~Charlotte~
Rick could see my face lit up when we pulled up next to a red sports car.
"Holy crap." I turn to look at Rick like he was Santa Claus.
Rick smashed the windows and the alarms started to go off. I didn't care about the situation I was about to be placed in. I couldn't wait to drive this car!
I got in and I drove off towards the store in a car I never thought I would ever drive. The benefits of being in a apocalypse.
I told the group to go to the roll-up doors at the font of the store that was facing the street.
I was having a blast, attracting the walkers. The speed of the car was so fast, I tried not to get carried away.
"Woo!" I scream. "Come on. Come on. Get closer. Get closer."
I pull up to the store in the sports car and manage to lure the majority of them away from the store. Thanks to me, Rick will have a chance to pull up in his truck and get the group.
I manage to drive around the streets of Atlanta without crashing, I find a CD, not bothering what it is and put it in. The alarms keep on ringing and the wind blows through the car. I get to the highway and see the truck ahead of me.
I scream loud from the rush of the driving down the highway this fast.
"Whoo-hoo-hoo! Yeah-hoo-hoo!"
Never have I felt so alive.
I'm getting close to the camp, I remember the way. I'm so far ahead of the truck, the alarm keeps going on and on, bouncing off the mountains.
I wonder if the guys at the camp can hear this. My heart starts to slow down and the adrenaline stops running through my system.
I spot the RV, with Dale looking through binoculars at the sports car I'm in.
I drive in and step on the brakes, something I didn't want to do. I wanted to continue my drive.
I jump out the car, wave at the people gathered round and shout, "Hello!" loudly as they probably can't hear from the car alarm
"Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off." Dale tells me.
"I don't know how." I say covering my ears, a smile still plastered on my face.
Everyone is walking towards me. I remove my hands from my ears and her Shane bellowing at me to pop the hood.
Then Amy comes along and starts asking me questions on her sister.
"Pop the damn hood!" Shane shouts.
I open up the hood and Shane runs to pull out the battery.
The battery turns off and I hear a ringing in my ears.
"Is she coming back?" Amy questions.
"Yes, yeah! Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much."
"Are you crazy!?" Shane shouts at me. I start to feel my shyness coming back over me. "Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?"
"Yeah, course I am Shane."
"I think we are okay." Dale tells Shane.
"You call being stupid okay?"
"It wasn't my idea to drive in it."
"The alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" said Dale.
"Sorry." I look around at everyone. "Got a cool car."
Just as I say that, the truck arrives.
The first one to get out is Andrea.
"Amy."
"Andrea!" the two sisters run up to each other and hug. "Oh my god. You scared the shit out of me."
"Papi! Daddy!"
"Hey! Come here sweetie. Hey, I told you I'd be back, didn't I?" Morales says.
I look at Daniel, Alice, Tom and Alex and I give a small wave to them and they return it.
"You are a welcome sight." I hear Dale say to Morales, and they both give each other a hug. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure."
"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane questions.
"New guy." Glenn tells him.
"He got us out." I add.
"New guy?" Shane looks puzzled.
"Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town, Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello!" Morales calls Rick who gets out of the truck.
"The guy's a cop. Like you." I state.
Rick walks up to us and I look at Shane. When his eyes hit him, I cannot explain the emotions that show on his face. I look at Carl who was talking to Lori. When Carl looks at Rick, I then stare at Rick.
Now I'm confused.
"Oh my God." Rick says. Carl runs up to him shouting, "Dad! Dad!" Rick takes his son in his arms, both of them are crying. Even I feel tears in my eyes of the family reuniting, but they do not fall.
"Carl, oh!"
Rick places a kiss on Carl's cheek and approaches Lori giving her a hug.
I stare around at everyone, who look very happy to see a family coming together. I remember when I first met Lori and she told me about her husband. Dead.
Nope. He is clearly, very much alive.
I envy the family that are now hugging, as this is something I cannot do with my mother and father ever again. The tears that were threatening to fall out trickle down my cheeks, but I am crying because I will never see my parents. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for Rick, Carl and Lori reuniting, but that is something I will never do with my family as they are on another country or dead or a walker.
Glenn comes by my side. "Wow. Lucky we got him out of that tank-" he then looked at me, and the tears rolling down my cheeks. "Are those tears of joy? Or are you sad?"
"It's hard to say. I am feeling too many emotions at the moment. Both I guess." I look at him, I've only just noticed that he is a little taller then me, but only just. "I wish I could see my parents. Or at least know what happened to them." I say in my mousey voice.
He faces turns solemn. "Well, at least you are alive. If you weren't, then maybe this family wouldn't have returned."
I smile at that. Maybe he's right. I use the palm of my sweaty hand to wipe away the warm tears. "Don't tell anyone I was crying." I whisper, and look around to see if anyone saw that I was already.
"Disorientated." Rick says. "I guess that comes closest. Disorientated. Fear, confusion and all those things, it comes closest." Everyone was gathered around the campfire that was illuminating the night sky, but Ed, Carol and Sophia had a separate fire.
Rick had his arms around Lori, and Carl was laying on them both.
"Words can be meager things," Dale said. "sometimes they mean short."
The night was cold and I had my knees up to my chest and I was hugging my legs to keep me warm, as unlike the Grimes family, I have no one to cuddle to give me warmth.
"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."
"I wish it were all a dream." I mutter silently to myself.
"Mom said you died." Carl said, looking up at his dad. Lori stared at Rick, a frightening look took a hold of her face.
Yeah, I was wondering why she said that.
"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."
"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Lori said.
"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell."
"Yeah." Lori breathes.
"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." Rick states.
"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?" Shane finally starts to talk.
"I cant tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I cant begin to express it."
"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." Dale said.
At the fire that Carol, Ed and Sophia were at everyone sees Ed put a logo on the fire. I immediately feel like I should open my mouth to speak, but I think otherwise. And besides Shane already beat me to it.
"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" he asks him.
"It's cold, man."
What an idiot. I feel so sorry for Carol and Sophia.
"Cold don't change the rules don't it? Keep our fires low, just so we can't be seen from a distance." Yeah, walkers or bandits could see us and overrun the camp, which is shockingly something that we do not want.
"I said it's cold." Ed snaps. " You should mind your own business for once."
Shane stood up from our fire and it looks like T-Dog was about to stop him from doing anything rash, but thought otherwise. He walked over to their fire and crouched down near Sophia.
"Hey, Ed…are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" What is it with guys and saying 'man'.
"Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" he shouts at Carol.
Carol then stands up, absolutely petrified of her husband and what he will do if she doesn't do what he tells her. She pulls the log out of the fire and all eyes are on her as she does it.
"Christ." Shane murmurs and stomps on the log to put out the flames.
"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" Shane asks them.
Carol answers for them by saying that they are fine.
"Okay."
Carol then apologises about the fire.
"No no no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?" Yeah full of beatings from an abusive asshole.
"Thank you."
"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane finally says before returning to our group.
"Have you given any though to Daryl Dixon?" Dale asks and my heart stops beating at the thought of him and what has happened to his brother. "He wont be happy to hear his brother was left behind."
"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me." T-Dog said.
"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick inputs.
"Maybe…I should do it. He might feel less inclined to go on a rampage if a girl tells him." I say my thoughts out loud and everyone looks at me.
Glenn shakes his head. "Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race or sexes into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."
"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him." said T-Dog.
"We could lie." Amy says next to me.
"Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Our husband did what was necessary." Andrea says looking at Lori. "And if Merle got left behind, it is nobodies fault but Merle's."
"And that is what we tell Daryl?" Dale questions. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise…we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt." And thank God that he is hunting right now.
"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog said.
"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asks him.
"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against is at any one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain. Not that padlock. My point…Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."
I was the first to excuse myself from the fire pit, heading off to my small tent that I sleep in all by myself. And I don't mind sleeping in that tent by myself.
I strip down into my underwear and quickly put on my pyjamas as I am afraid someone will come through the tents zip and see me in my underwear. I first put on my black leggings, then my baggy white shirt that comes down to almost my knees.
Normally, I would read to Carl before he goes to bed, but the fact that his dad is here made me think otherwise as he would most likely want to spend his time with his dad.
I get out my small book from my rucksack. A thin purple book called The Guardians by John Christopher and start to read.
My eyes start to feel droopy, so I know it's time for me to go to sleep soon. I can hear the others from outside, the fire still crackling and thunder rumbling from above. I look at the page number of the book. Fifty seven. And I hope I can remember I can remember that page for tomorrow to continue my read.
Would you kindly review my story/follow it? Please! I hope you are enjoying it so far.