Badlands || Carl Grimes *on the hiatus*

3. New Americana

"Vile romance, turned dreams into an empire."
"He could never love somebody's daughter."
-
Eliza
I look up at the sky and see that the sun is starting to rise. I slap Carl's shoulder multiple times.
I watch as he yanks his cigarette out of his mouth.
"Ow, what Eliza?" He says in an annoyed tone.
"The sun is coming up we have to get back."
Carl groans and rolls his eyes, soon standing up and grabbing his bag full of liquor and drugs.
"Ron is going to kill me." I whisper to myself, running my hands through my hair.
"Unless you kill him first." Carl says suddenly in my ear.
"What?"
"You see Eliza, in this atmosphere you can't be condoning the hell Ron has put you through. You want to get out of it? Then do something about it. But to succeed it has to be you."
I look down and bite my lip until I approach the large gates of Alexandria. I smile as I think of the town that will belong to me one day.
I begin to climb the large gate in the way that Carl showed me.
I soon set my feet on the grounds of Alexandria.
"C'mon I'll walk you home in case Ron's there." Carl says, walking next to me on the sidewalk. We walk in silence for a few minutes until Carl pulls out a cigarette and lights it.
I wrinkle my nose.
"Why are you like that?" I ask.
"Like what?"
"Why do you smoke and carry alcohol in your bag?"
He just shrugs.
"It's who I am."
I bite my lip and stare at the ground.
I don't know who Carl Grimes is.
And I probably never will.
If only I could find out, perhaps I could understand him.
"Do you really like it here Eliza?" He asks suddenly, his eyes set on a clean white house.
"Yes I do. Why?"
"It's just not something that's meant for our generation." He says, blowing smoke out of his mouth.
"What do you mean?"
"Our youth. Our childhood was surrounded by blood and death. Murder is what we were raised on." He says, too casually for my liking.
I gulp and look down. I don't know how to reply to that.
"We're just the children of the dark days I guess." I say with a shrug.
I stop walking and turn my head when I hear laughing, Carl does the same.
No one is usually awake this early in the morning. Not in this town.
Carl grabs my wrist and yanks me behind a house as I soon see where the laughter was coming from.
I see Mikey and that James kid. They were tossing a football back and forth.
"Let's go home." Mikey says, walking up to James and wrapping his arm around him tightly.
"Okay but first..." James says, stepping in front of Mikey. Taking a large breath before pressing his lips to Mikey's.
My eyes widen and I look at Carl who seems unsurprised.
"Why didn't Mikey tell me?" I whisper more to myself than to Carl.
"He hasn't told anyone. His father wouldn't approve." Carl says, crossing his arms and leaning against the brick wall of the house we hid behind.
"You seem like you already knew." I say, furrowing my eyebrows. Carl just smirks.
"I keep tabs on everyone in this town."
My eyes widen as I look up at him.
"Everyone?"
Carl nods.
"Especially you Eliza."
-
I'm trying to make this story lit I swear