Halloween night in Alexandria sparked an explosion of joy from the kids who had been waiting for this day all year. It was a time when they could pretend the apocalypse didn’t exist just for a little while. Outside, you could already hear them pulling pranks, their carefree laughter echoing through the air.

Meanwhile, you and Carl were baking cookies in all kinds of shapes — pumpkins, bats, and skulls, and getting snacks ready for movie night. Carl wiped a bit of flour off your cheek with his thumb and gave you a small smile. It was no secret there was something between you two. The long glances, the subtle smiles you shared… everyone had noticed.

You looked up at him and laughed. But before you could make a sarcastic comment, the lights in the kitchen suddenly went out. You gasped and exchanged a look with Carl. He raised an eyebrow and whispered.

“What was that?”

You shrugged and just then, the lights flickered back on. From around the corner came Judith, covered in a bedsheet like a ghost, shouting loudly.

“BOO!”

She looked excited at the thought of scaring you, so not wanting to ruin her plan, Carl wrapped an arm around you under the pretense of “protecting you” and pretended to be terrified.

“Is it a ghost!?”

You looked at him, your eyes widening. You whispered softly but loud enough for Judith to hear.

“What now? Who you gonna call?”

Then a small grin appeared on Carl’s face and he looked at Judith.

“Ghostbusters!”

Judith ran off, laughing under the sheet, while Carl burst out laughing with you and gave chase after his sister.

“You can run all you want, I’ll catch you anyway!”

You stood there for a moment, watching them, the laughter, the warmth, the rare feeling of normalcy in a world that had long forgotten what “normal” felt like. For just that one Halloween night, Alexandria didn’t feel like the apocalypse at all.