Tour Guide ➣ Carl Grimes

4. Comic Books and Conversations

Ron had always been kind to Hannah. He respected her, she noticed that immediately. When she first arrived in Alexandria, Hannah didn't say much to any of the boys. She was scared and alone, but he never made her talk. Hannah knew about Ron's issues with his father, but she never wanted to overstep. They understood each other in that way.

"So what were they like?" Ron asked her excitedly, jumping to sit on his bed. It was blanketed with a blue comforter, with orange, yellow, and blue robots decorating its fabric. When Hannah first saw Ron's bedroom, she giggled at the blanket. "That's cute," she had told him, joking with the boy. This was the first thing she had said to him, so he didn't seem to mind the insult. "It used to be Sam's, my brother." At the time, Hannah had yet to meet Sam, but over the years, she grew close to the boy. He was always very sweet with her, showing Hannah all of his toys and sharing any books he had with the girl. Hannah always accepted, even if the books were much too young for her.

"I don't know. Quiet?," Hannah replied to Ron, "Honestly they just seem really overwhelmed." It's true. The group had seemed so on edge, even when they tried to hide it.

"That makes sense."

The two sat in silence as they spoke, Hannah on a cushioned chair in the corner of the room, Ron still sitting criss-cross on his bed.

"I can't believe they made it here from outside," Ron spoke, filling the small silence that had taken over. He had always been very curious about the world outside of Alexandria, though he never ventured farther than the fence. Sometimes, he would ask Hannah about her time outside, hoping to understand what it was like. Hannah knew he meant no harm in asking, but she tried to answer as vaguely as she could. She knew she couldn't relive it, even for a friend.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be outside again?" Ron looked down at her from his seat, crossing his arms against his thighs. When Hannah didn't say anything he continued, "It's just, you know, I wasn't out there for very long. Honestly, I don't remember much before Alexandria." He paused, waiting for Hannah to respond. Once again, she didn't, so the boy continued, " You were out there longer than I was, you know."

"I know"

Ron seemed to pick up on my discomfort with the topic, so he began to talk about other things, not mentioning the switch in conversation. The two talked for another hour, completely forgetting about the earlier discussion. Finally, Hannah decided it was time to leave Ron's and head back to her own home. They said their goodbyes and she was on her way.

Hannah was grateful she had stocked her kitchen earlier in the week. The girl had been so busy with the tour and Ron's, she wasn't able to get anything from Olivia. When she arrived home, Hannah opened her faded green cupboard, grabbed a plate and a cup, and set them on her dining table. Honestly, it was less of a dining table and more of a coffee table, but Hannah didn't mind. She left the table for the fridge, grabbing what was left of yesterday's lunch. She pulled out half of a turkey sandwich, also grabbing some strawberries Aaron had given her earlier in the week. She set it all up on the table, admiring the meal before her. She was still getting used to this, living in Alexandria. She could still remember the nights she had gone without food, only able to find scraps of things the roamers and already gotten to. She had been so excited when she first saw her home, immediately in awe of the fridge in the kitchen. Her kitchen. She knew that if they had taken the time to put in a working fridge, they had enough food to fill it. Hannah was sure she would never be happier.

Happyness was hard to come by when she was outside. The world was mean and it wasn't afraid to show it. She had done things she wasn't proud of, things she could never forget. Her conversation with Ron only amplified those memories for her, putting them front and center in her mind. As she ate, Hannah couldn't help but think about it. The blood, the field, the fear--all of it. But still, she ate, hoping it would all go away.

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Later that day, Hannah found herself back in Ron's room, sitting on the bed next to Enid while Mikey sat on the same chair Hannah had been sitting in earlier. Ron told the group Carl was coming over to hang out, and everyone was trying their best to be natural. As well as Enid hid it, Hannah knew she was just as nervous to meet the boy. Enid had arrived in Alexandria less than a year ago but still didn't feel quite at home. Hannah tried to help her earlier on, tried to let her know they were friends, but there was always a distance that stood between them, a wall she could never knock down. Enid wanted to go back outside the fence, and Hannah never wanted to leave.

Hannah could hear the boys at the top of the steps, talking indistinctly.

"Guys, this is Carl," Ron says when he enters the room, Carl standing slightly behind him. "Carl, this is Mikey, Enid, and Hannah." He points to each one of them as he spoke. Hannah looked away from the window she had been staring at, watching a bird who sat on the fence separating them and the outside. Carl looks the same as he had before, though his scowl was gone. Instead, he looked sort of happy. Though it was a hesitant, uneasy kind of happy, it was very different than the Carl she had met before.

"Hey" Mikey stands, walking towards Carl and Ron.

"Hi," Enid says after, much less enthusiastic.

"Hi," Hannah says with a small wave of her fingers. She doesn't bother with the same cordialness she had before. If Carl wasn't going to hide his disdain, there was no use trying to comfort him with soft smiles and reassuring giggles. Carl looked toward Hannah and Enid, not quite sure what to say.

"Oh, um," Carl reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a folded comic book. "Is this yours?" He turns to each one of them, not sure who to hand it to.

"Sorry, we didn't know you guys got that house." Ron chuckles. "We mostly just hang out there and listen to music."

"That's Enids," Hannah says before the girl grabs it from Carl's hand and tosses it into Hannah's lap. Carl searches around at the group again, as if he can't decide where to look.

"Want to play some video games?" Ron interrupts the silence, "Or Mikey's house a pool table, but his dad's kinda strict about it, so."

"It's okay, he's at work," Mikey adds quickly. They both look to Carl for an answer, though he gives none. His eyes search the room, hoping to catch onto something that could help him, a lifeboat to save him from drowning. Hannah moves from her place on the bed to see Carl more clearly, so he can see her.

"It's a lot, isn't it?" Hannah chuckled, hoping to lighten the tension. It must be overwhelming, being thrown into a world you thought had left you behind.

Ron looks from Hannah back to Carl," Sorry," he says, realizing what was happening. "I guess we come off kinda strong. We can just hang out?"

Mikey looked at Hannah, understanding what she had meant. Hannah knew Mikey liked her, even if he didn't know it himself. He always looked to her for approval, to make sure she agreed with the things he said. "You don't even have to talk if you don't wanna."

"Yeah, took Enid three weeks to say something." Hannah looked at Mikey, silently gesturing her hands as if to say, 'Dude?!'

"Pull it together, sport" Enid added quietly.

Carl thought about his options for a moment, deciding whether to flee from the unknown or dive in head first.

"Let's, um, let's play some video games." He said with a soft, almost excited, smile, nodding his head as he walked towards Mikey.

Head first it is. 

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Hello Loveliessssss! This is kinda a filler but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. 

What do we think about Hannah's past? What did she do?

Thanks for Reading!