Jar of Hearts

Cannon

I woke up the next morning to a loud bang.

Ignoring the fact that I didn't have any shoes on, I walked downstairs to see what was going on.

"Is everyone okay?" Lori asked.

Daryl, Beth, Maggie, and Carl nodded their heads and looked into the same direction.

I leaned over the counter and noticed a huge, metal ball lying on the floor.

I looked up and saw that it had crashed through the only window in the main room. The glass was shattered and scattered all around the floor and in the window sill.

I looked at the ball and noticed that it was a cannonball. There was a small strip of white on the black sphere.

I started to walk towards it, but I felt a hand on my arm. I turned to see that it was Carl.

"Stop, that's glass and you're not invincible."

I shrugged and continued to walk towards the ball, stepping in between every large shard of glass.

After a few minutes of careful steps, I got to it.

Bending down, I outstretched my arms to pick up the ball. It was extremely heavy and slippery so when I pulled back to pick it up, I fell back.

I let out a screech of pain as the glass pressed into my hands and feet. I heard the crunching of glass around me and I felt the hands of someone slip under my knees and hold my back as I was lifted off of the floor.

"C'mon, that was just plain stupid," my rescuer stated.

I glared at Daryl and watched as Carl stepped onto the glass with his booted feet and carefully lifted the cannonball off of the floor and pulled off the note.

Inhabitants of our home,

As  we were strolling along on our daily walks, we couldn't help but notice that you were taking sanctuary in the prison. Now, we know that you got there first and that you have people that you want to keep safe, but you do not have children. You know that you can survive out here and frankly, we do too. We know that you can deal with living out here so let's stop playing around. Leave the prison by dusk and we will leave you be. Don't, and we are going to release a whole lot of cannonballs at you.

 The Governor

All of us listened to Carl speak as he read the note aloud.

"Why does he keep on with all of this? We offered him a place here. We told him that we could all live together." Rick said.

Hershel cut in, "He will stop at nothing to see you perish. Especially after Woodbury."

Suddenly, Lori spoke, "Look out the window."

Everyone crowded around her and I seethed in pain as Daryl walked and my feet hit his side.

A man with an eye patch and a group were standing just outside the fences and they were all crowded around a cannon.

Rick took the cannonball from Carl and Daryl plopped me in his arms.

"Go help her clean up," Rick said.

Carl nodded and carried me to the bathroom down the hall. When we got there, he sat me on the toilet seat and pulled out the rubbing alcohol and tissue.

"Who's this governor guy?" I asked.

"He wants the prison," he replied.

I nodded as he pulled out tweezers and sat down in front of me.

He pulled a small piece of glass out of my foot and I took in a sharp breath.

"I told you not to do it."

I glared at him as he continued with his work.

After a long while,  he finished gauzing up my left hand and sat back.  He sat against the wall and pulled his knees up to his chest. As he sat, he stared at me.

Eventually, it just got creepy.

"What?"

He smiled, "We spend so much time together and I still feel as if I don't know you. I mean, I know a little about your past, but that's pretty much it."

"What do you want to know?" I asked as I thought about my horrible past and stared at the gauze on my hand.

Before he got a chance to respond, Daryl came into the bathroom.

"I need you guys in clothes and at the gate right now."

Instinct took over and I jumped to my feet. That was the wrong decision because a sharp pain spread throughout my body. I lost my footing and fell into Carl's chest.

He looked down at me and I looked up.

"You stepped on glass. You're not going to be able to walk normally," he said in a whispered tone.

Suddenly, I felt pressure on my back as he pulled me closer and pushed his lips on mine.

We were soon broken apart when Daryl came back.

"Holy Mother of Pearl! When I say now, I mean NOW!"

At the last syllable, Carl lifted me bridal style and carried me to my room so I could put on some clothes.

When I was done, he came back into the room with two guns.

"Daryl told me to give this to you."

I nodded and took it. He then turned his back to me and squatted. I jumped on his back and he went as fast as could to the door.

I heard a crash come from down the hall and figured that the Governor had fired another cannonball. That didn't make sense. It wasn't even mid-day yet.

When we went outside, Rick was at the gate, screaming at the group on the other side. Maggie, Beth, Daryl, Lori, Pandora, and Axel were standing back at the second fence with their guns pointed at the group.

I looked around for Hershel and gasped when I saw him under the Governor's blade.

Carl ran faster to the group with their guns ready. He kept me on his back and told me to aim my gun. I pointed it and took the safety off.

As I was looking, I thought that I saw someone oddly familiar. Before I could check to see if it was really them, they moved.

"Carl, bring me closer to the gate."

While he kept his gun trained on the Governor, he trudged to the first gate where his father stood.

As soon as we took our place by his side, the Governor screamed, "Liar," and lodged his blade into Hershel's neck.

Carl stopped and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

At that exact moment, everyone started shooting at each other. I dropped off of Carl's shoulders as they started to shake.

"Listen to me," I said while wiping my own tears away, "We have to leave this. That's what Hershel would have wanted."

He nodded and placed his arm under mine and we shot whoever got close when we tried to escape.

"Chrissy?"

I froze. I hadn't heard the nickname in so long.

I turned around to see my father standing with a gun pointed at me.

"We thought you were dead."