The Future is Nigh (TWD Fanfiction)

05- Questions and answers vs lies

I don't find anything important, but, I do put the picture of the four young adults and the baby into my pocket. It is not like I will ever meet them. To be honest, it really makes no sense why I took the picture is the first place.

Maybe it will keep me asking questions.

Questions are good for sanity, right?

Carl drives further up beside the destroyed car and goes around to the boot. He takes out a tube and opens the tank, he was stealing the rest of their petrol.

Judith is sitting up when I get back into the car. Carl took the torch and found some matches along with some paper and pen too after emptying all the petrol into our car, his car.

Judith gets very excited when she see the paper and half empty black pen. Half full! Be positive!

'Claimed!' Judith screams just when Carl opens his door. He smiles and hands her the paper and pen, happy to see her happy I guess. I never remember being so happy to see paper and a pen when I was younger.

Now, when I watch Judith scribble out some drawings my heart beats for her. Maybe I can make her smile like that, one day.

When Carl is comfortable beside me he holds up the shiny disk. With a Cheshire grin stitched onto his face he pushes the disk in. As we wait patiently not a sound is heard... The disk comes rolling back out and we both frown, confused. Carl pushes it back in once more but again, the disk pops out.

'Dammit!' Carl mutters through his teeth and takes it out, throwing the disk out the window and starting the car again.

I look over my should at small Judith. She now has a hat on. The sun is beating down hard, I half close my eyes and she holds down the front so it shades her face. I can tell she is smiling underneath.

'It was my Daddy's.' Judith explains and I nod. A sheriffs hat. It looks like a cowboys hat, with a shining seven pointed star at the front. The star looks brand new, they must polish it daily. There are two swirls going around it and then meeting at the front, blooming out in a 'u' shape. 

'What was he like?' I ask and glance off at Carl. He has a sad expression on his face, he does not look back at me. Instead he is sitting in his seat, pushing down on the gas and looking out the windscreen window. 

'He was...' Carl mumbles. I'm not sure whether he was meant to continue the sentence but could not or he was emphasizing the 'was'. Past tense.

'The best dead ever!' Judith says encouragingly. I grin back at her. 'He really was loved. He was so good to everyone, no one was treated badly unless they deserved it.'

'I bet.' I smile weakly at Carl but he won't spare me a glance. His eyes are meeting with something outside the car, in front of us. Something that is not there. 'Carl?' I question. His lips are moving, mumbling silently to whoever he sees out there. 'Carl?' I repeat, my voice soft and kind. I reach out a hand and rest it over his on the steering wheel. He looks at our hands and then other at me, his eyes are sparkling. Filled with tears. 'It's okay.' I assure him and he looks at my face, as if waiting for me to laugh.

Then turns back to look at the road.

Judith sits forward and her fathers hat pokes Carl's head. He looks down at her and she whispers to him, 'We never asked the three questions.' His hand slips out from under mine so he can toss the hat off Judith's head. She giggles and Carl wipes under his eyes, glancing at his wet hand and the road in front of us. 

His hand that grips the steering wheel is going chalk white.

'What questions?' I ask and Judith smiles at me.

'Daddy would always ask the same three questions if anyone ever wanted into the group.'

The group?

'The family.' Carl corrects and smirks to himself. Where were they all? Their family. They could not all be gone, could they?

'Oh.' I say and look out the window. The green crass and bushes pass us in a blur. I reach my hand out the window and hold it flat, lift it up and down as if my hand is the surfboard and the wind is my waves.

'So, can we ask you the three questions?' Judith asks, though it is not really a question. If I weren't up to answering the questions why would they want me to stay? I would be too suspicious.

'Uh. Yeah, go on ahead.' my eyes are falling closed, I have been awake for two days straight, not a single nap. Now all the sitting was getting to me, I just want to curl up into a ball and sleep until the next dawn. Or even when everything was normal again.

'How many zombies have-'

'Walkers. Dad always said walkers.' Carl interrupts. Judith sits quietly in the back. Carl looks at her through the mirror but she won't meet his gaze, she looks anywhere but at the mirror or me.'Fine.' Carl says and looks from me to the road. 'How many walkers have you killed?' He asks.

There is no use counting off of my fingers, I had no idea how many walkers I have killed. Too many.

It has been twelve years. 'I- I honestly don't know.' Carl nods in understanding, glancing at me to share a smile and then back to the road.

'How many people have you killed?' Carl questions. The second question. I try not to freak out, I try not to fidget in my seat or squirm every time he glances at me.

'None.' I say, my voice surprisingly sounds convincing. When I look at Carl he smiles, he believes me.

He believes me...

'The last question doesn't apply to you then.' he shrugs and continues driving. I look back at Judith and she is watching me carefully, as if waiting for me to spill the beans. I instantly turn away and Carl grabs my hand from where it rests in between us. He gives it a light squeeze, not the same as Judith's Hulk power. And he leaves his hand there, holding onto mine and I want to cry.

His hand is soft and warm, everything I am not. My hands are bony and dry, colder than the tips of my toes.

Carl knew at the start he should have left me behind. And now I am in his car, with his younger sibling... they do not know what I've done.

Comment if you still like the story, I don't want to continue if it is starting to bore everyone o: I am going to post chapter every second day c: