TWD The Youngest Angel - Carl Grimes

7

The two teens stood opposite a piece of plywood that was standing in as their makeshift target. Shaye didn't want to make it too easy, or too much of a challenge just starting Carl off. Carl had expressed his desire to not only attempt archery but try his hand at knife throwing; something that both Dixons were skilled at.

Shaye had asked Carl why he didn't just approach her father and ask for him to teach Carl. This left Carl staring at Shaye as though she had two heads.

"He's not that bad" Shaye stated, glancing at Carl as she played with a knife in her hand. 

"I just doubt he'd be a good teacher." 

Shaye snorted at his response, "who do you think taught me?" 

Though the answer was obvious, Carl still shrugged his shoulders "I don't know, maybe your mom?" 

Shaye let out a forced laugh, trying to keep the mood as light as possible. Carl had crossed a topic she was hoping no one would come to. It wasn't as though she lost her mother in a brutal, savage way; it was the way she grew up without one. Only having her father, Shaye never knew what it was like to be loved by a mother. Her good friend Hailey's mother did her best to be a mother figure for Shaye but it wasn't the same. 

"Yeah Carl, totally" she rolled her eyes. Trying to distract herself from the awkward topic by resuming preparations for Carl's lesson.

Carl watched the girl for a moment, he wanted to know more about her, it was the way of finding out he was unsure about. He didn't expect to get to know the girl quickly, but he expected her to share a little more than she had. No one was an open book nowadays but there was something about Shaye that told him that she never was, that she preferred to keep things closed. 

People in the prison all knew each other, there was no reason to be reserved but Shaye, she was the newcomer and everyone was dying to learn more of the Dixon they never knew existed. The group knew Shaye wasn't going to leave anytime soon, she was now a permanent member of the group even if she didn't know it yet.

Carl was lost in thought, only paying attention to Shaye once more when her hand began waving in front of his eyes "earth to Carl." 

"Sorry, I was thinking" 

"Hm? You're regretting your decision aren't you." Shaye began laughing as Carl's face reddened. 

Carl huffed, slowly pulling his knife out of its sheath "you wish Dixon."

"Well Mr.Grimes, show me what you got" 

Carl took a step forward, repeating the actions he had watched Shaye do whenever she threw a knife. Balancing the blade in his hand, he threw it, watching it bounce off the bottom corner of the plywood. He huffed, looking to Shaye, with s sly smirk on her face she joked "wow so scary, you know, that would've killed like a dozen walkers." 

"Yeah well just wait till it saves your life one day."

Shaye chuckled "I'll be waiting for it." She pulled out one of her lighter knives, passing it to Carl. "This one's lighter than yours, try this. And this time, don't put so much force into it, just a little effort goes a long way."

She watched Carl as he attempted it once again, this time the knife didn't twirl in the air as much and the blade got touched the wood; only it didn't stick, rather ricocheted off before planting itself in the ground.

The two continued this pattern; Shaye passing Carl another knife and correcting his actions. Each throw, Carl got closer and closer to the center of the target. "Now Carl, all you gotta do is get it to stick."

Carl let out a noise that resmembled an annoyed grunt, "you make it look so easy."

Shaye gathered the knives by the target, twirling one around her finger as she came to stand next to Carl once again "it's all about practice." Carl took a knife out of Shaye's hand "you just need to breathe, losen up. You're too tense."

Carl closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath in. He rolled his shoulders back, relaxing his tense muscles. Shaye watched as the boy opened his eyes and threw the knife, smiling proudly as the blade stuck in the target; it didn't hit the center but it was an accomplishment nevertheless.

Shaye clapped her hands as Carl gazed out at the target in astonishment "I did it!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, yes you did Carl." 

Carl turned to Shaye, "thank you for this."

"Any time, just don't let me down 'kay?"

Carl crossed his arms against his chest "and how would I do that? Don't you see that" he motioned to the target "I did that."

Shaye rolled her eyes at him "yeah Carl, and if that was a walker, I don't think a knife in the foot is gonna take one down."

"Just wait and see Dixon. That knife in the foot is gonna save you one day."

"I'll be waiting for that day Carl." Shaye nudged Carl as she laughed, slowly pushing him out of the way so she could stand square with the target. She pulled out one of her knives, trying to stop her laughter as Carl kept whispering "go for the foot, the foot."

A voice halted their laughter, a knife still dangling off of Shaye's finger tips. "What the hell is going on here?" 

The two teens turned to look towards a fuming Lori, who in her best efforts, rushed towards them. Despite it looking more like a waddle than anything else, the look on her face was enough to tell the teens that she was mad. 

"Were throwing knives mom." Carl responded, his tone wavering on annoyance. 

"You shouldn't be playing with knives, they're dangerous!"

Shaye huffed, snapping the knife in her hand back in it's sheath on her hip. "It's not playing, it's training."

Lori glared at Shaye, her shoulders heaving "how dare you speak back to me young lady." She turned to look towards Carl "I don't want you around her, she's a bad influence. Having you play with knives like it's acceptable."

Shaye couldn't help but roll her eyes at Carl's mother.

The yelling attracted the attention of Rick, who was now running to meet up with his family and Shaye. "Whats going on here?"

Lori looked at her husband "Shaye is teaching our son it's okay to play with knives."

"They're not playing Lori, Shaye is teaching him how to better defend himself." Rick responded, his voice void of anger.

This seemed to enrage Lori even more "you knew about this?"

Rick nodded his head, "yeah they cleared it with me earlier."

"You didn't tell me?" Lori raised her voice "I'm his mother and you didn't think to tell me?!"

Rick rubbed his face with his hands, obviously annoyed by his wife. Rick had seen no issue with this lesson Shaye was giving Carl, in fact, Rick was thrilled with the idea. No matter how much Rick resented the idea of Carl growing up it didn't change the world he was growing up in. It was more important for Carl to be able to defend himself in any situation he found himself in than keeping him in a bubble. It also provided an excuse for the two teens to get closer, a way to make Shaye feel more included within the group.

The married couple continued to bicker; Shaye saw that there was no way this was going to end soon. She threw the knife that remained in her hand before proceeding to collect her other knives scattered amongst the target before she trekking back inside the prison.