A Dream I Had

5

KATRINA'S POV:

"Hey." Rick started.

"Hey, dad."

"What's up?" I joined in.

"Lock your door tonight." Daryl blurted, getting straight to the point.

"O...kay?" Carl replied more like a question while I just stood there with a confused look on my face. They took this as a sign that we wanted more information.

"Dean is acting a little strange. We don't wanna take any chances. Just lock y'all's door tonight." Rick said, looking from Carl to me.

"Yes sir." Carl said.

"Okay." I replied. They began exiting the room before Rick turned back to look at me.

"By the way, Kat. Nice outfit. Starting to really look like part of the family." He chuckled before walking out and shutting the door. Carl nudged my arm with his and looked at me giggling.

"Oh, shut it, Grimes." I laughed, shoving him. It was time for me to switch laundry over again so I did that while Carl finished folding the rest of the shirts. He was starting to get the hang of it. I had finished Daryl's load so I put his clothes on the counter and Carl immediately began helping me fold it. "Thanks."

"Of course. I'm not just gonna sit here and watch you do all the work when I'm able to help." He looked at me.

"Awe, how sweet." I teased and he chuckled. When we were done putting his clothes away I took Daryl's bag out to him.

"Thanks, darlin'." He said, taking the bag from my hands.

"No problem." I replied with a smile before turning to go back to the laundry room.

"Hey, everyone's about to go to bed, just so y'all know." I heard Rick from my left by the kitchen.

"Okay." I said back and walked into the laundry room to see Carl staring into the top of the washer. "Uhh, whatcha doin'?" I asked, laughing a little.

"I'm just still amazed by this." He replied, not breaking his gaze at the clothing. I chuckled at him before walking over and taking a seat on top of the drier. He finally looked at me.

"Your dad said we're all headed to bed soon." I told him and he nodded.

"Speaking of which..." He walked to the corner of the room and grabbed an extra blanket from a small closet. I didn't think much of it so I didn't ask questions. He placed it on the counter next to the shirts I said I was going to put back in his room and came back over to me.

"So, about that favorite color of yours..." I smiled.

"Oh, boy." He smiled and looked down, hands in his pockets. "I thought you had forgotten about that." He looked back to me.

"How could I?" I asked. "You never told me what it was. All I got from you was that it's some shade of brown and it's one-of-a-kind."

"Yeah and that's all you ARE gonna get because you've already gotten too close to the answer." He chuckled.

"Oh no, sir. You're telling me what it is, Grimes." I leaned forward, placing my hands on my knees. He started smiling and shaking his head.

"Nah." He laughed and I pushed his shoulder. Just then, the drier beeped. I jumped down and removed the contents - Maggie's clothes. Carl took them out of my hands and walked them over to the counter. Then the washer went off. I moved this last load to the drier, deciding it would be the last one of the night. It was Glenn's. After starting the drier, I made my way over to Carl to help him fold Maggie's clothes.

"Thanks again for helping me." I said, picking up a pair of jeans.

"Kay, it's not a problem. But, um, can you fold that stuff? I'm not really sure if I'm comfortable messing with it." He said, referring to some of Maggie's personal clothing items.

"Yes, Mr. gentleman." I teased, knowing he was just trying to be respectful. He laughed a little and we finished putting her things in her bag. I zipped it up but decided to take hers and Glenn's together. The drier had about 25 minutes left on it when Rick came into the room.

"Time for bed, y'all." He said from the doorway.

"Do you care if I finish this load? There's 25 minutes left on the drier." I said.

"Sure, but after that, straight to bed." He nodded.

"Yes, sir." Carl jumped into the conversation.

"Stay down here with her. It's dark outside so I don't want either of you alone even though all of the doors are locked." He said to Carl. I smiled and rolled my eyes and Carl nodded before his father left.