Survive ( twd carlgrimes)

Chapter 34

CARL'S POV.

A few hours have passed since we all had breakfast. Since then we had a short funeral for Madison's mother. Madison said she didn't want something long, soppy and depressing. She just wanted it over with. Her siblings didn't complain either. It suited pretty much everyone. We're all ready to leave now.

Everyone is packed with their newly stocked bags on their backs.
I swing my bag over my shoulder and go into the sitting room to wake Judith up from her nap. She slept longer than usual today. I guess shes just tired from the last few nights. I can't blame her, we all are.

I wake her up and lift her into my arms. She nestles against my chest, her head finding the crook of neck before falling back asleep again. I keep her blanket wrapped securely around her to protect her from the cold.

It's difficult having a baby in the middle of a walker infested world but for a baby she is actually very quiet. I thank God for that because we'd be long dead by now if it were the other way around.

My ears pick up voices from the direction of the hall and my eyes follow. I don't see anybody though and it takes me a second to realize the voices are coming from the top of the stairs, similar to last night. I can't help my curiosity so I listen in. Again.

I recognize all the voices at once.
"I don't get it. Why do we have to go?" Nick complains.
"Because it's not safe here anymore. Abbie put your bag on your back, we'll be leaving soon."
"It was never safe Mads." Nick still protests.

I hear Madison sigh, frustratedly.
"I know Nick but we're not being left behind." She argues back.
"Mads, this place is as safe as any other."
"No, it's not Nick. Open your eyes! Walkers are roaming the street. It's not safe." I can hear the anger in her voice now.

Their voices get clearer as they descend the stairs.
"This place is our home. This place is-"
"No! This is not our home. Its just a house filled with bad memories. Nothing good comes from this house and the longer we stay here the more likely bad memories will arise." I watch as she glances from Abbie back to Nick.
"I won't have that"

I find slight humor in the way Madison talks to Nick. She acts as the eldest sibling, telling them how it is but Nick says nothing. Madison is helping Abbie with her bag. I wonder what's in there, considering she didn't have any belongings when she was last here anyways.

The front door is ajar as people peak out of it to judge how we should begin our move. The three stand in the doorway and many move to join them.
I hear everyone muttering amongst themselves, each in a different conversation.

Everyone begins to move outside and I follow. They've spread out in the front garden, using the tall shrubs to shield them from the walkers vision. I see Madison move over to sit on a really big rock that sits in the corner of her garden. Its bigger than most large dogs I had seen.

She sits on the flat surface of it. I walk over to her, curious about having a huge rock in the middle of her garden.
"Hey" I say.
She looks away from her shoes that she had been hitting against the rock absentmindedly.
"Pretty weird, huh?" Her hands slap the rock.

"A little. What's it here for?"
She jumps off the rock and points to something written on it that I didn't see before. I move closer to the rock to read it.
The smiths house.
"So it's an address rock? Or a welcoming sign?"
She chuckles and shrugs lightly.
"Yeah, I guess you could call it that."

I notice something else written smaller on the rock. A few numbers I think
34545
"Whats that?" I ask.
She seems to know what I'm talking about before I explain or point.
"I'm not sure what it means. They were just always there. Dad was obsessed with the numbers. No idea why. People used to say he was crazy."