𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚'𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐱. carl grimes

THIRTY-TWO: he knows

We were all gathered in the small office space that we were hiding in earlier that night. Now, the sun was slowly rising, seeping through the church windows to reveal cascades of dancing rainbows around the small building. Bob was still on the same couch as before except now he was as close as ever to withering away. We all took turns saying our goodbyes to the poor man. Me and Claire went up together, Claire gave him a small kiss on the forehead while I squeezed his hand, "Bye Bob" I whisper quietly. Bob tried his hardest to give me a smile but he is just too weak so we both walk back into the line of people by the wall. As Maggie takes our place next to Bob on the bed I shuffle through the crowd to find Carl. When I do, I take his free hand in mine and rest my head on his shoulder. He gives me a squeeze of reassurance before Maggie finishes talking to Bob and we all file out of the room, leaving Sasha and Rick in there alone.

I make my way through the colorful church and take a seat on my favorite pew, the second to last. I curl my legs into my stomach to provide myself with comfort. Bob has reminded me about the absence of my dad. There has been so much going on, I haven't had the chance to take much more than a second thought about the possibilities of it. My dad could be dead by now for all I know. I burry my head into my knees and close my eyes, not wanting anyone to see the small tears running down my face but it was too late.

I heard the thud of someone sitting next to me before a familiar arm snaked around my shoulders. I leaned over and once again rested my head on his shoulders, his familiar smell wafting through my nose. I snuggled deep into his grasp and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

—————

"This is our route to D.C" Abraham told Rick white handing him a folded map, "We'll stick to it as long as we're able. If not, well, you got our destination."

I just woke up about five minutes ago but apparently while I slept the D.C. group had enough time to load the bus and get ready for take off. The rest of the group was huddled around the back of the bus, discussing the trip while Carl with Judith in his arms and me with my arms wrapped around Claire stood by the stairs, watching.

"Once Eugene gets to the big brains up there things are gonna bounce back. This group should be there for it, you should be there for it" Abraham finishes.

"They will be" Maggie days from behind Rick.

"We will" Michonne adds.

Rick takes a glance at both the women behind him before turning back to Abraham, "We will"

A small smile spreads across Abraham's face before he calls out, "Then let's go!" He turns around and closes the back foot of the bus and walks to the front. He ignites the bus and it lets out a low rumble.

The rest of the D.C. group follows Abraham to the front of the bus including Maggie and Glenn. They get to where I am standing and pull me and Claire into a big group hug. Glenn leans in and whispers, "I'm sorry, kid"

I chuckle a bit before replying, "It's ok, kid"

Glenn and Maggie pull away from the hug and board the white bus. We all watch from the staircase as our family takes their seats on the bus and pull away, leaving us. Who knows when or if we will ever see them again.

"Let's go back inside" Carl whispers to me and I slowly nod at him before we both file into the small church once again.

—————

Me and Carl sat face to face, cross legged on the pews, playing a game of rock, paper, scissors. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" we both exclaim as I display my fist in the shape of the rock and Carl displays two fingers together and his thumb sticking up.