Stories For My Friends To Read

10: Carl Grimes

-( from the Supernatural Book Series, starting on book eight )-

"Why me?! Why does my life have to be so screwed up?! Couldn't it be someone else?! What more do you have for me?! Kill me now! I don't want to save people anymore! I wish I never existed!"
Jackie yelled, crying out for everything she had lost.

Time seemed to stop. There was a bright light that engulfed the room, blinding her.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a fully white room with large golden double doors. She approached the large doors and opened them, walking through. She found herself in a world that was different than hers. At her feet, her bag and Salem. She turned to head back through the doors, but they were gone. All there was, was forest.

She picked her bag up up, slinging it over her shoulder. That's when she realized, she was 12. "Man! I just started to drink alcohol a few years ago!" She exclaimed. She huffed, looking down at Salem. "Ready to go?" She asked. "Where to?" Salem asked. "Who knows?" Jackie shrugged. The pair headed through the woods, looking for some kind of shelter. They came across what they thought was a person.

"Hey! Excuse me! Do you know where I am?" Jackie called out. "Um, Jackie. Something doesn't seem right about that guy." Salem told her. The person turned around to face Jackie. If she wasn't who she was, she would've barfed seeing the man. His guts were spilling out of him. She swiftly pulled out her large sword made of bone, the mark on her forearm glowed lightly. As the man grew closer, so did she. She used her weapon and sliced off its head. The head continued to make groaning noises, so she stabbed it. "Huh, zombies?" Jackie asked Salem. "Probably. We shouldn't let them bite us. We'll probably be fine. You remember Sam with the Croatoan virus? It's probably the same thing with us." Salem said. "Well, just to be safe, we should try to avoid getting too close to these things." Jackie told Salem.

Jackie and Salem managed to survive on their own for about a year, sticking to the forest and killing many zombies.

They continued through the forest until they came to a road. They shared a glance before following the road, but stayed in the trees as to stay out of open areas. They followed the road until they came to a large gate.

Welcome to the
Alexandria
Safe Zone
Mercy for the lost
Vengeance for the plunderers

A sign next to the gate read.

The pair shared a look, Jackie shrugged. They walked up to the gate. "Excuse me? Is anyone there?" Jackie called out. The back part of the gate opened enough for someone to peek their head out, a man sticking his out. "Hi. I'm a bit lost, can we stay here?" Jackie asked. "We?" The man asked. "My cat and I." Jackie explained. "Yes, come in please." He told her, opening the gate, "I'm Aaron. What's your name?" "I'm Jackie and this is Salem."

Jackie walked into a house and sat down in a chair, Salem perching in her lap.

"Do you mind if I record our conversation?" Deanna asked. "No, I don't mind." Jackie smiled. "How did you find Alexandria?" Deanna asked. "I was walking through the woods and found your safe place." Jackie told her truthfully. "How old are you?" Deanna asked. "I don't know. I think I'm 13 or 14?" "Do you have a group?" "No, all I have is Salem." "How long have you been out there?" "I don't know. I think it's been about a year." Jackie admitted. "Thank you for letting me record this. I'll have Aaron show you to your house." Deanna smiled, "Unless you want to stay in this house with me?" "Thank you for the offer, but I would like my own house. If that's okay?" "Of course it is. I understand how hard it can be with an entire new environment." Deanna told her.

Jackie was moved to a house with a yellow door. She mainly lived in the basement, though. She did like the rest of the house, but it was too roomy for her, so he stuck to the basement. The basement had its own full bathroom, so she only had to go upstairs for food when she was hungry.

About after a year living in the community, a new group came in. She saw them while she was outside the walls, watching them from a house. When she made eye contact with a boy that looked around her age, she disappeared back into Alexandria. She made her way back to her basement.

She hung out with Salem, playing one of her mix tapes on her Walkman, dancing to the music of Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas. She was in her head, but not dancing, as she walked up to the kitchen, I'm Still Standing by Elton John blasting through her ears. She opened the fridge and pulled out an apple and cashew butter. She grabbed a knife and started cutting the apple, doing a little dance. Salem jumped on the counter as she cut into the apple.

"What?" Jackie asked her best friend. She took off one side of her Walkman. "There are people here." Salem meowed. Jackie turned her head to see a group of people in her living room.

"Let me guess, they're out of space in the other houses so you're staying here 'cause I basically only live in the basement?" Jackie asked the people. "Yeah, that's about right." A man told her. "Okay, well, don't go in the basement. If you do you'll loose your head." Jackie smiled. The group chuckled. "I'm not kidding." She told them with a straight face, the group falling silent. She put her headphones back on and continued cutting the apple. She put the knife in the sink and cleaned the counter with a wet rag before tossing out the core, placing the seeds in a ziplock bag. She started heading back down to the basement with her cut apple and cashew butter. Noticing Salem wasn't following she took off her headphones. "Salem," the cat turned his head, "let's go. It'll be fine." Jackie tried. Salem kept his eyes on the group. "Salem! If they do anything dumb I'll have their heads, let's go!" Jackie said. The cat jumped off the counter and walked over to Jackie. "What if they try something?" Salem meowed. "Then I'll kill them. It'll be fine. I have you watching over the house, remember?" Jackie reminded her cat as they walked down the stairs, closing the door behind them.

"That was weird." Carl told the group when Jackie was out of earshot. "Yeah, but she doesn't have too many weapons to hurt us with, I think we'll be fine, as long as we don't cross into her space. Remember, they took her weapons." Rick told his son.

Later that night, Deanna came knocking at the door. She talked to the group a bit before knocking a special code on the basement door. "Hey Deanna." Jackie smiled. "Hey sweetie. How are things going with you and Rick's group?" Deanna asked. "Things are great. Things will remain great as long as they stay out of my space." Jackie told her. "Let me guess, she threatened you?" Deanna asked Rick's group. Rick nodded. Deanna sighed. "Okay, well, she does have her weapons, but she'll do minimal damage." She told Rick's group, winking at Jackie. "I don't hurt kids, so the baby is okay." Jackie told them truthfully, "but I'd hurt any of you in a heart beat." Jackie said the last part under her breath. "Yeah, Jackie is our best defense against anything and everything. She's saved Alexandria from walkers and crazy people many times, it's her job to protect, but she doesn't do it often." Deanna explained. "Okay, well, you guys have a good night." Deanna smiled as she left.

——

The next day, Rick's group explored the safe zone a bit. Carl met some people his age at a guy's house.

"We're almost always here after school, so you can come by any time." Ron told him, walking down the hallway. "You go to school?" Carl asked. "It's in a garage. Little kids in the morning and then it's us in the afternoon. Probably you, too, right?" Ron said. "Probably." Carl shrugged. "Guys, this is Carl. Carl, this is Mikey and Enid." Ron introduced. "Hey." Mikey said. "Hi!" Enid smiled. "Enid's from outside too, she came a few months ago." Ron told Carl, placing his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Oh, um, is this yours?" Carl asked, pulling out a magazine. "That's Enid's." Mikey said. Enid took it from Carl and started flipping through it. "Found the fashion section!" She grinned. "Um, does Jackie hang out with you guys?" Carl asked. "Jackie? Nah. She's normally out in runs or alone with her cat." Ron told him. "Yeah. She a fucking psycho. Being alone with that cat all the time. And it's black. Like what the fuck?" Mikey said. "Wanna play some video games?" Mikey asked after an awkward moment of silence. "Or Mikey's house has a pool table, but his dad's kinda strict about it." Ron offered.