Paul drove all night, and finally morning was coming around, though he was growing tired, so he knew he'd need to stop or let Carl drive after a few more hours.
Driving around the bend on a highway, he started seeing a bunch of black dots moving between vehicles in the distance and thought his vision was getting foggy from being tired, but when he got a little closer, he realized the dots were moving.
"Holy shit!" Paul slammed on the brakes and stopped the truck, waking Carl from his sleep in the process.
"What happened?" Carl woke up and looked around to see if anything was going on.
"Look." Paul pointed at the mass of moving black dots in the distance.
Carl wiped the sleepiness from his eyes, but still couldnt really make out what he was seeing.
"Let's check it out on the roof." Paul grabbed a pair of binoculars from the truck's glove box before they both got out and climbed the ladder on the side, allowing them to get on top of the truck.
Lying down, Paul steadied the binoculars toward the black dots.
"Wow. They must travel in hordes or something." Paul couldnt believe how many walkers he was seeing in one group.
It must be some kind of instinct that they had to group up.
"Hey, let me see." Carl hit Paul's arm
"Wait, what is that?" Paul saw something blue in the corner of the binoculars running.
"What? What is it?" Carl whined, wanting to see as well.
Paul shifted the binoculars over a little, and his eyes widened a little.
"A little girl?"
"Wait, let me see." Carl snatched the binoculars from Paul and looked over to where he had just been looking.
Finally, a second later, Carl saw a girl he recognized, though much dirtier looking, being chased by a group of walkers into the woods.
"It's Sophia!" Carl cried out while watching as she was chased into the woods, before he couldnt see her anymore.
"Huh? You know her?" Paul asked while looking over at Carl, who was clutching the binoculars and looking worried.
"She was my friend on the highway before I got lost. We have to save her." Carl couldnt imagine just finding Sophia again, only to watch her get eaten by walkers.
"Alright. Besides, if she's here, your parents are probably nearby too." Paul said while hoping that Carl's parents were still alive.
"Yeah, I hope so," Carl said before they both looked at each other and nodded.
"Let's do this."
They both climbed down the truck's ladder, and Carl grabbed the HK out of the truck before they hopped the left side guard rail and slinked off into the forest, sprinting toward the direction they had seen Sophia running to.
They only hoped they could get to her before the walkers did.
"This way." Paul wiped the sweat off his forehead before it could get to his eyes while pointing his knife in the direction he saw the tracks leading.
"How far!" Carl gritted his teeth while sucking in air and forcing his legs to move faster. They had been sprinting the entire time, and taking down any walkers that crossed their paths had taken a lot of his stamina.
"Help!"
A loud yell for help in the distance made them both freeze before they took off sprinting in the direction they heard the scream come from.
"Hold on, Sophia." Carl readjusted the gun strap on his shoulder while running before slowing down after seeing Paul's hand sign.
"There." Paul pointed to where Sophia was about to get surrounded by a group of walkers and was trying to run through them, but there were too many.
"Advance." Paul pulled out his pistol and raised it while Carl ran closer and raised his HK before they both started firing into the group of walkers, making sure not to hit Sophia, who was trying to stay out of arm's reach.
Psst!
Psst!
Psst!
Psst!
Eight or so silenced shots cracked off in the forest, leaving a group of scattered walker bodies and a shocked Sophia, who looked around with tears and snot running down her face.
"Whose there?" Sophia called out her voice trembling while she tried to rub the tears from her eyes.
"Sophia," Carl said softly while he and Paul stepped out of the tree line and walked closer for Sophia to see.
Carl saw Sophia looking at him for a minute before her eyes widened a little and she went running toward him.
"Carl!" She jumped into his arms while crying, making him tear up a little while smiling.
"I thought you died." Sophia sniffled and rubbed her face on Carl's jacket, wondering if it was really him or not.
"Haha, I'm alive." Carl chuckled while rubbing her back
"Thank you. I thought I was going to be-" Sophia shivered while looking at the walkers. She gripped her teddy bear tighter.
"You're safe with me." Carl pat her shoulder, and she side hugged him before looking at Paul warily.
"Carl, who is that?" Sophia pointed at Paul, who was looking at Sophia, wondering how she even survived a day in this world.
"Haha, that's Paul, he's a good guy who helped save me and you."
"Thank you." Sophia smiled, though it looked rough with her dirty face, tears, and snot mixed in.
"No problem." Paul nodded calmly while looking at Carl and winking, making him nod.
"Sophia, what about my mom?" Carl dug his nails into his palm while waiting for the answer.
"Oh yeah! Your mom is not doing good after you went missing but somehow your dad is alive." Sophia said while looking at Carl with eyes full of wonder. He seemed different to her, she felt safer around him now.
Carl released a huge sigh, and his head felt dizzy.
"Enough talk, let's go meet these parents of yours," Paul said
"You just want to go to bed, don't you?" Carl smirked, feeling better than he had in a long time.
"How do you figure?" Paul rolled his eyes, feeling like slapping Carl in the head.
"Hehe." Sophia giggled while watching the two and following them.
Crack!
"Shh!"
They all froze when a tree branch snapped nearby.
Then, from the trees, a huge buck stepped into view. Its antlers were wide and sharp, its eyes locked onto them, but it didn't run. Instead, it lowered its head and calmly continued to graze.
As if pulled by instinct, both Sophia and Carl began creeping toward it, slow and quiet. The deer didn't seem to care, just kept chewing on the grass like they weren't even there.
Step by step, they got closer, so close they could almost reach out and touch it.
They glanced at each other, smiling, both caught in a moment they'd never experienced before. Being this near to such a powerful wild animal… it didn't feel real.
Slowly, Sophia reached out her hand toward the deer.
Paul watched from the back, after years of killing and darkness, it was nice to see something majesti-
Bang!
He watched as Sophia's body was sent flying backward onto the dirt ground, the sound of the gunshot still ringing in his head.
A shocked Carl looked down at Sophia, who was now bleeding from the stomach.
Even Paul himself felt a little dazed, but on instinct he raised his pistol into the air.
"Fuck!"
"Sophia! No! No!" Carl cried while watching as blood poured from her stomach.
"Stop right there," Paul coldly called out after seeing a man exiting the tree line with a hunting rifle in hand.
"It- it was an accident. I didn't see her, I swear." The fat man said while looking at the young girl with a pale face.
Paul could tell he was telling the truth, but he didn't care. He wanted to pull the trigger.
"If she dies, you're dead." Paul stepped closer, and his eyes tracked the man like a predator, making the man nervous.
"There's a farm! A few miles that way if you can make it. A man named Hershel can help you." The man said while looking down at the girl again, his face full of shame and guilt.
Paul looked back and saw Carl kneeling over Sophia's body.
"Carl!" Paul pulled on Carl's shoulder, snapping him awake.
"I'll run her to the farm. Find your parents." Paul said while picking up the bloodied Sophia and feeling her limp body in his arms.
Carl nodded, still half dazed, and watched him run off with Sophia.