Updated: 04/22/2017 Corrected grammar and punctuation errors

"Mom...Mom, please wait for me!"

"Hey wake up... wake up."

Carl was having a nightmare, and he was crying in his sleep. Luna was trying her best to wake him up, but he just didn't want to let go of the dream.

She grabbed his shoulders and shook him again. "Hey, It's just a dream. Wake up."

Carl opened his eyes, and when his eyes finally saw Luna, he grabbed onto her and began to sob uncontrollably. Luna held onto him tightly and let him cry into her shoulder. This wasn't the first time that Carl has woken up screaming or crying.

It's been two days since they found him in the crawl space and since then he has been going in and out of consciousness with brief moments when he was lucid enough to drink and eat.

During the brief periods when he could speak he would ask about his mother and say how he had to get his father out of the hospital. No one knew if he was just rambling or if his father really was in the hospital.

Luna continued to hold him tight and rub his back. His sobs soon died down, and his breathing returned to normal. Luna didn't know if he had fallen asleep again. She slowly unwrapped her arms and looked him directly in the face. Although his eyes were bloodshot from all of the cryings, she could tell that he was fully aware of things.

" So do you feel better? "

"Yeah a little "

"Good because I don't think my shirts can survive another one of your cry fests" she smiled at him to let him know she was just teasing him.

"I didn't mean to.." he lowered his eyes embarrassed to think that he has been crying like a big baby

"Hey, no sweat. This has been tough on all of us. "

" I'm Luna by the way."

"I'm Carl "

"I know you told us when we pulled you out of your hiding space."

"Us? "

"Just me and my two dumb sisters. Let me go tell them your awake real quick. I will be right back."

Luna quickly got up and left out of the room. Carl began to look around the room. It was evident it was a kids room someone near his age video games was splayed across the floor with game consoles nearby, and the walls were donned with anime posters. His eyes were combing over the stranger's belongings when he heard the door click open.

In walked Luna with two other women both older than Luna from what he could tell. All were a deep pecan skin color with dark brown almond shaped eyes.

"Well look who finally decided to rejoin the living" Ila teased. Ila looked to be in her twenties with a purple tinted fro-hawk with tapered cut sides. Carl immediately thought she was a goth/punk chick with her lip piercing and tattoo. Her brown eyes had the slight look of irritation even as she teased him.

"Yeah I guess I did" Carl replied slightly embarrassed

"Ignore her. So how are you feeling today?" Michonne gave a glare to Ila to hush her sister up. Ila sighed while ignoring her sister's dirty look.

"I'm feeling ok. I guess... my head hurts, but that's all."

"Good. You had us worried there for a bit" Michonne studied Carl's face with a look of concern in her eyes.

Michonne had the same almond shaped eyes as her sisters, but her eyes held a warmth to them that Carl couldn't ignore. She wore her hair in dreadlocks that just brushed past her shoulders. Michonne smiled at him, and he immediately felt at ease.

"You have been kinda out of it for the past two days."

Michonne and Luna sat at the end of the bed one on each side and Ila took a seat in a chair near the window.

" I think it's time for a short introduction. My name is Michonne. This is my sister Luna, and that is my other sister Ila."

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

"Yeah. My mom went to get more supplies for us but something happened, and now she's dead."

"We are sorry to hear about your mom, but she did make sure you still had a chance. She left a note for whoever came along saying you were in the house."

"Yeah lucky for you squirt we were running for our lives and came to this house" Ila stated sarcastically while looking out the window at the lumbering dead walking the streets.

"Don't worry about Ila she's not mad at you but mad at the situation" Michonne speaking up in her sister's defense.

"Fucking right I'm mad. The dead are walking around like its another day in the neighborhood. Oh and let's not forget they are biting the shit out of people. Damn right I'm mad" Luna and Michonne glared at her for her outburst

"Ila would you shut the hell up. Stop being so damn dramatic and watch your language " Luna rolled her eyes at her sister's mini rant.

"Dramatic! I'm not dramatic it's just the damn truth. Don't call me to save you when one of those things sets its eyes on your scrawny behind" she pointed her finger at her sister.

Luna rolled her eyes at Ila again. " We will be fine. If there is anyone who could survive something like this it would be us. Together."

" Man whatever. We should be home not in this town that we don't know a damn thing about."

"Ila damn. Shut up" Luna hissed

"I need you both to shut up" Michonne glared at both of her sisters. She understood the stress they were under but now was not the time for arguing.

Michonne took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves.

"So Carl how old are you."

"12."

"You and Luna are close in age. That's good."

"So was it just you and your mom here."

"Yes, we were hiding here till it was safe to leave."

"What about your father?"

"He's in the hospital in a coma." his eyes became big and panicked "My dad is still in the hospital we have to go get him!" he started trying to sit up.

"Hey... Hey...Calm down." Michonne placed a hand on his shoulder trying to get him to lay back down. " Are you sure your dad is still there maybe the military moved him to a different hospital. "

"No..no he has to still be there. I have to go to him and help him."

Carl started trying to get out of the bed again.

"Hey wait a minute squirt you can't go anywhere" Ila stood up and started walking toward the bed with her voice filled with concern.

"I'm not a squirt! I have to go help my dad. I have to help him. " he was getting flustered. The feeling of not being able to help was making him angry.

"Carl hey we know what your feeling but right now you are not ready for what's going on outside" Michonne once again trying to get him back into the bed.

"I don't care. I have to still try". Suddenly Carl felt really weak, and the room began to spin. He collapsed back in the bed his breathing becoming fast and shallow.

"Come on take it easy for now" Luna pass me that water."

Luna handed the bottle of water to Michonne and gave some to Carl to drink.

All three woman were in awe of his determination to get to his father but knew his stubbornness would get him hurt.

Carl continued to sip from the bottle of water, and his breathing began to return to normal. The sisters each shared a look and silently communicated with each other. They knew what each was thinking. Ila rolled her eyes, Luna shook her head, and Michonne eyed both of her sisters with her eyebrows raised. The decision was made.

"We will go look for your father" Ila cursed under her breath " Just Ila and I. Luna will stay here and keep you company, but I can't promise anything."

"What's your dad's name?"

"Rick Grimes"

"Ok, we will leave to go check in a few hours. Till then I need you to get some more rest because we may have to leave here soon. This neighborhood is getting a little too crowded for us" Michonne rose to leave, and Ila followed right behind her towards the bedroom door. Ila suddenly stopped and turned to look at Carl.

"We buried your mom in the backyard. Let's us know when you would like to go visit the grave."

"Thank you."

She nodded her head and left.

Luna turned and looked at Carl her face suddenly lit up

" So do you read comics..."

"Have you lost your damn mind Chonne!"

"Ila calm down. We have to go and at least check. If there is any possibility that Carl still has family alive, we need to get him to his family."

They both walked into the kitchen and sat at the kitchen island facing each other.

"Have you looked outside lately. The number of those damn things keeps increasing and not to mention the damn crazy normal people who are running around just randomly shooting at people." Ila waved her hand around gesturing towards the front door.

"Ok you know what let's cut the bullshit and you tell me what the real problem is. You have been acting crazy since we got here."

"I'm just worried about us is all."

Michonne shook her head "You Miss Bad Ass Blackbelt Champion Ila Sexton. Worried?! There is no need to worry. We have to be smart and stay calm. When you panic you make stupid mistakes and get hurt."

"Yeah I know, but this isn't a Hapkido competition. This is real life. What about mom and dad? Aren't you worried about them?"

Michonne placed her hand on her sister's shoulder "Of course I am but mom is with dad, and we both know he will protect her till his last breath."

"Yeah, he will."

" So I'm very sure mom and dad are safe, and they wouldn't want us to worry about them. They would want us to keep each other safe."

Ila sighed "Yeah your right. So what's the plan."

"Well from what I can see on this map the Hospital is only about 3 miles away. I figure if we stay low and move fast we can avoid too much contact with those things plus, it will move them away from here for a little while, so we won't have to worry too much about Luna and Carl."

"What about weapons?"

Michonne signed at the realization that they may have to get out there unarmed.

"Unless you have a katana, dan bong or a joong bong somewhere around here it looks like we will be hand to handing it out there."

"Screw that mess. I'm going to find something around here. There has to be a bat or something we can take" Ila jumped up and began rummaging in different drawers and cabinets looking for some type of weapon.

"Ok while you are looking I will get a small pack ready for us" Michonne turned and walked out of the kitchen in search of a backpack they could take.

"Oh hey also look for some bandanas we have got to tie our hair down. The last thing I want is some nasty dead hands trying to touch my hair." Ila yelled from the kitchen

Michonne laughed out loud as she continued looking "Believe me I think that is the least of our worries."

The trip to the hospital was a cat and mouse race. Michonne and Ila were the mice, and the dead were the cats. Ila was able to find a few baseball bats that they now carried. They moved fast and quietly in between houses and burnt out cars. They were always listening for the dead. Luckily they did not encounter any large clusters of the dead. The ones they did encounter were easy to handle with one quick blow to the head just to slow it down. It was obvious to see that almost all of the residents had either left or are now walking with the newly dead. Exhausted and out of breathing they arrive at the hospital, and it was clear that the military had abandoned the facility. There were bodies everywhere in body bags, abandoned vehicles and what looked like the remains of a recent gunfight.

Michonne and Ila carefully made their way inside and found the patient registry list that showed an R. Grimes on the 3rd floor in the long term care ward. A breathless Michonne and Ila raced through the empty dark hospital to the 3rd floor and found his room, but it was empty.

"Now what. He's not in here" an exhausted Ila leaning against the doorframe uttered.

"Could they have moved him to somewhere else?" Michonne panted out while leaning over and placing her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath.

"Who knows they could have taken him outside and shot him for all we know."

"Don't say that" Michonne rasped still trying to catch her breath she raised up and trudged towards the window to look out.

As she looked out the window, she thought she saw someone stumbling around outside.

"Ila look at this. I think I see someone out there."

Ila walked to the window still holding her side and looked where her sister was pointing, and she could just make out a figure walking away from the hospital in what looked like a hospital gown.

"Maybe it's a someone who was just bitten wandering around, but it doesn't matter because we don't have time to find out. Let's get the hell out of here" she turned and marched back toward the door.

"Yeah let's go" Michonne kept watching the figure as it continued to walk away. She just couldn't shake off this weird feeling about it.

As she turned away from the window, her mind was already trying to think how they were going to tell Carl that they didn't find his father.

"Chonne let's go!" Ila called from the hallway