» Time Is Dancing « | » Carl Grimes «

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Divide And Conquer

I took a breath, long and deep, as my arms stretched above my head. My fingers brushed against my flattened pillow and my eyes finally fluttered open. They narrowed again when I noticed Carl sitting on the end of the bed, his feet in his shoes and his laces tied, the worn hat sitting against his head.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I grumbled, shuffling out of bed and yawning widely. He stood up beside me, a fleeting kiss pressed against my cheek as he reached for his gun belt.

"I thought you might want the extra sleep. You were up all night." His gaze wandered to the piles of books by my side of the bed and the crumpled maps and papers still strewn across the blanket. I couldn't sleep last night with the anticipation of the day to come. This was the start of the war.

I straightened a few drawing plans out, scanning them over quickly before folding them up. I had only increased my studying since Harlan was taken by the Saviors.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Tell Daryl when we get there, then find the armoury. Michonne is gonna be up in this tree with the rifle in case anything goes wrong." Rick nudged my arm from the seat beside me, the car jostling us as we made our way to Oceanside.

"Sure, we just gotta make sure we don't set up the explosives too close to that area then." I agreed, glancing at the samurai in the front seat before returning my eyes to the map. It was spread out between me and Rick, the two of us talking in the back seat while Carl drove, Michonne guiding him on the way. He had trouble with coordination ever since he got shot, and while his shooting had improved greatly, driving was something even I was better at.

"We just need to hope they give up their guns." Rick rubbed a stressed hand on his chin, folding up the maps.

"They will. We won't give them another choice." If the women of Oceanside stood in between us and the war, we would do what we needed to. We had to do whatever we could to win, no matter the cost. "We're doing them a favour."

»« »« »« »«

"Make sure you eat before we go." Michonne reminded me when I finally got ready, tossing an apple in my direction as I leaned against the counter.

"You living here now?" She asked curiously, her hands busied around the many straps across her chest.

I gave a slow nod, chewing a bite of apple. "It was too quiet next door, I was kinda lonely-"

"In Carl's room?" She raised her eyebrows, her lips pressed tightly together to suppress a smirk. I rolled my eyes at her mischievous tone, dropping the finished core in the bin.

"Shut up." I muttered, strapping my own sword to my back as she waited for my answer. "Yeah, I guess it's kinda serious now. He told me he loves me." My voice lowered, glancing out the open door to see Rick and Carl loading the car.

Michonne didn't even try to stop her wide grin at my words, her hand comfortingly gripping my shoulder before she left, too.

I loved how serious it was now.

"Dad." I found Daryl and Jesus handing various weapons to the group, dismissing them to certain parts of the borders to await instructions. "You're with me, right?"

Daryl nodded, passing an assault rifle over to me and I pulled the strap over my head, joining Carl, Enid and Tara in the overgrown bushes. Tara tapped a foot against the soft, damp earth, her lip permanently held between her teeth.

"You shouldn't feel bad." I muttered to her, peering through the leaves. "This way, the least amount of people get hurt. The greater good and all that?"