Sweet and Salty ~ Carl Grimes

Kebob - 066

The day was uneventful, three different groups went out. Rick took out a group for food, Glenn and Maggie took Tara and Sophia into town to look for any missed weapons, while Daryl and Carol went on a hunt for water. Brooks pretty much slept the day away in the backroom, still tired and weak from her lack of blood, but it was coming back to her. 

When the sun fell below the horizon, Cam came to get her for dinner. So, she sat on the front pew, waiting for Carl to fill up his plate, as well as one for her. Brooks insisted that she could do it, but Carl wouldn't hear of it. So, when he came back with a pile of food for her, she couldn't help but smile at him.

"Thank you." She whispered.

He sat beside her with a smile. "Eat up, River. I heard Abraham practising his speech on Rosita."

"Goddamn." Brooks shook her head, but immediately started eating. The girl was starving.

As if on cue, Abraham spoke above everybody else's chatter. "I'd like to propose a toast."

"I look around this room, and I see survivors." Carl muttered, while Abraham was waiting for it to go quiet and everybody to sit down.

Abraham nodded, and spoke. "I look around this room... And I see survivors." The man spoke in a serious voice, but Brooks had to look down not to grin. She'd heard Carl's words, and it made her smile at Abraham's predictability. Carl stopped paying attention to Abraham, just to watch Brooks' smile. Abraham continued. "Each and every one of you, has earned that title..." He lifted his glass of wine. "To the survivors." 

Everyone else lifted their glasses of wine, Sophia, Cam, Brooks and Carl lifted their cups of water. "The survivors." Everyone said, more or less in sync while Judith looked around, trying to figure out how everyone managed to speak together.

So, while everyone drank their drink, Abraham got dramatic. "Is that all you wanna be?"

"Bit dark." Brooks mumbled, putting down her glass, causing Carl to smirk. He was still looking at her rather than Abraham, but Brooks wouldn't notice, she was staring at the man giving his speech.

"Wake up the morning." Abraham's eyes trailed around every single person as he spoke. "Fight the undead pricks, search for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, and rinse and repeat. Cause, you can do that... I mean, you've got the strength, you got the skill. Thing is? For you people, for what you can do? Well, that's just surrender. Now, we get Eugene to Washington, and he will make the dead die and the living will have this world again. And, that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip."

Brooks' eyebrows had furrowed, because nobody had filled her in on Eugene and his plan. "Wait, what?"

Abraham nodded, remembering she didn't know. "Eugene, what's in D.C?"

Eugene cleared his throat a little. "Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this fubar magnitude... That means food, fuel, refuge... Restart."

"However this plays out..." Abraham started again. "However long in takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there. Safer than you've been since this whole thing started... Come with us. Save the world for these little ones... Save it for yourselves... Save it for the people out there who don't got nothing left to do except survive."

Brooks gawked a little, turning from Abraham to Eugene. "So, Project Worm was real? They actually made that shit?"

Eugene's head turned to the side a little. "You- you know about Project Worm?"

Brooks laughed. "Of course I do! Oh my god, this is amazin', I mean, I heard of it before, but- but I never once thought they'd actually go through with it."