All We Have Left- Carl Grimes

Chapter 6

     Daryl drives to a large gate, with walls surrounding a "safe haven". I lift my head off of his back to look at the walls. They look safe and sturdy, strong enough to hold off biters. Daryl flicks his head lights, a signal to the people inside to open the gates.
   A thick man with a mullet drags the doors open, and Daryl drives through. I glance around at Alexandria, everything feeling so new and overwhelming. People stagger towards me, giving me strange looks. "Daryl..." I say nervously. I know nobody in here, but Daryl is the best I know. Even then, I've only known him a couple of hours.

    A women walks up to me, the same one I saw walking earlier. Her dreadlocks swiped around her shoulders and strong build gave me anxiety. Then, the man I saw with her also was next to her, but this time his scruffy beard was shorter, but I could still recognize him. The only one that was missing was the kid with the sheriffs hat....

Carefully I slide off Daryl's motorcycle, and smooth down my hair. Anxious eyes stare at me, waiting, contemplating, trying to anticipate my next move and breathe. Memories flash across my eyes of the day at Terminus, when the explosions began.
"You" I say, pointing to the scruffy man.
He raised his eyebrows, his body shifting,
"You helped me out of the boxcart at Terminus. I remember....I remember you" I say.
He stares at me a bit longer, "I remember. You were in the same one as Carl" he says. I gulp and feel my face burn. The only other one in the boxcart was the...the one who kissed me.
"You remember him?" He says with a slight country accent. My breathe starts getting heavier and my stomach churns. "I....yea. I do" I say. He smiles slightly and nods his head.
"I think you'll fit in well, here in Alexandria." He takes a step toward me, his palm outstretched. "Rick Grimes" he says. I hesitate for a moment before grasping his hand, "Sophia" I say. Immediately everybody's mood changes and Ricks face goes slightly solemn. I look around at them. "What?" I ask worried. Rick looks down for a second and wipes his face with his hand. "It's nothing. Nothing." He says.
An awkward moment of silence passes as I shuffle my feet in the dirt. "What about living places? Where should I...stay? Sleep?" I ask. More unanswered silence passes. "She can stay with us" I hear from behind the huddle. I peer around Rick. A girl with shoulder length dark hair is the one to speak up. I hold my breathe as she steps between the dark woman and Rick. "I'm Maggie, and my husbands name is Glenn. He's at the house now." She says. My hand shakes and my eyes burn. My legs feel like noodles as I stand there in front of everyone.
    So many people, conversations and life. I'm so used to loneliness.
    I imagine dad being with me, telling me to say something to her. Say something, Sophia! I picture my dads big, soft hands on my shoulders, comforting me. I picture Emma cowering behind me, whimpering and scared of the new people. Oh, Emma. Where are you? Where are you and mom? My body churns as the silence grows larger and larger. "I...." My mouth spits out.
   I'm not the scared twin. I'm the fearless one. The one who can slaughter walkers like taking candy from a baby. The one who's made it all this time by herself. The one who watched her dad die. The tough one.
   "Thank you" I say. She smiles a kind smile, relieved I finally made a sound. My guts feel like they're clenching up into a tight ball.

Who knew talking to people was worse than killing the living dead?

I take her hand and she pulls me away from everyone. I look at Daryl with desperate eyes, but he just gives me a reassuring smile as I'm dragged off by Maggie.
"You'll like it here in Alexandria. There's a lot of kids to...hang out with and be a real teenager with." She said.
I smile back at her, "That's good.....being....alone and cut-off and-" I stop myself before my stomach knots up with emotions, "it's not good." I finish.
She grips my hand a little tighter. "I've been looking for more things to help the community out with. I feel like I need to do something, anything to help. I've been planting vegetables, well, me and my husband have been planting, and other things to help." Maggie said, leading my down a road that began to trail off the main street.

Charity. You're just charity to her, Sophia. A way to help. A way to help her earn her place. Charity charity charity.....

Before we enter the door a man steps out, lingering in the doorway. He had black hair that grazed his neck and looked like he had Asian in his blood. He titled his head in confusion when he saw me. "This is Sophia. She's going to be staying with us." Maggie said.
I assumed the man was Glenn, her husband that she had been talking about.
     He smiled at me, "Well, um...hi. I'm Glenn. Have you met Carl yet? You guys look the same age, I think you'd get along." He says.

     I feel my lungs tighten, "Oh, I think I'll meet him real soon".