Survive ( twd carlgrimes)

Chapter 58

Madison's pov.

I've been sitting in the same tree for the past five minutes drinking in the view. The sun is a few hours away from setting and the sky is getting dark. The cold wind is making my nose cold and my hair whip my face. I pull it back into a high ponytail and relax my head against the tree trunk. I close my eyes letting a few minute pass while I touch my mothers necklace which is still placed around my neck.

"What is it with you and trees." A voice calls, making me jump. My hands fly out to the bark of the tree to steady myself before I wobble. I look down and squint to see that Carl is looking up at me.
A part of me is irritated that he feels the need to hover all the time. I need some time to myself. But the rest of me is glad to see him, he's not a bad distraction.

"You would understand why if you came up." I shout down.
"How about you meet me halfway?"
"Hmm, nope. Thats a deal breaker."
I see him smirk and shake his head but he proceeds to climb the tree anyway.

I feel the tree move slightly as he climbs. I can't help but watch him as he struggles to find the right branch to step on. After a while I start to point them out and for him. I guess climbing trees is like walking for me. I don't have to think about it.

When he is one branch away from me I hold my hand out and help him up. I scoot over only a little because I would literally fall to my death. He squeezes in beside me and steady himself on the trunk, never letting go of it. He doesn't let go of my hand either. He just holds it between us.

"Woah." He breathes.
"I know." I smile.
"I can see why you spend so much time in trees."
I shrug. "It's easy to leave your thoughts on the ground from up here."
"What kind of thoughts?"
I frown and look at him in time to catch him cringing at his own words.
"That was stupid. Forget I said that."

I shake my head. "I'm not glass."
He raises a brow. "What?"
"I see the way you look at me or the way you hover around me like you want to say something but then you decide not to. I'm not unaware of the reality of what's going on. He's probably dead but I'm not glass. I'm not just going to shatter and I certainly don't need you there to pick up the pieces." I snap.

He sighs and drops my hand. "Jesus Mads, you're a piece of work. Do you know that?" He snaps back.
"Excuse you?"
"You heard me. You're a piece of work. You don't ask for help and you don't ask for a friend when you need both. Clearly! I never said you were glass and I never treated you that way either."
"You've been on my back all d-"
"I was looking out for Abbie! Not you!"
"What?"
"That girl is hanging on by thread of denial and things are about to get really ugly."
I hide my embarrassment through anger.
I tut. "Whatever."

"I know that you know. Whatever happened to Nick is shit and I am sorry, even though I didn't like him much. But I also know that you've handled a lot more than this before. So I wasn't worrying about you." He barks.

It's quiet for a moment. "I mean, of course I'm a little worried but not like how you thought."
I nod, confused.
"Have you spoken to her about Nick?" I ask, changing the subject from us.

"No, she's been really quiet. She hasn't even talked to Maggie or Michonne. And she always talks to them."
"I think I have to say it to her before we get into the city." I sigh.
He nods. "She has us too. This group is a family and we have each other's back, so... we have hers too."

"We never had much luck with Family. It's kind of a broken concept for us."
He shrugs. "Well, now you get to remake it. If you're into all that silver linings bullshit then on the up-side, you get a new family."

I know that was somehow supposed to comfort me but instead I feel more panicked than before. My family have all dropped quicker than a bad habit, I don't need the additional pain of watching that happen to a new family.

"Okay, I'm out of here." He announces as a gentle breeze rattles the tree gently back and forth. He gets to his feet and starts to descend.
"By the way, I wasn't kidding earlier. You are a piece of work so I can't always figure out what's going on inside that head if you's. All I know is that you can't keep this shit up of bottling things up"

"Bottling up?" I ask.
He nods. "I don't know how you deal with things. Maybe you have to scream or cry or punch and scratch but whatever it is, just do it. Don't bottle it up, eventually you'll explode.

"We should get back to the others" Carl sighs.
"Yeah.... After you." I say, pointing to the ground.
He starts to climb down and i'm right behind him. It takes a few minutes to reach near the bottom. He's already off the tree and waiting to walk back to the group and i'm a few branches away from the bottom. One of the branches beneath me snaps and falls and i'm left dangling in the air.

My legs flail about looking for something to step on.
"CARL! I know your there, help me down you ass." I shout at him and I hear him laugh.
"Okay, okay i'm coming." He laughs.
Before he gets to me, I feel the branch above me begin to snap. Suddenly, it's breaks off completely and I fall a short distance, landing on my ass with an "umph".

Carl doubles over laughing and i'm kinda pissed off but also trying to hide my own laughter. He finally stops laughing long enough to help me up. He offers me his hand and instead of pushing myself up, I pull him down. He falls down onto the ground.
"Not so funny from down here, is it?" I snap.
He burst out laughing.
"What?"
"Your face! You get so mad over the smallest things."
I couldn't help but laugh with him then because unfortunately he is right but I will never tell him that.