❛ ❪ diggin' holes. ❫ ❜

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ATTACHMENT ISSUES MIGHT'VE been a term you used for Carl.

Okay. Wait. Scratch that.

Attachment issues is a term that you would use to describe Carl. Carl Grimes.

The blue-eyed curious boy had been broken even before the fall. The moment the news left his mother's mouth the second he stepped out of school he was broken.

His father and his mother weren't a good mix.

They fought constantly and it did, honestly, fuck up his head. He'd go to school with that weight on his shoulders, and the image of them fighting stained on his mind.

So, when he leaves school— correction, elementary school— he expects to come back home and the two have made up.

But he sees a cop car outside his school, and his mother practically shaking as she gets down to his level and tells him the new reality he would have to live in.

Maybe that's why Moonee and Carl got along well. They both shared childhood trauma.

Carl liked Moonee a lot and had always been drawn to her more than anyone else in his life.

She was different.

He really liked that about her. He liked when she would laugh, and how she would immediately come up with something witty to say.

Sometimes when she would fall into the creek or it would rain, her hair would slightly wave at the ends. Her blue-gray eyes would slightly squint when she was confused.

Carl watched her a lot. Not in a creepy way. He admired her.

He was insanely jealous of her— he always had been.

The way her father treated her, and the way she acted so careless and carefree about the shitty world they lived in. Carl could tell she was an anxious person, but she hid it pretty well.

Moonee loved Lori. Lori loved Moonee. It was kind of like a situation where she was the daughter his mother never had.

Carl was jealous of that too. He knew his mother or best friend weren't intentionally trying to make him feel his swarm of envy, but he couldn't help but feel it.

Moonee bid her father a farewell, as Daryl yelled at Rick and T-Dog to hurry up and get into the truck, while Glenn honked the horn of the vehicle.

A frown was on her lips as Marcus ruffled her hair, messing up her hair. He said he was coming back and he would be
safe— comforting words spilling from his lips.

Moonee was sure he would be safe. She had the confidence that he would, as he got into the car, she kept waving her little hand at the car.

Carl didn't leave his tent. He wasn't worried. He just was tired of being left alone.

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Moonee didn't like Shane.

She was never really fond of him, to begin with. His intimidating demeanor, along with his leader complex that practically radiated off of him.

Shane was forcing Carl and Moonee to catch frogs with him.

Neither of them were in the mood, seeing as both of their fathers had just left.

Carl held the large net in his hands loosely, as it hung into the creek, "I'm not gettin' anything." he said in a low tone, staring into the shallow water.

Moonee just stared at the water that rippled back her dirty complexion. She didn't like being this way.

Sometimes she would realize that the world was actually over and then it would ruin her day— example: today.

Shane looked over at the two children, "Yeah." his thick southern accent dampened over his words, "Being all wily, stayin' submerged." he explained.

"Little suckers, they know somethin's up." Shane said, "That's what's goin' on." he informed the two again, and then grabbed a tin bucket beside him.

"Just gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way." Shane smirked, then got up, and began to walk into the creek water, "All right you two look."

Shane looked over at the two, as the water was up almost to his knees, "You are the— you are the key in all this, okay?" he asked, as he stepped further into the creek.

"All I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go after one of 'em, alright? I'll scare the rest of them off. They're all gonna scatter. I'm gonna drive the rest of 'em your way." he explained, holding the bucket tightly, the top facing away from him, as he pressed the bottom of the metal against his chest.

Carl stood up— ready for the action, as he nodded at Shane. Moonee kept herself sitting on the large boulder that was next to Carl.

"All right," Carl said, still nodding his head at Shane. Moonee glanced over at Carl, then back over to Shane.

"What you need to do is you need to round up every bad boy you see, alright? You with me?" Shane asked, a smile starting to form on his lips.

Carl began to get hyped up and excited by the whole thing, a smile rising on his lips, "Yeah."

"Hells yeah!" Shane nodded, "Show me your mean face." Shane began to scrunch up his nose and show his teeth, letting out a mimicked growl.

Moonee let out a small laugh at the expression and looked over at Carl who mirrored the expression, a faux growl leaving his mouth too.

"Yes sir. Are you ready?" Shane smiled at Carl, as Moonee messed with her stick and also smiled at Carl— glad he was finding some joy since he had been moping around all day.

"Yeah!" Carl exclaimed, and Moonee looked over at Shane, as he readied the tin bucket in his hands.

"Here we go," Shane said in a tone of determination, as he looked over at Carl who stared back at him, waiting for him to try and catch one of the frogs.

Shane very slowly shifted in the water, looking down into the liquid of the creek, whilst holding the bucket, preparing to attack the frogs.

The man in the water then dived his bucket down into the water and fell into the creek along with the bucket. Shane immediately jumped up into the surface of the water, as she splashed the water at Carl.

"Alright, little man, they're coming your way." Carl laughed, along with Moonee, while Carl stirred the large net around in the water, "They're comin' your way. Go on, get 'em! Get 'em!" he shouted, as she splashed Carl and Moonee.

"Catch them frogs!" Shane continued to splash the water, "Catch them frogs!" he repeated, but more in a singing voice, splashing the water.

"They're comin', little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em!" Shane continued to splash the water, as Carl scooped the net through the water.

"What've you got, bad boy? What do you got?" Shane explained as Carl pulled the net from the water, "What've you got?"

Carl lifted the net excitedly and then his expression dropped when the net was empty, "Dirt." he said in a grumpy voice, and Moone laughed.

Pink slightly dusted over Carl's pale, freckled cheeks as he looked over at Moonee who shook her head with a laugh at the fact that they did all of that for nothing.

"Oh, boy." Shane sighed and put his hands on his hips, absolutely drenched in creek water, "Alright, we've got to start over."

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Moonee was slumped against Carl as they sat on a large boulder next to Shane. The heat of the sun shone down onto them, warming their skin.

The two heard footsteps, and Moonee sat up and looked over to see Lori walking down the boulders carefully, "Hey, you two, what did I tell ya both about not leaving Dale's sight?"

Moonee held a hand over her eyebrows to shield her eyes from the burning sun, looking at the woman who was in charge of her every time her father left for some kind of run.

"But—" Carl started out and looked over at the man next to him, "Shane said that we could catch frogs, remember?" he held his hands out in protest.

"It doesn't matter what Shane says, It matters what I say." Lori said, her tone not angered in any way, "Both of you go on back to camp." she tilted her head towards the way she came.

Carl let out an annoyed sigh, as he got off the rock, and Moonee got up and dusted herself off from the dirt, "Sorry, Mrs. Grimes."

Lori nodded at her apology, as Carl held a hand out to help Moonee over the rocks on their path. Moonee took his hand and looked over at Lori.

"I'll be right behind," Lori informed, and Moonee nodded, pulling herself over a rock, while Carl helped her boost herself.

Moonee heard Shane and Lori talking behind them, but they were already almost at camp as they traveled over the rocks to the camp.

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"I'm tired of playing cards." Sophia sighed slumping her head onto the plastic table, as Moonee shuffled the cards, and Carl had his elbow propped on the table, while he leaned his head into his hand.

"Me too." Moonee sighed, and put the cards back into the box that had 'Glenn' written on the side of it. She hoped Glenn was okay.

Carl's eyes widened and he pushed his chair out and got up. Moonee and Sophia looked over curiously, as Amy and Andrea walked into camp with a large line of fish.

Moonee gasped and stood from her chair, the duet crunching underneath her worn-down boots, and Lori clapped as the two blondes walked over with a large amount of fish.

Morales walked over and laughed, "Hey, check it out." he announced with a laugh of disbelief, and Andrea walked over and handed the chain of fish to him, "Ladies..." he let out a small chuckle, "because of you, my children will eat tonight."

He smiled widely at the blonde sisters, "Thank you." Andrea looked over her shoulder at him as he spoke.

"Thank Dale." she smiled at the man, "It's his canoe and gear," she informed, as the three children rushed over to look at all the fish.

Almost everything in camp belonged to Dale. He was the one who practically kept them alive through this whole thing.

"Mom, look." Carl pointed, gawking at all the fish, "Look at all the fish." he said excitedly, and Morales playfully moved the fish close to her face.

"Thank you." Lori laughed, and moved away from the fish, as she smiled, shaking her head at the action, the fish then pulled away from her.

"Whoa." Carl gawked, and Moonee tilted her head at the fish and grimaced when Carl poked one of the dead animals.

"Yeah, whoa." Lori agreed, "Where did you two learn to do that?" she asked with an impressed expression and tone.

"Our dad." Amy smiled, taking a sip out of her water bottle, and Carl looked over at them in awe.

"Can you teach us how to do that?" Carl asked, glancing at Sophia and Moonee, who nodded in response.

"Sure!" Amy smiled at the three children, as crickets began to chirp through the trees, "I'll teach y'all about nail knots and stuff." she let out a small laugh, then looked over at Lori, "If that's okay."

"You won't catch me arguin'." Lori shrugged with a small smile, looking over at the amount of fish again, while Dale walked by.

"Hey, Dale." Andrea called, and he slowed his walking pace, "When's the last time you oiled those line reels?" she asked playfully with a smile, "They're a disgrace."

Dale had a worried look on his face as everyone looked over at him, "I, uh— I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem." Dale then looked over at Shane who approached them.

He then turned and pointed into the distance, causing the group to look, and see Jim digging holes up on the hill in the distance.

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when is there not a problem?

Jim went crazy when the group confronted him on the hill. Amy revealed that Ed hit Carol and that's why Shane attacked him, Jim said that they should've stayed out of it, and it was none of Shane's business.

Then, Jim attacked Shane, and Shane pinned him down and handcuffed him, while Jim muttered on about how he got away because his family was getting eaten.

Moonee, Sophia, and Carl stood there as Jim's face was pressed into the mud.

A while later, the three children were forced to do schoolwork. When the cases of the sickness started getting bad, schools sent home textbooks just in case of a pandemic.

Even though the world was over, they were forced to do schoolwork.

Moonee doodled on the side of her page, just like how she used to do in school, while Jim was tied to a tree right next to the table they were sitting at with Carol and Lori.

Shane went over and gave him some water, pouring some on his head to cool him down— per Jim's request— while Dale stood next to the man.

"Sorry if I scared your little girl." Jim said louder, looking over at Carol, "Or your boy and his little girlfriend." he looked over at Lori, and Moonee rolled her eyes at his words, her eyes on her textbook.

Lori looked over at him, "You had sunstroke. Nobody's blamin' you." she gave him a quick empathetic smile before going back to help Moonee and Carl do their work.

"You're not scared now, are you?" Jim asked, looking over at Sophia, who awkwardly looked down and then over at the
man.

"No, sir," Sophia said in a quiet tone, before looking back over at her paper— not wanting to interact with the odd man anymore.

Jim then looked over at Carl, "You're mama's right. Sun just cooked my head, that's all." he tried to joke, but Carl just glanced at him awkwardly, before going back to writing.

"Jim?" Dale spoke up, "Do you know why you were digging?" he asked the man, "Can you say?" he asked another question.

Jim looked up at Dale, "I had a reason. Don't remember." he said in a low tone and swallowed thickly, and Dale just slowly nodded, "Something I dreamt last night."

"Your dad was in it." Jim looked over at Carl, and Carl looked up at him with a confused look, "You were too." he said, "You were worried about him. Can't remember the rest."

Lori looked over at him, "You worried about your dad?" Jim asked, pressing the subject and talking to the kids way too much.

"They're not back yet." Carl shook his head, and Lori sighed, rubbing his shoulder, and looking back over at Jim.

"We don't need to talk about that," Lori said, and Moonee sent Carl a small smile— knowing how he got about his dad.

"Your dad's a police officer, son. He helps people. Probably just came across some folks needing help, that's all." Jim continued to speak.

"That man, he's tough as nails. I don't know him well, but... I could see it in him. Am I right?" Jim asked, and then looked up at Shane who stood from his kneeling position.

Shane nodded, "Oh, yeah." he sighed, and looked away— almost as if he was jealous of Rick— and Jim looked over at Carl again.

"There ain't nothing gonna stop him from getting back here to you and your mom, I promise you that," Jim said with determination, and nodded at the boy.

Shane then picked up the bucket of water beside Jim, "Alright. Who wants to help me clean some fish, huh?" he asked, and Carl immediately got up.

"Sweet. Come on, guys." Carl looked over at Sophia and Moonee who followed him, as she rushed after to follow Shane.

"Stay with Carol, alright?" Lori said, glancing over her shoulders as the kids, who chased after the dark-haired man.

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Moonee felt some peace as they all sat around the fire.

Morales built the stones around the fire higher so they could have a large fish fry, and not attract any attention.

Amy went to go to the bathroom in the rv after Dale told a story about his watch.

Moonee scooped some fish into her mouth with her fork, and Carl went to steal a bit of her food, and she immediately pushed his fork away with hers.

"Hey!" Moonee pouted at him, "You have your own." she pointed to his plate with her fork, and Carl rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm almost done, and you've barely touched your food. Sharing is caring." Carl said matter-of-factly, and Moonee glared at him.

Moonee opened her mouth to protest, but then Amy stepped out of the rv, leaving her hand on the door to hold the door open.

"We're out of toilet paper?" she whined, and a low growling bubbled through the air.

One of the dead limped over and immediately grabbed onto her with a vice before she tried to tug her arm away, but it was no use. The geek then sunk its teeth into her arm, and she let out a loud scream.

The laughing and warm moments they were having around the fire quickly subsided, as they all looked over at the blonde girl whose arm began to get eaten by the dead.

Moonee looked over and her eyes widened, dropping her plate of food onto the ground out of shock. More of the 'walkers'— as Rick put it— began to rush their way into camp.

Carl immediately began to scream and rushed to his mother, as Lori pulled the two close to her in a frantic manner.

"Lori, get them down!" Shane yelled loudly, grabbing the shotgun he always carried around with him, and began to shoot at the dead things.

Moonee let out a shriek loudly, as Shane screamed at them to follow him. She couldn't think straight. Everything was perfect a few moments ago.

Screaming echoed the camp that Moonee had called home for the past month or so. Shane continued to yell at everyone to follow as he shot at the geeks that infested the camp.

Blood stained over the camp, reeking through the air and clinging to Moonee's soul, and scarring her for life. Rotten flesh filled her senses as she was pulled by Lori.

Moonee held onto Carl tightly, as she let out screams and cries as the dead tried to grab at them.

The goal was the rv— or at least that's what Moonee heard. She couldn't really understand what anyone was saying. The commotion made her heart race, and she couldn't think or see straight.

She could help. She's killed one before.

More gunshots erupted through the camp, and Moonee looked over to see the group that left to find Merle. All of a sudden she heard shouts for Carl.

She frantically looked around for her father, and she saw him shooting at the geeks that crowded the area. Marcus frantically looked around.

"Moonee?!" he shouted, and Carl and Moonee looked at one another, before letting go of each other and running to their fathers.

Moonee sobbed as she ran to her dad who immediately knelt down and engulfed her into a hug, lifting her off the ground, while she sobbed.

"Dad." she sobbed into her father's shoulder, as he held her tightly— the geeks in the camp, were now all on the ground.

Marcus slowly set Moonee down beside Carl, as he stood with his mother and father. Moonee looked over to see Andrea and Amy, both covered in Amy's blood.

Another sob left Moonee's lips, as Amy took her last breath before her body relaxed and her eyes rolled shut.

Marcus kept an arm around Moonee as he watched the scene. Andrea screamed and sobbed loudly, trying to shake her sister awake from her eternal sleep.

"I remember my dream now," Jim said with horror looking around the camp, "why I dug the holes."

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-- 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 :
hi guys..

    so now people are actually reading this 😭 so i have to update. before it wasn't really gaining any traction, so i just posted here and there because i knew it would take time.

but lately more people have been reading it so i'll try to post more frequently, but i do have other fics im currently working on, and that kinda postpones a lot of this fic, but i'll try my best to update.

also, im abt to be finished with volume one, so volume two will be out soon, which mainly focuses on moonee and carl, but will still be following the script of the show.

© witxiter, 2024