𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 [ 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬 ] ✘

You Are Home To Me

Note: Okay, so, before I post this - I have a big question for all of my readers. Which is this: do you like these Carl one shots still? Some of you I know do because you comment and tell me as well as voting. :) But I seem to have a lot of people who just read. Which is fine - I mean, I don't need the comments and votes for gratification or anything like that but it really makes me wonder when I have a couple of votes yet 40 people read it - do you like it or do you not? Like I said, I'm not obsessed with having a lot of votes or anything like that but it makes me wonder if 40 people are reading it and hate it or do you actually like it? And when I don't have a comment from you saying you did like it - how can I know if you did or didn't? :) Okay, sorry, now everybody can get back to reading the lovely Carl ;) Also this is the final update for today because the PREMIERE IS HAPPENING SOON AND OH MY GOSH, I'M SO EXCITED FOR IT!!! :D

I saw it all from where I was up above. That junkyard gang we'd put our trust in had proved to be traitors, turning on us to help out the Saviors. The gunfire went on for half an hour before finally, all became quiet. But it was an eerie, foreboding quiet that sent chills through my body. The Saviors had won and by consequence, our people lay dead on the ground in pools of their own blood. I had been up here fighting with them, shooting my gun at anything that moved but it was no use.

It was over now - it was all over. They hadn't found me yet up here on the rooftops so I was still hidden but I had a good view of what was happening down below. Leaning slightly over the edge, I finally could make out two figures on their knees in the grass with Negan standing over them, Lucille in hand. And with sudden clarity, I recognized them. My heart leapt into my throat as I pressed a hand over my mouth to stifle the scream threatening to rise up. Kneeling in the grass was Rick and my boyfriend, Carl. I gazed down at him, anxiety clenching in my chest. He didn't see me though, his eye was trained to the ground, his Sheriff's hat shielding his face from view.

"Well, Rick. You just couldn't stick with us, huh? You had to go with these filthy garbage people?" Negan sneered down at Rick.

My fingers dug into the metal of my gun, cutting the skin there slightly but I couldn't feel any pain - I could only focus on Carl's figure in the distance.

"Rick. This is just gonna make you sad. Broken. You're gonna wish you were dead," he taunted the pair of them, walking around them in a circle while swinging Lucille aimlessly by his leg, "I like having fun. I do. But maybe you think that the guy that did what he did to your friends wasn't me, like that was some sort of a put-on, like I'm not the guy with the bat -- I'm just the guy that makes your kid spaghetti,"

Rick glared up at him and I felt my blood boil, just watching them. How DARE he talk like that to them!

"Maybe this is on me. Maybe this is all on me. I gotta make it right. I guess I gotta start all over again. I gotta tell you, Rick, if I had a kid, I'd want him to be just like your kid, which makes this so much harder,"

"You're not gonna win," Carl bit out and I sucked in a breath at his outburst.

"Carl. It is over. Why don't you point your one eyeball up the street there and take it all in?" Negan smiled maliciously down at him, gesturing towards the streets strewn with bodies.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream broke the air and I whipped my head in the direction of a house down the road used for a reconnaissance spot - Michonne's reconnaissance spot. The gun in my hands shook as tears filled my eyes. No, no, no, no! Michonne! She-she couldn't be gone... I heard Negan chuckle from down below then and my grief turned to anger - a white, hot rage that coursed through my veins as I aimed my gun at his head.

"Oh. Wow. You just lost somebody important to you right now -- like, just now," Negan grinned, crouching down in front of Rick, "That is timing. Well, Rick you chose this. I truly don't know what more I could've done to warn you. And this isn't a warning. This is punishment,"

But the next words to come out of that man's mouth made my blood run cold.

"I'm gonna kill Carl now. I'm gonna make it one nice, hard swing, try to do it in one because I like him. I just want you to put that in your brain and roll it around for a minute... I'm gonna kill Carl, and then Lucille here, she's gonna take your hands,"

"You can do it right in front of me. You can take my hands. I told you already -- I'm gonna kill you," Rick seethed, staring him straight in the eyes, "All of you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but nothing is gonna change that -- nothing. You're all already dead,"

Negan was deathly silent and I waited for baited breath for his reply. But still, he said nothing as he just glared back at Rick. And finally, after agonizing seconds, he began to chuckle before lifting himself up off the ground to tower over both Grimes'.

"Wow, Rick. Okay," Negan shrugged and pushed the Sheriff's hat off of Carl's head before lifting Lucille up in one large swing, "You said I could do it-"

A loud, strangled cry burst free from my lips in that one single second, "CARL!"

In that moment, everything seemed to go in slow-motion - like someone had pressed pause then hit the fast-forward button. Out of nowhere, Ezekiel's pet tiger, Shiva, pounced on top of Negan, knocking him to the ground. And just as fast as it happened, time returned to normal and everything became absolute chaos. Gunshots rang out all around the town as the people of The Sanctuary came to Alexandria's rescue. Instantly, I began to fire my own gun, taking down as many Saviors as I could.

"End these Saviors and their accomplices! Alexandria will not fall, not on this day!" Ezekiel shouted at the top of his lungs, going into the fray.

I let out one big whoop as I fired my gun a couple more times before making my way down off the roof and out into the streets, taking more Saviors down as I did. Citizens of Alexandria and Sanctuary alike fought beside me as I pulled the trigger over and over again, the gunshots in the air making my ears ring. Desperately, I searched for Carl. I know Negan didn't hurt him - Shiva got to him before he could do any damage. But still...I had to see him for myself to know for sure. To make sure he was okay.

I met up with Carol then and briefly, I enveloped her in a tight hug before we both went back to shooting these idiots. As we made our way farther inward, my eyes finally fell on the figures of Carl and Rick in the distance. They'd taken up arms as well and were taking down Saviors one by one. My heart swelled at the sight of Carl - alive and well. The junkyard gang set up smoke bombs after that and together, both groups escaped back through the gate and off into the distance. I coughed slightly, wafting away from my face as it began to clear.

Maggie came up beside me then and put a hand on my shoulder, shooting me a small smile before letting go. Following after her and her small group of people, I made my way over to where Carl and Rick were. I didn't hesitate to jump into Carl's arms. Instantly, his arms were around me and I was pulled into his chest.

I buried my head in his t-shirt and let out a hiccuping sob, "I-I th-thought I l-lost you,"

His body was warm against mine, hands running up and down my back gently in a soothing manner.

"It's okay, it's alright. I'm here. You'll never lose me, not like that," he whispered into my ear, making me shiver from the warmth of his breath on my skin, "We're gonna win this war. We are. I promise you."

I gazed up into his big, blue eye then and he captured my lips in a kiss. His mouth was warm and tasted of honey mixed with apples. My hands held firmly to his upper arms as he deepened the kiss, letting me know utterly and completely that he was mine and I was his. After a few more seconds, he pulled away and gathered me to his chest again. I let out a sigh of contentment, feeling safe once more as I turned in his arms to face forward. Glancing out over the horizon as the Saviors fading figures, I felt Carl hold me tighter.

I almost smiled - he smelled like vanilla and chocolate - like home. Like Carl. But Carl always had been home for me. He was my home and I was his. And we would do anything to save our home.