Forever Alone // Carl Grimes (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 49

James tied the figure to a metal stack of shelves just ten feet from me, using a length of rope he pulled from one of the boxes on the same shelf. He then left as quick as he came.

The person moved, letting out a soft groan and I finally realised it was a girl.
"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," She pulled herself into a sitting position. "I'm good."

I finally got a good look at her. The girl's face was fully illuminated by the evening light. The first thing that stood out were her eyes, green with blue in places. Her right eye beared a speck of brown and I was stunned by how unique they were, almost like they couldn't decide what colour to be so they had a bit of everything. I took in her whole figure, she was breathtakingly beautiful, long brown hair, rosy cheeks and pink lips. Her eyes were wide and her complection pale.

"What's your name?" I asked after what felt like an eternity of staring at the girl infront of me.

"Rachel," She replied instantly, squinting her eyes at me like she was sure she knew me. "Yours?"

"Lauren." I replied thoughtfully. I was graced with a companion to rot down here with me. Rachel's eyes widened and she sucked in a deep breath.

"You're Lauren? Are you the one Jo was telling me about?" Rachel shot the questions at me, still studying me.

"Jo's alive? How did he get out of Mortis?" I was overcome with happiness. Jo was one of the only people that showed me any kindness in that poor excuse of a town.

"He got out with Rick and the others." Rachel replied with a small smile. I imagine it was from talking about Jo.

"You like him, don't you?" I smiled for what felt like the first time in ages. Rachel's cheeks tinted pink and she laughed.

"What makes you think that?"

"It's the way you looked when you said his name," I smiled again, my mind drifting back to the thought of Carl. "They used to tell me I looked at Carl like that."

Rachel's beautiful smile returned before it was replaced by a more sinister expression.
"How did you get here?"

"I was kidnapped, I guess." I replied with a grimace. "Perimeter check and I was knocked out with some sort of cloth and liquid. You?"

"They found us and we ran from them. I got split from the rest and lost. They found me first. I'm almost certain the others got out unscathed." Rachel replied with a sigh.

I shifted where I was sitting to take some pain from my wrists.
"How did you find Rick and them?"

"My father died about a month ago so I was kind of wandering," Rachel began her story with a frown. "I heard some gunshots and I went to check it out. There was a group fighting off too many Biters so I grabbed my gun and shot some of them down. Then Rick asked me to join. I wasn't exactly a great shot but I killed some of them off. I'm more of a machete girl myself."

"We're going to be great friends," I laughed to lighten the tense atmosphere. "My machete is on that asshole's belt. I'm sorry for your loss, by the way."

"It's okay," Rachel smiled reassuringly. She could smile so freely and I envyed her for that. My heart and mind was clouded with so much grief and pain I couldn't see the good in anything. "He thought me everything he knew about healing. He was a doctor, so I'm happy I can follow in his footsteps."

"I'm sure that came in handy more times than one." I said, pushing the thoughts of Carl to the back of my mind. I couldn't think about him anymore, it would only cause pain.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Rachel sighed, scanning the room for anything we could use to escape. When she found nothing useful she sighed again.