Sweet and Salty ~ Carl Grimes

S' Getti Rings - 073

Brooks was gawking at the food in the middle of the barn. The small group had come back with the vehicles, and a shit ton of food from the RV. There was Coca Cola, beans with the little sausages, S' Getti Rings, vegetable soup, Pineapple and tomato soup. Brooks was holding a can of S' Getti Rings and staring at it, mouth open and eyes wide. She was starving, and hadn't eaten canned food in weeks!

"This is ours now." Rick decided, looking to Aaron.

Aaron nodded, lowkey getting tired of these people, but understanding why they were like this. A defeated sigh left his lips. "There's more than enough."

"It's ours." Rick repeated. "Whether or not we go to your camp."

Brooks heard Carl scoff from beside her. "Why wouldn't we go?"

"If he were lying." Michonne said, from the other side of Brooks. "Or wanted to hurt us, but he isn't... And, he doesn't. We need this, so we're going. All of us... Someone say something if they feel differently."

Rick swallowed thickly, and looked to Daryl, the man he hoped would agree with him. "I don't know, man." Daryl said, fidgeting with his fingers. "This barn smells like horseshit."

Brooks closed her mouth for the first time since she picked up the canned food. "Yea, that's mostly just you." 

Carl accidentally snorted a laugh, and had to put his hand over his mouth while Daryl's eyes narrowed in Brooks' direction. She smiled innocently at her uncle, and Daryl had to look away so he didn't smile back at her. However, that didn't stop Brooks spying the way the corners of his mouth tipped upwards. Grinning, she looked to Merle who stuck his tongue out at her through his smile, and so Brooks did it back. They all tuned out Rick interrogating Aaron for the location.

/----------\

"Hey, how you feeling?" Sophia softly asked, as she walked into the bedroom of the RV where Brooks was. She was laying on the bed, one arm laying out into the room, and the other dramatically over her forehead. The bumpy ride under the dark sky wasn't helping her, but at least they were going to a supposedly safe community.

The teen groaned. "Too much food."

Sophia laughed, sitting beside Brooks as she looked at her best friend. "Food coma?"

"Never happened before." Brooks admitted.

"Really?" Sophia grinned. "Not even Thanksgiving? Or Christmas?"

Brooks shook her head. "You're forgettin' we were abused differently."

"Ah, yes." Sophia nodded, a smile playing on her lips. "My dad was a monster hiding in plain sight, Will was like the big bad wolf, cabin in the woods shabang."

"Mhm." Brooks grinned, tearing open her eyes. "Now you're gettin' it."

Changing the conversation, still smiling, Sophia continued. "How many S' Getti Rings you eat?"

Brooks groaned, putting her hand on her stomach but wincing in pain. "They weren't even the main problem."

Tara walked in, holding Judith, hearing the conversation. "You mean when I warned you not to eat too many of the beans with the little sausages, I wasn't joking?" The woman teased a little, leaning against the door frame.

"Listen, Rick's the one who said he wanted all the food eaten before we got to the community, and there was food goin' left over. I took one for the team, selflessly, if you think 'bout it. I ate last, and the slowest until everyone else was too full." Brooks reminded the two. It's true, back when they were eating, Brooks was prepared to stick to one can of food if it meant the rest of her family could feast - it just so happened that they needed all the food gone and there were cans left over.