𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 ↠ 𝘤.𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

43: Claims

Elle managed to keep her promise, and found Carl. She never really thought about what do to next. How was she going to find her brothers? The rest of the group still needed to be found as well. But what was the plan? As if he read her mind, Rick spoke up.

"What do we do next?"

"I was hoping you would have the answer." Elle sighed. Their small group of four recently had turned into five when Michonne tracked the same footprints that Elle did.

"You should eat something." Rick spoke.

"What's there to eat?"

"Dry cereal in the kitchen." Elle nodded, standing up from her spot on the couch that sat in the center of the living room. She slowly made her way through the doorway of the kitchen and over to the wooden table. Carl looked up and met eyes with the blonde girl, giving her a small smile, in which she returned. As she sat down in the chair to his right, he placed a ceramic bowl in front of her.

"Here." He said, passing her the bag of cornflakes. She thanked him and poured the desired amount of cereal she wanted, which wasn't a lot.

"Did you see my brothers?" Elle asked quietly. Carl gave her a confused look.

"I thought you went to get them?"

"I did, but they weren't there. I figured Jack must've gotten Cody out, but I didn't see them." She explained briefly.

"No, I didn't see them. Sorry." Carl apologized, meeting her volume. Elle only nodded. Did she believe they were alive? Yes. But a part of her said otherwise and it was starting to take over. The not knowing was slowly killing her. Elle knew what had happened to Judith, the youngest of the Grimes family. Rick said as he and Carl were leaving the prison, they found her carrier- empty and covered in blood. Babies are helpless, and Judith had no way of escaping the walkers that craved her flesh. And they got it. Carl and Rick were the last of the Grimes. Lori and Judith no longer walked the earth.

The two teenagers sat in silence, eating their dry cornflakes. At least they were until a happy and well rested Michonne walked in. Elle noticed the white, oversized button up and couldn't help but chuckle.

"What? Do you not like my super flattering new shirt?" Michonne asked, doing a small spin to show the whole thing off.

"No, no it looks great!" Elle smiled, defending herself. She could see Carl smiling in the corner of her eye as well.

"I know." Michonne teased, causing to the two to laugh again. The woman walked over to the table, sitting across from Elle as she pulled out a small bowl of her own, pouring the cereal. "I wish we had some soy milk." She complained.

Both of the kids dropped their spoons, letting them hit the side of the bowl as they stared at her in disgust. "What?" Michonne asked surprised at their reactions.

"I hate soy milk." Elle said.

"Me too." Carl added.

"Have you ever had it?" Michonne teased them.

"Yes. I myself am lactose intolerant, but you wouldn't catch me DEAD drinking soy milk." Elle smirked. Michonne nodded, smiling with her arms crossed. She turned to Carl, waiting for his argument.

"I had a friend in third grade who was allergic to dairy. So he would bring this soy stuff to lunch," he paused. "So I tried it."

"And?" Michonne urged him to go on.

"I threw up!" Carl smiled.

"Oh yeah right!"

"Okay, okay. I didn't throw up, but I was like-" he started making gagging sounds, causing the two girls to laugh. "I would rather drink powdered milk! I would rather drink Judith's formu-" Carl's smile faded away as his bright blue eyes now filled with regret and sorrow. He quickly got up from his seat. "I'm gonna go finish my book, I have a few chapters left." He mumbled before storming out of the kitchen. Elle wanted to go after him, but she knew that if it was her, she would want to be alone. So she figured it would be best for him too.