Keep you safe ~(Carl Grimes x Reader: TWD)

Terminus

    You and Carl enter the backseat of the car. You hear Rick and Michonne talk about some kind of plan.

"We'll leave the kids outside with the guns while we check out the place and we'll get them if it's safe," Rick says to Michonne. Michonne nods.

"Why?" You ask, not in favour of the idea.

"Because it might be a trap." Michonne says.

You start thinking about the possibility. A... a trap? Then my parents... my brother... You start to think of the things that could have happened to your family. You feel like there is almost no hope and that Terminus is all a lie and you feel tears start to fall from your cheeks. Carl sees you crying and puts his hand on yours and smiles. Your heart would be pounding if you didn't feel so hopeless inside.

On the way to Terminus, the car stops at a man walking along the road that the others in the car seem to know. He joins Carl and you in the backseat, which brings Carl a lot closer than he was a couple of seconds ago. His hand is still joined with yours, but this time, your heart is racing despite your depression. His company is like a drug, you realize; giving you a scary feeling that is also good, causing you to forget about your troubles.

"Darryl, this is (y/n). She's our friend and the one who told us about Terminus." Rick introduces you to Darryl.

"Nice to meet you (y/n)," he says in a mix of a friendly and intimidating manner, "Welcome to the family."

You look at Carl, confused. He says, "our group was a family, and now you're a part of it." He smiles.

"This you're girlfriend or somethin'?" Darryl looks at your hands, snickering, and Carl turns red and laughs, embarrassed. You turn head to the window to hide your flushed cheeks.

—

After a long trip, the five of you make it to the territory that is marked as Terminus. Rick tells everyone to walk through the forest to sneak into Terminus (for safety purposes) and you stop at a fence that borders a large building. You resist the temptation to jump over the fence and search for your family. Instead, you follow Rick's orders of staying with Carl and the weapons outside the fence. Rick tells you that if something happens, you must wait until you see people Carl knows or them to escape. And if they don't come, you and Carl go and take the guns if you can.

Michonne, Rick, and Darryl leave you and Carl to sit behind a tree, waiting for something good to happen. You take out your dagger and fidget with it, feeling the thoughts of your family come back to your mind. You pray that this is a good place and your family is okay. "Look," Carl says, looking up at the sky. You look up and see a cloud shaped as a bunny. You laugh a little, "it's so cute."

Still looking at the bunny in the sky, you ask, "do you think your friends will be here?"

Carl takes a couple seconds to reply, "maybe."

—

Minutes pass and you and Carl don't hear anything. Assuming that's a good thing, you think of just going to Terminus. Your thoughts immediately change when you see smoke in place of the bunny cloud in the sky. You and Carl stand up in shock, when you hear gunshots. You look at each other with wide eyes and find a bush to hide behind.

You crouch down and allow only one tear to fall and you quickly wipe it away. You won't let yourself give up hope on your family so easily after all that's happened. You join Carl to peak over the bush to look for Rick or Michonne or Darryl but to no avail. You start to notice walkers coming from the left side of the building.

"There!" Carl points to a group of people with Rick, Michonne, and Derryl shooting the walkers and moving together. The two of you climb over the fence with the guns and run to your friends and other people you don't know. You assume it is the rest of the group that has ended up being alive.

"We need to get out of here!" Rick yells to you and Carl, over the gunshots and fighting.

"What about the people at Terminus?" You try to hold on to hope.

"The people at Terminus are not here to help us!"

You start to shoot as well and keep moving until the walkers are gone but gunshots still fill the background, "and my... my family?"

Rick looks at you with hopeless eyes and looks down, "we tried to look for them but they weren't in the building."

You begin to cry again, but keep moving with Carl beside you. You enter an alleyway and come across a group of people advancing towards walkers and shooting them. Your group starts to shoot at the people, but you don't care. You start to run to every door with a window and look inside, Carl chasing after you, telling you that you need to stay with the group. Then you stop at a door with wide eyes.

You open the door and run inside. You see your mom, your dad, and your brother sprawled across the floor. Dead. Shaking, you walk up to your mother's body and drop to your knees, holding her cold hand, "m-mom... mom?" Your vision blurs from all the tears in your eyes. You are in shock and by the time you realize that the dead bodies are now moving and groaning, it's too late. Your family - or what was once your family - is grabbing at you and you don't struggle. You lie down and look away, closing your eyes, about to let yourself die.

Then you hear a gunshot. Then two more. Someone takes your hand and brings you out of the room. The shock fades and you blink away the tears to realize that Carl is running with you to a car in the distance, surrounded by walkers. In the car, Rick and Michonne are waiting for you in the front seat.

Carl shoots the walkers that are in the way of the car. He opens the door for you and you both enter the back seat. Rick and Michonne say something to you and Carl but you don't hear them. Your senses begin to fade as grief kicks in and you hug your knees, crying silently with your head down. This time, Carl doesn't hold your hand, but it doesn't matter because it won't help the pain.

—

A few days on the road pass and you've spent your time, keeping to yourself. Carl, like the others, knows to leave you alone for most of the time, except for the concerned looks he gives you every now and then. You mourn less and less each day and eventually, you decide it's time to talk to the others.

You wake up, in the car, to a sunny day and the whole group, including new members have their cars parked on the road. You heard the other day that they were going to get supplies from a nearby gas station, so that must explain why no one seems to be around. You look around to see Carl and you're relieved that he's there. He is sitting on the pavement, keeping watch with his usual serious expression. You find it so cute when he looks like that. I wonder if he's keeping watch for me, your heart flutters.

You try your best to smile as you walk out of your car, "hey."

Carl looks at you, happy that you're finally talking, "hey, (y/n), had a nice sleep?"

You laugh, "yeah, thanks for keeping watch."

"It's no problem. Besides," he starts to say, smirking, "I've decided that I'm going to protect you from now on."

You are taken aback by his declaration, "o-okay.." Ugh that was so stupid. Seriously?!? 'Okay'?! I really need to control this nervousness that I get around him... You think to yourself momentarily then quickly change the subject to something you've been wondering about, "s-so where are we trying to go at this point?"

"Washington," he says.

"Washington? Why?"

"Apparently this guy who just joined us, Eugene is a scientist and knows how to find a cure for all this."

"Wow I seriously missed out on a lot."

"Yeah.. Well it's not your fault," Carl gives a concerned look like he didn't want to change the mood. "How are you feeling by the way? About what happened."

"Better," is all you can say.

It's silent for a while and you decide to say something, "by the way, thanks for saving me before. I probably wouldn't be here right now if you didn't do what you did."

He smiles. You look him up and down quickly and hesitate, but then give him a little peck on the cheek. You giggle, satisfied, when you see his shy, blushing face.