Remnants -- Remake (Carl Grimes Gay Fanfiction)

6: I'll Find You

"Shhh," Daryl whispered to us, accompanying the gesture by slowly but surely backing away from the location of the growling and groaning chorus of the undead, which sounded as though it was increasing in volume.

That could only mean it was getting closer.

Shit.

They probably heard Carl and I's conversation. We weren't exactly quiet about the whole thing either.

My pistol was not fitted with a silencer, and neither was Carl's. Daryl's crossbow was the only weapon we had right now that was capable of silenced kills, but his supply of arrows was nowhere near as plentiful as bullets and there was no way he had enough firepower to take on a herd.

We'd told ourselves we didn't need any major firepower. We thought herds were pretty much a thing of the past.

Well... We were wrong. That much was certain.

It looks like Carl was right after all. None of us wanted to admit it, but it looks like we have been letting our guard down recently.

Daryl now turned around, facing away from the source of the sounds - which sounded as though they were literally just beyond the treeline in front of us - and encouraged us with a quick wave of his hand to follow him.

Carl and I slowly turned around, wincing at each snap of a twig or crunch of crisp leaves beneath our feet, as we cautiously traipsed away from the unseen threat.

However, as we began to escape from the herd - the walkers' disgusting gurgles and moans beginning to gradually dissipate - a sudden sound to my left caught my attention.

I spun around instinctively at the nearby rustling of leaves, weapon raised even though I didn't intend on using it with the herd so close by, as a lone walker suddenly lunged out from behind a tree beside me.

An old, tattered rope was wrapped tightly around its neck, but they were the only details I caught as its rotting hands latched firmly onto my shoulders. As I stumbled back, my pistol was knocked from my hands, and my finger involuntarily caught the trigger as it did so.

A deafening gunshot resonated through the forest as both my undead attacker and I stumbled to the ground.

After a few seconds of frantically wrestling the creature back, the walker's corpse became suddenly limp, with a silent crossbow bolt protruding from the side of its head. But it was too late for silence now, as walkers - the first of the herd - began to spill out from behind the treeline.

"Shit. Oh God, I'm so sorry," I groaned apologetically as I threw off the corpse off me and Carl lifted me to my feet.

"It's okay," Carl reassured me as the two of us turned to Daryl, who fired arrow after arrow at the shambling walkers, "but if you wanna make it up to me, you're gonna have to cook dinner tonight."

I felt guilty, naturally, but I could do nothing but smirk at that remark. For someone who was typically pessimistic, Carl knew how to cheer people up when he wanted to.

"Less of the cute shit for now," Daryl urged, giving up on holding back the walkers and opting for a retreat, "we gotta go."

As we spun around to leave the area, and hopefully loose the herd somewhere further up in the forest, the three of us were all stopped in our tracks as we realized, much to our horror, that the herd was all around us.

"Oh shit," Carl cursed, echoing our thoughts, as at least a dozen walkers had encircled us, blocking off our exit back toward Alexandria.

At that moment, I fully comprehended the situation we were in, and the realization only now truly sunk in.

We're trapped.

Son of a bitch, we're actually trapped.

Because of me.

The three of us were in a clearing, surrounded by a herd of at least 50 walkers, with a limited supply of ammunition and no chance of receiving any support from Alexandria, which was several miles away.

I had been in a similar scenario before; back on the staircase in Rochester, when I had been certain death would come for us.

It hadn't. But I wasn't prepared to take that chance again. If I hadn't fired that damn gun a minute ago this wouldn't have happened. We could have walked away, and we could have just... gone home.

That wasn't an option now.

I ejected the clip of my weapon and looked at it closely. Eight bullets. Nowhere near enough to kill them all, but maybe enough to buy Carl and Daryl some time.

Am I actually doing this?

I have to. I have no choice.

I got them into this mess.

Not bearing to consider the situation any longer, I rushed forward, firing shot after shot into the seething masses of undead. At least four of them dropped down dead, but each time a body collapsed to the ground, another of their seemingly infinite number would shamble up to take its place.

I could hear Carl screaming something. He was probably pleading for me to stop, to come back, to be with him. But he didn't understand... He couldn't understand.

I mustered all of my strength and swung my pistol against a walker's skull, causing it to flail back into another, both of which collapsed beside me. Another shambled toward me from the left, but I had just enough space to raise my pistol beneath its jaw and fire a bullet upwards.

Then another latched onto my arm. I pushed it off, at least for a moment, and fired a bullet between its eyes, but another was beside it, and now my 8 bullets had been used up.

It reached out, but in a split-second retaliation I slammed my pistol against it, causing it to stumble back briefly.

"I'll find you!" I shouted at the top of my voice to Carl, my view of whom had now been completely blocked by the walkers.

It wasn't a promise.

If anything, it was a prayer.

Another walker gripped onto me from behind. I pushed back with all the strength I had left, knocking it back against a tree which caused it to briefly let go, but then another gripped onto me.

Then, I felt the horrific sensation of teeth sinking into my forearm.