV.

Then we met a pair of sisters. Both blonde, one sweet, one sour. Amy and Andrea were their names. Amy was younger, Andrea was older. Andrea seemed like a badass, but she was cold. I could see myself becoming friends with Amy though. With this little group we had formed we went to find someplace to settle.