DEFIANT | Carl Grimes

26: some exciting shit

the doors to the van open and i squint as the sunlight fills the back of the vehicle. dwight folds his arms and takes a deep breath. "you aren't supposed to be here," he says, looking around.

"he must know it's me, right? that's why i'm here?"

he shrugs. "if he found out we lied about you being dead, don't you think we'd be paying for it?" he asks and puts his hand out to help me out.

i hop down and go to the side of the van, throwing up. "you feeling sick?" he asks.

i shake my head and chuckle. "sorry," i chuckle. "it's a bad habit that i have. it seems i'm allergic to my past," i chuckle.

"and you still laugh at everything," he says sarcastically.

"i'm sorry," i laugh. "i just can't believe after all this time i'm back with my father," i bite my tongue and look around, "my father... where is my father?"

"negan is taking care of something," he tells me. "he asked me to show you around the place. maybe you can manage to tell me how the hell you ended up back with us."

"where's daryl?"

"don't worry about it."

"okay, what happened to your face?" i ask plainly.

he shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "you," he replies.

"what?"

"when we went back," he tells me. "this is what i got for telling negan his daughter was dead."

"sorry," i mutter after some time.

"how the hell did you end up back with us?" he asks.

"where's daryl?"

"in a box."

"why isn't negan showing me around his place himself? doesn't seem like him."

"are you okay?" he asks and turns to me. "you ask a lot more questions than you used to, and it's not a good thing."

"i've been through some shit," i mutter.

we walk into the factory and come up on this railing. i look down to see a bunch of people working, and a few of them glance up at me. "don't worry," he says quietly. "only few people are still alive from back then. anyone who will recognize you will either keep it to themselves or be too scared to say anything. loyalty to you is stronger than loyalty to negan, no matter where you go."

i continue to study the crowd before me. "the numbers," i bite my lip, "we don't even compare. they can't even comprehend how deep this goes."

"do you?" he asks and we start walking again.

"that outpost," i nod. "one of so... so many, right?" he nods and i chuckle to myself. "one of so... so many."

"you know your dad well."

"of course," i shrug. "he's all i have left."

he spends hours walking me through halls, showing me the kitchen, the dining area and then the rest of the factory. "we have a real good doctor," dwight speaks up and i look over at him. "dr. carson. i can take you to him."

"i don't need to see a doctor," i say.

"did you ever get that burn properly looked at?" he starts and i'm about to speak up, but he continues, "i can see it peaking up from your collar on the back of your neck. is it bad?"

"your face is my entire back," i nod. "maybe it's karma for leaving him... but i can't even begin to tell you how many things have almost taken me out."