sapphire ; carl grimes [𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙙 ]

one; the battle braid

henley walked the streets of her old neighborhood in georgia with a fully loaded machine gun in her hand.

her blue eyes scanned the desolate houses, piercing the few animals she occasionally saw scurry by.

henley's hair was tied up in a long braid, trailing down to her waist. it had been in a braid so long, it had molded to stay in that shape, frozen in the warm georgia heat.

the dried blood she was covered in didn't help.

tears stained the 15 year old's cheeks, dried from many rough nights.

no less than 24 hours ago, she had seen her family ripped apart in front of her.

her mom and brother were out picking berries for the group, while her father was helping train some new survivors how to shoot a gun.

henley's father, james, had been in the fbi before the world went down. he'd taught henley everything she knew.

without him, she would be dead, just like him.

a huge herd of walkers came through one night silently, only known of when sarah, an older woman in the camp, started screaming after seeing her husband being torn apart.

the walkers got to henley's mother joan first, who then was attempted at being saved by henley's brother, max. they both died, later to be found by james.

having lost half of his family, the father ran away, going on a hasty liquor run with his friend, kaleb, trying to find something to numb the pain.

kaleb returned.

henley's father didn't.

lonely and afraid, with no friends left, the teen left, taking her most prized possessions with her in a duffel bag.

she left wearing black combat boots, ripped skinny jeans, her father's fbi badge and leather jacket, with her mother's red flannel on underneath. she also grabbed her brothers favorite family picture- the four of them lying on the ground laughing in their backyard.

almost a day later, she found herself exhausted, famished, and lonely.

henley came to a stop in front of her old house, taking in every little detail. this would be the last time she ever saw this place.

the brunette stared at every little detail; working her way from the faded, chipped, yellow paint to the dead flowerbeds and the now-falling-apart shingled roof.

after climbing up the front steps and taking a deep breath, henley opened the door.

it looked the same as it had been before, but it had a different feel.

loneliness. melancholy. emptiness.

henley, afraid of becoming too emotional, quickly raided the kitchen, trying not to stare at the faded brown wood she and her family would laugh at and share stories of their day.

she ran past the living room, where her family used to gather and watch their favorite movies together with a bag of popcorn and no sense of fear.

she ran upstairs, quickly shuddering as she closed the door to her brother's room, fearing what mementos she would see inside.

henley ran into her room, grabbing the things she had not brought to the camp, such as clothes and pictures, trying to ignore the times she had ran up to be alone, now wishing for anything but aloneness.

henley went to run out of the place, but she stopped at the door of her parents room.

the girl fell to the ground, her battle braid falling to the side, letting out a muffled sob, choking on her tears. light snarling emerged from down the hall, and the girl ran up to it and with a loud grunt, shoved her machete into the undead's skull.

she mimicked its lifeless movements and fell the the floor again, then dragging herself into her parents bed, just hoping for a sense of closure, wanting to smell them again.

SAPPHIRE - CARL GRIMES
All story plots/interactions are my own ideas.

I will have no face claim for Henley, imagine her as you would like.

Enjoy!