James
"Had that dream again, huh Jambo?" I heard my Uncle' voice, providing a thankful reminder that I was free of my nightmare.
All I could manage was a frantic nod, still recovering from my vivid recollection of the attack.
I wiped away several beads of sweat that had collected on forehead before turning to face Alexander; he was stood beside the window, as he often did, monitoring what was taking place below.
He had developed an obsession with peering out at the surrounding streets, observing the walkers' movements.
He claimed it was just 'staying safe', but this seemed more like paranoia.
Just a nightmare...
I reassured myself one final time, before hauling myself out of bed. I had slept for an unusually long period of time last night; the Sun was now nearly hanging directly above the hotel, its bright rays streaming through the windows and projecting exaggerated shapes of light on the floor.
"See anything interesting out there?" I asked, deciding to entertain my Uncle's strange curiosity.
"Nah, nothing much," he sighed, but I knew by the way he avoided eye contact with me that there was something on his mind.
I knew he would reveal it to me in due course - and certainly not before then - so for now I resisted the urge to ask him what was troubling him and turned my attention to the wall that ran adjacent to my bed. I used it as a sort of album, having pinned various pictures to it that I had been able to hold onto all this time. Photos of home, of various birthday and Christmas celebrations, of my elementary school.
Also hung on the wall was a calendar that I had found upon our arrival at the hotel, displaying various images of attractions in and around Eureka Springs. I unzipped my backpack, which I always kept beside my bed as I slept, and took out my combat knife, before using it to etch a mark onto yet another day of the calendar: December 14th. I found this daily process to be satisfying for some reason; a sign of progress, a reward for surviving yet another day. Not to mention that provided a hopeful reminder that the world wasn't completely over just yet.
"I'm heading up to the roof again," I informed him, after shaking my head once again to clear the visions of my haunting dream.
"Alright," my Uncle dismissed me.
My rooftop journeys had become a daily routine for some time now. It confused my Uncle, but no more so than it confused me. I couldn't determine why I enjoyed spending so much time up there.
When I first developed the strange habit, he had questioned it frequently, and to this day I been unable to provide an answer that was both satisfactory and honest.
In truth, I simply think it was just a location where I could take my mind off things; a location where such natural beauty like yesterday's sunset could almost make someone forget that they had lost everything and that the world was doomed, if only for a moment. That seemed like the most plausible explanation, at least.
But then again, my mind is a mess at the best of times, so there's probably still more to it than that.
Hell, maybe I'll never know why I go up there so much.
Oh well.
I left my Uncle to his scouting, leaving our room and walking out into the hallway before opening the door to the dingy metal staircase. It looked so ominous from this angle; it was a sight that never failed to fill me with dread.
I had always had an irrational phobia of the dark.
Once I reached the top, however, and swung open the door to the roof, the once-dark staircase was flooded with the cold light of the sun, and any anxiety or fear I once had was now gone.
I walked over to the edge of the building, as I often did, and peered out at the land beyond.
A sight as refreshing and hopeful as this allowed my nightmare to finally to the back of my mind, where it belonged. I resolved that that was all in the past, and it was time I began focusing on the future.
My uncle must have reached a similar epiphany, for at that moment, he joined me on the rooftop, and with an interesting proposition too.
---
Carl
It hadn't taken long for our presence in the city to be noticed.
Our day had gone from a hopeful morning - with the promise of supplies or even a vehicle driving us on - to the depressing realization that our efforts were in vain, followed promptly by a desperate fight for survival.
It was carelessness that had instigated it, of course; it always was. We had lost so many people to stupid, thoughtless mistakes, and yet apparently we still hadn't learnt our lesson.
Adamant that the gas station could not be completely abandoned, we had returned inside for another thorough search of the building. Then we had found the safe, cleverly hidden beneath some loose floorboards. For a moment, we had been elated, and the hope we'd clung onto at the beginning of the day briefly returned.
It hadn't taken long to forcibly open the safe, but our reward was far from satisfying.
Not only was the huge metal container completely empty, save for a note that read "nice try assholes", the door to the safe had apparently been wired up to the gas station's security alarm, and our forced entry had triggered the alarm to activate.
Our carelessness had rang the walkers' dinner bell.
---
James
I turned to address my uncle, who had reached roof and now regarded me with a strange look, as though he was unsure of how to begin his conversation.
"I was thinking..." he eventually began, with a voice that sounded on the verge of apologetic, before pausing again.
"Go on," I encouraged him, intrigued as to what he was preparing to tell me.
"...Maybe you're right, Jambo," he continued reluctantly with a sigh, "maybe we do need to be brave; to go out there and start searching for supplies. Hell, maybe even start searching for more people."
I turned to face him with an expression of surprise.
I knew there was something on his mind earlier. I'd expected either an apology or a confession, but I must admit this isn't what I had in mind.
"Are... are you sure?" I asked, thinking this was just some sort of joke.
He had spent a majority of the last 3 weeks arguing how going out there was nothing short of a death sentence. For him to change his mind so abruptly was unexpected, to say the least.
"No," he chuckled, "not sure. But this is as close to my agreeing with you as you're ever gonna get, so if I were you I'd gear up and get ready to go."
"Go where?"
"Into the city," he explained, "try and find some supplies. I'll be damned if I'm gonna let everyone in our group die for nothing. We're not leaving this shithole until we find something worthwhile, that's a promise."
Maybe I wasn't the only one who had a vivid dream last night. For Uncle Alexander to just change his mind like that...
Still, I wasn't about to complain or question it.
"We going now?" I asked, the corners of my mouth gradually lifting into a smile at the possibility of finally doing something that didn't involve just sitting in this dingy, God forsaken hotel room.
"Ready when you are Jambo," he smiled.
YOU ARE READING
Against The World (Carl Grimes Gay Fanfiction)
Romance"Before you, I had nothing. I felt like the world was against me. I wanted to end it all. But now... Well, let's just say I've changed my mind."
