Sage ➸ Carl Grimes

15 ➼ redemption

{Never Say Never by The Fray}

redemption; the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.

Carl

"Carl, hey."

"Carl."

"Rise 'n shine."

My eyes rolled in the stages of sleep before flickering open. I was greeted with the sun's beaming ray, causing me to flinch. I instinctively jerked an arm to shield my eyes from the sun, and I uttered a few morning groans.

I regained my vision, swimming around in my bed for moments. I scrunched my nose, the sun still tickling my face in an irritable way. My hair fell in mops down my ears, hitting my nose from the length of it.

"Good morning," a familiarly deep, Southern accent said.

My heart quenched at the voice. I sat up on my elbows, my sleepy body weighing me back down on the bed. I searched for the voice, and the man that held it.

Standing by the doorway was a tall, slender man. He wore stubble of beard on his face, with dark, brown hair styled messily. He wore a plaid shirt tucked into jeans, holding together with a brown belt. He held the curtain open, and sunlight found its way through. It took moments before I realized I was in my prison cell.

Rick Grimes shifted to his right leg, turning to face me fully. Hoisted to his hip was Judith, my younger sister. Her piercing, blue eyes conveyed into the innocence I knew she was capable of. Her small palms clapped together, and she wore a dark blue dress.

My Dad's smile twisted, and he looked down to his daughter. Her hand gripped his index finger, and he wailed it around to entertain Judith.

My mouth was gaped open, and I glanced all around. My prison cell was four, cement walls, framed together unevenly. I had a bookshelf in the corner, alongside a weak desk. I was sprawled out on the bottom bunk, and Rick pulled back my curtain just enough for half his body to seep through.

"Dad," I breathed, my chest rising in relief.

"Sleep well?" Rick asked.

Judith gurgled a small noise, and Dad hoisted her further up his hip. He offered her a silly face, and Judith giggled sweetly.

"Yeah..." I answered, lifting a hand and tugging on my brown hair. "Never slept better."

Rick nodded with a charming grin. He looked content with the present, and his daughters' eyes enlightened to see me. Judith's eyes painted colors I melted into. They greeted me like a friend. They looked too much like my Mom's, Lori.

This can't be real. You are in the prison. The prison is gone. Get yourself out of here, Carl. It's another trap. One you can't afford to melt into again.

I wanted to shake away from this dream I was aware I was in. But seeing Rick's soothing smile, or Judith's innocent eyes had me forgetting all about that. Dreams were only to crush me in the end, but I was willing to take that risk;

To see their faces again.

"There's...someone here to see you," Rick explained, and I watched him pull the curtain back, exposing me to the cell block behind him.

A girl slowly entered my prison cell.

Her grey eyes smiled at me almost as tenderly as her lips truly did.

I was staring at a girl that mesmerized me. A girl I recognized, faded into; but almost didn't believe it was her I was seeing in my home.

She was a girl with a soft, soothing complexion. Her skin glowed through the morning light. Her sandy, blonde hair was fresh and brushed. It was scooped over her left shoulder, sprawling there effortlessly. She wore on black leggings and a white, fresh shirt. The shirt hung down over her shoulder, and the purity of the material had her radiating in the sun's bathing beam.