THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT carl grimes

ˣᵛⁱⁱ. sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ
[〝 ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ 〞]
—

YOU COULD HEAR A pin drop. Even the Walkers seemed silent now. I could feel it slowly, the blood rushing from my face and in turn pounding in my ears. I couldn't even process the words that flew from Eugenes mouth.

"I'm not a scientist!"

Abraham dropped Eugene's arm, stepping away in betrayal. Everyone was silent.

"I lied. I'm not a scientist. I don't know how to stop it. I'm not a scientist."

I expected Abraham to drop the gun and swing, or worse, raise it and shoot. The yelling was pushing it but a gunshot? That would surely catch their attention. But instead, he didn't say anything. He didn't move, he barely breathed. He just stared at Eugene like he was expecting him to break out into giggles and admit he was just messing around.

But Eugene wasn't the messing around type.

Rosita stood from the ground, evidently thinking the same. "You are a scientist, i've seen the things that you can do!"

"I just know things."

"You just... "know things"?" Glenn asked in disbelief.

"I know I'm smarter than most people, I know I'm a very good liar, and I know I needed to get to DC."

"Why?" Maggie asked.

"Because I do believe that locale holds the strongest possibility for survival, and I wanted to survive."

I could barely hear his explanation over my own blood, over my own deep breaths. All of this time, everything we'd gone though. Everything I only went through because I came with this group, because I believed in some stupid fairytale from the mouth of some man that just happened to know a few big words?

"If I could cheat some people into taking me there, well, I just reasoned that I'd be doin' them a solid, too. Considering the perilous state of Houston, the perilous state of everything."

Abraham still didn't say anything, instead dropping to his knees and resting there.

"People died trying to get you here." Rosita sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"I'm aware of that— Stephanie, Warren, Pam, Rex, Roger, Josiah, Dirk, and Josephine. And Bob. You see, I lost my nerve as we grew closer, for I am a coward... and the reality of getting to our destination and disclosing the truth of the matter became some truly frightening shit. I took it upon myself to slow our roll. Find time to finesse things so when we got there...

"But at this moment, I fully realize there are no longer any agreeable options. I was screwed either way."

I sat down in defeat. I hated this feeling. When I was on my own, I didn't have to deal with disappointment. I didn't have to worry about being lied to or protecting others. I just had to worry about myself. Just like Eugene.

"I also lied about T. Brooks Ellis liking my hair I do not know T. Brooks Ellis." Eugenes voice broke at the admission. Like lying about some scientist I didn't even know was the worse, most vile thing he'd ever done. "But I did read one of his books, and he seemed like the type of guy that wouldn't blink twice at a Tennessee Top Hat.