Hello Everyone, let me start off by saying that i'm loving writing this story it has been nice to get away from the other story for a little bit. That being said the way i'm going to be publishing is every other week have a new chapter for each story. So next week i'll have a new chapter for "A brother's Journey" and then the week after that a new chapter for "Looking for the Light"

Jestalnaker94000-Thank you for the review and I'm so happy that you like the story

TWDFAN2016-I'm so happy that you love it, and I love reading your reviews you're awesome.

SincerelyAnOpportunist-Thank you, I love the movie I am legend and that was the primary inspiration behind Aiden and Marley.

I have to say i'm loving the reviews, on my other story it took forever to get ten reviews..so thank you and keep it up i really do enjoy reading what you all have to say. and if anyone has any sort of suggestion for the story i'm all ears.

Anyway enjoy.

Chapter 4 "People aren't like that"

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." Albert Einstein

Warm afternoon sunlight flooded through the window and cascaded across Carl's eye lids as the boy slowly began to stir.

The bed was warm and secure and as Carl thought about where he was the more he became confused, the scent of coffee wafted into the room, it had been such a long time that the smell was almost foreign to the boy as he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.

He was in a teenagers room, video games stacked next to a T.V., posters advertising some rock band were hung on the walls, the more Carl looked the more he felt at home in the new environment…

As the seconds began to tick by Carl began to believe that he could hear his mother's voice softly singing as she prepared some meal. Carl's eyes fell on a backpack and a few school books; School.

The problem with the human brain is that you don't always wake up remembering your past; it can take a few seconds or minutes depending on the setting for your brain to piece together where it is and what your life has formed into.

A smile formed on his face as he felt a sort of peace, reality however had other plans as Carl threw off the covers and everything began falling into place. His shirt was missing and instead was replaced with crisp white bandages that wrapped around his torso; Carl took a breath and immediately felt pain radiate from his ribs.

Carl saw his arms, they too were bandaged. Deep rope marks were still visible on his wrists; his hands still had a slight discoloration from the lack of circulation and not to mention another bandage from where the glass had sliced deep.

Most of the puzzle was complete now as the thoughts ran through the boy's mind, he wasn't home nor was he ever going to be. Judith, Dad, Mom….the men…Eric. Carl felt as though he was going to be sick and went to the nearest wastebasket and threw up the contents of his stomach.

There wasn't much of anything to throw up, other than the occasional crumbs and the sip of water Carl hadn't eaten anything since the prison fell….God how long has it been?

The sound of a pan clattering against the floor brought Carl back to the land of the living and soon the final piece to the puzzle fell into place….Dad?

Aiden

"Every day is a winding road" crooned through the old IPod speakers as Aiden checked on the rest of the kitchen trying to find anything else that might be useful. The last cupboard held a starving student's best friends…SPAM and Ramen noodles. Back to college.

"So do you think they'll mind?" Aiden looked down at his companion who crooked her head to one side. "You know the new clothes" Aiden tugged at his new green flannel shirt that he had taken from the upstairs master bedroom.

After he had rescued the boy, he had been able to get to a neighborhood and set up shop. And after dressing the wounds and making sure that they weren't going to get infected Aiden took the time to thoroughly search the rest of the house…they weren't going to use it.

Marley let out an agreeing bark and proceeded to lie down in the middle of the floor and lick her paws.

After finding a shirt and pants that fit him he took the time to scavenge the rest of the house where he found the best treasure of them all…coffee.

Aiden turned off his Ipod and took the kettle off of the portable stove and poured the first of hopefully many cups of the beautiful nectar and took a deep breath making sure to inhale the aroma as long as possible.

Aiden always tried to camp inside a house whenever possible, not that he was against sleeping outside or anything. However one of the major rules of life was to "Enjoy the little things" and whether that be having a roof over one's head, a cup of coffee, or even a Twinkie a person had to enjoy those little moments.

Maybe that was part of the reason that Aiden had hope and lived for as long as he did when all others had failed, however before the apocalypse Aiden had been on the other end of the spectrum completely.

She still came to him in his dreams,not as often as she had before but still did nonetheless Aiden caught himself scratching the scar and immediately tore his hand away and took a sip of the coffee as the creaking of a door could be heard.

Carl

Carl stood staring at the man before him; the late afternoon sun was shining through a window lighting up the room.

The man was in his early twenties, maybe six foot with longish auburn hair and a five o'clock shadow. His hazel eyes were vibrant and though shocked by Carl's entrance appeared calm and collected. And definitely not his dad.

"Hey" the man gave a short wave after setting down his coffee cup; Carl said nothing as he looked around the room for some sort of weapon.

"Not much for talking, I can understand that…." Carl spotted his pistol on the counter now he just had to get it and find out what this guy wanted.

Slowly Carl began to edge himself towards the gun "So…you drink coffee?" the man seemed odd, that much Carl could put his finger on. He was too happy, too calm what the hell was his deal?

He lunged for his pistol and soon pointed it at the man who immediately put his hands up "Easy kid, you're going to reopen your stitches"

"Who are you?!" Carl tried to keep his voice firm but his throat was so scratchy, he needed water. The man still remained calm "My name is Aiden, this is Marley" Aiden said pointing to both himself and the now visible dog.

Carl stared at the dog for a few moments; it had been such a long time since he had seen a dog, he used to beg his parents for one every day from when he was really little. Soon he realized the man was speaking to him "What's your name?"

Carl ignored the question and asked one of his own "Why did you save me?!" the question hung in the air and the man actually seemed dumbfounded.

"Because you were in trouble" the simple statement hung in the air did this man think that Carl was that stupid "People aren't like that, they don't just help" Carl steadied himself against the counter.

The man Aiden still appeared as though he didn't understand "No that's not true, because I did" Carl felt his hand begin to wobble as he attempted to keep his gun trained on this man who couldn't really be that naive and yet his eyes…it was his eyes that were telling the truth…either he actually believed what saying or he was a damn good liar.

"Look you can leave anytime you want to, I'm sure you have family out there looking for you..." the man went over to a bag and took out a pistol magazine and tossed it to Carl.

"You might want to have a loaded gun first though" it was Carl's turn to be dumbfounded as he quickly checked the gun and discovered that it was unloaded.

The now loaded Beretta hung causally at his side not entirely sure what to do "So are you leaving, which I would highly recommend not doing…the aforementioned stitches" the man petted his dog and picked up his coffee mug "But as said before you're free to go"

Carl wanted to go and find his dad, to be with someone from the group…but…maybe this man could help him.

"Do you have any water?" Aiden's face lit up as he fetched a cup and a canteen "no coffee then?"

Carl simply shook his head and said "And my name's Carl…Carl Grimes"

Seriously hope you all enjoyed this, always get worried whenever I put out a new chapter...anyway please review and have a good day.