We Can Survive (Carl Grimes Fanfiction)

Chapter 8- Payback

     I held the fence open for Carl and he stepped through behind me, grinning mysteriously. There was a spark igniting in his eyes. A kind of wild spark with a hint of exctiement. He quickly tied the fence closed before swinging his backpack on and starting towards the woods. I stared at him dumbly, unable to process what was going on. Carl seemed so...good! I was shocked by this side of him. How had he even discovered this tear in the fence?

     "Well? Are you coming?" he called. I was jolted back to reality by his voice. I simply nodded, still in some minor form of shock. I jogged to catch up with him. He smiled at me. "What's with the face?" he asked, his smile spreading into a grin.

     "Oh.. uh..sorry.." I stumbled over my words. I glanced down at my feet as I walked. What was wrong with me?!? Damned hormones. Carl snorted a little at my response but didn't bring it up. I silently thanked whoever was watching over me for that.

     "So don't you want to know where we're going?" Carl asked a while later. I had already gained the confidence to look up at the trees, but now I glanced down from the treetops to look at him.

     "Not really. I'm just kind of afraid you're going to hurt me." I said with a wink. Carl's jaw dropped but he quickly closed his mouth again, his eyes remaining wide. I laughed at his reaction. "Payback's a bitch!" I laughed.

     "Payback for what?" he practically yelled, laughing a little.

     "Good point. I'll figure something out." I said, laughing despite myself. Carl rolled his eyes and we kept walking.

     After a long time filled with silence, walking, shin pain, and more silence Carl said, "I'll keep my hands to myself." I burst out laughing.

     "Well I would hope so." I said, giggling. He smiled a little and we continued walking, until we reached our apparent destination. It was a short cliff, probably 20 feet high. The edge was rocky, and a surprisingly large chunk out of the side of the cliff was missing, forming a small cave. You could only see this when you peered over the edge of the cliff, which created a secretive air.

     "That's amazing!" I said enthusiastically, "but how do we get to it?" Carl smiled at my question.

     "Ever heard of luck? You just jump and try to land in it!" I felt my eyes practically pop out if my head.

     "No way am I doing that." I said, backing away from Carl. He laughed.

     "I'm just kidding," he said, smirking. I sighed in relief, my heart rate immediately slowing back down. "Payback's a bitch!" he imitated me in a high-pitched voice which sounded nothing like my own. I hit him playfully on the arm with the back of my hand.

     "Shut up!" I laughed, rolling my eyes. "So how do we really get down there?" He flashed me a smile and knelt to the ground, pulling off his backpack. He unzipped it and pulled out a rope ladder from the top. He dug the attached stakes into the ground and rolled the ladder out over the edge. I sucked my lips in.

     "C'mon. It's not bad. And Daryl made it, so you know it's a fine ass ladder." he said, the spark taking its place in his eyes again. This side of Carl was seriously terrifying. It was hot, though. I mentally kicked myself for thinking that. "It's easy!" he exclaimed, starting to make his way down the ladder. I thought of grumbling "Not for someone who's afraid of heights," but I decided to suck it up and act tough.

     Carl got off the ladder and into the cave. I began slowly descending the short ladder, being far more cautious than necessary. Carl didn't push me to hurry or anything, which I was grateful for. I reached the bottom of the ladder. I forced myself to hop off onto the cave floor. Carl grabbed me around the waist and pulled me towards him when I wavered at the edge. I had miscalculated and missed by an inch, which was apparently enough to send me crashing to the ground, which seemed much farther from me than I knew it really was.

     "Steady, there." Carl uttered, clutching me to his chest to give my breathing a chance to return to normal. His southern accent combined with the phrase made it sound like he was speaking to a horse. I pulled away from his calming arms and walked far away from the edge. The cave was very wide, but only about 7 feet high and 8 feet deep. Although, don't hold me to that. I suck at estimations. I sat with my back to the cave wall.  Carl pulled off his backpack and sat next to me. It occurred to me that we had just practically hugged and I'd thought nothing of it! Maybe I could beat the hormones and remain content with Carl's friendship! I mean, I had also almost fallen to the ground some 20 feet below...I  told my brain to shut up and let me enjoy this victory.

     I glanced over to see Carl rummaging through his backpack. He pulled out a large lunch bag and set it on the ground. He opened it to reveal two bottles of water, two deep red apples, and some ripe raspberries.

     "Where did you get these?" I exclaimed, grabbing an apple and eagerly taking a bite. He chuckled.

     "Daryl found them. He made some suggestive comment about you and me, then gave them to me. The berries I found yesterday before I read to you." He explained and slid a raspberry into his mouth. I savored the apple, eating slowly. Carl and I sat in silence, enjoying the enchanting view and the uncommon food. We didn't talk even after finishing off our apples and the berries. I wondered what Carl was thinking about, but didn't let it take over my thoughts.

     I had been thinking about my dog, who had run away after being spooked, when Carl's hand was lightly placed on mine. He continued to stare ahead when I glanced over at him, confused. I pulled my hand away and he glanced down.

     "Oh, sorry." he chuckled. I smiled, relief washing over me. It had been an accident.

      "It's fine." I said, standing up. I moved forward to dangle my feet over the edge and Carl followed suit. I figured, why not? We're all going to die anyway, and falling 20 feet probably wouldn't do too much damage. So basically, I was thinking something along the lines of yolo. I rolled my eyes. The only time I had ever said yolo out loud was when I was being sarcastic. I couldn't believe I was even thinking it.

       I turned to look at Carl. He had a nice profile. He looked older from this angle. He turned and met my eyes. I instantly raised my eyebrows, declaring a staring contest. He didn't seem to understand. I only assumed this because he blinked immediately.

     "I win!" I gloated, shaking my shoulders as if I were dancing.

    "Uh.. you win what?" Carl asked, the 'you're completely crazy, therefore I, being the sane one, am the winner' look in his eyes. Okay, maybe that wasn't the exact look he was giving me, but it was close.

     "The staring contest!" I announced as if it were obvious. He laughed, or rather, breathed out more heavily through his nose,smiled, and kept looking at me with the same 'you're crazy' look. I smiled and turned back to the view, since he was being a butt and didn't join in on the fun.

     "Nikki?" he asked, his voice sounding small, but hopeful. I turned to look at him. "Never mind.." he said, looking away. Now it was my turn to give him the look. He looked back up at me from his lap and inched closer to me. It made me feel more secure. I was still nervous about being on the edge and he'd probably figured that out. I smiled warmly at him, thankful that he had taken notice and was trying to make me feel safe.

     However, something completely unexpected happened next, causing panic in my brand new perfect little closed-off world.

~Author's Note~

YAY ANOTHER CLIFF HANGER! (no pun intended lmao) I'm really getting into the story now, giraffes. The picture above (if I did it right) is somewhat how the cave looks. I'm excited for you all to read the next chapter, which I am about to write... Even though it is currently 3:42 am and school starts in under a week. Whoops. ALL FOR YOU, MY DARLINGS. Haha anyway, comment below what you think is going to happen! Let's see what kind of a variety we get. Thank you for your reads, votes, comments, messages, and overall support! I love you all oh so very much! ~Julia