The Heart of the Apocalypse


Chapter 2: Reunification


Carl's POV:

I woke up, incredibly tired. My neck was in serious pain. It was stiff from leaning against the wall all night. I groaned, feeling tired and sleepy still. The light from the open door warmed my face wonderfully. The sunlight. The sunlight of a new day and a new beginning...The door is open. I never opened anything. My dad must have. But where is he? He isn't inside of this death trap. I stood up and stretched. I picked up my hat from the ground, which had slipped off of my head during the night. As I adjusted it on my head, I took a step out the door, cautious of anything that might me be outside. My dad was kneeling down on one leg feeling a patch of open dirt a few yards to the right of the shack. "Dad?" I said as I approached him. He turned to me.

"Morning, Carl. Come look at this." He said, motioning me over. "There's tire marks here." Four trails of tire prints were on the patch of open ground. They started parallel to the trail then moved onto the trail a few feet away.

"So?" I asked, rubbing one my eyes.

"These shouldn't be here with all the wind and rain we've had lately. They're too defined to be old. They were just made. Maybe a day or two ago."

"So there's someone out here?"

"There was. Not anymore." He stood up.

"They must have been going somewhere. Like shelter! If we follow the-"

"We need to think this out before we do anything. We don't know who had the car. It could be someone else who's like the Governor so-"

"Or it could be someone who needs help-or maybe one of our own. What if it's Maggie or Glenn or someone we know. We can't keep losing people." He starred at me.

"We've already lost people. It happens. We can only ignore it. They're not family. It's not like we're killing actual family."

There was terrible silence. I began to boil inside. I couldn't help it. I crossed the line.

"...I shot my mom in the head. I put a bullet through your wife's skull. I watched her get sliced open to get to Judith and now Judith is gone. SO DON'T GIVE ME THAT FAMILY BULLSHIT!" I yelled. It echoed through the trees. Then I saw it. The pain in his eyes.

"Carl..." He didn't move as I walked around. Well, rather stormed around him. I felt so angry yet sad. I entered the shack and leaned against the corner wall. As I slid down, I took my dad's hat off. It used to mean so much, but now it held so many memories, not all good ones. I just looked at it. Suddenly a burning hatred ran through me. I tried to rip the thing, but I couldn't. Something held me back. I couldn't destroy the thing that gave me so much pride and so much to be proud of. It was one of the only things I had left from my old life. The life I loved...and hated. But that I couldn't imagine any other way. It was my life. And the walkers had to take it all away... But if they never appeared, right now I could still be bullied by the ones who put themselves higher than me. I remember always looking forward to seeing my mom waiting for me. Not because I wanted to go home, but because they would never attack me in front of her. They were so dreadful. I was attacked by them all the time, and not only physically. The called me things like "Faggot" and "loser" and "gay". I never knew how to react. They were just relentless! They would say things like "I hope your dad gets shot and killed at his job." and "Your mom's a slut. She doesn't deserve to be alive.". I was only ten years old. Sometimes it was too much that I came home holding in tears. Then on the rare occasion that I had to walk home, they would follow me. As soon as we were off school grounds the mental abuse stopped and the physical abuse started. Some of them would hold me down as the others destroyed me with punches and kicks and, sometimes, stones, bricks, and large fallen tree branches.

I did my best not to think about that. But it is amazing how many thoughts can run through your head in only a minute.

My dad took a step into the shack. I tried not to look at him at first. "Carl..?" He crouched down in front of me. "Look...uh...I probably shouldn't have said what I did. But you have to put yourself in my place. I was the leader of our group, and when there was any death, it was on me. As a leader it's hard to lose what you're responsible for. I guess I said what I did because I...I just don't want that on me head. We've lost so many, and it was always on me. I don't want to have to be the one that everyone depends on when I really can't always be dependable. I'm so sorry that I made that come out of you..." I looked up at him.

"Dad...I really crossed over when I said what I said. That...that was just too far. I know it was hard for you too and it was just way too far. I didn't really mean it." I looked down at my knees. My hand reached to my belt and pulled my gun out. It held it out to him. "I said a really bad word like you told me not to, so...here." He looked at it, then back up at me, then back at the gun. I felt like a terrible son at this point. He reached out for the weapon that gave me more pride. I looked down, then back up as I felt it being pushed back to me.

"Under the circumstances, I think you can keep it... This time at least." He smiled. I felt a little better now.

"Thanks, dad." He stood up.

"I think we should go with your suggestion and follow those tracks." I stood up and put my-our hat back on, my rifle back in its spot in my belt. My dad had already left and was on the trail. I came out a moment later. We began on our way down the trail. It was a long walk, and the burning sunlight and 85 degree heat was so extreme that we took multiple rests throughout the walk.

The day grew longer and longer, and by the time the sun reached its highest point in the sky above us, we had already walked four miles. And trust me, my shoare were not made for walking long distances on ground like this. My feet were incredibly sore, but I wasn't a quitter. Not yet.

Soon the path began to disappear, but the tire marks were still visible going through the trees.

"Dad, do we have to walk up that?" I asked, complaining a little bit about the uphill slope that the tracks went up and over.

"Carl, it's not that far. It's just a hill." He pointed out.

"I'm just tired, that's all." I complained. He rolled his eyes and started up the hill. "You coming?" I sighed and began to follow him.

"My feet are killing me."

"We'll rest in a little bit." He assured.

"They just really hurt." I continued.

"Well just ignore it." I said.

"Are we there yet?" I jokingly whined. He began to laugh. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"I told you to go before we left." He joked back. We both smiled at the joke. "See? It wasn't that far." I rolled my eyes as we crossed over the hill to the flat ground. Then I realized. This is so familiar. I've been here before.

"Dad...dad, this is...isn't this the road from right before we met Hershel and Maggie and them..." I said, scanning over all the cars that we had known so long ago. The RV that we had sat there, right where it had been for a few years. Most of the cars were beginning to form rust around the fenders and in between any parts.

"Yeah...yeah it is." He looked over the cars. "There! That's the car that made those tracks!" He pointed to the truck that had the front completely smashed in. It had crashed into another car. But not right in front of us. It was a few yards the right, directly behind the old RV. "It looks like it started traveling towards the other cars and made a sharp turn toward the other lane."

"Well then where's the driver?" I asked, seeing the driver's open. "There isn't any-wait...is that a body?" A pair of limp legs, with the toes facing down were visible around the corner of the truck.

"Carl, it might be a walker." I pulled out gun.

"I've got it covered." I assured him. Before he could respond I had already began walking to the body. It was definitely a body, probably adult male. He was dead, and looked like he was killed. An arrow was sticking out of the back of the head. "Dad, it's ok. Whoever they are they-" I suddenly felt a jerk backwards. I couldn't regain my balance because I was pinned on the truck. Not my entire body but only the shoulder of my sleeve of my right arm. An arrow pinned it to the truck door.

"Carl? What's wrong?" My dad came around the corner. "Oh my god! What happened?" He asked, running over to me.

"I-I don't know. I was just standing he-"

"Damn, kid. I almost killed you." Daryl said, jumping over another car's hood. "Are you ok?"

"Daryl? You're ok! You made it out too." My dad said, going over to him.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'll just wait here for a walker." I mumbled, feeling around my sleeve to see if I could get free.

"Here, let's see the damage. Are you hurt?" Daryl asked, looking over the arrow.

"I think I'm ok. It might've scratched me." He pulled arrow slowly out of the door. I moved with it. It popped out as it got near the end. I pulled my sleeve towards the car, Daryl pulling the opposite direction. The arrow slid out with ease.

"Let's see if it caught skin." My dad said, rolling up my sleeve past the area of the arrow. "Well it doesn't look like the skin was broken. But there's a red mark where it rubbed against him." I rolled down my sleeve. "What do you have against my son?" My dad joked to Daryl.

"His hair." He joked back.

"Just ignore the fact that I almost got killed. I'm totally fine with that." I said sarcastically, picking up my gun.

"I'm sorry, man. I didn't know it was you. I thought you were a walker, the way you were walking."

"My foot are killing me. I'm trying not to put pressure on them." I explained.

"Where are the others?" My dad asked.

"Don't know. We all got separated." He pulled the other arrow out of the body. Pointing at the truck with the bloody arrow, he said "This was a get away car. I got outta there before them and found my way here. They pulled outta the forest with that thing and swerved when they saw me."

"There some that were still alive?" My dad asked, looking back at the woods.

"Yeah, there was another guy but he got across to the woods before I could get him too."

"Where did you stay overnight?"

"The RV. We never locked the door." He laughed.

"Do you mind if we stay with you?"

"He better. He owes us after trying to kill me." I smiled.

"It's fine by me." He said. "We'll find somewhere else to stay later. But first we have to figure out where we can go."


Well there's the second chapter. I hope you liked it. I'm gonna try to update like at least once every two weeks. But with school I don't know for sure. Anyways, thank you guys so much. If you liked it, please subscribe and review. Thanks guys!