I Promise (Carl Grimes)

Chaos

Carl's POV:

I watched as Brooke's eyes fluttered effortlessly shut. "No, no, no, no. You can't be dead! Wake up! Please..." She had a huge gash on the right side of her head and a cut on her left eyebrow- both oozing blood. I'm sure I didn't look so hot either. My head was pounding, and I had shards of glass in my arms and a few on my face. I managed to unbuckle my seatbelt, and immediately fell to the roof of the car- considering it was flipped upside down. I yelped out in pain but quickly stopped after a thought occurred. Walkers... There's sure to be tons of them coming this way due to all the noise from the crash. I carefully crawled through the broken window, taking in my surrounding. Where are we? I mentally groaned and made my way to the other side of the car. I ripped off the remainder of her door and tossed it to the side. I unbuckled her seatbelt, catching her when she fell. I stumbled back while carrying her out of the car. We fell to the ground, her landing on top of me. I rolled her over and immediately checked for a pulse. She had one, but it was faint. She wasn't going to make it if we didn't get back to the rehab house. But that's the real question here... How are we going to get back? I looked down at her bloody, pale face and broke down. No matter how hard I try to make things normal they never will be. This was supposed to be the greatest day of my life- our lives, but now, it's not even close. I always thought the day Lizzie kissed me and Brooke saw was the worst day. But that doesn't even compare to what's happening now.

My wife is dying...

The extremely irritating sound of walkers filled the air. My blood began to boil as I stood up. I grabbed a piece of the windshield wiper that had broke of and charged at the walkers. I stabbed one in the head, and it instantly fell to the ground. I turned to the other one and stabbed it through the chest. I kicked it of the windshield wiper and to the ground. It reached it's decaying hands out for me, but I sliced them of with my 'weapon'. It growled at me, but by now I had had enough. I swung the windshield wiper at it's head, ending it's hungry moans. My rage took over as I began to stomp in it's retched face. I repeatedly swung the 'weapon' at the corpse's body, crying out in pain as I did so. I was so caught up in my monstrous actions that I didn't even notice head light coming our way. The vehicle stopped at the top of the small hill, and the drivers door and passengers door both opened. "Carl? Brooke?" I heard Tyresse's voice ask...

"I thought you died back at the school." I told him as he approached us. "No... I got out. Where is everyone?" He asked, examining Brooke's body. "We're staying at the rehab house. Its a little ways away from here." He simply nodded and turned back to the unknown man. "Tom, help me with her. We need to take them back now or she's not going to make it." The man named Tom agreed, and they lifted Brooke's body, carrying her to their truck.

"How'd you get out?" I asked Tyresse. "Well, I wandered off from the group... Ya know, checking things out. I wanted to see if they had any food in the cafeteria. Instead of food, there were walkers. Probably bout a hundred or more. So I ran... I tried getting back with y'all, but by the time I got back up to where the cars were, y'all were gone. I spent weeks alone, almost gave up, until Tom found me." He smiled at his friend Tom. "Where do y'all stay?" I asked, glancing at an unconscious Brooke. "We have a camp, in the woods. It's not the safest place, but the people there make it safe. They aren't the nicest guys, but they keep everyone alive... How is everyone? Your dad? Maggie? Has she had the baby?" He asked, not expecting my response. "Maggie had the baby about two days ago... And my dad- Abraham killed him, and I killed Abraham." He shifted his weight in the drivers seat, looking into the rearview mirror at me. "Why? Why'd he kill your dad?" He asked carefully. "It was after we left the school... Rosita didn't make it out, and he blamed my dad for it." He nodded slowly, soaking up the information. "So I'm guessing either Glenn or Daryl is leader now? Maybe Michonne?" He stifled a laugh when he mentioned Michonne. I guess he was trying to lighten the mood. "No. I am. My dad asked me to..." His laughs quickly disappeared, leaving us to drive in silence.

Brooke's POV:

I don't know where we are? We've been walking through these woods for hours now- Carter and I. We're hoping to find a safe place soon. "When do you think we're going to see mommy again?" Carter asked in his usual little kid voice. "When we die." I stated bluntly. He stopped walking and looked up at me, tears forming in his eyes. I had then realized what I had said to him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that... I'm just tired, Carter." He looked down at his hands and nodded. "You want me to carry you?" I questioned. He looked up and nodded, and I bent down low enough for him to jump on my back. Somewhere in between 10-15 minutes, the bushes in front of us began to rattle. I set Carter down, taking out my gun from my holster. I tried making out the figure that began to emerge from the bush. I spotted blonde hair and a small frame-a little girl. Her face was covered in a layer of dirt, and she had blood all over her tattered clothing. "Who are you?" I asked, stepping in front of Carter.

"My name is Mika."

Carl's POV:

I stroked Brooke's knotted, bloody hair out of her face while her head laid in my lap. She looked so peaceful even though I knew she was in pain. I held her hand lightly, while kissing her forehead. How could I have been so stupid? Marrying her when she was driving? I should've done it at the store! If she dies then that's her blood on my hands. It's my fault... The gates of the rehab house came into view, and a sudden wash of relief fell over me. Tyresse drove up to the gates and got out. Daryl was on watch so he instantly ran up to the gates. The two of them talked to each other from other sides of the gate. Daryl's expression slowly changed into a look of worry, grief, anger. He yanked open the gate while Tyresse hopped in the drivers seat and drove in. Once the truck was parked, the back door flung open, relieving a worried Daryl. He gasped at the sight of Brooke, lifting her body in his hands and running inside the house.

I noticed Maggie running towards me as I limped my way to the house. "Carl! Oh my god what happened?!" My head was spinning around, and I felt as if I were going to blacken out any minute. "I-I..." I tried explaining what had happened, but it was like my body wasn't allowing it. She rushed me into the house, bringing me into my room. Matt's head shot up from his bed, probably due to when Maggie busted through the bedroom door- not literally. "What happened?!" Matt yelled, standing up from his bed. I heard the sound of footsteps running from my room to Brooke's and the sound of Zoey's cries. Tyresse and Tom entered my room, gawking at Matt. Matt's eyes widened at the sight of them, showing pure fear. "Matty, boy? Where have you been?" Tom asked, pulling Matt into a hug. Matt pushed him off and began to cry, standing behind Maggie. "Don't you remember us?" Tom asked, only making Matt cry harder. "Matt what's wrong?" Maggie asked while glaring at Tyresse and Tom.

"They're in my old group."