HEART FOR BRAINS • the walking dead

033: colour of blood//love

"Carl?" Rick called out, Rio could barely hear him from the rooms. "Carl!" He yelled again.

"Rio?" He shouted and that's when the boy decided to get up and follow Carl, a confused expression across his face.

The two boys got up from where they sat, hurrying out of the room and down the hallway. They stopped once they caught sight of Rick, a few meters between them. He was disheveled and alone, two bags sound over his shoulder and his hand wrapped in bandages.

"Are you okay?" Carl asked.

"I was gonna ask you that." He chuckled.

"We're fine." The boy smiled back.

"No one's sick?" Rick asked, looking between the two. "You didn't have to do anything?"

"Nope."

"I haven't had to use my gun, Dad."

"And Judith?"

"She's with Beth." Rio answered.

"Good."

Then he crouched down, pulling a bag from off of his shoulder and sliding it across the paper covered carpet towards them. He then slung the other bag too. "We found some food on the run. There's a bunch of fruit leather in there."

"Oh, nice."

"I trust that you'll share." Rick warned. "And have everybody brush their teeth after."

"Can we come out soon?"

"Not just yet."

"Dad, I was around you when you were in the middle of it. Rio was with Daryl and we were both around Patrick." Carl tried to explain, he gestured to Rio bringing up their old conversation. "He saw him just an hour before he died."

"Neither of us have it."

"We can help you."

"Thanks, but I need you to stay here."

"I will." Carl replied, stepping closer as Rick stepped back. "But, Dad, you can't keep us from it."

"From what?"

"From what always happens."

"Yeah." He breathed out. "Maybe. But I think it's my job to try."

Rick left, adjusting the bag over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving Carl standing in the hallway watching after him.

The door closed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Carl replied walking back over to Rio. "Let's go search through this bag. Find some fruit leather then we can have, like, a party or something."

"A party?" Rio raised an eyebrow at him.

"We've got food and music." Carl shrugged, holding up his dads Walkman. "That's basically a party."

"I don't think it is."

"It is."

"Just give me time." The other boy huffed.

Rio was right, the party wasn't really much of a party. The two boys just lay next to each other on the floor with Rick's Walkman between their heads, blasting music neither of them knew the words to.

The fruit leather was gone, the wrapper thrown on the floor beside them taking place with the rest of the trash in the room.

They'd had fun nonetheless, talking about anything that wasn't the illness.

"So," Carl began, turning his head to face the other boy. Their faces were an inch apart.

"So what?"

Carl took a deep breath. "I was thinking..."