I'm Right Here

Chapter Five

I eventually find him. He is sitting by a tree, looking at his feet. I walk up to him.

What am I doing? I think.

He looks up at me with his piercing blue eyes. I blankly stare back, unsure of how to start a conversation.

Does this count towards those fifteen minutes? I wonder as I see Andrea out of the corner of my eye.

We continue to stare at each other for a few more seconds before I realize that he's speaking.

"What do you want?" He asks.

"I-uh." I can't think of what to say as my mind goes blank.

He shakes his head and looks back at his shoes.

"Hi!" I practically scream.

He looks at me again. I shake my head.

Get ahold of yourself!

"Hi." I say again, calmly this time.

"Hi..." He says.

I sit down several feet away from him. He looks at me as though he's not sure if he should run or if he should run. I think back to what he had said to Sofia at the camp.

He's right. I am weird. I think.

I try to give him a smile. I fail. He begins to stand up.

"Wait! " I say. He looks at me.

"I don't want to talk to you just as much as you don't want to talk to me. But Andrea won't leave me alone until I 'try to be more social'" I say. "Please, just wait another ten minutes, then you can go." I say.

He sighs and sits back down. I smile.

"So what do you want to talk about?" We both say at the same time.

We both look at each other before laughing.

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Now that same boy is standing in front of me.

I barely know who he is anymore. I thought to myself sadly.

It's been a month since the people from Woodbury arrived. A month since I first began to realize that he was a completely different person than the boy that I had been best friends with.

I sighed and walked past him. He was talking to a boy a bit older than us- Patrick I think.

I didn't want to interrupt them, but Rick had asked me to get Carl for him.

I walked to where the two boys were talking. The laughed about something.

I tugged on Carl's sleeve. He turned around swiftly. I realized how much taller he had been getting.

"Carl."

"Yeah?" have asked, practicality staring straight into my soul with those blue eyes of his.

Patrick looked at us.

I suddenly felt nervous. I wasn't good around people. Needless to say, the past month hadn't been easy on my.

"Um- um ... "

Carl sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Uh... I'm..." I tugged on his sleeve, trying to show that I needed him to come with me. He gently pushed my hand off of his sleeve.

"I'm gonna hang out with Patrick. Talk to me when you can get over..." he paused. "This." He continued, gesturing to me.

"But Rick-uh" I managed to say.

"Just go." Patrick said.

I signed with relief and began to drag Carl away.

"What about my dad? " Carl asked after a moment.

I shrugged. "No clue."

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I woke up screaming. I covered my mouth. I waited a moment to see if I heard anyone yelling at me to shut up. I had been having nightmares for a little less than a month. Every night.

My dad would get shot

Rick would be torn apart by walkers.

Beth would have her face ripped apart.

I would hear Judy crying as walkers drew closer.

Hershel would be torn limb from limb.

Carl would be bloodied murdered.

Each and every time, I would have to watch as the people I cared about met tragic ends.

I sighed and sat up. Usually, I would go to my dad's cell, and twice I had gone to Beth's, but I didn't want to bother anyone. I then noticed that someone was standing by the entrance to my cell. I jumped.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness just as I heard a voice.

"Nightmares?" Carl asked. I nodded.

He took a few steps closer to me and sat down next to me. I brushed a few dark locks of hair out of my eyes. Carl may be a different person now, but he's still my best friend.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked after a few minutes of silence. I shook my head.

"No." I whispered.

He nodded and pushed my shoulders down onto the bed.

"Go back to sleep." He said, laying down next to me.

"I guess..." I said.

"I don't think that was an appropriate response." He said with a small laugh.

"I guess..." I said again while laughing.

I eventually close my eyes. I feel my self slip away as I give in to sleep.

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"Rise and shine little lovebirds!" I heard . My eyes fluttered open. I somehow wound up using Carl as pillow, my head resting on his arm.

We both sat up, looking at Beth, who was smiling and holding Judith. Carl and I both blushed deeply.

"What time is it?" Carl asked after what felt like a decade of awkward silence.

"'Bout nine." Beth said.

Carl sat up quickly.

"I was supposed to be up three hours ago!" He exclaimed.

"Relax." Beth said. "Y'all looked so cute together that Rick decided to let you sleep for today."

Carl sighed and exited the cell.

I was still blushing deeply. I decided to leave the cell to get away from Beth, who was giving me a look.

"Cuties!" She said as I left, causing me to blush even harder.