new beginnings

Near Death

I started walking with Ron down the road. We walked in silence until Ron spoke up.

"Is it just me, or does your dad and my mom like each other? I saw them giving each other flirty looks," he said and chuckled a little.

"I know, right? Well, my dad has been kind of lonely for a long time. He tries to find someone as fast as he can so he can try and forget the other person. It's kind of like, every woman he starts liking, it doesn't 'work out', get what I mean?" I said, reliving the sadness of losing Mom and others.

"Yeah. When Dad died, Mom started hitting on every man when she came to Alexandria. Even with Bryan, and he's married. I think the only person she didn't try with was Father Gabriel," he chuckled a little.

"She said she's always wanted another baby, but Dad didn't really agree, even before this mess all happened. Maybe that's why," he said.

"I would love another sibling. I just see so many people that I care about die, and it's hard, because more people are dying than living, and I'm worried about the population completely dying out, as dumb as it may sound," I said.

"Me too. I'm excited for Sarah, though. But, I'm scared. So many things could go wrong," he said.

We walked for a while when we saw a house that didn't look very torn up. We slowly went inside and looked around. When we decided it was safe, we started looking for supplies. We opened a door, and it was a baby's room.

"Jackpot," I said and I saw boxes of diapers on a shelf above the crib. I got in the crib and stood up so I could get them. I started throwing some down to Ron, who was facing my back.

I turned to the shelf to throw down more boxes, when I heard a horrified shriek.

"C-Carl!" he gasped.

I turned around quickly and saw Ron being pulled onto the floor by a walker.

I grabbed the knife in my pocket and jumped out of the crib, landing on top of Ron, and I stabbed the walker in the head. I breathed heavily.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked him between breaths. I got off of him quickly.

"No, thanks," he sounded relieved.

He got up with a dazed expression on his face, as if his life was flashing through his eyes. I spotted his beanie and my hat on the floor. I picked them both up and handed Ron his. I swept my bangs aside and put mine on.

We grabbed some other stuff around the room, him shaken up about what happened. I assumed this was his first experience like this by his eyes, which stared at the floor motionless.

We walked out of the house with armfuls of baby items and carried them to the truck. I put the things I collected in the bed and he did the same.

I saw that it was probably a half hour away from sunset, so we got into the truck and silently sat there together, waiting for the others to return.

"Thank you," he said.

"Not a problem," I half-smiled at him, who returned it warmly.

I felt at peace, something that I didn't feel that often.

I forgot how enjoyable it was.