WASTE • Carl Grimes

Ten

With a soft sigh and a roll of my eyes, I place my can of pineapples down on the floor beside me at the sight of Carl making his way down the stairs, his eye narrowed at me the whole time.

A new bandage from the pack I had gotten him is now placed over his eye, covering the fresh blood and flesh that lays beneath it.

But his hat is still nowhere to be seen.

I look away from him and stand up from the chair I had been seated on until his recent appearance.

Carl stops right in front of me, his body towering over mine intimidatingly as we both glare at each other.

" are you going to sit, princess? " I ask him when I catch him glaring at me for too long, his arms crossed over his chest.

Carl lets out an audible sigh before sitting down on the chair I was on earlier, spreading his legs slightly apart and leaning his elbows on his knees as he slowly leans closer towards me.

This is what Carl and I have been working with lately. One moment we're making jokes and smiling at one another and the next we're just like we are now, irritated.

He's so stubborn and quite almost all the time that it gets on my nerves. He's way too mysterious for my liking and it bothers me how he doesn't even ask for my help when he's stuck in situations similar to today's.

I look away from Carl's eye and sit down right in front of him. I pick up a needle I had in my backpack and a lighter, heating up the tip of the needle.

Carl's eyebrows are drawn together as he hands me his hand and watches me stitch up his cut, concentration overtaking my features.

I'm not aware of how quite it is around us until Carl speaks up, still watching me intensely.

" how do you have all this stuff on you? " he asks, curious.

" runs " I simply reply, still focusing on his hand that I'm working on.

" you always have a lighter and a needle with you? "

" yes " I deadpan.

Carl's lips are slightly parted now, eyebrows drawn together as he glances down at his hand then back at me.

" and the bandages? "

" do I look like I'd need them? " I question, chuckling humorlessly.

He's quite for a minute, lips still parted but eyebrows no longer knitted together as he looks at me. I couldn't look back up at him since I was still stitching his hand up, but from how quite he currently is, I was able to tell that he was slowly putting two and two together, realizing that I had gotten these bandages for-

" you got them for me " he says, voice low in realization.

I smile to myself, perking my eyebrows up at him when I'm down stitching his hand up, my eyes now on his own.

" Bingo " i give him a small smile before placing everything back into my backpack, no longer looking at him.

" why? "

" because I knew you ran out. Your bandage was dirty and shit " I zip up my backpack and look back up at Carl, who's still staring down at me in amazement, only a small smile is playing on his slightly parted lips now.

I hesitantly offer him one back.

" you're a human first aid kit " Carl jokes, causing me to roll my eyes at him, slightly shifting in my spot.

" no one is safe out here, you never know when you might get injured " I shrug and he nods understandingly.

" yeah " he sighs.

" were you always out here alone? " he suddenly asks.

My lips are slightly parted as I look back at him but I quickly close them and nod.

" what about your family? " he draws his eyebrows together and I shift in my place, slightly uncomfortable for I have never spoken to another human being about my deceased family.

" they died at the very beginning " I reply.

" you? " I ask.

" mom's dead, everyone else is alive " he looks down at the ground between us and smiles to himself, memories and images of his family flooding his mind, reminding him of what he still has.

" it's been a very long time, you know? They probably think you're dead " I say.

And surprisingly, I wasn't just saying that to get him to leave me alone, it was because he still had people who cared for him. They might think he's dead and could still be grieving, not knowing that the boy is alive.

" I know " he sighs.

" so what are you going to do about it? "

He looks up from the ground and back at me, shaking his head.

" I cant leave until you learn how to shoot a gun " he replies and I felt this sudden sting within me, confused as to what the hell it meant.

Does he care about me?

No, he just probably feels like he's obliged to do something in return since I saved his life.

" you cant put your life and family on hold for a stranger "

" I'm a stranger to you? " he questions and I smile, catching myself shaking my head without any hesitation or second thought, shocking myself.

What the fuck?

Carl perks an eyebrow of his up at me, probably as shocked as I currently am.

" exactly " he smiles.

" you have a family Carl, what about your dad? "

" Luna, " He starts, my name rolling off his tongue ever so softly and I got that same feeling within me again, scaring me.

What the hell is happening to me?

" if I asked you to go back with me you'll say no, the least I could do is teach you how to protect yourself " he finishes.

" you don't think I can protect myself? " I knit my eyebrows together.

" you wouldn't be here if you couldn't. You just don't know how to use a gun "

" I shot the men that tried to kill you, Carl " I say, slowly getting irritated now.

" and you fell after you did. What if you were in a situation where you needed to use your gun and you fell after firing one shot only for whoever's after you to have back up standing right behind you? " he calmly explains, his eyebrows drawn together like my own as he leans closer towards me, sighing.

" you saved me, Luna, and you don't want to go back with me where you'll be sa- "

" nowhere on this planet is safe anymore " I cut him off.

" but you won't be alone "

I'm quite for a few minutes, gulping as I keep my eyes glued to the ground, thinking.

I can tell that he wants to go back home, to his people where he could tell them about his dead girlfriend and forget about all that he's been through, but I'm stopping him.

He wants to help me and I never feel like practicing, I'm always on a run, not aware of the fact that this boy is putting his plans on hold just to make sure that he leaves me knowing that I can use a gun.

I get up from the floor and pick up my backpack with me, sighing as I look down at Carl who's looking back at me.

" we'll practice first thing in the morning " and with that, I turn around and walk away.