Machete Carrying Sweet Talker (Cluke)

Bringing Up An Old Friend

I stare at Carlos as he inspects my arm. He sighs and pulls my sleeve down.

"Was it a lurker bite?" Nick asks as soon as he finishes pacing.

Luke is just staring at me.

"If it was her temperature would have been through the roof by now." Carlos said. I smiled, giving Nick a 'I told you so' look.

He glared and stomped out of the kitchen. He was probably pissed off because he was wrong.

Luke followed behind him as Carlos turned around and began washing his hands. I watched the water graze gently over his palms.

"I wish you didn't do what you did," Carlos said, staring out the window.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. Was he talking about me stealing supplies?

I was prepared to give him an earful when he said something else.

"I don't like the fact that you manipulated my daughter." Carlos kept staring as he said that.

"There's a few things that you should know about my daughter." he informs me.

"Okay," I say awkwardly.

"My daughter isn't like you. You may not get that initially, but once your around her for a while, you'll understand." Carlos turned around and looked at me, his expression becoming sorrowful.

"If she knew what the world is like, how bad it is, she would.." he paused. "cease to function." he went on.

Did he keep her locked up this whole time?

"She's my little girl. She's all I have left, and I would ask that you stay away from her" Carlos's vice turns cold. I nod slowly. "I'm sorry," I whisper.

"You are forgiven. I just hope you won't do it again" He mumbles as he walks out of the kitchen.

"I, uh, brought you something to eat if you're hungry" I hear Luke say behind me. I turn and smile at him.

He places the bowl of food on the table. It's oatmeal. I smile in appreciation and sit down. Luke sits across from me.

Nick walks in and stares at me. I turn and look at him.

"Hey, I'm sorry for.. uh, well, being a dick out there" his expression saddens as he scratches the back of his head.

"You were trying to protect your friends. I get it." I smile at him. He sits down next to me and I take a bite of oatmeal.

"Nick lost his mom," I hear Luke say. I raise an eyebrow and look up at him.

"We were taking care of someone that got bit, and yeah.." Luke looked down.

I start to get why he wanted me locked up.

"His mom was standing there, and she got bit.." Luke said softly, looking sadly at Nick who was across the table.

I look at Nick and he looks back at me with kind eyes that I never thought I'd see from him. "Bad things have happened to everyone," I say to him.

He got up and walked out, clearly depressed.

I continue to eat my oatmeal, loving the way it dances across my taste buds.

"That's gonna leave one hell of a scar," Luke says with a chuckle. I laugh and shrug. "Better than losing it."

Luke laughs and nods. "Yeah, scars are better than stumps"

I smile but then it fades. I look down and picture the armless Lee in my mind.