Kissing Death

Morning

Carol’s daughter, Sophia, is missing. Yesterday, while we were stopped, due to a group of abandoned cars, a herd of walkers came through. We all had to hide under the cars to avoid them. There were two walkers left when Sophia got up and they chased her into the woods.

Rick went after her and we all waited, but he returned alone. He asked if Sophia had returned yet and Carol broke down. He made it clear that he told her exactly what to do--to run back towards the highway and keep the sun on her left shoulder.

He took Daryl back into the woods, but they didn’t find her.

I watched Rick storm off after Carol scolded him for letting Sophia travel on her own. I could feel his frustration and guilt as he walked away. I wondered if what I said to him a few nights ago had anything to do with how clumsy he was being.

We’re going to look for Sophia today. I’m hoping we find her, because I can’t imagine what Carol is going through right now.



Nighttime - Just past sunset

Glenn is driving T-Dog and I down to a farmhouse.

In the middle of our search for Sophia--after Rick, Shane, and Carl had disappeared--a girl on a horse came and asked for Lori, informing us that Carl had been shot.

She quickly gave Glenn directions to the house and rode off with Lori.

If what the girl said is true, I really hope Carl is okay. It’s bad enough that we can’t find Sophia, so we really can’t afford to lose Carl. That would break Rick. It would break all of us.

I can see the house now. Several lights are on and the girl that took Lori is sitting on the porch.

I’m praying that Carl is alive.



Nighttime - Eleven o’clock

T-Dog had his arm stitched up while we were waiting for Shane and a man named Otis to return with the proper medical supplies. Hershel, the owner of the farm, is going to operate on Carl to remove the bullet fragments as soon as Shane and Otis return. We were told that he couldn’t operate on Carl without a respirator and if he did, Carl would die.

When we arrived, we checked up on Carl to see Lori and Rick at his bedside, shaking with anxiety. It hurt me to see Lori on the verge of tears as she looked at her son. Carl looked so pale. I had difficulty leaving the room when Rick gave me a look that begged for me to stay.

Otis, a friend of Hershel’s family, had apparently been the one who shot Carl. Maggie, Hershel’s daughter and the one who picked up Lori, told us that Otis was hunting a deer and didn’t see Carl standing behind it. That was when I pieced the entire story together.

She said that Otis felt extremely guilty and that was the main reason why he insisted to go with Shane to retrieve the supplies.

Earlier, I was taking notice that Glenn seemed to stare at Maggie a lot and stuttered when he talked to her. I don’t blame him--she’s probably the first beautiful girl around his age that he’s seen in two months.

Rick and Lori took a step outside and for some reason, I almost followed them, but stopped at the front door, listening in.

Lori had told Rick that perhaps death was the best thing for Carl. Rick defied that statement, but Lori went on to say that we live each day with a knife at our throats and Carl doesn’t deserve to live that way.

I walked away from the front door, thinking about what she said. She was right.

It’s like we’re barely kissing death every damned day. We come so close to it, but death just teases us and lets us live another day.

T-Dog and I were resting out on the porch when he asked if he could tell me something.

“Of course,” I said.

“I wish I had met someone like you before this world went to shit.”

I looked at him, but he was gazing into the distance. In that moment, I was grateful that Jason hadn’t come along. T-Dog would have never had the opportunity to say something like that to me.

I didn’t know what to say at first. I was taken aback.

“You probably think I’m some creep now,” he laughed.

“No!” I said, shaking my head. “I just don’t know what to say. The last time anyone had said something like that to me was when Jason and I were first dating... It’s not something I’m familiar with.”

“I see,” he said, looking down at his stitched arm. “I just wanted to get that off my chest.”

I scooted the rocking chair closer to him and I placed my hand over his. “Trust me, Theodore,” I began. “If I had known you before I got married and before the world went to shit, I would have chosen you over Jason any day.”

He looked up at me with bright eyes. I can still remember how long it took for him to process what I had said to him.

I kissed him on the cheek and suddenly jumped when headlights shined our way.

We got up and approached the truck, along with almost everyone that had been inside the house.

I looked for the man named Otis when Shane stepped out of the car. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who noticed that a second man was missing.

Hershel asked Shane where Otis was. Shane simply shook his head as he limped away from the truck with the supply backpacks in his hands.

Hershel demanded that we don’t tell Patricia, Otis’ girlfriend, about it until after the operation was finished.

Everyone waited nervously while Hershel and Patricia performed on Carl.

Finally, a couple of hours later and an hour before I started writing, Hershel emerged from the room with good news. Carl was okay.

We were all happy to hear that, but Rick and Hershel had to rain the bad news on Patricia.

I honestly thought that Shane should have joined them, but he decided against it. The look on his face was suspicious to me. Obviously, he was traumatized, but there was more to it.

Now that I think about it... What if Shane killed Otis to get away? He’d said that the place was overrun and he returned to us with a bad ankle. No person that I know can sprint away from the walkers with an injury like that.

Maybe he really did... Ah, shit, I shouldn’t even think about that--it’s awful.

There’s no way someone would do something so terrible, even if the world has gone to shit.