Anything - Carl Grimes

xxxix. No body

.

The night in the small house was quiet. Carly and Boris kept watch for half of the night, and Ian and Carmen for another half. When Carly and Boris kept watch, they kept making small talk. Carly knew Carmen and Boris were sweet children, but Boris was more open than Carmen. He kept cracking jokes and talking about random things. Carly appreciated that even after a long day of running from the walkers Boris kept making the situation light and positive.

The same things didn't happen for Carmen and Ian. They kept quiet most nights. They asked each other if they were tired a few times, but that's where they left it. Ian was silently mourning, and the guilt was eating Carmen alive.

Boris and Carly woke up a few minutes ago as Ian and Carmen were getting ready to leave for a hunt. "Are we all gonna go, or will someone stay here to keep watch?" Carly asked as she tied her hair up in a ponytail.

"Carmen and I will go. You two can stay here," Ian told her as he reloaded his shotgun. Carmen reloaded her gun and waited for Ian to get ready. "Let's go," He told Carmen and put his bag over his shoulder. Carmen opened the door, waiting for Peanut to leave first then she left, followed by Ian.

For a while, they walked in silence. Carmen left to go hunting with Otis a few times back at the farm, but she never killed an animal. She'd freeze and feel bad. Otis would always just make her look away as he did the job himself.

Suddenly, Ian stopped her and looked up at the trees. Carmen guessed Ian was a tracker like Daryl because she didn't hear anything. Carmen stood behind him as he lifted his shotgun (that had a silencer) before shooting. And the next second, a squirrel fell from the tree. He looked down at her with a proud smirk and lifted the squire, handing it to her, so she'd carry it.

As they walked through the forest, Carmen suddenly asked. "You knew Caryl before the world ended?"

"Nah," Ian shook his head. Carmen waited for him to explain how he met Carly but Ian stayed quiet.

"So, how did you meet her then?"

Ian sighed (not in an annoyed way, he sighed as if it was hard to talk about) before explaining. "I was alone when this all started. My parents just got back from their usual road trip and the moment they pulled into the driveway, walkers ate them. I was alone for a long time. One day I was minding my business when Carly appeared. She was starving, she was bruised, and she looked like she had gone through some tough torture. I helped her, and she explained she and her dad found a community of people. They weren't good people, but they pretended to be. They called themselves... I don't remember actually. I think it's 'The Protectors' or something. Her dad wasn't the best-- we could say he was a bad man and he gladly and willingly went with them. But she ran away. They were always on her tail but after I helped her, they lost track of her for a while.

Carmen isn't sure if Carly would like Ian to speak about her trauma like that because Carly is tough. She is tougher than she looks. Carly looks tougher than Carmen. And tough people like Carmen don't like sharing their weakest moments. "And they kept looking for her. They stumbled across us a few times and were about to bring us to their shelter but we managed to escape every time. And now I'm involved in this shit too. That's also how we met Shane. We were running away from them and he helped us." Ian explained.

Carmen nodded and kept following him through the forest.

...

"So, did you and Ian know each other before the world ended?" Boris was sitting on the couch, messing around with Peanut. Carly was on the other end of the couch, reading a book as she curled up into the corner of the settee.