Seriously I know I usually go into more detail and thank people personally and i'm sorry but anyway thank you to those that review and follow/favorite this story. It's good to know that I have your support on this and my other stories and i'm going to try and update more often. Anyway enjoy and as always let me know what you think, i'm dying to know.
Chapter 10-Demons
"We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell." Oscar Wilde
Carl and his Dad navigated throughout the area taking their time; as well they should have been since as far as Carl could tell…it was a maze.
"How much further Dad?" Carl asked the exhaustion clearly in his voice. No answer his Dad just kept moving
"Dad?" again no response, just the sound of a baby wailing off in the distance, the sky becoming darker and darker as the pair continued on their path.
Carl felt the all too familiar pain of fear begin to overtake him as his Dad continued up ahead never slowing, "Dad please, answer me"
All of a sudden the maze that they had been going through for what seemed like hours faded away and before them was a freshly painted house with a white picket fence, "Home?" it couldn't have been home but for some reason the word had come so easily to him for the house before him had to be home.
Before he could try to get an answer from his Dad he realized that the man was no longer anywhere near him but instead was entering the house and then disappearing. The cries that could once have been heard were gone and instead replaced by the rustle of trees and the singing of birds as they carried along their way.
Before he knew what he was doing Carl propelled himself forward and sprinted faster than he ever had before towards the house, towards home,towards family. Upon opening the door Carl felt the immediate sense of security that one has when surrounded by loved ones, the sound of Judith cooing upstairs stole his attention and without meaning to felt himself being drawn towards the unknown yet familiar surroundings.
When he ascended to the top of the stairs he was presented in front of a door with various little decorations that declared that this was a baby's room, slowly his arm extended and took the door by the handle and twisted it. Soon the boy stepped into the room bright sunlight shone through the windows as Carl was greeted by his dad hunched over the crib carefully ensuring that Judith was taken care of.
"Why didn't you stop before?" Carl knew he had spoken but didn't recall of thinking of the words
The figure straightened back up adjusting his back and neck almost as if fitting himself back into place before turning around slowly revealing the disfigured face that had haunted the boy all those weeks ago…Eric.
"Did you miss me" Eric grinned revealing yellowed decaying teeth and the numerous scars that he had received from Carl so many nights ago
The windows were completely blackened with the only light coming from a lantern hung on the wall, Carl quickly turned back around to the door only to find that the doorknob had completely vanished and thus Carl was left to banging on the frame like a helpless child.
He could feel Eric getting closer and closer as his fists became weaker and weaker the more he pounded on the door, the feeling of dread washed over Carl as he desperately wanted to get out of the room. He felt thick ropes wind themselves around his ankles and before he could do a thing felt his legs get pulled out from under him as he was dragged closer to Eric's awaiting arms.
Soon Carl was looking straight up at Eric, the one who had tormented him more than anyone who had touched him, who had violated him, who had made him feel completely worthless was now back in control…or always had been, just silently watching.
They were no longer in the house but instead in the same woods that they found him in, his hands were bound tightly behind him as Eric looked down putting his full bodyweight on Carl's chest as the boy fought to breathe, a knife was firmly clasped in Eric's hand as he watched Carl struggle before running the blade across Carl's cheek. The boy letting out a small yelp as it pierced his flesh, Eric laughing at Carl's pain.
"Even if you escape today I will always be watching waiting for another opportunity, do you hear me?" Eric asked again cutting Carl's cheek with the sharp blade, "No matter what, you can never get rid of me" Eric began to shake Carl violently pulling the boy up close to his own face and then back against the forest floor, over and over.
Carl felt his head hit the soft pillow of his bed and realized that he was no longer prisoner of Eric but instead in the haven known as New Horizon. Greg stood by him clearly the one who had woken him up, no one else was in the room besides Marley who had her face pressed next to his.
"Was it him again?" Greg asked clearly knowing who it was about. Carl nodded his head and took a sip of water from a glass that Greg had offered, "He won't let me go"
Carl curled himself into a ball as if making himself smaller would make everything better, "He isn't doing anything Carl he has no control over you, he's dead"
Knowing what he already knew didn't help Carl in this situation it only made it worse that he couldn't do anything to stop the endless torment that he faced every night. "Did you tell Aiden about what happened?" Greg asked taking a sip from his own water.
Carl shook his head "He wouldn't understand, the things Eric did that his friends did…who could understand"
Greg looked at Carl unbelieving before saying "I do understand remember, my brother understood he killed a whole room of those bastards…" Greg paused a moment reliving the moment before continuing "And I know Aiden would understand too"
Carl nodded "I'll think about it"
"Good, I think you'll be surprised and not to mention that town dance is in a few days so everyone is pretty much off work. Greg said as he got up to leave.
"Wait, can you stay here tonight?" Carl hated the fear that was apparent in his voice as he spoke to his friend
"Yeah, but move over because I'm not sleeping on the floor" Greg said flicking off the light to the room before making his way over to the Bed, Marley quickly got up as well planting herself at the foot of the bed endlessly monitoring for intruders.
James slowly walked step by step into the dimly lit bar, some country twang was echoing throughout the establishment and gave the place a western atmosphere. There were a few people inside tending to their beers paying attention to nothing else but their personal sorrows that usually accompanied people this day in age.
"What'll it be?" the bar tender asked as he wiped down the bar trying to pick up some of the sadness that seemed to be bled into the area.
"Jack and coke if you got it" James sat guilty in a stool as the man without skipping a beat brought up a bottle of Jack and began fixing the drink. James had been on the wagon since end of the world had started and now that there wasn't the constant threat of him or his brother being eaten he had time to remember his demons that were so craved for attention.
The old man set the glass down in front of James without spilling a drop "that'll be one .22" he said his eyes unblinking as James reached into his coat and retrieved a single .22 caliber bullet and placed it on the table.
The old man took the bullet and placed it into his own pocket before resuming his cleaning leaving the young man to his drink. New Horizon was everything that they had needed at the time with hot and cold clean running water, fresh food, medicine and most importantly safety. It was a virtual paradise where everyone had a job to do which after an interview with the sheriff James became the newest deputy, and Greg got to be a kid and go to school…paradise.
James took a swig of his drink and felt the familiar burning liquid slither down his throat and into his stomach as it tried to appease the invisible monsters that had latched themselves back into James's everyday life, monsters that he desperately wanted to just leave him alone.
James reached into his pocket and withdrew another bullet and placed it the same place as before and was soon served another drink this time he requested without coke. James retrieved his cigarettes and upon approval from the old man began to inhale the sweet smell of tobacco into his lungs…
Aiden paced around the lab muttering something important and then jotting it down on a slip of paper and then continuing looking around for a pencil he needed. After arriving to New Horizon which was only meant to be for a week at the most the group fell in love with the place and upon Aiden was tasked to help the town doctor with patients and upon finding out about Aiden's immunity was his new favorite patient.
Aiden may have only been a Paramedic but he loved to read and with endless medical text books and time on his hands the young man was learning a lot more than he would have before about the medical trade. Some patients were skeptical about seeing a paramedic for some of their medical concerns but with the main doctor busy running tests they didn't really have much of an option.
Marley sat watching the examinations underneath the table that served as Aiden's desk and lunch area when the need arose, and upon not having anything else to do promptly rolled over and stared up at the ceiling.
Aiden poked her side slightly with his shoe "Marley….Marley" he whispered to the unmoving canine "you have to get up, your blocking my desk" Marley rolled back over and made her way to the other side of the room and promptly re rolled herself against the wall. "Thank you" Aiden called out sitting
himself at his desk and filled out the paper work of the last patient and took a sip of cold, stale coffee that he had started hours ago.
Normally they would work eight hour shifts with a nurse coming in at night but since the doctor had begun conducting research on the immunity Aiden and Frank (the nurse) had found themselves working back to back 12 hour shifts, Aiden taking days and Frank taking nights. The long hours were starting to run both of them ragged and Aiden was thankful that shortly he would be off work and be able to enjoy himself for a few quick hours. The computer on his desk let off a ping letting him know that he had received an intranet message that the town had set up.
"Blood results look promising will fill you in tomorrow, Dr. Hanson" Aiden read the short note and felt his body become renewed, his state didn't last long because soon he heard a knock on the door. "Come in" Aiden said getting up to gather his equipment that would be needed.
"Aiden, you busy or..." Carl's quiet voice asked from the crack in the door
"no, not at all i'm actually going to be getting off soon" Aiden said as he walked over to the microwave and began reheating his coffee.
Carl came into the office and was quickly greeted by Marley who patiently sat down next to a chair to which Carl took the invite and sat down twiddling his thumbs, clearly nervous about something.
"So what's going on?" Aiden took a sip of the now steaming but just as bad coffee after he spoke
A long sigh as Carl tried to pick the correct words "I had another nightmare last night"
"Same person as before?" Aiden asked unsure, Carl nodded before continuing
"You know when you found me...and I was with those men" Aiden nodded as Carl glanced out the window clearing his throat before speaking again. "They were all pretty bad to me...but there was one that. he just seemed to hate me more than the others, they would do things to me sure but this one he took it a whole step further. Most of those cuts that I had were because of him"
Aiden set his coffee down trying his best not to display his disgust with what had happened as Carl continued, "He woke me up every morning before the others had gotten up and he would...touch me and then he would cut me...he had a sort of deep laugh, like sandpaper" Carl's thousand yard stare overtook him as the boy switched over to autopilot.
"He told me that I had killed my family because I was a weak stupid kid...I was only good for fucking"
"Carl that's not true, your not..."
"I might as well be right, i cant even move on...i killed my Dad, my sis...my sister. Do you have any idea what its like to live with that guilt" Carl cut off
"I had a sister Carl, before all this happened she went missing...I fucked up, went to the wrong address..." before Aiden could complete his thought they were interrupted by frantic knocking upon the office door which was quickly opened by a clearly worried Greg.
Before either of the pair could utter a word Greg frantically spoke "It's James…he…I think he needs help" Aiden glanced into the boys wet eyes and knew there was more to the story."Ok Greg, what kind of help does James need?" Aiden had a slight idea where the conversation was going to end up but continued to listen.
" James used to have a problem…he would drink…a lot but he's been good for a while but now I can't find him and someone said he went to the bar and and" Aiden motioned for the boy to stop
"Alright I'll go find him, Carl I'm sorry but can we talk later" Carl nodded understandingly and wrapped an arm around the younger boy in an effort to comfort him along with Marley who followed the pair out.
"What have you gotten into James" Aiden whispered
James downed another drink and for once the voices seemed a bit dimmer and he could finally feel himself begin to relax as the lights became hazier and the music louder. Aiden sat down next to him and ordered water.
"Hey there good lookin, how bout i order up some beers" James said over exaggerating his Virginia drawl.
Aiden wiped his forehead clear of sweat and took a sip of water trying to suppress a grin "You are going to have to get me completely wasted if you want to take me home"
"I got enough time and money to make it happen" James retorted with a laugh and another swig of his drink which was quickly replaced by the bartender.
After their laughter had died down Aiden asked "What are we doing here James?"
"We are living at the end of the world, where there is no hope of returning to the old one" James's smile had completely disappeared and was replaced by a pained expression.
"I mean you James, I haven't seen you touch a drop since I've known you...and frankly you don't seem the type, so why now?" Aiden asked as the music seemed to die down
"Today's the day I died...two years, six hours and twenty-three minutes ago" He stated checking his watch, before Aiden could ask James continued "In Iraq, I was on convoy with my friend and a bunch of other guys but Kent he was my best friend. Anyway everything was going smooth until the last five miles that's when we were hit by an IED, shots rang out all over the place and when it was finally over...I said "Hell of a fight wasn't it Kent" but ah... Kent wasn't there no more."
James took another swig from his drink "I could feel this burning on my side and that's when I found out i'd been shot too, doctors said that I was lucky but the only thing I could think about was Kent's lifeless face. I came back home was awarded a bunch of bullshit told what a great job I had done for uncle Sam but I couldn't help but be reminded that he was dead and his daughter fatherless while I sat at home watching the t.v. wondering why me and not him"
Aiden sat speechless as his friend unleashed a waterfall of secrets and pain that had been building up for years, first Carl and now James both damaged people needing a friend to talk to and one severely under qualified person to do it "I'm not going to tell you anything that's going to make it all better, hell I can't. I'm just going to say that if you weren't around...you saved your brother from either being torn apart by those things or by people and he's lucky to have you...we're lucky to have you. If you weren't with us at Terminus then I doubt I could've gotten Carl out of there, you saved us there is no way around it."
James nodded his head "I think I want to go home now" He breathed
"Alright" Aiden said as both men stood up Aiden more easily than James who required the other man's assistance till they were outside underneath the pale moon light, Aiden walk/stumbled with James down the short road to their house. The town had gotten into the festive mood with wreaths hanging on doors and lights draped on houses and other fixtures, if the pair hadn't known better they would say that the world wasn't destroyed.
As they stumbled up the steps Greg ran out of the house and into his brother's arms thankful that he was ok, "Hey Aiden" A gruff voice said
Aiden turned around to be greeted by the sheriff "Hi sir how are you doing tonight" He said stepping off the porch
"I'm doing alright, I hate to ask you this but I've got a man that came in tonight, needs a medical exam"
"Frank can't do it?" Aiden inquired, attempting to keep the annoyance out of his voice
"Frank...I just found shooting up heroine at his house, so no. Just a quick exam then your free for the rest of the night" The sheriff stated, clearly resolute in his thinking
After assuring that James was going to sleep off his binge and that Greg and Carl were going to be alright Aiden found himself heading to the clinic, eager to be done and at home. The office was just as he left it minus one sleeping dog, he quickly tidied up and pulled out a questionnaire form that was required of all new residents or traders and began to prepare himself, not knowing who was going to come through that door.
Soon the sheriff came and dropped the man off and sat outside the door prepared to come in at a hint of trouble.
The man seemed completely out of it, scars along his face and other visible parts of his body, a long graying, scraggly beard covered most of the man's face, the rest of his body was gaunt looking like if he breathed to hard he would snap in half. The young man felt sorry for him as he looked down at the paper "Alight Sir my name is Aiden i'm just going to ask you some questions, take some blood and make sure your not bitten do you understand?" Aiden paused and awaited an answer from the man who seemed a million miles away, answering.
"Sir i need you to at least nod that you understand what I just asked you"
The man gave a slow nod indicating that he understood, "Alright, so first question what is your name?"
Again the man nodded, "Ok sir for this question I actually need a response" The man remained rigid and Aiden realized that the man was in pain.
"What happened to you out there?" Aiden asked not asking from a question on the sheet but one of his own.
"I...I lost everything...everything that mattered anyway. my wife, friends... my daughter...my so..." The man stopped talking as Aiden realized the man was clearly trying to block whatever painful memory had entered his mind.
"You have my sympathies, we all lost people here. Hell my family and I only got here a month ago" Aiden said putting the questionnaire on his desk, suddenly uninterested
"at least you still have your family" the man said spitefully
"Family's what you make it, none of them are related by blood, we found each other when we needed it. The one I was with first, a boy who lost everyone I found him in trouble, rescued him and been together ever since."
The man paused taking in Aiden's response before shaking his head dismissing it "Look I done talking about this so answer your damn questions and leave me alone"
"Ok" Aiden said quietly relieved to begin the process but also frustrated that the talk was over " Alright sir, What is your name?"
"Grimes, Rick Grimes"
Seriously I hope you all enjoyed, Let me know if you did or what could be improved. Have a good one.