Anything - Carl Grimes

xxviii. mute swan

Carmen’s heartbeat was palpated, and her breathing was dyspneic. Her legs carried her as fast as they could, hitting the concrete floor, and due to the sharp sun and sprinting her feet and shoes were on fire as they hit the floor, they left a trail of dust behind her. The sun was burning her head, making her feel dizzy and nauseous. She was running so fast for the sun that she was starting to see black dots and her vision blurring. The sun was also causing her to sweat excessively.

Her hair was sticking to her face, but she didn’t reach over to push it away, too focused on her running. Even though she was stiff to keep her stamina, her legs and hands were wobbly at the thought of not being able to outrun them. She heard laughter and yelling behind her, making her want to die. And after all, she might die. Very soon.

This might be the first time she ever regretted defending Matt, which caused her to run away from the three girls running after her, one of them holding the rope. They weren’t even her age, probably two or three years older. Carmen understands, in a way, that they may be just avenging her brother that Carmen got into an argument with, but this time, she didn’t even hurt anyone. It was a trap. It was a trap that she fell into due to her anger issues.

“Come back here, C.G.!” The girl holding the rope yelled after her. Carmen was about to run around the corner, to outrun and outsmart them, but another girl jumped on her back, causing them both to fall down. Carmen fell right on her cheek, and she already felt a bruise forming and her cheek being cut. Her palms and knees stung due to her falling on small pebbles causing cuts and holes in the skin. Carmen wheezed quietly, her head pounding as she tried to fight the girl off.

“Stop sturgglin’. You’re only makin’ things worse,” The girl above her smirked down at Carmen, making Carmen’s eyes stung with tears. She turned on her back and punched the girl square in the nose. “Bitch!”

“Calm down, C.G.” Another girl ran to the and crouched down behind Carmen’s head, pinning her arms down. C.G. God, she hated that nickname. She also hated the whistling of the leader of the trio slowly walking towards them, taking her time. “It’s gonna be fast. You ain’t gonna feel a thing.”

The brunette girl who was pinning her arms winked at her. Carmen’s eyes teared up, and her lips trembled despite her glaring at the two girls. “HELP!” Carmen screamed at the top of her lungs, but the girl who sat on her thighs put her hand over Carmen’s mouth. Her whole body was shaking as the whistling got closer, the girl with the rope taking her time to get to them. Carmen didn’t want to die. Not like this. Not because of a stupid argument with a stupid boy. Her mind was racing as she tried to find a way to get out of this. She didn’t even want to hold back tears anymore as she tried to shake the girl's hand off her mouth.

The other two girls just laughed. They laughed at her. They found this amusing, funny, and pathetic. They laughed straight in her face as they held her pinned down on the ground, and the whistling finally stopped once the girl crouched down next to Carmen. “Really? Tears?” The girl with the rope asked, smiling down at Carmen as she brushed the hair out of her face.

Carmen tried to shake her head, giving three girls pleading eyes in the hope they’d just let her go. “Hey, Katy?” The girl who held her arms pinned asked in a teasing voice.

“Yeah, Emma?” Katy tilted her head slightly at her friend, her voice just as teasing.

“Wasn’t Jacob also cryin’ when he came home that night after being slapped?” Emma asked.

“Hm,” Katy mocked. “That’s a really good observation, Emma. What do you think, Ella?”

“I think so, too,” Ella, the third girl, smirked. Katy smirked down at Carmen, who was still crying before she scoffed.