Hard Candy [Carl Grimes/The Walking Dead]

A New Base

BANG.

"You can open your eyes now, sweetheart," Someone chuckles.

God? Is that you?

But in fact it's not. I open my eyes and see the group of people staring at me, the man with the gun, Rick, having lowered his gun with a small smile on his face. He motions for me to turn around. I do, and see a lone zombie crumpled on the ground behind me, his head no more than two inches from my ankles. My breath catches, and I feel dizzy. I raise my eyes to Rick. "...Thanks."

He chuckles again. Running a hand through his dark, curly hair, he sighs. "How 'bout we go inside and you tell us... whatever you can tell us." He gestures to my house. "This your house?"

I shift a bit. "Uh, yeah. Yes." All these strange people looking at me is making me nervous, especially that boy. He's looking at me the way people look at food they know is unhealthy but they still can't resist-- some distrust, a bit of curiosity, and a heck of a lot of interest. I feel very self-conscious now, because I just realize how incredibly attractive he is. He's wearing a plaid button down over dark cargos and black hiking shoes. He has a battered sheriff's hat pulled down over his dark, long-ish hair. He's inexplicably pale, but at the same time his cheeks have a light candy-pink tinge, almost as if he's blushing. He has a light smattering of freckles. His eyes are a glimmering cerulean, like a picturesque sky or crystalline ocean. I've never seen eyes likes these before. You can almost see through them--or they can almost see through you.

It occurs to me that we're making eye contact, his amazing blue eyes peering into my dark ones. I suddenly feel warm and tingly all over.

I'm yanked back into reality when I realize Rick is staring at me too, a questioning and slightly amused look on his face. "Well, are you going to invite us in?"

I swing my eyes from the boy's to Rick's, for the first time noticing the resemblance between them. No doubt they're father and son.

Wait, what did he say?

"...Yeah! I mean, come on in..."

I sprint up the porch stairs. The door is locked, but with some help from Rick's gun, we manage to get it open. We go in, and the rest of them follow suit.

The first thing I see is blood--specifically my mother's blood--has run down the stairs and is pooling at the bottom. I gag, Rick taking notice. "Is there more upstairs?" I nod weakly. "M-my siblings. My little brother and sister." Rick nods, a grim look on his face. He pulls out his gun. I barely nod back, my head like an anvil. I know what must come next. He makes his way upstairs.

Almost immediately after he makes it to the landing, I hear vicious, ugly snarls and heavy footsteps. Then a gunshot, followed by another, followed by silence, and with it something in me died that will never come back to life.

Someone takes me by the shoulders and leads me to the couch, where I sit down, trying to catch my breath. I turn to face them.

Oh. It's that boy.

This time I avoid looking at him, which is pretty difficult, because he's sitting really, really close. He seems to notice this too, because he suddenly moves onto the loveseat instead. He doesn't say anything, and doesn't look at me either. His cheeks darken. I almost smile.

Within a few minutes, the whole group has assembled themselves comfortably in the living room. Rick and an older, gray-haired woman are seated on either side of the couch with me, a young black woman with a sword strapped to her back (Someone you don't want to mess with, I think) is on the loveseat with the boy, an extremely attractive and extremely bitter-looking man wearing a dirty vest with the sleeves ripped off is planted in the La-Z-Boy, a blonde teenager with huge blue eyes is standing next to him, cradling a baby (I wonder if she had had it during this apocalypse), the young Asian man with his arm around a pretty dark-haired girl are leaning on the piano, and the rest of the group are standing or leaning against the walls and furniture.

Rick leans forwards with his elbows on his knees. "How long were you out there?" He asks me.

I look around. These people are absolute strangers, but they did save my life, and they seem to know the drill with those things, I remind myself.

I take a deep breath. The gray-haired woman's eyes are soft and silently prodding me on. Rick gives me a sad smile. He knows what I've been through. I even see the boy give me a small, encouraging smile.

I tell my story.

When I've finished, everyone looks a bit overwhelmed. I feel a bit embarrassed and exposed. I look at Rick. He nods and stands.

"We've, uh... we've been sort of traveling around, looking for a new base, after our old one..." He looks around. I understand. "...Yeah. Now, a neighborhood like this is perfect. The houses are close enough to jump from roof to roof in case of... emergency. There's food. Weapons. Supplies. Perhaps more survivors," He says, looking at me again. "If you don't mind. Can we, I don't know how long for..."

I raise my hand. "You are welcome to stay. I'm not cut out to be there alone, that's for sure. I mean, I could use some basic skills... shooting, stabbing, you know... and I could help you too, of course..."

The group looks amused, and I feel like I've said too much. I shut up.

Rick is interested. "Help us, eh? You're good at...?"

I cough. "Well, I've, uh, lived all over this area? And outside of it too. I... I can make maps. I'm a good navigator? And, I mean..." I gesture to the kitchen. "I cook," I say with a little smile.

Rick's face spreads into a broad smile. "Isn't that something. Isn't she something?" Everyone chuckles. I let myself break into a wide smile as well. Rick suddenly looks stern. He waves a finger at me. "We could use someone like you, who knows their way around and whatnot... we're giving you this chance. This chance." He brings his face close to mine. "Try anything and I am not going to hesitate to kill you."

I swallow. Everyone's quiet, waiting for my reply. Looking Rick in the eye, I say quietly, "I just lost my whole family. And then you all come along, with your guns and swords and knowledge and strength. I'm an 18-year-old girl. What do you honestly think I would try?"

The group looks convinced. Rick just shakes his head. "Just taking necessary precautions is all." I understand. Obviously this has happened before, but with less pleasant results.

I nod, and survey the group. "You look hungry."

The dark-haired girl next to the Asian man nods. "Food ran out a while back." I catch a rich Southern accent.

I nod again and point to the stairs. "The rooms are up there, we have a few but some of you will have to bunk. Make yourselves at home, I'll whip up brunch."

Everyone smiles. I sneak a glance at the boy. He's chuckling. He sees me looking at him and returns the look, almost smirking as if to say, "Well played."

I smirk right back at him before heading into the kitchen.

Thank you.