DEVILS ♛ C. G. 〖 #wattys2018 〗

F O U R / E I G H T

i watched ten hours of netflix yesterday, between the first season of the 3% and the third season of the office. i'm feeling bleh but i got a blood orange scented candle so i'm thriving

SOTC: See You Again — Tyler, The Creator
• now i don't wanna wake up / i'm about to go to war •

Carl managed to get her to the doors of the RV before Michonne ran out to meet him. He hadn't even realized how wobbly his balance was until she'd told him so, until she took April from his arms and he practically collapsed. 

He followed Michonne up the RV steps, dizzy from lightheadedness, he was sure came from smoke inhalation. He watched as she laid April down on the red leather seats, and it was only then when everything sunk in.

Was she still breathing? He hadn't checked as he carried her, but she'd felt alive. Hot to the touch, but maybe that was from spending time in a burning building. What if he'd imagined her breathing too? What if she were really dead, and it was all just placebo?

"Carl, get a rag from the back and run it under the sink for me, please." Michonne bent down over April, placing two fingers over her collarbone. Carl was relieved to see she didn't panic or give any other instruction. April's heart must be still going.

He did what she'd asked, and handed the rag to Michonne. "She's going to be alright?" He tried to ask with an even voice. He wanted more than anything to take April's pulse himself, prove to his spiraling thoughts that she was okay.

"Hell, I'm not a doctor." Michonne put the wet rag on April's forehead. "But she's breathing. I think she just needed to cool down and get some fresh air. Unless there's something I'm missing, I think she's all good."

She paused, then in a lower voice, as if April could hear them. "Are you sure she didn't hurt you?"

Carl shook his head. "Positive. She's a good person, I swear it."

"It's just so hard to trust that. Seeing how she'd been on that night."

There was a bout of silence when Carl was just laying down on another seat, trying to calm his nausea. Blue strobed over his vision, like smoke clouds at a concert. His throat burned, like he needed to cough.

After a while Michonne paced up to the front of the RV. She opened a cabinet and began to look through the stacks of CDs.

"What are you—" Carl asked groggily. He couldn't help but crack a smile when he heard a familiar guitar riff. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Greatest Hits?" 

Michonne laughed. "I grabbed the first disc I knew."

"Isn't American Girl a bit—" He looked over at April. "Light, for the occasion?"

She scoffed and sat down next to April. "Nah."

Carl sat up. "Wait a sec." 

"What?"

"Where are the others?"

Michonne caught Carl's gaze. "Standing outside. Looking for stragglers. Why?"

"Aren't you supposed to be out there?"

She shook her head. "I haven't seen you in three months. Rick had to go because, well, he's Rick. I figured you would want some company."

Carl nodded. The RV felt so different, with nobody but the two of them there. Carl stared out the window. He realized that this was the exact position he was in when he was alone with April on that first night, listening to Negan's tyranny unfold behind him. April was sitting across from him, exactly where she now laid, unconscious.