A Long Way From Home//Carl Grimes

Chapter 13 - The Party

*a couple days later*
*Cassie's pov*

"Enid is the one who opened the gates. She created a large danger to this town. So, we have decided to execute her." I say at the town meeting that was being held.
"Are you kidding me?!" Ron yells back angrily.
"Ron, she kidnapped me and attempted to drop me off in the middle of no where. She left gates open which allowed walkers to get in. Those walkers killed Matt. The punishment is final." I snap back. He rolls his eyes and storms out of the hall.
"Meeting is dismissed." I say. Everyone leaves except Carl.
"You know, we never had that party that we were supposed to the other night." He says putting his arm around me as we begin to follow the others.
"I don't know if a party is the best thing to have right now." I say to him.
"Maybe it will lighten the mood a bit around this place. Calm everyone down. It's been a little depressing around here lately. Tonight we shall have a formal party. For your birthday." He says smirking. He's such a dork.
"Well, you should have told me that before I dismissed the meeting." I say laughing.
"Oh, right." He says laughing with me.
"I'll just tell everyone to spread the word." He says winking at me. He then quickly kisses my cheek and runs off to tell people. I smile and shake my head, laughing. I'm in love with that nerd.

*later on that night*

I put on my blue dress that I picked out earlier. I leave my long, curly, brown hair down. I look in the mirror and notice all of the scratches and bruises from the car accident a couple of days ago. I have a large cut on my forehead. There are bruises on my arms and legs. I then look down to my ankle and see the boot on it. A couple of people went on a run to a hospital the other day to get a boot for my foot. They thought it would be easier for me to walk around in. I've been taking pain killers, so I don't feel much pain. I look horrible like this. My body looks weak and tired. Part of me wants to go put on my jeans and flannel again, but this is a formal party. I want to cover up the nasty bruises and cuts all over my body. Suddenly, there's a knock at my door. I hobble over to go answer it.
"Hey there." Carl says giving me a hug. He looks at me and I can see the pain in his eyes.
"I'm okay, I swear." I say giving him a fake smile. But in reality, I'm not. My pain killers are wearing off, I can tell, but I don't want to take anymore. I don't want to be drugged up for my party. He smiles back and holds out his hand.
"Shall we?" He asks.
"We shall." I say letting out a laugh. I grab his hand and we begin to walk over to the big meeting hall where the party is being held. Carl makes sure not to walk to fast because of my ankle. He puts his arm around me to help me balance.
"I still have to give you my gift." He says leading me over to a small bench on the side of the road. We both take a seat and he pulls out a small box. He hands it to me and I open it up. He seriously got me a gift during a zombie apocalypse? This is insane. Inside is a gorgeous locket. I open the locket and there's a picture of the two of us laughing back at the prison.
"Where did you get this picture?" I ask shocked.
"Maggie took it with a camera back at the prison. She gave it to me and told me to hold on to it. I got the locket on a run a week ago." He says smirking.
"C-Carl, I love it. I love you so much. Thank you." I say engulfing him in a hug.
"I love you too." He says.
"Here, let me put it on you." He adds. I nod and turn around so he can put the necklace on me.
"There." He says. I spin around and hug him again. I can't believe he would do that for me. I'm such a horrible girlfriend and he's still stuck by my side.
"We probably should get to the party now." He says smiling at me.
"Yes we should." I say smiling back at him. At that moment, I forget all of my pain as I look into his safe, blue eyes.

-

We walk into the party and all of the town is here. They're all talking to one another and exchanging laughs. Carl grabs my hand and squeezes it. He smiles at me and I smile back.
"There she is." Rick says hugging me.
"Hey Rick?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for not killing me in the woods a couple months ago." I say letting out a small laugh.
"Anytime." He jokes with me. All of a sudden, a siren goes off.
"What is that?!" Carl yells to me over the sound.
"That's what happens when someone is at the gate!" I yell back. But who could be here right now? We don't go on runs at night unless it's completely necessary. No one even went on a run today, which means...new people.
I hobble over to the gate as fast as I can and Carl opens it. He pulls out his gun just in case.
"Who are you?" I say into the darkness. I can't see their faces yet.
"I'm Jason."
"I'm Kat."
I stop and almost fall to the ground. I know those voices. I know those names. They step into the light so I can see their faces and it's definitely them.
"C-Cass?" Kat asks. I nod and she runs over and hugs me.
"Oh my God." Jason says and comes over to join us.
"Where's dad? And your mom? James? Have you seen Becca?" Kat throws questions at me. They hurt so much.
"They're all gone. I saw each one go down." I say quietly.
They both look down and I can see Kat start to cry. I don't want to linger on the topic, so I'll move on to the next topic.
"Come on inside. We're having a party for my 15th birthday." I say giving them a weak smile.
"You're 15 now?" Jason asks with a smile.
"Yeah. For about a week now." I say laughing a little bit. Carl stands there a bit shocked.
"Are these your half siblings that you were talking about?" Carl asks me. I nod and smile.
"Who are you?" Jason asks him.
"I'm Carl Grimes."
"He's my boyfriend." I say smiling at Jason.

-

"We had a girl named Beth with us. She was my girlfriend." Jason says looking down.
"W-What happened to her?" I ask him. What if it's our Beth? I never asked what happened to her.
"We got separated yesterday. Our plan was that if anything bad happened we would go here." He says.
"What was her last name?" I ask him.
"Greene." Holy crap. She's alive. Beth is alive.
"Oh my God." I say shocked.
"Do you know her?" He asks.
"Yeah. She was in our group before we lost the prison. We all got separated." I say. I have to go tell Maggie.
"Her sister is here. I have to go tell her." I say quietly. Jason nods. I quickly search through the party for Maggie. I find her next to Glenn.
"Maggie!"
"What?"
"Beth's alive! She was with my brother! They got separated yesterday! They had a plan to come here! She's going to be here soon!" I say excitedly.
"Oh my gosh. Are you serious?!" She asks me with tears in her eyes.
"Yes!" I practically yell. As if on cue, the sirens go off again.
"Beth!" Maggie screams as she runs off. She whips open the gate and there she is. Covered in dirt and blood. She reminds me of when I first arrived at the prison. Our whole prison group runs over to the gate and hugs Beth. I close the gate so no walkers can get in and join the hug.
"I'm okay!" She says crying tears of joy. I can see Jason walk out of the meeting hall. He meets her gaze and their eyes lock.
"J-Jason?" She asks full of excitement. She pulls out of everyone's hugs and runs over to him. He picks her up and spins her around in the air.
"They're dating, if you guys didn't catch on." I say laughing. The whole group starts laughing. Then Beth runs back over to Maggie and pulls her over to go meet Jason. I smile at all the happiness that surrounds us right now. But soon enough, the happiness ends as we hear a high pitched scream come from the party.

-

OKAY SO I NEED TO CLEAR A FEW THINGS UP!

-Jason and Kat are Cassie's half siblings. I previously said that Jason is 18 and Kat is 16! So yay! They just joined the group!
-I decided not to kill off Beth. I want to see if I can do more with her character.
-Jason, Beth, and Kat met up after the prison got destroyed. Now, Jason and Beth are dating. They're both 18 in this.
-This chapter took place around 4 days after the accident with Enid. So, Cass is still recovering.

-

BUT OMG SO MANY CHEESY CASS AND CARL MOMENTS AWHHHH -Lilly