Clarkesville (Chandler Riggs)

Chapter 21

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"It's been hours. Shouldn't they have back by now?" Sammy sighed, leaning back on her hands.

The sun was beginning to set, as we waited for Freddy, Joy, Jason, and Vincent to return. Not too many walkers had came by, but Bruno, Craig, and Luke took care of them. Other than the sound of quiet chat and coughing, we weren't a distraction to our surroundings.

I still felt a little bit of guilt that I didn't want to go with Freddy, but I think he could manage with two huge men and a smart caring woman.

Daniella and Sean had began to set up a tent and they had silently changed their clothes. I could tell that their relationship was off; they were so quiet and self-kept; even with Luke.

I wanted to start a conversation with Sean; to know how he got separated from his mother. But I regarded against it when Daniella told Craig to shut up after asking her a question. She seemed like a sweet woman, but not the best mother. Luke sat beside Chandler, with his hands hanging off his knees and his eyes staring at a clear nothing.

Poor Earl was suffering as we listened to him cough up what sounded like more than mucus. He looked in his late 60's, but he was very sickly looking.

Bruno tried his best to take care of everyone. He offered some of his water to Chandler and I, but we had already taken enough bottles from the pizza place. I just smiled politely at his kindness. Bruno would be a much better leader than Vincent.

All I could think about was how this group was going to react after they found out Chandler and I's cowardly actions. When we leave, will they want to search for us? Or will they just pass by it? Hope that we're dead? If they find us, will Vincent keep is under some sort of watch?

And where would we go? Go build a teepee with wooden spike fences?

I don't understand why we were walking randomly in the woods, already trying to 'survive.' This was fourth real day of all this. I'm pretty sure things aren't as worse as they will be soon enough, in at least a few weeks.

Then again, we were already lost. It would be a while until we reach the next town with houses and stores. I have to worry about how we were going to go about when we first leave.

Chandler would probably want to go back onto the highway to find another group. I would want to stay near the river. There was water and a place to clean-up. Maybe he was still just hooked onto his whole acting situation.

I almost let out a laugh by thinking that he would want to go looking for a prison, with a dark but friendly group, and live their for the rest of our lives. It was different than that.

What was so bad about these people? I knew that the first time I saw Vincent he was bad, same with Homer. Bruno and Jason were intimidating but in a good way. Everyone else just seemed like normal, frightened people.

I wondered if any of them cared about Chandler and I at all. I don't know if I included Sammy in my friendship, same with Luke. We didn't know each other enough. Joy was sweet, as was Bruno and others. Earl and Craig were okay, I didn't know them well enough either.

The same question was often repeated in my head.

Would they come looking for us?

My thoughts led me to Brianna finding us, wanting to stay and prefer to survive with the people who saved her life. Then there was Sammy - sick with cancer and without a friend. I was beginning to think leaving wasn't the smartest decision.

"If they're not back soon, we are just going to have to set up camp. I don't want to move around to far so they can't find us." Bruno announced coherently.

I nodded and agreed with Bruno, as Chandler turned to face me. I smiled at his light expression; calm and stern at the same time. I could read the patience in his eyes. "How are you doing?" He gently asked me.

"I'm okay I guess. I just don't understand this."

Chandler moved around, trying to avoid everyone else around us. "What don't you understand?"

"This," I looked around, "Why are we in the middle of the woods, hopelessly scavenging for something that we could easily go find?"

"Well, what are we looking for?"

"Survival. That's what these people are looking for, a way to live. Not me! It's the fourth day for God's sakes, stores are cleaned out and neither are houses. Don't you remember season one?" I stated, and he sat up a little.

"Of course, Rick found Morgan and Dwayne in a house." He said obviously.

I nodded my head and he seemed to begin to understand my opinion. "Exactly. And it's not like that house was infested, plus it was locked down safely. Season one took place only a few weeks into the whole apocalypse thing too."

"I get it. Maybe that's what we'll do." Chandler tried to persuade me into leaving no matter how hard it would take. He chose to leave, but I chose where we were to go.

"Okay." I finished, and unzipped my backpack. I took out my hairbrush, toothbrush, and my loose black sweater. The weather was getting warmer, but the nights were still chilly. Also, I made sure I had both my gun and my knife in my belt. I nodded in satisfaction and put down my bag.

"Where are you going?" Chandler asked me suddenly as I stood up. I dusted off the back of my dark jeans, and picked up my belongings.
"To get cleaned up." I responded quickly.

"Well I can't leave you." His voice was a bit shaky.

I was going to the river to get changed. As I though about it, I would have to take off my shirt off. If he were to follow me, he would witness me getting undressed. My only choice was to risk getting into trouble without him, or to have him look away while I changed. The second choice was the clear answer.

"Then c'mon." I told him, and began walking through the leaves until my boots padded across the damp mud. I turned back around to see if he was coming. "But no looking."

Chandler snatched a shirt and his toothbrush from the inside of his black backpack. "Gotchya." He peeped, and ran up behind me.

We reached the edge of the river and I laid my sweater against a rock, and placed my other things beside it. As soon as Chandler's fingers grazed the hem of his t-shirt, my eyes widened. "Woah woah woah..." I backed up to lean against my rock.

"What?" He asked me, like nothing was wrong.

"You can't just..." I began, but a thought flooded my somewhat prude mind. He was a guy. Guys could change their shirts. It wasn't weird, and I don't need to freak out about it. I quickly changed my answer. "Never mind. Just do what you've got to do. No looking at me, though."

Chandler chuckled and pulled off his shirt. He was only 14, so I was not expecting a full amount of abs and tan skin. He had a nice body, but it wasn't spectacular. I'd have to say, he was extremely skinny underneath his t-shirt.

I batted my hands at him as he slowly lifted a plain white shirt over his head. I shifted myself around the rock, and locked the sweater between my knees. "No looking!" I shouted to Chandler, who was trying not to see what I was doing.

"I'm not, I'm not." He whipped his head around to the other direction, and I changed my shirt as quickly as possible. Luckily, Chandler only tried to turn around once while I changed.

The both of us brushed our teeth while making a few jokes, and I combed my hair after splashing some water onto my face.

We silently made our way back to the group, to find everyone asleep.

Like I had hoped, Freddy was cuddled up against his sister Anna, right outside of Joy's tent. Vincent was leaning against a tree, staring at Chandler and I's appearance. Soon enough as we laid ourselves down to go to sleep, he quit looking and pretended to inspect his weapon.

I fell asleep with worry, on how tomorrow night into the morning was going to turn out.