EXTINCTION EVENT | CARL GRIMES

t h i r t y - f o u r ↣ five minutes

Tara says nothing.

My nosy eyes flick between the apologetic woman and the other who holds a tight-knit scowl across her face.

"No. You don't." Rosita huffs. "I can't just wait. I don't know about you, but I can't."

This causes Tara to give the woman a much-needed talking to. The words leaving her mouth are exactly what Rosita needs to hear. Although, Tara never quite stoops down to the level of the bitter woman's despair.

Both of the women are in the right, though. And they both know it, too.

The pair standing before me is a perfect balance of one other, in the most caring manner. Both are not afraid to do things for the people they love, they just choose to go about it differently.

"Maybe you could just save all of this for them." Tara wraps up her concise lecture to a stubborn Rosita who continues to avoid eye contact with her.

Her words are true. Rosita has been taking all of her aggression—towards the Saviors—out on all of the people of Alexandria. Very few have managed to wriggle themselves away from the grip of the woman's tense attitude.

With nothing except a pained glare, Tara sighs and finally retreats down the infirmary steps.

Rosita and I sit in silence, while my hand fumbles around in the pocket of my flannel. Carl's flannel.

Once Tara is out of earshot, I place the small tube of ointment on the patio table. "Here. It'll help with your scar."

"Keep it." Rosita huffs. "We need guns. I'm going to go find them." Her lips tighten toward me.

"And how are you going to do that?"

"I'm going out." She starts. The woman stands from the seat, and heads towards the porch steps. "I need to find something before I head to Hilltop, tomorrow."

"Hilltop?"

Although the woman's motives are completely guided by an opportunity to take a shot at the Saviors, mine are not. And the woman's words, unintentionally, extend an opportunity for me to do my—very passive—part in this war.

"Yeah." The woman stops in her tracks. "Why?"

"You mind if I tag along?"

☆

It's been a long time since I've spent a night outside the walls.

It's also been a while since I'd voluntarily let myself wander off, surrendering the privilege of knowing whether or not Carl was safe. And it won't be long before tonight, when I lose that privilege again.

The only night I've spent away from Alexandria, since our arrival, was spent entirely on my knees, under the intimidation of that barbed-wire wrapped bat.

My hands fumble around with a small duffel. The same one I'd used to hide the medical supplies from the Saviors. Except now—after treating two beaten men and Rosita—there's almost nothing left for me to work with.

Which is one reason why I must go to Hilltop. One part being the much-needed medical supplies, and the other being Maggie Rhee.