Beautiful Memories • Carl Grimes

Introduction/Chapter 1

Kate's POV

Things changed. Everything changed. My entire life imploded, collapsing onto me like I had no way of stopping it. And I didn't. Nobody did.

My name's Kate Mason. I believe I'm 17 years old and currently stuck taking care of my 6 year old sister, Lillian, by myself. I had to repeat this almost every night. I had to remember who I was, where I am, and what my story was.

You see, we had a big family. A happy one, too. But that was before the world went to shit and started crawling with flesh craving maniacs. Lily likes to call them monsters, but I just call them roamers. She's still too little to understand the chaotic realization that this is our life now. Our parents died when she was 3 years old, and she can barely remember their faces. To her, I'm the one who she looks up to. Every moment counts when it comes to her. She's my everything.

We both go from day to day, hiding and searching for supplies in any way that we can. Almost every place in the surrounding area is cleared out. And now we're stuck in an empty gas station in the middle of the city. What city, you ask? I have no clue. We've moved around all this time and keeping track is the least if my worries. All I know is that it's too dangerous to go any further and we needed somewhere to stay for the night. The city was a bad idea, and I didn't know what to expect.

I stared up at the ceiling from my spot on the floor, my mind clouding with angry thoughts and spiteful memories. It's so hard to survive when you don't know your reasons. My only reason is my sister. My eyes traveled down to see her at my side. Her chest rising and falling as she curled into me.

It grew darker and darker outside. The only light we could see was from the moon shining through the large windows, casting freaky shadows along the far wall. I held her closer to my side, wishing that we weren't so weak and vulnerable. We were never prepared for anything anymore. And Lillian only knows how to scream when she needs help. She's never touched a weapon in her life. They frighten her.

I shot my glance back over to the window and door. For a moment, I thought a saw something move on the other side of the glass. Not a roamer. The way they moved was too quick.

Relax, Kate.. You're just seeing things..

But then it happened again. A bright light could be seen from my spot on the cold floor, shining in and fading shortly afterwards. I jumped to my feet as the bell to the door jingled, careful not to wake Lily up as I did. There's someone here with us. Did he come back?

Quick thinking, I scurried around the front counter, crouching down as fast as I could. I could hear boots coming our way and snatched a jar from one of the shelves. I carelessly tossed it across the room. It shattered against the far wall, drawing the persons attention right away before they could shine the light directly at us. I took this as a time to rush back to Lily, who sprung up from the sudden sound.

"Lily," I gestured helplessly to the sleepy little girl as her eyes darted everywhere. She glanced at me for a quick second before she noticed that something wasn't right and we rushed to the back of the gas station, hiding behind one of the shelves. Her shaky hands covered her mouth to stop herself from whimpering. And whoever was outside, was now making their way through one of the isles, taking their precious time and listening carefully.

"Monster?" Lillian asked quietly, taking in a deep breath. I would've told her right then and there that I didn't think we were the only living people in here, but I was too paralyzed to even think. I knew it wasn't him. It was someone else. Possibly someone dangerous. I held my finger to my lips and shushed her softly.

A box of cereal toppled off one of the shelves, making my entire body cringe at the sound. "Dammit," A voice whispered in frustration. It was low and clear. A boy, I assured myself. My grip on Lily's little body tightened.

We stayed like this for a moment more, listening to hear the sound of shoes clomping on the ground heading in the opposite direction. I sighed out in relief. "It's okay," I breathed into Lily's soft, tangly mess of dirty blonde hair. She nodded and we both started to stand up as the sound of the bell rang again, signaling that the person had finally opened the door and left.

"That was a close one," I muttered, carrying Lily back to the pile of blankets we spread out. "Stay quiet. They aren't far yet."

She yawned, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink as her eyes reflected the twinkling of the snow sticking to the window. Yes, it's snowing. I still have no clue what month it is. All I know is that her soft face turned a rosy color as cold wind was swept over us, coming from the door. That's when I realized that we still weren't alone.

I froze as I jolted to my feet, staring at the door to see it propped open with a rock. My entire body just shut down as her little green eyes widened, staring passed my shoulder. I didn't move a single muscle as the tip of a gun was pressed harshly to the back of my head.

"Don't move,"

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A/N:

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this extremely short first chapter. My chapters are normally much longer than this and I'm not use to writing short ones.
Anyways, I wanted to tell you a few facts about this story that will definitely help you understand things more.

1. Kate is 4 months younger than Carl.

2. This story is an au, meaning that it does not follow the show's storyline, although it does have the same characters and most of their backstories are the same.

3. My writing in this tends to fluctuate between past tense and present tense in a few chapters. For example, "she said" vs "she says." But this will die down once I figure out which one I prefer.

4. In the show, Carl is actually suppose to be somewhere around 14 or 15, while the actor is much older. In this story, he is 17 and has both eyes for now. Everyone is a couple years older, including Judith (even though she's still a toddler).

5. I like to picture Carl starting off with the same hairstyle he had in season 4-5, although it will get longer as the story progresses.

Thank you for taking the time and checking this out! I know this first chapter/introduction sucks, but trust me, it will get better.