calmnessispower:
Things had been going so well, Charles was…well he was comfortable. The group was warming up to him and Charles found himself talking more, contributing wherever he could and overall jsut…happier.
However, things weren’t all good, he’d noticed strange behavior from one member in particular, Carl. The boy was isolating himself, complaining of headaches and Charles knew it wasn’t simply puberty like the others assumed. The signs were all too familiar, he’d practically raised kids jsut like him. He would have to make time for Carl, pull him aside and simply be honest with him.
Charles has yet to actually talk to him and as he lay in bed with Daryl he planned to do so the next day. It was time to show the boy what he was, it could very well help the survival of the group. Suddenly though Charles was startled from his thoughts by a loud screeching. He wasn’t as quick as Daryl to get up, having to untangle himself from the bedding before quickly moving to follow out of the cell. On his way out he passed Carl, giving him a reassuring smile before asking him to stay with his sister, to protect her. Though really he was jsut as worried about the boy.
Once outside as the search came to an end, Charles froze. His eyes went wide, he could feel his heart beat picking up and suddenly it felt as though all the air in the world was gone and he couldn’t breath. Shakily he stepped closer to the fencing, not caring what those around him must have thought. He couldn’t speak, for once in his life his mind fell silent. Fear overwhelmed him, fear for the group he’d come to care about and just what situation he had put them in.
The woods past the broken fence was silent. No signs of a truck rattling off after slamming its way through. No signs of explosion, flames or scorched earth.
“It…” Daryl started, and broke off as Charles slipped into view. Stepping past him and straight toward the danger. It wasn’t like Charles at all, usually so skittish, and Daryl fought the impulse to catch his arm, settling for trailing after.
“…Coulda fallen in, rusted,” he offered out. He sounded doubtful, even to himself. Forget that they’d all patrolled these fences a hundred times. What would a prison be doing with a fence on the edge of rusting?
Rick’s skeptical hum told Daryl his thoughts were heading along the same lines. But if that was all true –– no rusting, no explosion, no vehicles knocking it down –– then what the hell could’ve done this?
Daryl’s gaze traveled past the warped metal and into the darkness, the beam of his flashlight sweeping the forest’s edge. Nothing, nothing–– and then, all at once, eyes, and deja vu hitting hard enough to knock the air from him. Eyes in the trees past the fences, Charles standing stock still next to him. This, right here… this was the same spot they’d seen that asshole ex lurking a week ago.
Daryl’s lips parted, a question on the edge of his thoughts, but then Rick was hissing “shit, Walkers,” and Daryl realized the eyes he was seeing now were milky and glazed over. More than one pair, too. Shit. At least half a dozen swarming toward the break in the fence, snarling.
“Fence falling like a goddamn dinner bell,” Daryl agreed grimly, taking aim and taking the first down in a clean shot. “Charles, back up. Get somewhere safe a’ight?”
The words didn’t seem to get through to Charles and instead of backing up like instructed, he took a step forward. He wasn’t seeing the walkers or even Rick and Daryl, all he could see was that god forsaken fence. Erik had been back and this wasn’t just an attack on charles, it was a fucking game. Cat and mouse, just like it had always been. He was giving Charles two options, to hide away or to chase.
As the walkers shambled forward a twig snapped under foot and the world began spinning once again. His lungs suddenly filled with air, heart beating so loud he could hear it in his ears and feel the cold sweat on his skin. Confused, he stumbled back a few steps, glancing over at Daryl. He’d said something earlier and finally it had just begun to process. “B-Back up, right.” He nodded, doing just that but also not leaving. He wasn’t worried about the dead, Daryl and Rick would take care of those, he was more worried about the unlikely scenario that Erik would appear. He wouldn’t, likely watching the chaos he caused from afar.
Charles knew this was it, he had to tell Daryl everything. What he was, what Erik was, their past exactly, the school, all of it. The thought terrified him and he knew they’d likely kick him out for their safety, but he had to tell Daryl.
“Daryl....Daryl I have to tell you something, it’s important, as soon as this isn’t a threat I...I have to tell you immediately.”
