NOT DEAD YET // the Walking Dead ( Carl x Reader)

60 He Won't Die

Michonne and Rick put one of Carls arms around their shoulders with Carl leaning on Michonne.
Everything was burning, the sky was black the smoke hiding the stars. I limped behind the three carrying my bag.
We made it to the church, the fire in it had died out, most of the building was of stone so it was still standing.

"Thanks for— for getting me here." Carl managed to utter as they lay him down.

"I'm— I'm sorry. I-I just... I didn't— I didn't want you out there. I-I." Rick stammered.

"No. No... For getting me here. For— For making it so I could be who— Who I wound up." Carl breathed. "Back at the Prison... When we got attacked... There was a kid, a little older than me and (Y/n). He had a gun. He was— He was starting to put it down, and I-I s— I shot him. He was— he was giving it up, and I... I just... I shot him. I think about him. What I did to him and how— How easy it was to just... Kill him."

"Carl, no." I tell him.

"No. What happened... What you'd lost... All those things you had to..." Rick sniffed. "All those things you had to do... You— You— You— You were just— You were just a boy."

"And you saw it. What it did. How— How easy it got. That's why you changed... Why you brought those people from Woodbury in... You brought them in, and we all lived together. We were enemies. You put away your gun. You did it so I could change, so I could be who I am now. What you did then... How you— How you stopped fighting... It was right. It still is. It can be like that again. You can still be like that again." Carl hoped.

"I can't be who I was. It's different now." Rick told him.

"You can't kill all of 'em, Dad. There's gotta be something after. For you... And for them. There's gotta be something after." Carl pictured. "I know... You can't see it yet... How it could be. But I have... You have a beard. It's— It's bigger... And grayer... Michonne's happy... Judith is older, and she's listening to the songs that I used to before... Alexandria's bigger. There's— There's new houses... Crops... And people working. Everybody living... Helping everybody else live. If you can still be who you were... That's how it could be. It could."

"Carl. It was all for you. Right from the start. Back in Atlanta, the farm— Everything I did, it was for you. Then, at the Prison, it was for you and Judith. It still is. It's gonna be. And nothing— Nothing is gonna change that." Rick confessed.

"I want this for you, Dad." Carl told him.

"I'm gonna make it real, Carl. I promise. I'm gonna make it real. Carl, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. A Father's job is to protect his Son." Rick said with a sense of guilt.

"Love. It's just to love." Carl corrected.

"W-what are you doing?" Rick asked me as I took out the IV.

"I might be able to save him." I say.

"(Y/n)—" Michonne reached for me.

"I might." I mention.

"(Y/n), it's— it's a bite." Michonne said she was gentle.

I take a breath and unwrap my shoulder again showing them my bite.
I didn't think it was possible, but they looked more broken.

"No." Michonne sobbed.

"I'm fine." I say and take off the bandage on my arm.

"W-what is this?" Rick wondered.

"A bite, from the Prison." I confessed.

"How?" Rick asked.

"I don't know. But I don't die. My shoulder is from when the herd attacked here." I explain.

"How— how can you save him?" Rick wondered.

"He has some of my blood from before I was bit and I gave him some yesterday now will be the last time. I hope that can save him, but... but I'm not sure. I went through the fever, the first and the second time I passed out I don't know for how long because I was alone." I explained.

"S-so, there's a— there's a chance Carl will survived." Rick hoped.

"Yes." I give him a smile before looking down at the scorched ground. "But... he most likely will die."

"I'll stay." Rick offered.

"No. You two have to go, Hilltop, the Kngdom, everyone needs you guys, you can't stay here." I urged him making the effort to sound reassuring.

"I love you." Carl told Michonne,

"I love you, too." She cried.

"I love you, Dad." Carl looked at his Father.

"I love you, Carl. I love you so much." Rick cried kissing his forehead. "I'll make it real. I will. I will."

"Tell people Carl is dead, it's best if they think that and don't come looking. Carl, most likely will be dead by tomorrow." I said, my cheeks already stained with tears.

"(Y/n), when you... when we lost you at the Prison... I realized how important you— you were to me. Sometimes... I would turn around to— tell you something— b-but you were gone. I missed the— the times we would stay up late reading comics... you saved me f-from the Walker in the... woods at the... farm. Whenever I-I needed you... you were there."

"Because, back then you were my best friend, now, you're the love of my life."

The two stayed till the sun rose before they left. By the sunrise Carl had passed out.

Walkers were starting to come I knew I couldn't stay in the church. I struggled but I still made it to the sewer to keep Carl safe. It was extremely difficult getting Carl down safely but I managed and brought him to the bed. I limped back up and closed the manhole almost falling down.

I put my ear to his chest as he lay, I was careful not too touch the bite. His heartbeat was weak but it was still there and I wouldn't give up hope until his heart stops beating. I fell asleep like that even though it was morning.

Two, two days Carl was out for.

I felt his hand squeeze, I had hope but also fear that he was a Walker. I watched his eye as I took out my loaded gun. The most his eye blinked open and and I saw blue I dropped the gun.

"(Y/n)." He muttered quietly with a smile.

"Carl." I smiled. "You're awake, you're alive."

Carl looked over at me and started to sit up but winced in pain.

"Hey, you gonna have to go easy." I helped him up. "It's gonna hurt for around a month."

"You're amazing." Carl told me.

"You're telling me that after I said you're gonna be in pain for weeks?"

     "The pain doesn't matter, you saved me."

——————

I pick up his hat and place it on his head.

    "Ready?" I ask.

He smiles and takes my hand and we leave the sewer heading for Hilltop.

(Now, I made the way I save what I did for a reasons. Rick had to believe Carl was dead or dying so he won't kill Negan. And also Carl doesn't die in the comics so he won't die in this.)