Gods and Monsters ~ Mad Maggie x reader

15

"I'm allowing you to go on one more mission." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. His eyes widened with joy; a large grin spread to each of his ears. Those soft dimples that I loved peeked through, and his mouth sat open. I couldn't help but smile at him. However, his excitement didn't last for long.

"Why? What changed?" He quickly said, suspicion laced in his voice. He slightly turned his head away from me but still held my gaze. I crossed my legs, the velvet sheets on my bed squeaking under me. He was stood in front of me, his ankles crossed and a book in his hand. I shrugged at his question.

"I had a... talk with Maggie and she said that I should see what kind of missions they're letting you do."

"So, you'll... be there." When I nodded, his face scrunched up. "Why? That's so... ugh, why can't you trust me that this is fine. Everyone does this- "

"Whoa, I'm gonna stop you right there." I quickly stood up from my bed, he took a small step back. "I stopped trusting you when you stopped trusting me. You should've come to me and told me- "

"But- "

"Don't interrupt me." I sternly said, he gave me a quick nod before I continued, "If you would've come to me and told me what you got yourself into, I would've had a nicer, a more adult conversation with the others and I could've avoided a lot of trouble. You could've avoided a lot of trouble. This is the consequence of you action Carl. You go behinds your mums back, I must punish you. Your very lucky I'm even letting you stay on Salvo." I felt myself flinch when I had finished my rant. The look on his face was the exact same one on mine when my mother and I had this conversation. Although, mine and my mothers was a lot different.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled after a long pause. I sighed, walking towards him with my arms open. He reluctantly accepted my embrace, wrapping his small arms around my back.

"Why do you want this for yourself?" I asked him before pressing my lips to his head. He hesitated for a minute before pulling out of the hug.

"There's a girl in school, she lives far away so I offered to walk her. She lives near a solider camp, and she told me they kept trying to talk to her when she walked. I said I'd keep her safe..." He looked to the floor "They were... awful. So, mean, so..." He stopped talking, his hands curled into a fist. "I don't like them, I told her I'd keep her safe and this is how I can do it." I wanted to embrace him again, hold him, this little ball of light. "I wanted to kill them." He whispered, just loud enough so I could hear it.

"Why didn't you- " I sighed, no more questions today. "That's very brave Carl."

"I know." He said before quickly wrapping his arms around my waist. "Thank you."

I felt very apprehensive about the 'mission' now as we approached the location we had been given. It wasn't as far out as the church, but it was still isolated. A small dairy and poultry farm with a few fruitless trees and a stream that led to one of the only forests in this area. The grass was covered in brown, dead spots; evidence of the harsh summer we were enduring.

I saw Maggie stood with her hand on her hip, frowning at Walter while he clearly said something very outlandish. Carl broke out into a run and headed straight towards Walter. He smiled and crouched down, ruffling Carl's hair when he finally got to him. Maggie turned on her heel, her frown disappearing when she saw me. A man stood next to Walter muttered something and she smacked his arm.

"What're we doing today?" Carl asked. Walter smiled.

"This poor fella's chickens keep going missin', he says its prowlers." I felt myself tense up. Prowlers, is that what they consider cushy? "The suns setting so it's unlikely we'll see the buggers tonight, but he still wants us to make sure its nothing serious." Carl nodded. "He has a barn behind the house." Walter turned around and pointed to a small house. It was pretty far away, and I could barely make out the large auburn barn that was behind it. "Mags and (y/n) can patrol, Carl, Shane and I will sit inside the barn and watch the animals." Carl smiled and fist-pumped Walter. Maggie nudged me with her hip.