The Heart of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1: Cold and Separated

Carl's POV:

It was horrifying to think that we were going to be attacked again by the Governor, but it was so much worse to be separated from everything and everyone I've known since we first got to Hershel's house so long ago. Now we're wandering, just the two of us, and all can think is "Don't look back, Carl. Don't look back.".

I feel sick. So defeated. Not by the Governor, but by the screaming in my head. "Liar..." "DADDY!" "Fire!" "No, no! Daddy!". It starts to pound into my head. The screaming and the gun fire. Explosions. Crashing. The splattering of blood and ground. The groaning of the walkers. "He chopped a guy's head off with a sword..." "Where's Judith?".

The whole thing being relived over and over again more violently. Not only the scarring battle but every wrong thing that a ever happened or that I ever did since the apocalypse first began. "I did what I had to do." "Don't name them.".

Voices ring through my head. Screaming of people I could have saved but didn't. The people so close to me saying that they love me. Friends I had from school...Jack... He lived across the street from me. We used play around together all the time in his back yard. Then the day came...I was going to see if he wanted to come over to spend the night. I saw them. I saw the walkers down the street but I thought they just regular people so I kept going. When I opened the gate on the fence, I couldn't do anything. He was laying there, torn limb from limd, blood all over the swing set we used to sit together on. Then his mother... His own mother ripping pieces of flesh out of one of the ripped off arms. His dad walked out of the porch door, his feet dragging. He got half way to Jack's torn body when he noticed me. Those eyes... They were glazed and had a silver tint to them. I was never so scared before. I just turned around and ran. I didn't know what was happening. And even worse, I was grabbed suddenly when I was only feet away from my door step. I tried to fight, but I heard a familiar voice. Shane. An officer who worked with my dad. As he told me to calm down I began to cry. He just repeated my name over and over again. "Carl! Calm down, Carl. It's ok now. Your mother is in the car already. Carl? Carl...Carl...Carl...Carl..."

"...Carl? Carl, are you ok? CARL!"

"Huh? What?" I responded to the voice.

"Are you ok, Carl? You just slowed down and stopped all together. Is everything alright?" My dad asked.

"Yeah...just...I..." I trailed off, looking up at my dad who I was helping walk. He gotten into a fight with the Governor. We had a traumatic war with his people at the prison just a few minutes ago.

"It's ok, Carl." He said through his puffy lip that was caused by a punch. The swelling had gone down a little.

"I know it's ok. There's nothing wrong. Nothing's wro-" I couldn't finish because I started to cry inhis the side of his chest. His other arm wrapped around me. My open arm did the same thing.

"It's over now, Carl. We'll be ok. Now I know your not a crier. You haven't been for a long time." He whispered.

"I used to be..." I whispered back, stopping my crying. "I couldn't stub my toe without balling." He rubbed my back.

"I told you, I didn't mean to kick your foot. I didn't see you coming." He smiled. I chuckled at the inside joke from when I was little. Tears still streamed down my face.

"I think you planned it." I joked back. He smiled. "Do you think you can walk yet or do you still need help?"

"Ah...I think I can walk, but I'll have a little bit of a limp for a few more hours." I released my arm (that was supporting him) slowly as he took a few steps forward. He was obviously taking it easy on his left leg, but walked at his normal speed.

By now the sun was beating down on us. Both of us were sweating terribly. "Can we take a break for a minute, dad?"

"Yeah, in a minute. There's a group of trees up ahead."

"Dad, we're surrounded by trees. We're in the middle of a forest." I said, stating the obvious. He looked at me like I was an idiot.

"And do you see shade underneath any of them?" I looked around. Most of the tree didn't have any leaves to provide shade for ground.

"Whatever..." I mumbled, slightly annoyed. I never actually saw it, but I could tell he was smiling. A moment later I leaned my back against the large oak tree. I tried to relax, sliding down the trunk until I was sitting, but the thoughts of the prison kept forcing their way into my head. "Dad..."

"Yeah?" He asked. I didn't immediately reply. "What is it?"

"Do...do you think...you think they're ok? The others." I asked, hesitant about the question. He opened his mouth, but a sound never came out. I looked down at my knees. He said nothing, yet the his answer hit me in the face as hard as Beth Greene's hand when I asked if she wanted to go out. Now that I think about it, there was no where we could go out to. I leaned my head against the tree trunk. Suddenly a walker appeared around a tree about a dozen yards away. I pulled the hand rifle out of my belt and took aim.

"Carl, if you shoot that thing they'll all hear it and in a few minutes we'll be surrounded by walkers." I sighed and and put my gun away. I pulled a knife out of my shoe and walked up to the walker. I stuck my hand out to encourage the thing forward. As it reached out for my hand, I pulled it back and swung my other hand up, letting the blade come crashing through the top of the skull. My open hand held down the top of his head while I pulled out the blade. He fell the ground, knees first then finally tipping over onto his face.

"A kitchen knife?" My dad laughed softly, shaking his head slightly.

"Don't laugh! You took my dagger away."

"Because you were using it to carve a naked girl."

"You can't prove that she was naked." I said, point at him with the bloody knife.

"Well her shirt certainly was pointy then." He grinned.

"I...it was...shut up!" He laughed, shaking his head back and forth. I could feel my self blush. I hate being embarrassed. It makes me feel insecure.

For the next few hours we sat underneath the large tree. It had brilliantly green leaves that covered the thick branches almost entirely. The shade felt so good in that heat, but the sun was beginning to go down so it was already cooler than before. We began to leave to find better shelter before it got dark. There was a narrow path that we were traveling along. It reminded me so much of my childhood when we used to go out the local nature reserves to walk on the trails. We used to have so much fun watching all of the animals from the woods. Deer, rabbits, butterflies, birds, flowers, fish in the rivers, so much beauty to see. But that just isn't the same anymore.

"Carl? You stopped again. Are you sure everything is ok?" My asked, a few feet in front of me. I looked up from my feet.

"Yeah." My voice was barely audible. I started the walk forward. Tears began to push their way up, but I did my best to fight them.

"There's a shack up ahead. We can probably stay there for the night." He pointed out, pointing at a small brick building on the right side of the path, almost hidden by the trees. We crossed through the dead bushes and brush. The structure was only about four feet by four feet and about eight feet tall and had about a two and a half feet wide door, seven feet tall. The door was wooden while the walls were red brick. A shingled pyramid rested on top for the roof. "Get your knife out." He mouthed, pulling out my dagger from his belt. He silently kaput his hand on the handle, his other hand ready the stab anything that came out. I had my knife ready just like he did. There a horrible silence before he opened the door. The door was pulled open quickly and silently. Nothing came out. I peeked around the corner to see if anything was in there. Empty except for a rake in the back right corner and a shovel and bush trimmers in the other corner. I walked inside of the tiny structure, followed by my dad. He pulled the door closed.

"Great choice, dad." I said sarcastically. There was almost no light other than through a window in the back.

"What do you want me to do, call my realtar?" I rolled my eyes. It was an uncomfortable space. Cold, with a little bit of a draft. Cobwebs covered the ceiling. "Just hang in there, Carl. It's only for tonight."

"Dad, you know I can't stand small spaces."

"Just try to go to sleep. It won't feel that long if you fall asleep." The sun was almost completely down. I sat down in the corner, and, of course, the broom tipped over and nailed me on the head. "Shiii..." I saw my dad's face.

"I told you, don't use language like that until you're eighteen or I'm gonna take your gun away too."

"I'm sorry. Don't take my gun away." I begged. "Please?"

"Fine." He agreed, sitting down in the opposite corner. I began to finally get tired. Sleep is a great thing, even if it's a place like this. Tomorrow will bring an experience that we weren't entirely prepared for.

So here's the first chapter of my story. I apologize if it's too short/too long. It's my first try so please review so I know how people think of it. Next chapter is on its way. Thanks to everyone