Collision

Chapter Thirty Six

~ Chapter Thirty Six ~

Carl's P.O.V.

Ellie had no idea about what just happened. Why everyone was acting the way they were, and I was glad. I didn't want to drag her into the newly mess that I had formed.

Just an hour ago, the group was fine. 

{Flashback}

We were on the way to leave the campsite and found ourselves on the lonely roads again. But when we heard the sounds of gravel being crushed underneath the heavy wheels of a car, we bolted. We weren't fast enough, as the forest we just walked out of had absolutely no trees around.

I thought we were going to die, so be it, my conscience told me. But the minute Maggie, along with Sasha and Bob, stepped out of the red van, I almost had to pinch myself to help my own brain believe that it wasn't a dream. Michonne reacted first, running for a hug from the three of them. Daryl and Carol slowly joined, while dad and I remained standing, appalled. One by one, we were finding our people, giving us hope that we never even thought we had.

The reunion felt liberating, but it was soon cut short when a woman came out of the driver's seat, calling out dad and Carol's name.

They turned their heads to the blonde woman, tall and lean. How did she know my dad? What business did she have with them?

"You two better explain yourselves before we head back to my group," she demanded, her eyes switching from face to face, unaware of who 'Rick and Carol' were.

"Explain what?" Dad asked, stopping the woman's gazing face and letting her walk towards him. She looked scary, I'd admit. She looked as though she were a momma bear roaring at predators to stay away from her cub.

"How about I remind you of the names Julie and Priscilla. They sound familiar to you?" She raised her voice, her eyes never wavering from the threatening look. I tried remembering, myself, and came up with the conclusion that they were the two women in the maze, both dead now. Julie was the woman that Priscilla had killed over night. Or so, I thought.

"And what if they are familiar?" Carol spoke, her tone matching the woman's.

"Then you'd better sort it out here and now, because I am not driving this car until you two," she stated, glaring at dad and Carol, "start speaking the truth."

I was confused. What was this woman talking about? And then it hit me. Everything Ellie had been saying, this woman had relayed without even speaking a word of the story. She must've been told by Ellie. Ellie, she's alive! Relief flooded over me, but at the same time, a pang of curiosity. I turned to my dad. Please, I begged in my thoughts, please deny her words and tell me you didn't do anything wrong.

Dad shook his head, Carol looking at him as if almost daring him to speak. The words came out of his mouth, breathless but sure, "we did what we had to do. It's not something to be proud of, but it's something that we had to do to stay alive."

I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me by a punch of the truth. What?

Carol stayed unmoving, but her face faltered, revealing the emotions behind her poker face. She was the next to speak, turning to everyone despite their judging eyes. "We killed her overnight, using Priscilla's knife."

I heard sighs of unbelief around me, matching my own. Silence filled the air as tension made its way around us. The woman, now having a warm smile on her face, grabbed a walkie talkie from her hip and spoke into it. "Julio, I'll need you now. Bring the truck over, ten miles into the road South."

We heard it buzz back and the woman opened the door to the red van, closing it to leave us with privacy.

"So, all this time..." Joel was unable to finish his sentence, his eyes were digging into the ground as if nothing else seemed interesting enough. "It was you?"

Dad's silence was enough to answer, and Carol nodded. We saw no signs of remorse in their faces, just the anguish of what they'd done, now flashing in front of their faces. I found it hard for me to stand alone, and so I took comfort on the ground. Daryl looked emotionless, he probably figured something like this was bound to happen. He wasn't surprised.

Everyone else was just confused. Confused would be the best word to choose. Joel looked betrayed and Melanie looked ready to kill herself from the shame. I wanted to tell her that it wasn't only her. That everyone else could've stopped the innocent death, but I couldn't even form words in my own mouth.

The air smelt of rust, sweat and tears that hour. A new truck arrived and we made our way to God-only-knew-where in silence.

{End of flashback}

As expected, Ellie lied to me when I asked her about why she'd left. She was still trying to protect me from the truth, and I was arrogant enough to deny her multiple times. How would I make it up to her for all that I'd done from ignorance?

I finished digging a hole for the fire, when Aaron came to me. "You and Ellie?" He questioned. I figured he was smart enough to complete the puzzle and realize that Ellie was mine and that I would never let anyone else have her.

I looked up, staring at him with sympathy. "Really? Any other girl out there, and it's the girl that I called first?"

"Called first?" I chuckled bitterly, gingerly standing up and wiping the dirt off my pants. "You think that she's a property that people just get to call first?"

This took him aback but I stayed silent, giving him time to recover, "No, but you understand what I mean. I already told you that I liked her and yet you still went for her."

"You liked her, I did too. She made the decision herself, and here we are," I state matter-of-factly. I wouldn't be fazed by Aaron. If anything, I only pitied him.

Aaron spat on the ground, mimicking Joel's actions when he became angry. "Made the decision, my ass. She had no choice; I wasn't around. Now, she really does get to make a decision."

He was right, and just like that, I feared that Ellie would turn her back on me and run to his arms. He was the first one she liked before I came into the picture, and she'd only started developing feelings for me when he was gone. I had to make myself believe that she wouldn't just run away like that after all that we'd been through.

I started a fire after what felt like an hour and my arms rested from exhaustion. People around me started to gather and take a seat around the heat of the blazing light. I stared at the dancing fire, my eyes watering from the smoke.

Ellie came and took a seat beside me, handing me a can of water. She looked grim, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder out of instinct. Of course, Aaron stood up from the ground at the sight, and walked away.

"I heard you two talking," Ellie started, taking a sip of the boiled water in her hands. I raised my eyebrow and let her continue, "Aaron's wrong. I don't think I ever liked him back then; it was just a matter of admiration since he was so happy and I was so depressed. Now that I think about it, I didn't even know what the feeling of simply liking someone, was back then."

"You're talking about it in past tense, so I'm guessing that you know how it feels now?" I questioned, hoping that she would answer the way I wanted, no, needed her to.

She did. "The feeling of wanting to burn your insides just to relieve the pain of when you're not with the person. The feeling of wanting to carve your own ears out when you hear the wrong thing from the person. And worst of all? The feeling of craving everything when you're with the person."

I wrapped my arm around her and hugged her tightly, her body fitting in mine like a pin on your chest. Close enough to show proudly, but also close enough to get hurt by the needle.

"It's not a competition," she whispered in my chest. Her body keeping me warmer than the fire ever could. "It would've been a competition if I liked him in the first place, but I know better than that. Don't ever feel like I'll choose someone different than you. You're-you're someone that I can't even begin to describe."

I let her words envelop me with peace, like the calm before the storm.