I know I haven’t posted anything for a while, and it saddens me to say that I won’t be posting anymore on this account. It has been a good run, but I have moved on from the fandom. I have done so much in the time that I was away and I have found what I want to do in life.
The Walking Dead will always be a good part of my life, even if it is no longer involved in it. These stories are still precious to me and will always be here as an archive so that we all can look back and remember the journey we went on together.
Thank you all for your support over the years and helping me grow as a writer and as a person. I hope you all live wonderful and prosperous lives.
Omg I’m so glad you’re writing more parts for genius again. But, please don’t do what I think you’ll do. Just, there has to be another way. It was never meant to be like this and I’m still sad but if you’re going to do it, let me know
I understand what you are saying, darling. All I am going to say is that looks can be deceiving. Three more chapters!
Summary: After the storms had passed, you had decided to go to Alexandria in order to spread the news of your breakthrough to Carl. However, when Carl comes back, he isn't the same.
The storms had cleared up a week after they first arrived, leaving the Earth wet, the leftover smell of rain still floating in the air. One of the perks of living down south was the aftermath of the rainfall, which left behind cool winds and cloudy skies. The day after the storms left, you made arrangements to go see Carl and the rest of the Alexandrians in the hopes of telling them your groundbreaking discoveries. Over the past couple of days, you had experimented more with the drug, making dosage after dosage in case of an emergency. You had not tested it on any actual walkers yet, but you could only figure that the mixture would work on the whole human body and not just a small portion. At least you hoped that was the case.
You got into your SUV at noon that day, waiting until the world was nearing its brightest before hitting the road. The visit was merely informational. You didn’t have any supplies to give them. You just wanted to see them and tell them about what you uncovered. You got into the driver’s seat, buckled up, and then turned on the car. Checking the gas gauge, you saw that the tank was half empty and determined that you would need to fill her up by the end of the week. You would worry about that later, though. You just wanted to focus on getting to Alexandria to tell them the great news.
You pulled out of the parking spot, turned the car, and made your way down the parking garage until you reached the gate. You got out of the car, walked to the codepad, typed in the number, and then got back to the car as the gate began to automatically open up. Once it was wide enough to fit your car through, you drove out onto the road, watching the gate close behind you, and made your way towards Alexandria. That day, you left your windows down, the wind cool enough to send chills down your spine. The air coursed through your hair, allowing it to ripple on top of your head. The wind mixed with the scent of leftover rain allowed for a relaxing drive from your camp to Alexandria, a smile on your face as you kept your eye on the road.
Your car pulled up the the gates of Alexandria. Standing watch was a twenty-seven-year-old community college student named Amanda. You didn’t have much interaction with her, but you have had enough to determine that she was a kind girl in general, but could be one helluva bitch when she needed to be. She was someone you assumed you could get along with. You stopped near the gate, stuck your head out the window and called towards Amanda. Amanda waved with her dominant hand before she turned around, calling towards someone on the ground to open the gate for you. It didn’t take long before the gate was opened by a man named Elvis - but everyone called him Christian. He was a thirty-five-year-old college dropout who knew how to handle himself well in many different scenarios outside of the gates. There were many people that lived within the community who knew what to do in order to survive. Everyone was strong in their own way and they helped Alexandria however they could.
You drove into the gate and watched as it closed behind you. You parked your car where you normally did, taking the keys out and placing them into your pocket. You got out of your car, closing the door behind you. You walked up to Elvis and cocked your head to the side. “Hey, do you know where Carl is?” You asked.
Elvis hummed and shook his head. ‘No,” he said to you. “I actually haven’t seen him around for a while.”
You slowly frowned. “Oh...okay. What about Rick?”
“He’s out.”
“Michonne?”
“She’s out too.”
“Daryl?”
“Out.”
“Tara!?”
“She’s out too.”
You let a sigh fall from your lips. You placed your hands on your hips. “Can you please tell me where Judith is, then? Don’t tell me that she went out too.”
Elvis rolled his eyes and shook his head. “No, she didn’t. Gina is watching after her in Rick’s house. When any one of those people get here, then I will go ahead and send them over your way.”
“Thank you, Elvis.”
“Please, just call me Christian.”
“My bad. Thank you, Christian.”
“You’re welcome.”
With that, you turned and made your way towards the Grimes residence. As you wandered through Alexandria, you passed by other people who either waved or nodded at you. You did the same to them. It didn’t take long to reach the house. You walked up the porch and to the door. You knocked on it three times with your knuckles. Soon, the door opened up, revealing Gina, a middle-aged woman who used to own a bar in the upper part of Georgia. She had a small smile on her face as she looked at you.
“Well, hello there, (Y/N).” She said. “If you’re looking for the Grimes family, then they aren’t here.”
“I know, Christian told me. He said I can go ahead and wait in here with you and Judith until one of them comes back.”
“Sure! I would love to have somebody to talk to. Judith isn’t really that much of a chatterbox.” She said with a small chuckle.
“Thank you,” you said.
Gina stepped to the side and gestured inside the house. You stepped past her and entered. In the living room, Judith sat on the floor, playing with a couple of wooden blocks and toy cars. Judith turned and glanced at you. Her eyes widened and a smile appeared on her small lips. “Hi!” She said, waving at you.
You waved back, smiling lightly. “Hi, Judith.” You said as you sat down on the floor right next to her. Judith grunted crawled over to you. She wrapped her arms around your stomach and you chuckled lightly. You hugged her back and kissed her on the top of the head. “How are you doing, today?”
Judith pulled away from you, immediately placing her hand inside of her mouth, nibbling on it. “Good,” she mumbled before she turned back to her toys, getting settled on her tush.
“That’s good.” You said as you rubbed her back and watched her begin to play with her toys with one hand once again.
Gina closed the front door and walked over to the couch, sitting down on it. She crossed her legs. “So, darling, how are you doing?” She asked you.
“I’m doing well. It sucked being stuck in the hospital for a week because of the storms. I’m just glad that they passed by without getting strong enough to deal some damage. It was just enough to provide some entertainment as well as some good moisture for the Earth.”
“Oh, I agree,” Gina smiled and rubbed her hands together. “I absolutely love the rain. With the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the rain, I can just fall asleep like a baby. Oh, darling, would you like something to drink?’
“No, I’m okay.”
“Alright, well, I’m going to get myself some water.” She smiled and stood up, walking towards the kitchen.
You raised your brows and watched as she left before you leaned against the couch, looking down at Judith. You had no idea where anyone was. You just hoped that they were safe and that they would come back home as quick as they possibly could. Until then, though, you would wait in the house with Judith and Gina until one of the individuals returned.
You had to admit that the chat you had with Gina wasn’t the most torturous conversation you ever had. You have had worse, but it wasn’t exactly the most entertaining talk that you have ever had either. You had to give that award to the conversations that you have had with Carl. There were so many times when the two of you spent hours on end in the middle of the night chatting about the funniest or the strangest topics possible. You missed those chats. Because of the storm, it was difficult for the two of you to be able to talk to one another. That day would be the first in a week that you would be able to talk to Carl. That was why you were completely ecstatic when you saw him walking down the road and towards the house. So excited that you rudely interrupted what Gina was saying in order to go over to the front door. You awaited happily, smile plastered on your lips and fingers slightly twitching right by your sides.
Carl opened the door, head down, eye averted downwards, hair falling in front of his face. Immediately, you rushed up to him and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him close to you. Carl jumped. You were able to feel it underneath your gentle touch. He raised his head and glanced at you, brows raised. A smile slowly curled into the corner of his lips. He wrapped his arms around your chest.
“I’ve missed you so much Carl,” you said in a gentle tone of voice as you pulled away from the hug and glanced into his beautiful eye. You leaned forward and pressed a small kiss against his lips. It was short and sweet. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reach you with the storms. It’s hard to use a walkie or drive under those conditions. I’m just so glad that the weather lifted so that I could come and see you.”
Carl smiled. “I missed you too, (Y/N),” he said. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pressed a kiss to your lips. His kiss wasn’t like yours. He had kept his lips against yours longer and showed more passion with his kiss. This allowed a blush to spread across your cheeks as your eyes fluttered shut and you kissed him back. A minute into the kiss, Carl pulled back and opened up his eye, looking into your red face. “Why don’t you wait down here while I go upstairs and take a shower?”
You opened up your eyes and glanced up at him, smiling. “Okay,” you said. “Then you need to tell me where you were and why you kept me waiting for your skinny butt.”
Carl chuckled warmly, chest rumbling as he did so. “I will,” he told you. “Just go back over and talk to Gina-”
“I think she prefers to be the one to do all of the talking.”
Carl rolled his eye and shook his head. “Then go back over to Gina and listen to her.”
You nodded. “Okay,” you said. ‘Just be quick on the shower. I really want to hang out with you.”
“Alright. I will.” He told you as he pulled away from you, smile still plastered on his face as he turned and made his way towards the staircase.
You folded your hands directly in front of your body and blushed brightly. You couldn’t help but keep the thoughts running through your mind that Carl was yours. You could not believe that he was yours, even though the two of you have been romantically seeing one another for just a little over two weeks. He was the sweetest person that you have ever met in the entire world and he belonged to you. You loved the relationship that the two of you had so much that you didn’t want it to end. You could only hope that the two of you would stay together for months - maybe even years if you were lucky - on end.
As soon as Carl vanished from sight, footsteps echoing as he walked up the stairs, you pulled your hands apart and sighed. You brushed your hands down your shirt to straighten it out after it got wrinkled from the hug. However, you froze when your hand touched something wet. Looking down, you pulled your hand away from your clothes, revealing a lopsided circular shaped blood stain. You frowned. It wasn’t yours and it wasn’t there the entire time you were talking to Gina otherwise she would have pointed it out. The only conclusion that you could come up with is that it belonged to Carl. You raised your head and looked up the stairs before you hurried up them, following after your boyfriend.
“Hey, Carl!” You called out after him as soon as you reached the second floor.
Carl raised his brows and turned to you. It seemed you had caught him just as he was getting ready to go into his room - most likely to get clothes for the upcoming shower. As his body turned towards you, it was then that you were able to see the source of the blood. On the left side of his body, there was a stain painted a dark red color. The blood had stopped spreading, but stain was still rather prominent. You frowned deeply.
“Yeah?” He asked and furrowed his brows.
You walked over to him, slowing down as soon as you got closer to him. You looked into his eye and then looked down at his side. “You’re hurt.” You said.
Carl furrowed his brows and then glanced down at his left side. He raised his brows and his jaw clenched. He looked back up at you. “I just killed a walker.” He said as he opened up his bedroom door and walked inside. You followed him, standing in the doorway, watching as he walked over to his dresser and gathered the day clothes that he would be changing into one he was fresh out of the shower.
You shook your head. “No,” you told him matter-of-factly. “Killing a walker does not result in blood pooling in a single location. No matter the scenario, that never happens. Either the blood splatters or it drips in a couple of places. You are injured. Let me take a look at it.”
“No,” Carl was rather rapid to respond, head shooting up as he continued to grab his clothes. “I told you that I killed a walker. Why don’t you believe me?”
“Because killing a walker would not look like that, Carl,”
Carl closed the top drawer of his dresser as he walked to the door. You moved out of the way so that he was able to go down the hall to the bathroom. You closed his door and followed after him.
“If you don’t clean it, then it will get infected and someone can die from that!”
“Just let me take a shower, (Y/N). I just wanna take a shower.”
“Carl-”
“I just wanna shower!” He exclaimed as he turned and looked back at you with a hard gaze. He was standing in the entryway to the bathroom, one hand on the doorway while the opposite arm was holding his clothes.
You slowly stopped and frowned. You opened your mouth, trying to say something after the outburst, but nothing came out of your mouth. Carl shook his head and turned back to the room, walking in and closing the white door behind him. The door clicked, signaling that it had been locked. Your shoulders slumped and you let out a sigh.
You knew that Carl was injured. Everything pointed right to him being injured. There was no way that the blood stain on his shirt was caused by him attacking a walker. Why was he trying to hide the wound that he got when he was out, especially since he knew that you were able to patch him up no matter how bad it was - you did stitch up his father, after all. Either way, no matter Carl’s reason for trying to hide the wound, you were worried about him. You wanted to make sure that he was alright. You couldn’t go into the bathroom, though. The door was locked. Not only that, but Carl was most likely in the nude. Just the thought made a blush appear on your face. You tried to shake the image of your nude boyfriend from your worried mind. Instead of going down the stairs, you decided to wait for him. You walked over to the side of the door, pressed your back against the wall, and slid down it until you were sitting on the floor. You crossed your legs in front of you, criss-cross-applesauce, and placed your hands into your lap. You would wait for Carl to get out of the shower before you talked to him about it again.
You fiddled with your fingers the entire time he was in the shower. Steam seeped out of the opening between the floor and the door before immediately disappearing into the air. About ten minutes after he went in there, the water had stopped and the steam halted. Your ears perked up as you heard the shuffling in the room. Still the door did not open. And, again, you waited. Five minutes after that, the door open. You perked your head up and quickly stood up. Carl had changed into a clean, white tee and a plaid shirt as well as a pair of jeans.
“Did you clean it?” You asked with a frantic tone, brushing your hand down your shirt and jeans in order to straighten them out.
Carl had started to make his way towards his bedroom. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and let out a sigh once you asked him the question. He turned and looked at you. “(Y/N), I told you that I wasn’t hurt. That it was just blood from the walker that I killed. Will you quit riding me about it?”
“No, I won’t because I just don’t believe you, Carl. If it was really just blood from the walker that you killed, then you would have absolutely no problem with be seeing where it was.” You raised your brows and crossed your arms in front of your chest.
Carl hesitated, staring at you straight in the eye. He looked down and shook his head. “No,” he said before turning around, moving towards his door.
“Why not?” You asked, following after him.
“Because I don’t want to. I don’t have to, (Y/N).” He said, voice getting stronger and angrier with each word that he spoke.
“Yes, you do! If you are lying to me, which I believe that you are, then I need to examine it and clean it out. I just want to make sure that you are alright!”
“Well, just, stop! Okay? Now, just, leave me alone.”
Carl quickly entered his room, grabbed the doorknob, and slammed the door shut. Again, you were able to hear the lock click. Carl had locked himself in the room. Something was wrong. Carl would never act like this. Had someone died? Had he gotten into a fight? Had he killed someone? You wanted to know what was wrong. It was all because you were completely worried about him and his well-being. You pressed your body slowly against the door, pressing your ear against it.
“Carl?” You called out to him in a small, timid voice. “Carl, can you please open up the door? I haven’t...we haven’t seen one another in a week. We haven’t even talked to each other in a week. I miss you. Can we please hang out?”
There was no response.
“Carl?” She whispered.
Again, after a while, there was no response.
A sigh fell from your lips as you, again, contemplated on whether or not to go downstairs. However, you didn’t want to leave Carl. You wanted to stay as close to him as you possibly could. So you moved over to the side and sat down beside the door, just like you had when you were waiting on him to get out of the shower. You were in the same position that you had been in before: criss-cross-applesauce on the floor with your hands folded in your lap. You planned on staying in that exact same position until Carl either came out of the room or unlock the door so that she was able to go in.
Time was something that seemed to drag on. For what seemed like hours, you were shifting from side to side, listening to what is on the other side of the door and trying to get Carl’s attention. It was as if Carl wasn’t even in the room anymore. It was silent for most of the time with small sounds of shuffling appearing from the room. What seemed like hours was actually fifteen minutes. What seemed like two hours later was merely five minutes later. You could not wait any longer for him to come out of the room. You desperately wanted him to come out of the room.
You were sat against the wall, back straight and hands folded in your lap. You twiddled your thumbs and bit your lip continuously. You wanted to spend time with Carl. That was the reason why you went to Alexandria that day, not to sit outside of a room like a dog, waiting for Carl to emerge from the room. You felt as if this wasn’t exactly the correct option to take. You should have gone downstairs with Gina and looked after Judith instead of wasting your time waiting for someone who probably won’t emerge from their bedroom until it was time to eat dinner. By then, you would be on your way home and getting ready to eat your own dinner and snuggle into your bed. You wanted to hang out with your boyfriend before then. You were still curious as to why he was even in the bad mood and why he refused to show you the spot on his chest that was located directly underneath the blood stain that had been on his shirt. For being a genius, you still weren’t able to figure it out.
The lock on the door clicked, causing your ears to perk up and glance at the wall quickly. You stood up from your spot and brushed your clothes once again. Carl excited the room, looking at you, raising his brows before he furrowed them. He closed the door.
“How long have you been sitting there?” He asked you, cocking his head to the side.
A blush spread across your face as you looked down at the ground. “Um…” you trailed. “Ever since you walked into the room.”
Carl sighed and shook his head. “(Y/N),” he said softly. “I am so sorry that I got all snappy and angry at you. You didn’t do anything. You were just looking out for me and I love that, but I’m fine, I promise.” He gave you a small smile of reassurance.
You inhaled, still not fully believing that he was alright, but letting it drop for the sake of you two not arguing. You have a small nod and smiled lightly. ‘Okay,” you said and smiled.
“I just…” he paused. “I want to spend as much time with you as possible. Do you want to go outside to the belltower like we did when we first kissed? It gives us time to be alone.”
A smile slowly made its way onto your lips and your slowly nodded. “Yeah,” you said. “I would love to.”
Carl smiled and reached over, grasping your hand into his, the warmth radiating off of his body and onto yours. Shivers ran down your spine as you moved closer to him, nuzzling your shoulder close to his. With a smile plastered on his lips, the two of you made your way down the hallway and back down the stairs. Gina still sat on the couch, watching as Judith played and listening to a small cassette track that she had put into the sound system that sat on a shelf near the window. Carl glanced at Gina.
“Hey, Gina, (Y/N) and I are going to go out for a little bit, can you please look after Judith for a little while longer?” He asked.
Gina turned her head so that her ear was facing towards the two of you. She raised her brows, smiled and nodded. “Oh yeah! Sure! I have no problem watching the little ray of sunshine! She is just the most adorable child I have ever seen in my entire life. You know, before the world was filled with the walking dead, I used to know this one woman, named Harrietta, who used to work at a daycare. She was the sweetest person in the whole wide world. Well, her daughter-”
“We gotta go, Gina! You can tell me the story later!” Carl said with a semi frantic tone as he practically dragged you towards the door. He opened the door, exposing you to the cool air once again before he closed the front door.
“That was mean!” You said in a teasing manner, a smile on your face as the two of you began to walk down the roadway towards the church.
“I’m sorry! I just couldn’t stand there and let her tell one of her hour long stories that have no plot whatsoever. It’s just her rambling on and on about how cute she thought something was or how nice someone was to her for three seconds.”
“Exactly! I had to sit here and wait for you over an hour and listen to her ramble on and on and on and I swear to God I thought my head was going to explode. Where were you!?”
“I was just out.”
“On a supply run?’
“No, just on a walk.”
“An hour long walk? Was someone with you?”
“No, but (Y/N), I was fine.”
“You need to bring someone with you when you go outside of the gates, Carl! Statistically, you are more likely to get hurt and/or killed when you go outside into a world full of walkers by yourself.”
Carl rolled his eye. “Stop, (Y/N). I know that.”
“I just worry about you, you know that.” You said.
Carl glanced at you as you slowed down near the entrance of the church. “I know you worry, (Y/N). I worry about you too every day that you’re not with me.”
A blush appeared on your cheeks as you smiled. You licked your lips and giggled, looking down. This made Carl smile, cocking his head to the side before he gestured to the wooden doors that lead into the Church.
“Come on,” he said.
You could only nod in response as he turned back around, back facing you as he opened the door. He walked in first, having you follow in second. The church, at that time, was empty, colored lights hitting the red carpet that covered the ground from the small amount of light that shone through the clouds in the sky. It was tranquil and stunning. As you walked through, you looked at the greens, reds, blues, and yellows that decorated the floor from the stained glass windows. Carl turned you down the hallway and made your way down towards the door that led to the belltower. He walked in first, but stood off to the side as he gestured towards the ladder. He waited as you climbed up the ladder and opened the hatch to the bell tower. Once he saw you disappear, he began to climb up the ladder. He climbed through the small door and got next to you. He closed the door, making sure that it was completely closed before he scooted over, getting comfortable.
The scene in front of you was rather exquisite. The way that the gray clouds were sitting low in the sky allowed for the green leaves on the miles of trees to stand out among everything else that was outside of the Alexandrian fence. You couldn’t help but stare in adoration as you waited for Carl to come into the tower and close the hatch behind him. Once he stopped all of his movement, you turned and glanced at him, a small smile playing on your lips.
“I think this view is more beautiful than the first time we came up here.” You said.
“Really?” He questioned, raising a brow. “Even though the sun’s not out?”
“Especially since the sun's not out!” You exclaimed as you moved closer to him. You shifted so that you were leaning against him, head on his shoulder. You pointed out at the scene in front of you. “Do you see the way that the green is highlighted because of the gray clouds in the background. If it was a bright blue color, then it wouldn’t really balance out correctly. The bright blue would stand out and not have the attention turned towards the trees. There would be too much for the eye to see. However, with a dull, faded color like gray, the green from the leaves is able to stand out and catch the eye of whoever is looking at the sky.”
Carl cocked his head to the side, humming as he took in the words that you spoke. He slowly nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said. “I see what you’re saying. The leaves on the trees look a little darker without the sun.”
“Exactly! Isn’t it awesome?”
Carl smiled and looked down at you. “It is. Not as awesome as you, but still pretty awesome.”
You looked over at Carl and smiled. “Aw, thank you. That’s really sweet.” You said.
“So are you.”
You blushed deeply and looked away. Carl reached over, placing his index finger underneath your chin and thumb right on top of it. He turned your head gently so that your eyes were gazing into his working one. Slowly, his eye closed and he leaned towards you, tilting his head to the side before his lips came in contact with yours. It was soft, passionate, and loving. Your eyes closed as well as you took in the kiss that he gave you, tiling your head to the side as well in order to deepen the kiss. Carl’s hand moved so that he was cupping your cheek, calloused hands caressing your skin gently. It sent shivers down your spine.
Slowly, Carl pulled his lips away from yours, opening his eye and looking at you in a sweet manner. You opened your eyes as well, just as slow, and studied his facial features. He had an adorable smile that was on his face and it made you smile as well.
“So,” you said. ‘Aside from...kissing...what do you want to do?”
“Well, I was just hoping to sit up here with you, away from everyone else, and just…” he trailed and shrugged. “Stay up here, talk, maybe kiss a little. I wanna just hold you in my arms, though.” He said as he wrapped his longer arms around you. “Will you be able to stay very long today?”
“Yeah, actually, I wanted to tell you something! You see, during the time that the storm was happening, I was researching and-”
“(Y/N),” Carl interrupted you, rubbing your back. “I...I don’t want to talk about your research today. I want this to be about you and I.”
You slowly frowned. “But-”
“Please?” He asked and raised a brow, sending you a puppy dog look.
You raised your brows and slowly nodded. “Okay,” you told him.
“Thank you.” He said, the smile reappearing on his lips.
You nodded and leaned your head against his shoulder, staring out into Alexandria. You figured that you would just need to tell him a little later. You figured that it could possibly be right before you had to leave so the two of you could spend as much time as possible with one another, thinking about no one but yourselves.
Alright, guys, I have been a lazy sack of shit recently, so that is why I haven’t been getting the requests in on time. I am so sorry for those who have requested! I will get to them as quickly as possible!
Summary: Four Days. You have spent four days inside of that damn room. You miss the smell of the outside. You even miss the smell of the walkers. When someone accidentally leaves the door unlocked, you finally get your chance to escape.
Four days. Four days since the door closed on your prison cell. Four days since you saw the light of day. Four days until you stepped outside and felt the sun blanketing your skin. You missed the sun, you missed the wind, you missed Alexandria, and, more importantly, you missed Carl. You missed the way that he held you, the way he kissed you, the way he whispered sweet nothings in your ear to make you feel better, and the way he said your name. You missed that voice. His soothing voice. What kept you through the torture of being left in the dark room was always him and you knew that he was going to keep his word. You knew that he was going to get you back, just like he told you he would.
The room was pitch black. Easy Street echoed through the corridor. It wasn’t excessively loud to the point where it was blaring in your ear, but it was still noticeably annoying. The tray that sat beside your sweating body used to be filled with a small amount of canned fruit, old bread, and semi-fresh meat. Your stomach growled, still hungry from the lack of nutrients that you received. However, they still fed you enough to satisfy the hunger that lingered within your stomach. Still, it wasn’t easy being kept prisoner to a psychotic bastard that was thirsty for blood and power.
As light flooded into the room, you covered your eyes, head aching because of the bright rays. You cringed and moved towards the far corner of the enclosed room. You blinked and tried to stare up at the person that entered the room to take your tray. From the outline, you gave a small guess that it was a male. You noticed that there was an overabundance of men in the Sanctuary that actually worked. You didn’t see many female workers. You could only assume that Negan was a chauvinistic pig that liked it when men worked and when women did the sexual pleasing, which made him look like even more of an asshole than the first day you met him.
Your pupils began to adjust to the new degree of light the longer you kept your eyes open. The man said nothing to you. All he did was he walked over to the tray, picked it up, and left the room, closing the door directly afterwards. You were used to the silence given to you by everyone else. Hell, the only people who would actually talk to you were the wives, when they clothed you and assisted you with the baths, and Negan. No one else bothered to talk to you unless they absolutely had to, and even then it wasn’t very often. Negan would prefer talking to you himself with that disgusting smirk that he wore on his face most of the time. You hated it.
As soon as the man left the room, you were able to relax internally once again. You sat down on the ground, shoulders slumped and head leaned back against the concrete wall. For a brief moment, you glanced at the door before you began to crawl over to it. You knelt down in front of the metal door, hesitantly reached up, wrapped your fingers around the doorknob, and took a deep breath.
Every time someone left the room, whether it was after they gave you food, clothed you, or took the food away, you always made your way slowly over to the door and made sure you checked the doorknob. There was just a feeling in the pit of your stomach that gave you the idea that there was bound to be some moron that didn’t lock the door as they left. You always figured that it was worth a shot. The worst thing that could happen is the door was still locked, right?
Once you waited a couple of seconds, guaranteeing that the man was out of sight, you turned the doorknob, expecting it to catch before it got to the halfway point. However, that wasn’t the case. It kept going and going and going until you heard the click and the door slowly opened up. Your eyes widened. Quickly, you glanced around. The hall was empty and the only sound that was able to hit your ear was the lyrics to Easy Street.
Not knowing what to do, you closed the door. This was your chance. The chance to escape from the prison you had been stuck in for four days. Did you have a plan? No. At that moment, though, you had to think of a way to get out without anyone finding out. How would you do that? You didn’t know your way around the Sanctuary and any hall you turned down could be leading you into a trap filled with men ready to kill you or bring you back. What if Negan found out? You were definitely dead then. Either that or you would go with smaller portion sizes than you were already limited to. You really didn’t want that.
However, this was a chance for you to escape. A chance for you to finally see your family again. To see Judith, Carl, Rick, Michonne, Maggie….Maggie. You wanted to see your mom. She must have been worried sick about you and you could do nothing about it. You couldn’t call her and tell her that you were alright. You could just wish that you would get to leave soon or that the plan you were building up inside your head would work somehow. You weren’t confident with the latter option. All you could hope was that no one would come into your cell so that it gave you enough time to think of a plan and attempt your escape.
So you moved beside the door and sat down in the corner of the room, back pressed up against the concrete wall. Your knees were drawn to your chest and your eyes were focused on the wall across from you. Your wrists were resting gently on top of your knees, allowing your hands to hang in front of your legs. Slowly, you took a deep breath and closed your eyes, trying your best to drown out the music that was sticking to your eardrums like glue. With your even breathing you attempted to keep your mind focused on the task at hand: creating a rough escape route and a way to get out of it if you were to get caught.
You couldn’t give the exact amount of time that you took before you finally decided on a rough plan. No one had come back yet, so the door stayed unlocked. The plan you had conceived was, indeed, rough, but in the end it could work if you executed it correctly. The plan was simple. All you had to do was use your ears and stealth to attempt to sneak your way through the Sanctuary and to the outside world that you hadn’t seen in days. It was risky, but it was still worth a shot. Part of you trusted that Negan wasn’t going to kill you just because you snuck out because someone left the door open, but the other part of you said the opposite part was stupid, that Negan was not someone to be trusted. You didn’t know what to believe. Negan could kill you or he could just take you back to the cell and make sure that it was locked. In the end, you would take a smaller amount of food over death any day.
With the plan formulated in your head, you slowly moved back over to the door. You pressed your ear against the door, closing your eyes, trying to concentrate on the sounds outside, attempting to single out the annoying song that filled your ear. Aside from the song, there was nothing on the outside. You let out a small breath of air before you grabbed the doorknob, wrapping your fingers slowly around it. Your hands were shaking, the nerves flooding your body. A part of you was trying to talk you out of trying to escape from the room, but the other part was screaming at you to run and never go back. You had to listen to that voice. To the voice that told you you had to do anything to go back to your mother and boyfriend. Anything.
After a couple more seconds of contemplation, you finally opened the door, making sure that it was as quiet as possible. You cringed as the lights hit your face. You had to wait a couple of seconds in order get your eyes adjusted to the light. It took about half a minute before you were able to see the hallway. You groaned and rubbed your eyes. The hallway was empty. Thank God. You went to stand up before you heard a couple of footsteps. You cursed underneath your breath as you slowly closed the door. You pressed your ear against the metal and closed your eyes, trying to hear anything that was going on. You could barely make out the words that were being spoken as another metal door opened.
“The boss’ll have you come out when he thinks you’ll be useful again, Daryl,” the voice was a deep, scratchy one that sounded as if it belonged to a male.
A frown fell upon your lips as you heard the name echoing down the hallway. Daryl was a rather common name, but was it just a coincidence, or was it your Daryl. The Daryl that was at the lineup with you the night when your father was killed. How had you not figured out that he was there sooner?
The heavy door at the end of the hall began to squeak as it was shut and locked. There were two voices that spoke to one another very faintly before the voices, as well as the footsteps, disappeared, Easy Street flooding the halls once again. You let out a huff of relief before you grabbed the doorknob and slowly twisted it again, a bit more confident than before. You stood up and opened the door, trying to make sure that it didn’t creak. After you left the room, you decided to close the door, doing it bit by bit until it clicked shut. It made a small noise, but nothing that wasn’t able to be drowned out by the torture that you faced for four days straight.
Turning down the hallway, you rushed quietly down to the very last door on the right. You stopped in front of it. In that location, the song was louder and even more tortuous. You pressed your hands against the door and pressed your ear against it. You heard nothing. You knocked quietly on the door. “Daryl?” You whispered.
There was no response for a while before the familiar, deep, scruffy voice filled your ears. “(Y/N)?” He questioned. Shuffling was heard inside the room and you could only assume that Daryl moved closer to the door. “What’re you doing ‘ere?” His voice was louder that time.
You could feel the tears of happiness well in the corner of your eyes. You sniffled and leaned against the door. “Oh my God,” you whispered. “Oh my God, I thought you died. I thought we lost you.”
“I’m alive. Barely.”
“Did they hurt you? What have they done to you?”
“It dun’ matter. Why’re you ‘ere?”
You hesitated and bit your lip before you closed your eyes. “He took me. Negan came to Alexandria, took almost half of our stuff, and...when he was going to take the medicine, Carl got in the way. He got mad and held a gun to this fatass’ head. Negan didn’t like that and...he took me away. He put me in the cell a little ways down the hallway.”
“Did he touch ya?”
“No!” You exclaimed quietly. “He never laid a hand on me. He only threatened me. That’s it.”
“How long have you been ‘ere?”
“About four days.” There was silence between the two of you. After a while, you raised your brows and turned back towards the door. “You have to come with me.”
“What?”
“I can break you out,” you reached down for the handle. “We can get out together and go back home and-” when you turned the handle, it stopped halfway. You frowned and looked down and jiggled the doorknob. Glancing directly below the doorknob, you saw a keyhole and frowned. “I-I can’t unlock it. I don’t have a key. I’ll go find it!”
“No, (Y/N),” Daryl began.
You turned around, though, and went to make your way up the stairs, only to be met with a rock hard chest. You backed up and stared up at the face of a Savior. Your eyes widened.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? How did you get out?” His voice was dark, deep, and gruff. He crossed his strong arms in front of his broad chest.
You paled and began to trip over your own words. “I-I, um, ugh…”
The man chuckled and lowered his arms. “Let’s see what Negan has to say about this.” He told you before he reached down and grabbed you by your hair, tangling the strands into his thick, sausage-like fingers. He pulled, causing a sharp pain to soar through your scalp. You let out a cry as he began to drag you up the stairs.
Pounding came from behind you as well as shouts of your name. Daryl was calling out for you but he could do nothing about it. He couldn’t break out of the cell and save you no matter how hard he hit the metal door. He owed you that much, at least. It was all to no avail, though. As the man dragged you deeper and deeper into the Sanctuary, the desperate noises coming from your friend fading into the background before it transformed into silence.
Your hands were wrapped around his wrist as you tried to push his hand away and kick at his ankles, but he continued to drag you through the winding, confusing halls. Looking around at your surroundings, you knew that there was no way you would have been able to escape from the complex halls. You would have ended up getting lost and running into one of the saviors. Either way, stumbling through the halls, fingers wrapped around a man’s wrists as you tried to escape his grasp, was a likely scenario no matter how stealthy you were with your rough plan. You should have just stayed in your cell.
It didn’t take long before you were taken to a rather active part of the Sanctuary. From room to room you heard conversations. Some of them were tactical and serious and others were playful and casual. Your head continued to throb as the man pulled on your hair, dragging you through the halls and up a two flights of stairs. Tears were running down your face from the stinging pain in your head.
“Let me go! Please let me go!” You cried out as you tried to pull yourself away from the man, but it only resulted in more pain as he yanked your body closer to his.
“Keep your goddamn mouth shut, kid.” He growled.
A couple of flights of stairs later, you went down another hallway, still being dragged by your hair, the pain nonstop and a headache slowly beginning to develop. The third door on the left was the one that was knocked on. There were a couple of voices coming from inside, but once the massive man knocked on the door, the voices stopped and a deep, familiar voice filled your eardrums.
“Come on in,” it was Negan.
Your eyes widened once the man opened the door and dragged you easily inside, throwing you onto the ground, closing the door behind him. You reached up and grabbed your head, rubbing it gently to try and ease the pain that was soaring through your scalp. A deep chuckle came from in front of you. Glancing up, you could see Negan sitting in one of the many chairs that surrounded a metal, oblong table. Negan’s feet were on the table and Lucille was at his side. In the rest of the room, there were multiple Saviors who sat at the table, Simon sitting at the other end of the table, directly across from Negan. The group of men turned and looked at you and as well as the other Savior.
“Well, well, well,” he hummed and removed his feet from the table and moved the chair back in order to stand up. He swung Lucille over his shoulder as he stalked closer to you. “What the fucking fuck do we have fucking here?”
“I found her out of her cell and talking to the redneck bastard.” The man said. “She said she was going to go get the key to get him out.”
“You would have never fucking found that key, ya’know?” You said nothing in response to him. “How the fuck did you fucking get out of your fucking cell, huh?”
“Um…” you swallowed the lump that was in your throat. “W-When s-s-someone-”
“Quit fucking stuttering.” He said with a deep, dominant voice.
Again, you swallowed, trying to steady your tone of voice so that you didn’t get him angrier than he was starting to become.
“When someone came into my cell to get the tray from lunch, they left the door unlocked. I decided to...try and get out.”
Negan raised his brows. “So you didn’t fucking escape. You opened the fucking door because some worthless fucker left the goddamn thing open.”
You nodded slowly.
Negan raised his brows and glanced at the man who had brought you into the room. “I want you to find out who the fuck was the last one inside of her cell,” he said, gesturing to him with Lucille. He then glanced back at you. “You didn’t, by any fucking chance, get a good look at the ignorant fucker that left the door open, did you?”
You shook your head. “No,” you began. “I was blinded by the light.”
“Well, what the fuck ever. We’ll get the son of a bitch.” He turned towards the man. “Go fucking get him.”
“Yes, boss.” He said as he turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Negan licked his bottom lip as he turned his gaze at you. He gestured up with his bat. “Get up.”
You pressed your hands against the concrete floor and pushed yourself up until you were standing in front of him.
Negan licked his teeth, smirking, leaning to the side. “I want you to go ahead and say you’re sorry.” He said.
You looked down at the ground, folding your hands in front of one another. “Sorry,” your voice was timid and rather quiet.
Negan shook his head. “No. That was fucking pathetic.” Negan’s voice was a deep, dark whisper that made shivers run down your spine. “I want you to really apologize.”
“I’m sorry for leaving the room, Negan.”
“There you go. That’s fucking like it. Now, what are we supposed to fucking do with you? I can’t put you back in your goddamn cell, unchained at least. How about I leave you with my wives? I don’t feel like fucking them right now anyway.”
You grimaced at the words he spoke about chaining you up as well as his wives. He was a disgusting man and you would do anything to get away from him. The wives didn’t sound so bad, after all.
Negan glanced at one of the men that were surrounding the table and gestured for him to get up. He stood up and walked over to you. He grabbed your wrist tightly and pulled you close to him.
“Take it fucking easy, asshole.” Negan told the man and his grip on your wrist loosened slightly. “Go ahead and take her to Sherry and tell her what fucking happened. Make sure she doesn’t fucking take her out of her fucking sight.”
“Will do,” he said.
Before he got a chance to turn and leave, Negan pointed a gloved finger at you. “Don’t fucking test me, kid. Because I have been nice so far. You won’t like me when I’m not fucking nice. You saw what I did to your old man.”
You narrowed your eyes and clenched your jaw as the man dragged you out of the room, closing the door behind him. Once you were out, you were able to keep up the pace right behind him. He wasn’t as violent as the man before. You were thankful for that. You went down the stairs, only one flight, before going down the hallway. You looked around and could recall the area that you were entering. You were near the area where the wives were. You walked directly behind the man until he brought you to the room filled with women wearing fitted black dresses that went down to their knees and heels to match.
“Sherry,” the man called out, getting the women’s attention. They turned their heads to look at him.
Sherry emerged from the group of women, stepping forward. She furrowed her brows. “What’s going on? It’s not time for-”
“This one escaped from her cell,” he said and practically threw you at the wife.
Sherry raised her brows and caught you, placing her hands gently on your sides and bringing you closer to her.
“Negan said for you to look after her. I don’t know what he plans on doing, but he doesn’t trust be with being alone.” He told her before he simply left the room, not looking back.
Sherry glanced down at you as you stood up straight and looked down at the ground. “Are you alright, (Y/N)?” She asked. ‘Did they hurt you?”
“A bit? Negan didn’t, but this asshole pulled my hair.” You said, reaching up and rubbing the back of your head for emphasis.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “What were you thinking escaping from your cell?”
“A guy left the door unlocked. I couldn’t...I couldn’t just stay in there. I have to get home. I have to see my family. I have to see Carl. I have to get Daryl out, too.”
“Sweetheart, you weren’t going to get out. This place is huge and confusing. It took us weeks to remember where everything was.”
You glanced up at Sherry and then looked back down at the ground and nodded your head in understanding. “I know,” she said with a heavy sigh. “I just...I have to leave, Sherry. I have to go home. It’s been four days.”
“I know, (Y/N).” Sherry moved you over to the couch and sat you down. She slowly sat next to you. Sherry reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry that Negan has done this to you. He’s an asshole. He really is. I wish that there was something that we could do to get you out of here, but we have to look out for each other. We don’t want Negan to do anything to us or to the people that we love. Do you understand?”
“I don’t expect you to do anything to help me out. I understand that you have to do what he says.”
“And you have to listen to him too if you know what is best for you. He won’t do anything to hurt you if you just do as he tells you.”
You raised your brows and your shoulders slumped as you glanced down at the ground.
“Because, right now, that’s the only thing that can guarantee that you get back to your boyfriend safely.”
“But when am I going to go back with him?”
Sherry opened her mouth as if to say something, but she closed it just as quickly as she opened it. She looked into your eyes and you looked into hers. Sherry shook her head after a couple minutes of silence. By then, the wives had gone back to what they had been doing, glancing at you and Sherry every now and then.
“I don’t know, (Y/N). But I know that you’ll be able to go back home to him, eventually.” Sherry told you with a soothing tone as she reached up and ran her fingers through your hair. “Don’t worry.”
It was hard not to worry, though. Four consecutive days without sunlight or even a glance at the outside world could make an individual go stir crazy. It made the want to go home stronger than ever before, even if you couldn’t do anything about it. You felt tears slowly appear in your eyes. You looked up at Sherry.
“I miss him, Sherry,” you said with a small, timid voice.
Sherry sighed and reached up and wiped the tears away from your cheeks. “I know, (Y/N), I know.” She opened her arms, welcoming you into a hug. You nodded and wrapped your arms around her loosely.
Ever since you arrived, you could tell that Sherry was completely against whatever Negan did. You could tell it from the way that her tone of voice was the first time you met and you could tell by the way she trash talked him whenever she could around you. In a way, Sherry was the one person that was keeping you sane through your entire time at the Sanctuary. For that, you were thankful and you hoped that she made it through this mess of a world. She was a wonderful person. She was the only Savior that you could trust. So she could be the only one to ask the next question.
“So what do I do to get out of here?” You whispered.
Sherry glanced at you and raised her brows. She shook her head. “Like I said; just do what he says. He will treat you a lot better and then, hopefully, you will be able to go home soon. I’ll have a talk with him, but I’m not entirely sure he will listen to me.” You let out a small sigh and your shoulders slumped as you looked down at your feet. Sherry wrapped her arm around your shoulders and brought you close so that you could lay your head on her shoulder. “All you have to do is wait. You will get to go home eventually.”
Eventually. That term could mean many different amounts of time. It could mean tomorrow, it could mean two weeks, it could mean two months. Hell, it could even mean more than a year. You could even stay at the Sanctuary forever. You didn’t know. Waiting wasn’t the only thing you needed to do. You also needed to have hope. You needed to have the hope that you would be able to escape some day. Either that or the hope that Carl would break in, come get you, and save you as if the two of you were in one of those cliche fairy tales. No matter how you were saved or how you escaped, you would see your boyfriend again. You would see your family again. You would see your mother again. All you had to do was wait.
Summary: You hated people to the bottom of your heart. Ever since you were a child, you had shoved people out of your life and you liked it that way. It made you feel comfortable. However, when Maggie and Glenn came into your life, they made you feel...comfortable.
Request: I’ve read about Reactive Attachment Disorder when a used children have trouble bonding with new people and basically the more they love/attract to someone the more they lash out or try to push away. Can you do something like that between gleggie and an adopted daughter of sorts? Love you and the work. (Anon)
Your favorite place to hide was in the corner of Alexandria in a tree, covered by leaves and branches, blocked out from the rest of the community. That tree was the place that you went every day after you finished the tasks that Rick had given you in order to avoid any type of communication with the members of the group. It wasn’t that you didn’t like them or they were not nice to you. Quite the contrary, actually, they were all nice to you. Very kind and sweet and protective.
You hated it.
Ever since you were a young child, you had been a loner, pushing those away who had shown any type of connection with you. A relationship - whether it was platonic or romantic - didn’t intrigue you in the slightest. You never had friends, always swung on the swing by yourself, sat in the back of the room, never talked to anyone when you had to do ‘group work’, and overall shut everybody out. Your parents and teachers thought you had a problem, that it wasn’t ‘normal’ to shut everyone out. In the end, you shut them out too.
You didn’t feel bad when your parents died, at least not how most children would. There was pain in your heart, but you mostly felt relief. Relief at the thought that you would finally be able to live your life like you had always wanted it: alone. It didn’t last long, however. A little over a year and a half, you could only assume, after it began, the solitude came to an end when you found Rick and his group held up within a large prison. At first glance, the prison read as a wonderful place to hide and separate yourself from the rest of the group, however, when Rick began to hand out stuff for you to do - whether it was going out on supply runs, going on watch, helping him and his son do some gardening - you knew that these people were expecting labor for your stay and not expecting someone to house at the prison for free.
In the end, you were forced to interact with the other members of the group. Even though you had to do it, you tried your best to stay as far away as possible, if not physically, than emotionally. While you worked with them, you kept verbal communication to a minimum of fifty words as needed in order to give directions or to accept directions. After that, you retired to the cell that Rick had given you, closing the door and the curtain, separating yourself from anyone and everyone.
When the prison had burned to the ground after the Governor’s men attacked, you knew that it was, again, going to be the end of any possible privacy that you could have within the undead world. From Terminus to Alexandria, you were cursed with having to be near the rest of the individuals. Sure, they were nice to you and protected you and, in the end, you protected them, but you never got close to anyone. You could never get close to anyone. Getting close to someone meant that you developed feelings for them and getting feelings for them meant that they could take those feelings and crush them into a million little pieces, leaving you heartbroken and wrecked and damaged to the point where you could not be fixed again. You didn’t want to end up like that. You were completely fine being alone and in tact, thank you very much.
So when you reached the small community of Alexandria, realizing that you didn’t have a single place to call your own, you had to improvise. Tree climbing was something you did as a child, so you used it to your advantage. You found a tree far away from the rest of the neighborhood and claimed it as your own, always going there after you did as you were told. It was the only place that you had to yourself. The house that you were given to sleep in, sadly, had others that accompanied you. A couple, as a matter of fact: Glenn and Maggie.
Glenn and Maggie is the sweetest couple that you know. They treated you like a part of their family. You would even dare to say that they treated you as if you were their own child. Although some of the people would consider it adorable, you despised the way that they acted towards you. You hated that they were making you...feel something for them. It was something that you swore that you would never do. You were beginning to feel like you were getting close to them and you had an inkling that they felt the same way.
Each time Glenn or Maggie thought you were coming around and getting close, they would try to involve you in activities so the three of you seemed like the cliche family that used to watch television every Sunday night after dinner. Each time, though, you turned them down, immediately going to your room and locking the door. You couldn’t get close to them. You would tell yourself every single minute of every single day that it was one of the worst things that could happen. You would get close to someone and then they would hurt you, playing with your emotions like a toddler would play with a new toy, smacking it around and shattering it into a million pieces before whispering ‘oops’. You couldn’t face anything like that.
Although throughout the year you knew them, you found yourself getting closer to them emotionally, despite your mental protest telling you not to do it. There was a great amount of denial that came with it at first - you telling yourself that you were not feeling anything for them, but rather it was a feeling of pity that was setting in the pit of your stomach from the sad faces that they give you when you deny their attempts to get to know you. As you moved with the group, however, a part of you wanted to admit that you were getting close to them and you wanted to get close to them. The overpowering sense of wanted alienation always overtook you, though, determining your reaction to what Glenn and Maggie says to you.
Each and every day, your mind was at war with itself, contemplating what you should do with you life and whether or not you needed to change the way you acted around people or whether you should stay the same, secluding yourself from the people that swore to protect you and have developed some sort of relationship with you. That idea was one you thought about the most while you were in the tree you had claimed months ago.
That day was no different. Your head was filled with multiple thoughts running through your mind at a rapid pace, giving you a small headache near the back of your scalp. You leaned your head against the truck of the tree while you rested on one of the highest branches.
The sky, in the distance, was beginning to turn a color of orange and pink, the sun setting behind the trees. You knew that you had to go back to your designated house soon, but as of now, you were going to relax in the tree, on the branch, all alone….
“(Y/N)!” Maggie called from a little ways away.
A sigh escaped from your mouth as you opened your eyes. You slowly began to make your way down the tree, going from branch to branch until you were able to jump down onto the ground. Glancing up the road, you could see that Maggie was coming down the street, a white apron wrapped around her waist. She walked closer.
“Hey, dinner’s ready.”
You glanced back at your tree and licked your lips before you looked back at Maggie. “What are we having?” You asked in a small, timid voice.
“I made some lasagna.”
You gave a silent nod as the two of you made your way to the house. Entering, you could smell the delicious aroma of the recipe of noodles, tomatoes, and cheese. One thing that you really didn’t mind about living with the couple was the fact that Maggie was an amazing cook. Whenever possible, the three of you sat down to a freshly made meal. You didn’t mind sitting at the table with her and Glenn as much as you did staying with them for the rest of the night.
As you walked into the kitchen, you saw Glenn setting up the table: one plate, fork, and glass at the head with two more sets on either side of the seat. Glenn glanced your way. “Hey, (Y/N),” he said to you.
Maggie walked over to the kitchen counter as you stopped in the doorway. You folded your hands in front of you and fumbled with your fingers. Maggie grabbed the glass casserole dish and brought it over to the dining table. She set it down and looked at you. “Come on a sit down, (Y/N). Let’s eat.” She said.
“What would you like to drink?” Glenn asked Maggie.
“Just some water, please,” she said with a smile as she walked over to the counter, opening up one of the drawers. She grabbed a plastic spatula and brought it over to the table.
“What about you, (Y/N)?” Glenn turned to you.
You slowly walked over to the table, pulling out your chair. “Water.”
“Alright,” He said as he grabbed your glasses, taking them over to the sink. He filled both of them with water before placing them back down onto the table.
Glenn grabbed his own glass and did the same with it. He finally walked over to the table, set his glass down, and sat in his seat. Maggie placed a decent sized piece of lasagna on each of the plates before sitting down as well. Hesitantly, you sat.
The three of you ate your dinner with small talk mostly going through Maggie and Glenn with you saying a word or two every now and then in response to a question that was asked to you. Other than that, the night had been rather quiet. Thankfully, you were able to enjoy the delectable flavor of the lasagna that Maggie made for the three of you.
Normally, right after you ate, you would set your dish into the sink and then dash up the stairs, doing your best to avoid any type of discussion between yourself and the couple. However, that night, after you placed your plate into the sink and began to head towards the door, you were stopped by the voice of Glenn being directed towards you.
“Why don’t you stay down here with us, (Y/N)?” He asked, raising his brows. “We were planning on watching a movie tonight and we would really appreciate it if you stayed down here with us.”
“O-Oh no, I-”
“Please?” This time, it was Maggie that said something. “We really want to spend time with you and...we really think you’ll like the movie. We have popcorn and snacks that we’ll eat while we’re watching it. Please?”
That time, you said nothing. Your mouth opened and closed several times as your mind briskly contemplated your course of action. Should you go upstairs and listen to the part of your brain that was screaming at you and telling you to leave and lock yourself in your room and never come out? Or should you listen to the calm, reasonable part of your brain that was telling you to give them a chance, to expose your emotions because Glenn and Maggie were good people and would not hurt you? In the end, you chose the latter option.
“Okay,” you said with a gentle tone.
Maggie raised her brows. “Really?” She questioned. You gave a small nod and Maggie smiled. “Alright then. I’ll clean the plates and put the leftovers up so that we can have them tomorrow. Honey,” she turned to Glenn. “Do you think you can get the movie set up and the snacks?”
“Sure,” Glenn said and smiled, reaching over and pecking his wife on her cheek. Maggie smiled and the two of them got to work. Glenn turned to you. “If you want to go wait in the living room, then that would be fine.”
You gave a small nod. At least it would give you enough time to gather your thoughts before you had to endure the long hour and a half with others. You walked out of the kitchen and went into the living room, sitting down in the chair that was beside the couch, allowing for the couple to have the sofa all to themselves. You took your shoes and your socks off of your feet, setting them beside the chair, mentally telling yourself that you were going to pick them up and bring them upstairs once everything was done with.
Maggie washed the dishes and put them in the drying rack before she placed the rest of the lasagna into the fridge. Most likely, you guys would have the same food for lunch the next day in order to guarantee that none of it went to waste. It wasn’t like you minded, though. Maggie was an amazing cook and the food that she prepared always seemed to fill you up.
Glenn began to prepare the popcorn, putting the Jiffy Pop on top of the stove and turning the heat up. He would leave it in there for a while until the kernels had finished popping. He went into the pantry where there was a small bag of candies still fresh in the box. He grabbed the bag and glanced inside. He smiled. He walked over to his wife as she cleaned the dishes, kissed her head, and then walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. He glanced at you. “Do you want some candy?”
“Pardon?”
“We have candy that we’re going to eat throughout the movie. Do you wanna look inside to see what you want?”
No, I just wanna get this done and over with. “Sure.” Dammit.
Glenn handed you the bag and you accepted it, placing it into your lap. You opened up the bag and searched through the boxes, grabbing one of them that you liked and setting it on your lap before tossing the bag onto the couch for the couple to share. Glenn went to the small bookcase that was located to the right of the television set. He glanced through the movies that they had available and he chose the one that he and Maggie agreed on. He flashed the cover box to you.
“Have you ever seen E.T?”
You furrowed your brows and shook your head. “No,” You said. “Never.”
“Really!?” He questioned, raising his brows. “That’s ridiculous! How have you never seen E.T? This was the best movie that I watched when I was a kid.”
“Yeah...never seen it.”
“Well you are going to tonight!”
“Great,” you rolled your eyes.
“That’s the spirit!” Glenn beamed as he walked over and placed the movie into the VCR player.
Afterwards, he turned on the television and watched as the movie went to its title screen. He nodded and walked back into the kitchen where he saw the Jiffy Pop begin to puff up. He grabbed the handle and shook it slightly. Slowly but surely, the popcorn began to rise. Once a couple more minutes passed, he pulled the Jiffy Pop off the stove and grabbed a bowl from the cabinet. He levitated the pot over the bowl and popped the aluminum foil, turning the pot over and emptying the popcorn into the bowl. He then threw the pot away. Glenn grabbed the bowl and walked to the living room, seeing that Maggie had already gotten into the bag of candy. Glenn smiled, chuckled, and turned off the light to the kitchen before he turned off the light to the living room. He walked over to the VCR and grabbed the remote on top of the machine and walked over to the couch. He sat down and waited as his wife snuggled up against him before he started the movie.
You opened up the candy near the start of the movie, trying your best to ignore the couple that was cuddling on the couch right next to you. You concentrated on the movie. You began to nibble on the sweets.
A quarter of the way through the movie, you thought it was very interesting, getting sucked into the main storyline as well as the characters. ET was such a cute little alien. In fact, you found that you were enjoying the situation. It was as if you had completely forgotten about your desires to be alone.
Halfway through you had run out of popcorn and out of candy, mindlessly asking Glenn for the bag so that you could find something else to snack on whilst watching the film. He smiled and handed you the bag. After you found another box you wanted, you handed the plastic bag back to him, which he gladly set beside him.
Three-fourths of the way through it was when the waterworks began to flow. The scenes began to get rather emotional. Normally, you were not one to cry in front of others, but at that point, you didn’t care about that. You were beginning to get comfortable around Glenn and Maggie, something you never imagined admitting as long as you lived.
“(Y/N)?” Maggie’s sweet voice mixed with the voices from the movie. You immediately turned your head to glance at her. “Sweetheart, are you alright?”
You sniffled, you couldn’t help it, and rubbed your eyes. “Yes,” you lied.
Maggie smiled lovingly and moved over on the couch, patting the space between her and her husband. “Come here,”
“I…”
“Come here, (Y/N).”
You raised your brows. For once, you actually wanted to move over with them. You nodded and stood up, moving over to them and sitting down in between them. Maggie reached behind her, grabbing a blanket that was folded over the back of the couch and brought it over the three of you, covering you up. She wrapped an arm around you and Glenn placed an arm over the back of the couch. You leaned against Maggie and she rubbed your shoulders as you continued to watch the movie.
Never in your life had you imagined snuggling up to people because you wanted to. Warmth was something different, but that wasn’t one of those times. You were snuggling up to someone because they were trying to comfort you because a movie brought out all of your emotions. It was a scenario that you would have never dreamed of two years ago. You were glad you found Rick’s group.
By the end of the movie, your eyes were drooping down from your exhaustion. As the credits rolled on the screen, you yawned. Maggie and Glenn pulled away from you, both of them standing up. Maggie stretched while Glenn walked over to the VCR and ejected the tape.
“So,” Glenn began. “What did you think of it?”
You nodded and slowly stood. “I really liked it.”
“Right!? Wasn’t it awesome?”
You chuckled. “Yeah. It was...awesome.”
Glenn smiled, taking the tape out and walking over to the bookshelf, putting it away.
“Thank you for watching the movie with us. It was nice for a change to have you in here.” Maggie said.
“Yeah, we really appreciate it.” Glenn said as he walked over to Maggie, wrapping an arm around her, pulling her close.
You blushed and rubbed the back of your head. “It’s no big deal.” You said. “I really enjoyed it.” You were completely honest with the words that you spoke.
“We’re glad.” Maggie said.
You gave a small nod. You yawned again, knowing that you should get to bed as soon as possible before you pass out in the middle of the living room. “Goodnight,” you said after the yawn, turning your back on them, heading to the stairs.
“Goodnight (Y/N),” both of them told you.
You reached your hand out and grasped the railing of the stairs. However, you stopped and glanced back at the couple. Without giving yourself time to talk you out of it, you walked over to them and embraced them. You closed your eyes as you hugged them, feeling their hands rest on your back. You pulled away after several seconds. “Goodnight.” You told them again.
“Goodnight,” they both said with wider smiles on their faces than before.
As you turned and walked up the stairs, you didn’t look back. You went into your bedroom, closed the door, turned off the lights, and got into bed. It took a while for what you had done to process in your brain, but once it did, you smiled. You hugged someone. You initiated the hug. You could not remember the last time you had done that and yet everything seemed okay. You didn’t feel strange or out of the ordinary. In fact, it made you feel normal, something that never applied to you until that very moment.
You liked it.
As you drifted off into slumber, you thought about the progression of your attitude towards people, mainly Maggie and Glenn, and mentally thanked Rick for accepting you into the group and you even thanked yourself for opening up the option to a brand new world that could change your life for the better.
I’ve read about Reactive Attachment Disorder when a used children have trouble bonding with new people and basically the more they love/attract to someone the more they lash out or try to push away. Can you do something like that between gleggie and an adopted daughter of sorts? Love you and the work.
I am so sorry that this took so long to write! I’m such a horrible person! I’ll have it up in less than ten minutes!
Summary: With the rain that has come in, you had decided to stay in the hospital in order to further your research when it comes to the cure.
The surgical mask rested gently on your nose, covering the lower half of your face. The scent from the flesh of the undead wafted through the laboratory, but it didn’t bother you as much as it had in the earlier days of the apocalypse. You were quite used to it by now, having to work with it every day for the past year or so.
The weather had turned from bad to worse. What started off as a distant look of angry clouds turned into the hammering of rain against the windows of the hospital, thunder echoing, shaking the building, and lightning flashing past the trees. The storm was harsher than you predicted and it seemed as if it wasn’t going to let up any time soon. So, as the rain pounded harder against the glass, light outside flashed brighter, and drums sounded louder within the sky, you stuck yourself in your laboratory in order to further your research on the cure that you had put on hold in order to help the Alexandrians with their weaponry and fortification.
Presented in front of you, on the table, was a small vile of a mixture of many different chemicals, a notebook filled with calculations, a microscope with a petri dish sitting on the examination table, a handheld timer, and left over glass containers that were wet with ingredients that you have used before. The surgical mask was on your face and the large goggles were placed over your eyes. Your hair, you made sure, was out of your face, hands covered in heavy duty gloves, and your body was covered from head to toe to not expose skin and risk yourself getting hurt or infected.
At that moment, you had set the timer for thirty minutes in order to record the process of the test cure that you had put in the petri dish. It had been twenty minutes. Ten to go. You were calculating different cure mixtures just in case the one that was currently active. You boxed in the calculations that were in effect and wrote around it. Your mind was soaring, running through the hundreds of thousands of mixtures that were possible with the limited amount of ingredients that you have in your possession.
Your mind was so engulfed with the arithmetic estimations that you almost didn’t hear the faded sound of the timer going off, signalling the end of the testing session. You pressed the button on the timer in order to stop it from beeping. Afterwards, you moved over to the microscope. You grabbed the sides of the goggles and let them rest on the top of your head. Pulling the machine closer, you leaned forward in your chair, moving to the very edge of your seat, back straight. You leaned forward, pressing your eyes against the ocular, keeping both eyes open.
What you saw when you gazed into the petri dish was a sight that you never believed you would see.
Inside of the small dish was the remains of the skin cell that you had paired with the disease. However, the skin was not damaged. Not anymore, anyway. When you last placed the disease within the dish with the skin cell, you saw the color change from bright to bland, engulfing it in darkness, but after you placed your developed test cure within the dish and waited for thirty minutes for it to try and take effect, the skin was back. Back to the original color that it was when you first placed it on the dish. Your brows raised and you slowly lifted your head up.
“No way,” a whisper fell from your lips. You grabbed the petri dish and set it aside, rushing to the other end of the room to grab another dish from the large cabinet. You then ran back to the table and grabbed the scalpel that was located on a small metal table to the right. You set the dish down on the table and took off one of your gloves, revealing your nondominant hand. You moved the microscope back over towards you and placed your index finger underneath the ocular onto the stage. You kept your eyes open and looked inside. You could see small, miniscule cuts that you had made on your skin before, taking samples many different instances, but making sure to leave your skin healthy looking to the naked eye.
Keeping a steady hand, you moved the knife towards the finger and inhaled before you watched the blade slowly slice through the top layer of skin. To you, it felt like a small sting, as if you were getting stung by a bee. It didn’t hurt that bad, but it wasn’t entirely painless. Carefully, without cutting off the piece of skin all the way, you reached over to the metal table, replacing the scalpel with a pair of tweezers. Slowly, you grabbed the skin with the tweezers and eased it off of your finger. Carefully, you moved your steady hand to the clean petri dish, placing the skin particle into the clear dish. Afterwards, you set the tweezers on the side, on the same metal table that it had previously been, and gingerly took the dish into your grasp and moved it over to the microscope. You placed it onto the stage and switched on the light on the side of the device.
Gazing into the eyepiece lens, you were able to identify the single cell that rested at the bottom of the dish. Without the expression on your face shifting, you sauntered over to the examination table that rested in the middle of the room, the same table that you patched Rick up on, and the same table that Sharon’s head sat in a small, plastic tub. Grasping the sheet that was covering the walker head, you revealed the mutilated scalp, skin cut off here and there. Sharon’s milky white eyes wandered around the room, mouth moving up and down, hoarse growls escaping from her throat. You grabbed her jaw and pressed the bottom of your palm against her nose, spreading her mouth open, restraining her from her attempts to bite you. Keeping your hands on her bottom jaw to keep her mouth wide open, you reached into her mouth with your gloved hand and grasped onto one of the rotting teeth that lined the top of her mouth. It didn’t take much effort for you to press a thumb and an index finger against the bone and pull it out of the gummy, black bed.
Afterwards, you pulled away from her and Sharon began to growl loudly, remaining teeth opening and closing rapidly, wanting to taste the blood and skin and muscle, but it was denied as you draped the sheet back over her head. Ignoring the sounds that were coming from the monster underneath the cover, you walked back over to the table with all of the work on it and studied the tooth, shifting it in your hand as you did so. Reaching over to the metal table, you grabbed the scalpel and began to scrape off the particles that were on the tooth, the sound of the sharp object rubbing against the bone echoing in your ears, sending shivers running down your spine. After you got as much of the infectious material off of the teeth, you set the tooth down and glanced into the lens of the microscope. With a steady hand, you placed the gunk that was on the scalpel into the dish, making sure that it came in contact with the skin cell. Once you were finished, you set the timer for ten minutes. After ten minutes, you would check and see the progress of the transformation of the cell.
Walking over to the sink that was located in the far side of the room, you washed off the scalpel, covering it with disinfectant, making sure that there was nothing left from the walker tooth on the blade. When you finished cleaning and disinfecting it, you walked back to the study table and glanced at the timer. Seven more minutes. A curse fell from your lips as you placed the scalpel back in its designated spot.
The next seven minutes were the longest seven minutes of your life and you knew that the thirty minutes that were yet to come was going to consist of nothing but pacing and anxiously rubbing your hands together in an attempt to keep yourself busy. You figured that you might go ahead and try to get something else done - what else is there to get done - or possibly keep yourself occupied with a book or a board game that would normally consist of two or more participants. The sound of the timer going off, however, was the most beautiful sound that you have ever heard from any type of device during and before the outbreak. A smile appeared on your face as you turned off the timer, grabbed the solution that you were confident was the cure to the disease. You took some and placed it within the petri dish along with the decomposed skin cell. You gazed through the microscope for a second before turning back to the timer, picking it up and setting a thirty minute time limit before you would check the dish, hoping that the first test wasn’t just another flaw in the work.
After setting the timer down on the table, you backed up, heart racing and practically jumping up into your throat with utter excitement and anticipation. You had thirty minutes to kill - twenty-nine minutes and fifty-seven seconds - and you had to fill your mind with something other than the cure or else you were going to have a stroke. Glancing around, trying to focus on something else, a book came into your peripheral vision. You took the goggles off of your head and walked over to the book, studying the title. It was a medical dictionary. It was rather large and no doubt filled with all of the simplistic and elaborate terms that you knew and had yet to learn. A sigh escaped through your parted lips still covered by the surgical mask. You pulled up a chair and sat down next to the table the book once called home. You bent forward, not really caring about your posture and focusing on the text that you were opening. Once you saw the first word, you began to read aloud.
“Alpha. Noun. Definition: the first letter in the Greek alphabet. Adjective. Definition: of or relating to one of two or more closely related chemical substances the alpha chain of hemoglobin.” You read. “Abacavir. Noun. Definition: an antiviral drug taken orally in the form of its sulfate in combination with other antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV infection. Abacterial. Adjective….”
“Tenon’s Space. Noun. Definition: a space between Tenon's capsule and the sclerotic coat of the eye that is traversed by strands of reticular tissue and by the optic nerve and ocular muscles. Tenoplasty. Noun. Definition: plastic surgery that is performed on a tendon.” A yawn escaped from your lips as you paused. You had gotten pretty far in the dictionary by then, not even checking to see how much longer it would be once. You had kept your attention towards the hundreds of terms that you had read about in the book, almost forgetting about the task at hand.
However, it was when the timer finally rang throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and hitting your eardrums, that your head shot up rapidly, eyes wide, as awake as ever. You slammed the book shut and turned your attention back to the mission. To the cure. You turned away from the book and grabbed the goggles, placing them back onto your head and walking over to the timer, shutting it off to eliminate the noise that emitted from it. After the timer stopped, you turned to the microscope, immediately looking inside of the eyepiece lens, getting ready to face the facts.
You froze when you saw the results. In front of you, inside the petri dish, was a perfectly restored sliver of skin. Your entire body went numb as a scream began to form in your throat. You backed up slowly, eyes wide, and mouth practically dropped to the floor. Your hands shook violently as you brought them up to your face, pressing them against your cheeks. You backed up so far that your legs bumped into the examination table that rested behind you. Jerking so the side, you listened to the moans and groans from Sharon get louder from underneath the cloth. The breath that came out of your lungs was heavy and choppy. Ever so slowly, the emotion began to build inside of your chest until it began to burst and unravel. A smile replaced the look of shock on your lips and your eyes lit up with elation.
A scream erupted from your chest as you began to jump up and down on the floor like a child who received the toy that they had been longing for for Christmas. The joy was practically exploding inside of you. Finally, after months and months of testing, after countless nights of being in that lab doing nothing but mixing ingredients together, you have finally found the most important thing to the modern world. Not food, that is not as important anymore. Not shelter, they could still do without. Not weapons, they are definitely not near the priority anymore. From now on, the biggest importance in the entire world will be having a vile of the the cure with them at all times.
A clap of thunder rumbled the building. You reached up and took off the goggles that covered your face as well as the surgical mask, tossing both of them onto the examination table. Running over to to the door, you began to strip all of the medical necessities from your body, tossing the coat on the floor and throwing the rubber gloves into the trash. Afterwards, you ran out of the room, slamming the door shut and making your way down the hallway and up the stairs. It didn’t take long before you got to the top floor, body working on nothing but the adrenaline that was coursing through your veins. You ran down the hallway and out of the door you want, crashing into the pouring rain, flashing lightning, and pounding thunder. The rain felt like a small hint of relief as the water attached to your hair and ran down the features of your face.
It was as if the clouds had opened up, mentally anyway. As if you had finally discovered, not only the cure for what had destroyed the world in a matter months, but finally discovered what you were made to do with your life. You discovered that you weren’t just cursed with the power of knowledge, forced to do what others deemed acceptable from a person with your level of IQ. You had a purpose in your life, even if it meant spending hours in solitary confinement, locking yourself in a room that was filled with nothing but discoveries: science. The purpose of a life that you thought was useless was to save the world. Was to save those who deserved to be saved. To stop all of the madness and prevent it from spreading. Finally, after years of being told what to you, you realized what it meant to be you.
Summary: It had been three days after you were taken from Negan and Carl and Rick think it’s about time to tell your mother about the incident.
Carl knew he had to tell Maggie about (Y/N)’s kidnapping. He had to tell her about the fact that he wasn’t able to do anything about it. That he wasn’t able to stop them from taking her daughter and that it was all his fault for provoking the leader of the group that killed her husband. It was all Carl’s fault that (Y/N) was at the hands of Negan. God, even thinking about it made Carl angry at, not only, himself, but Negan as well. If anything happened to her, Carl was going to kill him. He was going to kill Negan. He was sure of that.
Rick planned on taking Carl to the Hilltop that day. It was originally Rick’s idea to tell Maggie about the events that occurred. Carl’s mind was too foggy for him to be able to think straight. Carl agreed to go with Rick in order to talk to the widow. Rick and Carl had not had a full conversation for three days - ever since (y/n) had been taken - and the car ride to the Hilltop was just as awkward. Rick kept his eyes on the road and Carl had his gaze out the window, studying the scenery as he passed it by, soon getting lost in his own thoughts, thoughts of (Y/N) by herself in a place that she was completely unaware of filling his mind as well as ideas of how he could sneak his way into The Sanctuary to get his girl back. He needed to get her back. He barely slept without her. God only knows how she was coming along.
“Hey,” the gruff voice of his father jolted him out of his thoughts. Carl jumped visibly and glanced at Rick, his brown hair cascading down his face and over his eye. He reached up and brushed his hair behind his ear.
“Yeah?”
Rick was silent for some time as he glanced at his son and then back at the road. It took Rick a while before he actually began to speak again. “It’s not your fault.”
Rick had said that many times before. Said it so many times that Carl had even lost count. He was sick and tired of hearing that it wasn’t his fault because he knew that it was his fault, that every time Rick spoke that line to him he was lying right to his face, that he was the reason why (Y/N) was gone and the reason why Maggie lost her daughter. He merely scoffed and looked away, back at the wooded area that they drove around. Rick frowned and let his shoulders slump as he glanced at the road ahead, focusing on his driving.
Rick felt bad. He knew that Carl had a sense of guilt boiling inside of him over what had happened to (Y/N), but he hated seeing his son look so depressed. Seeing him mope around all day, distracted at meals and unable to go on runs because of all the thoughts that he knew were running through his head. As a father, he was supposed to make his son feel better. He had no idea how to do it though. A part of him recognized that he had to figure it out on his own, but another part of him wanted the words that fell from his lips on a daily basis - the ‘it’s not your faults’ and ‘you’ll be okays’ - to be the only thing that helped him, that soothed him, but it seemed that the only thing the words did was irritate his son even more. Every day he tried to think of different ways that he could help him, but every thought seemed pointless. He knew Carl wouldn’t want to talk about it and had a gut feeling that the only thing that he was thinking about was a way to get (Y/N) out of The Sanctuary. He just hoped that Carl wouldn’t do anything stupid, even though Rick would do the same thing if Michonne, Carl, or Judith was kidnapped the same way that (Y/N) had been.
The gates of the Hilltop were visible from the road. Their tall, rusting stature seemed comforting. The community seemed secluded - a perfect place for Maggie to hide out. It would be easier for her to be there than for Rick and the rest of the Alexandrians to hide her in their own gates. The Saviors would surely find her there. The Hilltop was the only place with a living doctor that they could keep the pregnant woman.
Two individuals were on watch and saw the car as it approached. The male and female studied the vehicle and watched as Rick rolled down his window and stuck his head out, giving a small wave. The people nodded and opened the large metal gates. They slowly parted and Rick drove the car every so gradually into the community.
Maggie and Sasha slowly made their way from the plantation house to the vehicle just as Rick shut it off and the two Grimes men got out. Maggie’s appearance looked slightly better than it was when they met Negan. Her skin was slowly starting to go back to its regular peach color. Her short hair was brushed back behind her ears. Carl could tell that Maggie was confused as to why she didn’t see her daughter there and that made Carl’s stomach churn with guilt.
Rick and Carl made their way to Maggie. She met them halfway. “Where’s (Y/N)? Did she not want to come?” Maggie asked with her brows furrowed. Carl expected nothing else to come out of her mouth.
Rick let out a sigh, breath escaping through his nostrils as he glanced at Carl, expecting him to give Maggie the answer. Maggie’s gaze shifted from Rick to his son and raised her brows. Carl fumbled with the words that failed to come out of his mouth. The words that would tell Maggie that it was his fault that (Y/N) was gone and she could blame him all she wanted. She could hit him, kill him, do anything because without him and his rebellious actions against Negan the first time that they visited, then (Y/N) would not be in the situation that she is in. God, how she must be absolutely terrified. Just thinking about how scared she must have been tugged at his heart strings.
“Um…” he trailed as he glanced up into Maggie’s eyes. The hesitation allowed for a look of worry to cross Maggie’s face.
“Did something happen?”
Rick knew how difficult it was for Carl to admit to Maggie what had happened and how it did so. He placed a hand on his son’s shoulder as a type of calming method. He only hoped that it was affecting Carl the way that he wanted it to. Carl glanced down at the ground, closed his left eye, and then let out a sigh before he straightened himself out and looked at Maggie.
“Negan took her.” He stated. “A couple of days ago. The day that Negan first showed up to get the supplies, I threatened him and he took her.”
It was as if the healing that Maggie had done was erased. Her skin began to slowly pale, the corner of her lips facing down, and her eyes widening. Sasha got closer to Maggie, placing a hand on her shoulder. The woman seemed as if she was going to pass out.
“How...how did this happen? How did you let them just...take her?” She was directing the question not only towards Carl, but to Rick as well.
“They were going to hurt her. They were going to kill someone if we did anything.” Rick said, turning his body slightly and gesturing with his hand as he talked.
“I tried.” Carl said to her. “I tried to get him away from her, but he was going to hurt her and they took all our guns. We couldn’t fight them off with our fists. It wouldn’t have ended well and she was going to get taken anyway.”
Maggie’s skin had turned a ghostly white color to the point where she was almost transparent. She began to hyperventilate. Sasha frowned and got closer to Maggie, grabbing lightly onto her forearms, fingers wrapping around them and holding her up lightly. Carl felt bad. The guilt was etched onto his features like a painting. He took a step closer.
“Maggie, I’m sorry…” he trailed, voice quiet and brows raised.
“We need to go get her.” Maggie ignored the apology.
“Maggie, we can’t.” Rick stated.
“You need to stay here.” Sasha spoke.
“My daughter is out there with the man that killed my husband.” Maggie’s voice was stern as she stood up straight, looking into Rick’s eyes.
“We can’t.” Rick said and stepped forward. His voice was quiet, but serious at the same time. His body was tilted slightly as he looked into her eyes. “They outnumber us. They have our guns. They’ll kill us.”
“God only knows what he’s doing to her right now!”
Rick nor Carl had any idea what to say. They wanted to say that there was no way that Negan was hurting (Y/N), but they didn’t know. They had no idea whether or not (Y/N) was alright. For all they knew, she could have been dead somewhere in a ditch. All they could do was hope that Negan wasn’t that much of a sick, twisted son of a bitch. Rick glanced at Carl before he looked at Maggie.
“We’ll get her back.” He assured her. He didn’t know when, but he knew that they were going to get her back...eventually.
Maggie swallowed the lump that had been forming in her throat since the beginning of the conversation. She couldn’t say anything. She just simply nodded her head. Everyone knew that she wanted to say something. That she wanted to curse out Rick and Carl because they let Negan take her little girl. Let the psychopath take her daughter. Carl knew that he deserved it, but Maggie said nothing. She turned back to the plantation, moving away from the group. Carl frowned and slumped his shoulders. Rick moved over to Sasha, getting her attention, leaning close to her so that he could speak to her quietly.
“Keep an eye on her,” he told her. “Make sure she doesn’t do anything.”
“Already ahead of you.” Sasha nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything. Just be sure to get (Y/N) back.”
“We’ll try.” Rick huffed.
Sasha gave him a small nod before she turned around and followed after Maggie. Carl watched as the two women vanished before he looked away. Rick walked back over to his son and placed a hand on his shoulder, a silent gesture telling his son that it would be best if they left. Carl responded by traveling to the car. Carl got into the passenger’s seat, buckling up and crossing his arms over his chest. Rick shook his head, hands placed at his sides as he sauntered over to the vehicle. He got inside and turned on the car, backing out of the Hilltop community, watching as the heavy gates were closed behind him.
The ride home was silent, words hanging that wanted to escape. It was the words that Rick wanted to speak and comfort him, but he knew that it wouldn’t help Carl. That he had heard the words over and over again and did not want to hear them again. He glanced over at Carl for a couple of seconds before he turned his attention back to the road. He opened his mouth, wanting to say that it wasn’t his son’s fault, but he knew that Carl would retaliate and disagree with him so he knew that it was useless. Instead, he spoke the only words that he could think of.
“We’ll get her back.”
Carl glanced at Rick, but said nothing else. He glanced back at the scene around them and waited, contemplating what steps he should take in order to get (Y/N) back. At that point, he would do anything to make sure that she was alright.
Your genius series is so amazing! It's the first good fic I've seen in a long time from anyone and it's super refreshing! (Just read your platonic Michonne piece as well, and it's super amazing as well!) Thank you for giving me literature I can look forward to seeing an update to! I hope you'll be making more installments of the series! Keep up your good work with everything!
So, guys, for the next 4 days I will be unable to write due to a trip that I am taking to New York City! However, I will be able to write again starting Friday!
Heyo :) Can I request a Carl grimes x reader imagine where they are two people who shouldn't be together.(Because of the Apocalypse)Even though their relationship has descended to a "rock bottom" place, they appear unable to let go and move on. Can you do a imagine that is along these lines?
Sure thing! Sorry if it’s a little late, but here you go. Fluffy shit!
Summary: You have been with Carl ever since the Prison and you start to wonder whether or not the love is worth the hurt.
Request: Heyo :) Can I request a Carl grimes x reader imagine where they are two people who shouldn't be together.(Because of the Apocalypse)Even though their relationship has descended to a "rock bottom" place, they appear unable to let go and move on. Can you do a imagine that is along these lines?
Carl loved you from the day that he laid eyes on you, and you found that you loved him, too. However, at that young of age, it wouldn’t be considered ‘love’. Not until the two of you reached Alexandria with the rest of the group. At the Prison, it was merely considered a ‘middle school crush’. It wasn’t something that authority figures took seriously, but, instead, thought was adorable until the two participants reached the pinnacle of their teenage hormone years. Then it would be considered awkward and even dangerous if they were not careful. Of course, one could only hope that the romance and sweet emotions would eclipse the need for sex that teenage individuals experience, but everyone in the group knew that it was a factor, even before they left the Prison.
Except for you and Carl.
Ignorance was bliss at the Prison. Disregard for the feelings that would be encountered in the later years were not even considered in your minds. When you were at the Prison, it was simply a cute crush filled with moments of creeping into each other’s cells, sneaking quick kisses, holding hands, and hugging. Everyone thought it was adorable.
Then the Prison fell. You were separated with Rick and Carl, left alone, thoughts of the rest of your family being dead running through your mind nonstop. Carl was there to comfort you and you were there for him when Rick went unconscious. You went with him to find the house. You were with him when the walkers appeared. You were with him when he ate that large tub of chocolate pudding, which he kindly shared with you as the two of you sat on one of the roofs of the houses.
Later, Carl had an outburst and you were there for the entire thing. You sat and listened, hands pressed against your head. Afterwards, the two of you were silent with each other. You didn’t even look at one another. It wasn’t until Rick finally woke up from the unconscious state that you finally spoke and it wasn’t until Michonne showed up that you began to have a glimmer of hope appear in your heart. You and Carl talked again, smiled again, and did everything that you did when the Prison was still your home. Hugged, stole kisses, and held hands. It was just like the old days.
Until Terminus.
After Terminus, you stopped those small, gentle gestures towards Carl once again. The only time that you talked to each other or held hands was when you were escaping. Carl would hold you close to him, but that was only when the group stopped and relaxed after a long walk. The love for each other never vanished, though. Every time that you looked into one another’s eyes, there was still a strong, solid trace of adoration for one another. When you did stare into his eyes, you gave him a smile and he gave one right back to you.
The gestures were not permanent, however. They were still temporary until Aaron found you. Aaron seemed nice and willing to help the group, but you knew why Rick had his skepticism. Rick just wanted to keep the group out of harm’s way. Walkers weren’t the only enemy that was out there. That much was common sense.
You made it to Alexandria, though. Alexandria was a place that seemed like it was too good to be true, that it was just a trick like Terminus had been, but after seeing everyone there, you knew that it wasn’t a fantasy. That it was something that could be possible. The idea was no longer a dream. You were finally able to live a normal life like it had been before.
Now, you and Carl were back to your old selves. It was as if nothing changed, even though, deep down, you knew that anything could happen at anytime. The relationship that you had was like a ticking time bomb. Either of you could die at any moment and you had no idea when it was all going to end.
And you thought that it all ended when the walkers invaded Alexandria, when Sam, Jessie, and Ron died, when Carl got shot in the eye. You thought you lost him. You cried, stayed by his side, was forced to leave when you became too hysterical, and always held his hand. You regretted not holding his hand, not hugging him every chance you got, not kissing him when you could sneak them. You regretted all of it. Mentally, you made a vow to yourself that, if he made it out of it, then you were going to spend every moment with him. You were going to make it so you and Carl never regretted a moment that the two of you had together. You were going to make it last forever.
Carl ended up waking from his seemingly endless slumber. You and Rick were by his side the entire time and were both ecstatic when he finally awoke. You had even grabbed his face - gently of course - and pressed a longing kiss to his lips.
That was the moment. That was the moment when the middle school crush turned into love. Turned into longing devotion for him. With the way that he kissed back, you knew the exact same emotions had developed within him as well. No longer were the kisses just characterized as ‘pecks’ but they could be considered ‘kisses’. You no longer hugged, you embraced. That didn’t stop the feeling that brewed every second at the bottom of your stomach. The common sense feeling that told you that anything could happen at any moment. It never went away and your attraction to Carl never did either.
The wind blew lightly through your hair as you sat by the small lake that was nestled in the center of the community, the water allowing the air to cool drastically. Your eyes were closed, deep in thought. Alexandria was quiet, chill, serene, allowing the thoughts to flow through your mind more freely.
Anything could happen. Everyone is going to die eventually, but after the walkers showed up we are just going to die faster and faster now. I could die at any minute. Carl could die at any minute. We are just sacks of meat in a world that is waiting to devour us and turn us into monsters that want nothing more than to eat. They eat and eat and eat some more. There isn’t an end to the hunger. Walkers always crave more. What if it gets one of us? What if Rick dies? What if Judith dies? God, how would Carl live? What if...what if Carl dies? He already had a close call not even a month ago. What would have happened if the bullet had just been slightly more to the right? What would have happened if he would have gotten shot straight in the forehead? I wouldn’t have him anymore. We wouldn’t have him anymore.
Stop thinking like that. You have him with you, (Y/N). He’s alive and he is going to stay alive for many more months - no, years - to come. He will be there and I will be too. We will be there together through thick and thin. Forever...and-
“Hey, (Y/N),” the familiar voice that came from behind you made you jump, shaken from your thoughts.
Glancing back, you saw Carl walking up to you, a smile on his face. He sat down next to you, bringing his knees up to his chest. A smile curled at the corners of your lips. “Hey,” you breathed out. “You scared me.”
“Well, you looked like you were gazing off into space.” He chuckled, chest rumbling.
“I guess I was.” You shrugged.
Carl took a couple of seconds to study your face before he nudged your arm lightly with his elbow. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
At first, you questioned whether or not you should bring it up. You didn’t want to make Carl depressed. He seemed rather happy, but a part of you knew that letting it build up inside of you was something that wasn’t necessarily good for you. You figured that maybe you should tell him what you were thinking about. Carl always knew how to comfort you when you needed it. Plus, he gave nice hugs.
A sigh escaped your lips as you turned your head, eyes focusing back on the body of water that rested in front of you. The wind caused the water to dance around slightly, making ripples here and there appear. “Why are we doing this?” You asked, whispering.
Carl frowned at the question, a look of confusion crossing his face. He cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“I mean us. Why are we putting ourselves through this. At any moment, one of us could die and…” you trailed. “I would be completely devastated if you died. I don’t...even when you got shot I almost went insane.”
“(Y/N),” he began and moved closer to you. He wrapped one of his arms around you, pulling you close.
“I’m being serious, Carl.”
“So, what’re you saying? You regret getting together?”
“I don’t know. I mean. I guess…” You sniffled, feeling the tears form at the corner of your eyes. “I guess I want to. I want to regret getting together. I want to regret everything but I just can’t. I’ve already fallen in love with you.”
Carl was silent as the tears escaped from your eyes and ran down your cheeks. Lifting a hand, he cupped your cheek, using his thumb to wipe the trail of tears away. Closing his eye, he pressed his lips against yours. As you kissed, you squeezed your eyes shut, lips quivering. You wrapped your arms tightly around him and he did the same, bringing your body closer to his. He was the one that broke the kiss, dragging you even closer to him so that the two of you were hugging. His lips were pressed lightly against your earlobe, hot breath trickling down your neck.
“I don’t regret anything.” He whispered. “And I never will. I love you, (Y/N), and what happens, happens. We can’t stop it, so I want to live the rest of my life together with you.”
“And…” you sniffled. “I want to live out the rest of my life, however long or short that may be, with you.”
Carl pulled away from you, a smile curling his lips. “Please, don’t cry.” He said. “I don’t like seeing tears on your pretty face.”
You scoffed and chuckled. You pressed your forehead against his. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” You whispered lightly.
“Good,” Carl smirked and rubbed your arms lightly. “I don’t think that you should be thinking about that stuff.”
“It’s hard not to.”
“I understand.” He gave her a small nod. “I get it, trust me. I think about it sometimes too, but then I remember that you’re here waiting for me with that gorgeous smile, those beautiful eyes, and that sweet voice.” The compliments made you blush. “And all the negative thoughts go away. So, all you have to do is remember that right here, right now, I’m with you, and if you think about those stupid thoughts again, you can come to me and I’ll hold you for as long as you’d like.”
“Even if it’s for forever?”
Carl chuckled. “Even if it’s for forever.”
With a content smile on your face, you leaned forward, pressing your head against his shoulder. Carl wrapped his arms gently around you in an embrace.
“I will love you forever and ever,” you whispered into his ear, smiling slightly.
“And I love you,” Carl breathed out lightly, kissing your cheek. “Forever and ever.”
