𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 14 ~ Almost Losing You

"I didn't know this is what you were planning," I said to Carl as we led Siddiq back through the woods to Alexandria.

"Rick's going to be-" I started, arching my eyebrows but he cut me off.

"Dad doesn't need to know until he gets back. And by that time, if he..." he said, trailing off as he glanced back to make sure Siddiq wasn't listening in on our conversation before continuing in a low whisper, "If he doesn't want him there, he'd have to throw him out. And I know dad doesn't want to do that to anyone,"

I grinned, loving his sneaky logic.

"My, my. Carl Grimes the rebel," I snickered, shaking my head at him as we walked.

He smirked and I couldn't help the onslaught of butterflies that followed from that one look.

Shrugging, he quickly shot me a wink, "There's a lot you don't know about me, baby,"

I rolled my eyes playfully, bumping his shoulder with mine.

"Well, I look forward to finding out everything then," I smiled and he returned it, pressing a quick kiss to my cheek before calling back to Siddiq.

"It's not that much farther!" he told him over his shoulder.

He was about to speak again then when he was cut off by the sound of growling walkers in the distance. The three of us shared a glance before we began to head in the direction of the sound. Crouching down at a safe distance, we finally spied the commotion - a pack of walkers feasting on the corpse of a horse. Bloody intestines hung from their mouths as they chomped down on the guts of the carcass. I crinkled my nose in disgust, feeling bile rise up in my throat. Quickly, I covered my mouth with my hand.

Oh, no. This was not the time for morning sickness. Carl gently rested a hand on my shoulder, asking me with his eye if I was alright. Slowly, I swallowed it down and sighed quietly before nodding to him. After contemplating a moment, he retrieved a knife from his back pocket and handed it to me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise briefly as he faced me.

"Be careful. And follow me, alright?" Carl said to me and I nodded once again in response before he turned his gaze to Siddiq, "Okay. For your mom,"

Slowly, Carl began to lead the way towards the group of walkers with Siddiq and I in tow. Dropping the backpack he had carried onto the ground, he picked up a twig off the ground before snapping it in half. Instantly, the walkers turned away from their 'meal' and faced the three of us. Getting up, they began to stumble over to where we stood waiting for them. One came at each of us and I lunged for mine, landing a blow to its head that knocked it to the ground. The hit must have killed it on impact because it didn't move again.

Siddiq managed to kill his as well, shoving his knife into its chin and up through its skull before it fell lifeless at his feet. I grinned, reveling in the feeling. I had forgotten how good it felt to take these suckers down. The next one, Siddiq seemed to struggle with though so after sending a glance over my shoulder to check on Carl who seemed to be holding his own as usual, I came to the man's rescue. I shoved it from behind forcefully, knocking it to the ground long enough to stab it through the brain, unfortunately leaving a slimy residue on my blade that I merely wiped off on my jeans. More walker growls came from the woods around us and I glanced up just in time to see another group making their way towards us.

I cursed under my breath and looked around. There were at least twenty of them. And only three of us. Oh, those were great odds, I thought to myself sarcastically.

"Just go! You don't have to do this!" Siddiq called over to Carl and I.

I scoffed. Like we'd leave him here to die. Man must be out of his mind. Just then, a walker came up to me from the side, making me stumble. In the process, the knife was knocked free from my hand and I was left standing weaponless against the walking corpse. But before I had the time to even begin panicking, Carl shoved it away from me. I was about to send him a smile in thanks when I noticed another walker come up towards him. But too late, the thing had already knocked him to the ground.

"CARL!" I screamed, starting to race over to him when three more stumbled into my path.

I hissed in annoyance under my breath as I took one down. The female was easy but the two males were more difficult. One latched onto my arm and the other was reaching out to grab onto my neck. I kept them at bay as best I could, holding them off with my arms outstretched but I could feel my strength dwindling. My eyes flicked to Carl who lay on the ground, pinned against the horse carcass by the walker still.

"SIDDIQ! HELP CARL!" I shouted to him.

The Middle Eastern man turned to see me struggling and nearly came to my rescue instead when we both noticed another walker begin to limp their way to Carl.

"SIDDIQ!" I screamed at him again, breaking him from his thoughts.

Instantly, he sprang into action, racing towards Carl. He managed to push it off him but only just. Using the only burst of strength I had left, I pushed the walkers away from me with all the force I could manage and scampered to snatch the knife up in my hand. Turning back around, I stabbed it in the head and it fell down like a domino. I quickly took out the other one before whipping back around to see another walker on top of Carl. My heart raced in my chest as he struggled with it, the walker's teeth gnashing together as it leaned closer and closer to him. No. NO!

Finally, he was able to push it off him but another came almost immediately after and he kept it bay with his hands pushed up against its chest. I began to run to get to him when another walker stumbled in my way, this one very nearly taking a chunk out of my shoulder. I almost screamed in desperation, not scared for my own self but for Carl who needed me right now. I couldn't get to him! With a growl of anger, I struggled with it before stabbing it in the eye, a spurt of blood gushing out of the socket just as I heard Siddiq tackle one to the ground across from me. Suddenly, a groan followed by a gunshot rang out in the air, making my eyes snap to Carl.

He'd found his gun! Thank goodness! Taking down the last walker that stood before me, I broke out in a run just as Carl stood up, glancing down briefly at his side. The back of his shirt was soaked in blood but I didn't care. I didn't care as my body collided into him, tears falling instantly as I threw my arms around his neck. Wordlessly, he wrapped his own around my tiny frame, pulling me close.

"Carl..." I whispered, barely able to get his name out because of all the emotions churning inside of me.

I almost lost him. I almost lost the love of my life. Oh gosh...I almost lost Carl...

"You okay?" I finally was able to choke out through my tears, pulling back enough to glance up into his face.

Somberly, he nodded to me, a look of complete shock written all over his face. Apparently, it had scared him, too.

"Yeah," he reassured me quietly as we slowly broke apart.

"You could've left," Siddiq spoke up then, making me glance in his direction.

But Carl just zoned out, not even hearing him as he stared out across the woods in disbelief.

"Carl..." I said, resting a hand gently on his shoulder.

He almost flinched at the sudden touch and I immediately went to remove my hand when he caught it in his, squeezing it gently before turning to Siddiq.

"I'm responsible for you now. That's how it works," he told the man honestly.

"I don't want to make any trouble. Your dad didn't want anything to do with me," Siddiq said humbly, clearly not wanting to upset anyone.

"He didn't but...sometimes kids have to find their own way to show their parents the way," Carl told him seriously, his eyes meeting the man's.

He walked on ahead then and I sent Siddiq a small smile before following after Carl. Catching up to my fiancee, I grabbed his hand and after a moment, he turned to face me. There was something changed in his gaze. Something that made a cold pit of dread form in my stomach even though I had no idea why. But I just brushed away the feeling, cupping Carl's cheek with my hand.

"I thought...I thought I was going to lose you," I admitted seriously, feeling the tears prick my eyes.

But instead of reassuring me immediately like he always did, he stayed silent. And that pit in my stomach just grew bigger and bigger. The next words he spoke quelled my bad feeling only the slightest fraction.

"You won't lose me, Angel. I'll always be with you."