ONE EYED BOY [C. Grimes][Rarl]

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[Carl has his meeting with Deanna, and runs into some Alexandrians on his walk home.]

[Warnings: Swearing, Small vomit Mention.]

This place was going to get every single one of us killed. There was no doubt in my mind about these people; they were throwing parties and having brunch, all while the dead lurked just outside their walls.

I fidgeted in my seat, my blue gaze avoiding the old fashioned camera that was being positioned by an even older woman's hands. She smiled so kindly, but I could see the unsure thoughts floating around her green irises, silently judging me and the small child that I bounced on my knee.  

She walked back around the spotless sofa, taking up her spot on the floral print seat. I don't take my eyes off of her. If I do, I'll be in danger, and so will my sister. I won't let that happen. I will never let that happen.

"Carl, was it? You're Rick's son..." She smiled sweetly, and I could feel anxious nausea settle in my gut for not the first time that day. I wet my lips, my hand going to Judith's back, rubbing a small circle between her shoulder blades as if she was the one in need of comforting.

"And this is?" She turned her attention to Judy, smile growing. I must be painful to look at, even after being showered and spending an hour trying to comb out hair. I know of the scars on my face and my malnourished demeanor. I was no beauty, after so many years on the road.

"Judith," I answer more coldly than I'd meant to, and she looked up to meet my gaze yet again, pulling back into her stiff posture, taken aback by my sudden verbalization.

"Judith... What a beautiful name." She wrote something down in her small notebook before setting it on the coffee table between us, legs crossing as casually and slowly as she could as if she was afraid any sudden movements would startle me into an attack.  I taste bile in the back of my throat, from earlier, but I say nothing.

"How old are you, Carl?"

I start. It'd been a very long time since I'd been asked that. Too long for me to remember the number that ruled what jobs I was allowed to part take in and what missions I could help with.

"I don't... know.." I spit the words slowly and quietly, but she just nods. "Well, do you remember your birth date?"

I nod. "July 28th, 2000." A smile spread her lips as I shuttered out the date, and she nodded.

"Well, Carl, If my dates are correct, which I'm sure they are, you turned 16 about a month and a half ago."

I should feel something. What, I'm not sure, exactly, but I shouldn't feel as indifferent as I do now. My age does not matter, but I can't help doing the math for Judith's age. I do not know the date she was born, to the day, but I remember the heat of the Georgia sun that seemed to sizzle our skin, and turn her milk bad before she had to chance to finish it. She was a July baby, and if Deanna's math was correct, that pegged Judy at about 3 years old.  I look down at the toddler for a moment, but I can't smile. That was 3 years she spent outside these walls, where all these people were hiding and cowering.

Deanna clears her throat. "Do you have any hobbies, Carl?"

I can't stop the sneer that crosses my face, and I look back up at her with a gaze that I know will burn. She seems embarrassed.

"I'm sorry... I know there mustn't have been any time to have any-"

"Reading," As if it matters. It doesn't. There's hardly time to read anymore, yet I don't ditch my comics or books. I just keep them in my bag, collecting dust. I don't think I could bear to let that part of my humanity go.

"Reading," She seems dazed, glad that she hadn't actually insulted me, or, further more, angered me. She gestured around the library that surrounded us. "Well, have I got reading material, or what? You're welcome to borrow them anytime. Literacy is quite important, you know-"

I cut her off with a snark that borderlines a snarl. "Can I leave, now?"

She stops her impending speech, and after a moment's hesitation, she nods. I'm on my feet as quickly as I can, and the large wooden door slams behind me. The sidewalk waves with heat as I walk it, Judith on my hip, my incredulous thoughts on this place swooping down to claim every corner of my mind.

"Apple," Judy says, patting my cheek and she blabs about the fresh fruit she had eaten earlier that evening.

"Soon," I reply, not exactly paying attention, now distracted by muffled talking and laughter. Slowing to a stop, a keep my gaze trapped on Judith's rosy face, straining to hear the conversation. It's coming from the house across the street. One of the second-floor windows is open.

"Enid, look! It's dirty dan!"

I don't look yet. I just stand, pretending to fuss over Judith.

The laughter continues.

"He's coming from Deanna's-"

"Where's his hat?"

"He cleans up nice.."

"He's kind of scary, though, don't you think? Look at that guy. Look at the baby! How many people do you think that baby's killed?"

"Mikey-!"

I can't take it anymore, my curiosity has gotten the better of me, and I glance up quickly. I stare at the 3 kids my age, all crowded around the window that they must not have realized was open.

"FUCK, DIRTY DAN SAW US!" They duck as quickly as possible; all three of them.

"THE WINDOW IS OPEN!"

I just return my gaze to Judith with a shake of my head, resuming my walk back to our assigned house, just around the block. I'm not sure how I'm going to get used to this place. It's all so strange.