I'm really sorry I neglected this for so long. I've known where I wanted to go with it for quite a long time, but lack of motivation, work, family, and life stalled it. I'm really sorry and I hope you still enjoy it. It WILL NOT take more than a day or two for the next update, I promise. Thanks again everyone for the great reviews too! They served to get my fingers typing!
Carl was having a decent morning despite the fact his father's whereabouts were unknown and his two remaining adult companions were either sick or injured. He couldn't think about his father, but he did. His thoughts drifted to Rick and all the possible fates that might've befallen him.
More than likely, he had drowned. The current in the river had been too strong for him or he'd been caught on something like Maggie or Daryl and gone under never to come back up. If he survived the river, and Carl knew it was a big if, he'd be completely unarmed and left to fend for himself. He knew his father would be too exhausted to fight with walkers or people. He'd be washed too far downstream for any from the group to find either. Hope was slim that Rick was still alive.
Without fully realizing it, Carl lowered his head. Now that he was out on his own, it gave him time to think. Back in the trailer, he'd been distracted enough by Daryl's injury and he put all thoughts of his father aside. But it wasn't just his father either—it was all of them. He might never see Judith again, or Michonne, Glenn, Tyreese, Beth…the list went on. Would the group come looking for them or assume they were dead? Should he and Maggie wait for Daryl to heal, if he could, and look for them? There were too many unknown variables and the different scenarios scrambled Carl's brain. He was left to face the present and make the best of the situation as it unfolded.
But his day had not been so unlucky so far. He'd rummaged through two trailers so far and found a decent load of supplies. There were various medicines that Maggie could hopefully make sense of and maybe something that would help Daryl. He grabbed a couple tins of canned meat and beans and stuffed them deep in his bag. He salvaged a flashlight with extra batteries but more importantly found an actual weapon. A gun.
He had to pull it from the hip of a walker he killed and it only came with four shots, but it made Daryl's hunting knife seem obsolete. It could save them if they got into a pinch with walkers, or with people. Carl took special care with the gun and fastened its holster around his own waist after making a new hole on the belt to accommodate his smaller size. He could protect them now, and he was proud of himself for it.
Carl sighed and opened the door of the third trailer he was going to search. He opened the door a mere crack and was slammed in the face by the putrid smell of rotting corpses. It was the worst he'd ever come across and he immediately closed the door; the back of his hand pressed to his mouth to keep from gagging. He looked about and saw six cars parked nearby and figured an entire family must've come together and subsequently died in the same trailer. Even if they were all truly dead, Carl wasn't going to risk it. Whatever was inside the trailer was not worth risking releasing a small herd.
"Good enough," said Carl quietly and he stepped down. He decided he'd return to his trailer and would then plan on making another run after he dropped off the supplies he had procured. He could certainly tell Maggie about the cars and bring her back to see if any of them still ran. Six cars? One of them had to work.
Carl walked back towards the trailer as his supplies bounced along with him. He shifted the bag from one arm to the other but then looked about: he could hear someone crying in the distance. The sobs were too pitchy to be from a man and Carl's pace quickened. He sped on and found the tree the cries seemed to be centered from. Stepping around the side, he discovered Maggie bawling into her hands.
"Maggie?" he asked at first.
Maggie looked up at Carl with blood and tears rolling down her face.
"Maggie! What happened?" he asked, dropping the bag and kneeling beside her.
"I don't know," she sobbed hysterically. "I don't know. I don't know, I don't know what happened. I don't know where anyone is."
Maggie went to run her hands over her head and Carl grabbed them and pulled them down.
"What did you do to your head?" he asked.
"I don't know!" she yelled back. "Damn it, I don't remember anything!"
Maggie's exclamation startled Carl briefly but he quickly composed himself to take charge of the situation.
"Ok…it's going to be ok. You know who I am, right?"
Maggie nodded her head.
"You're Carl," she said and wiped away a tear.
"So that's like good…what about your boyfriend, what's his name?" asked Carl.
Maggie pressed her eyes closed while her lips trembled.
"Glenn," she said certainly. "Then there's Rick and Daryl…"
"But you're not dating them too; that'd make you a slut," said Carl teasingly. Maggie laughed gently and smiled.
"No but I'm not married yet so I can still look," she said and winked.
Carl laughed too for a moment before getting back to business: Maggie was out on her own and clearly not completely with it; something had happened.
"Can you remember anything from today?" he asked. "Do you know what happened to your head or where Daryl is?"
"Daryl?" she asked and closed her eyes again. "He's with Rick, isn't it?"
"Let's hope not," said Carl. Maggie's brow crinkled as she didn't quite understand Carl's remark. Carl sighed and then stood up. He took in the rest of Maggie's appearance and she didn't look too bad. He decided she and Daryl hadn't been attacked and maybe it was an isolated incident where she had fallen and hit her head. She was confused enough for that to be the case though Carl guessed he wouldn't get much of a decent explanation out of her. Carl extended a hand to help Maggie up and then steadied her.
"I'm ok," Maggie said though she continued to press her hand against the bandage on her head.
"Does it hurt?" asked Carl.
"Yes," answered Maggie.
Carl set his bag down in order to open it up. He dug through it and eventually pulled out a faded bottle of Tylenol. He shook out two pills and then offered them to Maggie.
"Sorry I don't have any water," he then said.
"Thank you," said Maggie with a warm smile and a small, understanding nod.
"Are you dizzy or anything?" asked Carl.
"Oh yes," Maggie said with a sigh. "I think that was why I stopped that or I didn't know where I was going."
"Why'd you leave the trailer in the first place?" raised Carl. "Did something happen with Daryl? Did he get worse?"
Carl saw the panic spread across Maggie's face.
"Daryl? He was hurt, wasn't he? Oh shit…I—I just left him there!" Maggie pushed away from Carl and lunged in the direction opposite the way to the trailer. Carl reached out just in time and snagged her elbow to pull her back.
"This way," he said, picking up his bag of supplies and leading her down the correct path.
They traveled quickly despite Carl readjusting the bag every few steps and Maggie not being able to walk in a straight line. Barely five minutes later, the trailer came back into view. Maggie's pace quickened and Carl was forced to throw his arm out again to rein her in.
"Walker," he whispered and pointed towards the corner of the building.
"It's just one; I think we can sneak by it," said Maggie. The walker ignored the two and continued in a determined manner for the area around the door.
"Wait…something's not right," said Carl. He studied the side of the trailer and scanned it back and forth. It looked different somehow. He obviously hadn't taken the time to memorize its appearance but knew something was out of place.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Maggie asked, her concern growing.
Carl bit his lip and tilted his head to the side.
"The front door looks different," he finally decided.
"No," said Maggie though she sounded unsure.
Carl huffed briefly and was still sure something wasn't right though he couldn't put his finger on it. He went on watching the walker as it approached the trailer and then dropped to the ground. Its growls increased like it was going to feed on something and then Carl realized what was wrong.
Daryl was on the ground.
Initially he had mistaken the man for a dirty piece of the house that had fallen away, but walkers were not drawn to pieces of wood or metal. Now that Carl knew what he was looking at, Daryl's shape was easier to distinguish though he was covered in mud. The walker reached out for Daryl and Carl realized he couldn't waste another second. He pulled the pistol from his hip, pointed it at the walker's head, and pulled the trigger.
Carl's shot went wide and sank into the side of the trailer.
The noise from the gun and the bullet impacting the siding were enough to distract the walker from Daryl momentarily. It slowly turned its head so that the man's glazed eyes fell somewhere between Maggie and Carl. It growled at the pair of them and then returned its attention to Daryl.
