Safe haven | Rick Grimes

039. I WANT MY MOM

Chapter thirty nine

"I want my mom."

It was the next morning. Far up ahead on the rusted railroad tracks, Rick, Carl, and Michonne kept a steady pace. Rick walked slightly ahead of the other two, checking their supplies.

"I think we got about a day's worth of water left," Rick said, turning back to face them. "We're lucky it's cooled off a little bit, but..."

He trailed off, noticing what they were doing. Carl and Michonne were walking directly on top of the parallel metal rails on opposite sides of the track, holding their arms out wide to balance themselves.

"What are you doing?" Rick asked, amused despite himself.

"Winning a bet," Carl told him confidently.

"In your dreams," Michonne shot back.

"I'm still on," Carl insisted, his foot slipping for a fraction of a second before he recovered. Michonne laughed at his wobble. "You spoke too soon, wise guy."

Rick walked back toward them, crossing his arms. "This might go on a while. Maybe we can speed this up."

"Yeah, you're right," Michonne shared, keeping her eyes locked straight ahead on the metal rail. "We shouldn't be fooling around. We should probably..." She glanced sideways to check on Carl's progress. "Carl!"

Losing her concentration, Michonne slipped off the rail and landed on the gravel ballast. Carl smiled triumphantly, stepping down onto the wooden ties. He held his hand out toward her.

"I win," he told her. "Pay up."

Michonne sighed dramatically, unzipping her pack. She reached inside and pulled out two small pieces of candy. Carls eyes caught a glimpse of a Big Cat candy bar. A painful, bittersweet memory came to him.

Carl had been standing in front of a vending machine with a dollar his mother had given him. He wanted a Big Cat candy bar. He slid the crinkled bill into the slot, but the machine immediately spit it back out. Grumbling, he smoothed the edges, took the dollar, and fed it back into the machine. It rejected it a second time.

He huffed in frustration. "Work!" he muttered, kicking the front of the machine.

"What's going on?" a voice asked.

Carl turned around to find Scarlett standing there in her hospital scrubs. "You just come out of surgery?" he asked, looking at her uniform.

"Yeah. Just came down here to get my snack fix," Scarlett shared, leaning against the adjacent wall. "Big Cats are my favorite."

Carl gestured toward the glass. "Well, I was trying to get one, but the machine won't take my money."

Scarlett hummed thoughtfully, stepping closer. "Yeah, this one's pretty tough. But lucky for you, I have a secret." She looked left and right down the quiet corridor. "You keep watch, okay?"

Carl nodded quickly. Scarlett stepped up to the vending machine, gripped the sides firmly, and rocked the heavy frame back and forth three times. She let it drop back onto its base and gave the side panel a sharp, practiced slam. A heavy thud echoed as several snacks dropped into the dispenser below.

Scarlett knelt down and reached into the plastic flap. Pulling out the haul, she realized there was only one Big Cat bar among the items. She looked up and saw Carl was dutifully keeping watch, his back turned as he stared down the hallway. Working quickly, Scarlett stuffed the extra loose candy into her scrubs pocket, leaving just the Big cat bar in her hand.