The morning was rather embarrassing. We slept longer then everyone else so they all got to see us sleeping in our bed. When we woke up, there were plenty of awes and jokes about how cutie we were together. It made us feel pretty embarrassed, but we tried to ignore it the best we could. After about an hour we got our stuff together and hit the road. Sophia and I sat in the back of the car with Carol as we drove out of the city. We had been driving for about an hour when dad and mom started talking about a time we had gone to the Grand Canyon. I had no memory of going there, but they explained that I had only been a baby and we never made it all the way because I got sick. "Can we go see it? The Grand Canyon? I'd like to." I asked. "I would too. Can we go?" Sophia continued. "We wouldn't go without you or your mom. That's a promise."

We ran into a stretch of highway that was pretty blocked with cars, trucks, and other vehicles. We were making our way through them, but the R.V. broke down. We all got out of our vehicles and searched the abandoned cars as Glenn and Dale tried to fix it. We found clothes and other little useful things here and there. I found a really nice button up sweater I thought would look good on Sophia. It was Pink with a White flower on the left side and a pocket on either side. I pulled it out and turned to her. "What do you think? Think it would fit?" I asked holding it up to her. "It's nice, but pinks not your colour." I laughed. "Funny. I meant for you." She laughed and look at it closer. "Yeah it looks like my size. Is it a small or medium?" I checked the tag. "Medium." "Good. I can grow into it a bit." I handed it to her and she put it in her arms while we kept looking.

We were searching the cars for another five or so minutes when dad came running, telling us to get under the cars. We looked back to where he was running from and saw a large group of walkers coming toward us. We quickly jumped under the nearest car or truck we could fit under. I almost got under a truck, but saw Sophia get under a truck alone. I wasn't about to leave her by herself in a time like this. I crawled over to her side and hushed her the best I could. We watched in fear as the walkers walked past. Sophia was on the verge of tears. I did the best I could to keep her calm amidst the terror. It was near impossible to not feel scared in that moment, but I stayed strong for Sophia.

After a few minutes, it seemed like all of them had moved passed. Several moments passed and no walkers walked passed. I went to crawl out from under the truck when a walker came out of nowhere and tried to attack me. I pushed Sophia to climb out the other side as I followed in suit. I didn't want to leave the safety of the group, but Sophia ran for the trees as another walker appeared. I ran after her, trying to keep her in my sights. We ran until we hit a stream. Sophia didn't want to get her clothes wet, but the walkers were gaining. We waded through the water to get to the other side. I had thought I heard dad call out to us, but I didn't know for sure or if he'd even hear me if I called back.

The walkers were far enough behind us that I figured it'd be safe to slow down a bit. We changed directions so the walkers would keep going the other way and we'd be in the clear. It seemed to work, so we sat down next to a tree to catch our breath. Looking around, I couldn't tell where we were or where we had come from. We could be just an easy walk back over to the highway or hopelessly lost in the middle of the forest. I looked at Sophia. I thought I was taking it bad, but she was shaking and crying. I pulled her into a hug and held her close. "It's going to be ok. We're going to make it back." Her eyes were red with tears, but my hopefulness did get through to her. She was still scared out of her mind, but she held me, wanting my words to be true.

I wasn't sure how long we were walking for, but we didn't find the highway. We came across a large stream unlike the one we crossed before. We hoped that following it might help us locate something we could use to determine where we were. There was no such luck. As the sun was setting I realized I might have been leading us the wrong way. I feared we may never find the others. And without food, water, shelter, or even a weapon to protect us, I didn't see us being able to survive long on our own. I spotted a tree with a sizeable space between its branches about ten feet up. It wasn't perfect, but it could work for one nights rest. It wasn't easy to climb up the trunk at the angle it was on. Sophia almost fell on me twice.

Once we were up I did my best to pull some of the small branches over to make some sort of support for us so we didn't fall out of the tree in the night. It wasn't working so I climbed back down and snapped about fifteen saplings to do the job. It was very makeshift, but it looked like it would hold. Resting up against the saplings, we tried our best to get comfortable. I got Sophia to lay on my lap so she wasn't hurting her bruise on the tree. She was pretty light for her size. She was taller than me, but probably weighed a bit less. Because of her light frame, it wasn't surprizing she bruised so easily. I was just glad her bruise was healing. It looked much better than it had at the camp.

As the darkness closed in, it became more apparent that the fall weather was starting to kick in. The warmth of blankets had made the chill unnoticeable till now. Sophia and I were only in t-shirts and even though I had jeans, her short barely went past her knees. I noticed she still had the sweater I found sitting on the branch next to us with the doll Eliza gave her. I reached over and pulled it over us. "This will have to do as a blanket." She snuggled in tighter and held me close. Her head was sitting in the crease of my neck and her hair was falling my face, but I didn't care. She was here with me and, at least for the moment, we were safe.

"Carl?" she spoke. "Yeah?" "Are we going to find the others tomorrow?" I could hear the sorrow in her voice. "I don't know, but I hope so." I felt my shirt start to feel cool and damp. Soft sobs told me it was tears. "It's ok. It's going to be ok. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." I pulled her into a loving embrace as her tears came flooding out. Sophia had never been in this state at the camp. It was safe there before the walker attack and we had the group to look out for us. Now that we were here, stranded, alone, she was having an emotional breakdown. There was little I could do to stop her crying, but I tried anyway. I was staying strong for her, but on the inside I was just as broken as she was. I knew if she saw me in that stat, there was hope of making her believe we were going to make it.

I placed a hand on the back of her head and kiss the top of it. "We're going to be ok. I'm going to do everything I can to protect you. No matter what. I can't bear the thought of losing you. You're the love of my life." "And… and your mine." She said through the tears. We didn't get much sleep during the night. It was probably around one or two in the morning before she cried herself to sleep. I waited till she was out before I even dared to close my eyes. It was colder as the night went on. I could feel the dampness in my shirt become freezing cold. I didn't care if I felt cold. I hoped that it wasn't making Sophia feel cold. If she caught a cold, I knew I wouldn't be able to move her very far. I let go to reach for her doll. I lifted her head and placed the doll under it like a pillow. She pulled my arm around her again. "Don't… let… go." She said sleepily. Held her closer than before. "I won't do it again." I said before we both drifted off to sleep.

Sorry for the wait guys. I had a tough time finding the time to work on this. So many things came up and I wanted to make this chapter to feel depressing, so I took some time to work out how to get the idea across. If you felt sorry for them this chapter, then I know I did it right. Carl and Sophia in a tough spot. Without the group, they're near hopeless. I thought this would be a great way to show if they're love can overcome their odds of death in this world. I can't promise I'll have the next chapter ready this week, but I'm sure going to try.