Found Book One

Walls Fall

"We're running out of supplies," I say to Carl as we lay down in the grass. "And our best people are stuck outside the walls with no way to get in," I mutter.

"I know, but we just need to trust that some loud noise will draw them away," Carl says lifting Judith up above his head.

I turn on my side to stare at him. His cheeks are tanned a light brown and small dots have started to form across his nose. My eyes drift up to something floating idley in the blue sky. "Green balloons?" I whisper under my breath.

Panic rises in my stomach when a sickening crunch sounds through the town. I sit up.

"RUN!" Rick screams from the wall, my eyes widen as the wood holding up the church tower starts to crunch.

I jump up as the tower slams into the metal wall, it compresses under the weight of the wooden structure. Suddenly Carl is up pulling me to move.

"Carl! Elaine!" Jessie yells from her porch.

Carl runs to the porch with Judith in his arms, I stand in the yard and watch as people run into their homes.

"Maggie," I whisper as she gets chased up into the watchtower, "Maggie!" I scream drawing the cluster of walkers toward me.

Suddenly I'm swept up and thrown over a strong shoulder. I can see Rick's worn boots. He runs through the grass and across the road. All I can do is stare at the ground as Rick carries me toward Jessie's house.

Rick places me down onto the ground, "You should've ran." He says it in a way that makes me wish I did.

"You have to keep yourself safe," he growls as he knocks on the door. "Thank you Rick," I say.

"Come on," Michonne says opening the front door, I stumble over the threshold.

As soon as we're inside I ask where Mika went. No one seems to know

Rick and Jessie are talking in the corner. "I'll take her upstairs," Michonne says as she looks at Judith. "Maybe she can keep Deanna company," the woman says walking away.

"You should control your boyfriend," Ron growls motioning to the living room where Carl is tacking sheets over the windows.

I look up at Ron, his eye is bruised. I shake my head, "He wouldn't have done it unless he had good reason," I say shoving past him. 

"Maybe you shouldn't piss him off," I say before I walk into the living room.

"I'm sorry I didn't move. I had to know where Maggie was and now Mika is missing," I say.

He turns to me letting the half tacked sheet fall halfway down, "Just don't be mad," I whisper. He shakes his head and hooks his arm around my waist, "I'm not mad," he says moving to kiss me.

Our lips touch gently and Carl pulls away. "Get a fucking room or get out," Ron sneers.

I grab his wrist so he stays put. He turns  to face Ron fully now.

"Ron you need to be quiet," I whisper standing straight. "You have no right," he says taking a threatening step toward me.

Carl moves into Ron's path, "Turn around," Carl says, his voice dangerously low. Ron shakes his head and walks away.

"I'm gonna go find stuff for barricades," Carl growls still clearly angry at Ron, "You stay here, I'll look for things," I say.

The clock slowly ticks and more walkers flood the streets. Some are on the porch, rattling the statue that Jessie and Sam made.

"Ron take Elaine and Carl into the garage, find things to put against the windows," Jessie commands handing Ron the key.

Ron mutters a protest under his breath but ultimately leads us to the garage. He unlocks it and opens the door Ron walks into the large room.

"Look for anything we can use to keep them out," Carl says walking over to one side of the room.

Ron walks to the tool bench, I watch as he leans down with his forehead against the wood. "Ron are you okay?" I ask him.

He shakes his head, "Enid's dead, she's gone. We're all dead," he whispers, Carl walks over to him.

"Look my dad he's gonna figure something out he always does," he mumbles.

"That's bullshit! Your dad's just gonna get more people killed," Ron growls inches from Carl's face.

"That's just who he is," he whispers. I step forward, wedging myself between them with my back to Carl.

I push Ron back, "Guys we don't need this now," I say. Carl shakes his head and grabs my arm to pull me behind him. "Your dad's a killer," Ron spits. "So was your's," Carl says calmly.

Ron looks down at the floor before walking over to the door. "Don't you get it. I'm dead Carl, my mom is dead. Sam. Is. Dead."

Carl runs his hand over his face, "Ron they aren't dead. We are right here and we are gonna be okay," I say placing my hand on his shoulder. When he pulls a key from his pocket I step back.

The lock clicks and Carl glances at me, "You-- Elaine-- Your dad- Your all dead," he whispers putting the keys in his pocket.

His hand drifts up and I yelp as he yanks a gun from the waistband of his jeans. Carl runs forward, he grabs Ron's wrist and slams it into the door.

The gun falls to the floor, Ron pushes Carl off of him with a grunt. They topple into a metal shelf, I flinch when sheets of metal clatter to the floor.

Carl punches Ron hard across the face, they fall to the ground. Ron crawls on top of Carl who kicks him off with little effort.

Ron picks up a shovel, "Carl!" I scream not caring about the walkers because they're coming any way.

The taller boy scrambles across the room. Ron swings the shovel. It hits some frames on the wall they crash to the floor. "Ron! StOP!" I yell.

Instead of stopping he slams the shovel toward Carl. He ducks, the spade smashes through the window.

The snarls of the creatures outside flow into the safety of the house. I rush toward the two. I grab Ron's shirt, he growls and slams his elbow into the side of my head. I stumble back, I trip on something that I can't see.

My vision's blurred from the force of his hit. I regain my balance only to watch Ron grab the gun from the floor.

Carl has his hand up in defeat but he isn't even looking at Ron. He's staring at me, his dark hair stuck to his forehead from sweat.

A walker sticks it's arms through the broken window. Ron lowers the gun a bit as he focuses on that.

I run at him, digging my shoulder into his side. The gun hits the floor. I fall right into the broken glass. I stand up despite the blood leaking from the cuts full of glass on my hand and knees.

"Elaine," Carl says. I hear our names being called from the other room. I frown when a metal blade smashes through the wooden door.

A walker stumbles into the garage. "Carl! Ron! Elaine!" Rick yells through the busted open door.

Ron grabs the gun off the floor. I scramble toward the door, I pick up Carl's hat from the ground.

I try to ignore the sting in my hand as the glass digs further into my flesh. We run into the house, Rick slams the door behind us. "What happened?" Jessie asks pulling me away from the door.

"N-Nothing. We knocked over a shelf and the walkers started coming in." I bite back a gasp as Jessie pulls my hand up to look at it. "I fell into some glass," I mutter.

"Here use this!" Michonne says pushing the couch into the room with the help of Gabriel. "There's a dresser in my mom's room that we can use to secure the door," Ron says.

Carl follows Ron down the hall. I push past Jessie and rush after the boys, "You hurt her," Carl says pulling out his gun.

"Hand me the gun. Grip first," Carl demands, clicking off the safety of his gun. "Elaine go get cleaned up," Carl says not taking his eyes off of Ron.

I nod and turn to the door, I hesitate before opening it and walking out into the hall. "Elaine," Jessie says from the landing on the stairs.