(UNDER HEAVY EDITING) lost cause ⋙ Carl Grimes

Chapter 27

Chapter 27- EDITED
Nebraska : S2 E8
Part : 1

|3rd Person|

It was a hard time for the group, well, everyone. Beth and Maggie had lost their mother and brother, Hershel his wife and stepson. Carol lost her daughter, her reason to live for. The two kids were taking it just as hard, Carl harder than Haley.

Haley had been through this before. She had watched the walkers take her best friend away from her. Like she had told Carl, she was a thin twig. All the loss would get to her some day, and she would snap.

|Haley|

"Beth, no!"I said as her walker mother grabbed her. Everyone got into action, well, I didn't. I was still next to Sophia, the walkers head on my lap. The smell was disgusting, but my thoughts made it easy to ignore.

This thing on my lap was once my friend, Sophia. Now it was the body of a monster.

I watched as Andrea killed the walker mother, and Beth was now crying over a corpse. But I was no different than her. Here I was, crying over a corpse, too. The bullet made my walls break, but I was going to be stronger.

I shut the eyes of the corpse as I pushed it off of me. Someone came and put their arms over me, trying to drag me away, and I obeyed. I looked to my side and saw it was Daryl. I hugged his side and cried the last drops, and I knew I was nothing more than hiccups anymore.

-

"I thought I'd find her." Carl said breaking the silence. We were watching Andrea, Dale and T-Dog put the bodies in the back of the truck.

"We all did." Lori said.

"I mean..me-that I'd be the one. Like maybe she was hiding somewhere in a cave or tree. She'd be safe and I'd find her and bring her back."

"I always thought that she'd come back. Like, maybe me and Maggie would find her in the horse stall, or she'd come knocking on the door. Goodness, I'm so dumb." I laughed staring down.

Carl looked at me. "He did the right thing." I thought he was talking about Shane, but realized it was Rick once he continued. "Shooting her like that. I would've done it, too."

Lori's eyes widened, and I mentally shot myself. Lori looked afraid, and I knew Carl was wounded by this. But we were scarred by the world. My wound had healed, now it was just a deep, ugly scar.

I looked away as someone went by us. It was Shane, so I glared after him.

"Dale?" Lori asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can you take the kids up to the house? I want you both to rest."

Both Carl and I nodded. "Okay." Carl answered for the both of us.

As Dale started taking us to the house, Rick put the hat on Carl's head. "You dropped that."

Carl nodded, fixed the hat, without stopping.

"You wouldn't have been able to, y'know." I said looking up at Carl.

"Do what?"

"Shoot Sophia."

"I could."

"Pulling the trigger is nothing, but what the bullet does is the hard part. You wouldn't have been able to forgive yourself. It's what brings the monster out."

Carl looked at me. "You don't know me." He said before walking ahead.

What had Sophia done to us? To Carl?

"I was close to Sophia, too! I was just as close to her as I am to you, maybe even closer! Her death...hurt me, too! But I'm not yelling at people, because I know this is just as hard to them as it is to me!" I called after him, choking on my words. "I have no right to be angry at them, and you don't either. And just so you know, you have no idea who I am and what I have done! You're just as clueless about me!"

This made Carl stop in his tracks, but he didn't turn around. Where was Dale? Carl continued walking, not once looking back, as I sat down on the grass, looking off to the fields.

I screamed as something grabbed my hair. I lost my balance, the man coming over me. He leaned to me, moaning, chomping its teeth. Just as it's teeth, grazed my shoulder, it stumbled 7 feet away, with Nick on top.

"Nick! No!" I yelled as Nick attacked the man. "Mom! Dad!"

Both of them turned around, but they were too late, the thing took a bite from his thigh. With one tug, I pulled Nick.

"Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm f-fine. Let's move on."

"Nick, that thing bit you!"

"The man was just off, Haley. C'mon let's move on." Nick winced, holding his thigh.

The man got up, and started following us, but we were faster.

I screamed as an arm was put on my shoulder.

"Hey, calm down. It's me." Glenn said. "Are you...okay?"

"Do you want another lie? Or the truth?"

"Uhh... I guess the truth would be good?"

I nodded. "I don't know. I-I really don't know. Everything's just starting to get to me-and--Glenn, I'm scared."

Glenn hugged me as I hiccuped on his chest, repeating 'I'm scared.'

"It's time for Sophia's funeral."

"Do I have to come?"

"Your her best friend."

"I was Sophia's best friend. That thing out there...it's just a body. My friend is buried somewhere else."

Glenn looked at me. "It would be nice for you to come."

"I don't want to grieve. I'm too scared to grieve. Because I know--" I laughed. "That I'm going to be the next to be grieved for."