Another Chance ~Carl Grimes Love Story~

Chapter 17 - Helpless

I was just sitting on my bunk and thinking. How did things get so screwed up? Everything was fine. Everybody was happy. We had our pigs and our horses and our plants and vegetables and outdoor cafeteria. We had built so many things. We made this place home. And all of a sudden they just get so screwed up? Out of nowhere? I just can't fathom it. Things just went so horribly wrong. And so fast. How did I end up in here? I'm bound to death. There's no avoiding it. Like Carl said, it's inevitable.

I hear Lizzy call for Hershel then me and Hershel again. Oh, no.

I stand up as fast as my body will allow me to and reach my door frame and lean against it, searching for the strength to keep moving. My body just aches so badly.

I hear the sound of walkers growling. I see one tackle over Hershel. He grunts out for us to stay in our cells, but I walk out as fast as possible, working my way down the stairs to him. I see one man walk out of his cell with a gun, pointing it towards the walker, and another girl kicking it and trying to get it off of Hershel. This is real. This is actually happening People are turning into walkers under our own supervision. My heart is beating a mile a minute, which I'm sure isn't only because I'm scared, but because I'm deathly sick.

The girl manages to lift the walker off of Hershel, and I walk over to Hershel, trying to help him up the best I can. I hear a scream and whip my head around, my vision blurry. It's the man with the gun. A walker bit into his arm. Shit. He manages to shoot the walker the girl was holding and it falls to the ground, my heart thumping hard in my head. I feel like I'm going to pass out. 

I get Hershel off of the floor and see the man with the gun being eaten by one of the walkers through the back of his neck. I cringe. It's an ugly sight, and he's just screaming in pain. I blink hard and long so I look at it less.

I see Lizzy from above me, luring a walker towards her. "Lizzy!" I yell, only half of my voice actually coming out. She looks at me but ignores me, continuing to lure the walker away. I start walking up the stairs but lean and fall, holding onto one of the steps. I feel something grab my ankle and look down. A walker is holding onto me. I scream, my voice completely audible this time. I try to kick it away, but my foot barely moves. I yank my foot away, feeling a very sharp pain in my ankle. I managed to pull out the walker's entire arm. I must have broke something. 

I scream out in pain, leaning down to take the walkers hand off of me as it tries to regain it's mobility. Hershel starts running up the steps, stomping on the walker's head that tried to attack me on his way up. He runs past me and to Lizzy, who's screaming. I look up, though my vision is blurry and I'm painfully dizzy, and yell out Lizzy's name. The walker fell on top of her. I try to stand but I'm in unbelievable pain and just sit there helplessly.

Hershel pulls the walker off of her and I sigh in relief a little. I look down to see the other walker tearing apart that man, and decide to just look away. As long as I don't scream anymore, it won't notice me. I move my position a little bit when I hear something hit the outer door hard. I move my position a little, trying my hardest not to yelp in pain. I look and see what looks like a body outside of the door, hitting it with an ax. 

I stand the best I can and start making my way over to the door, finding a knife on the ground and stabbing any walkers that get in my way. I'm limping and not moving very fast, and the only thing that I can hear is my heartbeat in my head and the growling of walkers around me.

I finally manage to get to the door, but by the time I open it, nobody is there. I turn back around and get tackled to the ground by a walker, screaming when my foot gets crushed in the process. I stab it in the head and it lies there dead on top of me, unmoving. I just lay there, and I can't manage to get it off of me; I'm far too weak. Tears are streaming down my face, and I'm just hoping that as long as I stay here, no other walkers will attack.

I hear another gunshot and glass shattering. I try my hardest to push the stupid walker off of me. I push it above me painfully and throw it to the side, gasping for air. I cough hard and a lot, turning over onto my stomach and lifting myself by my elbows. I'm coughing up blood and it won't stop. I hear another gunshot and the voice of Maggie yell "Daddy!" She doesn't see me.

I close my eyes and just let the blood pour out of my mouth, giving up mope. I lose the strength to hold myself up and fall back down, rolling over onto my back. I finally stop coughing and breathe in as much as possible. 

I  hear one last gunshot before I try to sit up and do successfully. I see Maggie as she runs up the stairs, but she doesn't see me. I crawl myself forward. There doesn't seem to be anymore walks on this floor. I keep crawling by my elbows when a walker falls down on top of my back. I scream and flip myself over again, stabbing it in the head. I lay there coughing and gasping, the dead walker laying on top of me. "Emma!" I hear a voice yell. I see a flashlight appear from the door I had opened before. "Emma!" I watch as Carl runs in and lifts the walker off from on top of me. He looks up and down my body and tears are running down my cheeks. "Are you bit, are you hurt?" he asks frantically.

".. My.. ankle." I choke out, coughing more and more blood pouring out of my mouth. He looks down and moves my ankle and I grit my teeth in pain. "You're not bit," he reassures himself. I feel his arms wrap around me, lifting my back off of the ground. I cough into his shirt and just cry, wrapping my arms weakly around him. "I thought... I was gonna die." I tell him, my voice coarse. He pulls away slightly and there are tears in his eyes.

I put a hand on his cheek and he envelopes me in his arms again, and I cry into him, his shirt wet with my blood. He shushes me lightly. "It's gonna be okay, It's gonna be okay" he coos, and I just cry, hearing the struggling and choking that was going on upstairs cease.