Apocalyptic. {Carl Grimes}

1

Running.
I was running.
Walkers trailed behind me and I couldn't catch my breath. Gasping for air, I pulled out my gun and shot its brains out.
I was alone. My mother and father were killed by the governor and he left me be. I never knew why.
There was another group, in which, he killed. One man in particular stood out to me, he was older. A fluffy white beard plastered across his wrinkled face. I remembered his last sigh before his head was gone. I remember his group, they were horror-stricken. As was I when I was forced to watch my parents go through the same thing.
In this kind of world, it never ends. It just continues happening, and God forbid, it go on.
I continue walking along, in hope of seeing no more walkers. It's getting late out and so far, I've found no groups.
Something strikes my eye, I recognize it as running. It's not walker running, it's human running. I squint and find that it actually is someone. They hold a crossbow and happens to be a man in maybe his early thirties?
I am weak and in no shape to go chasing after him, so I yell.
I immediately regret my decision.
Walkers line up around me and I've only got one handgun. I prepare myself for the worst, but hope for the best.
Walkers trample on me and I find my body stuck underneath a heap of zombies. I holler and try to push them off.
Just as one is about to bite through my flesh, an arrow is shot into their head, directly two inches from my face.
I push it off quickly and shoot some more zombies through the head. I turn to find the man with the crossbow helping out.
He grabs my arm and rushes me out to a highway street. I shudder and he grunts, bending over on his knees, "damn, kid." I shrug, "thank you for saving me." He nods and looks up at me, "how old are you?" I grind my teeth as I answer, "just turned 14."
His expression is priceless, he's in complete shock. "You remind me of someone," he places his hand on his chin, "Carl!" I furrow my eyebrows, and suddenly I recognize the man.
He's one of the people from the group, watching in horror as the wrinkled old man gets his head removed.
Removed by the governor.
I remember.
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"What's your name?" I ask as I get into an old, broken down car with him. He looks toward me before starting the engine, "Daryl." I shake his hand and half smile, "I'm Cindy."
We drive through the sea of walkers in silence. I look down and pray that things will work out. Maybe I'll even be apart of their group. Maybe I'll finally be safe. Maybe I'll get another chance.
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We arrive at what seems to be a house.
We drive through and stop at a gate, someone has to come and open it for us. I bite my lip in confusion, it's night time and walkers are as active as ever.
I get out of the car and walk alongside Daryl towards the actual house. There are two others, which I'm assuming are from the group, guarding the doors. They look to me and immediately pull Daryl aside, I try to listen in on their conversation; "who is this?" They demand. "She's a girl. I found her getting attacked in the woods, I wasn't just gonna leave her." "You can't just bring people in here, what if she's dangerous? What if she's bitten? Did any of these questions ever come to your mind?" A guard points to his head. "She's freaking 14, I don't expect her to come and shoot everyone." "You don't know that, we can't trust anyone anymore." The guard finishes. I look down in disappointment. Daryl grabs my shoulders and scoffs past the guards.
We enter inside and I see a group of people huddled around. They look to be sad, but I wouldn't be surprised, looking at how we live now. I feel out of place as Daryl guides me to the people. "Guys," he grumbles, "look who I found." They turn to me and some cross their arms over their chests. "Who is this?" A woman with grey hair asks. I pipe up and whisper, "I'm Cindy. It's a pleasure to meet you all." I'm given looks from all around and let me tell you, they weren't welcoming ones.
"I found her out in the woods. Walkers were after her," Daryl summarizes. "How old are 'ya, honey?" Another woman asks, she was a brunette with caring eyes. "I'm 14, my birthday was a month ago," I smiled. She turned towards a man who looked like the head of the group, his hands were on his hips as she smirked over at him. She whispered something in his ear and he seemed to agree, "where are your parents?" He questioned me. I shook my head, trying to erase the memory of their death, "they were killed by the governor." A gasp echoed across the room. I pursed my lips as I tried to keep myself from crying and breaking down. "I- I'm so sorry," the leader sighed. All I could do was nod, after all, I didn't want to explain the entire story.
"You've been on your own?" Another man speaks, he looks Asian, the only one out of the entire group. "Yeah," I admit. "How long?" "I've been on my own for a couple of months now. It's so hard to get by." They all turn from me and whisper something. I look up at Daryl, who is still holding my shoulders. He smiles down at me and waits for a response. It's like being a courtroom. The suspense nearly kills me.
"Okay," the leader says, "we've decided that you can stay here with us. We can help you get back on your feet, we've lost some people ourselves recently. We don't want you to go through the same hardships; as long as you're here, we can protect you and you can learn how to fight-" "it seems to be that she already knows how to," the grey- haired woman interjects. The leader merely nods, "welcome to the group, Cindy."
"Thank you," I whisper, close to tears, "for everything." He puts his hands up, as if to say it's no big deal, "and by the way," he smiles, "I'm Rick."
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A.N.
Hey guys! So, I've decided to make a new fanfic, I hope you like it. And I have really gotten hooked to the show The Walking Dead. It's ridiculous, really! But, I will still continue my other fanfic, HARTWOOD. I honestly just wanted to change things up. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
Love, Lex