Anything - Carl Grimes

xxxvii. A face from the past

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"...Shane."

The room fell quiet, and Shane turned his head from the boy to Carmen. Once his eyes fell on Carmen, he stepped away from Boris and fully turned to look at Carmen, his hand that held the gun dropping to his side. She also slowly and hesitantly lowered her weapon and they stared at each other with Shane's eyes wide and Carmen's eyes showing how nervous she was. "C... Camilia?"

"Carmen," Carmen rolled her eyes, pursing her lips.

"Right, right," He nodded. "Where's Carl? Lori? The baby?"

"Lori died giving birth. Carl and Judith died-" Carmen started to explain, but Boris cut her off.

"We don't know that." Carmen rolled her eyes, and Boris explained. "We lived at the prison with them and other people, but this guy Governor bombarded us yesterday." The room fell silent again and Shane stared into the distance, looking broken.

"Okay, we're just gonna leave now," Carmen said and Shane's head shot up to look at her, his brows furrowing.

"You're not leavin' alone," Shane told her firmly, making her tilt her head and give him a 'seriously?' look. "No. Nu-huh. You're stayin' with us. That's Carly and that's Ian. We ain't leavin' no one behind. Especially kids." Carmen was about to argue but Boris cut her off.

"You know him. And we need help," He shrugged, hoping Carmen would agree to stay. Boris knows nothin' 'bout Shane and what he was like, of course, he'd say we tag along, Carmen thought.

"That didn't really work when you and others came to the farm," Carmen simply told Shane.

"Okay, neither of us made a good impression, I admit that-" Who's us? You were the one who made a bad impression, Carmen thought. "but, what's worse? Gettin' eaten by walkers or being in just same space as me?" He put his hands on his hips.

Carmen raised her brow in the 'first option seems better' way but glanced at Boris, who was giving her puppy eyes, and sighed. "One wrong move and I'll put a bullet through yer skull."

...

Carmen wasn't the happiest with staying with Shane, Ian, and Caryl but she didn't really have a choice. Well, she did but she chose to stick around for Boris' sake. They would've made it alone, but a group of people is stronger than just two kids. And she also knew she wasn't the brightest person to be around and Boris would most likely get sick of her if he spent too much time around her.

Carmen was packing extra food and supplies in the bag they took. She was standing by the pickup truck they were riding in. She attached one knife to her gun on her belt. Earlier, she placed a pocket knife between the band of her bra and her body, so in case they were captured or stumbled across a hostile group of people, she'd secretly have another weapon with her. Dottie taught her that.

The weather isn't as hot as yesterday but it's still hot. When Boris and Carmen woke up earlier that day, they went to the clothing store and took some clothes. She was now wearing dark blue, short, jean shorts, a tank top (it was more like a black crop top on strings), and over it a blue flannel. Even though it was hot, the flannel reminded her of Carl. Even though she thinks it's weird she misses him as much as she does, she can't stop thinking about him. Carmen wishes he was here and feels bad she didn't follow him when the prison fell. But it's not like she can change anything about it.

"Here," She looked to her side and looked up at the tall guy, Ian, standing by her side and holding his gun out for her to take. "We have enough for everyone to have a backup." Carmen stared at him, then at the gun before slowly taking it and putting it in the bag. "Look, I know you don't like Shane but I want no bad energy around us. I don't care about what happened before 'cause now is now and now, he's helping you," Ian told her. Carmen just side-glanced at him before checking her ammo. This is the first time he talked to Carmen and she genuinely found it weird how he was ready to defend Shane, but then again, he didn't see what she saw.

"You don't know the Shane I did," Carmen cleared her throat before turning her body to Ian and looking up at her, leaning one hand on the pickup. "If it's not for Boris, I'd leave but I'm stayin' for 'im." There was a silence between them before Carmen started again. "If he gets hurt, if he dies, if a walker bites or scratches him, if Shane just lays a finger on him, if a damn thunder hits him, I'll kill you and Shane and Carly."

Ian stared at her, slightly amused but mostly frightened because Carmen looked nothing but hostile since they met. But Ian always had huge sympathy towards everyone. So he guessed that the way Carmen was acting was because of what the apocalypse made her be. When he was her age he was running around his neighborhood playing dodgeball with other boys with rocks. And he can only guess what she's been through that made her this careful and suspicious.

...

Once they got seated in the car, the silence became more awkward. Ian and Carly made a few comments then and there but it was nothing much. Carmen sat in the passenger seat next to Shane, who was driving, while Boris was in the back with Ian and Carly. They decided to sit like that because Carmen felt more secure being in the front, keeping an eye on Shane, but also navigating where they were leaving. Carly didn't look so fond of Boris and Carmen staying. Of course, she wanted to help them but after they all had guns pointed at each other, she didn't feel safe enough.

"Are we leaving anywhere specific?" Boris suddenly asked.

"Just tryna' to find shelter and maybe more people now," Shane answered, glancing into the rearview mirror to look at Boris and then back at the street.
"Maybe we could try and find the group? Track them down?" Carmen sighed and rubbed her eyes, leaning her arm against the car door. "They're maybe alive," He told her. "And we might be able to find them."

"Sure," Carmen just mumbled in return.

"How big was your group?" Ian asked, running his fingers through his hair.
"Well, I used to live in this town Woodbury and there was a big community. And her group had like, eight or nine people, I don't remember and then my leader attacked her group but he ran away then they took us in and then the leader came back and... well, now we're here," Boris explained. Carmen sighed, not liking the way Boris was getting comfortable rather quickly.

"Was it a girl? What did you call the baby?" Shane asked Carmen.

Carmen stared at him for a few moments before answering. "Judith. Carl named her." Carmen furrowed her brows once she saw Shane's eyes becoming glassy. She turned her head outside the window and shook her head.

"Hey, pass me the water bottle," Shane turned his head to look in the backseat, telling Boris because it was easier for him to reach it. Carmen turned her sight to the road momentarily and her heart stopped. A herd of walkers is in front of them.

"Shane!" She yelled and he turned around, his eyes widening at the sight. He quickly stopped the car to try and turn it around but suddenly, other walkers appeared behind them.

"Take your stuff and go! Go! Go!" Shane yelled at them all. They did what he said and took their backpack, preparing their guns. Carmen opened the door, pushing away walkers and shooting others in the head, doing the same as Carly, Ian, Boris, and Shane did. She followed them around the car, killing every walker on her path.

The adrenaline already began to rise and she slowed down her running at one point to kill almost every walker there. Carmen almost lost all of her consciousness because adrenaline was taking over. She didn't blink once as she sent bullets flying through walkers' brains. She should hesitate, as she always does. But now? She keeps going. The forest became a bloodbath for walkers and a killing spree for Carmen. Boris also slowed down his running just to be around her in case she did anything stupid but he knew he should get her out of here. He called out for her, but her consciousness was focused on killing walkers. Once she realized she was out of ammo, she took out her knife. Every walker she killed with her knife sent drops of blood to fly all over her face and clothes, staining her flannel red and adding something psychotic to the death glare she had on her face.

"Carmen! Hurry up, girl!" Shane yelled after her once he noticed she was more focused on the walkers than running. Ian looked behind and huffed in frustration. Even though he was annoyed with her, he understood that some people were just stuck in that effect of adrenaline. He ran over to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the walker she was about to kill and dragging her along with him.

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word count: 1586

A/N: sorry for bringing Shane back and sorry for saying I'll post soon and taking a whole day 😞