sleepless club ▸ c.g [ 𝐈 ]

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 ⇢ 𝟶𝟷𝟷

"Children, settle down."

A young Carl Grimes was quick to sit down, pinching his lips together with struggle in containing his small giggles before he'd snatch his pencil again, scratching the tip of the lead against his fresh sheet of paper.

   Awaiting the final bell to ring, to say he was excited would be putting it lightly. The toe of his shoes tapped anxiously against the tiled floor as he glanced at the clock, quietly humming to himself in anticipation.

  It wasn't out of the norm for children to be this excited about the end of a school day, especially on a Friday afternoon. He was looking forward to staying up late, sleeping in, and having some valuable father-son time─ something, these days, was so rare for him to gain, which he didn't really mind. Growing up, he learned to understand the importance in his father's work. And being deputy sheriff, Carl saw his dad, Rick Grimes, to be a true hero.

A moment later, just as predicted, a bell echoed down the school halls; informing the attending students that it was time to pack up their belongings and leave the school building─ it didn't take much time for Carl to do just that.

The images flickering along her view brought confusion to Anais. Everyone appeared so happy, neatly dressed, and healthy. Not a care in the world could be seen, and frankly, she envied them for experiencing such a life, even just for a swift moment.

The smack of fresh air upon his skin was quick to send a large grin to grace Carl's features as he raised a hand, sending a small wave towards the woman who Williams was quick to recognise─ obviously, she was in a much better state now, compared to the horrifying appearance she made in her last vision.

The young boy ran towards the woman, smile as bright as ever, that was until he caught glimpse of the look she gave off.

"Mom?"

He began, brows furrowed together in worry as his mother kneeled to meet his height; placing a comforting hand on his lightly freckled, flushed cheek.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

His mother, Lori Grimes, briefly looked down. She found great difficultly in not only looking at him, but thinking of the correct words to say before breaking the devastating news, "Carl. . Carl, baby, your dad got hurt today."

The boy stared at her in disbelief, already feeling tears threatening to glisten over his milky blue eyes, "Wha─ What? How? What happened?"

Lori dismissed his question, not wishing to send such an image to a young child's mind to deeply linger, "That doesn't matter, baby. I─"

"Is he dead?"

Placing a hand upon the small of his back, the woman slowly rubbed in a comforting manner, "No, no. He's not dead. . He's just─ He's stuck in hospital. It might take him a while to wake up. . He's having a bit of a rest."

Trying to keep a brave demeanour for Carl was hard, and frankly, she was surprised she managed to pull herself through it. The only hard part now was to keep it up.

"Mom. ." The boy exclaimed as Lori pulled him in for a tight embrace, slowly stroking at his hair to bring him some kind of reassurance.

"I know, baby. . I know."

September 7th ┆08:17 pm

"You mumble in your sleep."

Allowing her lids to flutter open as a soft gasp followed to emit, Anais glanced aside at the male as he drove─ eye focused upon the road as he gave the steering wheel a small squeeze against his palm.

    Releasing a yawn, she balled her hands into fists to give her tired eyes a rub, "How long was I out?"

  "About an hour or something." Carl replied, softly sniffling before swiftly glancing aside at the female still half-asleep, "Do you do that a lot? . .Talk in your sleep?"

  Slowly sinking herself down in the passenger seat to give her legs a small stretch, she crossed her arms─ attempting to earn herself some warmth.

   Anais shrugged in response to his question, "Only recently, I guess? I never got much complaints from my old group about it."

  "They must've been used to people snoring loudly, then."

  Carl commented, glancing at the female again to catch sight of her playful glare, which would inevitably make him chuckle.

Extending an arm, Anais gave a light punch to his shoulder, "Asshole."

  After the chain of giggles, the small space in the car finally fell back into silence. The only sound that could be heard was the hum coming from the car's engine, which was strangely comforting for the two.

Anais proceeded to sigh, resting her head upon the passenger side's window─ watching as each tree flew by her sight before the objects could even focus to mind. So focused on the outside world, she was oblivious to the boy glancing at her any chance he could; a faint frown marked along his lips.

   The words she uttered in her deep rest played repeatedly in his head, and it brought some irritation on his part. It was like hearing a tune, but not quite remembering the lyrics. The events leading up to that moment after school displayed so vaguely to him, and as much as he would try, he couldn't remember much detail.

  The life before his death was one big blur, and that was his own personal hell.

Mind zoning from his surrounding reality, Carl was oblivious to the extra pressure he applied to the gas; the vehicle now, clearly, increasing in speed. Inaudible murmurs flew between his parted brims, soon grasping the female's interest.

Initially, Anais didn't panic─ but as the engine roared until it was all she could hear, that's when alert set in.

"Hey─ Carl? What the hell are you doing? Slow down."

Seeing that didn't seem to break into his head, Anais attempted to raise her voice to gain some kind of threatening demeanour over him, "Carl! Slow the fuck down!"

Breath quivering, the brunette frantically looked at the road; eyes wide at the mere glimpse of a figure carelessly limping across the tarmac ahead.

"Look out─!"