Shadow (TWD Carl)

~Chapter 23~

What would you do if you lost everything you ever cared about? I know what I'd do....end it. Ever heard the saying: there is light at the end of the tunnel? I have, but what if it was night time. No light, no shadows, no anything. That light had disappeared from my sight and without it, I'm losing my will to keep going. I'm losing the hope I had that kept me thinking there was a light at the end of that tunnel.

First Ethan, then Kira, then Jack and then Carl. They were so important, they kept me thinking there was hope. The dim light left over, Michonne, if I lost her I'd be long gone. I'm lucky she was here, supporting me with whatever strength she had left. But I could see her breaking too.

It had been two days since the prison fiasco. Two walkers had followed Michonne and I out of the prison and Michonne cut their jaws and arms off. She tied rope to the two of them and had them lead us through the large hordes of walkers. We were in a large clearing now because I had to rest. I was losing blood quickly and we had no resources to take care of it except for my knife and shirt.

When we first reached the clearing I took out my karambit knife and shoved it inside the wound, carefully trying to push the lead bullet out. When it came out, I took my shirt off and tied it as tight as I could around my wound. I wasn't going to rip it because it was the only shirt I had. I still wore my sleeveless jacket and sports bra which shielded a lot of my cleavage thankfully, so I had no problem with my shirt being off.

I watched Michonne take out her katana and kill the two walkers we had protecting us. Walkers from the previous horde came back and were starting to surround us. I was going to help Michonne but realized that she needed to vent her anger, sadness and stress. She killed the walkers smoothly and quickly with no fault in her actions. I could only watch as her tears ran down her face and her lips quivered.

When she was finished I stood up and limped over to her. "I think we should keep moving. We need to find supplies and a place to rest." I suggest. She nods and puts my arms over her shoulder, trying to support me as we move away from the clearing.

After about 3 hours and a lot of collapsing, we finally found a small neighbourhood. We slowly moved down the street, looking for a suitable place to stay for the night. When I looked further down the road, I noticed a bucket of chocolate pudding that had been eaten and I knew it had to be a human who ate it. It had a spoon in and it must have been eaten by someone.

Michonne must have caught on because she started to move cautiously with me. We look over to a house which seemed suitable and could still be stocked. We head over to it but when we reached the door, we heard voices. I wanted to turn and leave but I recognized the voices. Michonne lets go of me as I move to the door, putting my head against it to see if my hearing wasn't tricking me. I close my eyes and smile, tears threatening to fall. Michonne did the same and knocks on the door.

Silence enveloped the house and I could hear the safety of a handgun being switched off. I became a little frightened by it, wondering if the place was safe. We were standing there for about 2 and a half minutes before the door was finally opened and two people I thought I'd never see again stood in front of us.

"Carl...Rick..." I choke, tears brimming my eyes. I hug Carl tightly, not wanting to let go ever again. He hugs back with the same nature while Michonne and Rick hug each other too. It didn't take long for me to silently release the built up anger and sadness through tears, accidentally wetting Carl's shirt in the process. He increases the tightness of the hug but not enough to make it uncomfortable, it was reassuring. "I thought I lost you."

"It's alright, I'm here now. And so are you." He comforts the both of us.

I retreat from the hug and he does the same. He grabs my cheeks in his hand and removes the tears running down them. The pain from my waist didn't bug me so much at this moment and I managed to weakly smile up at him. I think he noticed I was hurt but he didn't have enough time to ask or check because Michonne had dragged me away and into the house.