Collision

Chapter Two

~ Chapter Two ~

Carl's P.O.V.

I was pissed. The very thought that my dad thought these people could be trusted infuriated me. The very thought that we were inside the building they owned pissed me off even more. I just stood there, watching the girl and her dad fight.

"You shouldn't have let them in Ellie! What if they were hunters? They could've killed you! You should've known better as well, Aaron! What were you two doing there anyways? Harvey already announced that everyone was to be in their rooms!" The man yelled, his voice booming through the room. It wasn't much of a room. If I'd have guessed, it was the principal's office - filled with only one desk and nails on the walls for supposed bachelor degrees or something.

"They weren't hunters, and they sure as hell didn't kill me! Aaron was just there - don't bring him into this!" The girl shot back, a vain in her neck turning noticeable from her frustration. I rolled my eyes at their ongoing conversation.

Her dad shook his head, disappointed. "Just make sure they find an empty room, and lock them up alright?"

"Lock us up?! I knew this wasn't a good idea!" I grunted. I made a move to pull my gun out of the holster, but the instant they saw me do that, they put one to my head. The barrel felt dead cold against the skin of my temple.

"Let him go," dad warned the man whose gun was above my left ear. He always tried keeping it calm - another thing that pissed me off.

"The man's right. Let him go Harvey, just show them what I meant. Explain it nicely, alright?" He stated, sitting back down on the couch with his eyebrows tensed together.

Harvey led us to a classroom. He started talking, "you know how everybody's infected?" We nodded in unison, all too familiar. "No matter how you die, you come back as one of 'em shit heads. In our town, we're cautious about someone dying in their sleep. We lock them doors to our rooms tight just so that when we die, we don't go roaming around killing other people. No one can get to you from the outside because the doors are bolted from in there. It's your choice whether you lock it, but we'd prefer you to do so, because we don't want our people to wake up at the sight of y'all as infected."

Dad nodded, looking less worried. Michonne, on the other hand, still looked tense. I couldn't blame her; she'd been through this before.

We went inside the classroom and made ourselves comfortable. It was a regular classroom, just like the one I had back in elementary. With rust covering the metal hinges and dead cockroaches visible in the dark corners of the room, I was again reminded of how unmaintained all of the buildings were. On the bright side, literally, the walls were coloured peach while the desks were covered in pink paint. I guessed it was an all girls school. I laid my pistol on the desk and sat on the chair, the exhaustion setting in once I felt my muscles relax from relief.

The girl came by shortly after, interrupting our peace, "You folks sure you don't want separate rooms? Just in case you die in your sleep and all?" Dad, Michonne, and I looked at each other already knowing what the answer to that was. We didn't want to get separated again. "Alright I'll come by with the food. Just make yourselves comfortable, I guess."

"Go help her out Carl, just to be friendly," dad said. I rolled my eyes at his words. All he wanted me to do was to make sure that the food was safe enough for us to eat. Sighing, I followed her through the halls.

"So Carl, huh? My name's Ellie," She said, holding a hand out for me to shake. I ignored it. With an awkwardly shaky voice, she continued, "alright, well, the kitchen's this way, I hope you don't get bothered by the mess. Lia accidentally dropped a bag of flour."

I looked around at the cafeteria, not caring about her words. It was empty, dark, and quiet. I followed Ellie inside the kitchen. She started making sandwiches and spreading jam on it. As much as I hated accepting people's help, I was hungry as hell. We'd been walking for a whole day and only had a bag of cereal and water to live on.

"Here, can you please take this? I have to go get the juice," Ellie asked, holding out the food. I simply looked at her, not caring what my dad had instructed me to do. "Look, I'm trying to be hospitable here, alright? So how about you take these freaking sandwiches, because if you don't, I'll end up eating them, okay? So stop trying to put up the tough act, and just take the damn food to your people."

I didn't expect that to come out of her. Taken aback, I took the tray of sandwiches and walked out. Finding a way back to the room was hard. There were too many hallways and stairs, and I didn't remember which wing it was or what number was the room. For a moment I stood dumbfounded, ashamed that I got lost in an elementary school.

"The classroom's this way," Ellie yelled after seeing me slightly distraught, holding a carton of apple juice in one hand and some plastic cups in the other. Hastily I followed her again, making sure not to get lost.

I knocked on the door, "dad, it's me."

He opened it, and Ellie set the cups as well as the juice on the desk. I set the tray down alongside it.

"Well, that's all of it. The bathroom's down the hall to the right, if you need it. Just make sure not to leave the door open afterwards. Our water's supply's getting low, so please don't leave it running. If you need a shower, you've got to ask Joel first. He's the guy in the ripped up jeans and a blue plaid shirt if you're wondering. Other than that, uh, enjoy."

"Thank you Ellie. Please tell your father we'll be gone tomorrow," dad told her.

"He's not my dad, but I'll be sure to pass him the message." She left, shutting the door behind her.

"I still don't trust these people," Michonne grunted. Her katana was still slung on her back.

"Neither do I, but we'll be gone at dawn. All we need is rest and then we'll be on our way. Besides, they didn't do anything unusual with the food, right Carl?" I nodded. "Eat, sleep, thank them, and go."

I took the small mattress, Michonne took the couch, and my dad was left sitting on the teacher's chair. We slept like dead men, after eating, with the others in my mind. But as we laid soundly in the classroom, I wondered, would we ever make our way back to Judith?