Together

Chapter 7

Carl's POV

Dumbfounded, I slowly started walking back to my house.

The man who was on gate watch that day gave me a sympathetic look as I walked past.

As I walked up the steps to my house, Enid burst through the door and flung her arms around me.

"Oh, my god, Carl!" she yelled. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah," I said, my voice muffled. "I'm okay. But I kinda can't breath."

She immediately back away apologetically.

"You know you're an idiot, right?" she asked.

"Okay, whoa," I said in shock. "You're totally contradicting the hug you just gave me. Do you love me or are you mad at me?"

"Both," she said simply. "It's obvious that JC can handle herself."

"Yeah, I know," I said, pushing past her and walking into the house. "I just wanted to make sure she was okay."

I could tell she was ready to start a debate, but before she could, I said, "I'm gonna go take a shower before the gathering."

I quickly ran upstairs, stripped my clothes off, and jumped into the warm water.

I scrubbed hard to get all the dirt and blood off my body and out of my hair.

Once I was done, I got out and went into the room that Enid and I shared and put on some clothes that a member if JC's group had dropped off while I was away.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Immediately I was self conscious. I wasn't exactly what people would consider good looking. I was tall and scrawny. My arms were way longer than they should be. I'm a few inches taller than Enid and I still had to reach up to hold her hand. My hair was at an awkward length and fell into my eyes more times than not.

I sighed and tried to ignore it. I put on my hat and walked back downstairs.

My dad, Michonne, and Enid turned to face me as I entered the living room.

"I'm gonna go for a walk," I informed them.

"Carl, dinner's almost done," my dad said gesturing at the oven.

"I'm not that hungry," I said honestly.

"Your dad's right," Enid said. "Maybe you should stay here."

Michonne nodded in a agreement.

I sighed before saying, "I'll see you guys at the gathering," and walking out the door.

I understood where they were coming from, but I needed to get out. There was something that I needed to do.

I approached a member of JC's group.

"Do you know where JC lives?" I asked him.

He nodded and pointed to a large green house. "Right over there," he said politely.

I thanked him and started walking in the direction of the house.

I walked up to the door, took a deep breath, and knocked.

The door opened a few moments later. Standing in front of me was a women probably in her early 30s. She had a few wrinkles around the corners of her mouth and her red hair was pulled back.

"Hi," I stuttered awkwardly.

"Hello," she said kindly.

"Is, uh, is JC here?" I asked.

"She is," the woman responded. "Come on in." She stepped away from the door and I walked in.

The woman pointed to a door at the end of a hallway. "She's right down there," she said.

I looked to the right and saw a heavy set man with black hair reading a book on the couch.

JC didn't look like either of these people. We're they her parents.

I slowly walked down the hall until I came to the door the women had pointed to.

I could hear "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler blasting though the door which made me smile a little.

Excessively nervous, I slowly knocked on the door.

I could hear the music being turned down, and JC opened the door.

When she saw that it was me, her expression became guarded.

"What are you doing here, Carl?" she sighed.

"Um," I started. "I know this is kinda awkward. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for earlier. It was unprofessional and immature. But I was genuinely worried about you."

After a moment, JC's face slowly softened.

She gestured inside with her head and walked in. I followed her.

The first thing I noticed was that she has a huge desk with papers and maps covering it.

However, she didn't lead me to the desk. She led me to a couch that was snuggled in the corner of the room.

She sat down and I did as well a moment later. I made sure to leave some space in between us.

"Cool office," I praised.

She smiled proudly. "Thanks." The smile slowly left her face. "I know you're probably wondering who this Negan is."

"Yeah," I confirmed. "I kinda was."

JC took a deep breath before continuing. "He's the leader of this group called the Saviors. Him and I butted heads last year so now he comes over once every two months and takes half of our stuff. It's as simple as that. But he came early this time. I think..."

When she didn't finished, I furrowed my eyebrows together. "You think what?"

She looked at me with fear in her eyes. "I think he's planning to kill us."