For thirty minutes, Carl and I made our way towards camp, but the poor kid needed to take a rest. While I was somewhat use to walking for hours on end, he wasn't, so we settled down near a small creek He still hadn't said a word since we left the clearing, and I could feel a knot of worry tying itself in my stomach. I watch as he just sits and stares at the water, lost in his mind. I settle down beside him and we share a few minutes of silence before I start to talk.
"Carl? Are you all right?"
"Why do people kill things?"
"What kind of things Carl?"
"Anything. Why do people kill anything?"
"Well there are lots of reasons people kill things. People kill animals because our bodies need protein, and animal meat has a lot of protein in it, so we kill them and eat them in order to make sure our bodies keep working right. People kill bacteria because they can harm our bodies and make us sick. We kill bugs because sometimes they scare us, and sometimes they hurt us. And, unfortunately, people occasionally kill other people. Sometimes it's an accident, like if two people were in a car crash and someone dies, other times it's because some people don't know what to do when they get angry, so they take it out on others, and sometimes people do it because no one taught them that it was wrong to harm others, or they were hurt by someone and they want to make others feel the amount of pain they feel. Honestly, most of the time people kill things because they want to survive, and they think that's the only way they can."
There is a few beats of silence as Carl appears to mull over what I say, and in those few beats I hear the shuffle of leaves to our right. I immediately stand up and prick my ears up to hear what is going on.
"What?" he asks from the ground.
"Something is out there…Carl, get behind me." I say, drawing the Bowie knife. I push him back so that he is up against the tree, and I'm between him and whatever is coming. A few seconds later and I see four walkers hobbling through the woods, making their way to us. The adrenaline in my body starts to pump and my mind whirls as I try to figure out what the hell to do since I am alone in the woods with a 12-year-old I have to protect and a group of walkers coming towards me.
Fuck me, fuck me, FUCK ME! What do I do, what do I do…UP. I HAVE TO GET HIM TO GO UP.
I spin around and grab Carl around the waist, pushing him up so that he can grab the lowest branch on the tree behind us.
"Ever climbed a tree before?"
"No!"
"Well, you have to now. You go up three more branches; they won't be able to reach you from there. You stay up there until I say it's safe to come down or Daryl comes along, got it?"
"But what if I fall?"
"I'll catch you. I promise, nothing is going to get you while I'm here."
"Ok." He says, grabbing onto the branch and pulling himself up. Once I see that he's up, I turn back around and find the four walkers have seen me, and are now coming full force my way.
"Come on you ugly sons of bitches, let's see what you got!" I scream, mind and body poised and ready to fight.
The first that makes it to me, a tall, lanky one with a maintenance man's suit on, and I drive the knife right through his temple, stopping him as quick as possible. I pull it out as fast as I can and find the next two, a blonde with a pink business suit on and a redheaded, college age boy with glasses running at me, jaws clashing together with hunger or anger or whatever the hell those things feel. Knowing I can't take on two at one time, I dodge my way around the tree, cutting off the blond for a second, but giving me the chance to kill the redhead by shoving my knife right through his eye. Before I can pull it out though, Blondie has made her way around the tree and grabs my arm, ready to take a bite. I kick her in the stomach, causing her to lose her grip just enough for me to back away. I quickly swipe the knife from Redhead's eyes and shove it into Blondie's temple. She drops to the ground and I pull the knife out. I turn and find the last walker sniffing and scratching at the tree Carl is in. Now this walker was no normal person, but a behemoth monster. He is white, at least 6'5" 250 pound, and from the look of the tattoos covering his body, a white supremacy gang member.
"ROSE!" Carl cries, fear etching itself into his words.
"I'M COMING CARL!" I yell, making me way over, trying to figure out how the hell I'm going to take down this giant brute. My breathing is heavy and my body is tired, but I know that I can't stop yet, not with Carl here. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and crouch down into a fighting stance.
"HEY! BIG BOY!"
The giant turns around until he finds the source of the noise, spying me a good 50 feet away.
"YEAH, YOU! Come show me what you got."
As if understanding what I'm saying, the geek growls and starts shambling towards me. I wait, crouched and ready to attack. The Oaf makes his way over, and I run to meet him, but out of nowhere, a root seems to have grown, and I trip onto my face. I knock my head against a rock on the ground, and soon after feel a river of blood trickle itself down my face.
Not feeling the pain, I roll over and pull myself up. My head feels like it's somewhere floating on a cloud, but the instinct to survive drives me to keep fighting. I look down and discover that my knife flew from my hand when I fell. Glancing around, I see the shiny, silver part glimmer in the sunlight a about 100 feet away. Knowing that I had not a fighting chance without the knife, I stumble my way towards it. The blow to my head must have done something to my brain though, because I don't make it but a few steps before falling again. I scramble up and try again, but I crash back down to the forest floor. Not knowing what else to do, I crawl. I make it within feet of the knife, but the Oaf has caught up to me.
He grabs my ankle and pulls me towards him, growling like a beast. I try to kick him, but his arms are so long that my short legs can't reach him. I wiggle and fight, but it is useless, I've been caught. I feel my fear rising like bile in my throat and I scream, unable to control myself. I swear to you, the fucking Oaf smiles at me before lunging down to try and bite me. I close my eyes, ready to hear the flesh being ripped away as he eats me, praying to God that He makes this the quickest fucking death ever. After a few seconds though, I don't feel anything at all.
My eyes, which were crunched together in fear, loosen, and I slowly open them. The Oaf is just resting there above me, held up only by my leg strength. I stare at it for a few seconds and then move my leg. The Oaf falls and lands on top of me, all of his weight crushing me and knocking the wind out of my lungs. Disgusted, I push and pull until I have dragged myself out from under the zombies massive body. I pull away and take a few breaths, trying to calm myself down now that I'm not about to be eaten. I look at the walker's head and find a bolt has launched itself through the back of his skull. I look around, trying to find where it came from and see Daryl standing in the distance, crossbow still raised. I smile over at him, but before I get the chance to say anything, I feel my body begin to fall and then I am surrounded in a silent blackness.
