Weak//c.g ✔️

Chapter Forty-One

Meadow Fletcher's POV
A YEAR LATER

THE gate creaked open, weapons were pointed at me. I moved my hood down, my face was filthy and sunburned, my hair was much longer, holding my hands up. Everyone stared at me, "Hey." I let out a breathless laugh, "Rick here?" The guy at the gate nodded, "Who are you?" I was about to answer, "Meadow?" I looked at where the voice was coming from. There stood Carl. He was wearing his signature sheriff's hat. A bandage covering his eye. His shoulders were more broad, his shirt fitted him better. He was much taller, for sure. "Yeah, it's me." Within an instant I was engulfed in a hug, my bag dropping. 

I sniffled, hugging back. His arms tightening around my figure, "You said a few months." He whispered, "Yeah, sorry." I looked at him, "I got caught up in a different state." He moved my hair out of my face, his eyes scanning my face was bruised, my lip had a cut that has scabbed over, "What happened to you?" "You should see the other guy." 

"Meadow?" I heard another voice, it was a tiny girl. Carl moved out of the way, I saw a girl, she was about four, "Judy?" The little girl squealed running towards Carl and I. I bent down, holding my arms out, Judith crashed into me. "I missed you!" I picked her up, hugging her tightly and spinning her around. Carl picked up my duffel bag. Michonne and Rick looked at me, their eyes widened. Michonne was smiling. 

The gates closed behind me.

I sat at the kitchen table, I was freshly showered and mowing down a hot bowl of stew. Carl gave me a weird look, I set my fork down looking at everyone, "Uh, sorry, it's been a long time since I've had a hot meal." My face turned red, "Alexandria looks nice." I fumbled with my thumbs, "You guys probably wanna know what happened." "Yeah." I nodded my head, "I went to another state, didn't even know it until I showed up at a town. Found a bad group of people a few weeks ago," I wiped my lip with my finger, flinching when my thumb connected with the cut, "Let's just say, those people aren't here anymore," I gulped, "I decided it was time to come home, just for a little while."

"How many people?" Rick asked, I looked down, counting in my head, "About a hundred." "All by yourself?" I nodded my head slowly.

"How?" "Explosives. A lot of them." Rick and Michonne looked at me dumbfounded, Carl furrowed his brows together. "All of them were bad people, I did what I had to. They locked me in some sort of cell and some of the men would come at night and," I trailed off. I looked down, sniffling, "It was me and a bunch of other women. I did it all and they escaped. All of them."

"I'm sorry, Meadow." "Me too." I glanced over at Rick, "My parents, where are they?" "Here. They live in your old house." I sat up from the kitchen table, "Excuse me."

I knocked on the front door, fixing my sleeve. A woman with long blonde hair and a very large bump opened the door. The pregnant woman was my mother. She covered her mouth with her hand, gasping, "Daniel!" She yelled, engulfing me in a hug, my father doing the same. "Look at you." She said, examining my face, "Meadow, oh my lord, Meadow." My father said over and over again.

"How far?" I asked, "Eight months and two weeks, I think he will be here soon. Very soon." "Or she." My father smiled. I grinned, "Wow, a baby." "We left your room untouched, just in case." My mother said, squeezing my hand, "I won't be staying long, only for a while." I shrugged, "I just needed to see you guys before I go to Hilltop." "Your room will always be here." "Thank you."

I looked at the mirror in my room, a lot has changed in a year. I became more fearless. The only thing that really scared me was here. I lifted my tank top up, it revealed a long scar on my side. I looked down at it, my eyes fixated on the scar.

A knock on my window pulled me out of my trance. I put my shirt down, quickly, rushing over to the window. Carl grinned, holding up a bag of pretzel bites. I opened the window, a confused expression played on my face, "It's been a bit, let's catch up?"

"I uh-yeah. Come in." I helped Carl through the window. It was the two of us, it felt like before. It was like a wash of a nostalgic high. "I should probably apologize for leaving like that." I rubbed my arm, nervously. "Nonsense, I understood before. I was just too much of a hardass to let you go." He laughed, his laugh sounded nervous.

"I found something that I think you might like. It was while I was out there." I said looking over at my bag, "It reminded me of you." "I actually have something also."

I walked over to my bag, it was bloody and completely worn, the strap was already breaking. I unzipped it, rummaging around the bag, grabbing the item, I stood up placing it around my back. "You go first." Carl said, setting the pretzels down.

My hand was placed in front of us, in it laid a bobble head of a cowboy, an eye patch that was drawn on it. Carl looked down at it, a smile growing on his face. "I found it in some weird gift shop in an airport, I drew on the eye patch." Carl took it from my hands, "Thank you. This is so awesome." He looked at it in awe. Carl placed it on the bed next to the pretzels, he reached in his pocket. Pulling out a paper that was rolled up, I looked at it confused as he handed it to me.

I took the paper, unraveling it, it was a portrait that I drew of Carl forever ago, "I gave this to you." I looked up at him. He furrowed his eyebrow, looking at it, "Shit, I grabbed the wrong thing." He face palmed. "This wasn't up on your wall?" I asked, he scratched the back of his head, "I put it away for a bit." "Oh." I shrugged my shoulders, handing the paper back to him. He placed it back in his pocket.

I zipped my duffel bag back up, "Why'd you come back?" I heard Carl ask from behind me. I looked down at the duffel bag, letting out a sigh, "I don't know." I stood up, turning around. Carl was standing directly in front of me. My breathing hitched.

"I never forgot about us. I knew we had something, Mi." He whispered. I shook my head, "Carl, please, I don't want to hurt you. Wherever I am, death happens. I can't risk it." "I still love you, Mi." He gulped. I shook my head, "You shouldn't."

"Mi, stop closing me out. Let me in, please." He pleaded. I looked him in the eye, "I can't. Carl, I'm leaving soon. In a couple of weeks I'm going to go back on the road. It's better this way, safer this way."

"Don't leave." A tear fell out of his eye, out of instinct, I wiped it away. I froze, looking at my hand then Carl, "I didn't mean to, I just-" Carl cut me off with a kiss, I kissed him back.

It got hot and heavy really fast, clothes on the ground, laughter fell between us.