A Long Way From Home//Carl Grimes

Chapter 20 - Careful

The first thing that I hear is the words Carl said before I left. "Be careful." How could I be so stupid? Let this happen? Let myself become this vulnerable to all these walkers. I need to think fast. The walker's teeth barely miss my skin and get ahold of my flannel instead. The walker starts to pull, attempting to rip my flesh but instead, the flannel won't tear. It's pulling me closer and soon it'll be able to realize that my flannel isn't good food. I twist out of the walkers grip as fast as possible and yank my arms out of the shirt. I'm left in just a tank-top. Great. More skin for them to find. I kick the first walker in the stomach and it tumbles onto the pavement. The other three are coming, and they're coming fast. I look behind me to see if there's any sign of Liam, but there's nothing. I pull out my knife and kick the next one down. I run up and stab it. Then, I regain my momentum right away. I can't lose this. I stab the first one with my flannel fast and then stand up to get the next two. I kick the third one in the leg and stab it while it's distracted. The fourth one is huge. An overweight, grown man. At least 6'5. Dandy. I prepare myself and start to take on the last one; that I can see anyway. I go to stab it, but it grabs hold on my shoulder and goes to take a large bite. I pull my shoulder free and sink the knife into it's head. Alright. I'm okay. I check my shoulder for scratches or teeth marks. Nothing. Thank God. I stop for a second to catch my breath. Then I hear someone.
"Cassie? Are you okay?" It's Liam. I wipe the sweat off my forehead with my hand and once I bring my hand back down, it's covered in blood.
"What do you think?" I gasp out, squinting into the sun. It's in the West already. It'll be dark soon. Crap.
"We need to start heading back." I say. Liam nods and we begin to walk back.
"Tell me more about yourself." I say.
"I don't talk much."
"You don't say." That got a smile out of him. He has a nice smile. I continue.
"How old are you?"
"16. How about you?"
Only 16.
"Uhhh 15. How many walkers have you killed?"
"Way too many to count."
"How many people have you killed?"
"Just 1."
"Why?"
"Because it was my dad. He was going to kill me. He was insane." I stop and look at him. His dad almost killed him? That's terrible.
"I'm so sorry." I whisper. He doesn't answer.
"You're dating Carl, right?" He speaks up.
"Um yeah. For about 6 months I'd say."
"Wow. How'd you meet?" He asks.
"Thought I was asking the questions here?" I say, laughing. He just shakes his head, laughing as well. I guess he isn't taking no for an answer.
"When this all started I was with my parents. They got eaten. Then, it was only my little brother and me. He got bit. So then, I just roamed the woods. I didn't know where to go of what to do. I found Rick and he led me to a prison. That's where we stayed for a while and I met Carl. I lost my sister, Becca, there too. Then, I started Alexandria after the prison got attacked." I say quickly. I hate talking about my story.
"Wow. I'm sorry...about your family." He says, looking into my eyes. The stare gives me a chill.
"Your turn." I say, stopping and sitting down on a log next to the road. He sits down with his back against mine. Good idea. It's good for keeping watch.
"I was 12 I think, you know, when everything went down. It was really fast. I'm originally from Florida actually, but we came to Atlanta as soon as people began to get sick. I was with my parents for a really long time. Almost the entire time...until about 2 months ago." I can hear he's having a hard time talking about this. He keeps going, "My parents left me at the house while they went on a run. They almost never left me alone like that. When they got home, my mom wasn't acting right. She was bit. My dad had to shoot her, but he wasn't okay after it happened. I would find him talking to himself, or with his gun out at random times. He would leave without telling me where he was going. So, one night when he was sleeping, I did it. I shot him. My own father....that's when I found you." I look back at him. That's terrible. He had to choose between his own safety or his father. He thinks he was selfish.
"Liam...you weren't selfish for doing that." I say, looking up at his eyes. He had tears running down his face.
"I'm a selfish coward Cassie. I-I'm weak and...scared." He won't look at me. I need him to look at me. I need him to understand that it's okay to not feel okay. Something inside of me makes me grab his hand. I don't know why. It felt like that right thing to do. He finally turns towards me.
"Liam. It's fine. You're not okay. I know. But, you need to push through it. You weren't selfish, or a coward. And you definitely aren't now. You had to do what you had to do. We all do sometimes. That's doesn't make you weak. Being scared isn't necessarily a bad thing in this world, because everyone is at this point. I really am scared. I'm scared that my town won't make it, or that something will happen to my family. Something could happen to the baby, Judith, or Carl. We can never be prepared." I feel his fingers wrap around my hand as if in a response. He outs his head in his other hand and cries more. I can feel tears in my eyes and I let them fall.
"I'm sorry." He chokes out.
"Don't be sorry." I say quietly. He keeps crying for a while and then he stops abruptly.
"Let's go. It's almost dark." He says. He begins to stand up and he helps me up, our hands still holding on to each other. This isn't wrong is it? I mean, we aren't flirting or anything. I'm just comforting him. We walk until we reach the gate. I look at him and gesture towards our hands and he understands. His fingers let go of mine and the gate screeches open.

-

Carl comes rushing over to me and pulls me into a hug.
"Hey! Are you okay Cass?" He says, looking at my shoulders and arms for bites.
"I'm fine. And I'm sorry for freaking out on you, it's your birthday and I'm being crabby." I say, laughing.
"No, no, no. You're fine. It was my fault." He says, wrapping his arms around me again. I close my eyes and take it all in. I'm okay. Liam's okay. Carl's okay.
"Now. It's time to celebrate. Come on." I say. Carl grabs my hand. It feels different than Liam's did. I love Carl, not Liam. We take a few steps and I turn around to see that Liam isn't following us.
"You coming?" I ask, giving him a smile. He smiles back and follows in step next to me.
"Happy..uh birthday, Carl." Liam says, unsurely.
"Thanks, Liam." He says with a smile.

Once we reach the groups house, I pull out the box that holds Carl's present.
"Happy Birthday loser." I say, smiling like crazy. He returns the gesture and opens the box. Inside are a few new flannels and a new gun holster.
"Cass! I love them! Thank you!" He exclaims. He looks like a 5 year old on Christmas. It's extremely adorable. I pull him into a quick hug.
"I love you." Carl whispers.
"I love you too." I suddenly get the feeling that someone's staring at me. I turn and look to see that Liam is in the corner of the room, looking Carl and me. Should I tell Carl? About Liam and I holding hands? It's not a big deal right? It didn't mean anything. While I was thinking about this, I didn't realize that Carl had gone over to talk to Liam. Suddenly, Carl turns to look at me, and he doesn't seem happy. I quickly get up and walk out on the porch to get away. What could Liam have said? Why is Carl mad? Ugh! So many questions. Then, the door opens behind me and I hear the dreadful, scary words,
"We need to talk."

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LITTLE BIT OF A LONGER CHAPTER I GUESS. I WANTED TO GET MORE READS BUT I FIGURED I MIGHT AS WELL JUST UPDATE THE CHAPTER I WAS WORKING ON. HAVE A GOOD DAY! I'LL UPDATE SOON! -L