THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT carl grimes

ˣᵛⁱⁱⁱ. ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ

"What the hell does that even mean?" I grumbled but reluctantly crawled in next to Maggie, who was squished against Glenn. Abraham climbed in behind me, nearly shaking the whole damn thing when he plopped into his seat dramatically.

"Thirty tons and they couldn't make these damn things with a little wiggle room?" Rosita complained.

"Now if I start snoring," He paused thoughtfully, clearly some genius epiphany filling his head. "Well, I was gonna tell ya to wake me up but honestly? Don't-cha dare."

"Well then keep your drool in your mouth, mongrel."

For a minute he just stared at me, processing my words, probably trying to figure out what mongrel even meant. I almost thought the animalistic comparison had really gotten to him, but then he let out a boisterous laugh, so loud and unexpected it nearly made me jump. When he finally caught his breath from heaving out giggles, he roughly patted my shoulder. "You don't get enough credit for your whit, kiddo. You sure you're not from Rhode? They're mean up there, you'd fit right in."

"Who? America's little sweetheart? Nah," Tara piped up. "She's got that southern hospitality down."

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling, god that would be embarrassing. Instead I rolled my eyes as the rest of the group let out various chuckles. "Yeah, whatever."

Glenn gripped the steering wheel, then squinted his eyes in confusion as he tried to navigate the controls on the panel in-front of him. "Uh... Is there an instruction manual in the glovebox?"

"Christ, switch with me." Abraham grumbled.

—

Before long we were turning onto a dirt road, and then we came to a stop in front of the church.

I followed Maggie out, who immediately embraced Michonne. Rosita and Tara came from the other side, the latter greeting Carl with a hug. I stood awkwardly to the side, unholstering my knife as walker chatter filled my ears. Turning, I realized they were impaled by long spears sticking out of the ground, guarding the entrance. Gabriel followed my line of vision, swallowing uncomfortably when he looked at the scene marring his beloved church.

"You're back." Michonne said, shaking Glenn's hand.

He nodded, breaking the news to the three out of the loop with two simple words, "Eugene lied." Disappointment made its way across Michonne's face, and Glenn continued. "He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end."

She looked away, visibly swallowing before meeting his gaze again. "Where is everybody?"

She turned to Maggie, passing Glenn to grab ahold of her arms happily. "Beths alive. She's in a hospital in Atlanta. Some people have her but the others went to get her back."

Maggie gasped, tearing rushing to her eyes as she asked, "Do we know which one?"

"Grady Memorial."

"You didn't ditch after Washington fell through?"

His footsteps were silent, even with the gravel and fallen leaves strewn across the ground we stood on. But I felt him sneak up beside me, his flannel sleeve brushing against my bare arm, his hat that almost skimmed the side of my head due to our close height. I turned my head, thinking about whether or not I wanted to admit that I would actually regret leaving these guys. That being on my own was only going to kill me. That for once, I actually liked having company. I liked arguing with Abraham and pretending to hate Tara's bad jokes. I liked knowing that people could still have families and lovers. I liked being around someone else that almost knew what it was like to be me: someone that was worrying about having to find their next meal and fight off cannibals— alive and dead— instead of thinking about prom or failing Algebra.