new beginnings

One Step Closer

Ron, Enid and I walked out of the Linden Arena together, just walking and seeing where it leads us next. In no time, we found a small shoe store, which looked pretty raided, but we went in anyway and searched around for walkers, found two, and killed them.

"I want to find some new boots," I said and looked down at my tattered, dirty, beat up Justin boots.

We searched around, and I found a few pairs in the corner. I saw exactly what I've been wanting.

"Muck boots!" I exclaimed. Ron and Enid looked up from where they were searching.

"Yes! They're in my size!" I yelled. I was overreacting, but really happy. The boots were thick and rubbery, and this certain pair had steel toe, which is another plus. I slid on the black and gray boots and walked around. They felt so comfortable.

"Those look nice," Ron smiled.

"There's another pair here that's in my dad's size. I think his birthday is in a few days, I've seen Sarah's calendar. It's nice someone is counting the days," I said aloud. I picked up the boots and put them in a shoebox.

"Hey! I found some boots," Enid held up a pair of women's boots happily.

"Those are nice," Ron spoke up.

After more looking around, I remembered that it would be polite to ask Ron of his findings.

"Ron, did you find anything?" I asked.

"Nothing in my size," he said, disappointed.

We looked around a little bit longer. I walked out with my new boots, and my old ones were left in the shoe store in a shoebox. We took Dad's boots and Enid's.

Then we realized the two hours had gone fast, and we headed back to Alexandria. 

An uneventful rest of the morning and afternoon went by, with Ron, Enid and I doing different things like reading comics, just talking, and playing with Judith. Before we knew it, it was late afternoon.

"So, what're we making for dinner?" Enid asked us.

"Well, I'm sure we can make a salad," I said quickly.

"Mashed potatoes?" Ron asked after a few seconds of thinking.

"Good idea. I know what would really make our meal great," Enid replied.

"What?" Ron and I questioned at the same time.

"Just throwing it out there... try to kill something? I've seen plenty of squirrels outside the walls in the trees. A little meat would be awesome," she said and smiled.

"Can't hurt to try. We have plenty of ammo. Let's get the hunting rifles." I said and we all went to get them from the garage. We told Sarah we were going outside the walls again, but didn't tell her what we were doing.

We went out and quietly stepped into the woods. We found a spot and looked around. Nothing was seen.

Then, after fifteen minutes of silence and still nothing, we saw a squirrel.

I slowly aimed my rifle at it and fired. The squirrel fell to the ground.

"Score," I whispered and smiled. I walked over slowly and picked it up.

I heard another gunshot, Ron had missed one. He mouthed "Damn".

Another few minutes went by and I got an idea. I shot a few rounds in the air to scare birds. As I knew, a few flew out of trees and into the air. We got two.

Afraid that we attracted too many walkers, we picked up the birds and went back to Alexandria.

"We'll be eating good tonight," I smiled once we went inside the walls.

I opened the door to our house, which we haven't been in much since we've been staying with Sarah.

"Daryl taught me how to do this a few months ago," I said and placed the squirrel on the cutting board. I started skinning it, and then I removed the guts and bones. Ron and Enid didn't flinch, just watched carefully. I placed the small amount of meat aside and gutted the rest. We had a bowl of meat ready to cook. 

"You guys go get the potatoes, lettuce, and tomatoes. I'll start this." I said. They came back in no time with the stuff. I had just finished cutting up the meat and started cooking it over the stove. It smelled so good, even if it had no seasoning, just salt. When it was finished, we placed it beside the mashed potatoes they boiled. They had no butter or milk on them, and they were mashed by hand, but looked really good. We decided that dinner would be held at my house, since we cooked there anyway. The table looked beautiful. It was nice to have a good dinner two days in a row.

We went to Sarah's and Sam, Ron, Enid, Sarah, and I all walked together, Judith in my arms, to our house.

"Wow!" Sarah exclaimed when we walked through the door. It smelled really good.

"Is that squirrel? Oh, kids," she gave all three of us a big hug.

"Carl, put Judith in her playpen and we can all dig in!" Sarah said and sat down. I put Judith in it, her playpen is right by the table. Then I sat down, along with everyone else.

We all started to eat, it was amazing. Meat tasted so good after not having it for so long. I ate slowly so I could enjoy it longer. And pretty soon, it was finished. Everyone loved it though.

I gathered everyone's dishes and starting doing them. Ron and Enid helped. We all went into the family room after that.

"I can't wait to have my own family like this," Sarah said and smiled at us.

I smiled back at her. I felt at ease just being in the same room with people that I feel like I've known my whole life.

Somehow, a few minutes later, Ron and I were outside in the sunset, we started walking. We were by the pond. We just stood there, watching how beautiful it was.

Suddenly, Ron held both of my hands and faced me.

"I don't care if our parents are dating or that my mom is homophobic. I care so much about you, and I want to make it somewhat official. Carl Grimes, will you be my boyfriend?" he asked and gazed into my eyes.

Oh my God. It's happening. And it couldn't be more perfect.

I simply smiled and leaned in to kiss him, and it was our best one yet. It was perfectly soft and just the right amount of time, it felt glorious.

"I'm so happy you're mine," I whispered to him.

"You wouldn't believe how happy I am," he whispered back.

He pulled me close and held me, laying his head on my shoulders and we watched the sun go down together.

Enid's song choice was very accurate.

I can't help falling in love with him.