Hard Candy [Carl Grimes/The Walking Dead]

Just A Dream?

"Pass the mustard, Yara."

My dad's voice floats over the picnic table. "Sure, you want the ketchup too?" I ask. Dad opens his mouth to answer, but Lex cuts in. "No fair!" He cries, kicking his feet under the bench. "I asked for ketchup first!"

"Calm down, Lex," Mom says in a warning voice. "Here, I got it." She pulls a dark pistol from her belt and aims it at my brother's plate, squirting a thin drizzle of ketchup from the barrel. It looks oddly dark, almost like--

"...Blood sausages, not just regular ones this time. Trying something different. What do you think, Yara?" My dad asks.

"It's great, dad," I laugh. Everything's great, in fact. I love family picnics in the park, especially now that school's out and the summer weather is perfect for them. I reach to grab the salad bowl, but my fork slips from my grasp and drops to the ground. I groan. "Dad, pass me another fork."

"You got it," He says. He lifts up a crossbow and shoots it quickly. A fork lands on my plate. I look up at him and grin. "Thanks dad."

"Sure thing, sport."

"So." My mom wipes her mouth with her napkin. "Who's ready for dessert?"

"Yesss," I say, rubbing my hands together. "What is it?"

"Cupcakes," My mother smiles. "Carl helped me make them."

Carl?

I look to my left, but instead of my sister Mel's dimpled smile, I see a much younger girl I don't recognize but know I've seen elsewhere.

"Yes I did," A boy's voice chimes in. "Hope you like chocolate." Startled, I turn my head to where my little brother was sitting, but in his place is a boy who can't be any older than me, and is unforgivingly attractive, with flashing blue eyes and a dirty cowboy hat atop his carelessly messy dark hair. Like the little girl (who he strongly resembles), he triggers a déjà vu-type memory.

Sooo not my 8-year-old brother.

"Okay, guys," I try to laugh. "Joke's over. Mel, Lex, come on out." I push away my plate. "I'm ready for cake. Who's got the knife? Mom?"

I turn back to my parents, puzzled, until I see them. My mouth drops open in horror. They're both headless. Neck tissue dripping. Blood flowing. My stomach roils. A strangled sound escapes my throat, but my voice is gone. Carl and the little girl are nowhere to be seen.

Tears immediately start streaming down my face, but I don't feel sad. I don't feel anything. Then, to my left, I hear approaching footsteps.

I whip my head to the side, and see my cousin Melly, beautiful and literally glowing with perfection, smiling hugely. I try to stand from the picnic table, but I can't move. "What's going on?" I ask. My voice sounds strange, like I'm speaking through a thick carpet. I study her grinning face, waiting patiently for an answer. Wordlessly, Melly bends down behind the picnic table and retrieves a small bundle from underneath it. I crane my neck to get a glimpse of the bundle. She walks over to me and pulls back the blanket. Inside is a baby.

All of a sudden, it starts raining. But not regular rain. Small pieces of paper, like confetti. Is this a party of some sort?

I bend down and pick up a handful. They have words on them I now see. Random words like Father. Accident. Once. Child. Sex. Then the words go blurry and I squint to read them. Once they go back into focus, they now all read Carl.

But what does this all mean? I want to ask Melly, but my voice vanishes again. Melly's smile widens, and she gestures behind me. I turn to see my other cousin, her brother Karel, poised motionless with a katana held above his head, his face blank. Then, at his feet, I see Carl, lying face down and crumpled in the grass, his body ridden with bullets. I don't have time to scream when suddenly, I feel something scalding my palm. I open it, and several bullet shells tumble out, still hot from the gun barrel. How did they get there?