(UNDER HEAVY EDITING) lost cause ⋙ Carl Grimes

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - EDITED (x2)

What Lies Ahead : S2 E1

Part : 1

|3rd Person|

Birds chirped as the clan of cars sped down the road. Haley's head was resting against the window, watching the background shift as they passed empty farmlands.

"Just thinking about our trip to the Grand Canyon with Carl." Lori explained to Rick, who laughed in response.

An airy laugh left Carl. "I don't remember that."

"No, you wouldn't. You were just a baby." Rick nodded, not taking his eyes off the empty road.

"Besides, we never made it past Fort Worth." Lori pointed out.

"No, you got sick. I never knew a baby could throw up so much." Rick chuckled.

"Ick." Carl said making a face, glancing at Haley. She shifted her eyes to Carl, who smiled at her. Haley went back to gazing out the window, feeling worse than before as she heard the laughs of the excessively positive family and Sophia.

"Yeah, ick. The doctor in Texas said you'd live. Then we turned around and drove home."

"That sucks."

Rick shook his head, smiling at the memories. "No, it was a good trip. The best."

"My parents took me there 2 years ago." Haley muttered her first full sentence since the catastrophe; she had stuck with one worded answers such as yes, no, and a simple shrug or shake of her head. Rick perked up in his seat, Lori turned her head towards the young girl, Sophia gave a light squeeze to her hand and Carl broke out an ear to ear grin, jumping in his seat in excitement. 

"Can we go see it? The Grand Canyon? I'd like to." 

"Me too!" Sophia smiled. "Can we go?"

"We'd never go without the rest of you. That's a promise." Rick assured Sophia, glancing at the kids through the mirror.

Slowly, the R.V. came to a stop causing the rest of the line to halt also. Haley took note of the empty cars with the occasional rotting bodies littered around their surroundings. Her eyes came upon a little boys body and she winced at the organs spilling out the corpse's chest. Sophia nudged her friend to look away, and side hugged the Grin girl for comfort. 

Rick followed the R.V. who manoeuvred through the junk expertly, until the motor home stopped completely. Rick turned the car off completely, and with a last glance at Lori, got out. 

Lori turned towards the kids and signalled them to get out with her as they approached the group of adults. Carol bent down to hug Sophia, grabbing her hand and Shane patted Haley's shoulder. Haley subtly took a step back, closer to Lori and Carl.

"Oh, this is a small matter in being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-" Dale trailed off, watching Daryl make laps around a white car. "okay, that was dumb."

"Can't find a radiator hose here." Shane commented, eyes wandering over the 'junk yard'. Haley glanced at the R.V. and followed the source of smoke. It must have been coming from the radiator hose that Shane had pointed out.