We walk for miles, stumbling through the woods. Carl takes the lead as I continue to help Rick walk, both of us exhausted. He's beaten up pretty badly and I'm still recovering from the illness. "Carl, slow down." Rick yells after his son, his pace quicker than what we can keep up with. "Carl, stop!" He yells.
He stops, not turning to face him "we need to stay together." I tell him, Rick moving on his own towards his son.
"We got to find a place with food and supplies" he says walking over to him. His breath is heavy, I can hear it from where I am still standing and he puts his hand on his son's shoulder "Hey. We're gonna be.."
But Carl walks off, brushing past his father. A few more miles we find a town and make our way to the building that looks most intact. "I put myself against the wall, letting them go in while I take watch "I'll stay here" I tell them.
"Wait outside, okay? Keep watch with her." Rick directs his son after opening the door slowly.
"You keep watch." He snarls back to his dad. "You can barely stand. I'm not gonna let you go in there alone."
Rick asks him "Excuse me?"
Carl defends himself "we've done this before. I'm gonna help you clear it." He says. He pauses before mumbling "you should just let me do it myself."
Rick stares him down, but Carl stares back. Rick reluctantly agrees "let's go." and opens the door "Whistle if you see anything" he tells me before they disappear. A gun shot goes off inside and I stand up, moving to the door. I wait, and listen to them yell at one another "Hey!" I shout out stopping them. "Get what you can and let's move on!" I remind them before turning back to the street.
Carl comes out first with a bag slung over his arm. Rick limps out afterwards and we move out of the town. We walk for miles again, trying to stay shaded in the tree's while following a railroad track. We find a neighborhood, and make our way through some streets. As we walk, Rick looks to me and nods towards a house. I look it over, nod back and he calls out to his son "Hey. Hey. Hey. That one's as good as any." He says.
We walk up the porch and Rick slams the door in. We walk in slowly and I close the door behind me. Carl goes one way, Rick another and I make my way behind Carl, wanting him to be safe. "Carl." Rick calls after him, not wanting him to go off on his own.
"I got it. All the doors down here are open." Carl argues back.
"Just stop!" Rick demands in a loud horse whisper.
Carl exhales, clearly annoyed or frustrated with Rick. He turns and begins to pound on the wall "hey, asshole! Hey, shitface! - Hey-" He screams out."
"Watch your mouth!" Rick yells back to him, his eyes in a craze.
"Are you kidding me?" Carl asks rhetorically. "If there's one of them down there, they would have come out." Rick stares and Carl goes off again.
"Hey, it's alright. I'll stay close behind him" I whisper out to Rick who just nods to thank me before moving on himself.
Carl goes upstairs and I follow behind him slowly. I reach the doorway he's in and peer inside "pretty cool room" I smile to him. He looks at me and stares back at the television screen in front of him.
"Doesn't really matter" He comments before knocking off the video games and working at a wire behind the television.
"Whatcha doin'?" I ask. Carl's a smart kid, always thinking and planning. He always wanted to fight at the jail, even though Rick wouldn't allow it after his mother. I don't know what I can do to help mend their broken relationship, but I want to try. He ignores me and moves out of the room.
After clearing the house we go back to the living room to set up our resting place. Carl uses the wire to tie a knot to keep the door closed while Rick begins to push the couch towards the door. "I tied the door shut." Carl looks over his shoulder when he hears it move.
"We don't need to take any chances. Sadie-Mae, give me a hand?" Rick asks. I nod and make my way over to Rick to help push.
"You don't think it'll hold?" Carl asks.
"Carl." I sigh out, not wanting them to fight.
Carl ignores me, staring at his father "it's a strong knot. Clove hitch. Shane taught me. Remember him?" He asks angrily.
Rick doesn't hesitate to respond "yeah, I remember him. I remember him every day. There something else you want to say to me?" He grills his son. Carl doesn't answer and just moves to the couch to help us move it against the door. "This'll have to do for the night." Rick says wheezing out after getting it into place.
He sits down and I take a seat next to him, rummaging through the bag. I take out some of the chips we found and go to pass them to Carl "you gonna have some?" He asks us.
"You should eat." Rick says staring down at the floor.
"We should save it." Carl says back before getting a blanket and folding it.
"Let him be" I encourage Rick, his jaw line tense.
He shakes his head and stands up, grabbing the bag from my hand "hey" he thrusts the bag towards him.
"I don't want any." Carl retorts again.
Rick throws the bag to the ground "Eat it." He demands again, moving away from him "now." He adds on before leaving the room.
Carl stares at the bag "Come on, I'll help you eat em'" I say to him, trying to lighten his mood. He sighs and picks it up off the floor before coming back to sit next to me.
"Are you scared?" He asks me as I eat the first one.
"I'm always scared" I tell him honestly. Even before the dead came back, ever since my sister died I've been scared, scared to live.
"I'm not" He says back eating now. "This is the way the world is now, we need to keep moving, it's not safe to stay in one place anymore" He says to me.
"I don't believe that. The prison was a good place. We were safe for awhile" I remind him.
"Bullshit" he mumbles back. "After the Governor left we were never save, he was always out there. I was wrong when I said we should stay and fight. I know that now." he takes a hand full from the bag and moves to another part of the floor in the room. I don't have the words to respond to him, I don't know what to tell him.