I Saw The Lights Go Out - Carl Grimes

Chapter Seventeen - Words Not Said

"Avery! What happened? That took way too long." Carl looked bewildered as I braced my hands on my knees trying to slow my heart rate. He said my name again and I finally lifted my eyes up at him. "Are you bleeding?"

Carl's jaw tightened as he stepped closer pulling my face up in his hand. His face drew close to mine as his eyes inspected my red face. He wiped the blood off my cheek with his thumb and I tugged away.

"No, I'm not hurt. Don't worry." He stared at me waiting for me to explain further as I attempted to put my boot back on while standing up. "A walker just fell on me, that's all. I handled it though." I hobbled on one leg tying my laces tight.

"I told you to watch out, I knew that horde was gonna reach you." He took off his father's hat and ran a hand through his shaggy hair showing his frustration.

I pursed my lips. "It wasn't from the horde, it came up from behind me and knocked my knife out of my hand." I countered rubbing my dirty hands on my jeans.

"I shouldn't have left you. I knew it." He started off toward the group again shaking his head and I followed with a roll of my eyes.

"Clearly I didn't need help, I'm here aren't I? I can handle myself." I tightened my pony tail and dusted the gravel off of my knees. I understood what he was saying and I appreciated the gesture but I had saved myself countless times before.

"But you shouldn't have too. We rely on each other, Avery." He stated and motioned to everyone walking ahead of us. "Do you know how awful I would've felt if I walked back there and you were hurt or even..." He trailed off shaking his head.

I knew he had to watch over me but I didn't think he meant to that extent.

"I'm a big girl, Carl. I'll be okay." I said softer this time around. Despite my high walls, my heart warmed from the meaning behind the words he couldn't bare to say, but he didn't know my skills or strengths just yet.

"I just don't wanna see you in danger. I wanna keep you safe." He said looking over at me. His words held too much weight and I looked away.

Regardless, kind words left my lips. "I'll do the same." He nodded at that.

With the worrying and bickering out of our systems Carl bumped my shoulder with a chuckle. We continued on down the tracks before he looked back over his shoulder then to me with a quizzical look on his face.

"How far back is the horde?" He pointed his thumb behind us, his voice casual again.

"Um, well since I ran I'd say about the same distance as before, but they for sure know that there's something to eat up here now." I answered.

"We'll kill them off later when we get to our next spot."

I nodded at the decision and sped up a bit to get closer to the group. We met back up to Noah and walked along side him.

"Hey." I breathed out. Noah turned to me and then to Carl who nodded at him.

"Where'd you go? I thought we lost you or something." Noah asked peering behind us.

"Oh, I was just fixing my shoe." I brushed off staring ahead not offering the full story.

"So that's why there's smeared blood on your face?" He toyed, his eyebrows raised in question.

I turned to Carl shocked. "What? I thought you got it all off." I ran the back of my hand over my cheek trying to get the drops of remaining walker blood off of me.

"You pulled away," He defended. " I got most of it off anyways."

"Thanks." I grumbled then turned to Noah to explain what really happened. "But honestly it's not a big deal. Just a stray walker, I handled it."

"I can see that." He smirked and adjusted my lopsided backpack on my shoulder. I let out a mix of a sigh and a laugh as we all continued forward.

As silence carried us on our way to Terminus my mind wandered back not being able to stop thinking of how Carl was seemingly so worried about me. Clearly he must've now known I could protect myself but the fact that he wanted to keep me safe, it baffled me. We had just met, I honestly couldn't be that important for him to want to risk his own safety for. I was prepared to put my all into this group for the chance of a small amount of trust back, but with him, I didn't have to. I was flattered but concluded I must be seeing the situation wrong, that worrying about others was just how the whole group worked. Well, except for Abraham but that asshole was another story. Either way, I hoped my work would pay off I kept gaining the trust of everyone else in the group like I had with Noah and Carl, maybe even Beth. I couldn't help but pray that I'd be a part of this family one day soon.

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A lil chapter. I'm honestly really proud of this one, I know it's a bit smaller than the rest but that's just how the paragraphs worked out. It's a lot smoother than some of my older chapters.

I really hoped you're enjoying it so far. If you have any suggestions, comments or corrections leave me a comment or message me. Feel free to vote on any chapters you like or follow me!

You guys mean a lot to me. Love you all, enjoy reading.

Edit: lmaooo I'm dumb and forgot a chapter name again. Jeez.