Shadow (TWD Carl)

~Chapter 35~

The long straight gravel road and the green forest were the only scenes that had been surrounding us for God knows how many miles. We'd been walking for too long. My legs had gone numb with the amount of traveling we'd been doing and we hadn't had many breaks. I understand why though. Rick, along with the rest of the group, had decided to go to Washington, believing that there must be something there if its the one place Eugene had thought of to be able to survive.

Every now and again, some of us would split off in groups to look for food and water, seeing as our supplies were running low. But in this world, you need to have a witch's pot of luck to even find resources like that, and we hadn't gotten even a slither of that luck yet.

The small catchments were dry and so far it hadn't rained. There was no sight of other animals, and even if there were, they'd probably be dug into by those walking creeps.

I was walking at the back of the group each time, wanting to be left to my own thoughts. Some of the others had tried to start conversations with me but I couldn't help but drown out their voice with my own thoughts. Once they realized that I wasn't listening, they'd walk off without another word.

All of a sudden, the group stopped walking, and as I was looking at the ground rather than where I was going, I smacked right into the back of somebody else. I snapped my head up as I was startled and tried to steady my step so that I didn't fall backwards. The person spun around and I realized that I had smacked into Carl accidentally. He cocked his eyebrow and stared down at me in slight worry.

"Sorry." I muttered and then moved around him before listening to what Rick was ordering.

"Okay, now that I have everyone's attention, we will be stopping for a break. I want Sasha, Maggie, Carl, Daryl, Glenn and Michonne to look for food and water. The rest of us will wait here until the runners get back. Everyone got that?" His orders were followed by a few agreements and nods.

The group split up to do their assigned roles. Before Carl left, Rick had gripped his shoulder, asking him to stay close to Michonne and not to wonder off. I had to agree with that. Rick would be torn if something happened to Carl. Rick walked back over to us and started to chat with the rest of the group. It wasn't before long when I heard him calling my name.

"Shadow," I look up at Rick, lifting my arm to block the sun from my eyes. "I need to have a chat with you. This is serious." I sigh, taking a glance over at Kira and Jack before pushing myself up till I was standing in front of him. I followed him as he walked a quite few feet away from the others.

"Shadow, what is going on with you?" He crossed his arms and stared me down sternly. Reminds me of dad...

"Nothing." I tried to state clearly, but I knew that he could tell I wasn't too sure of it myself.

"It's not nothing. There is something going on in your head and it's reflecting the way you're treating everyone." He paused before dipping his head down and placing his hands on his hips. I began to get a little awkward and as a habit, I started to rub my arm and slightly lower my head. "Kira and Jack, they're worried about you. They're saying that you're becoming distant, like you don't want to know them."

There was a long pause before I thought of what to say. "There's nothing to worry abo-"

"Yes, there is. Even Carl has come to see me about the way you've been acting, and I'm sure the others could add to that if I asked what they thought. I don't think you understand Shadow, we all care for you. And I damn right know that Kira and Jack don't want to see you like this. Neither does Carl."

"It's not their place to care about me."

"It is, Shadow. We care about you. What we've been through, what you've done for us and what we've done for you, we're more than just survivors. We're like a family. So I don't see why you are suddenly becoming so dista-"