Unpraised Deeds

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CARL HAD BEEN showing up to the girl's door twice a day since their half-name-exchange. Sometimes only once if he was held back by his father, who was clueless as to why it "had to be him" who gave the imprisoned girl her food and water.

Jolene didn't know that part, though.

He brought her the few scraps of food his people had left over. It was never guaranteed to be amazing, or much at all, but Jolene was always more that satisfied with her relieved bellyache.

Six knocks.

That was Carl's genius idea.

When Jolene heard six knocks on the door, she knew it was him. Though she could probably tell anyway by the awkward little footsteps he gave all the way to the door. Or the the way he always seemed to have a cold, despite the fact they were half way into August. Every time there was a knock- or six of them, she would firstly be greeted with a harsh sniffle, then she knew it was Carl.

Carl was sat outside the cabin with his back occasionally stretching out against the door. His fur-felt hat that balanced atop his head slightly grazing the rustic doorhandle with every turn of his neck.

"Are you gonna try kill us all when you get out?" He quizzed in more of a serious manner than before. "That's what most of the people have tried to do,"

He paused before speaking again, "You know... the lonely people that we come across sometimes. It's stupid 'cause they know they wont win against us all, but I guess that's the point for them. They don't care. To them, this life is no life at all, and it isn't worth living, but they couldn't take their own life so they wait for people like us to come around and take it for them."

There was another brief pause.

"You're not one of those people, are you?" he scoffed and turned his head to the side so that he could properly hear what she had to say.

Jolene pondered for a moment.

"If I get out, I'd probably kill you first," She laughed, sort of joking to herself. There had definitely been times where chopping Carl up and steaming Carl through and blending Carl down all while saving some Carl garnish- maybe one or two of his fingers, just to serve on a silver platter to the absentminded fishies down in the ocean had sounded like a plan to Jolene.

Carl rolled his eyes for possibly the thousandth time that day. "You will,"

"What, kill you?"

"No,"

He was going to say, 'You couldn't,' but he knew that would be pushing it. He also knew he couldn't counteract the strange profanities she always spat out at the door.

"I mean, you will get out," He smiled at the thought. "Or you might kill me, I don't know,"

"Yeah," The girl jokingly answered before letting out hearty laugh. Salty tears pooled at the corners of her waterline. It really wasn't all that funny, but for some reason, Jolene felt as if she had just heard the best joke ever told.

As her stomach clenched under her palms, another laugh was heard from the other side of the door. It seemed Jolene's laughter was contagious.

This was so weird for the both of them. They are just kids. Just kids.

Kids in an apocalypse...

What the hell?

She wished the world wasn't the way it was. It was quite the mood-killer.

She calmed down from her laughing fit and so had Carl. Obviously, given the situation, she had to listen out for the end of his giggling, because otherwise how would she know? He was so quiet between taking breaths for another round of laughter, it just seemed like he had stopped, but then you would hear it again... and again... and the pattern repeats.

The fact was funny: even though they hadn't been given the opportunity to formally greet and shake hands as one should, it felt like they both had. From two sides. In two minds. From two different realms.

"You know, if you care so much about me getting out of this cabin, why can't you just ask your leader to let me out? Isn't he your father?" Jolene asked.

"I just can't," He paused. "He- it's just safer this way,"

Gnawing on her cheek was a recently developed habit of hers, and shortly became the most tallied thing about her in such a small space of time.

Now it was her turn to scoff.

"Yeah, like I'm actually gonna try kill you all," She mumbled in one breath between her lips.

"What?"

No answer, again. She noted herself to be quite ignorant in that respect.

"My dad knows what he's doing, and if he's made a decision, it's for a good reason," Carl stated. "He's not stupid,"

"I'm not disputing that-"

"Just save it," He stretched is cramped calves as he leisurely rose from the ground, pushing on his knees in support of his upper body. "You're the imprisoned one, remember?"

Correct.

He continued, "I wouldn't run my mouth like that if I were you, especially not to anyone like my dad,"

Jolene huffed and kissed her teeth before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah okay, I'm sorry for... sorta bad-mouthing your father and for arguing back," She drummed her frigid hands on the grimy skin of her bare legs.

When he didn't respond, she knocked on the hard wooden door with her reddened knuckle just to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep or fainted or... something.

"Alright I admit I was in the wrong but cut me some slack 'cause I'm goin' insane in here,"

Still no answer.

"Have you gone deaf? Or are you just being childish? C'mon man you kinda need to cooperate here 'cause I can't really read your body language... ya know... given this sticky situation?" With every word she spoke her voice became more agitated and her pitch became thinner and higher.

No. He had left.

And she realised that... shortly after.

"Oh," The word demonstrated her reaction.

"Well it looks like I won't be getting anymore of that sweetcorn for a while," She spoke aloud to her left shoulder.

A/N

"Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised."

IM BEGGING FOR SOMEONE TO GET THE TITLE REFERENCE hi guys kinda short kinda disappointing filler chapter just to bleed into carl and jolenes newfound friendship?? i dont think u can call it that since they both (jolene) wanna strangle each other (nope, just jolene) but here it is! thoughts? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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