Anything - Carl Grimes

x. This is how we honor Dale

.

The rest of the night was quiet and had uncomfortable energy. They didn't kill Randall because Carl snuck into the barn and Rick gave up on the idea. Carmen was in her room when a scream was heard. She jumped off the bed and ran downstairs. Everyone already left the house and she did too but when she started running down the stairs, Carl stopped her. "We have to stay here. Mom said."

Carmen wanted to listen to Carl but when they heard Andrea yelling for Dale, Carl ran to them too. Carmen stayed, knowing she wasn't of any use and was also too scared to go there at night. Dottie came from behind her, holding her hand tightly. They saw the group gather around and after a few moments, she heard a gunshot.

It wasn't until that gunshot that Carmen realized that every day they were losing people. Every day another person's life was lost and it just adds to the pain. Adds another life to mourn. Hell, she didn't know Dale very well but if a person is willing to fight for the life of some kid he doesn't even know, then he wasn't just a wise man, he was a good person. There's not a lot of those nowadays.

Days were getting colder, and darker and so was life in Carmen's eyes. She was happy the group came to the farm because at least now, she doesn't have to mourn alone. More people feel the same. There is more to the world than just losing people. It is sharing the emotions of loss with people around you. She hoped others could feel her empathy without her having to show it like she felt theirs. She hoped they did because at the funeral when Carl was crying, she didn't do anything. She stood there next to him and listened to Rick's speech. By the end, she held his hand in case he needed any type of physical comfort and Carmen couldn't bring herself out of her shell enough to hug him.

"Dale could get under your skin. He got under mine. 'Cause he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought. How he felt. That kind of honesty is rare...and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale and he'd look back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it at one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us...the truth, for who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Sat aside our differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves. Take control of our lives. Our safety. Our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."

...

"He is a leader," Dottie spoke, walking next to Daryl to the group. "Gives on special kind of speeches."

"How much do ya bet this won't last a week?" Daryl scoffed, glancing at Dottie.

"No need to be negative." Dottie smiled, nudging him with her elbow.

"It'll be tight, seventeen people in one house." They heard Rick say as they walked over. They started making plans on how to organize everything since the winter's starting and they couldn't stay out in the field.

Back at the house, Carmen was clearing out her room for whoever was gonna share with her. It will probably be Carl because they are the same age and he had a smaller sleeping bag, so it didn't matter. She lifted a random box she always had in the corner of the room, finding a little note.

To Carmi, from Dad.

The letter he wrote for her before passing away. She hated reading it. She hated it because of all the sweet words and cute messages he left while he was dying. How could he be so positive all the time, she always wondered. She scoffed, shoving the letter in her drawer.