» Time Is Dancing « | » Carl Grimes «

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Sorry, Dale

"That hose isn't long for this world, is it?" Dale muttered to himself as he analysed the pipes. I think I might have broke something in the RV, but Dale was afraid to tell me I did something wrong.

"Where the hell are we gonna find a replacement?" Jim frowned, scratching his head thoughtfully.

"Dale, I'm sorry, I think I got the hose confused with that other thing that looks like a hose." I blurted out, my eyebrows creased apologetically.

Dale waved a casual hand, giving me a small smile. "Don't worry about it, sweetheart, this thing's not going anywhere. The hose was already broken anyway."

"You promise you're not just saying that?" I could've sworn he hesitated, but I didn't have time to ask again as Amy's voice carried across the camp.

"They should've been back by now." She exclaimed as she paced in worry, her white shoes kicking up dust with every step. I knew she was worried about Andrea, but Shane said there was nothing we could do. Everybody here was worried about someone there.

I quietly spoke to Dale, my teeth tugging on my lip. "Amy's right. Do you think they got lost? Is someone hurt?"

"Hello, Base camp...anybody out there?" A crackly question broke through the silence.

It was T-Dog.

I jumped up at his voice, everyone else seemingly doing the same. If he was okay, then that meant Glenn was okay too, right? Dale climbed on top of the RV to answer, clicking the button and saying "Hello, receptions bad on this end. Repeat, repeat."

I waited on the ground, Shane and Lori coming over to listen. T-Dog responded but no one could tell what he was saying, it was coming through all muffled and staticky. There was only one word I could make out.

Trapped.

The group was trapped in the city with hundreds of thousands of dead people. I knew they shouldn't have left. I don't care if it's for the good of the camp and they went to get supplies, they would've been safe here.

"Surrounded... department store." The crackling sound came through again before melting away completely.

There was a newfound spark of hope in my chest. We knew where they were now, if we could go to the city and rescue them-

"We do not go after them. We do not risk the rest of the group." Shane. It was always Shane. Always making the big decisions, making the easy decisions. Who let him be in charge?

Amy stared him in the eye with a look of anger and confusion. "So we're just going to leave her there?" She yelled furiously.

She was right to be mad. This was her sister, our friends. Shane said there's nothing we can do? He was just scared.

Amy left the camp with a stomp of feet, probably to be away from Shane. I hoped he felt really bad about what he said.

Our leader might have been scared of the city, but I wasn't. I turned on my heel, an urgent gleam in my eyes. "Dale, we can't just leave them there. What about Glenn?"

He put down the screwdriver in his hand before at his shoes, a heavy sigh releasing from his lips.

"Dale?" I pushed, seeing the reluctance in his features.

After a seemingly long moment, he finally looked at me. "I'm sorry, kid. I'm not gonna let you put yourself in danger out there." He told me, turning back to the vehicle.

My lip quivering but I forced it still, replacing the fear with a burst of anger. "What the hell, Dale? Don't you care about him?" I stormed away from the RV, sitting at the fire and facing away from him with a huff. This was Glenn we were talking about. He would've done it for us.

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(Edited chapter)