Sage ? Carl Grimes

EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD by LORDE

CARL
now

"There's dozens of 'em."

"Why don't we just circle around the alleyway and hop the fence? The Hospital's that way, anyways. We shouldn't risk it."

"If we don't kill them now, they'll come back in bigger numbers eventually. Whatever you leave behind always comes back, dumbass."

"Dumbass? Really?"

The constant bickering behind Daryl and Noah hadn't ended since we crossed paths, and my head began to pound. I did not speak a word between my two sullen lips since Sage had been abducted, and those two filled in the gaps. We three were crouched down behind a toppled car, and ahead of us was a pack of walkers and a dead end behind us.

"Check your clips. Might have enough bullets to take 'em out," Daryl instructed.

Noah and Daryl, in a crouching position with their backs against the red car, pulled out their handguns and clicked open the magazine for ammunition. Two, mangled sighs croaked through their mouths, clicking their guns back into place.

"Seven bullets. You?"

"Twelve," Noah muttered. He ran a trembling hand over his hairline, smudging away the collecting sweat. He let his head fall back against the car door, his legs hugged up against his chest as we huddled behind the vehicle; dozens of the dead feet away.

"How about you, Carl?"

"Carl?"

My head began to spin, pounding in my ears as I slowly distanced from the sound of Noah's voice. I was staring off at the road ahead of me, my vision beginning to clear in and out of the blurriness. Lines began to cascade, and the walker moans were all that were echoing through my eardrums. My face began to sweat in an upheaval amount, my tongue going dry and everything around me fading.

"Carl, can you hear me? Buddy, are you alright?"

I felt hands grip my shoulders, beginning to violently shake my body in an entire jolt. My lips were parted, dumbfounded, and I blinked, my eyes feeling heavier than usual.

His voice was running away, and I couldn't find it in me to catch it.

Look at you. A fool without her, I thought to myself. You're the flame and she's the ignition to the upheaval of fire in your veins and through your heart. Without her, you're catching fire in all of the crucial places. You're burning into nothing but embers in the morning horizon.

"Carl, hey—look at me. Count to ten, and breathe. Can you hear me?"

"What's he doin'?"

"He's shutting down. Stay with me, Carl. We have to get to the fence. You need to carry your own weight."

"C'mon, kid, they're starting to smell us."

"Carl! For the love of--"

My blurred vision cleared itself, and the crackled noises in my ears returned to normal, all at once. My pupils dilated, my chest heaved, and I found myself detaching Noah's grip free from my shoulders, prying him with a violent shove. He stumbled back and hit the red car, still crouched, but now staring at me with shock and concern.