Young Slavery [A Carl Grimes/The Walking Dead Fanfiction]

Chapter 3

     "Mom, do you think she will be alright?" A voice spoke gently. It was so close by, yet oh so distant. 

     "With some time, it seems---Atlanta was rough on the poor girl, though, so don't be upset if she doesn't feel like talking or playing with you and the other kids; she lost her parents." The voice that responded was obviously a women's- so feminine and sweet that I was even reassured that whoever they were speaking of was going to be A-okay. This was, of course, until I had opened my eyes and realized they were speaking of me. 

     My eyes were unadjusted to the bright sunlight that was outside the small roomy tent I laid in, but I had made out a small kid that seemed to be near my age and a woman. She was in her mid-thirties with dark brown hair. Though the two seemed genuinely harmless, my brain only saw strangers. And although this was idiotic, I was terrified; I screamed louder than I ever imagined.

      The expectation of me being alive was most likely little, as the woman was shocked and startled, dragging what seemed to be her son away and yelling what I could only interpret as jibberish. 

     My eyes peered at the bloodstains on my hoodie and it hit me faster than a truck, leaving an empty feeling in my heart. Not enough to fall apart but enough to realize how bad the world was and how worse it had now gotten. My body felt as cold as a blizzard, my face pale. That was when I remembered Nicki, and my eyes grew stingy. What was my best friend was possibly now miles away, or dead? The thought granted me chills.

     As I heard a branch crack amongst the outside of my tent, I used the bit of my strength to sit up and peer at the entrance cautiously until realizing it was simply the man from the tank. He had a clean nice white shirt on and pants. No gore... Where were we? It felt as though the atmosphere had shifted as if we were in an entire place entirely. Before this downfall. "We...we made it out of Atlanta?" I asked hoarsely. 

     Rick nodded and slowly made his way to kneel down by my bed. I was still cautious, but I hadn't exactly expected him to do anything bad. You could never tell though. "Yes, we're okay now. Held up at a camp outside of Atlanta. You did good, kid."I nodded slowly, but a thousand questions lit up in my head. '

     "Held up?" If we're close too Atlanta, shouldn't we get far from it?"' As a started to ask that, a more crucial one appeared. "Did everyone make it out okay?" As I spoke, I could remember the faces of who had been there; T-Dog, Andrea, Glenn, Carol, Jacqui, and Morales. 

     "Yeah, everyone's fine. Well, we have a bit of a situation with Merle..." He cleared his throat. "But it's nothing to worry about. "

     I then remembered the racist inbred that had gotten handcuffed onto the rooftop back in the city and my eyes filled with disgust yet interest. I heard the way he'd talked to T-Dog and Andrea. He was a complete asshole, for sure. "Is he dead?" I asked and saw him hesitate to answer. "I get it, it's weird to tell a twelve-year-old someone's dead or whatever bad happened. But trust me, I'm pretty sure I can take it." I stared at him as he continued to hesitate and sighed. "Did I not just run from walking plagues with you?"

      Rick chuckled, running a hand in his hair. "Good point... Well, he's not dead as far as we know. But when we were evacuating the city and T-Dog was trying to take off the handcuffs to let him come with us, he dropped the key. We have to go back to get him." 

      My eyes looked at him, confused. "To Atlanta? You know it's insane there. You have a death wish?" 

     Rick looked at me. "We can't just leave him there." 

     I shrugged. "What difference would it make?" 

     "He has his brother here. Daryl misses him." 

     I paused and nodded slowly, processing before speaking. "Okay. Well, who's going? Can I?"

     Rick shook his head. Of course... "You need to rest. You're exhausted. T-Dog, Daryl, Glenn and I will go. We'll be back in a day or so. Alright?"I knew this was the type of thing I didn't get to disagree on, and so I nodded. "Sure, yeah."

     "What about your family?" Rick asked then, causing me to bite my lip. "I'm sure I could find them if you give a good description. Maybe a photo of them?" 

     The only reaction I could muster was to shake my head and give my best grieving type of response. "N-no, they're not... They're gone. I saw it happen. I can't believe this is how the world is now. Just... taking and taking good people... It's horrible..." With that, and a few crocodile tears I met Rick's sympathetic eyes and sniffled, wiping my tears. "Sorry... I just, m-miss them so much."He rubbed my shoulder. 

     "I'm so sorry, Ryann... but we'll try to keep you safe the best we can. For their sake. They're in a better place now..." 

     'Hell.' I thought in my head as I nodded softly. 'Y-yes, of course." 

     With that, he stood up. "Get some sleep now. I'll send someone to get you some water and food. Bye now, let's hope to see each other soon."

 -This is the most recent update of this chapter-