The Girl Next Door • Carl Grimes

Chapter 47: The Letters

Grace

LETTER 1

Carl,
It's been about three days since I last saw you. Three days since I watched the home we all built get destroyed. Three days since I was seperated from my family. When I saw you disappear, I didn't know if I'd see you again, but I felt pretty confident that I would.

I don't know how I'm supposed to feel now. I stayed there, defending the prison while everybody else left me. I honestly thought I was going to die. That was until Tyreese saved me.

We found Lizzie and Mica. They lead us to Judith. I'm sure you're worried sick without her. I hope you're doing better than we are. We spent three days searching the woods for a place to stay, but we found nothing except trees.

I kept Judith safe the whole time no matter how tired I was. We were about to give up, but then Carol found us. A day later, we found the cabin that I'm writing in right now.

I don't even know why I'm writing to you, but I think it offers me peace of mind. It's the closest thing I have to you right now.

You know, I can't remember the last time I was ever truly away from you for this long. Have we ever been? I don't know. I hope I find you soon. I don't know how, but I just hope.

Signing off,
Grace G.

LETTER 2

Carl,
It's been one day since we found the cabin. This is actually a really great place. It's fenced off, it's secluded enough that we barely have any walkers, and it's pretty homey. I wish you were here. You'd like it here.

Judith is doing well, but I can tell she misses her brother, father, and Aunt Beth. She's doing just fine with Auntie Grace though. I keep finding myself looking out the window in hopes that I'll see you. I guess I figured that we'd have found each other by now.

There's not much going on here. Everything's been pretty tame. Which is really what we all need after what happened. I hope you're okay.

Signing off,
Grace G.

LETTER 3

Carl,
It's been two days now since we found the cabin. Things are calm, for now. But honestly, things are too calm. I should feel relieved, shouldn't I? But I don't know, something just isn't right. I can almost feel it in the air again.

Something bad is gonna happen, just like I knew it would at the farm, and again at the prison. I can't help but feel like this bad thing is following me. I see it in Tyreese's eyes. I see it in Carol's demeanor. Something has changed within her, I can't quite place it, but I know it's there.

I've been thinking about you a lot. I think about you almost all day. It's driving me crazy, not knowing where you are or if you're okay. I'm trying to tell myself that you're safe because it truly is the rational thing to believe, but that voice that tells me about the bad things is always lingering. For now, all I can do is hope and pray for you.

Judith is still doing good. Lizzie and Mica are good too. But there's something wrong with Lizzie. Nobody else is seeing it, but I sure do. The way she looks at walkers, I mean, the way she just looks at things in general- it isn't normal. I can't explain it. I bet you'd understand it if you were here.

I'm gonna keep an eye on her, and also Judith. I know it's what you'd want me to do. Anyways, we're trying to figure out our next move. Carol wants to leave, but Tyreese wants to stay. I see no problem in staying, it's safe here. And I don't wanna be on the move until I know you're okay.