Wings of freedom (CarlXReader)

A tiny spark of hope

A few months have passed since the death of my friends. Until then, I had become stronger, both emotionally and physically. That's what I told myself anyway. Truth is, I was feeling awfully lonely. In my past life, before the apocalypse, it didn't bother me to be alone – I quite enjoyed it in fact – but now, having no one to talk to for so long was unbearable.

It took me some weeks to get back on the road, trying to recover, even if only temporarily of the loss of my family... again. 

Afterward the incident with my past family, I took Christ car and went to the American Esoteric Laboratory, situating in Tennessee. Unfortunately, it was in the same state as the other, burned down to ashes. Repeating the same process as before, I crossed the laboratory to make sure to never go there again. 

I had to leave the car that Christ and I used to take long ago since it ran out of gas, leaving me with the only option available: walk the whole way until I could find another vehicle. Even after all the roads, I walked and the numbers of cars I've encountered, I was still left on my feet, since all of them had already been siphoned, probably by other people who came before me. Since all the laboratories were all far away from each other, it took me months to reach another laboratory. In the past year, I only had the time to reach two. Two that had already exploded. At each new deception, I realized how my chances were getting tinier of finding what I was looking for.

As I was walking on the roads for what seemed like an eternity, I finally arrived at my destination. A small city, composed of a few houses, a hospital, a school and, the most important, a grocery store, which, I hoped, was filled with food. Before even thinking of going to fetch supplies, I saw a blue little house where I could settle my stuff and relax for a few days. Stooping before the door, I tried to hear if walkers could be waiting for me on the other side. After approving that no sound could conceal a walkers' location, I entered the door slowly. After closing it behind me, I kept my hand on the grip of my sword, just in case. Pushing my investigation further, I checked every room, to make sure I was alone. After 20 minutes of going through the room, I gladly sit on one of the chairs in the kitchen, my bag lying beside my leg. The house was clear.

Before I could close my eyes and relax, I heard gunshots. 

Getting up abruptly, I locked all the doors of the house and closed all the curtains of the windows. Curious, I pecked my head in the curtains, only to found all the walkers heading in the direction of the sound.

I waited in the house for hours, without hearing anything again, nor seeing anyone. I never saw the walkers coming back, which drew me to wonder if they were still chasing these persons. 

Sighing, I looked at my last energy bar. My provisions were close to nonexistent at this point. Carefully, I looked at the numerous windows again, not seeing any movement. Opening the front door, I made sure to remember correctly the road to reach the grocery store. Not losing any time, I ran to the first wall in front of me, peeking to the other side, making sure nobody saw me and that nobody would be able to see me do the next run. When I was sure to be alone, I ran to the next side of the street, again staying behind a wall to be able to peek to the next side. I did this manoeuvring till I could see the grocery store. 

As I was about to do my next run, I heard a high-pitched screaming. Peeking my head again, I looked at the direction of the yell only to find a little girl running away from a horde of walkers. Even though humans are faster than walkers, the kid was so scared that her legs seemed to be giving out a little more at every step. She was obviously forcing her body to continue moving, as it would normally be paralyzed out of fear. As expected, her legs finally abandoned her, letting her fall to the ground. I saw her turn her head to the walkers, crying and yelling. Her little body was shaking at the thought of dying.

Not hesitating one second, I drew my sword and acted as a barricade between her and the walkers. Of course, those monsters just ignored me, but before they could pass beside me to reach the kid, I slashed their head. Unfortunately, because of her yelling, more and more walkers grew close to us, from all direction. Never will I be able to kill them all before they reach the little girl. Gritting my teeth, I tidy my sword and took the girl in my arms. Running the fastest I could, I took the direction of my house. I was surprised to stop hearing her screaming. When I went to look at her, she seemed asleep, probably that she fell unconscious from the fear and the numerous strong emotions she felt in the last minutes. 

While she was asleep upstairs in one of the kid's room, I regrouped my last provisions for when she would wake up. I was left with an energy bar and a quarter of a box of cereal. Sighing, I knew I couldn't go back to the grocery store since I wasn't sure if she was going to be safe. If the walkers knew she was here, it wouldn't be long before she would be devoured. Wanting the maximum safety, I placed a couch on the door to prevent anyone from opening. 

At the moment though, what worried me the most wasn't the walkers or my provisions, it was mostly the group where she came from. Obviously, she didn't survive this long alone. Maybe her group left her to die since she was compromising their position or maybe she got separated from them. 

My thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of light footsteps coming down the stairs. Lifting my gaze, I met the brown eyes of the kid. Her eyes were still red and puffy from all the crying and I could also still apperceive an ounce of fear in them, probably related to me since we didn't know each other. 

"W-Who are you?" asked the little girl in a raspy voice.

"My name is [Y/N]. Can you tell me what's yours?"

Not answering me, her eyes started to well up in tears again as she asked:

"Where is my family?"

Panicking, I approached her to take her in my arms into a hug. I honestly expected her to push me back, but instead, she placed her little hands on my back too.

"We'll find your family, Judith. Don't worry, okay?"

I released her from the hug and I realize she stopped crying. She looked at me with big rounded eyes and said:

"[Y/N], why are you crying?"

My eyes widened as I felt a salty tear run down my cheeks. I wiped them off with my sleeves, but, soon enough, others soon replaced those tears. Therefore, I stopped my attempts at blocking them.

"I don't know," I answered with a smile. "I guess I'm just happy to see a kid in this world. It shows me that there is still hope for the future."

Taking her hands together, she stared at the ground and said in a little voice:

"I want to find my family. My big brother and my dad are probably looking for me right now! I have to find them..."

I couldn't tell her that they probably left her here. Left her to survive the horde of walkers. Humans are selfish creatures after all.

"I'll do our best to find them, alright? I'll go see tomorrow. For now, we should go to sleep. It had been a long day and we both need to sleep."

"I'm kinda hungry..."

To accompany her words, her stomach growled in agony. I smiled at her warmly before offering her the rest of my cereals. She gladly accepted, plunging her hand into the bag to get the most of it possible before filling her mouth with it. 

When she finished the bag, I took her little hand in mine and lead her to the room she slept before. When she seemed comfortable in the bed, I started to walk out of the room, but before I could make another step, I felt something pull my jacket. 

Turning around, I noticed that she was staring at me, tears menacing of spilling out of her eyes again. 

"My name is Judith Grimes..."

Smiling at her, I kissed her forehead and whispered:

"It's a beautiful name. Goodnight, Judith. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come see me, alright?"

Reaching my room, I thought about how cruel the world we live in right now is horrible. Abandoning such a small girl... I wonder how I'll tell her that her family is not coming back.

Tomorrow was another day.