Sweet and Salty ~ Carl Grimes

Let Me Tell You Something - 031

Dale had been dead three weeks. His funeral was difficult, so Cam told Brooks. Andrea had made it very clear that Brooks wasn't welcomed. Later that day Brooks had paid her own respects to Dale, but made sure nobody saw her. The past three weeks she'd been avoiding most people. Even Sophia, because she didn't want her to get in trouble with her mom for hanging out with her. Sophia and Beth had gotten closer, and tried including Brooks, but she pulled away knowing it was what Carol wanted.

Brooks got closer with Maggie though; she always welcomed her with a friendly smile and a warm hug. Glenn wasn't actively hateful, but it was clear he wasn't as friendly with her as he used to be. Cam and Brooks had continued her fight training, and she was getting really good, she was a fast learner. Daryl and Merle were proud of her learning to defend herself, and all interactions between the Dixon family had been pretty uneventful. Daryl and Merle forgave her for what they thought happened on the highway, and were just their usual assholeyness to her instead of extra.

A decision was made on Randall. They kept him in that shed for the three weeks, but now they decided it was time to cut him lose. The days were starting to feel like winter instead of autumn, so Hershel had made the decision to let the group move into his large house. Everyone decided it unfair to keep Randall in that small, cold shed, so in a way to honour Dale, he'd go twenty miles out with a can of soup, a lighter and a canteen.

Brooks was setting up her sleeping bag and bag of clothes under the stairs. Had she have read Harry Potter, she'd realise the irony of her sleeping there, however, she only read factual books. With her reading glasses broke though, it would be a while until she'd read again. Unfortunately, the town didn't have any, and just yet it wasn't worth travelling all the way to the next town over for glasses. Wasn't worth it to anyone else, anyways, Brooks was willing to die if it meant reading just one more time.

"Cosy?" Carl's voice asked from the doorway.

Brooks turned in shock. "You shouldn't be talkin' to me, you know that. You'll get in trouble."

The boy shrugged. "What my mom doesn't know won't hurt her, right, River?"

"What do you even want, Carl?" Brooks pushed.

"To confess." He admitted, whispering.

Brooks raised her eyebrows. "Confess what?"

"The... The walker, that killed Dale? I saw it, earlier that day. But, I didn't kill it. By the chain of events, I'm the reason he died. That walker was stuck before I came along." Carl admitted.

The young girl stared at him in utter disbelief. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "I shouldn't have been blaming you so badly for what happened to Chris, because the same thing happened to Dale, because of me."

"Welcome to the club, bud."

"That's it?" Carl scoffed. "You're not gonna yell at me? Tell everyone?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why'd I do that?"

"Because that's what I did to you." Carl reminded her.

"Yea, funnily enough, I remember the reason everyone hates me." Brooks smiled, sarcastically.

Carl frowned. "But, you have to be mad at me."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm mad at you."

"You also have ugly hair, does that mean I have too? No."

The boy huffed. "God, you're so annoying."

Brooks smirked. "Yea, I know. Now, can you please step out of my cupboard?"