All Hope Lost ( TWD FanFiction )

Mancala

Everyone was obviously a little shaken up after the whole thing with Rick and Pete, but we moved on, like we did after everything else.

Rick was out for a little over twelve hours, and until he could wake up, Deanna ordered that he stay in one of the empty houses.

I followed Abraham and Daryl as they carried his body in to the basement of one of the empty houses, setting him on a naked mattress.

Carl was right behind me and Michonne, who was carrying Judith, was right behind him.

I dropped to my knees beside the mattress and pulled on Rick's left shoulder, trying to lay him straight so I could patch him up.

The supplies I had was stolen from Pete's stash at the infirmary, but I didn't really give a shit who it belonged to.

Rick had some pretty deep cuts along his face so I was extremely careful when it came to blotting away the blood.

I used a fresh towel and some cold water to clean the wounds, and then I used some butterfly bandages to close up all of the gashes he had on his face.

After witnessing my Mom amputate Claire's leg and then amputating Jordyn's arm myself, a few cuts on the face seemed like nothing.

I had no medical experience whatsoever, so why they allowed me to be the one to patch Rick up was uncertain but, I did it anyway.

I wrapped the bloody towels in a clean one and then stood up, "I did the best I could."

"Thank you," Michonne smiled appreciatively before handing Judith over to Carl. "I'm going to stay a bit, you two can go."

"I'll come back if he isn't awake by dinner."

Michonne nodded her head and then dragged a chair over to the corner of the room, plopping down in it and folding her arms.

When we left Rick, we went back to Carl's house and I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with him.

I cleaned up the palms of his hands, which were all scratched up from the fall he took when Rick had pushed him.

We hung out together in his bedroom, on the front porch, and with the rest of the group in the living room.

The two of us played a few games of mancala, read some comic books, and then ended the night by sitting together on the couch.

I started to doze off so I stood and excused myself, walking towards the front door but Carl excused himself, too and actually walked me home on his way to visit his Dad.

"We had a very eventful day," I joked, climbing the first two steps of my porch and then turning back around to face him.

After climbing the two steps, I was still only a few inches taller than him but it felt abnormal to be staring down at him instead of up, so I stepped forward and dropped back down to the first step.

He seemed distracted and I can only imagine how worried he was about his Dad and the rest of his group.

And as much as I wanted to pester him about it, I decided to end the night there, "Goodnight, Carl."

I took his left hand and squeezed it reassuringly, leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on his left cheek, before spinning around and hopping up the rest of the stairs.

*****

Echo was already in bed when I got upstairs, which I was actually thankful for.

It meant I couldn't rant to her about the lovely kiss in the rain I had this morning, which I actually wanted to keep to myself, if at all possible.

Not because I was embarrassed or ashamed of it, but because it was special and the only two people who knew about it were me and Carl.

And I kind of wanted to keep it that way.

I stripped myself of my dirty clothes and stepped in to the shower, allowing the scolding water to beat against my back.

After realizing how much time I had already wasted, I quickly shampooed my hair and washed my face.

I threw the same old t-shirt that I used for pajamas over my head and then threw my damp hair over my shoulder.

I brushed my teeth and then crawled in to bed.

My new journal sat on the bedside table and I froze, trying to remember if I had left it there myself.

Echo rolled over and smacked her lips a few times, muttering something about the color blue and then growing silent again.

I rested the journal on my lap and began to write down the events of the day, being sure to scribble the date in the left-hand corner of the page before shutting the book and slipping it under my side of the bed, then falling back on to my pillow.

*****

My eyes fluttered open, taking in the ceiling above me.

The morning sun danced beautifully along the white walls and I smiled, thankful for such nice weather after yesterday's storm.

Echo appeared in front of my bedroom door, Carl and Ron both behind her, "You never sleep in this late. What the hell?"

She crawled in to my bed and laid beside me, resting her face so close to mine that I could feel the air coming from her nose and her eyes burning in to my own.

She stared and the boys snickered from the hall.

"I'm awake, I'm awake..."

I pushed back the covers and slipped out of bed, turning around and being sure to make it back up again.

Echo stood up and began to help me, "I'll do this and you go get dressed."

"Oh." I looked down at my oversized t-shirt, which ended just above my knees, and then trudged over to my dresser.

I decided on the first articles of clothing I could see: a navy blue blouse and some khaki capris.

After picking the outfit, I excused myself and went in to the bathroom. The pants were a little lose around the hips but I figured I could live with it for a day. Maybe there was someone here who could alter a few of the things I had, so they at least fit me a little.

After changing, I quickly braided my hair and then threw the plait over my shoulder. I tucked the few lose hairs I had behind my ears and then exited the bathroom, folding the old t-shirt I had and resting it on my nightstand.

"What are we doing today?"

Echo thought for a second before jumping up from her spot on the bed, "Let's hang out in the clock tower!"

Carl sent me a worried look while Ron sent me a confused one, "You know about the clock tower?"

She rolled her eyes and breathed a laugh, "Yeah, that's how I got-"

"I told her about it!" My friends all turned their heads to me, a mix of expressions between the three of them. I replaced my nervous smile with a genuine one, leaning forward to hug on Ron's arm, "I hope you don't mind. I was showing her around and she asked me about it. So, I told her that it's where you and I hang out."

"Oh, no," He grinned and nodded his head. "It's fine, let's uh- Go hang out there."

Ron walked out of the room first and after sending me a look that I couldn't exactly decipher, Carl stomped out after him. But I pulled Echo back to talk to her.

"He can't know that it's how Carl and I sneak out of Alexandria. He can't know that we sneak out at all, please."

Echo rested a hand on her heart, "Your secret is safe with me."