The New World | The Walking Dead x Male Reader, OC

What Lies Ahead

It's the next day and Dad placed a bunch of sharp weapons that Carl found on the hood of a car.

"Everybody takes a weapon." Dad said.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea said.
"We've been over that. Daryl, Rick, Mason, and I are carrying." Shane said.
"Mason? He's just a kid." Andrea said.
"He's a better shot than all of us. My boy's a natural." Dad said with a proud smile.
"Besides, we can't have people shooting at a tree when it makes a sound." I said.
"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea said.
"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane said as he walked away.
"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark." Daryl said.
"Stay quiet. Stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." Dad said and walked over to Dale with Carl and I following him.
"Dale. Keep on those repairs. We've got to get this R.V. ready to move." Dad said.
"We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to. Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back." Dale said.
"Keep an eye on Carl while we're out there?" I said as I put a hand on my brother's shoulders. Mom walked up to us.
"I'm going with you. You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible." Carl said. Mom, Dad, and I exchanged looks.
"Your call. I can't always be the bad guy." Mom said.
"Well, he has all of you to look after him. I'd say he's in good hands." Dale said.
"Okay... Okay." Dad said.
"But you stick to me like glue. Got it?" I said to Carl who smiled and nodded.

——————————————————————————

We were all in the forest looking for Sophia. My eyes were always looking back at Carl just to make sure he was safe.

Daryl stopped us in our tracks once a small tent came into view about 30 feet away.

"She could be in there." Shane said.
"A lot of things could be in there. Kid, you're with me, come on." Daryl said as he motioned for me to follow him.

We slowly approached the tent. Daryl had his crossbow pointed at it and I had my knife in my right hand ready to take down a walker if I have to.

"I got it." I whispered to Daryl who nodded. I peaked through the sides of the tent and I saw a body slumped back in a chair.

I slowly unzipped the tent and walked through. The smell was enough to make me gag. I peaked over at the body and saw a dead and decaying man. A small revolver in his hand. I let out a disappointed sigh as I grabbed the revolver and left the tent.

Everyone looked at me with hope that it was Sophia but I shook my head.

"It's not her. Just some guy. Fella took the easy way out." I said as Shane, Dad, and Daryl walked over to me. I handed the gun to my dad.

We heard the sound of church bells ringing through the forest. Dad pointed towards the sound and we all followed.

"What direction?" Shane asked.
"I think that way. I'm pretty sure." Dad said.
"Damn, it's hard to tell out here." Shane said.
"If we heard it then maybe Sophia did too." Carol said.
"Someone's ringing those bells. Maybe calling others." Glenn said.
"Or signaling that they found her." Andrea said.
"She could be ringing them herself. Come on." Dad said as we moved quicker towards the noise.

——————————————————————————

A small church came into view.

"That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells." Shane said but Dad ignored it as we ran to the church.

Dad and I were at the front doors. We took out our guns and slowly opened the doors. A few walkers were sitting in the benches as if they died during a service. They slowly turned when they heard us walk in.

"No bullets. It'll echo like hell in this place." I said as I took out my knife and put my pistol back in it's holster.

Dad, Shane, Daryl and I each picked out a walker and killed them with our own blades.

"Sophia!!" Dad shouted, clearly frustrated.
"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick. There's no steeple." Shane said but almost as if on cue, the same bell tolling sound could be heard outside. We ran out and saw where the sound was coming from. A speaker on the side of the church. Glenn opened the fuse box and pulled out the fuse.

"Timer. It's on a timer." Daryl said.

"I'm gonna go back in for a bit." Carol said, heartbroken.

Dad checked on Carl. Everyone else walked inside and I sat outside, right under the fusebox.

"Are you really leaving?" I heard Mom's quiet voice around the corner.
"Don't you think that's best for all of us?" Shane said.
"I think it is. What made you decide?" Mom said.
"Gotta back away. Just trying to be the good guy here, Lori, even if you don't see it. None of this was intended. I hope you know that. Don't matter, as long as I said it." Shane said.
"You're just gonna disappear? You're not even gonna tell Rick?" Mom said.
"He'd only try to stop me. No, that's on you. You tell him what you want or tell him nothing at all. You're his wife." Shane said.
"And Carl? Mason? We dragged them into this." Mom said.
"Mason isn't stupid. He knows what's going on. And I love Carl." Shane said.
"He thinks you hate him." Mom said.
"I'm trying to put some distance. I'm trying to make this easier. This ain't easy on any of us, least of all me. I'm the one who loses you." Shane said.

I knew that Shane had a thing with my mom, and I never brought it up because that's not what matters. We gotta survive. That's what matters to me.

I waited for Shane to walk away before I got up and walked back to the front of the church.

——————————————————————————

We were back on the move, searching the area around the church. Shane, Carl, Dad, and I were on our own while the rest were searching in a different spot.

As we walked we heard some branches snap in the distance. Dad stopped and the rest of us followed. I grabbed Carl and pulled him behind me. Everyone but Carl kept our guns in hand in case of anything. We walked towards the sound but lowered our guard when we saw it was just a deer.

Shane was about to shoot it for food but Dad stopped him once he saw Carl slowly walking up to it, amazed. The three of us smiled as Carl approached the deer.

The deer turned and looked straight at Carl, but didn't move.

But from one moment to another, our smiles faded and we had fear in our eyes. Someone shot the deer and the bullet went straight through, hitting Carl.

"Oh no. No. No no no!" Dad shouted.
"Carl! No no no please. Carl!" I shouted as we all ran straight for him.

Dad and I crouched beside Carl, making sure he was still breathing as blood poured through his shirt. Shane held his shotgun up to find where the bullet came from.