"I'll use my katana." I replied.
I pulled it out of its sleeve and showed it to Carl and Sophia.
"That's the sword you used in my nightmare." Carl said.
"Well, I only use this sword for good, not evil." I responded. "And don't worry it won't even come close to your neck while it's in my hands, and it's also because I'm not that kind of guy."
I opened the door to my guard tower and ten walkers came out and I nearly fell. I started cutting off heads one by one, somehow I missed the very last one, and it was just about to bite my arm when a gunshot was fired from the tower striking the walker right in the head. I stepped into the guard tower, closing the door behind me, I ran up the stairs and found a eleven year old girl breathing heavily and she was also pointing the gun at me.
"Just leave me alone," she said.
"I just wanted to thank you for saving my life back there." I stated.
"You're welcome," she replied.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Clementine," "Clementine answered.
"Hi Clementine, I'm Nick." I uttered. "Where are your parents or at least your guardian?"
"Gone." Clementine announced.
"Well if you want you can join ours you can." I voiced.
"Ok." Clementine spoke.
I stepped out onto the walkway and noticed Rick was giving the signal, I told Clementine to grab her things and to follow me. I stepped back into the tower and by the looks of it Clementine only had a backpack. I led Clementine down the stairs, out of the tower, and right back to our group. Everyone was here except, Carl. I walked over to Sophia and asked, "Where's Carl?"
"He's still on top of the tower, he's going to be snipping walkers." Sophia responded.
"Ok, good." I stated.
"Everybody ready?!" Rick wondered.
"YEAH!" we all yelled.
Rick opened the gate and immediately everyone was killing walkers left and right. I killed five of them with my bare hands and another five with my katana. This one area took at least three more minutes to clear and once it was two SWAT walkers came for us, I took out my hunting knife, walked up to one of them, lifted up the helmet, and stabbed it in the mouth right to the brain. Glenn did the same thing to the other one but with a crowbar. We then took out the rest of the walkers and then headed inside. Once we got inside we started to clear out any walkers that were in our way and hoped we could find a suitable cell block to stay in. It took us at least half an hour to find a suitable cell block, but once we found it I let everybody else go in and I stayed outside.
"Hey Rick, I'm going to go get Carl." I announced.
"All right, but be careful." Rick replied.
I nodded and ran back the way we came. It took me around five minutes to get to the door we entered from, I pushed it open, and jogged to the guard tower Carl was using. I entered the tower, closed the door behind me, I ran all the way to the top and hid behind a corner. I watched Carl's every move, very quietly and very slowly I crept up on Carl and yelled, "BOO!" I scared Carl so bad that I knocked him over the rail, luckily I caught him just in time. I pulled him up and said, "Sorry, I couldn't resist."
"I always enjoy a good scare every now and then so, no harm done." Carl stated. "I'm going to get you back for this."
"Good luck, I'm practically scare and prank proof. I can sense a prank happening from a mile away." I uttered.
"We'll see about that." Carl exclaimed.
"Still friends?" I asked, holding out my hand.
"Of course." Carl replied, shaking my hand.
We left the tower and started walking back to the prison. We were about halfway back when I placed my arm in front of Carl, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"I need to know, why?" I announced.
"Why, what? Carl questioned.
"Why did you yell at Sophia the day I was waking up after getting shot?" I responded.
"I was just lost and felt angry, I just started yelling, I didn't even realize it was Sophia, I couldn't even recognize her voice, I was so distraught. That is until I heard crying, when I saw it was Sophia and realized what I had said I felt really, really sorry." Carl answered. "I'm sorry Nick, I really am."
"I forgive you, just please don't let it happen again, and I know you already apologized to Sophia but can you do it again." I stated.
"Sure thing. And I promise it won't happen again." Carl said.
As soon as we took one step we heard the fence start to jingle, we turned around to see that a thirteen year old boy had caused the ruckus. I started to run toward the gate, it only took me about two minutes to fully reach the gate. I opened it as far as I could and the boy squeezed his way through, it was a tight squeeze, but he managed.
"Thanks a lot Nick." T.J said.
"No problem T-J." I replied.
Immediately I pulled him in for a hug and obviously he hugged back.
"It had been way too long, buddy." T.J announced added.
"No kidding." I responded.
After two minutes of hugging we stopped, and I led him to my friend Carl.
"Who's this?" T.J asked.
"This is one of my best friends, Carl." I answered.
"Hey Carl, I'm T.J," T.J uttered.
"Nice to me you, T.J." Carl stated.
"Well, now that you're both acquainted let's head back to cell block C." I announced.
They both nodded and followed me, it took us almost an hour to get back to the cell block, because we ran into almost twenty five minutes, but at least we managed to kill them all. We took out five each, Carl and T.J both used melee weapons, but I used my bare hands. Once we got back we were confronted by Rick.
"About time you returned." Rick spoke.
"Yeah, sorry about that, as you can see we ran into another survivor." I responded.
"No problem, who is he anyway?" Rick wondered.
"This is my friend T.J, the one who called me back at camp." I answered.
"The one who told you about your friends from Winnipeg being dead, and the one who got bit?" Rick questioned.
"Yep." I replied.
Rick signaled me to come over, so I did, he squatted down, and whispered in my ear, "We can't have him near the others, who knows how much longer we have until he turns, he's a threat and can't stay here, he had to be on the other side if the cell."
I nodded and said, "I understand."
Rick got up, walked up to T.J and told him everything he told me, but he rephrased it. I was disappointed, I had just been reunited with T.J and he had also just made a new friend, but he did as he was told.
"Where's Sophia?" I asked.
"Sixth cell on the left." Rick replied.
I walked to Sophia's cell, but the door was closed. I took out my flashlight and banged it against a bar and then put it back. Sophia immediately came to the door, opened it, pulled me in, and then closed the door again.
"He's kicking." Sophia stated. "I can't wait to be a mom."
"I can't wait to be a dad," I smiled.
"What took you so long?" Sophia asked.
"Carl and I had a run in with one of my friends from Winnipeg, his name is T.J." I responded.
"Is he trustworthy?" Sophia wondered.
"Big time, but he's bit and has been that way for two years, he's bound to turn at some point." I answered.
"That must suck. I feel bad for you, first you lost your mom and now T.J. You list so much and are still fighting, I'm proud of you for not giving up, and I think Carter is to." Sophia uttered.
I gave a weak smile, then the tears started to come, I immediately gave Sophia a hug and cried into her shoulder, just like she did with me on the first day of school.
I told Sophia that I didn't want to lose T.J or want him to turn, and that he means a lot to me, because he was one of my first friends in Winnipeg, and that we had made a promise, that if we lived to see the apocalyptic world and if one of us ever turned or got infected, we would end that friend and give them mercy. It has to be me that kills T.J, no one else.
"Do you want to do it now?" Sophia wondered.
"It would be best." I answered. "Can you go get Carl please?"
"Of course." Sophia stated.
We both got up, Sophia opened her cell door, and we both stepped out. Sophia headed upstairs, while I headed to the gate. I didn't even look at T.J once, in fact I had place my head in the corner, and I could feel some tears falling off my face.
"Are you sure he's capable if doing this?" Carl asked Sophia.
"I'm sure." Sophia announced.
both Sophia and Carl approached Nick, Carl patted me on the shoulder and asked, "Are you ready?"
I wiped the tears away and said, "Yes."
Sophia handed me the 9mm I gave her, I smiled, and Carl opened the gate. We all walked out of the cell block, I looked at T.J and he looked at me. I gave him the nod and he said, "make it quick."
Right after he said those three words he just fell to the ground, I walked over to T.J's body, aimed the gun at his head and uttered, "I'm sorry T.J," I then pulled the trigger and T.J was now at peace
"Rest in peace buddy." I stated. "I'll miss you, you were one amazing friend and still are, you will always be a part of me, and thank you for all the good times we had together, I will always cherish them."
"You ok Nick?" Sophia questioned.
I looked at her and replied by saying, "Yeah."
I walked back to the two of them and hugged them both, as I had them in my grasp I felt a luck, which really cheered me up. I let go from the hug, squatted down and said, "looks like we have another fighter in the family."
Soon after everyone came to see what had happened. Rick looked at us but mostly me.
"What happened?" Rick wondered.
"I gave T.J mercy." I answered. "And that's all you need to know!"
I returned to Sophia's cell and latex in bed, just staring at the wall, and soon enough I was staring through space. Sophia entered sometime later and lied down beside me. Sophia wrapped her hands around me, this made me smile, but what made me smile more was another kick from Carter. I unclenched Sophia's hands, turned around so we were face to face, we smiled at each other, and then kissed.
"Sophia, did I do the right thing?" I questioned.
"You mean about giving T.J mercy?" Sophia clearified.
"Yes." I responded.
"Then I believe you did. Nick he was suffering, but it was incredible how he went two whole years without turning, also it was obvious that when he passed out he was going to turn. You did the right thing and I bet he thanks you for it and for keeping your promise." Sophia stated.
"Sophia?" I said.
"Yes Hun?" Sophia replied.
"You know what forget it, I was just going to ask if we could change Carter's name to T.J, but I'm happy with it being Carter." I stated.
"Well, I don't mind we could change Carter's name to T.J, but we'll go with whatever makes you happy." Sophia responded.
I smiled and French kissed Sophia. Outside of our cell Carl was signaling Sophia to come to him. Sophia pulled away and said, "I'll be right back, I'm just going to see what Carl wants."
"I'll be waiting." I announced.
Sophia left our cell and followed Carl up to his. I waited until they were out of sight and headed upstairs. I followed the voice of Carl until I reached the outskirts of Carl's cell and began to eavesdrop, but I then had second thoughts about eavesdropping and returned to Sophia's cell. It took Sophia about ten minutes to return, I looked at her and asked, "So what did Carl want?"
"He just wanted to talk about how you gave T.J mercy. He also told me to tell you that he's sorry for your loss." Sophia replied.
""That's very kind of him." I uttered.
"Well he is a very kind boy." Sophia stated.
"Let's hope he never changes." I announced.
"Here, here." Sophia said.
"So..." I started.
"So what?" Sophia wondered.
"When is our baby?" I asked.
"According to Hershel, he should be coming in four days." Sophia replied.
"That's great news." I announced.
The guilt was killing Sophia, she had to tell him, even if it meant ending Carl and Nick's friendship. Right before Sophia could say something she heard somebody else say "Nick."
I stepped out of the cell and asked, "What do you need Rick?"
"I need you to go on watch for two hours." Rick stated.
"Ok." I replied.
I turned to Sophia and asked her if she wanted to come on watch duty with me.
"Sure." Sophia answered.
It took us awhile to get to the top of the guard tower, but it didn't bother me. As far as I could tell there were just over fifteen walkers, but all of that could change in a matter of minutes. Since I was on guard duty, I thought "why not kill some walkers." So far I had killed eleven, I was going to shoot just one more when something caught my attention. It was a man wearing an eye patch over his right eye, a black vest, olive green cargo pants, and a black under shirt. He just stood there on the edge of the forest, watching our group, planning for an attack, and was also studying our every move. My two hours were soon finally up and Sophia and I returned to our cell.
"Are you hungry Sophia?" I asked.
"Big time." Sophia stated.
"What would you like?" I wondered.
"An egg salad sandwich and iced tea." Sophia stated.
"Ok, I'll be right back." I uttered.
I kissed Sophia on the lips and left the cell block to find the cafeteria. It took me half an hour to reach the cafeteria and along the way I had to clear at least twenty five walkers. One of the walkers nearly took a chunk out of my neck, but somehow I managed to kill it. Once inside the cafe I got to work making Sophia's sandwich and beverage. Sophia's iced tea took two seconds to make and her sandwich took two minutes to make. Once I was done I returned back to the cell block and entered Sophia's cell. I handed Sophia her snack and said, "Sorry I took so long."
"It's all right." Sophia stated. "I'm sure you have your reasons."
"Yeah, I do, but I'll tell you after you're done eating." I replied.
It took three minutes for Sophia to finish both her drink and sandwich.
The guilt was really starting to kill Sophia, she needed to tell Nick, but how could she break it to him.
It was quarter to ten and I decided to go outside and get some fresh air.
I was outside for about half an hour when Daryl came up to me all drunk and said, "When you left, you should've heard what was going on in Carl's tent, it sounded like Carl and Sophia were having some fun, it sounded like a wild ride. Inside the tent I heard all sorts of sounds, I heard moaning, thumping and the good old 'oh yeah."
What Daryl had told me got me raging, I immediately got up, went back to the cell block, up to Carl's cell, and entered. I closed the cell door behind me, Carl looked at me and said, "What's up?"
"YOU'RE A DEADMAN CARL, A DEADMAN!" I roared.
I tackled Carl to the ground, kneed him in the stomach three times and punched him in the face left and right three times as well.
Short flashback...
"Excuse me?" I said.
Carl looked up at me and answered with, "Yeah?"
"Do you mind if I sit next to you?" I asked.
"No, as a matter of fact you can sit next to me everyday we go to school." Carl answered.
So I took my seat next to Carl, we talked none stop until we arrived at school, he told me his name was carl, and I told him my name was Nicholas.
End of flashback.
Again I kneed Carl three times in the stomach, but instead of punching Carl in the face I got up and stomped on his stomach twice, and then punched him in the face left and right five times, which busted him open.
Flashback...
I was at my locker getting my things, when Carl ran up to me and asked," Want to come over?"
"Yeah, that would be great." I replied.
I closed and locked up my locker, I followed Carl to a cop car with the word 'sheriff' on both sides. We both got in the back, put our seat belts on, and we drove off.
"So Carl who's your friend?" Rick wondered.
"This is Nick, the guy I was telling you about, the one who helped out Sophia." Carl replied.
"That was very generous of you Nick," Rick announced.
Thanks, but-" I didn't know if I could mention it.
"What is it Nick?" Rick wondered.
I took a deep breathe and said, "Sophia's dad Ed, beats her and her mom. She told me that they try to defend themselves, but he just more ruthless."
"Do you know her last name?" Rick queried.
"Peletier." I responded.
Rick punched Ed's name in his computer and got all the information he needed to arrest the S.O.B. Rick pulled up into the grimes driveway, dropped off me and Carl and Rick quickly left, turning on the sirens. Carl led Nick to his house, Carl took out his house key and unlocked the door both of us stepped inside, I closed the door and followed Carl up to his room. Once we were in there I felt like I was going to faint he had two thirty inch flat screen in his room and also two xbox 360s and two copies of GTA V.
"Want to play?" Carl asked.
"Sure." I replied.
"But first we need to listen to the news, I heard that there was an outbreak." Carl stated.
Carl changed the input to HDMI 1 and changed the channel.
"This just in walkers, walkers are among us, everyone is advised to remain indoors, and don't let anyone see you." the reporter announced.
After that everything went out, the only light that was in the house was coming through the windows.
"Fuck!" Carl yelled. "The windows are our only light source and we have to board them up!"
"Hey Carl?" I said.
"Yeah?" Carl wondered.
"Heads up." I stated, as I tossed him a LED flashlight.
"Thanks Nick." Carl stated.
It took us ten minutes to board up every window that was in sight. Within a matter of seconds Rick bursts in with his wife, Sophia, and Carol her mother.
"Are you guys alright?" Rick asked.
"Yeah, we're good." Carl and I spoke together.
"Looks like you two are quite the woodsmen." Rick stated.
"Actually, Nick here showed me how to do it properly." Carl replied.
"Where's my mom?" I asked.
"With Shane, my best friend." Rick answered.
"Now everyone in the car!" Rick ordered.
Everyone obeyed and did as Rick told them. After two minutes of waiting, Rick got in the car and we drove off. As we were driving Sophia introduced her mom to me and Carl.
"Hey Nick?" Carol said.
"Yes Carol?" I replied.
"I just wanted to thank you for helping and sticking by Sophia on her first day of school." Carol stated.
"You're welcome and don't worry I promise to keep her safe." I announced.
Two hours later we arrived at camp just in time to see Atlanta get bombed. We watched until it was over, then Shane introduced us to everyone. We put up our tents and everyone except me, Sophia, and Carl went to sleep. Carl and Sophia shared a tent and I was all alone in mine, so I left my tent and headed for the lake. Sophia and Carl saw Nick's shadow drift over their tent and asked each other, "Where is Nick going?"
"I don't know, but let's follow him." Sophia said.
Carl nodded in agreement, he opened his tent and said, "Ladies first." Sophia blushed and stepped out of the tent, then Carl exited his tent as he and Sophia jogged to a tree and hid behind it. They did this until they saw Nick take out a bench press weight with a chain attached to it, they watched as Nick tightened the belt around his waist, they continued to watch Nick as he made his way into the water, once the water was over Nick's head, Nick dropped the weight. Quickly Carl said, "Get the others, and tell them to come to the lake." Carl however just started running into the lake. Once Carl was deep enough he dove underwater and swam to his friend, Carl untied the belt, took hold of Nick and resurfaced. Carl started swimming back, it was hard but he managed to do it. Carl immediately performed CPR. Carl thought it wasn't working until he felt a cold, wet hand on his face, Carl turned his head and saw me smiling at him.
End of flashback.
I was just about to punch Carl one last time, when I noticed that Carl was lying there motionless, I stopped myself and immediately performed CPR. After ten whole minutes of giving CPR to xarl, he finally came to, I helped Carl sit up and said, "I'm sorry Carl, I'm really sorry. I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore."
"It's, it's all right N-Nick, I-I forgive y-y-you." Carl stated.
"I think I might stay here tonight." I announced. "I'll fix you up and have you looking like your handsome old self in no time."
Carl smiled slightly and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." I replied. "Are we still friends?"
"We're not just friends, we're brothers!" Carl answered.
"If I'm going to fix you up I'm going to have to look at your abdomen." I stated.
Carl gently took off his shirt, revealing one nasty knee sized bruise.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! How could I do this to my friend, to my brother?!" I thought to myself.
"Are you all right Nick?" Carl wondered.
"Of course I'm not all right Carl! I fucking beat you to death and revived you to unbearable pain!" I replied. "While I was reviving you, I was thinking about stopping and ending it for you."
"Why didn't you?" Carl queried.
I took some deep breathes and then uttered, "because Carl, you're going to be a big brother and I would like you to meet your sibling. I would also like you to meet Carter. Another reason is because of what you said that we're friends until the end. The final reason is the bond the three of us share, we help each other survive, fight, laugh, the bond wouldn't be complete if one of us died, we're what makes each other stronger, thanks to you and Sophia I was able to recover after getting shot. I wouldn't be able to live with myself for what I've done to you or be able to forgive myself, you're my brother, we have to look out for one another. I love you Carl and from now on I promise to protect you, and I vow to never hurt you again."
My eyes were glistening with tears to show how sincere I was. I placed myself in a corner, sat down and curled up, putting my forehead on my arms, to hide my tears. Just then Rick entered and asked, "What the hell happened in here?"
I lifted my head just enough so that only my eyes were revealed, I looked at Carl and nodded, signaling him to tell the truth.
"Remember that day at Hershel's farm, when Nick left, leaving Sophia a note, which she thought was a goodbye forever note." Carl wondered.
"Yes I do." Rick replied.
"Well it all started at sunset, before you killed Shane and that massive herd of walkers came. You see Sophia and I were in my tent, having some 'fun' for quite a long time, as we 'progressed' it started to get way out of hand. I wanted to stop because I knew that what we were doing was wrong, but Sophia ordered me to keep on going and so I did. The only reason we stopped was because we heard yelling. I told Sophia that I would go and check it out and that she should stay where she was to regain her energy. When I arrived at the fight scene I just watched and acted like I saw nothing, when you turned around and saw me and started walking towards me I drew my gun and aimed it over your shoulder and shot Shane the walker. Then the heard came and Nick returned, Sophia told me to keep what we did a secret from Nick . We then burned down the barn, returned to the highway, but in a different location, then I was beat bad by my old school bully, but Nick dealt with him, and revived me. And that's when my nightmare happened where Nick beat me with the back of his guns until I was begging for mercy and then decapitated me with his katana. Then we arrived here at the prison, a great place to call home, which in the same day I met T.J but it was also the day Nick chose to give him mercy, but at nighttime is when Nick found out somehow and that's when Nick beat me to death, but revived me for a lot of good reasons. Just by looking at Nick I could tell he was dreadfully sorry and regretted it, and I forgave hive, but I don't think he forgives himself." Carl answered, motioning to me when he said that last bit.
I dried my eyes, got up, walked over to Rick and said, "it's all true and I'm sorry."
"It's all right Nuck, why don't you go down and join Sophia while I take Carl to Hershel." Rick uttered.
I nodded my head, but before I left I helped Carl to his feet and instantly hugged him and once again started to repeat, "I'm sorry," to Carl.
"Nick, honestly it's all right, I forgive you." Carl stated.
I released my grip on Carl and left him in Rick's hands. I returned to Sophia's cell, closing the door behind me, I noticed that Sophia was awake, and it looked like she had been waiting for me.
"About time Nick. Where were you?" Sophia asked.
Once again my eyes filled with tears and I almost started crying.
"Daryl told me about you and Carl and after he did, I went straight up to Carl's cell and beat him to death, but I revived him, and he also has some nasty bruises." I replied. "I don't think I'm going to be able to forgive myself for my actions, I do a little, but not enough."
"I'm sorry Nick, It's all my fault, I was the one who came up with the idea and if anyone deserves to be punished it's me." Sophia stated.
"No you don't! No one does." I said. "I'm thinking of leaving the group...permanently this time!"
"What about Carter?" Sophia asked. "Don't you want to be here when he's born? To hold him? And protect him?"
"I do but- what about Carl? I know he forgave me and all, but I'm worried about his safety. What if it happens again? I can't risk that and I can't risk putting the rest of the group in danger." I replied. "Starting tomorrow I'm leaving and never coming back!"
"Is this really what you want Nick?" Sophia questioned. "Do you really want Carter to grow up without a father? Someone he can rely on. Someone he can count on to always be there for him when he needs him the most."
"No I don't." I answered.
"So, you'll stay?" Sophia wondered.
"I'll stay for now." I replied.
Sophia and I kissed each other on the lips and once again Carter kicked, and again he cheered me up. Sophia and I were soon fast asleep, the best thing about sleeping with Sophia is that she always falls asleep in my arms, which always gave me bright dreams, that is until tonight, tonight I had a nightmare. When I had awoken from my nightmare it was like five in the morning and this nightmare was worse than Carl's.