dromomania |carl grimes|

15

BETRAYAL

I woke up the next day, alive, that's nice at least. The room was cold but at the same time felt stuffy and I damn well know I did not wake up at 7:30 AM willingly I had to have been woken up by something. 

There was a pounding on my door, and I froze. I squint at the door, trying to recognize who is harassing me in the early hours. I can usually tell based on how hard they're hitting and their shadow at the base of the door.

"Alora, get out here." That was Rick, what did I do now?

I get up and throw a hoodie on over my crop top that I slept in. I open the bedroom door having four adults stare me down.

"I was sleeping," I tell them, looking at Rick with tired eyes. 

"Yeah, you must be tired after the shit you pulled last night. You break my rules, steal my weapons and assault one of the neighbors? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Rick yells at me. He never yelled at me, not in the many years I've known him. 

He said I assaulted someone, who? The only thing I assaulted was beating the shit out of a dead man outside the gates. Well, the dead man and a box of stale Cheez-Itz at Rowan's house.

"Assaulted a neighbor? Who the fuck did I assault?" I ask, still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. 

"This isn't a joke, Alora. You've shown you can't be trusted," Maggie says. I was offended I liked her, she thinks I would assault someone completely unprovoked. 

That's when I saw her, Cleo Emma was huddled against Carl, sporting a very dark black eye. She didn't have that last night, clumsy bitch must've punctured blood vessels trying to climb the wall. 

"Why the hell would you hurt her, Alora? Just admit you're jealous!" Carl snaps. 

I chuckle and shake my head, "I ran away last night, I borrowed a gun and didn't even use it so don't peg me for ammo, but I did not waste my time hurting her."

Rick looks furious, "Maggie is right, you don't belong here but we don't trust you out there. Until we can figure out what to do with you, you're gonna stay in the cells."

I squint at him, trying to see through his bluff. It was thicker than bone, I couldn't see through, that's because I know he was telling the truth. 

"Are you shitting my dick, the cells? Not even my own car." I scoff at them, disgusted with the fact they bend at this bitch's will.

As they're yelling at me, I show no remorse for something I didn't do. Cleo Emma noticed this and tied to make me mad by making out with Carl behind the other adults. I don't care, enjoy my leftovers. 

Rick takes me to the cells, which somehow are darker than my room at home as a child. They were murky and sad, a little space of light could enter through a window the size of Judith's coloring book. There's a raggedy mattress on the floor with a torn-up blanket, neither of which I'll be using. 

"I didn't want to do this. You could have been so useful, Carl and I cared so much and you ruined that."

I raise an eyebrow at him, "You care about me? Absolute bullshit, Wednesday Addams is in there feeding a sob story that'd make nuns blush and you're taking her side. That's ironic."

He locks the cell door and cocks his head to the side, "I know your past, you can't handle things well, like your father." 

Rick walked out leaving me with my thoughts and the sounds of people enjoying their days outside the prison I was locked into.

Like my father? I am nothing like my dad. He of all people should know I don't hurt the living without reason, now after lying and ruining all the temporary good I had the bitch is on my kill list. 

Why am I being punished for a crime I didn't commit in a town I don't want to be in? I was forced to be here by the same person who probably wants me dead in fact they think I beat their precious lover. 

Alexandria isn't my forever, it isn't even what I'd consider home. I find my home in those who keep me company and try to keep me safe. I considered Elowen my home. If she saw the shit I got myself into she'd say something like, "Fuck 'em, you were good before you'll be great after."

After spending time with Sainte she reminds me of Elowen, she's far from her physical appearance and vocal cords but how she acts and her willingness to explore. I don't think I'll ever hear Sainte speak, she's been in Alexandria for 8 months and no one has heard her say a word. 

After a few hours of sitting alone, a gentle knock comes at the door. It opens and Rowan and Sainte stand there, Rowan sporting his infamous grin while having a game board stuck under his arm. 

"What the hell happened, Alora?" Rowan asks while sitting down on the floor. 

"They're saying I assaulted Cleo," I tell him, obvious bore in my voice.

"Did you?" Rowan questions. Sainte smacks his shoulder shaking her head. 

"No, I didn't but they don't believe me."

Rowan frowns, it was weird seeing him sad. He usually looks like he just took Molly, all the time, his energy is contagious like the bad flu. 

"How are you feeling today, after your episode?" I want to change the topic. 

Rowan notices this and nods with a grin, "Got my inhaler fixed, better than ever, and ready to kick your ass in Monopoly!"

I chuckle at him, Sainte hands me a small brown lunch bag, I can feel a sandwich inside. 

"We figured we'd hang out with you so you're not alone. It's not fun to be alone," Rowan says, trying to make light of this awful situation. 

He does that, he won't tell us when his family died or how they did. He doesn't like talking about death, he knows the reality of the outside world he's not from inside the walls like Cleo was thought to be. 

We spent the day playing rounds of monopoly and eating sandwiches that Sainte made.

Finally, someone comes to kick out my only friends. It was Michonne who let me be alone. Before leaving she stared at me.

"Here to criticize me for something I didn't do?" I ask, leaning against the brick wall.

"I don't believe you even touched Cleo."

That caught me off guard, every single adult I've talked to thinks I'm as bad as my abusive father. 

"Why do you think that?" I cock my head to the side, showing little to no emotion. 

"She says you hurt her inside the walls but I saw you leave yesterday and she was nowhere to be found. When you came back Daryl got you at the wall, you would have had no time." 

I nod, "You're the only one that sees it that way. Everyone else is treating me like my dad."

She nods very slowly, knowing how deep the shit I'm in is. I know it's worse than I can tell, I'm not sure I want to know the reality of my danger. 

"Michonne, Cleo is a double agent for a group that cosplays dead people."

She looks at me funny like she's trying to crack if I'm lying or not. 

"What?"

I explain to her mine and Sainte's finding last night, I doubt she believes it but at least I know it's not information that is being hidden anymore. 

"I think she saw us and connected it."