Lunch was over and Carl said, "I want to learn how to shoot."
"So do I." Sophia uttered.
"I could teach them." I offered.
Rick looked at Lori and explained to her that, "He has to learn at some point and who better to teach the two of them then Nick."
"You will take this seriously and if I hear from Nick that you aren't living up to his expectations so help me god I will-" Lori got interrupted by Rick.
"He won't let you down."
Carl nodded his head, Lori hugged Carl and asked, "When did you start growing up?"
Sophia ran over to her mother.
"Can I learn how to shoot?" Sophia queried.
"Sure, who's teaching?" Carol replied.
"Nick." Sophia responded.
"You'll be learning from the best, have fun." Carol stated.
Sophia ran back to us and told us the good news. We then left the house and made our way to Hershel's shooting range. Once we arrived I placed some cans on the fence, I turned to my students and said, "Don't point your gun at anyone other than walkers, people who are about to die, people who you DON'T know, people posing as an immediate threat, and people who have been scratched and or bitten." I explained. "Never put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot. Cross your fingers, that's it. If you see someone you don't know shout the words 'LEAVE NOW'. If they don't leave and you feel like your life is in imminent danger shoot them in the chest, move to another position, and reload. Look for their bodies. Warn, shoot, move reload. Got it?"
"Got it!" Carl and Sophia replied.
"Then say it." I stated.
"Warn, shoot, move, reload." Carl and Sophia uttered.
"Now there are four safety rules you have to strictly follow. Number one, always treat every weapon as if it were loaded. No ands, ifs, or buts. Even if you know it's not loaded, still handle it as if it were loaded." I explained. "You guys getting all of this?"
"I am." Sophia responded.
"Same here." Carl stated.
"Always treat every weapon as if it were loaded," Sophia uttered.
"No ands, if, or buts." Carl said.
"Even if we do know it's empty treated like it is." Sophia announced.
"All right, good." I stated. "Now onto rule number two. Always keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction, where a negligent discharge would cost minimum property damage and zero physical damage. The safest direction to point a gun is always down range." I said. "How are we doing so far, you guys understanding this so far?"
"Yeah." Sophia and replied.
"Good." I responded. "Now onto rule number three. Always keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard, until you've made a conscious decision to shoot."
"So I'm guessing rule four is about shooting the firearm?" Carl guessed.
"Not just firing." I replied. "It's about looking at what's around you, looking at the environment."
"Aren't those the same thing?" Sophia said.
"Well, yes." I responded. "Now how about we get going with the fourth and final rule?"
"Yes please." Carl and Sophia uttered.
"All right, then." I announced. "Rule number four, always be sure of your target, backstop, and beyond. You want to be aware of what's in your line of fire. Ask your friend what is exactly beyond the target and backstop you're firing at, especially when you're shooting in a wooded area, like a forest. Don't settle for 'oh, don't worry. There's nothing back there?' Ask specifically if there are any house property, etcetera beyond your backstop."
"Is that all we have to know? Or is there more?" Carl asked.
"There's more, but now we're moving onto how to hold a handgun." I replied.
"Sounds good." Sophia stated.
"Ok." Carl said.
I took out one of my guns to demonstrate while I explained what to do.
"Now, a two handed grip is a must. The gun hand, also known as the dominant hand should grip the gun high on the backstrap, the backstrap is the back is the back of the grip on the gun. This will give you more leverage against the weapon which will help you control recoil when you fire the gun. Place your support hand, also known as your non-dominant hand so that it's pressed firmly against the exposed portion of the grip not covered by the gun hand. All four fingers of your support hand should be under the trigger guard with the index finger pressed hard underneath it. Now like you did with your gun hand, you should place your support hand as high as possible on the grip with the thumb pointing forward, roughly below where the slide meets the frame. Look at the sides of your hands. There should be a distinct fit, like the fit of a puzzle, with the gun and support hand." I explained.
since I had been doing everything I had been explaining I was holding the gun the proper way, so that Carl and Sophia could see how it was done.
"So, what's next?" Carl asked.
"Yeah, when are we going to get to shoot the guns?" Sophia wondered.
"The next thing is on the shooting position, aiming the handgun, after that it's aligning your sights, and then trigger management and then onto shooting." I replied.
"Ok." Sophia and Carl said.
Again I would demonstrate on how to do it so that Carl and Sophia had an idea of what it looked like.
"Now for the shooting stance, stand with your feet and hips shoulder width spart, bend your knees slightly, this is also known as the athletic stance. It allows you to fire the weapon with stability and mobility. Raise the weapon towards the target." I stated.
"Can we start shooting yet?" Carl asked, bored out of his mind.
"Am I boring you?" I questioned.
"Yeah, you are. I thought you were going to teach us how to shoot, not give us an entire school lesson." Carl replied.
"But you guys need to know this stuff, otherwise you'll regret it." I announced.
"Please continue Nick." Sophia said.
"Now aiming your handgun. You want to aim with your dominant eye, and you always want to use your dominant eye. To figure out which is your dominant eye perform a quick eye test by forming a one inch circle with your thumb and index finger. Hold the circle at arms length. Look at a distant object and look through your circle so that the object appears in the center of it. Keeping both eyes open, bring the circle towards your face slowly. Your hand will naturally gravitate toward one eye. That's your dominate eye." I uttered.
"So, now aligning our sights, right?" Sophia asked.
"You got it." I responded.
"Good, at least we'll be shooting soon." Carl stated.
"Now aligning your sights. Your handgun has a front and sight and a rear sight notch. Aim at your target and align the top sight. There should be equal amounts of empty space on both sides of the front sight. Now set your sight picture, the sight picture is the pattern of your gun's sights in relation to your target. When you're aiming a gun, you're looking at three objects: the front sight, the rear sight, and your target. However, it's not possible to focus simultaneously on all three objects. One of the objects will inevitably be blurry when you're aiming. When you have a correct sight picture, your front and rear sight appears sharp and clear and your target appears a bit blurry. The further away your target is, the greater the need for a clear focus on the front sight."
"So, now trigger management, eh?" Carl asked.
"Eh? Did you just turn into a Canadian." I joked.
"Just get on with the lesson." Carl said.
"Are you all right Carl?" I wondered.
"I'm fine." Carl stated.
"Ok." I uttered." Trigger management is also know as pull the trigger. To fire a gun we often use the phrase 'pull the trigger.' However, to fire a gun properly, you don't actually want to pull the trigger, but rather press it in a controlled fashion, so you don't disrupt your sights. Now here's a brief and very basic rundown on proper trigger control when firing a gun. Number one, press, don't pull. Instead of pulling the trigger, press or squeeze the trigger straight to the rear. Apply constant, increasing reward pressure on the trigger until the weapon fires. Ensure that you're only applying pressure to the front of the trigger and not the sides."
"Man, this is a lot to know." Sophia stated.
"Yeah, I felt the same way you guys are feeling right know, bored out of my mind when I was learning how to fire a gun at the age of five." I replied.
"You were five when you started to fire handguns?" Sophia wondered.
"Yes I was." I responded.
"So, what's number two?" Carl asked.
"Number two, take out the slack out of the trigger. Squeeze the trigger to the point you start feeling resistance." I replied. "Number three, surprise yourself. Keep pressing the trigger straight to the rear until the gun fires. Don't anticipate whew the gun will fire. You sort of want to surprise yourself as to when the gun will actually discharges."
"Can we start firing now?" Carl questioned.
"Yes you can, but you have no guns." I responded.
"We knew that. Can we use yours?" Sophia wondered.
"Sure." I said.
I took out my guns, placed the barrels in my hands and handed them to Sophia and Carl, which they happily took them from my grasp.
"Remember, find your dominant eye and don't forget to get in the athletic stance." I announced.
Sophia and Carl nodded and started the eye test. Once they were done, they surprisingly had the same dominant eye, which was their right eye. They got into the athletic stance, aimed the gun the way they were told and shown. Before I told them to fire, I asked them, "Would you like to go out into the forest later and practice on a moving target, if we get the chance?"
"Yes!" They replied.
"Now on the count of three, I want you to squeeze the trigger and knock down the cans I've set up. Got it?!" I stated.
"Got it." Carl responded.
"Got it." Sophia repeated.
"All right then, ready?" I said.
"Yup." Sophia answered.
"I was born ready." Carl announced.
"Now, three, two, one, FIRE!" I uttered.
Sophia and Carl immediately started firing, they were doing so well it was like they were natural born shooters, that is until they had to knock down two cans that were side by side with one bullet. Carl was up first, he was clearly thinking about where to shoot, I could tell he was picturing his shot, and then he fired his shot, the bullet struck the cans dead center, which knocked both cans down. Carl walked back over to me and now Sophia stepped up to try, she was also thinking about her shot, for some reason she was smiling, either she was losing her marbles or she saw the picture that she wanted to see. She aimed right for the center, just like Carl, took her shot and BAM right in the center the bullet had struck, the cans even flew four feet away from the fence. Carl and I looked at each other in shock, we thought to ourselves, "How in the world did she do that?"
Sophia walked up to me and handed me back my gun, and Carl also gave the gun I loaned him back. I took them from there grasp and stowed them away.
"Thank you so much for teaching us Nick!" Carl said, with a whole lot of enthusiasm.
"Yes, thank you Nick. Maybe sometime you can teach us how to do it black ops style." Sophia stated.
"Firstly, it was my honor and secondly I would live to, but it takes lots of practice and hard work, you would have to wake up everyday, five o'clock sharp." I replied. "Now, let's go tell the others how amazing you did."
We ran back to the house and arrived in two minutes flat, we had also just made it in time for supper. We entered the house, sat down beside Carol, Rick, and Lori.
"So, how did Carl do?" Lori wondered.
"Both of them were great, I'd say they are both natural born shooters." I responded. "They got some serious skill, next thing you know they'll be a black ops agent like me."
"That would be a sight to see." Rick announced.
"Nick, I would like to thank you for saving Carl from getting shot." Lori uttered. "I'm glad that the two of you are friends."
"You're welcome and we're not just friends, we're brothers." I said.
After supper, we all left the house and returned to our tents and fell asleep, except for me and Sophia, we waited until everyone was fully asleep, and then we left our tent and headed toward the barn. Once we arrived we walked to the back and started to climb up the haystacks, stepped through the window, I took out my flashlight, turned it on and pointed it to the bottom of the barn and noticed that there were walkers down there. We immediately returned to our tent and I told Sophia, "Not a word of this until morning," Sophia nodded her head to signify that she understood. We made out for half an hour and then fell asleep. Dawn came quick, Sophia and I left our tent to see the others already eating. Sophia and I approached our group.
"Everyone, I got something to tell you." I announced.
"What is it?" Rick wondered.
"The barn is full of walkers." I responded.
Shane started flipping out and started pacing.
"Tell me you're not ok with this!" Shane demanded.
"I'm not, but it's Hershel's farm, we need to respect that." Rick replied.
Shane started running to the barn, we all followed close behind. Shane started to pound on the barn doors, he shook the chain lick, he even tried to pull it off, but he couldn't. He then noticed an axe beside him, he grabbed it and swung it at the chain, which caused it to break and fall to the ground. Shane threw the axe aside and saw Hershel guiding a walker. Shane immediately took out his gun and walked towards it.
"What is this?!" Shane bellowed.
"Rick, why do your people have guns out?" Hershel asked.
"We're doing what should've been done along time ago!" Shane replied.
"Shane calm down, Hershel sees these things as people, sick people." Rick stated.
"Sick people, eh! Tell me Rick could a living person walk away from this?!" Shane barked.
Shane shot four bullets into the walkers chest and then said, "Could a living person survive that!" Shane shot two more bullets into the walker and then yelled, "Why's it still coming?!"
"That's enough Shane!" Rick said.
"You're right Rick, that is enough." Shane uttered.
Shane walked closer to the walker, raised his gun and shot it right in the head, he then killed the one Maggie was guiding. Right as that last bullet was fired, walkers started coming out of the barn, I started shooting them and then mostly everyone else joined. We killed every walker that had come out, but then we heard more walkers approaching, once they appeared I dropped my gun and fell to my knees in tears. I couldn't believe it my friends from Winnipeg had become walkers until I heard two of them talk, "Holy mother of god, it's Nick!"
I looked up and noticed that it was Nathan and Ryan who had said that, I signaled them to come over to me, and so they did. I picked up my gun, wiped away my tears, turned to Justin, pointed the gun at his head and said, "I'm sorry I wasn't there bud, "I'll never forget you. I'll miss you." I pressed the trigger and watched as Justin's body fell to the ground. I then pointed the gun at Jake's head and said, "I'm sorry Jake, you were always like a brother to me. I'll miss you as well." Again I pressed the trigger and watched as Jake's body plummeted to the ground. As I was stowing my gun I began to tear up again, my face was redder than a ripe tomato from all this crying.
"Come on Nick, cheer up, don't rely on what just transpired, rely on the future. Jake and Justin were great people, and the best of friends, but they're in a better place now." Ryan announced.
"Yeah, guess you're right." I replied. "Thanks Ryan."
We started to walk back to the house, I had my arm wrapped around the back of Sophia's neck and her arm was around the back of mine.
"I bet you're wondering how we're sill alive." Nathan stated.
"As a matter of fact yes, yes I am." I responded.
"Well, Ryan and I faked our deaths, we killed two walkers and dressed them up to look like us, good thing Ryan threw a smoke grenade before we did it otherwise T.J would've seen us and the plan to get to you would've backfired. Also, if it wasn't for the Greene's we would've never have been able to get here." Nathan answered.
"You and Ryan should get cleaned up. We'll be checking for bites and scratches after." I implied.
"Hey Nick, are you all right?" Sophia asked.
"No. I just killed two of my friends, why would I be all right?" I replied. "But thanks for asking Sophia."
We had finally got back to the house, Nathan and Ryan had gone upstairs for their showers, once they were out if sight, I turned to my group, and took a deep breath.
"I don't trust them." I announced.
"Why?" Lori wondered.
"They're not themselves, they're different, they're not the Nathan and Ryan I used to know." I answered. "They can stay here, but they will have to regain my trust. Starting tomorrow I'll be taking them on a supply run, that's their first step in regaining my trust, that is if they don't fuck with my friends."
"And how many trials are there?" Glenn queried.
"For them five maybe six." I responded.
"Damn!" Carl and Sophia said in usion.
"It's what they get for faking their own deaths. When I first heard that the four of them were dead, I was shocked, especially to hear that Nathan and Ryan had died. I was like 'as if they died,' there is only one thing that can kill them, me and the entire police force. When somebody tells me that a friend has died I take it SERIOUSLY!" I stated.
A few minutes later Nathan and Ryan had come down.
"Inspection time." I announced.
"You aren't going to find anything." Nathan said.
"Because you put make up on to cover your cuts." I replied.
"No." Nathan uttered.
"Why are you lying Nathan?" I asked.
"Prove it, prove that I'm lying." Nathan redponded.
"I don't need to, I can smell it." I stated.
"So can I." Sophia said.
"Shut your mouth, you ugly bastard!" Nathan yelled.
"Shouldn't have said that, Prick!" I barked.
I punched Nathan right on his chin, which knocked him out, and then turned to Ryan.
"Got anything to add?!" I asked.
"Yeah, I do." Ryan responded.
"Spit it out then." I said.
"I agree with my brother, she is ugly, I don't know why her parents kept her. I would've drowned her at birth, why, because she is one ugly bitch, she doesn't deserve to live, she's a disgrace to humanity!" Ryan replied.
I walked up to Ryan, grabbed him by the throat, pinned him up against a wall and started to choke and beat the life out of him, I stopped to get out my knife and stabbed Ryan right in his tricep and then in his leg. I stowed my knife and turned my attention back on Nathan, who was still knocked out, I walked up to him, picked him up and threw him into the wall. Good thing both of them were still alive. I immediately left the house and returned to my tent, I started to pack my stuff, when Carl and Sophia entered.
"Hey guys." I uttered.
"What are you doing?" Sophia asked.
"Going back to the highway, why?" I replied.
"Are you crazy? The highway must be packed with walkers." Carl said.
"Don't you think I know that?!" I said, getting annoyed.
Carl and Sophia looked at me with a worried expression.
"Sorry guys, it's just-I can't stand the fact that I had to kill Jake and Justin. And I know what you're going to say. You're going to say, 'so you're just going to run off to the highway, join the walkers, and hope to get shot." I stated.
"Yeah, pretty much." Carl said.
"How are you feeling Sophia, about what those bastards said to you?" I asked.
"Fine. I don't care about that stuff, hell I got used to it when Carl said shit like that to me." Sophia answered. "But yes I know he didn't mean it, even though it did hurt...a lot."
"I hope you still believe I'm sorry, Sophia." Carl uttered.
"I do." Sophia responded.
They didn't know it but as they had their little conversation I had written a note for Sophia. I kept my things packed just in case, I waited for Carl and Sophia fall asleep, I placed the note into Sophia's hand, grabbed my bag and then left and returned to the highway, where I entered my old tent.
7 hours 30 minutes later...
It was like quarter to one, I left the highway and then returned to the farm
Back at the Greene's...
The farm was getting overrunned by walkers, Carl and Sophia were shooting them down like they were nothing.
"I can't believe Nick left." Sophia said.
"He probably left to calm down, he did nearly yell at us for nothing." Carl replied.
"You're right. I just wish he didn't leave." Sophia uttered.
"I wish he was here shooting with us." Carl stated.
"Your wishes have been granted." I announced.
"I'm glad you're back." Sophia voiced.
"Hey, how could I leave a group with my top two best friends in it?" I spoke.
"What about us?" Ryan asked.
"First things first apologize to Sophia and it better be sincere!" I replied.
"Don't worry it will be." Nathan stated.
"What happened to you two? The Nathan and Ryan I knew would've never faked their own deaths. You should know that when I found out that the four of you were dead it hurt me so much I nearly drowned myself, just ask Carl or Sophia." I said.
"Carl, is what Nick telling us true?" Ryan asked.
"As real as the undead." Carl responded.
Both Nathan and Ryan looked at Sophia.
"Sophia, we just wanted to apologize for what we said seven and a half hours ago. We would never say that to anyone, ever. If we could turn back time, we would make a way better impression, just like the impression we greeted Nick with. The truth is Sophia, we aren't or never were this cruel, Sophia we're truly sorry, I promise you that we didn't mean any of it." Nathan and Ryan said in usion.
I made sure that their fingers weren't crossed an they weren't. I looked at Sophia and she nodded.
"I forgive you, the question is does Nick." Sophia stated.
"I forgive them." I announced.
"Nick. If I said that kind of stuff to Sophia again would you do that to me?" Carl wondered.
"No, of course not. Why, because the three of us are family, we look out for one another, I would die before I hurt you or Sophia. You two mean a lot to me, the three of us have a very strong bond and nothing will ever deprecate us." I responded. "Want to help me burn down the barn Carl?"
"Hell yeah!" Carl replied. "Want to help Sophia?"
"Sure." Sophia answered.
"How are we going to kill enough walkers to reach the barn?" Carl queried.
"Nathan and Ryan could help if they would like to gain my trust back as well." I stated. "or we could just drive Otis's truck though this massive herd."
"I like the second idea." Sophia announced.
"Ok then. On three, ok?" I uttered.
"Ok." The others replied.
"THREE!" we all yelled.
We ran to the truck, Sophia got in the passenger seat, I got in the drivers seat and the others got in the back.
"Any jerry cans back there?" I wondered.
"Yeah, two." Carl replied.
"Are they full?" I asked.
"Yep." Carl responded.
With that said, I started the truck and started to drive through the herd. It took us awhile but we finally managed to arrive at the barn. Carl carried both jerry cans into the barn and placed them down, one on each side. Sophia went on a head and got a head start by climbing up to the top, and before Nathan and Ryan spread the gasoline, we closed the doors and placed a two by four in between the handles. Finally after five minutes pasted they were done spreading the gasoline. We climbed up to the top and joined Sophia who climbed up just after we entered.
"Light her up." I told Sophia.
Sophia took out her lighter, lit it, but right before she dropped it, I was knocked down from the top, and landed on my right arm. I noticed that Nathan now had the lighter and tossed it down.
"No!" Sophia cried out.
I quickly got up and made my way back up, it was taking awhile, and I wasn't sure if I was going to make it until both Carl and Sophia helped me up and the three of us walked over to the window. I looked at both Nathan and Ryan and shook my head.
"It wasn't us, it was them, Sophia and Carl pushed you." Ryan said.
I grabbed both Ryan and Nathan by their throats, guided them back to the fire and told them, "Don't make me do this."
"Kill them, they did it we watched the whole thing, and it was Sophia's idea, she was whispering into Carl's ear. Plus they were the only ones beside you." Nathan stated.
"But you were the one who tried to kill me." I added.
"Sophia told me as soon as Nick is at the bottom throw down the lighter. We aren't lying." Nathan announced.
I let both Ryan and Nathan go and then the five of us climbed out of the window and then immediately jumped onto the RV. I was laying on top of the RV crying and thinking to myself, "Why kill Carl, he's my best friend, I would never kill him, even if it meant getting these voices out of my head.
"Hey Nick, are you all right?" Carl asked.
I sat up and said, "No, I'm not all right."
How come?" Carl wondered.
"Because they want me to kill you." I replied. "And if I kill you they'll leave me alone forever."
"I don't want to and I never will!" I added. "But if I don't do it soon they'll force me too."
Carl sat down beside me and said, "They won't be able to possess you, because the three of us wield is more powerful than anything in the entire world, we will beat this world and restore the planet to its former self. We need to stick together. We need to stay strong. We need to fight, fight for what's right!"
"Come on, do it Nick, do it!" a voice demanded.
"No! I won't do it, besides I got a better idea." I replied.
"Let's hear it." another voice stated.
"I know a great new host who will do anything you ask." I responded.
"Anything?" a voice asked.
"Anything." I answered.
"What's the name?" a familiar voice questioned.
"He goes by the name of the Governor, he runs a camp named Woodburry. Find him and he'll do anything you ask." I uttered.
That was all the ghosts needed to hear and all eight left my body, in search for their new host. But if they didn't find him by sunrise they would evaporate.
"So, what's it going to be Nick? Kill me or be forced to." Carl asked.
I placed my hand on Carl's shoulder, smiled and said, "Neither my friend, neither."
"They're gone, I sent them away to find a new host and they will never return." I added.
"Are you sure?" Carl wondered.
"I'm possitive." I replied. "Need a hug brother?"
"Wouldn't hurt." Carl announced.
Carl and I hugged for a short while, I told him that no matter what I would never hurt him in any way". We then let go of each other, I looked around for the others, but didn't see them anywhere. Finally I noticed that we had stopped and climbed down to the ground. I took out my flashlight, turned it on, and pointed it towards camp. I had just started walking, when I heard a loud thump come from the top of the RV. I turned off my flashlight and quickly climbed back to the top of the RV, as soon as I got up there I saw someone the size of Ed sitting on top of Carl and was also choking the life out of him. I took out my pistol and fired two bullets into the back of the guy, thankfully they were silenced, but unfortunately they didn't stop him, so I approached the guy and started beating the shit out of him. We fought and fought, but finally this guy was down on his knees, his face soaked in blood, I could tell he was finished, I pointed my gun right between his eyes and pulled the trigger without any hesitation. Immediately I went to check on Carl to see if he was still breathing, unfortunately he wasn't, and so I immediately performed CPR. It took at least five minutes to revive him, and immediately I pulled him in for a hug.
"Are you ok Carl?" I asked.
"Yes." Carl replied, while escaping the hug.
"Who was that anyway?" I queried.
"Martin, he would always bully me, until know. Thanks for saving me." Carl responded.
"Anytime." I said. "Let's get back to the group."
We climbed down from the RV and just calmly walked back to camp, it didn't take long, maybe a minute or two. The first few people we went to go see we're Carl's parents, I explained everything that happened to Carl to them and how I took care of it.
"Thank you Nick, I don't know what we would do without our boy." Lori stated.
"No problem, as long as he's with us he'll be safe." I replied.
After that I went to go find Sophia, but that didn't turn out the way I hoped it to, because she found me, she kissed me on the lips, and then pulled away. She led me to our tent. Once we got to it we entered, Sophia zipped up the door and we lied down next to each other. Sophia told me she had good news, bad news, and horrible news.
"What's the good news?" I asked.
"Lori's pregnant, Carl is going to be a big brother. He's either going to have a little sister or brother." Sophia answered.
"What's the bad news?" I questioned.
"Dale and Shane are dead. Carl told me that it's his fault Dale died, all because he didn't kill the walker in the swamp." Sophia responded.
"And what's the horrible news?" I queried.
"It's Nathan and Ryan, they're planning something, I think it's an attack on our group. I heard them talking about it a few minutes after the rest of us got set up." Sophia replied. "The nerve of those guys, you should've killed them right then and there!"
"I was planning to." I announced.
"Why didn't you?! Now you're the reason this whole group is in peril." Sophia stated. "All of our blood will be on your hands if we die and we will never let you forget it!"
"Jesus fucking Christ Sophia, why the hell would you say that? I thought we were friends, hell, even boyfriend and girlfriend, but I guess not." I uttered.
I turned over onto my right side and fell asleep. Sophia decided to cuddle up with me, Sophia placed her hand over on my chest and rested her head near mine.
"What are you hoping for?" I asked. "A boy or a girl?"
"Boy." Sophia answered.
"Same here, it's like like we share the same mind." I said.
"What will we name him if it does turn out to be a boy?" I wondered.
"Carter Gray Lamerante." Sophia responded.
"I love it." I exclaimed.
"For real?" Sophia wondered.
"For real." I announced.
"Nick, please look at me." Sophia said.
I thought about it for a bit and wanted to just ignore Sophia now, but I didn't I turned over and looked at Sophia.
"I want to apologize for what I said." Sophia stated.
I sighed and looked Sophia deep in the eyes and told her, "There's no need for that, I forgive you."
We hugged each other and added a kiss, and then fell asleep in each other's arms.
Before we knew it, it was morning, Sophia and I got woken up by Carl.
"Come on you two live birds, it time to move on." Carl uttered.
Sophia and I fixed each other's hair, I went into my bag and pulled out the same bottle of warm vanilla perfume I lent Sophia back at the farm and handed it to her.
"For you, my sweet angel." I stated.
"Thank you!" Sophia exclaimed.
Sophia took off the cap and then applied some on herself, she even asked me if I wanted some.
"No thanks, I got my own." I replied, chuckling.
I went back into my bag and pulled out a bottle of twilight woods cologne, I took off the cap and then applied some on myself, and put it back in my bag. I zipped it up, and threw it over my shoulder. Finally Sophia and I were ready and left our tent. We started walking towards the RV. It took us a little longer than it took me to arrive at camp, since Sophia put our tent up further away from all the others. It took us nearly four minutes to get to the RV and then we got in. Once we were on board we drove off, hoping to find a permanent place to stay. We've been on the road for at least two hours and within that two hours nothing had turned up, until now. There it was the perfect place to stay was only a mile away, it had everything it needed to keep out the walkers, it had fences, walls, and even guard towers. This prison is going to be the best place ever, I know it. I looked over at Carl and asked, "Are you sure you're all right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Carl stuttered.
"Come on Carl, be honest." I said.
"All right fine, I'm not ok, ever since I was choked to death by Martin I've been a little off, I've also have been letting my guard down to easily, and last night I had a terrible nightmare." Carl replied.
"What was it about?" I questioned.
"It was about me, you, and Martin, but in the nightmare you still had the voices in your head, you still killed Martin and revived me, but when you did you started hitting me with the handle of the gun, then you choked me for a bit and best me up until I was on my knees begging for mercy, begging you to stop. My face was soaked with blood and right before I woke up you cut my head off with a katana." Carl explained.
Carl started crying, I went to go sit beside him, gave him a hug and allowed him to cry into my shoulder, because that's what friends do. Carl stopped crying after a couple of minutes. I then said, "Carl, look at me."
Carl looked at me, his eyes were still a little red, I again put my hand on his shoulder and uttered, "Carl, you and I both know that I would never hurt you or Sophia, like I said a year ago, I would die before I hurt you two, you guys are my family, we make each other stronger. I would never even think about hurting you, let lane killing you, that's just way out of line. If it would help you Carl, I could leave."
Carl was downright shocked at the last thing I said, he told me that I didn't have to leave, even if it did help him, and how important to the group I was. I smiled and thanked Carl for his kind words.
"Don't mention it." Carl replied.
"Ah man, just looking at Carl and Nick makes me feel guilty, how on earth am I going to tell Nick about me and Carl? I only did it because he left and I thought he had turned into one of the walkers and especially when we first did it while Hershel was still taking out the second bullet fragment. I don't want to ruin Nick's friendship with Carl, but I'm going to have to tell him sometime, but when a nod how?" Sophia asked herself.
After twenty more minutes of driving we finally reached the prison, we all got out and off our vehicles and followed Rick. Rick took out a pair of pliers and cut a hole in the fence, Rick moved it out of the way and we all stepped into the prison. As Rick came in he put the piece of fence back.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked.
"You, Carl, and Sophia will be clearing things in the guard towers and then rendezvous with us up at the main fence up there but wait for my signal." Rick replied, pointing to the fence. "The rest of us will be clearing out the walkers out in the field."
"Sophia, Carl you two take the one on the left and I'll take the one on the right." I stated.
I handed them my pistols and told them to keep then.
"Thanks Nick!" Carl exclaimed.
"Yeah, thanks Nick, but what will you use?" Sophia asked.