8. Fear and Infection in Atlanta
"We sure are going to miss the two of you." Dr. Nickles said. "Take extra special care of Rick for us Michonne."
"I will. I promise." Michonne said and gave the doctor a hug. "Thanks for everything."
Rick was getting out of the hospital two days earlier than the doctor's said that he would, and the entire hospital staff responsible for Rick's recovery had come out to see him off. It had been twelve days, twelve long agonizing days waiting for Rick to get out of the hospital. Michonne felt like she hadn't slept in those twelve days.
"I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart." Rick said. "I'm alive and I'm going home to my family because of you." Rick's voice shook as he fought back his tears.
Michonne grabbed his hand and with her other hand she rubbed his back. Even if she didn't say anything she wanted him to know she was there for him. Her hug caused a chain reaction. Everyone began hugging each other, crying, and saying their goodbyes as they left until finally it was just the two of them.
"Have you got everything?" Michonne asked.
Rick nodded. "Let's go, Shane will be here any minute now"
An orderly wheeled Rick out of his room and into the hallway.
Michonne push the button on the elevator, the doors opened a few seconds later and they made their way down to the lobby.
"I can't wait to surprise Carl and Judith."
"They are going to absolutely lose it when they see you sitting at the table for breakfast. I'm going to record the whole thing." Michonne said.
Instead of telling Carl and Judith about their father's early release she and Rick were going to surprise them at breakfast. Shane's mother, Ceil, was staying with the sleeping children until the two of them got back home. The elevator doors sprung open and Michonne took over pushing Rick's wheelchair outside.
"There's Shane." Rick said.
Shane's car pulled up to the curb in front of them. Shane flung his car door open and leapt out. "Well lookie, lookie what the cat done drug in." Shane called and pulled Rick out of his wheel chair and gave him a bear hug.
"Shane be careful!" Michonne warned.
"I'm OK." Rick said.
Michonne sat in the passenger's seat and Rick sat in the back. Shane had to go to work, so he dropped Michonne and Rick off at the front door.
Ceil opened the front door as quietly as possible for them. If Carl or Judith woke up early it would ruin the surprise. "I'm just gonna go now, but ya'll have a lovely breakfast." Ceil hugged Michonne, and then Rick, and Michonne saw him wince under her bone crushing hug.
Once she was gone, Michonne slipped off her shoes, washed her hands, and she and Rick started on breakfast. It reminded her of the first time she'd spent the night at his house.
"Won't be long before my shaggy-haired teenaged monster is driven downstairs by the smell of bacon." Rick leaned against the counter and took a sip of the coffee he'd just brewed.
"Go sit at the table." Michonne insisted. She got her phone ready to record.
She heard Judith's little feet first, she was probably wondering why Michonne wasn't in her bed. A few moments later she heard Carl's door open, and then his slow plodding steps.
Judith skipped into the kitchen and stopped on the spot when she saw her father. "Daddy you back!" She shouted. "Carl daddy's back! Daddy's back"
Carl's feet thundered down the steps, he skipped the last three entirely and grabbed his father up in a back clapping hug. "What are you doing here?"
"They let me out early on good behavior." Rick teased.
Carl spun around. "You knew didn't you?" He asked her.
Michonne's smiled split her face. "I did, but your dad wanted to surprise you."
"It's the best surprise I've had all summer."
Rick held his arm out, come on Mimi this is a family hug."
She went into the crook of Rick's arm and the four of them hugged. The feeling was similar to wrapping up in a blanket fresh from the dryer on a winter's day. After the shooting she stayed shut up with her guilty thoughts until she had convinced herself she was better off alone. She'd pushed all of her friends away hoping they would leave, but not really wanting them to. They had though, one by one like stars falling from the sky they had left her.
Ever since then she had been afraid she was too damaged to ever connect to another human being, that she would never be needed or remembered by anyone. Rick needed her though, and Carl and Judith needed her, they didn't just need her they wanted her. All of them wanted her in their lives. They all chose to have her in their lives, and she chose them. She wasn't too far gone and everyday they reminded her of that.
"Now that I'm out of the hospital, that means we'll be going back home soon." Rick began.
"How soon is soon?" Carl asked.
"Well my doctor's want me to finish my physical therapy here, and I've got a couple of outpatient treatments, so about another three weeks."
"What about school?"
"I'll have to arrange something with your teachers."
"What about you Ms. Mitchell, are you staying here or going back to work?"
"Not until your father is ready to leave Atlanta. I've already asked for the time off, and the school approved."
"So that means we're all staying together?" Carl asked.
"Yeah, but there is something else. Rick added. "When we get back to Possum Holler Michonne is going to be living with us until I'm all the way back on my feet."
"Ms. Mitchell is going to live in our house?" Carl's jaw dropped to epically low proportions. "Dad are you seeing Mrs Mitchell?"
Rick coughed. "Aah, yeah I am."
"You two are dating?" He asked Michonne even thought he had just asked his father.
"Yes." Michonne confirmed. "Yes we are."
"How do you feel about it?" Rick asked.
"OK, but it's a little weird. I mean we'll see each other in school and everything."
"Well you won't be placed in my class next year, if that helps."
"I liked your class" Car reminded her.
"I'm sorry Carl, I don't want to make things difficult for you."
"They always were anyway." Carl said and shrugged.
"Well I don't want to make them more difficult." Michonne amended.
"It's OK, really." Carl assured her. "Can I go over to Duane's house?"
"Yeah, but be back for lunch." Rick called.
"Don't forget to rinse off your dishes and put them into the dishwasher." Michonne added.
"Right." Carl said jogging back to the kitchen table to collect his dishes.
"Do you think he's really OK with us being together?" Michonne asked once Carl had left.
"Yes, don't worry everything will work it's self out."
Michonne didn't say anything, but she wanted to say telling her not to worry was useless. Since Rick asked her to move in with him it was all that she did.
It was six in the morning, and Judith was still sleeping and Carl was barely awake as Michonne backed out of Shane's drive way. He had lent them the use of his old Bonneville that he kept in his parents' garage, and while Michonne was grateful for the car, she couldn't help but feeling like she was driving around in a tank. It wasn't a very long ride back to Possum Holler, and for that she was thankful.
"When we get in town we'll wake the kids and go to breakfast" Rick said.
"Then we can go by the houses and pack anything we forgot."
"We make one hell of a couple." Rick said.
Michonne grinned broadly. "I think that's the first time you've referred to us as a couple."
"Well it won't be the last."
They arrived in Possum Holler fifteen minutes after eight. "How about breakfast at Sue's Diner?" Rick asked.
Michonne nodded. Sue made the best breakfast in town and it was cheap and the portions were big. After she managed to park the monstrous Bonneville she spun around in her seat and reached back and shook Carl's shoulder softly. "Wake up kiddo."
Carl opened his eyes for a second and looked at her. "Not yet mom." He mumbled and then fell back asleep.
A warmth and sadness spread through Michonne's heart as she looked at Carl. He seemed more childlike, more innocent when he slept, and she thought he must have always looked like that to Lori. Michonne wished that Lori could see what a fine young man her son was turning out to be.
Rick said nothing, but he smiled at her softly.
Michonne didn't say anything either. She felt too swallowed up in emotions to trust her voice to speak. She took Judith from her car seat and Rick woke Carl up again.
Sue's diner wasn't very busy, just a few old men sitting at the counter drinking coffee and reading The Possum Holler Gazette. The headline read: State of Rhode Island held under quarantined due to virus outbreak.
"I'm starving." Carl moaned and slid into the nearest booth.
"I guess we're sitting here." Rick said.
A waitress came over to their booth. "Welcome to Sue's Diner, I'm your waitress Tammy." She plunked down three menus on the table. "Can I get ya'll anything to start off with?"
"Two coffees and two orange juices please." Rick ordered.
"Kay." Tammy said and headed towards the kitchen.
"Can I get the lumber jack platter?" Carl asked his father as he read over the menu.
"I don't know that's an awful lot of food for a little fellow like you." Rick teased.
Tammy came back to their booth with their drinks on a tray, and as she set them down, Michonne gave her their orders. Blueberry pancakes for Judith. she ordered French toast for herself, and Rick and Carl ordered the lumber jack platter.
Tammy jotted down their orders and then picked up the menus, and stopped to stare at Rick for a moment when she collected his. "Hey ain't you the cop who got shot, how ya doing?"
"I'm much better, thanks."
"Well that's good, we was all praying for ya."
"You're like famous dad." Carl said.
"More like infamous." Rick replied.
Their food arrived moments later. Judith's pancake was shaped like a bunny which delighted her to no end.
"It's on the house ya'll." Tammy said. "You stay safe now officer Grimes."
"Thank you, I will."
Rick left a tip, and Michonne took Judith to the bathroom to wipe the syrup off her face and hands.
Rick drove them back to his house. "Carl go across the street and get our mail from ." He asked his son as they all piled out of the car.
Carl sighed dramatically "I don't want to! She smells like moth balls, and she never stops talking"
"Go!" Rick commanded.
Carl stomped his way across the street.
"One of the perks of being a parent is making your kids do things that you don't want to do yourself." Rick said watching Carl as he crossed the street.
"She made me look at pictures of every school dance she's ever been to." Carl said when he came back with the mail.
"She's lonely. You've done a very good thing." Rick told him and unlocked the front door.
Carl shot his father an angry look before going inside the house.
"You're a cold blooded man Rick Grimes." Michonne teased and followed Carl inside.
While Rick and Carl started packing up the things they would need for the next three weeks, Michonne went into Judith's room to help her pack.
Judith's room was small but cute, pale green walls and white frilly curtains. There were pictures of circus animals hanging on the wall. She had a bookcase that was shaped like a house, and a rocking chair with Pooh and all of his friends sitting on it in the corner. Michonne started pulling clothes out of the dressers and stacking them up in neat piles on the bed. Judith began pulling books off her bookcase and stacking them at her feet.
By the time everyone had finished packing it was time for lunch. There wasn't any food in the house so they walked to the Piggy Wiggly that was only a few blocks away from Rick's house. Everyone who saw them along the way gave them inquiring looks. Michonne ignored the looks, but some people were whispering too, and they weren't even trying to whisper quietly.
"She sure pounced on him fast!" She heard one woman say. "Once you go black." Another man had remarked. If people didn't think she and Rick were a couple when they left town together, they did now. Maybe it was better for people to find out about them now, that way by the time school started it would be old news, or at least an idea people had time to get used to.
"Piggy piggy in a wiggy." Judith sang happily from the shopping cart that Michonne pushed.
"Feels weird being back home, Carl said, everything is exactly the same, but it feels different for some reason."
"You've broaden your horizons, that's why." Rick explained.
"I kind of wish we could stay in Atlanta, but then I'd miss my friends and our house."
"Yeah, but you'd be closer to your little girlfriend."
"Shane has such a big mouth!" Carl snapped. "I told him Keisha isn't my girlfriend, she's just my friend." Carl said, but Michonne had noticed that he'd gone completely red in the face.
"Did you hear me mention any names?" Rick asked innocently.
"Come on guys we've got a busy day ahead of us."Michonne said to save Carl from any further embarrassment.
Michonne didn't buy anything that needed to be cooked, they had sandwiches, fresh fruit, and lemonade. In the kitchen all four of them got down to work. Michonne made the sandwiches while Rick got a bag of chips from the pantry and poured them in a bowl, and Carl made a picture of tea and lemonade. Even Judith helped by bringing out the paper plates and cups. Rick spread the picnic blanket out in the middle of the back yard, and Michonne set out the plates, cups, and plastic wear. For dessert they had red velvet cupcakes, and Judith ended up with more frosting on her than the cupcake.
"How do you manage to get it in your ears?" Rick asked.
"Please, she's always a slob when she eats." Carl said. "She only just stopped dumping her bowl on her head."
"Least she doesn't go wee wee in the dryer."
"Dad!" Carl shouted.
Michonne laughed.
"I was only three then!"
"Well your sister is only two, so cut her some slack."
After lunch Rick drove them straight to Michonne's house. She got her mail and packed everything she would need for the next three weeks. She missed her house, but she didn't miss being alone.
"Everyone ready?" Rick said as he slid in the driver's seat. "We'll be back to the Holler someday, but for now it's Atlanta here we come!"
Judith was wide awake on the drive back, and she sang the little Einsteins theme song over and over for most of the trip. By the time they were only a few miles away from Shane's house Michonne found herself singing the song out loud along with Judith, and it wasn't long before Rick and Carl we're joining in. The louder and sillier they sang the more it made Judith laugh.
"I don't know about you but, I think we're good enough to start our own band" Rick said
Out of her peripheral vision Michonne saw something, a person, walking straight for the car, and before she could shout a warning, Rick hit them. Michonne could hear the hood of the car indent from the force of the impact. The windshield cracked as the pedestrian's head hit the glass and then was flung several feet away from the car, and onto the pavement.
"Hole-lee-fuckin shit." Rick cried. "They just ran out in front of my car." He unbuckled his seat belt. "Stay in the car." He warned.
"Please be careful." Michonne said. She spun around, Carl take Judith out of her car seat and put her on the floor."
Carl did what Michonne asked without question.
From the front seat Michonne watched as Rick approached the pedestrian, but they had managed to get to their feet before Rick could reach them. She could see the person clearly now. The person, if you could call them that walked like it was in pain, their skin looked as if it had rotted away. It looked like someone had dug a rotting corpse from it's grave and made it walk. It looked like a decomposed robot come to life. There was a smell too, it reminded Michonne of the time she went on vacation and came home to find a racoon had died in her garage.
"Are you OK?" Rick asked but he had taken a wide step backwards, and his hand was on his gun.
The person made a noise that wasn't human, it made the hairs on the back of Michonne's neck stand on end.
"Why don't you lie down, I'll call in for help." Rick said. "Just take it easy."
The rotten pedestrian lunged for Rick but he stepped back, they lunged at him again grabbing Rick by the shoulders and trying to bite him. Rick shoved them to the ground.
"Get on the floor!" Rick screamed back at Michonne and Carl.
Michonne didn't need a second bidding she dropped down to the floor of the car. She heard gun shots go off and she plugged her ears.
A few moments later Rick got back in the car and locked all of the doors. He was as pale as a ghost and shaking. "I called it in, they told us to stay in the car until help arrives."
"You're not hurt are you?" Michonne asked feeling him over. He felt clammy to the touch.
Rick shook his head slowly and stared out the window. "No, but something is wrong, I hit that person with my car, but they wouldn't stop trying to attack me, so I shot them two times in the chest, and they just got back up!"
"What?"
"Oh my god!" Carl exclaimed.
"I had no choice, they just kept coming after me trying to bite me, and so finally I shot them in the head and they didn't get up, but that person they didn't look right. Their skin from the looks and smell of it, had rotted away."
"So I noticed." Michonne said. "You don't think that person had that virus do you?"
"I don't know, Rick said, but I think we're about to find out."
Michonne looked out the windshield to see army trucks pulling up the street. They were all carrying soldiers, and all of the soldiers were carrying assault rifles. The soldiers were only one part of the huge caravan that was coming up the road. There were hazmat trucks, ambulances, police cars, charter buses, and fire trucks.
"Dad what's going on?" Carl asked from the back seat.
Down the street Michonne saw a small group of people, at first she thought it was a group of neighborhood spectators coming down the street to see what was going on, but she noticed they were all walking as if they were being worked by a bad puppeteer. Then she heard them making that inhuman groaning sound that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Michonne shivered, and Judith began to cry. Whatever was going on wasn't good, and by the looks of things they weren't going to get better anytime soon.
2
After Rick called in for help things started happening so fast that he still wasn't sure if anything that was happening to him were real or not. People in hazmat suits removed the body from the street. The army set up a roadblock and Checkpoint. A mandatory evacuation was given to everyone with in a 100 mile radius of where the accident took place. That included Shane and his neighbor Morgan and Duane. If nothing else positive came of all of this at least they were all together. After the evacuation they were all put on buses and shipped five miles out of Atlanta to the town of Calbert. Their bus had dropped them off outside of an out-dated looking high-rise convention center that had hotel rooms attached to the back of it by a catwalk. The national guard surrounded the building and everyone was ushered into one of the larger convention rooms and sat before a stage with a podium on it Rick and the rest of the evacuees had been waiting, for at least an hour now, for someone to come in and speak to them. A room full of nervous, scared, and irritable people, if they didn't address the crowd soon they were going to have a riot.
Finally someone approached the podium and began to speak. "Hello, I am Master Sargent David Wolf, of the United States army. The centers for disease control, and the Department of Health and Human Services have confirmed a massive outbreak of the Cadere virus. The outbreak has reached pandemic levels in the state of Georgia, and for that reason all of you that have been brought here will be quarantined to this building for the unforeseeable future. You are not to leave the grounds without the direct consent of the U.S. United States army. In a few moments well be starting a mandatory registry where you will each be issued an identification badge with a bar code, you are to wear your identification badge at all times-
The Master Sargent was abruptly interrupted as everyone in the audience began shouting and objecting all at once, but Shane's voice was the loudest. "This isn't legal!" he shouted."You can't force us to stay here!"
"This building has been placed under martial law if you try to resist or leave in anyway you will be treated as a terrorist, and we will stop you by any means." The Master Sargent explained. A hush fell over the crowd as the weight of their situation sank in. Master Sargent David Wolf began to speak again. "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is working around the clock to respond to this outbreak, so It is important that you listen carefully to announcements from myself or any other military or health officials while you are here. We are working diligently to protect your family and the community against this public health threat."
Michonne hugged Judith closer to her and waited for Carl to be distracted by his cell phone before speaking. "I'm scared Rick, we're under martial law that means if any one of us show signs of sickness they could kill us all and there's nothing we could do."
"Well be OK Michonne, they just want to keep us here till things blow over."
"Blow over?" Shane questioned. "Don't you find it odd that the news has never shown pictures of anyone with the virus, their haven't been any interviews with survivors? There isn't even an interview with any of the sick people's family members. This ain't something that's gonna blow over, it's something our government is trying to cover up."
Carl had long ago stopped using his cell phone, and looked up at his father with a horror-stuck expression "It's the end of the world isn't it dad?"
"No, I know things seem scary right now, but things will be back to normal soon. Let's not all get caught up in some crazy conspiracy."
Shane glared at him. "I'm not a crazy conspiracist. You're dreaming if you think the government brought us all here to protect us. Ya saw someone come back from the dead and attack ya, and our own government is so afraid of the truth about this virus spreading, it's willing to break the law and round us up like stray dogs on the street to keep things quiet"
"I think now is not the time to get into all of this." Rick said looking at his son and daughter. "Let's just go get register for now."
Shane looked at Rick with contempt and shook his head. "You'd better wake the hell up man." He snarled and stalked off.
Rick started to go after his best friend, but Michonne put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't, I think it's still sinking in for him, it's still sinking in for all of us."
At registry they were given their housing assignments, and a monthly supply of government issued groceries and toiletries, and household supplies. Their new home was hotel 15c. and Shane was just across the hallway from them. Rick used the key card he'd been given to unlock the door to their home for the unforeseeable future. It had a strong smell of disinfectant. The furniture was plain, functional, and looked brand new. They had a living room, a full service kitchen with a dining area, one bathroom. There was a small closet that housed an extremely small stackable washer and dryer. There was only one bedroom, but it was huge and divided into two rooms by sliding doors.
"Does this mean I have to share a room with Jude?" Carl griped.
"You do, but all things consider Carl I'd say you're pretty lucky."
"Your dad's right. At least we're alive and together." Michonne added. She set down a box of government issued supplies.
Everything in their room had government issued and a serial number stamped on it Rick noticed. The thought made Rick uncomfortable, this was not a fly-by-night operation, just how long had the government known about this deadly virus? Everything here suggested that this virus was something that wasn't just going to blow over. Shane might be more right than wrong, but he didn't want to worry his children if he didn't have to.
"Why don't we all unpack, and then get freshened up and we'll all feel better." Michonne said with false positivity.
"Yeah why don't we think of this time as a free, badly timed, and weird vacation." Rick said. "There's an indoor pool and sauna"
"Plus free cable and wifi" Carl added.
"Shane's here, and Morgan and Duane are too, why don't we invite them over for dinner." Michonne suggested.
"OK, cool!" Carl said.
"You see" Rick said. "If you just keep a positive attitude the time will fly by." Rick picked his daughter up and tossed her into the air and caught her and she giggled.
Michonne began to unpack some of their groceries and put them in their proper place. "What shall it be tonight?" Michonne asked. "Hamburger helper or tuna casserole?
"Hamburger helper." Carl said. "I'll set the table."
Rick was so thankful for Michonne. He knew that she must have been scared out of her mind after seeing someone basically come back from the dead, but she was putting on a brave front for his children. He wondered if the smell and the sound of the person he'd hit with his car was as embedded Michonne's brain as it was his. Thank goodness she had the presents of mind to put Judith on the floor of the car so she had not see anything, but Carl had seen everything. So far he wasn't acting like he was affected by anything he had seen, but Rick was convinced it was a clever act on Carl's part to put his mind at ease.
Rick set his daughter on the floor. "I'm going to go see if I can find Shane invite them to dinner."
"Can I come?" Carl asked.
"Not right now, why don't you stay here and read your sister a book."
"OK." Carl said, but he sounded disappointed.
Rick did not want to disappoint his son, but he knew Shane was right, the government hadn't invited them her to protect them, they were keeping tabs on them to see if anyone was infected. He needed to talk to Shane about some kind of plan B. When the shit hit the fan he wanted to be able to keep his family safe.
"Been looking for me long?" He asked as Rick approached him.
"Not very."
"Look sorry I flew off the handle, I just don't like any of this, something worse than bad is going down, this shit is probably global."
"I know, and that's why I need to talk to you about some kind of plan B. If I don't make it I need someone to take care of my children and Michonne, and I know you'll do it, I know that if I die you'll protect them with your life."
"You don't even have to ask me." Shane replied.
On the way back to his room, Rick and Shane ran into Morgan and Duane.
"Good to see you on your feet again." Morgan said when he saw Rick.
"Thanks man, it's good to see you too, hey were about to go have diner, would you two like to come?"
"Thanks, we'd like that."
Michonne had dinner ready by the time Rick got back with everyone.
"Duane!" Carl cried and ran over to his friend.
"Man this is crazy ain't it?"
"You don't know the half of it, you won't believe what happened to me." Carl said pulling Duane off into the corner to tell him about what they'd gone through earlier that day.
"I truly appreciate you inviting me to dinner." Morgan said. He looked over at his son, this is the happiest I've seen him all day."
Rick looked over at Carl and Duane, they were laughing and talking just like regular kids, and Judith sat on the floor playing with her zoo animals just like a regular kid, and that's exactly what he wanted for his children. He looked up into Michonne's eyes, they still seemed frightened still, but her face seemed determined to get through this. He nodded. For now they wouldn't tell his children how bad things were, they would get through this by pretending that they weren't going this.
3
Carl had been exploring the hotel when her heard someone call his name. Just as he looked up to see who it was something flew into his arms. When he looked down he realized that someone, and not something had run into him.
"Keisha!" He said stepping back and looking at her.
"This is so scary!" she exclaimed. "The national guard came knocking on our door and told us we had twenty minutes to pack up as much stuff as we could."
"How are you? How is your family?"
"They're OK, she said, I'm so glad you're here, what about your family are they OK?"
"Yes. We're all OK, and Shane, Morgan, and Duane are here."
"Oh wow, good news for a change."
"Did you hear, Carl asked, they're going to start a school up in the convention center if we're still here by September."
"I hope we're not here by September." Keisha groaned. "We've already been here one day, and it's been the longest day of my life."
"Kind of feels like were on some really crappy reality TV show."
Keisha laughed. "It does, so where are you staying?"
"Third floor room, 15c"
"Fourth floor room 12a, you should come up and visit me sometime. I have a wii we could play Mario kart"
"A wii? How did you manage that?" Carl said.
"It was already in the room we were assigned, but I didn't have anything to do with it. It's because of my dad"
"Your dad?"
"Yeah, he's kind of famous."
"What?"
"Just come up to my room around four o clock today, bring Duane too."
"OK."
"Well I've got to go now, I told Tameka I'd check out the view from the top floor of the convention center with her."
At three-thirty Carl found Duane, and the two of them waited until four o clock to go up to Keisha's room. As the door to Keisha's hotel room opened Carl's mouth flopped open. Tyreese Cheatwood was standing behind the door. Keisha's father was a linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons, and he'd won the Superbowl last year. Carl noticed his Superbowl ring and he stared at it pop-eyed.
"Oh my god." Duane said beside him. "Oh my god, no way man. I can't!"
"Erm, guys this is my dad Tyreese Cheatwood, but you probably already worked that out" Keisha said sheepishly.
"That game sir, that game was my life you don't even understand sir." Duane went on.
Carl was still trying to find the words to speak. It was unreal seeing him in person, and even more unreal seeing him under these circumstances.
Tyreese laughed," I'm happy I could help win the game for the ATL." He stepped back. "Come in."
Tyreese's room was at least twice the size of the room that he had been set up in. Tyreese room was more like a condo.
"You guys hungry? We've got some pizza, they're frozen, but they're pretty tasty." Tyreese said.
"Sure, thanks." Carl said. His life just couldn't get any more bizarre he thought.
"Come on let's go play Mario kart while we wait for the pizzas." Keisha said. "Sorry I didn't say anything about my dad earlier, it's just people act a certain way around me when they know who my dad is, and it was nice finally meeting someone who didn't want to get to know me because of dad." Keisha explained.
"It's OK I understand." Carl said.
The wii was set up in the lounge, were there was also a flat screen TV and a wet bar.
Tamekia was in the lounge and she waved to Carl and Duane when she saw them. "It's good to see the two of you alive and kicking."
"It's good to be alive and kicking, Duane said, "Pops and I saw some infected people, I threw up in my mouth man, their skin was all rotten and shit."
"Gross!" Keisha squealed.
"My dad hit an infected person and they just got up!"
"It didn't kill them?" Tamekia asked.
"No, I think people who have that virus are dead already?"
"How can they be dead, but walking around?" Keisha asked.
"I don't know, but the one my dad shot kept trying to bite him, like it was some kind of crazy cannibal."
"Did it die when your dad shot it?" Keisha asked.
"Not until he shot it in the head, and then the CDC came and took the body away."
"Can we please talk about something, less, scary, nasty, and upsetting please." Tamekia demanded.
"Right, Keisha said turning on the wii.
"I'm warning you now my Mario kart skills are on fleek. None of you can beat me" Duane bragged.
Everyone started out playing the game nicely, but then Tamekia shot a blue shell at Duane, and suddenly everyone was out for blood.
"How could you blue shell me like that?" Duane lamented.'
"I play to win not to make friends." Tamekia replied, but it was Keisha who won the game.
"I win. I win." Keisha cried zooming past her cousin to take first place.
"Only because your boyfriend cheated for you." Tamekia replied and looked at Carl who had just shot a blue shell at her.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Keisha cried her voice rising.
"Really, but I thought you said he was-"
Unfortunately for Carl he didn't get to hear what Keisha said about him, because she jumped up from her place on the floor and rushed over and covered her cousin's mouth with her hand.
Carl took his eyes for the screen for a second to look at Keisha, and his car spun out of control and crashed. If that wasn't a metaphor for his life right now he didn't know what was. He only just started hanging out Keisha so it wasn't like Carl though they were dating, he just wanted her to like him, but he remembered the day he and Duane meet up with Keisha and Tameika at Little Five Points, and while they'd walked around she held his hand. It was almost like being on a date.
"I think the pizzas are done, why don't we go eat" Keisha said and everyone followed her into the kitchen.
"I made four different pizzas because I don't know who likes what." Tyreese said.
"I like pizza!" Duane exclaimed.
Tyreese chuckled."Well then, help yourself."
They dove on the pizza.
"I wonder how long it will be before we see an actual delivery person again?" Keisha asked.
"What if we never get out of here man?" Duane asked. "What if they're planning on nuking us like in that Outbreak movie"
"Don't say that!" Tamekia cried.
"They're not going to nuke anyone" Tyreese said. "You kids shouldn't be worrying yourself too much about this virus, the government is just taking extra precautionary measures. We'll be out of here soon, and this time will just seem like a strange memory."
Carl knew that Tyreese was lying. He didn't believe a word of what he was telling them, but just like his dad he thought if he pretend that everything was all right, that he could fool them into thinking everything was all right. Nothing was ever going to be all right again. He kept thinking of that person that tired to bite his father, was that what you turned into if you caught the virus? A cannibal corpse? Whatever it is that people turned into Carl never wanted to become one of those things, he'd rather be nuked.
"I think my dad is wrong." Keisha said. "I this is the end of the world, and if push came to shove, I think the military would nuke us."
"You guys are freaking me out!" Tamekia shouted. "Do ya'll really think things are that bad?"
"I think there's nothing we can do about it right now, so we should probably chill and enjoy ourselves" Carl said.
Keisha raised her glass. "Here's to new friends and strong immune systems."