Collision

Chapter Fourty Three

~ Chapter Twenty Five ~

Ellie's Diary

October 14, 2027

We've been on the road for days now and I'm still not feeling any better. Every day seems like a journey to get through and hours just seem longer whenever we stop for a break. Gas seems to be doing us justice, but I know that the last bottle of fuel left won't last us another week. We'd be lucky for it to last us even two days.

Maria's happy, she gets to see her fellow fireflies. Julio's excited to reunite with his family. He told me that he's got a daughter that he can't wait to introduce me to. She's only ten, but he thinks I'll be a perfect playmate. More like a babysitter. Aaron's back to his old self, happy and full of no regrets. And Joel? Well, he's clearly showing us how pissed off he is, but when I told them to lay off the immunity conversation, he's been feeling better.

I told him about the deal I'd made with Carl; how I'll wait until he comes back and then I'll start helping with the cure. Joel still isn't happy about it, but he's fortunate that he's got more time with me. Well, however long Carl takes to find his baby sister.

As for me, I'm a track wreck. I've not been focused or interested in anything lately. I know I'm being stupid and wallowing in depression, but it's hard to look at the brighter sides these days when the love of your life isn't there to share it with you.

A year ago I would've smacked myself at the sound of that. The love of my life? I'm only what - sixteen? But now, I understand. In this world, in this time of place, you can't afford to halt your feelings. Hell, no one can stop their heart from feeling something, and I get it now. I understand why people cry so hard when they lose their partner.

I want to think about how grateful I am that Carl's still alive. But maybe soon he won't be, and I won't even be there to share his last moments. You see? These thoughts just make their way into my brain no matter what I think about.

Maria advised me to write down my feelings, the same thing Quinn said when she gave me some toddler's diary. So, I took the pleasure of finding myself a journal and anything close to writing with, which was a green pen. There's lots of these in abandoned houses since no one cares about paper in the apocalypse. They're too scared saving the trees.

Right now we're on the road again. The gray and yellow cement just never seems to end. Maria just told us that we have around two hundred miles to go. Great, two hundred miles to reevaluate my life.

Carl's P.O.V.

A week strolled by without permission and it was getting easier to get my life together. Daryl helped me learn how to make traps for squirrels when we'd be too tired to hunt them out on our own. It was one of the only things I could do, since everything else just reminded me of her.

Dad seemed antsy, like he couldn't get something off his mind. Carol was normal, picking at berries and determining what things were poisonous or not. Michonne helped keep dad on track about Judith, and Daryl was just in another world thinking about Beth's abduction.

We were out in the middle of the forest close to the prison. Sure, we all didn't want the memories rushing back to us, but it was imperative that we came back to where it all started. Where shit hit the fan.

Everything around the prison was still covered in smoke, since it must've taken a long time until the fires died down. I heard a crunching sound and turned around, seeing Daryl with a string now holding four of the tree crawlers.

"D'you get the trap done?" Daryl asked, setting down the dead squirrels near the fire.

I shook my head, "almost, I just gotta tie this string and wrap it around the branch."