Shane-Pov
I walk alongside Carl and Charlie as they talk to each other. It's just Carl talking really, Charlie only nods or mutters a quiet yes or no answer. Poor girl rarely speaks more than a couple sentences a day before withdrawing.
Sophia and Carol stopped cleaning the fish halfway through, saying something about checking up on Ed.
After cleaning the fish Charlie and Carl both have fish scales and blood on their hands. Makes them look more like murderers than innocent kids.
"Carl, Charlie, why don't you both get cleaned up? I'm gonna check on Jim, alright?" I tell them both, ruffling Charlie's brown hair.
"Ok, Shane. C'mon, Charlie!" Carl grabs her hand and runs off with her. Charlie stumbles a bit as she runs alongside him but ultimately steadies herself and continues on.
Once they're both out of view I start heading to Jim, who's still tied up to the tree. The shade and water should have helped him calm down from that episode he was having earlier.
Jim turns his attention toward me when he notices my approach.
"Hey, Jim. How you feeling, man?" I ask, crouching down in front of him.
"I'm better. More myself now," He answers.
I study him for a moment. He seems calmer now, less frantic.
"I hope you understand the need for this…this timeout. I, I've got others I need to think about. I just want to make sure there's no hard feelings."
"There's not. I do understand. You'd do anything for the people you care about. I only wish I could've kept my own safe," Jim says, his eyes taking a faraway look to them before focusing back on me. "Just…watch over that girl you got now."
"Charlie ain't mine." I like the girl, but she needs someone better than me. I thought maybe I could be somewhat of a father to Carl. It's not what I'm meant for. Charlie'd be better off with someone else.
"Not by blood," Jim says.
I pause, wanting to say more but deciding to just let it go. "Okay." I straighten up. "Why don't you come join in with the rest of us? Big ol' fish fry we're having."
Jim smiles. "I'd like that very much."
–-
Charlie-Pov
Carl drags me toward his mom. He grips my hand as he runs, not too tight. He skidded to a stop once we reached Lori. She's talking to Dale about the fish fry tonight, saying something about having enough chairs.
"Mom, Shane said to get cleaned up. Can we go down to the Quarry?" Carl pleads.
"Alone? Absolutely not." Lori says.
"I'm not going alone, Charlie's with me," He states.
"You two alone. Still no."
Carl lifts the hand that was still gripping mine. "But we're all bloody!" He shouted causing a few of the nearby people to give us odd looks. I shrink back from all the stares.
Lori sighs and looks around. I can tell she's searching for someone to take us or an alternative that didn't make us go all the way down to the quarry.
Carl is relentless though. "Mom, please. We'll be quick, I promise."
Running her hand across her forehead she spoke, "Fine." She grabbed two rags off a nearby table and handed them to us. "You go down to the quarry and wash the blood off before coming straight back. Now hurry, dinner will be soon."
"Thank you, mom!" Carl shouted before dragging me away again.
We race through camp and toward the short trail that led to the quarry. The sun was starting to set and the Georgia heat begins to dissipate. Crickets chirped along the trail as we run past them, they jump away from our steps. A few birds fly over our heads chirping a sweet song. The world seems almost normal again.
Making it down to the quarry, Carl releases my hand and rushes to the water's edge. He bends down and dunks his rag into the water. He began scrubbing furiously at the red stained onto his skin.
I bent down next to him and started doing the same. The fish's blood started to disappear as I rubbed at it. I didn't know cleaning fish meant getting yourself dirty.
Carl had way more blood on his hands than I did so I finished first and stood to the side waiting. Next to me on the ground was a perfectly shaped rock for skipping. Glancing up at Carl I see he still has a ways to go so I decide to grab the rock. Remembering what Shane taught me I threw the rock at the water and watched it skip across half a dozen times.
"Woah! How'd you do that?" Carl asked. He was staring at the ripples left over by the rock.
"Shane taught me," I mumbled.
He got up and ran toward me, his excitement was obvious. "Can you teach me?"
I look down at my feet, the attention was a little much.
A bush near us rustles and we both freeze.
Carl snaps out of it and moves in front of me. "Maybe we should go back up."
The bush shakes again and out jumps a raccoon. It was fairly large and did not look friendly. As soon as it saw us it hissed and the fur on its back stood up. It turned to the left and ran off.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I nodded to Carl's earlier statement.
We both grab our rags and start heading back to camp. A little blood was left on Carl's arms but he didn't seem to mind, he was mostly just eager to return to camp, back to the safety of his mom.
The sun is almost set now and a cool breeze drifts around us. I shiver and wrap my arms around myself. The uncatchable frogs were ribbiting and croaking as we grow closer to camp. I'm sure they're taunting us.
"So is your face okay? I heard you got hit by Ed." Carl seems nervous to ask. Down at the quarry, I caught him glancing at my face a lot.
I reach up and touch the bandage on my face gently. It itches a little but the pain is mostly gone. "It doesn't hurt much unless I think about it."
"Next time I promise I won't let you get hurt!" He puts his hand over his heart. "I swear."
"You don't got to do that. It's not your fault."
"I left the quarry without you. If I stayed I could've helped you."
"You were just listening to your mom," I tell him.
By the time we reach camp a few of the brightest stars are visible in the sky. I walk up to Morales and Dale who are cooking fish over a big fire. They both say hello as I sit in one of the seats surrounding the firepit. I respond to them with a timid wave.
The smell of fish hangs in the air and my stomach grumbles. I didn't eat much today. A stale granola bar and a few blueberries from some bushes around camp was all we had for breakfast. We'd been running low on food so a group volunteered to go on a supply run into Atlanta. All they came back with was Carl's dad, and we can't eat Carl's dad.
Something light landed on my head, letting out a soft squeak of shock I instantly went up to grab it. It was Shane's police hat, I must've taken it off at some point and forgotten it. Turning around in my chair I see Shane standing there, he's laughing at my reaction.
"You forget something?" He asks.
"No, it's yours," I say, crossing my arms.
"From now on it belongs to you," He walks around my chair and sits in the one on my left. "You hungry?"
I widen my eyes and nod quickly. Food was sounding better with every passing minute.
Shane chuckles. "I'll be sure to let them know to serve you first."
Dale must've overheard because he turned around from the fire with a plate full of cooked fish. "Here, hand me a plate and you can be the first to try some."
I look around for a plate, I don't see one so I jump out of my chair, making sure Shane's hat was securely on my head before I began searching. I run around half the camp before pausing when I realize my shoes are untied. Standing back up I push Shane's hat out of my eyes and resume my search.
Seriously, where do they keep the paper plates?
"Charlie!" Shane calls..
I run back to him. He holds in his hands a plate with one delicious-looking fish on it. Before the apocalypse, I had never really cared for fish, but now I think it's my new favorite food.
Grabbing the plate from him I sit back in my chair and say a quick prayer of thanks for this fish before grabbing it with my hands and biting into it. There is no need for a fork when you have hands.
"Woah slow down, you're gonna choke if you eat like that." Shane hands me a fork.
I take it from him but continue to eat with my hands.
I was the first to finish my food so I lean back in my chair and stare up at the sky.
Others around me are eating their fish, their sounds of enjoyment fill the camp.
I let my eyes slip close as I listen to the others talk. Sounds of frogs and crickets filter in through the words.
"I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy," I hear Morales say.
Dale's voice says next, "What?"
"That watch."
"What's wrong with my watch?"
"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass," Morales explains.
Jacqui joins in, "I've wondered this myself."
I open my eyes and look at Dale, I'm also a little curious as to why.
"I'm missing the point," Dale says, opening his hands in a confused gesture.
"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while," Jacqui says.
Morales takes a bite of fish and says with a mouth full of food, "But there's you every day winding that stupid watch."
"Time," Dale begins. "It's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here." He looks to Andrea for support who scoffs and takes a sip of her beer. "I like… I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, "I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment…now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it."
Everyone is silent as he finishes his small story, light smiles are on everyone's faces.
To me, it made no sense. I don't even know what a mausoleum is. I just know that time is time, it passes, and it can't be stopped or sped up.
"You are so weird," Amy says.
People chuckled at that.
"It's not me. It's Faulkner. William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing." Dale laughs.
It goes back to silence after that. We all sit around and enjoy the peaceful night. The stars are out in their full glory now. If I look hard enough I'm sure I could find some of the constellations my dad used to point out to me.
I see Amy get up to head off somewhere when Andrea stops her.
"Where are you going?" She questions.
"I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here…" Amy walks off toward the RV.
Carl, who is sitting on my right, taps my shoulder. "Do you want any more fish? Mom said to ask if anyone else wants some."
I shake my head, I'm far too full.
Carl grabs the last piece of fish and begins to eat away at it.
I go back to looking at the stars.
The RV door opens and Amy stands in the doorway. "We're out of toilet paper?" She calls.
My focus shifts from the stars to Amy.
A man in tattered clothing steps toward her. I barely have the time to scream before he bites her arm, causing her to scream too.
Shane jumps out of his chair, he looks at me first and then at Amy who's now on the ground screaming and bleeding. Everyone jumps up and starts running.
More walkers enter the camp from all directions, they start attacking those nearest to them.
Shane gets his shotgun out and shouts at Lori to get Carl down. He begins shooting at the walkers. Jumping out of my own seat I get down next to Carl and Lori. Shane begins moving forward and shouts for us to follow. A walker stumbles up behind us and lunges at me. I scream and start running to the side, someone in front of me gets grabbed by a walker and pulled to the ground, I watch as they get eaten alive.
I let out another scream and run. I head toward Jim who is whacking a walker with a shovel.
He spots me and yells, "Charlotte, get to the RV!"
Turning around quickly I smack into a walker's side, knocking me to the ground, it falls on top of me, and the stench of its rotting flesh fills my nostrils. I push back against its head in a desperate attempt to keep its snapping jaws away from me. Its already bloodied hands begin digging into my shoulders, I cry out in pain as its fingernails pierce my skin. I use my leg to hit its side causing it to fall over slightly and giving me the chance to push it off me. Jumping up I bolt away.
"Charlie, down!" Someone yells.
I drop straight to the ground and cover my head.
In just a few seconds a peaceful night turned into chaos. I just want it to end. A gunshot flys over my head and I hear a thump from something behind me. I lift my head and turn around to see a walker on the ground. Turning forward I see Shane standing with his shotgun aimed behind me, he shoots again, and again, and again, all in different directions. Carl, Lori, Carol, and Sophia are all behind him with their backs against the RV.
"Charlie get over here! NOW!" He shouts.
I jump up and run toward him. He reaches out with one arm and pulls me to him. Raising his shotgun again he returns to firing. I stand with my back against him, eyes shut, and my hands are over my ears in a feeble attempt to block out the screams and gunshots.
A few minutes later the screams die off and the gunshots come to a stop. I slowly open my eyes to see Carl once again racing toward his dad, tears in both of their eyes. When did Rick get back?
I notice T-dog, Daryl, and Glenn standing around too. I'm glad Glenn's back.
I look up and see Shane watching Lori and Carl hug Rick, he looks sad about it. Maybe he wants a hug and that's why he's sad. I know I need a hug right now.
Turning around I hug him, my arms barely reaching up to his middle. He freezes at first and then bends down and wraps his own arms around me. I bury my head in his shoulder, my cold nose starting to warm up.
"It's alright Charlie," He says. "You aren't bit?"
I shake my still-buried head.
"You hurt at all?" He asks.
My mind goes back to the walker that got me earlier, it had scratched me. Stepping back I point at the small crescent-shaped marks on my shoulder from the walker's nails. "I'm not gonna die, am I?" I ask, my voice trembling.
He inspects the scratches and shakes his head quickly. "No, no, you gonna be fine. No one's turned from scratches." I search his face, looking for any signs that he's lying to make me feel better.
Andrea's screams draw my attention away from Shane. She's sitting over Amy.
"Amy. Amy got bit," I think to myself.
"Amy. Oh, Amy. No, no, no," Andrea cries. She's holding her sister in her arms watching as she takes her last breaths. Amy's eyes slowly close and her chest stills. Her limp hand falls out of Andrea's grasp.
"I remember my dream now, why I dug those holes," Jim announces. An eerie silence follows as he stares out at all the bodies left over from the massacre.