The walking dead: Carl

Everything started to fall apart, the world turned upside down, all because of a mysterious disease turning people into the living dead. But for Carl, things unfolded a bit differently. It all began when his father, Rick Grimes, was shot on duty and fell into a coma. His mother, Lori Grimes, was devastated, not knowing if her husband would ever wake up. Shane Walsh, Rick's friend and colleague, took advantage of the situation by forming an intimate relationship with Lori.

Even though Carl was only 12 years old, he fully understood that his mother was cheating on his father with Shane. To make things worse, riots broke out, and the living dead appeared, while Lori and Shane planned to head to a survivor camp in Atlanta.

But for Carl, the whole apocalypse seemed like a wish come true. He had always dreamed of such a situation, wanting to live like the heroes in movies or video games about the apocalypse, free from worrying about morality or laws.

No one at home knew what was going on in Carl's head, although he showed signs that it wasn't anything good. Carl had been following this desire since he turned 9. At 10, he secretly started training and watching survival guides on the internet, carefully covering his tracks so no one would discover his dream. As for his physique, he lied that he often played soccer and liked sports, which explained his slightly toned muscles. No one suspected that it was just an excuse. Rick and Lori easily believed this since Carl had been playing soccer for the school team since he turned 8.

Two days before the planned departure to Atlanta, Carl decided to run away from home and start doing what he wanted. The day before, he prepared a backpack with supplies, and on the day of the escape, while his mother, Lori, was busy with Shane in the bathroom, Carl sneaked into his parents' room and took his father's hidden gun from a stash under the bed—something no one at home knew about. Rick had hidden it there in case of danger just days before his accident. Carl had once caught his father putting extra ammunition into the stash. Rick never imagined anyone, let alone Carl, would know about it.

On the day of Carl's escape, Lori and Shane didn't realize he was missing until the afternoon when he didn't show up for lunch. "Carl, come down for lunch. I made spaghetti, I know you like it," Lori called, but there was no answer. Frustrated, she went to get him, thinking he had his headphones on and couldn't hear her. But when she opened the door, she found an empty room and an open window.

She immediately screamed, "Shane, come here quickly! Carl ran away!" Hearing Lori's scream, Shane rushed upstairs to Carl's room. Seeing Lori's panic, he quickly scanned the room, spotting the open window and a makeshift rope tied to the bed leg. Shane's mind raced, trying to figure out why Carl had run away, and then he remembered Carl had mentioned wanting to visit Rick in the hospital.

"Lori, I think I know where Carl went. He probably went to see his dad," Shane said. Hearing this, Lori screamed, "Let's go there immediately before some bandit, soldier, or, worse, one of those creatures catches him!"

Shane and Lori quickly jumped in the car and headed toward the hospital. Thanks to Shane being a cop, they were able to pass military roadblocks, asking at each one if anyone had seen a wandering 12-year-old boy. But they didn't know that after sneaking out through the window, Carl had hidden in the tool shed behind the house, waiting for Lori and Shane to realize he was gone. When he heard the commotion and realized they had left to search for him, probably at the hospital, Carl used his keys to get back into the house, leaving a note for his mother on the kitchen table and taking some additional useful items with him: a knife, flashlight, batteries, first aid kit, local map, solar charger, his father's gun, and a rope from the garage. After gathering everything he deemed useful, he left.

Carl wasn't stupid and knew he couldn't get caught. Using the backyards of neighboring houses and then the forest as cover, he slowly made his way to his hideout at Mrs. Park's old house. A few days earlier, he had stashed a stolen mini dirt bike there, which he had taken five days earlier from a classmate who had left for the countryside to visit his grandparents. Carl believed the bike no longer had an owner, convinced the world would soon collapse since even by then, some towns and entire counties couldn't handle the epidemic and riots. Mrs. Park's house was outside the city where Carl lived, exactly 2 miles from his home, surrounded by a high wooden fence with a sturdy gate and a key-locked door. Mrs. Park had fled her home so quickly that she left the key in the lock and even forgot to close the garage, which usually led into the house.

Forty-nine minutes after Carl had left, Lori and Shane returned home. Shane was still trying to comfort Lori, who was distraught because no one had seen Carl, and he wasn't at the hospital. But as soon as they walked in, they were met with the sight of open cabinets and scattered items. Shane knew it wasn't a break-in because the doors were locked, but he still drew his gun and checked the house, only to find a letter addressed to Lori, which must have been from Carl.

Lori, with tears in her eyes, began to read the letter slowly: "Dear Mom, by the time you read this, I'm no longer at home. And yes, I ran away, so don't start thinking otherwise. I'm not as stupid as I look. Do you really think I don't know what's going on outside? This epidemic is like a dream come true for me because it's the beginning of the end of the world, and I can fulfill my dream of living without worrying about morality or laws. So I'm going to live my way, doing whatever I want, even if it means I have to kill for it.

Also, when I snuck out through the window, I hid in the tool shed behind the house and waited for you to discover it and go look for me at the hospital. Using my keys, I went back into the house and took useful things. And by the way, Mom, did you know Dad had a hidden stash with a gun under the bed? Probably not. I only know about it because a few days before Dad's accident, I saw him hiding extra ammunition there.

Oh, and one more thing: when you have sex with Shane, could you do it quieter? The whole house can hear you. And one night, when I snuck out because you were being too loud, I overheard a conversation between two soldiers, probably officers. The military is planning to regroup in Atlanta to start something called Operation Cobalt, if I heard correctly.

Goodbye, Mom and Shane."

This letter broke Lori and shocked Shane because Carl had not only planned his escape well but also executed a clever strategy. Shane was also slightly terrified by the mention of Operation Cobalt, as thanks to his uncle, who was a high-ranking military general, Shane knew what Operation Cobalt was.

They needed to leave quickly if they wanted to survive, but convincing Lori now, after Carl's escape, would be nearly impossible. Shane immediately called his uncle to find out if they were safe and when Operation Cobalt would begin. Lori, though devastated, listened in on Shane's conversation with his uncle.

"[What do you want, Shane?]" growled the ever-angry general. "[Uncle, when will Operation Cobalt begin in King County, Georgia?]" Shane asked. "[Hah, someone's desperate to avoid it. But is that really what this is about? Let me think... In five days, at sunrise,]" the general replied.

Shane hung up immediately, not wanting to listen to his uncle any longer. But he didn't know that his uncle was fully aware of why he had called. Two days earlier, the general's men had found a rather interesting message directed at Shane in one of the quarantine zones in King County.

From Shane's conversation with his uncle, it was clear they had five days until Operation Cobalt started in their county, meaning four days to find Carl and escape to safety, leaving one day as a buffer, since Operation Cobalt would begin early in the morning.