Carl's POV
The car we had picked out came to a screeching halt in, what appeared to be, an abandoned neighborhood. Crap was everywhere. Human remains. They were scattered across lawns. Trash. It was falling out of black bags. Houses and cars. Some appeared ransacked while others appeared untouched.
"Nice," I said sarcastically when the screech of the breaks died away.
"Well, beggars can't be choosers." my father replied.
We got out of the old squeaky car, our guns drawn and a knife on our belts.
"Carl," my father called. "We'll start there." he said as he pointed his gun to the faded blue house that remained untouched.
I nodded.
Jackpot. That's what the faded blue house was. It was our jackpot. The cabinets were filled to the brim with cans of food. Pudding too. It almost seemed unreal, the amount of food we were pulling out of this house. It was more than we ever got. In addition, we didn't have to kill any walkers. The house had been empty.
Wait...
I stopped stuffing my bag with food. "Dad?" I called.
"Yeah?" he asked. "Carl, what is it?"
"Have you ever seen this much food in one place before?" I asked.
He paused before answering. "No, I don't believe I have."
"Do you think somebody lives here?" I asked.
"Maybe." then he continued to pack.
"Dad!" I yelled.
"What?" he growled.
"If this stuff belongs to somebody then we can't just take it. They need it."
"If they need it," he said sternly, "Then where are they now."
A scream answered his question. I girl's scream. I dropped the bag of food.
"Carl," my father said warningly, "Don't you dare go."
"I'm just going to see." I said as I drew my gun and started towards the door.
"Carl." he warned again.
"Dad, I'm fifteen. I can handle it."
He dropped his bag. "I'm coming with you."
"No," I said. "Finish packing the bags and get the car. If I run into trouble, then I'll scream."
He looked as if he were debating it. Then spoke. "Fine. But hurry."
I had been right. It was a girl's scream, but now I don't think that it had been out of fear. I think it had been more of a battle cry. She couldn't have been older than me. She had brown hair put up in a disheveled bun. She had knife in one hand and a gun in the other. A crowd of walkers surrounded her, but she didn't let any get close.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three walkers dead, but more and more kept coming. I held my gun up and aimed. Bang.
The girl turned towards me for a second. She had a deer-in-the-headlights look to her. She turned to continue fighting. I advanced to her side to help her fend off the ones that were getting to close, but they kept coming.
I grabbed her arm. "C'mon." I said and pulled her towards the nearest house.
Once we were inside I found a room that was clear. I locked the door. If the walkers found us, I'd move the chest of drawers to block the door, but for now I worried about the gun that was pointed at my head.
I whistled. "Mind putting that thing down?" I asked with a slight laugh to my voice.
"Yeah actually." she said. "I do."
I turned slowly to find my self staring down the barrel of a gun. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just put the gun down."
"Give me one reason to."
"I get it," I said, "You're scared— but," I said as I grabbed the gun and pulled it, and she came with it. "like I said, I'm not going to hurt you."
The Girl pushed herself off of me. Her face wore a tough look, but her eyes screamed with fear.
"I don't believe that." she said as she backed towards the other end of the room.
I raised my eyebrows at her. "You have got some major trust issues."
"Ha!" she exclaimed. "Who doesn't?" She had a point. "If you want my trust you're going to have to earn it."
BANG! BANG! BANG! They were at the door. The Girl's eyes got even wider with fear, and so did mine.
"I swear I'm not going to hurt you," I said to The Girl, "But you've gotta trust me. We have a camp. We can take you someplace safe."
She brushed a stand of loose brown hair behind her ear. "Fine," she said as she looked up to me with deep, dark blue eyes. I froze for a moment. "but if we die, I'm going to kill you."
And then, as if on command, the door broke down.
