A Long Way From Home//Carl Grimes

Chapter 16 - Here We Go Again

*2 months later*

"Hey, Carl?"
"Yeah?"
"Why aren't they back yet?"
Earlier today, a lot of people from the town went to go work out the plan to lead a large herd away from Alexandria. They said it would only take 2 hours, but it's now been 5.
"They'll be back. My dad, Glenn, Daryl? They'll all be back." I just nod. We sit on Carl's large living room couch. Carol has Judith in the kitchen. Suddenly, we hear a screech. The sound reminded me of Becca...back at the prison. I shake the thought and run to the nearest window. I see a man with a large night brutally hitting a woman with a knife in the street. This man is definitely no Alexandrian.
"Guard Judith. Stay safe. I have to go help." Carol says, handing me Judith.
"But Carol I need to help!"
"Stay here."
I watch as Carol sprints towards the door, pulling her gun out of its holster in the process. I run into the living room where Carl stands and watches, helpless, at a window.
"You need to take Judith. I need to be out there." I say handing him the baby.
"You aren't going anywhere." He says sternly.
"Carl, this is my town. They're all my responsiblity." I whimper. The thought of all my people dying leaves a pressure on my shoulders.
"Kat. Jason. Carl, I can't leave them."
"Then I'll go!" He demands.
"This is my fight!" I yell.
"It's everyones' fight! But sometimes you need to know when to back down!"
"Yeah well, nows not one of those times." I scowl. I grab my pistol off the table and run towards the door.
"Cass!" Is all I hear before the front door slams behind me. I look back for a split second and see Carl standing, yet again, helplessly in the window. I don't blame him for not coming after me or coming to help. He has to protect Judith. I mouth, 'I love you', and watch as he puts a hand on window and does the same. I turn back towards the damage. Dead Alexandrians scatter the streets. There's blood everywhere. My ears are filled with the sounds of screaming. I close my eyes and just breathe. My first priority is to find Jason and Kat and bring them back to Carl's house. I start to head towards our appartments quickly yet sneakily. I turn a corner and am surprised to find a man standing there. He has an evil look in his eye right before he takes his knife and slashes it across my cheek, right below my right eye. The blow knocks me down and of course, I lose my gun. Just as the man was about to take another slice, a gunshot goes off and he falls to the ground. I scramble to my feet and look behind me to find Carol dressed like these bad people.
"What are you doing?!" She frantically says.
"I had to find Jason and Kat." I say sternly. She shakes her head before looking behind her and taking off again. I can feel the blood from the wound dripping down my face. I use my sleeve to wipe some of it, but take off yet again.
I reach the appartments and burst open their door. Kat is huddled with a machine gun that is twice her size in her small hands.
"Where's Jason?" I ask.
"H-He went to h-help." She manages to get out.
I groan in anger and punch the couch in their small living area.
"I need to find him. Come with me. You need to go to Carl's house. It's safe. I'll cover you. Just run and don't look back." I say quickly. She gets up and sprints out the wide open door. I run after her and hold up my pistol, ready to shoot at anything that doesn't belong. Soon, we reach Carl's house and I pound on the door. I try the doorknob, but it's locked. I pound again, but no answer. Please God, have him be in there, safe and sound.
All of a sudden, a man, who looked like he could eat me in one bite, walks around the corner of the house.
"Frick." I whisper, more to myself than Kat. Kat looks at him and her eyes grow in fear. She frantically tries to open the door, but she has no luck. As if on que of our bad luck, two more men come and begin to circle around the porch.
"Kat. As soon as Carl opens that door, you're going to run inside and lock this door behind you. Do you understand?" I ask her, not taking my eyes off the men. She quickly nods and keeps trying the doorknob.
"Keep trying." I say, running off the porch. I run into the street where a fourth man has joined the party.
"Come on. You wanna kill someone? Kill me." I say. They've all made a circle around me and have forgotten about Kat, which is what I wanted. I just pray that Carl will open that door and come to my rescue. One of the guys comes at me, but I tuck and roll under him so I'm outside the circle. He loses his balance and falls face first onto the cement, which must of at least hit him with some damage. I go to reach for my gun and take it out. I aim for the man on the ground and pull the trigger, but all I hear is the clicking of the empty chamber. My eyes grow wide as another guy comes at me, this time with his fist. It collides with my wound on my cheek and more blood gushes from the gash. I cry out in pain, but come back and punch him as hard as I can in the nose. Another one of the men, this one is young and scrawny looking, comes at me with his knife, but I kick him in the hand so the weapon clatters to the ground.
Then, my luck changes and the door opens. Carl lets Kat in and she tells him what happened. His eyes dart over to me and they fill with anger as he sees all the men attacking me. Since I'm distracted, one of the men takes advantage and wraps an arm around my neck from behind. Carl comes sprinting into the street and shoots the largest man. I throw me elbow into the man who's holding me's stomach. His grasp loosens and I twist out of it. I kick him in the knee and he tumbles over onto the cement. Carl shoots the man that had me and then there's two left. One comes at Carl and grabs onto him and the other one gets me. I look at Carl and see terror in his eyes. Frick. What have I done? Then suddenly, a gunshot blasts through the air and the man that has Carl drops. Carl takes no time to waste and pulls put his gun again and shoot the man who has me. We both turn to see who saved us and see Jason running towards us both. He warps his arms around me and I put mine around him.
"You're okay." He says, in a relieved whisper. I just nod and stay there for a while in his protective arms.
"She just took on four men by herself. I don't even know how she did it." Carl says, astonished. Jason lets go of me and looks at me in disbelief. Carl comes over to me and hugs me as well.
"I love you so much. Please don't do that again." He says. I hug back tightly. I never want this moment to end, but of course it has to. We all look around at the debris that covers the freshly cut lawns and nice, swept streets of Alexandria. Bodies are everywhere. We all quickly sprint inside the house and lock the door behind us.
"Kat?" I yell.
"In here!" I hear her yell. I walk into the living room and see her holding Judith carefully in the corner.
"I lost track of Beth." Jason says quietly.
"We'll find her." Carl says, reassuringly. I nod and begin to watch out the windows, just in case.

-

Carol eventually comes back to the house and tells us it's clear. Jason leaves immediately to search for Beth.
"Cassandra, that was a extremely idiotic thing you did back there." Carol says to me.
"I agree." Carl says. I dart my eyes towards him and glare, but once I see how hurt he was by the fact that I left, I softened my glance.
"I know. But I had to help." I say. Carol just shakes her head and walks into the bathroom to clean up.
"Cass, I felt horrible that I couldn't help." Carl whispers.
"It wasn't your fault. It was all mine. I'm sorry." I say quietly in return.
"I love you." He says. He pulls me into his arms and I let him.
"I love you too." I say back.
"We're all okay." He says quietly.
"We're all going to be okay."

~

SURPRISE!!!!! SHORT CHAPTER WRITTEN AT 1 A.M. BUT IT'S SO TOTALLY WORTH IT BECAUSE I HAVEN'T WRITTEN SINCE LIKE WHAT, JUNE OR SOMETHING? I DON'T EVEN KNOW. BUT HEY I LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1.02K READS!! THAT'S INSANE! -Lilly