Forever Alone // Carl Grimes (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 8

~ Edited ~

"We drove by a small shop round here somewhere." I mumbelled, pushing my way through the sheet of trees and out onto the road. Carl followed behind me, silence looming over us both.

"It's down there," Carl pointed to the small red roofed general store about a hundred yards down the road. I nodded and started off into a jog.

"Be quiet and stay close."

I crossed the road swiftly and dipped in behind the first row of trees. Carl held his gun in his hands, I wondered how what kinds of things he had to go through.

The shop turned out being quite small but it looked like it might have been what we needed. If it was raided I doubt people would take powdered baby food. Cans and bottled water, naturally, would be first to go.

I slid along the brown- painted wall and went for the back entrance. It instantly reminded me of the day I found Judith. I chuckled at how I managed to find myself in the kind of situation in a matter of days.

I pushed down on the door handle and the stiff metal wouldn't move. The handle was rusted and gritty under my hands, I pulled away and cursed loudly.
"It's locked."

Carl nodded and stepped up to the door. He kicked it multiple times, launching his foot towards the centre of the wooden window-less door, until it finally gave up under the pressure.

I laughed, sending Carl a half-smile. He nodded, a small smile of it's own crossed his pale face and I felt a wave of satisfaction wash over me.

Carl seemed like that kind of person that was forced to wander along the back of life. With Rick as a dad, I could imagine that he wasn't allowed to fo much on his own. I knew that it probably wouldn't go down well him leaving in the middle of the night to follow a girl unknowing of where he would end up.

"Thanks.. I guess."

I stepped into the cool room and followed the dark hallway, ending up emerging behind the shop counter. I banged at the metal counter with the tip of my machete and thankfully there was only one Walker in the place.

Carl and I set off through the store in search of anything we needed. As thought, the non perishable foods were all taken. The place looked relatively untouched but that was probably due to it's location. Whoever owned it probably cleared most of it.

"I found the food!" Carl yelled from the other side of the store. I sifted through various items on the hygiene isle while holding my weapon close.

"Alright," I answered. "I'll be there in a sec."

I grabbed some necessities from the shelves and made my way to Carl who was packing the bags full of baby food. I stopped next to him and he looked at my full bag questionably.

"What are they?" He asked, suspiciously eyeing the colourful boxes I packed into my denim rucksack.

"Feminine hygiene products." I rolled my eyes and raised an eyebrow at Carl who's cheeks flushed bright crimson. He stammered on his words and I laughed.

"Is that all we need?" I asked, taking the heat off him. He cleared his throat and nodded.

"Yeah," He scanned the items in his bag. "That's all the baby food and there isn't anything else here we need."

Carl threw the bag over his shoulder and we left the store in a hurry. The sun began to peek over the horizon turning the sky a shade of purpley-orange. I watched the rising sun as I walked. No matter how many times I saw it, it was still just as beautiful. Unchanged by the world.