Anything - Carl Grimes

i. strange boy with a wound

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Carmen was always called different. When she was little, no one had ever said it to her face but when she eavesdropped her Mom talking about her, she always heard the word different. Well, that was when she was very little. When her brother was born they found out he was autistic and not even three years later her Dad died, and she disappeared. Not physically but people stopped paying attention to her as much as they, probably, should have.

However, she never blamed it on her brother, Matthew. He was the light of her life, her best friend. She knew he needed their Mom more than she did, so she never complained. Her Mom only started paying attention to her when she started going to school. She couldn't pay attention, was always in her own little world, was aggressive and mean to the other kids, and more.

She noticed how her Mom always sat her down and tried to talk to her and get her to open up but Carmen never understood what she had to say. That she felt left out? That she didn't want to go to that stupid school with stupid kids anymore? That she wishes she was different too so her Mommy would pay attention to her again? That she misses her Daddy? Even Carmen wanted to speak about everything and more but every time she tried, she couldn't physically say it. It was like something held her back.

And once the sick people- as her great-uncle Hershel called them -started walking around, she felt even worse. So many of her cousins became sick and Hershel isolated them in the barn and after that, she never saw them again. Well, she was never close to them anyway because they were all much older than her but they were blood. They were family.

Though she didn't understand why Hershel didn't help them. Why couldn't he give them some medicine and they'd be fine? One time when she asked him, he told her they would never be not sick again and that made her sad. Soon she found out half of the world had that disease and she was scared she'd get it too.

Anyway- Carmen now has spent so much time indoors or in the yard. Their farm was big and Carmen used to walk for hours over it, sometimes even going to the forest. But now she couldn't anymore because they told her she'd get sick. She spent a lot of time under this specific tree where she played with rocks and bugs and carved things into it. Sometimes she'd play with Matt but now he's usually always inside of the house because he doesn't understand that he's in danger.

"Carms! Carmen!" Someone yelled from the house, adding a whistle. She stood up, brushing the dirt off her longer and pink pattern skirt. She loved that type of clothes. She always wore that type of skirt along with a white button-up and some cowboy boots. She ran back to the house where Maggie, her aunt, waited for her. Maggie wasn't her actual aunt, she was her cousin once removed. Her Dad's cousin. But it was easier to call her aunt. Especially when her Dad and Maggie were close.

"Yes?" Carmen stopped in front of her with her hands behind her back. Maggie looked down at the little girl, putting her hand on Carmen's cheek.

"Want some lunch?" Maggie asked.

"Yes, please." Maggie nodded, leading her inside. They walked in, passing the living room where Matt sat, fidgeting with his toy. She walked into the kitchen and found Patricia- Otis' wife and Hershel's helper -and her Mom setting up the table.

"Go wash up." Maggie told Carmen, ruffling her hair. Carmen swatted away her hand, grunting as she started walking to the kitchen sink. "Stop huffin' and puffin', hon. Also, Otis went huntin'. He might bring us a deer."

Carmen nodded and hummed as she pulled up her sleeves, standing on her tippy-toes and washing her hands. "Cams, sweetheart. Will you get out there and bring me my cardigan, please? It's on the rockin' chair." Patricia put her hand on Carmen's shoulder. Carmen just nodded and walked to the door. She got out and walked to the rocking chair, taking a white cardigan off it but she saw something moving in the field.

She squinted her eyes, trying to see what was moving. She thought it was one of the sick people but she wasn't so sure. She took binoculars that were on the floor and pressed them through her eyes. She saw a man carrying someone. "What the hell?" She whispered before looking back at her house. "MOMMY!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Once others heard the little girl's scream, they all ran out. The man who was carrying a kid was now a lot closer and they saw he was bloody. "Was he bit?" Hershel exclaimed as the man got closer.

"Shot, by your man." Our man? Otis? Why would Otis shoot someone? Carmen furrowed her brows as she looked up at Hershel.

"Otis?" Patricia asked. They all walked down the stairs but Carmen still stood there on her tippy-toes, leaning against the wooden fence.

"He said find Hershel. Is that you?" Carmen felt her stomach twist a bit as the man she was looking at held his boy, at the verge of bawling his eyes out. Hershel just nodded. "Help me! Help my boy!"

They all started waking back to the house and Carmen took a step back so she wasn't in their way. As the man passed her, she noticed how bloody the boy was. Carmen wondered how they get the bullet out if they didn't have any anesthesia with them. Carmen didn't follow them inside because she didn't feel like being there. She hated to see wounds and blood on other people. Blood always meant bad. She remembers when they were looking for her Dad's diagnosis, they had to draw his blood and while they waited for results, the only thing they could do was pray the results didn't say he'd die.

After a while, she noticed Otis running back with some other guy. She lifted her hand high and waved. "Hi, Mr. Otis!" At the same moment, the man with the boy left the house, looking terrified. He stared into nowhere, zoned out. "He's gonna be okay. Hershel knows what he's doin'." She gave the man a sympathetic smile but he only stared back at her.

"He's alive- He's still alive?" Otis looked up at the man but he looked like he didn't know what was happening. He brushed the sweat off his forehead but it left a blood trail. "You've got a little..." Carmen stuttered as she pointed at her forehead.

"Okay." The other man took his backpack off his shoulder, looking for something. Carmen lifted her chin a little bit, trying to see in the guy's backpack. "It's okay." The other guy repeated as he cleaned his friend's forehead. She noticed that the man with the son was a cop. How could she not when he was wearing a sheriff's uniform and a badge?

...

Carmen was in her room, sitting in the corner of her room, next to her little brother. She heard screams from the hurt boy downstairs and it alerted Matt. Matt was in the corner, rocking back and forth. She gave him noise-cancelling headphones that builders use when making stuff. They used to use them when they were doing renovations but now they gave them to Matt.

She was never scared of him when he was in this state. She was scared for him. When he would start hitting his head, it made her feel bad and she just wanted to hug him and hold his hands because that's what she would want but Dottie told her he didn't want that, so she would just sit next to him as a support, sometimes talk to him.

She heard a knock on her door and it was Beth's boyfriend, Jimmy. "Need somethin'?" She whispered and he shook his head.

"Came to check on you guys." He whispered back when he saw the state Matt was in. "You alright?" Carmen just nodded and he smiled at her before leaving the room. Carmen looked at Matt, sighing slightly. She stood up, took one of his toys, and sat a bit closer to him. He stared at her and she stared back and noticed that he was calmer. She gave him a toy and saw a little smile on his face, which made her feel better.

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word count: 1416

a/n: I'm so excited to keep writing and I have so many ideas I want to include. Also, I'm not writing Matt's story from personal experience but personal experience I had with people who had autism. Hope you guys enjoy reading.