DEVILS ♛ C. G. 〖 #wattys2018 〗

F O U R / F I V E

i'm just constantly regretting writing that weird chapter about the garden of eden. also those chapters with a badly-written lesbian romance. i'll fix everything up once i finish the rest of the story

[update 6-10-18]: i'm revising now and nope i'm too lazy to rewrite it lol

SOTC: Black Smoke Rising — Greta Van Fleet
• from the fires we've been told / it's the new age crisis •

The forest had lost its appeal, the longer he spent in it. It had grown dull and cobwebbed, like the trees had all assumed the same shape and stature, and lost their looming ferocity. Carl had slowed to a walk. He felt kind of tether-less, like he didn't know where he was going. But he'd seen dead walkers slumped, riddled with bullet holes. He saw the sprawling silver glint of a road. There was evidence that he wasn't in some limbo, he was in a certain place.

He kept the road at a healthy distance, and followed it in a singular direction, trying to decide what to do next. His time was ticking. He hadn't eaten in more than twenty-four hours. 

What was he doing? Where was he doing? Fuck, he just wanted to go home. Home to his dad, his new mom, all the people he loved and missed from Alexandria. And Carl always kept Glenn and Abraham in this picture, because he could hardly bear to think otherwise.

And April. He didn't know where to place April in his system of desires. It defied logic, maybe, but he wanted her to come home to Alexandria with him.

April was the girl that laughed when Negan bludgeoned Glenn and Abraham. April was the one who ripped him away from his family for so many months. He kept a pen in the lining of his mattress.

But maybe April wasn't the one he spent those nights with. She said that it wasn't her real name. Maybe the person he saw during those nights in the Sanctuary, the girl that plotted escape with him, the girl that made strawberry smoothies and brought him out to the woods that morning. Maybe that girl had a different name. An older name.

Carl was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard it. The soft purr of an engine, drawing louder and closer by the second.

Immediately on high alert, Carl crept up closer to the road. His blood seemed to pump at a nauseating speed as he looked back and forth, attempting to locate the source. 

There it was. So far away it was only a glimmer, but it was there, a rapidly sharpening smudge of red and white, the face of a vehicle. It looked like a trailer, he thought. And it looks crazy similar to—

Carl's heart skipped a beat.

The RV.

He wasn't even thinking when he ran out into the road and waved his hands wildly. He wasn't even thinking of what kind of enemy could be in the RV, he just had this brilliant grin on his face.

And when it slowed to a stop, he watched his dad in the front window, scrambling out to meet him. 

Rick looked exhausted. He had this sunken pallor to his skin, and his blue eyes looked cold as glaciers. He looked almost forlorn, as he looked Carl up and down. 

"Dad—" Carl said, but he was cut off by a hug. Being with his dad always reminded him how small he was, but he had shrunk with his time in the prison, and he was smaller that he'd been in years as his father embraced him.

"Cooorral." Rick pulled away, his face twisted up in a miserable sob. He looked at his son again. His arms were thin and his skin was pale, all the way down his bare chest. He'd lost so much weight. His hat was missing and his hair was greasy and he had nothing to cover his eye socket. Rick could see everything, the deep red and lightning white glints. It was a wonder he never got an infection. "What happened to you?"

Carl didn't even have to force his smile. He felt his face heating up as he felt everything threaten to flood out. "Oh my God, Dad. You wouldn't ever believe it." Then he hugged his father again. "I'm just so happy to see you."

"Carl!" He looked up to see Michonne, scrambling towards him. She wrapped her arms around the two of them. "Carl! Holy hell, are you okay?"

"Yes, Mom," Carl laughed. 

"Coooooral," his Dad cried. 

Carl was sobbing now. They were all sobbing. He finally released himself, and wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands. "This was so lucky. I can't believe I just ran into you guys."

"You were running away, right?" Michonne said quietly. You could hear the smile in her voice. "Away from the Sanctuary, I mean. Cause we're riding towards it."

"Why on Earth would you do that?" Carl scoffed. Then he saw his dad's uneasy expression.

"Son, that April girl came up to our gates. She gave us a letter from you."

Dwight pulled through. Holy shit. "I'm honestly surprised you didn't kill her on sight."

Rick exchanged glances with Michonne. "She's different when she's not with her dad. Still dangerous, but at least she's doing things for our side."

Carl nodded. "April is a good person. She was playing a character. I hope she's somewhere safe now. I haven't seen her in a couple months."

His dad knit his brows. "Son, you wanna know what she's been up to lately?" He pointed up into the sky, behind Carl. "Look up."

He turned around and peered down the road. He'd seen it before, through the trees, but he could see it even clearer now: a towering column of smoke, blooming from somewhere past the tree line.

"What the hell! Is that—?"

"Yes. And it's on fire. And Negan is at Alexandria right now."

Carl blinked. "I'm lost."

Rick just smiled, and clapped his son on the back. "We'll fill you in. Don't worry."

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A/N: this chapter was so bad i'm sorry. it's only the second day of summer and i'm already shit tired. this kitten wakes me up at 7:30am on the dot every single morning pskjlaswjkej someone help

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NEXT CHAPTER:
tomorrow!!

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Word Count: 1095
Created 5-27-18