memories ✯ carl grimes

five

MEMORIES
five | ❝jamie, don't❞

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"DROP THE GUN, KID," JAMIE said, pointing his own own at the boy. He didn't seem concerned about the threat of being shot. He furrowed his eyebrows and gave Jamie a dirty look. Marnie watched as the boy scanned everyone, almost deciding who was a threat and who wasn't. His eyes lingered on Jamie for the longest.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasha demanded, pulling her knife from the last of the walkers in the room, "who are you with?"

"It's not safe here," the boy said, lowering his gun. He turned around and began walking away and down the hallway. Marnie could tell that Jamie hated this. She wasn't the biggest fan of it, either. The thought of having to meet new people, especially given the condition her pants were in, was not ideal.

Marnie looked around at the large, open room the boy had led them into. There were metal bars separating this room from the next, which had cells containing beds.

"Carl," a woman's voice came, "what the hell."

Marnie watched as a woman not much shorter than Sasha came into view. She had messy blonde hair and freckles across her nose. She stared at Marnie's group, then flicked the boy's - Carl's - hat up, before pulling out her gun.

"Put the gun down," Jamie said. There something about these people that suggested guns weren't threatening, because the woman raised her eyebrows and laughed.

"Please," she replied, rolling her eyes, "this is our place. Find your own place to haul up in."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose with one hand, using the other to continue pointing the gun.

"Jesus, Carl," she sighed, side eyeing the boy, "look, when Rick gets back, this is on you, not me. Dude, I told you not to go anywhere. You know, it's bad enough that I'm left here whilst everyone else is looking Glenn, and now you can't even listen to me? Really, Carl?"

"I don't mean to interrupt-" Tyreese began.

"But you're going to anyway, right?" the woman scowled. She was tapping her gun with her fingers, as well as tapping her feet. "Look, you guys really can't be here. I'm not even the person in charge, okay?"

"We can't go back out there," Sasha insisted. The woman licked her lips, and her eyes fell onto Marnie. They softened almost instantly, and she let out a loud sigh.

"Alright," she said, defeated, "but you're being locked up. God knows I've had enough of new people."

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A few hours had passed, and Marnie was finding herself watching a reunion of some sort. The blonde woman who had let them stay was hugging a Korean man tightly, kissing his cheek. And Carl was hugging an older man. They looked similar, and Marnie wondered if they were related.

The man pulled away, and then hugged the blonde woman. He said something like 'Andrea is alive,' which prompted her to cover her mouth with her hands and let out a cry. It didn't sound like a bad cry, but one of relief.

"My name is Tyreese," Tyreese said. It wasn't looking like anybody would have spoken to them first.

"How'd you get in?" The man asked. He looked like he was the leader. Marnie felt scared watching him. She clutched onto Jamie's arm.

"Cut into one of the fences," Jamie said, "we came from the south."

"That side is completely overrun with walkers, how'd you get this far?" Rick questioned. He was staring Jamie up and down, as if sizing him up. It scared Marnie even more.

"They were lost-" Carl began, but Rick cut him off.

"And you brought them here?" he yelled, turning around to face him. The blonde woman had pulled herself together, and she moved to stand in front of Carl.

"He didn't exactly have a choice, okay?" she explained. Her voice was kinder now, "they were already in. They could have been bitten if we didn't do something, and then we'd have more walkers on our hands. Carl did what he thought was right."

"We're no stranger to hard work. We'll stay out of your hair and do anything to contribute," Tyreese said.

"No," Rick said, firmly. The blonde woman's eyes widened, and she gestured for Carl to hurry into one of the cells.

"We have a kid," Sasha said. Marnie felt a thousand eyes fall onto her, and she wanted the ground to swallow her up. She didn't want to think about what she looked like. Skinny, dirty, covered in blood and piss.

The blonde stepped forward, and I heard the man she was kissing earlier call her Rory. She squeezes his hand, and then stands next to Rick.

"Rick," Rory began, her voice low enough so that the other members of their group couldn't hear, "this is what Shane would've done. Think about what you're telling, what you're teaching Carl, if you throw them out. We've been through hell and back, but we can't put other people through it.

"Aurora-" Rick began, but he was cut off.

"Rick," Aurora repeated, "they have a kid. If this was a reversed situation, you would beg for someone to take Carl, Judith, and Beth, right?"

Rick looked at Marnie, and then back at Aurora. He looked as though wanted to say something more, but he couldn't find the words. He simply nodded, and Aurora exhaled a sigh of relief. She turned to face Marnie's group, but Rick suddenly erupted in a fit of yelling.

His eyes were fixated on the walk way just above the cells, shouting "what are you doing here?" at nothing. He was pacing up and down, and Carl had come out of the cells, followed by what seemed like hundreds of people. Aurora pulled on Rick's arm, but he shrugged her off, continuing to yell.

"Get out," he screamed. It was so loud that Marnie thought the windows would shatter. "Get out."

Marnie felt her body seize up as Jamie pushed her towards Aurora. She spun around to look at him, and he kissed her hands.

"Her name is Marnie, okay?" he said quickly, and Aurora nodded, "Marns we can't stay here, okay? I'll come back and get you, I promise."

"Jamie, don't," Marnie begged, trying to hold onto him, "please."

"Marnie, he's literally screaming at us to get out," Jamie said, quickly, "I promise you I'll come back, Marnie. I promise you. I love you, Marnie."

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