Bonds {TWD}

Chapter 7 {ARIZONA}

I know I told Carl he shouldn't feel safe, but I couldn't help but feel tempted by the feeling of safe, so here I am again, in the tree, playing with my necklace, alone, or so I had thought.
"You know there's this thing called school that kids are supposed to go to." Carl's voice drifts up to me and I drop the chain.
"What use are maths and english in this world?" I call back down using the line he said a few days ago.
"True-" his voice is strained as he climbs up "-a very wise man once said that." He chuckles as he reaches the branch next to me.
"Depends on what you call wise, incredibly weird and strange? Then yeah." I laugh.
"Hey!" He protests.
"I'm kidding." I roll my eyes, lean my head on the trunk behind me and look through the leaves above my head.
"Anyways, what are you doing up here?" Carl asks.
"Trying to have some quiet time." I say and glare at him.
"Cool." He shrugs.
"Quiet alone time." I clarify.
"Yeah but now I'm here!" He says and I roll my eyes.
"Fine, whadda you want?" I ask in defeat.
"Nothing..." He states untruly.
"Lies!" I raise my fist in the air and shake it dramatically.
"Ok, my dad sent me to tell you that you're staying with us now." He tells me.
"Ok." I say un-pointedly.
"You're staying with-" he pauses for I count ten fast seconds "-me..." He trails off and I look over to see him blushing, I pretend to not have noticed, because really I have no clue what that means.
"Cool." I brush it off.
"Ok... Well... I'll... See yeah." He says and hops from the tree. I laugh and hop out after him. What a weird guy.
• • •
The sun is being to droop behind the horizon and so are my eyes. I drag my feet to where Carl said I'd be staying. I open the front door and enter a kitchen with a living room arch to my left.
To my right is a granite island and a granite counter top lapping around the kitchen. In front of me are stairs leading up, there is another arc, presumably leading to the same living and dining room as the one next to me on the other side of a spice shelf.
I walk to the next arch and look in, it is the same living and dining room. On the front wall is a couch in front of a large window. There's a couple more matching chairs around a fireplace on the wall I'm facing. There's also a large table directly in front of me, it's surrounded by chairs and has a couple candles in the middle.
Carl told me our room is up the stairs and at the right end of the hallway. I trudge up the stairs and take the right down the carpeted hallway. At the end of the hall I swing open a white door.
I enter a light grey painted room, there's one dark blue bed to my right and a orange bed against the right wall, it faces a door that I assume is a bathroom, great I'm sharing a bathroom with a guy.
There's a bookcase in between the beds and another window in front of the navy bed that stretches across the wall, the window is fitted with a blind rolled up above it.
After scanning the room I walk in and close the door behind me, I look at the orange bed, it has a folded piece of paper on it.
I walk over and pick up the paper with long nimble fingers and unfold it. On it is a messy scrawl that I take time to read.
Hey Arizona. This is your bed, feel free to do whatever until I get back, I'll talk to you later.
-Carl
I smile and shove the paper in my pocket before belly flopping onto the bed. I close my eyes and fall into an abyss.
• • •
I wake up to muffled voices coming through the floor, and a heavy dog lying across my legs that are completely asleep. I push myself off the bed and wipe the sleep from my eyes before shaking Damian off.
I swing my legs off the bed and stand up, my legs being covered by pins and needles. After checking that my necklace didn't fall off in my sleep I make my way across the room with stiff legs and open the door, then I can tell who the voice is and what the voice is saying.
"She didn't even tell us she has those knives until it was of aid to her, she killed those men without a blink, she ran away just to come back crying for help, now we're letting her sleep under the same roof as us? Who's to say she won't kill us in our sleep!?" Rick argues.
Just as Carl opens his mouth to say something I speak from behind Rick and bring all eyes to me.
"Really?" I scoff. "I didn't show you my weapons because I didn't know if you weren't just planted there to make sure you'd gotten rid of all my weapons. And those men, they were going to kill you and I, plus if I had wanted you dead, I would have waited to kill those men, that'd be less blood on my hands. I ran away because I haven't had the best experience with other people, and I didn't come back crying for help, you found me when raiders were going to kill me, so I owe you my life, I won't kill you cowardly in your sleep." I argue and take a step forward so that I'm next to Rick. "Or ever." I add.
Some people nod their heads, others stare at me blankly.
"Alright." Rick nods and turns back to his people. "We'll vote." He pauses. "Who's for letting her stay?" He asks. Carl shoots up his hand immediately so does the boy he's facing in poker, he's a darker boy with short dark hair and brown eyes. Everyone else's hands raise slower, but Daryl's.
"Alright." Rick nods again. "She'll stay with us."
A grin spreads across Carl's face.
"Thanks." I smile and duck back upstairs. I scroll through the books and pluck out Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone I hop into my bed and start to read, playing with the key around my neck absentmindedly.
• • •
"I thought you said you were going to sleep." Carl says as he walks in.
"Yeah but... Harry Potter." I shrug and he laughs. "Also I knew you'd probably wake me up when you came in." I sigh and drop the key, Carl's eyes look at it but flit back up to my face when he notices the awkward placement of where it landed.
"You saying I have heavy footsteps?" He asks mock accusingly.
"No- yes?" I joke.
"I can't believe you!" He mocks and I laugh.
"What time is it?" I ask.
"Like midnight?" He guesses.
I pat Damian before sliding out of bed and walking over to the window to look out.
"More like ten... Thirtyish." I study the moon.
"How do you know that?" He asks, his shoulder brushing mine as he looks out as well.
"You see the moon? If it's directly above us, it's midnight, every inch or so is an hour." I explain the way I was taught by my uncle.
"Oh..." He says clearly lost.
I nudge him.
"Either way we should hit the hay." I smile.
"Yeah." He says and walks over to his bed.
I lay down as he kills the lights and shrug the blanket up over my shoulders, pulling it over Damian who lies next to me as well.
"Night Arizona." Carl yawns.
"Night. And Carl?" I add as I hug Damian close to me, my key sandwiched between us.
"Yeah?" He asks.
"Call me Ari. Arizona is too long." I tell him as Damian snuggles into the crook of my neck.
"Ok." The smile is evident in his voice. "Night Ari."
I smile and drift off to sleep like a cloud.