Carl Grimes X Rescued

Part 4: Citizens

Song for this chapter: The Citizens by avalanche city

Rain pelted the old, abandoned barn for the whole day. The sound of pitter patter, thousands upon thousands of tiny orbs of water against the rotting wood calmed my nerves. I was not excited to go to Alexandria, nor was I unwilling to go. I wanted to feel safe, just for once in my pitiful, horrific life, I wanted to feel safe. The feeling of having to watch not only yours, but your groups' backs was tiring and stressful. But it has to be done, for the safety of myself and others.

How I have survived this long, I think, is just pure luck. This group has survived because they work as a team, and they know what to do in certain situations. I need a group like this, but I'm more of a lone wolf type of person. Carl seems friendly and all, but I'm just not what you call 'comfortable' with this group yet.

Daryl snapped me out of my daze and brought me back to the real world. "Shannen, come on, we're leaving now. You can stick by me if you want."

"Ok" I nodded too.
"Go grab your things and meet me by the barn doors, we are going in groups of two." He clarified.

I went behind the hay bails to where I had slept the night before and grabbed my very little belongings. The group had let me keep the backpack and I had a journal, a photo of Carl (the brother carl) and my mothers wedding ring. I stared at the photo for a while, letting myself think he was sitting right beside me. Eventually, I shook my head and tucked the photo inside my journal, which only had a few pages filled out.

I then made my way to Daryl, he felt like family, even though he wasn't. "We are going in a group with Rick and Carl, we're gonna go in an rv and the other group will be going in a car behind us."
I nodded and took a shaky breath.

The barn doors opened and we took off, I followed behind Daryl, keeping watch for walkers at all times. My heart was in my throat and my hands were shaking, now I was definitely regretting saying yes to staying. i should have left last night, I should have done it. Great, now I'm panicking. "Daryl." I whispered to him.

"Yeah? You okay?" He slowed down a bit.

I shook my head, "I don't want to go to Alexandria."

"I know, but you'll be safe there, trust me." Daryl held his hand out for me to take.
I looked at it and reluctantly took it, now walking beside him.

We walked for about ten more minutes until we finally reached the RV Daryl was talking about. I decided to wander away from Daryl and stand off on my own to try to calm down. I gripped the roots of my hair and told myself that I will be fine. I probably looked psycho doing this, but it did calm me down slightly.

I accidentally over heard Rick and Carl talking. "You should go over there and calm her down." Rick told Carl.
"I would but I don't think she likes me. She's not exactly comfortable with this group." Carl sighed.
"Just go, she'll accept you and us soon." Rick patted Carl's back and gave him a small smile.

With that, Carl was by my side, trying to calm me down. "Let's get into the RV and do something that will take your mind off this okay? You probably just need some sleep." He patted my head, making me pout like a child.

I followed Carl into the RV and sat on the seats at the back with him. Rick was up the front and Daryl had taken the bed up the top. The guy who persuaded the group to come was driving. "So, what do you want to do?" Carl asked awkwardly.
"I have my journal we can draw in." I answered quietly.
"You sure? It's a journal, don't want to waste pages..." He took off his sheriffs hat and crossed his legs.
"It's okay, I've only written in it once anyway." I shrug and reach in my pack to fish out a pencil and my journal.
I pulled then out and set them beside me. "What do you want to draw?" I asked.

Carl smirked and put his hat back on. "Draw me like one of your French girls." He said.
I let out a small laugh and got to work. It took me roughly ten minutes but I managed to draw Carl's hat, shoulders, shirt and hair. I left out his face because I thought it would look better that way.

I actually drew this, no kidding, I put a picture of it up above

I looked at it and smiled. I was always one for drawing, back at home I had a wall dedicated just for my drawings and sketches. After having a look at it myself I handed it to Carl. He smiled too. "Wow, you're really good at drawing aren't you?" He studied the drawing.
"I guess, I don't like to show off." I shrugged and hugged my knees.

"My turn!" Carl said unexpectedly and began to draw.
Thirty seconds later he held up a drawing of a stick man. I smiled. "It looks exactly like me." I said.