The Life We Live

Chapter 7

A whole week passed by, we were still living on the farm. We've grown closer to Hershel and his family every day, my theory is that they are going to let us stay even after we find Sophia, if we even find her at all.

I've grown closer to the group. Even though I've only been with them for over a week they are like my family now.

Then there's Carl. There's something between us, I just don't know what. We have an unspoken bond. The nods we exchange from across the camp, the way he brushes up against me when he walks by, the conversations we have when we're alone, the way he smiles at me when he thinks I'm not looking. There's something there, I think we're just too scared to admit it.

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"Come on let's go!" Daryl yelled. I scampered around, grabbing anything that might come in handy.

"Anyone else who wants to come, speak up now!" announced Daryl. I looked at the search team and was disappointed to see it was just me, Daryl and T-Dog. Day by day the search team shrinks, I think they're losing hope, but I won't give up on Sophia.

"I'll come" I heard someone say. I looked up to see Carl walking towards us, my heart skipped a beat.

"Okay then let's go" huffed Daryl. The four of us headed into the forest. After we had been searching for about an hour T-Dog proposed we spilt up.

"Should we do teams of two?" he asked.

"We'll cover more ground if we go solo, unless you can't handle it" challenged Daryl.

"Nah man, that's a good idea" said T-Dog even though I could tell the idea of being alone in the forest scared him.

We all went in different directions, I was heading north. I enjoyed being alone, the sound of nature surrounding me. It was peaceful until I heard the familiar sound of moaning.

I drew my bow and strung an arrow, preparing for the walkers that I knew were headed my way. When the first one popped out of the bushes I was startled, but ready. I hit it directly between the eyes. I pulled out the arrow swiftly and used it to stab the next one. I threw the arrow aside and pulled out my knife, stabbing walkers left and right. There were a lot of them but I knew I could handle it. I was killing them even quicker now, in an almost graceful fashion. I finally killed the last one and took a deep breath, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I set my knife down and kneeled in front of the large pile of dead walkers.

"I'm sorry this happened to you. I hope you're at peace now" I whispered as I stared at them in pity. I collected my scattered bows and knifes and kept walking.

About twenty minutes later I heard rustling in the bushes behind me. I turned around and drew my bow but it stopped. I kept walking. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps. I looked behind me and no one was there. I started walking and I heard them again. In a panic I started to run, whoever was following me started to run too. I ran until it felt like my lungs were going to burst, I had to stop. I stood resting my forehead against a tree trunk, the footsteps had stopped. I was about to start walking again when suddenly I heard breathing right behind me. I tensed up, whoever was chasing me had caught me, there was nowhere I could run. I put my hand on the knife in my pocket and turned around, finding my self face to face with...

"Carl."

"Hey" he smirked.

"What the hell, you scared the shit out of me" I scolded.

"I'm sorry, I saw you and decided to follow you because I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to disturb you so I didn't say anything then you started running so... I started running" he explained sheepishly.

"Ugh you jerk" I joked, we both laughed.

Just then I realized how close our faces were, he seemed to realize too because we both became silent. We were staring into each others eyes and I could feel tension building up. Just as I was about to say something he jammed his lips against mine. I flinched with surprise, not sure what to do. He pushed me against the closest tree and kissed me harder. I was going to pull away but instead I kissed him back. I ran my fingers through his long hair as he gripped my hips. It felt so right, as if we were meant to be doing this since the moment we met. We were kissing so hard that my mouth felt numb, I never wanted it to end, but I didn't want it to go too far.

"Uhm, we should probably start heading back" I said as I pulled away from Carl.

"Yeah you're right" he agreed.

We walked back in silence, but not an unsettling or awkward silence, a beautiful silence.

"I saw you kill those walkers, it was amazing" he said as we approached camp.

"Oh" I said, I could feel my cheeks turn red in embarrassment.

"Yeah, it was beautiful" he said, "just like you." I smiled to myself, a guy had never called me beautiful, maybe hot or sexy, but not beautiful.

"Hey Rain, did you find anything?" Asked Daryl, we were the last ones back.

"Unfortunately not" I said, feeling a bit guilty. We were supposed to be looking for Sophia, instead I was making out with Carl.

"It's okay, we'll try again tomorrow" he assured. He walked up to me and handed me an apple.

"Hey, what's up with your hair, did you fall or something?" He asked. I tensed up as I realized my hair was tangled from my make out session with Carl.

"Um... I got in a struggle with some walkers but I'm alright" I lied.

"Did you get bit?" he asked as he started to search me for marks.

"No I'm fine, I promise" I said as I pushed him away. He gave my one last look then grunted and walked away. I gave Carl a sheepish grin then joined Daryl next to the fire. He put his arm around my shoulders and I put my hands over the fire, trying to warm them, the days are getting colder. A couple more people joined us, including Rick. Someone was approaching us from behind and I turned around to see Hershel.

"Hey Hersh" acknowledged Daryl.

"Hello Daryl. How is the search for Sophia?" he asked as he sat next to me.

"Not so good, we haven't found anything so far" explained Daryl.

Hershel shook his head, "well as you can tell, the days are getting colder and I don't think it's a good idea for you to be camping outside. I think it may be time for you to leave."

"What?! We can't leave!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, we can move into the barn!" Proposed Rick.

"I'm sorry, but that's not an option. Sophia's gone, except that. God had a plan for her and he carried it out. It's time for you all to move on. I'll give you a couple days to pack up your things" said Hershel. He got up and left, leaving us no time to argue.

"We're not leaving" I stated, Daryl nodded his head.

"Listen, I'll try to get Hershel to change his mind. Until then, we're not goin' anywhere" explained Rick. I breathed a sigh of relief, Rick would figure this out. I looked up and realized Glenn had been sitting with us the whole time, he had a panicked look on his face.

"Glenn are you okay?" I asked.

"I... I gotta go talk to Maggie" he stuttered as he got up and hurried away. I looked at Daryl who just shrugged.

I rested my head on Daryl's shoulder and stared up at the sky. I saw three crows circling around the farm and remembered what Merle told me about crows.

"Those crows are no good. Every time they show up, shit gets fucked up."

I sighed, maybe this all was too good to be true.

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