I slowly woke up from a deep sleep and sat up. I yawned and rubbed my eyes.
"Morning." My mom said walking in through the front door of the observatory.
"Where you've been?" I asked, the curiosity getting the better of me.
"Searching for the group."
"Any trace?" I asked not getting my hopes up. She shook her head.
"Well, I guess I'd better start looking too." I said.
"Carmen wait." She said urgently putting her finger to her lips. A ton of growling could easily be heard from outside. We were surrounded, and this time it wasn't in my head. She motioned for me to grab my gun and go through the back door. I ran to get my gun and met her at the back door. I slowly and carefully opened the door, and turned on the silencer on my gun. I aimed and shot at the first walker I laid my eyes on. About twenty roamed in the back, and another twenty were in the front.
"Shoot n' run." She said grabbing my wrist and forcing me to run with her. I didn't think we'd have a chance...at all. We ran into the woods with all twenty of them limping after us. They were catching up pretty quickly.
"Mom, we should split up. You go right, me left?" I suggested. She nodded and shot as many as possible on the right while I did the same on the left. I bit my lip and made eye contact with my mom. They were gaining on us. They were starting to surround me. I glanced at my mom and shot a walker that was about to leap at her. She thanked me with her eyes and turned around again. I started to walk backwards knowing that if I turned my back to them I would most likely get eaten. I shot 5 more. Great, 6 more to go. My mom wasn't doing too hot herself, but either we both tried to have a chance at survival or neither of us did. I shot 4 more.
"Mom you okay?" I called at her not caring that there were twenty more still by the observatory that could easily go after us.
"I'm fine. I'm going to lead them over this way okay? So you wont see me for a few minutes probably." She said starting to walk further to the right, leading them away from me. I knew it was dangerous but I nodded anyway.
"Stay safe." I mumbled quietly. 2 more down. I would have felt proud if my mom was still there. I heard growling come from behind me. 2 walkers were about 2 inches away from me. I jumped surprised at how close they were. I stumbled back and tripped over a rock, and fell on my butt. I reached for my gun, but instead of being in my pocket, it was about 7 feet away from me. The walkers were about to bite into me when 2 gunshots rang out. I opened my eyes to see a young woman with brown shoulder length hair and hazel eyes. She smiled at me.
"You okay?" She asked.
"Y-yeah I'm fine. Maggie, why did you come back here?" I asked. Her smile disappeared.
"How'd you know my name?"
"M-Maggie? You don't remember me? You were like a sister to me..."
"Sorry...I uh, don't remember you." She said. How different could I possibly look?
"Its me...Carmen Hanchittle." I said looking at her hopefully.
"What do you-oh my god." She said with shock. She shook her head.
"N-no. Carmen died three years ago." She said with tears at the brim of her eyes. I shook my head.
"No, Maggie. I'm not dead. No matter how bad it was, I'm not dead. My mom...she found me. I swear." I said getting up. She took a step back and shook her head.
"Do I not look the same?" I asked her. She shook her head with her mouth gaping open a little.
"Its me, I promise." I said.
"Tell me something only she and I would know." She said. I thought for a moment.
"When we were making a living at the hotel, I walked into you and Glenn's room and found a box that read-" I started to say but she cut me off.
"Oh my god...Carmen." She said happily pulling me into a tight hug, " I didn't want to leave you..."
"Its okay. You had every right to. I'm glad you did leave. Is...is everyone alive?" I asked her pulling away. She nodded happily.
"Carl's with me...where is that boy." She asked looking around a bit, "Listen, I think it'd be best if we let him find out who you are himself. Ever since...the incident, he's been having a rough time. Nightmares, nausea, all of that." She said. I nodded. "You look so much older...don't take this in any offense, but you look beautiful...and pretty damn sexy with that gun of yours. Your mama let you carry that thing?" She asked winking. I laughed and hugged her again.
"Oh and one more thing, Carl didn't change too much so you'll recognize him. But he did grow. Seventeen just like you, and still got those freckles and Sherriff's hat look." She said smiling a little.
"So...he's he still like that fourteen year old kid I used to know?" I asked her. She nodded.
"Yup. Still into comics, cut his hair...yet its the same length it was back when he was fourteen. Same personality. Probably still in love with you..." She rambled on and on.
"I know that Lizzie has a crush on him. But he's always rejecting or ignoring her." She said. I smiled to myself.
"I see him now." Maggie said dragging me over there.
"Carl, this is a...friend I found out here. Maybe we could ask your dad if she can stay with us." She said looking at Carl. I looked at over at Carl. I mean...like...whoa. He looked the same. Nearly exactly the same other than height. I was actually relieved he looked the same. Still cute as usual. I smiled at him and he looked at me as if he remembered me a little.
"Hey." I said.
"Hi...do I know you?" He asked with puppy eyes full of hope. I shook my head.
"Don't think so, why?" I asked.
"never mind." He mumbled then looked down in disappointment.
"But I can be someone who you know." It shot right out of my mouth like a bullet. I slapped my hand over my mouth and he snapped his head back up in confusion. We stared at each other awkwardly and to make matters worse I couldn't seem to take my hand off of my mouth because I was hiding a big smile.
"Well...nice meeting you." He said looking at Maggie questioningly.
"We're taking her back to camp." Maggie said. I put my hand down and blushed.
"Lets see what my dad says." He said.
"Wait, what about my mom?" I asked.
"Oh...so that was your mom. I told her the directions to our camp. She looked worried so I told her my dad would help her." He said.
"Oh okay...thank you." I said looking down. Maggie led us through the woods and we stopped after about 3 minutes at an enormous mansion.
"T-this is where you guys live?" I asked staring at it in awe.
"Yeah." Carl said with a small smile I thought I would never see again. But it quickly disappeared. He walked ahead of us and opened the door.
"He's still under depression." Maggie whispered to me.
"No kidding. But after three years you would think he would have just forget about it."
"He really liked you, Carmen." She said. I bit my lip and walked inside the mansion after Carl. The place was huge.
"Come on. I'm sure my dad will be okay with you and your mom staying. Not like we don't have room." He said. I nodded and followed him to one of the hundreds of rooms.
"Dad?" He called out into the room .
"I'm here, Carl. Did you send this woman here?" Rick asked walking to the door and motioned to come in. Carl nodded and the three of us followed.
"I'm guessing your her daughter?" Rick asked.
"Yes." I said.
"Wow...I guess you are alive." Rick said smiling at me. I smiled back. Carl gave me and Maggie a weird look. Two figures came out from behind a wall. They both ran at me. It was Elena and my mom. They hugged me tightly. Carl looked between all of us.
"W-wait...dad, whats going on..." He asked.
"Don't you remember who this is? Its-"
"Carmen, how did you live?!" Elena practically yelled. Me and Maggie flinched.
"Wait...no. That can't be true...no, Carmen's dead! What are you talking about!?" Carl yelled.
"Carl, calm down please." Rick said.
"No...you guys are lying...its not funny. It just isn't." Carl said ignoring Rick. I could make out tears coming out of his eyes. He ran out the door.
"I'll be back" Rick said giving us a sympathetic look.
"What was that about?" I asked concerned.
"As I said...nightmares." Maggie said. I knew how he felt. After trying to convince myself that my mom was dead and I would have to accept that...but then she found me. I knew what he felt. disbelief. Elena and my mom looked at each other than at me. Then someone else walked into the living room. It was Glenn. I ran over to him and hugged him. He stood there confused as hell.
"Who is this?" He asked Maggie.
"Seventeen year old Carmen." Maggie said smirking. I smiled at her.
"No way..." He said.
"Its me. I promise. honestly I don't understand why you people don't recognize me." I said.
"Do you want a mirror?" He asked sarcastically. We both smiled, then I walked over to Maggie and told her I was going to go check on Carl. I walked down the hall and followed Rick's voice. I stopped at a closed-door and listened. For just a bit.
"That's not her. Why are you lying to me?" Carl asked his dad.
"We're not lying Carl. She's here." Rick said.
"But how?"
"She survived. Her mother found her and took care of her. I know that day was bad. It was real bad for all of us. That girl has been in two life or death situations, yet she made it out of both. She's strong, and for any of us to think that she wouldn't have survived that then, we've all been lying to ourselves." He said.
"Dad, I didn't believe she was dead! It took me 2 and a half years to finally lose hope! I was the only one who didn't think she was dead dad!" There was no response from Rick. I took the opportunity to knock on the door. The door opened.
"Hey, you want to talk to him?" Rick asked me running a hand through his hair tiredly. I nodded and smiled at him. He nodded and stepped out of the way and back towards the living room. I stepped inside of the room. Carl was sitting on his bed looking down.
"I'm sorry." was the first thing I said. He didn't say anything at first but when he looked up, tears were running down his face. It was the worse I'd seen him. I swallowed and closed the door behind me.
"Can...can we talk?" I asked him.
"Is it really you?..." He asked looking down again. I sat on his bed across from him.
"Yes, yes I promise its me. I am really sorry...I was stupid...I should have just hid like everyone else that day. And I regret it so much, Carl. I really do. Can you answer one question for me?" I asked. He didn't say anything just sort of stared at the ground blankly. I continued, "Are you the same person I fell in love with three years ago?" I asked. He looked up and I could practically see all that he had been through just by looking into his eyes.
"L-love?" He asked.
"Yeah, are you?" I asked, "Cause besides the ignorance, I think you are." I said looking him straight in the eye. He softened a bit and blushed. I smiled. I missed that blush. He really hadn't changed much. Unlike me I've been in a coma for three years.
"So...is your stomach better?" He asked me. Changing the subject.
"Yeah...it is thanks..." I said. He hesitated before asking me.
"do you remember the night before the...uh...accident?" He asked me. I felt myself blush and remembered the night...This time I looked down.
"Yes." I said simply.
"Yeah. Me too." He said.
"How was life here?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Hard at first. But it got better." He said, "I can't believe your alive..." He mumbled.
"I hardly believe it myself. With all the wrecks I've made." I said and laughed. He gave me a small sad smile.
"You have no idea how bad the nightmares were." He said quietly the smile disappearing yet again.
"No...I do. You think I haven't had bad dreams about you?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Never thought of it that way." He said. I nodded. The door opened and Elena walked through.
"Am I interrupting?" She asked playfully. We both shook our heads and blushed.
"Are you hungry Carmen?" She asked me.
"I haven't eaten in a real long time..." I said. She nodded and grabbed a bag on the floor and handed me a ham sandwich. I nearly ate in one bite, Elena and Carl were staring at me wide-eyed. I laughed at them.
"right, well. Time to go to sleep kiddos. Still have bedtimes,ya know." She said then winked and left the room.
"I guess I'd better go." I said and got up. I was about to walk out the door when I couldn't help but run back over to him and hugged him tightly.
"God, I missed you." I said into his shirt.