Blue? No green, definitely green.
I'm sitting on the bed in the back of the Rv. Paper and markers litter the graying sheets. I grab my green marker and start coloring in the eyes of a pegasus. My plan is to give it to Sophia, she loves all that horse and unicorn stuff.
I am just about to finish coloring the wings when I feel the RV slowing. Curious, I look out the window. We're in the middle of a highway. Why would we stop here?
Abandoning my drawing I make my way to the front of the RV. Andrea and Shane are at the table, he's cleaning his gun. Again. T-dog is leaning against the counter, drinking some water.
Moving past them all I stop just behind the passenger seat that Glenn is currently occupying. Out the front window I see lines of abandoned cars that stretch down the road as far as I can see, but what really catches my focus is the overturned truck blocking most of the road. I start imagining how that happened, only screams fill my mind at the thought so I shake my head to clear it and focus on what Dale's saying.
"See a way through?" He yells to Daryl, who's parked outside the window. He nods and slowly drives forward, Dale follows after him.
From the passenger seat Glenn's holding up a map, scanning the roads. "Maybe we should just go back. There's an interstate bypass-"
Dale cuts him off. "We can't spare the fuel." He sounds very final on that decision.
He drives forward, carefully avoiding cars and just barely scraping past a few of them when the engine sputters out and our view is covered by white smoke.
The RV comes to an abrupt stop and I catch myself on the back of Glenn's seat.
"Aw man, not this again," T-dog throws his hands up in frustration. He's the first to exit the RV. I follow him out, the others behind me.
Glenn opens the passenger door and gets out groaning at the sight of the engine smoke.
"You're gonna fix it, right?" I ask him.
"Dale's the one who'll be doing the fixing. I'll just be helping."
Dale pops the Rv's hood and everyone's waiting to hear his diagnosis on the engine's condition.
Rick and the others have stepped out of the minivan now and have headed over, Daryl stepping off his motorcycle and joining them.
I already miss the Rv's cooler temperature. The heat is so suffocating I'm worried the rubber on my converse is going to melt on the hot asphalt.
"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times dead in the water," Dale grumbles.
Shane surveys the area. "Serious problem Dale?" His eyes are looking out over the cars as he asks.
"Oh, just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no hope of-" He looks around at the deserted cars. "Okay, that was dumb."
Shane smiles. "If you can't find a radiator hose here."
Daryl moves past everyone and starts rummaging through the trunk of the closest car. "There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find."
"Can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start," T-dog suggests.
"Maybe some water," Carol says with a longing look.
"Or food," Glenn adds.
Lori looks disgusted at the rest of us. "This is a graveyard. I…I don't know how I feel about this." Like just the thought of taking stuff from these cars would be the cruelest act we could commit.
Shane ignores her, speaking to the group, "Come on y'all. Look around, gather what you can."
I choose to follow after Carol and Sophia, Carl and Lori come along too. We pass a car and see a body through the window, flies buzz around it and the smell alone causes me to back up a few steps.
"Kids, don't look," Carol instructs us.
Too late.
We continue on. Carol opens up one trunk and finds a suitcase filled with floral shirts and cute dresses. She picks up one of them and holds it up. "Ed never let me wear nice things like this." Her eyes get glassy but she shakes it off and settles her face into a more settled look. "We're going to need clothes."
Carl and I start wandering a little further away, Sophia trailing behind.
Lori calls after us, "Hey Carl. Always within my sight, okay?"
"You too, Sophia," Carol adds.
"And you, Charlotte," Lori adds as an afterthought.
Carl gives Lori a nod and we continue on, glancing back every few steps to make sure we can still see the adults. We search through a few cars, for the most part we just stay silent as we explore. Until Sophia breaks that silence.
"Do you ever think about Eliza and Louis?" Sophia is holding the doll Eliza gave her, tugging at one of its braided pigtails.
"I try not to," I tell her. Inside one of the cars I find a collection of coloring books and I'm tempted to grab them but I know they won't fit in my backpack so I leave them be. I do check if they have any crayons or markers but I don't find anything.
"Why?" Sophia asks after a minute.
I'm worried what I'm about to say will make her cry but I don't want to lie. "If it's this hard surviving in a group this big it's hard to imagine that they're….uh…safe."
"Oh," Is all she says.
Carl finally speaks up, always the optimist, "They could be completely fine though." He jumps over a tire. "I'm sure there are families doing just fine on their own."
Sophia just hugs her doll close.
Another couple minutes go by of us looking through the cars when we hear Rick's worried voice.
"Lori, get down!" He whisper shouts. Then he turns to us three. "Carl, Charlie, Sophia, down!" He drops and crawls under a car. Carl does the same without hesitating.
Confused, we stand there for a moment but when I hear a growl I drop immediately and pull Sophia with me. We roll under a van and I can see Carol and Lori a few cars over. Carol's crying and covering her mouth to stop her sobs. Her eyes don't leave Sophia even as feet stumble past us.
From under here I can even see Glenn and Shane way up ahead hiding under a big truck. Their backs are to us but I can tell it's Glenn by his red cap.
I start shaking, trying as hard as I can not to make a noise. Sophia is doing the same, tears brimming in her eyes.
To distract myself I start counting how many cars are between me and Carl, then me and Shane, then Carol and Lori, and finally Rick. Even after all that the walkers are still here, all around us. I can't help it as my eyes begin to water. From stress or fear, I'm not sure. Just one walker needs to spot us and we're gone, the whole herd will turn on us in an instant.
Eventually the walkers start to thin out, until it's just one or two passing by every couple seconds. Then, when the coast seems clear and the groans of the walkers can't be heard anymore I turn to look at Rick. When our eyes meet I try to convey the question of "Is it clear?" with just my expression.
He seems to understand and shakes his head, holding up one hand in a stay put motion.
I nod and turn to Sophia to tell her to stay put, except she's already halfway out from under the car. I go to grab her arm and pull her back when a walker drops down in front of us. She shrieks when it's arm reaches toward her, that's when I grab her and pull her back. We both crawl out the other side and run toward the RV when another walker blocks our path, making us switch directions.
I see the truck Shane and Glenn are hiding under and try to head there instead when I notice Sophia's gone a completely different way. Deciding it's better not to run off alone I follow her. She jumps over the railing along the highway and slides down the hill. I struggle to jump over it like she did but I manage, tripping on my way down after her. Somehow two walking corpses are quicker at getting over the barrier than I was so I run as fast as I can toward Sophia.
When I do eventually put some space between me and the walkers, I realize we're getting too far away from the highway.
"Sophia!" I shout. The herd from earlier is far enough away that they definitely can't hear us shouting all the way out here. At least that's what I'm hoping.
"Keep running Charlotte!" Is all she yells back.
"But-" I pant. "-the highway is-" Another pant. "-too far."
She just keeps running. So do I.
I don't stop when I hear the groans get louder. I don't stop when I hear a third set of footsteps. I don't stop until something slams into me.
I scream and kick out, but the arms aren't clawing at me, they aren't ripping into my skin, they're holding onto me.
"Shh, shh. It's just me." Rick.
He releases me and steps back but I immediately rush forward, quickly wrapping my arms around him, trying desperately not to cry. At the sound of the fast approaching walkers I let go of him and turn toward the noise.
"You good?" He aims this question at Sophia.
She's holding tight to her doll, eyes wide and panting. "Shoot them!"
Rick steps forward and puts his hands on Sophia's shoulders. "Those walkers on the road will hear it. Then it wouldn't just be two, it'd be hundreds."
The two walkers emerge from the trees. Rick picks me up and grabs Sophia's hand. "Alright, come on."
I wrap my arms around Rick's neck as he rushes through the woods. He runs through some bushes and stops at the bank of a little stream. He puts me on the ground and jumps into the water. Sophia follows after and Rick helps me down.
"You have to do exactly as I say." He leads us toward a little enclave covered by tree roots. "Hide in there. Squeeze in tight." He backs away a little, looking into the trees. "I'll draw them away from you."
I don't want him to leave but I know I should listen to what he says. Both my Dad and Shane would tell me to do as he says in this moment, so I back up as far as I can into our little hidey hole. Sophia doesn't seem to have the same conviction as me, instead she holds onto his arm.
"No! Don't leave me!"
Rick gently steers her next to me and quiets his voice as he speaks. "Listen. They don't get winded. I do. I can only deal with them one at a time. I wouldn't be able to protect you both. This is how we all survive. You girls understand?" We both nod and he looks relieved. He backs up, turning to face the woods. "If I don't make it back, run back to the highway, back to the others straight the way we came. Keep the sun on your left shoulder." With the walker's groans growing louder he bends down and slaps the water to fully catch their attention. "Come on! You ugly bags. Come on!"
I can hear the walkers emerge out of the bushes.
"Come on! Come on!" Rick keeps shouting. He gives us one last glance before running off into the woods. A moment later the walkers come splashing through the water after him.
I keep chanting what he said in my head, trying not to forget it.
Left shoulder. Left shoulder. Left shoulder.
Sophia and I sit there, listening for any sign of Rick's return. We sit there for what feels like hours. I know that isn't right, the sun has barely moved.
"I don't think he's coming back," Sophia whispers. She's squeezing Eliza's doll and staring down at the water pooled around our feet. "He should be back already."
"It hasn't been that long. He might've run further than he thought he would," I try offering an explanation.
She doesn't say anything for a couple minutes, I'm hoping she stays patient a little longer.
She doesn't.
"What if they got him? What if he's already dead and he's not coming back?"
I don't like the thought of him dead. Carl only just got him back. He'd be devastated.
Sophia continues her whispers, "We should go. I don't want to wait any longer, I want to find my mom." She starts wading her way through the water, leaving our hiding spot.
"Wait. Sophia!" I stand there, unsure of whether to follow her or not. If she's right and Rick isn't coming back then I'll have to find my way back alone. But he can't be dead, it was only two walkers.
I watch as Sophia starts climbing out of the water. Nervously tugging my shirt I think of what to do. It's safer in numbers, Shane told me that.
"Sophia, I'm coming, wait!" I keep my voice low, but loud enough that she can hear it.
She waits for me to climb up the bank. "Let's go." She starts walking, but the sun is on her right shoulder.
"Rick said left," I state. "He said to keep the sun on your left shoulder."
Sophia turns around. "He did?" Her voice is shaky. "I swore he said right shoulder."
Now this is a problem. One of us has to be wrong, but I'm so sure he said left. Maybe he said don't keep it on your left?
"You're older, so you're probably right." She's on the verge of tears so I'd rather not argue about this. If she's wrong we'll just have to find our way back and go the other way.
Sophia leads the way and I follow closely behind. Rustling leaves and snapping twigs cause us both to jump every time. I'm careful to watch our surroundings, we don't need another walker chase.
Hours pass and the sun is getting low. We definitely didn't run this far but Sophia is so sure we came this way; claiming every tree looks familiar and she's sure we passed that fallen log.
"Sophia." No response. "Sophia," I repeat.
"What?" She doesn't even turn to look at me. Just keeps marching ahead.
"We're going the wrong way. We need to go back."
At that she stops. "Do you know how to get back to where we were?"
I look around at the trees then back at her. "No."
She turns to face me, a couple tears gather in her eyes. "Then we're doomed." Tears run down her face, a few drop to the ground.
Seeing her so scared doesn't help my growing fears. If we can't find our way back then we'll have to survive on our own, and that's exactly what I can't do. Oh and poor Carol, she needs Sophia.
I stand there awkwardly, waiting for Sophia's crying to stop. She keeps going though, in between her sobs she says things like, "We're gonna die," and, "I just want my mom."
She is getting a bit loud, I wish she'd quiet down but it feels wrong to tell her to stop crying when she's pretty much right.
No, don't think that. We're gonna find that highway and then we're gonna find our group. Carol and Sophia will be reunited and I can go back to coloring in the RV.
Sophia won't stop crying anytime soon so I sit down, giving my feet a well deserved break. I try my best to tune out her crying and focus on a bird that's just landed on a branch. It flaps its wings before settling, it sets its eyes on me and tilts it's head in curiosity.
There was a time when a bird got trapped in our garage. It was just a little thing, probably a chick that just learned to fly. My mom didn't want to go near it, scared it would peck her eyes out. We left the garage door open but its chirps drew more birds so we ended up closing it before more got in. Eventually it settled down and stopped its chirps, so I put on my dad's leather gloves and a pair of protective goggles. Then I climbed up our old ladder and picked it up. It was so small and fragile, I was worried I'd hurt it. When I left the garage and set it free it flew away instantly, unharmed and free.
I smile at the memory, still watching the bird in front of me. It jumps off the branch and flies away. My smile fades as I watch its retreating form weave it's way through the trees.
That's when I hear a scream, it pierces through me. Jumping up I turn around, there's a walker grabbing Sophia, who's attempting to push it back. I rush over to help, I don't do much but our combined efforts manage to get it to let go. Once free Sophia runs as fast as she can. Before I can do the same it latches on to me.
"Sophia!" I scream.
She's either too far or too scared cause she doesn't come back.
How many times am I gonna have to be caught in a walker's grasp. I'm getting pretty tired of this. I push and shove and kick. I'm completely alone this time, so I have to get away on my own.
These things don't feel pain, but they do rely on their muscles and bones to get around. With all the strength I have left I kick one of its knees. It falls over and I scramble back, taking in a big gulp of air before standing up. I run as fast as my legs will go, I'm screaming Sophia's name, hoping she'll hear me.
The sun is starting to set, and shadows are growing.
My mind grows foggy from all the running, and my thoughts are so focused on Sophia that I don't even notice the rock on the ground. And I definitely didn't notice the downward slope right behind it.
When my foot connects with the rock I'm sent toppling over the edge. I roll and roll and when I reach the bottom I slam into the side of a tree. My back erupts in pain.
The sky is spinning, mixing the green trees and the orange sky into a rainbow of different colors. I can't sit up, can't breathe, and my vision darkens.
My eyes latch on to something above me. The same little bird from before, it's watching me again. It looks away from me, back to the woods. Then it flies away, gone, just like before.
I can't keep my eyes open any longer and fall into the darkness.
Let's not mention my update schedule at this point. I do humbly apologize for the wait, the next two chapters should be out soon. Can I just say I'm so excited for you guys to read what I have in store for the rest of season 2!
There will be some major additions!
Anywho, till next time ~Sparrow