Carl felt himself wake up to the feeling of a pounding headache with every muscle in his body aching.
Using all the energy he could muster he lifted his head up which made him realize he was still lying in dirt with his entire face now caked in dirt though that was the least of his concerns as his blinked his eyes trying to get them to focus on the dark figure that was leaning over a now dead body.
Worried it was another one of those things, he hurriedly focused his eyes on it and felt his vision focus, but as his vision became clear, he realized he was wrong.
He saw what looked like a 15-year-old teenage boy wearing a fancy dark leather trench coat and gloves with black, slicked back wavy hair and pale white handsome skin crouched down over the thing that had been chasing him just minutes before.
Gasping, Carl saw three more of the things spread out around him, each with the same bullet hole in the head.
Which made Carl look at the young man's right hand, where a silenced pistol sat comfortably in his grip.
His dad had taught him a little about guns before he died.
Carl went to speak, but his throat was dry and all that came out was a few coughs.
That's when he saw the young man stand up, his dark brown eyes looking over him with a thoughtful look.
"Cough- I'm Carl, I got lost. Can you take me back to my mom?" His voice sounded out in the dark forest.
No response.
Carl wanted to get up and run back to his mom.
But he didn't have the strength, he didn't even know the way.
That's when he saw the young man make a get-up gesture with his hand before he turned around and slowly started walking back into the forest.
'He's not even going to help me up? Hold on, he's really leaving.' Carl hurriedly used all the strength he had left and got on his feet before limping after the mysterious young man.
The young man was odd, but it was better than being stranded in the middle of the forest with man-eating people.
"Hey, wait up," Carl called out while trying his best to keep up.
Thankfully, he didn't have to walk far as he soon spotted a nice wooden cabin appear in a clear opening within the woods.
"Woah, hey, is this yours?" Carl asked while looking around at the nice wooden cabin.
The young man ignored him as he opened the door to the cabin and flipped on the light switch, allowing Carl to see a fancy but woodsy cabin that would surely cost a fortune.
Not that he knew much about money, but he knew his dad was a cop and mom a teacher, they could never have afforded a place like this.
He continued to follow the young man before he was shoved into a dark room, making him panic.
"Hey, wait!
The young man flipped the light on.
"Oh." Carl looked around and realized he was in a bathroom with a shower.
He thought he was about to be shoved into a basement or something. He watched too many movies.
The young man tossed a towel to him, but he wasn't paying much attention, so it hit him in the face before dropping to the floor.
"Oh… thanks."
Bang!
The door shut.
"Okay then."
Carl looked around before snooping through all the drawers and didn't find anything interesting. He turned on the water before trying to find the right temperature.
"Hah, finally." He sighed before stepping into the warm shower water and took a seat as he felt his sore legs needed a break from standing.
Thinking of his mom and Shane, tears blended in with the shower water, and he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever see them again.
'Are they alive?' Carl thought while thinking back to the chaos.
'Shane knows what he's doing.'
'But how can I get back with those things everywhere? I don't even know which direction I ran in.' Carl banged his fist into the shower wall, his anger now taking over his grief.
He always hated his weakness. He could never help his dad, and now he couldn't do anything but hope his mom was alive.
'Maybe I can get this person to take me back to the highway, but would they even be there anymore?'
Carl grabbed his pounding head before spending the next ten minutes washing all of the dirt off his body and getting out of the shower.
That's when he realized he didn't have any clothes that weren't covered in dirt.
Opening the bathroom door just a tad, he peeked out and saw some clothes lying on the bed, making him smile.
"So he's a nice guy after all." Carl smiled before his smile dissolved.
"Eh?"
The clothes in front of him were the same exact clothes the young man was wearing right now but just a much smaller version, almost as if to fit a twelve-year-old.
The whole outfit.
The super noble trench coat with its fancy design and golden buckle and fancy neck with leather leggings and sturdy black combat boots and gloves.
"Such a weirdo. Does he only have one outfit?"
Carl then looked over at the closet and opened it.
"Woah!"
A dazzling array of outfits greeted his eyes. Everything you could possibly think of, he had.
"This guy is rich haha!" Carl smiled before grabbing a jean jacket with a fur collar and jeans, and some combat boots, before checking himself out in the mirror and nodding.
Opening the bedroom door, he walked out into a lit hallway before looking left, where he saw an open foyer with the young man seated, eating a plate of chicken and rice.
Noticing another plate full of chicken and rice, Carl wondered if it was for him and looked at the young man, who stopped eating and looked him up and down before nodding at the plate.
"Thank you. I'm starving." Carl said while taking a seat and instantly digging into the fresh meal.
"Mmm. It's so good. Thank you for the clothes by the way. Uhh, I didn't want to wear your weird trench coat outfit, hope you don't mind." Carl said while rubbing his head and smiling innocently.
Carl saw the young man look down at his trench coat before looking back at him and nodding.
"So what's your name?" Carl asked while taking a drink of water.
There was silence for a few minutes as they ate before finally Carl heard another voice that wasn't his own.
"Paul." The young man said, making Carl look up from his food with a smile.
"I'm Carl."
He saw Paul nod.
"I know."
"Tell me. What's going on." Paul said with a calm and smooth but demanding voice.
Carl was confused at first about what Paul meant, but then his eyes widened.
"You don't know?" Carl asked surprised
Paul shook his head
"It all started a few days ago. No one really knows what it is, I guess. People just started eating each other. The entire world seems to be weird. Me, My mom, along with Shane, were trying to leave the city when I got chased into the woods. That's when I met you."
Carl watched Paul's face, expecting some kind of reaction, but he didn't even blink.
You would expect something after being told the world was going to shit but it seemed as if Paul hadn't even heard a word he said.
"I need to get back to my mom and find out if she is okay," Carl said
Paul took another bite of chicken before nodding to the door.
Carl looked over at the door before looking back at Paul.
"I was hoping you could take me. Please." Carl asked with a drawn-out please.
"Not my problem," Paul said, not even looking up from his plate of chicken and rice.
"So you saved me just to die because that's what will happen when I leave here with no idea where I'm going and no idea how to take down one of those things," Carl said, his childish voice ringing with a hint of anger in it, making Paul look up.
Carl saw Paul's dark brown eyes looking into his, almost as if looking for something.
"I heard you call out for your dad. Where is he?" Paul asked, making Carl cringe.
"He's dead," Carl said, not explaining
They both sat in silence for a few minutes before Paul spoke.
"I'll teach you the skills to go find your mother, and then when you're confident enough to leave here on your own, that's when you'll leave."
Carl smiled while thinking of seeing his mom again.
"Thank you."
"Don't. We'll see if you can complete the training first." Paul said as a slight but dark smirk took hold, making Carl grow nervous.