𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 [ 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬 ] ✘

Pokémon Fights

My fiery red hair blew into my face, covering my emerald green eyes. Frustratedly, I pushed the strands back and walked out onto the streets of Alexandria. Walker corpses littered the pavement, their blood in pools around them where their heads had cracked open. I wove in between the bodies carefully so as not to step on any of them. It'd been a week since the walker invasion of our town but it was still taking a while to clean up all the carcasses. Up ahead, the road became clearer and I headed to the gang's house where Carl had been recovering.

I admit, I hadn't known him that long. Only since he and the rest of the group had arrived here. But something about him caught my attention. Maybe it was his blue eyes or the way he seemed so brave. I still remember the day we had met...

~ Flashback ~

"I'm Rick." the scruffy-looking man carrying the baby said to Deanna, holding out his only free hand for her to shake.

My eyes had been glued to the boy in the Sheriff's hat since they walked through the gate. His hair was dark and tangled but those electrifying blue eyes entranced me. His plaid button-up shirt was grimy and his pale skin was smudged with dirt. But he was still very attractive. Suddenly, he turned his gaze to me and I immediately looked away in an attempt to hide the scarlet blush that rose to my cheeks. This boy was different, that's for sure.

Rick handed the baby to the boy and he smiled, cooing at her. The rest of the new group trickled in and followed behind Deanna who led the way to her house for their "interviews". The boy in the Sheriff's hat brought up the end of the line, now bouncing the baby girl on his hip. I licked my dry lips before walking up beside him.

"Hi, I'm Emily," I told him, smiling.

He looked a bit shy at first, clearly not having been around anyone his own age in a long time. But he smiled back nonetheless before speaking.

"I'm Carl."

~ End of Flashback ~

I sighed. Things had changed so much since then though. I fought with him constantly. I'd fallen for him hard such a long time ago but...he still didn't know. And it was best that way. What if he rejected me? What if he didn't feel the same? What if I was nothing more than just another civilian to him?

I'd never been good at telling people how I felt about them. And time hadn't changed that at all. Carl wasn't even an exception to that rule because it terrified me to tell him. So we just went on fighting with each other. I'm sure he hated me now because of that... With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I reached the house and climbed the steps to the front door.

Knocking softly, I waited there on the front porch in my blue Suicide Squad hoodie. I scuffed my sneaker across the wooden floorboards nervously. After a few minutes, the door opened revealing Rick. He smiled when he saw me standing there.

"Hello, Emily. Are you here to see Carl?" he asked, knowingly.

I tried to hide the blush forming on my cheeks and nodded. He stepped aside and I brushed past him.

"He's in his room!" Rick called after me as I climbed the stairs to the upper level of the house.

As I walked to the closed door to Carl's room, I could just hear the faint hum of a video game console. I smiled to myself. Michonne had found it for him on one of her runs. Pushing it open slowly, the sound of Carl singing along the TV drifted over to me.

"Work is never over, work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger..."

I rolled my eyes once I recognized it. That boy had a seriously unhealthy fascination with Pokemon. I pushed the door open wider and it squeaked. Carl's head popped up and he paused his game before turning to me. His newly-found bandage covered his empty eye socket, making him look a lot different than he did before. I arched an eyebrow at him.