Anything - Carl Grimes

v. Scared of what they will think

.

Carmen was still confused, but shooting helped her get things off her mind. She was now close to the forest with others, learning how to shoot. Carl talked to his parents and Dottie to let them know and here they are, shooting.

This wasn't the first time Carmen held a gun but the first time she shot something on her own. When she was little, Otis took her with him hunting once but she couldn't pull the trigger because she felt bad for the animal, so she just held a gun in her hand just to learn how.

Even though there were loud noises around her, she concentrated and shot her target, which was an old can. "Good job, kid," Shane said, ruffling her hair and making her roll her eyes. She didn't know Shane very well so it annoyed her when he did that. "Control the attitude, girl."

"You ain't my parent," Carmen murmured after he walked away.

...

When she saw Lori by the fence, Carmen was walking around, looking for cool rocks or bugs to play with. She skipped to her but then saw her taking two fingers in her mouth before throwing up. She ran to her to help her get back to the house. "You alright, Ma'am?" Lori gasped and turned around to find the little girl behind her.

"I'm alright. Thank you, sweetheart." Lori lied, her eyes still teary from throwing up.

"But you just threw up?"

"It's okay." Lori took Carmen's hand. "Just promise you won't tell anyone you saw this, okay?"

"Okay. If you need anything, I'm here." Carmen smiled but her worry for the woman never left. Carmen walked away, back to the house, wondering if Lori was feeling sick. After the shooting that day, she couldn't stop thinking about sick people- or maybe they were dead people- Walkers like Glenn called them.

...

"What'cha starin' at?" Carmen asked as she left the house, standing next to Maggie by the wooden fence. "Your boyfriend?" Carmen teased but Maggie ignored her. Carmen saw the look on Maggie's face so many times and she knew she didn't intentionally ignore her. She was in her head. Last night, Carmen decided she'd tell Maggie about the talk she had with Glenn because she knew Maggie would never snitch on them. Because Maggie wanted them to stay too. "Glenn knows about the barn."

Maggie snapped her head down at Carmen with wide eyes. "How do you know he knows?"

"He came to me and asked me. He said they ain't sick but dead." Carmen explained. Maggie sighed, not denying it, making Carmen confused. "Yer think he's tellin' the truth?"

"One of 'em attacked me on the run yesterday," Maggie explained, making Carmen look down. Carmen didn't know who and what to believe anymore. She was so confused and wanted to talk to everyone about it but if she did, the group would be kicked out of the farm.

...

Carmen walked to where Carl was playing with Matt. Carl and her got closer and they spent almost all the time together. She noticed Matt was playing with rocks and Carl was putting them one on the other. Just a bit before Carmen got to them, Matt started flapping his hands around, making a rock go flying in rocks Carl made. Oh shit, Carmen thought and started running to them. Carl was really mad and pushed Matt away from him. "Hey, don't push him!" 

Carmen came by Matt's side, who was crying. "He ruined the house of rocks I made." Carl rolled his eyes while crossing his arms.

"It's not his fault! He doesn't know any better." Carmen argued, walking to be face-to-face with Carl even though he was a few inches taller.