𝘿𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙎𝙄𝘿𝙀

❝ CHAPTER ELEVEN—
" we found a something " ❝

▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ THE MOMENT CARL OPENED HIS EYES, HE LOOKED OVER, MAKING SURE LAST NIGHT WASN'T ONLY A DREAM. blythe wasn't there. his furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused. last night did happen, did it not?

"carl," a voice called for him, "sun's up, get your ass up." carl didn't have to look to know the that the voice was in fact, blythe.

he turned, sitting against the back bed board, "when did you wake up?" he asked, looking at the window.

blythe shrugged, "I didn't get much sleep," she stated, "days awaiting—" she grabbed his hat from the dresser, "hats awaiting, and I'm awaiting."

blythe was already dressed in her pants from yesterday and she had one of carl's flannels on. 

"is that mine?" he asked with a smile.

blythe tugged at the sleeves, "yeah, hope you don't mind."

he shrugged, "nah, it's—it's cool."

he noticed how the sun peaking through the curtains danced its golden light on her skin, lighting her up as if she were an angel. pretty.

"carl!" she called, "I'm not kidding, get up."

carl rolled his eyes before falling back into his pillow, "now I'm wondering why I accepted this job."

blythe scoffed, "come on, drama queen, we gotta stop by the armory."

his head perked up, "we get to bring guns?"

she slanted her eyes, placing her hands on her hips, "no, they expect us to protect ourselves with our bare hands."

carl sheepishly smiled, "I get it, I get it."

blythe tossed his hat on his face, "now get up, or else I'm gonna drag you up."

carl sat up, "God, you're bossy."

she pointed a finger at him, "you have ten minutes, I'm gonna get a bagel." shutting the door, carl fell back again, a smile sticking on his face.

he was thrilled that blythe came to him in one of her lowest moments, but he was more worried on what had happened to her.

he was hoping that she'd tell him today on her own, he didn't want to push it.

rolling out of his bed and changing into his everyday flannel, carl plopped his hat on top of his head.

as he strolled down the stairs, he seen blythe in the kitchen, speading peanut butter on a bagel. carl didn't even realize they had bagels in the house.

"good, you're awake," blythe said, "just missed your dad, I didn't realize he was a sheriff."

carl snickered, "sheriff through and through."

she shrugged, "it does fit his character."

"did he not question why you're here?" carl asked, grabbing a bottle of water.

she shook her head, "nah, thinks I got here for the run today."

walking towards carl, she shoved half of the bagel into his hand, "eat this, we'll head out in a minute."

carl accepted it, "would if I am deathly allergic to peanut butter?"

she looked back at him, "then noted," she winked.

carl playfully rolled his eyes and took a bite of the bagel, "I haven't had one of these since family breakfast." his face fell at the memories.

he recalled when his mom put blueberries and raspberries on top of his bagels in the mornings.

"we gotta pack up first," bly said, "never know what could happen."

carl watched as she filled a two jugs of water up, "got any granola bars in the cabinets?"

he nodded, "yeah, I think so," striking over, he grabbed four, "so, what am I supposed to expect on these runs?" he asked.

"well, I was hoping to find an abandoned town, maybe a local market," bly hummed, "mm, I think I seen an old mall last time—i couldn't stop and check with zombies on my ass. "

carl shrugged, "nothing we couldn't take care of."

she nodded her head, "that's the spirit, grimes."

throwing a bag over her shoulders, she straightened carls flannel, "let's go."

𝙳 𝙰 𝚁 𝙺 𝚂 𝙸 𝙳 𝙴
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𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴 𝚂𝙺𝙸𝙿 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙱𝚈 𝙰 𝙻𝙰𝚉𝚈 𝚆𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴𝚁

ONCE THEY WERE CLEARED FOR CARRYING TWO HAND GUNS, DEANNA RAN A SAFETY LECTURE OVER THE TWO, AND RICK PUSHED FOR HIM TO JOIN THE KIDS. it took awhile, but carl got into his head that they'd be extra careful. rick had no doubt that his son wouldn't be safe, but something could always go wrong.

"dad," carl set a hand on his arm, "we'll be fine, we're going to search for farms and stuff—nothing crazy."

rick nodded, "okay, I get it," he tipped carls hat, "watch each other's backs."

carl looked over at blythe, a small smile tugged on his lips, "we will."

"can we go now, guys?" bly said, tapping a finger on her crossed arms, "I just wanna be back for supper."

"no you're right," deanna said, "go."

blythe saluted while walking away, "on behalf of carl, we won't die, I promise."

rick chuckled, "stay safe, okay?"

"dad!" carl called, "stop worrying."

giving oneast wave, the two kids walked through the gate and made their way for one of the cars.

"are we driving there?" carl asked.

bly snickered, "unless you wanna walk four to five miles."

carl shook his head, "hell no."

"then get in loser, we're going shopping."

zooming down the road, bly headed towards her destination, "what first?" carl asked.

blythe hummed, wondering the same question, "there's a farm a few miles away where I collect apples. maybe the pear tree is finally ripe."

"it's like an orchard?" he asked.

blythe gave him a grin, "obviously, carl," she reached over, flicking his hat.

"hey, hey!" carl almost shouted, "both hands on the wheel, cloudy."

her mouth fell open with a laugh, "seriously?"

blythe lifted both hands from the wheel, "look, look—no hands."

"blythe I swear to god, if you kill us, I'm gonna haunt your ass," carl shouted.

blythe's head tilted back as her laughs filled the car, as her hands clasped back around the steering wheel.

carl rolled his eyes, laughs escaping his own lips.

one thing was for sure, blythe made carls life a little lighter. being around her was the most fun he'd ever have. he could laugh and act like a stupid kid. but it still didn't dismiss the haunting memories of his fucked up life.

the sound of silence surrounded the two once their laughter died down. carl would occasionally peak a look over at her, he really wanted to know what happened last night.

mind yourself, carl thought, she'll talk about it when she's ready.

his eyes fell down towards her neck where her loose bandana hung.

"hey," he began, "is there a meaning behind your bandana?" he asked.

carl always noticed how she wore it constantly.

blythe brought a hand up to the fading fabric, "it was my brother's," she said, "he went through this rock drummer phase when I was nine, he wore these bandanas all the time."

her smile of the memories faded, "it was the only thing I found when I went back to my house—everything was burnt down. except for a few picture frames and—this."

carl frowned, "that must have been hard on you."

blythe held her bottom lip in between her teeth trying to distract her emotional pain with physical pain.

"it was," she lightened her tone, "but, you know, I never actually seen him die, so at least I don't have an image of him covered in blood in my head."

carl wondered how that could be any better.

"actually, let's hit the mall first," she said, "I've fenced the orchard up years ago, it's completely safe."

"so why not go to the orchard first? I mean if it's safe—" he began.

"carl, after picking apples from a tree, you notice your arms get freaking tired," she looked between carl and the road, "if we have to kill some walkers, we won't be so tired."

carl nodded, understanding the predicament.

pressing down on the gas, blythe sped up, zooming down the road towards the abandoned mall.

during the quiet ride, blythe would occasionally looked over at carl, she wanted to tell him why she showed up by his window, late with a bloody nose. in truth, she didn't how how he would react to 'I made out with enid, was forced to take drugs, and threatened by my boyfriend, whom I broke up with.'

nothing about that sounded sane.

for one: she freaking made out with enid, a drunk enid at that. for two: liam threatened her life, and carl's life. for three: liam. she could tell, carl fucking hated liam.

she honestly couldn't imagine what carl would do knowing everything.

so—she set it aside, he didn't need to know just yet.

"is that the mall?" carl said, pointing to a large building in the distance.

blythe squinted her eyes, trying to sight the sun, "oh, yeah, it is."

carl looked at her, eyes wide, "if that place is infested with walkers, we are leaving, immediately."

"I thought you said it was nothing we couldn't handle," she smirked.

carl slapped a hand on his face, "I was thinking like a smaller—way smaller mall, not a freaking skyscraper!"

blythe scrunched her eyebrows, "it's not a skyscraper, carl!"

carl let his head fall into his hands, "oh, my god, we're going to die."

blythe brought a hand over, slapping his hat, which propelled off his head. she grabbed some of his hair and forced him to look over at her, still driving with one hand, "we're not going to die you dramatic fuck."

carl's eyes switched to the road, "you should probably watch where you're driving."

blythe glared at the boy, "carl I swear if you tell me to watch the road one more—"

looking ahead, blythe seen a walker in the road, limping in a circle.

"—shit! " blythe tried swerving, but it was too late, zombie guts sprawled against the car windshield.

"ow—my hair!" carl yelled.

blythe let go of his hair and pushed him away, "you distracted me."

"bly, that was all you," carl chuckled, replacing his hat on his head.

blythe tried clean away the blood with the wipers, but it just smudged.

"you okay?" carl asked, "you're very—uhm, don't get mad, but—temperamental."

blythe was temperamental. everything that happened with liam had her blood boiling. she didn't want to talk about it, so it was being bottled up.

"I'm okay, grimes," she said in a softer tone, "I promise."

carl thought about what he could say, "uhm, if you—ever need to talk about something, anything, you can tell me."

for once, she didn't look over at carl, her eyes were glued onto the road.

"I know," she said quietly, "not yet, okay?"

carl nodded to himself, "whenever you're ready."

slamming on the breaks, blythe got out of the car, "ha, I almost ran into the building."

"you were actually driving blind this whole time?" carl asked, surprised.

she shrugged, "it was pretty straightforward."

as the two walked to the door, they noticed a lock securing the handles.

looking around, blythe grabbed a random shovel and slammed the metal down on the chains.

the lock easily busted off due to rust and age.

she looked at carl, "ready?" carl nodded, raising his gun.

swinging the door open, the two pushed into the mall, their weapons on high alert.

the mall was empty.

bly scanned the huge entrance, everything was up-kept. the place was clean.

"does—" carl cleared his throat, "does this place have electricity?"

place also noticed the lights on, "huh."

"spread out," she said, "stay in hearing range."

carl nodded, going off on his own with his gun still raised.

blythe set down the shovel and closed the doors behind her.

she made her way into a big corridor with two elevators leading to the second level.

easily running up into the second level, she looked down from the railing at carl who was searching the first level anchor stores.

blythe made her way into american eagle, seeing that the place was completely full of untouched clothing.

putting down her stuff, blythe grabbed a new tank top, switching her old one out from under carls flannel.

after finding new pants, shoes, and some cute sunglasses, blythe snagged a few more shirts for alexanderia.

it felt nice to wear clothing that wasn't falling apart.

"blythe," carl called, his voice easily being heard from down the stairs, "why is this place still clean? it's strange."

"I was thinking that too," blythe responded, "but let's not wait to meet who lives here."

blythe passed a hot topic filled with things popular from 2010.

she passed a perfume store and a bath and body.

it was hard finding things that would help alexanderia. if anything she was looking for a radioshack. if she could find walkie talkies it would help everyone on runs.

suddenly blythe's head turned in the direction of a tumbling sound.

it was coming from forever 21. she quickly and quietly ran over, taking out her knife. 

as blythe searched around the store, she was failing to find the source of the noise. it had to of been a zombie.

bly crouched down, observing the clothing rack that was knocked over.

as she looked around, she didn't notice the walker staggering towards her from behind.

she looked up, looking for anything.

upon hearing the scoffing of a shoe, blythe swung her body around, stabbing her knife into the shoulder of the walker.

the walker gasped, stumbling backwards. blythe titled her head, walkers don't gasp.

the walker raised its hand to take off its mask. the fucking zombie was functioning properly.

sliding off the black ski mask, blythe gasped herself.

"oh my god," she mumbled.

"did you just stab me?" the boy exclaimed, as he slowly fell to the floor.

"oh my god, I'm so sorry—I thought you were a walker—" blythe kneeled down, putting a hand on his bleeding wound.

"that's what i was going for," he chuckled, "only wanted to scare you."

blythe furrowed her eyebrows, "I could a have killed you, you stupid asshole."

the boy was about eighteen, his hair was dark brown and messy. aside from being stabbed, the boy the smiling.

carl was shouting, as he ran up the stairs, "blythe! you okay? what happened?"

"it's okay carl!" she called, "but I need help."

carl skidded to a stop, looking at the scene.

"what happened? who's this?" he asked.

"I don't know! I just stabbed him," she said frantically.

"you stabbed him?!" carl yelled.

"I didn't mean to! I thought he was a walker!"

"guys, guys, it's cool," the boy said, "it's my bad, I shouldn't have crept up on the badass chick."

after that he touched a hand to his bleeding shoulder, seeing the blood he instantly fell unconscious.

blythe's face was still froze in shock, silence flooded the room, she looked up at carl, "what do we do?"

carl raised his hands, "what do we do? how would I know! I've never been in a situation like this!"

blythe rolled her eyes, "we need to get him back to alexanderia.

carl crouched down beside blythe, "okay, how."

blythe reached up, untying her bandana from her neck. she folded it and stuffed it inside the boys shirt, against the wound.

"well, we get him to the car," she said, "hopefully he doesn't bleed out."

carl looked over at her, dark marks on her neck caught his attention. there were so many discolored dots.

her bandana must have been hiding them all this time, we're they scars?

"blythe? what are—" he began.

bly noticed and covered her neck with her hair, "let's focus on him, okay?"

carl didn't want to focus on him, he wanted to know why blythe had those scars.

picking the boy up from each side, carl and blythe dragged his ass to the car.

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"did you just stab me?"

laughed my ass off while writing this

<3 (not edited)