"The Dahlonega Dead" (Carl Grimes FanFiction)

Episode 12: In The Misery

                We both just stared at the dead body that had bled out by now. “Sometimes I think about, all the people who can’t survive in this world. Be it mental illness or…physical setbacks. Do you help them, or just…execute the inevitable?”

                Carl looked at me like he couldn’t believe what I was saying…but instead of keeping his shocked face, he turned back to the body like he was almost agreeing with my sense of logic.

                Are we actually talking about this? Killing what would hold us and themselves back? It’s like…compassion has been drained out of us.

                After we stood there, just watching the dead body nurture the flies overhead, we trailed off back towards the car. There wasn’t any oil around, so, walking was it.

                I felt incredibly uncomfortable. Not because of Carl…I’ve already established that he’s not an issue, but…ugh…I’m so hungry…

                I bent over on the empty road and almost puked up stomach acids. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes tight. I exhaled and spit onto the ground.

                “You ok?” Carl walked over to me, concerned.

                “I’m fine.” I said standing up. I looked over at him and smiled but he just frowned like something was wrong.

                “What?” I asked.

                “Your nose…” He hesitated.

                I felt something warm run onto my lips. “Oh gosh.” I panicked and put my sleeve up. My nose was bleeding.

                He unzipped his backpack and hurried over to me. “Here.” He said in a quiet tone. He moved my wrist, then gently pressed a white cloth of old shirt to my nose. For a second I was just worried about my nose, but when I opened my eyes to look at him, he was literally like 2 inches away!

                I stepped back. “Ah…ahaha…this is embarrassing.”

                “Why are you getting nose bleeds?”

                “Well…let’s just say I’m not as healthy as you are.” Honestly I wasn’t. From what we’ve been talking about, him and everyone else at the prison were eating just fine. When I was out on my own…I didn’t have a tree house full of food like last time… I was a tramp. Starving, running, never eating I guess. I wonder if Carl will have to put me down when I become a setback.

                How I pray that won’t happen.

                If there is something wrong with me…I’m fine with pulling the trigger myself. But…I don’t want to leave Carl.

                I turned to him as we kept walking.

                “What?” He looked concerned.

                Tch…Crap! “Nothing…” I shoved on holding the cloth to my nose the whole time.

                It wasn’t until an hour later that we were presented with an opportunity. There was a giant Wal Mart in the distance down a hill. It looked completely abandoned. Still no walkers. By now I’d come to think of it as a blessing and to just roll with it.

                Maybe we were getting too confident though…Ha! Fat chance in this world.

                If Wal-Mart was safe, it could be a gold mine.

                30 minutes later, both of us were in front of the sliding doors but they were closed shut and there was a wooden plank on one of them.

                “DON’T OPEN!”

                I squinted to look into the store. So did Carl.

                “We should go in.” He looked at me.

                “Why? It says don’t open. You remember the walkers?”

                “We haven’t seen any.”

                “But…what if there are some trapped in there and we let them out?”

                Carl sighed. “We need to try. We’re running low and you need food.”

                “Don’t pin this on me. We both need food.”

                “Exactly. I’m starving. Are you gonna let me starve?” He smiled a bit.

                I squinted at him. Unbelievable. I bit my lower lip then nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”