dromomania |carl grimes|

25

HIDING

"I don't like the idea of it, no way Alora," Carl tells me. Rick offered me a spot on the scavenging team, Carl is not thrilled. 

"Carl, it's been three months since the incident, I'm fine. I wouldn't push myself to it otherwise."

He huffs and runs his hands through his hair, "I don't want you to go if I'm not going."

Carl's face blushed with frustration, he doesn't like being told no, and he doesn't like hearing something that doesn't agree with his mindset.

I shrug at him, "We need to send out a team and they want me there."

He frowns and shakes his head, "You're so damn stubborn, Alora."

I grin and ruffle his hair, "Damn right, Grimes."

I take my pack and meet the group at the gates, Carl stands next to me with his lips tight. 

Glenn looks over to me and then to Carl, "She'll be fine dude, I promise. We're in a safe zone, if it were different I wouldn't bring her."

Carl looks at me and softens his gaze, I give the long-haired boy a smile. I shove his shoulder, "I'll keep an eye out for some sheers to shave these locks, Rapunzel."

He rolls his eyes, he embraces me for a hug rather than teasing me back. I chuckle and hug him back briefly before his attempts at PDA get noticed by the adults in charge of this group. 

A girl with pigtails walks over and looks me up and down, she looked a little bit older than me. Almost around the same age as Elowen possibly, this girl was pretty like effortlessly pretty. 

"You're Alora? The one that found out about the Whisperer traitor?" She asks me. 

I nod and tilt my head to the side, in the few months I had been here I have been mostly isolated but I still figured I had met everyone, or at least everyone who would contribute to the greater good of Alexandria. 

She wore a black tank top with an off-color jacket and some skinny jeans with boots, I felt different with my clothes. I never really caught up to the apocalypse aesthetic. I wore my mangily high top Converse with my baggy dark black jeans and a loose light grey t-shirt. I suppose it is not too far off from the gory aesthetic they have going on but Elowen told me that I would have the same style in real life. 

"I'm Rosita and that's Tara over there." She points to a girl with shorter hair which in the best way possible gives off more lesbian vibes than the first girl I slept with, and her name was literally Jane Butch. 

The girl waves at me with a big smile, she walks over and I can tell even up close how awkward but in good humor she is. 

So far the group consists of me, Glenn, Rosita, Tara, and Michonne. I had never considered any of them to be a good group but I suppose when you mix the skills. 

I bid off to Sainte and Carl, Rowan was asleep still even though it is well into the afternoon at this point. I kiss Carl's forehead and he holds me for too long, he knows that and I know that. He will be fine if I'm gone for a day and I will be fine as well.

Rosita drives and I sit in the backseat, I admire my old gun, all the cracks, and dents in the wooden accents. Elowen once held this gun, this was once her gun well before her passing. She taught me how to shoot so well, she was amazing at her shots, and I was good at other kinds of shots. 

"Alora, this is your first time out the walls since you came to Alexandria, right?" Tara asks. 

I chuckle and shake my head even though she can't see because she's in the seat in front of me, "No, that would be the time I was locked in the jail cell because a certain Whisperer spy was good at makeup and manipulation."

I can see Tara smile in the mirror, "I was once put against Rick's group because I was told they were evil."

I quirked an eyebrow, "How the hell did you end up with them?" 

Glenn piped up, "I found her after something happened at the place we were living at."

I look at him, head slightly tilted, "The prison?"

He gives me a confused look and so does Michonne, "How do you know?"

I kiss my lip, "Carl told me before I got black-out drunk."

Rosita cracks a smile, "Blackout, huh? Off of what?" 

"Vodka," I say with a grin. We all know I'm too young to drink before but now is a different story. No one cares what you do now, that's what makes the world such a dangerous place. There are no rules or regulations, murderers and rapists run among the dead terrorizing what little of the living is around. 

"Carl didn't drink did he?" Michonne asks. I shake my head, "No, he didn't."

We pass over a bridge, dead people were floating in the water below. Everything seemed so peaceful out the window. 

We drive for probably another hour, north of Alexandria, toward where Elowen and I were originally headed. As much as I've grown in these past months here in Alexandria, I still miss her. I know she wouldn't want me to miss her, every part of my life has revolved around her. She joined my life at such a crucial time and for her to leave so traumatically. No one else seems to haul this similar trauma of losing a loved one in such a horrific way.  I know others have lost a lot, no one here shows it though. 

Everyone here seemed so out of touch with reality like they know that there is death around them but they rarely shed a thought in regards to the struggles outside their walls. 

Carl was the only one inside those walls that actually showed concern and care for what went on outside the walls that kept him safe. 

He knows it's dangerous out here, he knows I should be careful. I'm smart and by God am I going to outlive all of our incompetent enemies especially if their lead representatives are a rejected high school baseball player and a girl who can't even assassinate someone when they're a standing target. 

Finally, we arrive at the area they had designated as our search site. It was a few apartment complexes and two gas stations. Glenn and Michonne took on the one apartment complex and I stuck with Rosita and Tara to appease Carl's anxieties.