Lovely Bones

peace, love, & loss

— Flashback

Feeling the drop of sweat slide down his forehead, Jude took a deep breath, feeling the build of exhaustion catch up to him. The Georgia heat stuck to his skin like a layer of honey glazed over the back of his neck. With the sun beating down, and the boy's chest rising frantically, Jude pierced the ground with his shovel one more time. He wanted nothing more than to be sitting in the saftey of his cell where he could freely take a nap.

God, a nap sounded so good right now.

"You okay over there?" The southern voice of Rick Grimes brought Jude out of his fantasy.

"Yeah, you're sweatin' like a pig!"

Jude huffed a scoff. Rolling his eyes, the brunette straightened, bringing the shovel with him.

"I know you aren't over there talking, little man," wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, he pointed towards where young Carl was sat in the grass. The boy's chuckle could be heard from across the field, causing a small smile to expand on Jude's chapped lips. "How bout' you get off your ass and give it a go." His tone was playful, but nonetheless, Carl took it as a challenge — as a boy his age would with everything.

"Oh yeah? I bet a hundred bucks I could!" He hopped up from where he was sat and skipped over towards Jude. The brunette, with a challenging smirk, handed the shovel over to him gracefully — happy to finally take a break after Rick dragged him to the garden early dawn.

"Let's see what you got." Pulling the gardening gloves off of his hands, Jude shoved them into his back pocket before he dusted his palms together.

He took a step back, hands on his hips, and watched Carl hold the shovel — posture totally wrong, before he shoved the tip of the metal into the ground. A loud clang! bounced off of the hard floor as the metal hit the dirt harshly and jotted backwards, sending an uncomfortable vibration up Carl's arms. With a surprised groan, the determined boy readied up to do it again. Watching his form, Jude rolled his eyes.

"Hold up." Carl paused and looked up towards the elder with a raised eyebrow. "You gotta go at more of an angle." His brows dropped to a furrow. Huffing, Jude moved towards him. "Look," he grabbed the boy's smaller hands. He placed one on the shaft of the shovel, and his other at the grip. "Hold it here — and when you go to shove it into the ground, put your foot here," Jude demonstrated by putting the tip of his boot on the step. Dropping his foot, Carl mimicked his stance and obliged. Jude stepped back. "Don't go straight into the dirt, do it at an angle."

From a few feet away, Rick watched the interaction. He stood, leaning against his own shovel with pride in his chest.

"Go for it."

Upon his permission, Carl readied himself in the correct stance. On the count of three, he successfully shoved the tip of the shovel into the dirt, using his foot to push it in and his hands to control the movement. He lit up.

"I did it!"

"That's my boy," Rick grinned proudly, clapping his gloved hands together in celebration.

"Where's my hundred bucks?" Carl turned towards Jude with his arms crossed and a cocky smirk on his lips.

Rick whistled. "He got you there."

Jude laughed — something he didn't do quite often. "Oh yeah, let me just get that for you," with his words, he moved towards Carl and pretended to search through the pockets of his rugged jeans. "Oh, there it is, here —" he playfully pounced at the young boy. Carl yelped as Jude's arm wrapped around his neck, feigning a chokehold as his other hand raised towards the top of his hair and he brought his knuckles against his scalp.