Forever Alone // Carl Grimes (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 22

Carl woke me up early and we both ran around the house packing whatever we had into bags, it's sad to think we have to leave. I haven't had to sleep on the road in weeks and I loved feeling safe.

I threw all our food into Carl's rucksack and zipped it up, sighing to myself. My rucksack was filled with weapons and things like lighters, flashlights and binoculars.

I threw my bow over my shoulders and strapped my belt holster onto my hips, slipping in my handgun.

"Are you ready?" I asked Carl who was strapping Judith to his chest.

Carl nodded and threw his rucksack over his shoulders. The sun was just beginning to rise when we stepped out of the place I called home.

I pulled out my machete and quickly hopped the fence, gesturing to Carl, telling him it was clear.

We slipped into the forest and trudged through until we emerged beside where I found the sign.

"The sign is there." I pointed to the faded metal sign in the distance.

Carl and I jogged up to the sign. I pointed to the map.
"We're here," I informed. "If we follow this road and go fast enough, we'll get Maggie."

"We better get going then, she probably has a good few hours head on us." Carl said and started off down the road.

We stuck side by side, walking down the dry road on the way to Terminus. I really hope that we get to them before they reach that place. After that they have about a day or so.

Terminus holds the memories I had hoped to forget, but like so many other things, my past finds me. Chelsie is dead and everyone else will be too if I don't act soon. I don't like killing people, but these are bad people. It's us or them.

There were more and more signs directing us to Terminus, and on each one we passed, Maggie had left her message to Glenn.
"It's only a day from here."

"We're going to get there, Lauren." Carl reassured.

I couldn't help feeling like this was going to go terribly wrong. So I tried to distract myself by looking at my boyfriend. His hair was overgrown, almost reaching his shoulders. The sheriff's hat sat on the top of his head, blocking the sun from his face. The blue of his eyes were trained on the road ahead. One of his hands gently stroked the fluff on Judith's head.

I toyed with the machete in my hands and watched the road ahead. I wonder where everyone else is. Did Michonne survive? Did Carol save Mika and Lizzie? What about Rick and Daryl.. Daryl. I just found my family and lost it again..

Perks of living in a dead world.

I kicked some dry dirt into the air and watched as the gentle breeze carried it away. There is no end to this.. from this day till the day I die. I will have to fight, I won't be able to have a normal life. I don't want a normal life. Normal is boring.

"Lauren! What's that?" Carl pointed to a plume of smoke rising into the air, about a mile or so down the road.

"It could be them! We should sneak up and check first. Stick behind me."

I dipped in behind the trees and walked through the forest. I stayed light on my feet and made sure Carl and Judith were far enough away that they could escape if things turned sour.

Only minutes later I could see the fire itself. There was two people standing outside it, they didn't look like Maggie, Sasha or Bob. My heart dropped. I pressed forward. A few branches snapped beneath my feet, not enough to get me caught.

"Can you see them?" Carl asked when he caught up to me.

"Not really. There is a woman crouched down over the fire, middle aged. A black man with a beard.. wait.. Tyreese?" I said a little louder than I was supposed to.

The man whipped his head toward me and Carl and I recognised him immediatly as Tyreese. I hopped from the bushes. Tyreese aimed a pistol at my chest, but dropped it when he recognised me. Carl carried Judith to us and the woman walked to join us. It took me a few seconds to recognise her as Carol.

"Lauren! Carl! You have Judith!" She exclaimed and pulled me into a hug. Carol was the main mother figure for everyone.

"We're going to Terminus." Tyreese announced and my chest tightened.

"You can't go there."

I feel like this fanfic sucks real bad... I have good ideas for it though. I'm going to minimise the fluff. More bad experiences! Yay!

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