Sweet and Salty ~ Carl Grimes

Ma - 053

Brooks' arm was beginning to ache because of how long she'd been pumping the tap to fill up bucket after bucket of water. Marliya was with her, taking the full buckets over to the gardeners, and giving Brooks the empty ones. They were in the middle of a drought, it hadn't rained in weeks. They'd need the crops to get through the winter, so everyone was doing their part.

"My arm hurts, ma." Brooks complained.

Marliya grinned, leaning against the wall. "You're doing great, honey."

"Mhm." Brooks hummed. "I mean, first I dig a lady out of a well, and now I'm pumpin' water. My job just never stops."

"Oh, yea, you're so hardworking, Miss never leaves the prison."

Brooks scoffed. "You know I wanna leave. Since the last time I did it, though, everybody's so pressed."

"You nearly died." Marliya pointed out, remembering the day vividly in her brain.

Brooks shrugged, taking a moment to shake out her arm. She stopped as she watched Merle and Carol leaving the prison and heading for the field. The pair didn't notice Brooks and Marliya watching them. Carol was laughing loudly at something Merle said, he was smugly grinning with his arm around her shoulders as they walked together. "Gross." Brooks muttered, looking back to the tap and continuing to pump it.

"You good?" Marliya raised an eyebrow.

"No, that's bothering me. Why are they... You know... Together?"

"You mean why are they happy?"

Brooks grumbled. "I want 'er to be happy, I guess."

"And your father?"

"Don't call 'im that."

Marliya nodded, pressing. "Well?"

The daughter sighed, and shook her head. "Is it selfish that I don't? I mean, it's been two years. It's not that I'm still mad, but, I just... Don't... Want 'im to... I don't even know."

"Move on?" Marliya guessed, watching as Brooks looked down to the water bucket she was filling. "He stopped actively trying to make you forgive him a long time ago. If you want him to carry on-"

"I don't." Brooks interrupted.

Marliya offered a small smile. "But, if you did... He would. All you gotta do is ask him, my lovely."

"I don't know what I want." Brooks admitted. "I know that kinda makes me sound like a brat. I'm just a bit confused at the moment, ya know?"

Marliya nodded in understanding. "I know."

Letting out a breathy laugh, Brooks grinned. "You ever felt this confused?"

"When I was with Merle and Will at the same time." Marliya admitted.

"Ew, I regret askin'." Brooks laughed, scrunching her nose and shaking her head.

Before Marliya could say another word, there was screaming from Cell Block D. "Walkers!" Mika screamed, leaving the Cell Block in search for help.

Marliya and Brooks shared a simple look before they ran for the Cell Block without hesitation. Brooks hadn't killed a walker in a year, but it was like riding a bike, right? All she had to do was grab that knife her mother carried around and she was golden. Nobody let her leave the prison because of her leg, but that didn't mean she couldn't kill walkers. Just means she couldn't run. So, when Marliya with her gun, and Brooks with the knife were the first on the scene - they easily lost track of each other.

The screaming was worse. Brooks hated the loud noise, because the prison was always quiet. Sure the laughs and the chatter of people carried through the wind, but there was never any screaming. Screaming reminded Brooks of Nick, Will, her upbringing. It reminded Brooks a lot of when she first got back to the prison after her disappearance, and that was all in the past; that was the past that Brooks wanted to forget about. I mean, everybody else forgot about it, so why shouldn't she?