☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎ ☠︎︎
"careful out there." rick told michonne as he, samantha, and carl made their way to the garden to get some work done.
"always am. any requests? books? comics? some stale m&ms?"
"you're the one that likes stale m&ms." carl pointed out.
"then i'll definitely be looking for some. i'll look for some stuff you and sam like, too." she smiled as she pulled the horse along. "why don't you wear your hat anymore?"
"it's not a farming hat. see you soon?"
"pretty soon."
and with that, the four went on their way. samantha went to grab the bucket from their little hut they built while rick started to explain to carl what was needed to do. samantha handed the bucket to carl and stood to the side to write down in her journal.
carl looked around as he held the bucket up for his father, spotting a few walkers growling by the fence near him. his eyes shifted to a different part of the fence where more walkers were gathered in a group rather than spread out, and the fence creaked as they pulled and pushed it.
"they only took out one cluster yesterday," carl began, and samantha knew what the boy was hinting at. "probably gonna need more people today. maybe we could help."
"i got other plans involving dirt and cucumbers, keeping people fed."
"well, if you don't want to, maybe i could. could i?"
"we have other plans." rick emphasized as he stood up from the ground and began to walk away. "that's what i should have said."
samantha watched carl's eyes follow after his father and closed her journal. "he'll let you help soon, carl. but he won't if you keep nagging him about it." she sighed.
"but-"
"no buts. now come on, we still got work to do."
car grumbled under his breath as he followed behind the girl, and he knew she was right; however, that wasn't gonna stop him from continuing to try.
samantha leaned against the fence of the pig pen while carl opted to standing instead. he simply watched as his dad feed the pigs and grabbed the bucket from him after he was done.
getting a feeling that carl needed a little privacy with his dad, samantha walked to the other side of the pig's pen and smiled as she watched them waddle around. "i would call you guys lucky for being pigs because you don't have to fight walkers to stay alive, but then i realized you're only here because we need food, so you're gonna die either way."
distant gunshot sounded out, making the three snap their heads to the direction it came from. samantha tried to control the speed of her heart as she made her way to the father and son duo.
"cell block?" maggie asked from the watch tower, her southern accent sticking out.
"i don't know." rick replied before turning to the two kids. "get in the tower with maggie. don't argue go." samantha nodded as carl grabbed something by the pen, then gestured to samantha to follow.
michonne whistled as a signal for carl and samantha to hurry to open up the gates; more walkers beginning to come due to the loud noises. the two pulled down a rope to open one gate so none of the walkers would get it, but unfortunately, two did.
"maggie!" samantha called out, knowing the adults would be upset if she were the one to open the fence with so many walkers outside; she shot as many as she could to help out either way.
"hold on!"
samantha watched in horror as michonne tripped on the rope, bringing herself down and the walkers on top of her trying to bite her. she kicked one away from her, making it an easy shot for carl.
maggie finally came down just as michonne kicked the last walker over her and impaling it to the wooden weapons, but twisting her ankle in the process. carl and maggie helped her up and wrapped her arm around each of their shoulder to make it easier to move without adding too much pressure to the bone, while samantha went to put the horse away.
the four carefully made their way back to the prison, muttering a small apology every time michonne winced at the pain of her injury.
samantha looked up in time to see rick coming out of cell block and took over carl's position as he ran up to his dad, despite his protests. samantha eyed rick's tense behavior, and came to the conclusion something serious had happened.
"i had to use one of the guns by that gate. i swear i didn't want to." carl hastily explained.
"i was coming back. i fell. they came out and helped me." michonne vouched.
"are you all right?"
michonne simply nodded in response as maggie spoke up. "what happened in there?"
the four looked over at a sniffling blonde woman who was caressing a pile of clothes - at least that's what it seemed liked to samantha. rick didn't respond to maggie at first, which only worried samantha even more.
"patrick got sick last night. it's some kind of flu. it moves fast. we think he died and attacked the cell block." he glanced between samantha and carl. "look, i know he was your friend and i'm sorry. he was a good kid. we lost a lot of good people."
'if they're good people, then why did they have to die?' samantha thought to herself.
rick assured maggie that glenn and her father were fine, but that they were exposed to the illness. he advised them to stay away from those infected and to stay careful.
"oh, and sam?" rick called out to her, making her give a nod in response. "watch over carl for me."
samantha smiled, ignoring carl complain beside her, and saluted. "you got it."
after helping michonne get her ankle wrapped, carl and samantha decided to make a cross for patrick's grave, despite samantha saying that she could've sworn patrick said he was a practicing atheist.
"you know, for no building experience, you actually make a decent cross." samantha mused as she watched carl add some adjustments to the wooden cross.
he narrowed his eyes at her. "at least i'm actually trying."
"hey, you told me to let you do it because i would end up sticking a nail through my finger!"
"did i lie?"
someone clearing their throat made the two teens stop bickering and advert their attention to person standing by them. carol gave them both a tight smile as she leaned against one of the tables in the room.
"you know if patrick was catholic?" carl asked her.
"he said he was a practicing atheist."
"told you." samantha muttered, receiving an eye roll from the boy as he disassembled the cross.
carol turned to samantha. "do you mind giving us a minute?"
samantha began to stand up. "yeah, sure-"
"she can stay." carl said as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to the floor.
'i really don't want to.'
carol paused before nodding her head. "okay then. did you tell your dad what you saw in the library yesterday?"
"nope." carl responded as he began to put away the materials.
"are you going to tell him?"
carl didn't respond and just sighed. samantha could feel the tension in the room starting to rise and wanted nothing more for someone to get her out of there.
"i have to keep teaching those kids to survive." carol justified. "you know that."
"did you tell their parents?"
"no."
"are you gonna tell them?"
"if i do, maybe after this they'll understand. but maybe they won't. i don't want to take that risk."
"that's between you and them."
'dios mío, ayúdame.' samantha thought to herself when carol didn't respond to carl, leaving them in silence.
carol sat down in one of the chairs. "no. it's between you and me. if you tell your dad, he'll tell them. and like i said, maybe they'll understand, maybe they won't."
"i don't want to lie to my dad." carl retorted.
"i'm not asking you to lie. i'm asking you not to say anything."
carl looked away from carol and back to the materials on the floor. carol seemed to think that meant he would reconsider and left without another word.
after samantha and carl picked up and put away the materials, rick told them pack their belongings and go to a different cell block with those who weren't infected and/or exposed, much to carl's protests.
"it's for your own good." rick tried to reason with his son.
"i'm fine. i don't want to be locked away with a bunch of kids."
samantha pointed to herself. "hey, this kid is your only friend."
"i need you both in there keeping an eye on judith and everybody else." rick stated, ignoring what samantha has said. "making sure they're safe."
carl didn't respond after that, simply just grabbing his gun - the one he got taken away - and tucking it in his holster.
"if anybody gets sick, you let me know."
"what if they've already turned when i find them?" carl questioned as he threw his backpack over his shoulder.
rick exhaled. "you don't fire unless you absolutely need to."
"but you know i might need to, right?"
"carl." samantha shot him a look once he turned his attention to her. "enough."
the boy didn't retaliate and instead walked out of the cell. samantha rolled her eyes and grabbed her backpack before putting it on. she patted rick on the arm as she walked out.
"i'll keep him under control, sheriff."
rick smiled and nodded his head once. "thanks, sam."
"ah, bebita, eres la mas hermosa de todo el mundo." samantha told judith, making the baby coo with a smile.
carl was currently guarding the halls, and asked if samantha wanted to join, but the teen girl declined, stating she rather spend time with his baby sister instead. beth was sat beside her, watching the two with a puzzled smile.
"i've noticed you mostly talk to judith in spanish. why's that?"
samantha glanced over to her with a grin before returning her attention back to the baby bouncing on samantha's leg. "babies learn words by hearing people converse, so i thought, since she's still a baby, i can speak to her in spanish and she'll grow up already knowing how to speak it. i want to be able to speak to someone else in spanish."
"maybe you can teach me some spanish some time. you know, in case you don't want to wait for judith to grow up to speak to someone."
samantha's heart warmed at beth's comment. "i'd love to teach you, beth." she shyly smiled at her. however, something else caught samantha's eye. she noticed carl never returned back like she had seen him doing for the past 5 minutes.
"hey, do you mind taking judith back?"
"sure, no problem. where ya going?"
samantha sighed as she began making her way to the door. "to stop an idiot from getting into any more trouble."
and with that, she left the room and followed the direction where she last saw carl went off to. papers scattered the floors, cabinets were fallen over, and chairs were everywhere as she walked the halls, guessing what way to go every time she hit a corner.
she had guessed she had gotten lost when she still hadn't found carl and was about to turn back, but the booming voice of hershel stopped her.
"don't need anyone worrying about me and i damn sure don't want someone telling me i can't go."
"i can't just let you go out into the woods by yourself."
"let me?"
"i can't stop you. but i have to tell my dad." carl reworded.
"go ahead, then. i'll be out there by the time you find him."
"hershel. if you have to go, then i have come with you.
"carl." the old man warned.
"i have to."
"count me in, too, i guess." hershel and carl turned to find the mexican girl with her hands on top of her hip before she began making her way to them.
"i thought you were with judith?"
"well, i was. until i noticed that a certain someone wasn't passing by the window of the door like he had had been doing, and assumed he was doing something he wasn't supposed to." samantha then smiled innocently. "and i was right."
the boy rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out to her mockingly.
"now," the girl pumped her fists in the air as she passed the two to go outside, "lets get this show on the road."
"when did your dad give it back?" hershel asked carl, referring to the gun in his hands. hershel was picking off some berries and putting it in a bag to see if it'll help those infected, samantha was leaning against a tree and twirling her pocketknife in her hand, and carl was standing guard in case a walker or person stumbled upon them.
"yesterday. after everything happened."
"you've grown a lot these few months." hershel told him. "there's a responsibility about you. i think it's done you good to step back."
"yeah. it was all right. cant be like that all the time." carl said as he moved to the other side of the place the three were in.
"i would have been fine on my own. it's peaceful out here." hershel paused as he watched the forest, then went back to picking. "these last couple days, we might be safer outside those than in."
"no, we're not." carl declared with a strong voice, making samantha push of the tree she was leaning on and making her to him to see what he was looking at.
samantha immediately pocketed her knife and took out her gun after seeing the red tent ahead of them. she, hershel, and carl slowly made their way towards it. snarling made the three turn away from the tent to find a walker on the ground and trying to reach them, although they weren't no where near it.
"let's wrap this up."
samantha sighed and lowered her gun."yeah, let's-"
rattling cut her off, and the teen quickly turned around and rose her gun back up, only to find a female walker walking towards them with a trap attached to her foot. carl walked a few feet forward ready to shoot it, but hershel shut him down..
"don't. you don't need to."
although wanting it dead, carl obeyed and lowered his weapon.
"it was so peaceful."
"it was." carl agreed before turning away and passing by hershel. "can't be like that all the time."
samantha let out a dry chuckle. "especially in a fucked up world like ours."
distant sounds of gunshots rang out in the building where carl and samantha were at with the others. the two shared a look, before nodding at each other. carl grabbed both of their guns while samantha told beth to take care of the everyone and not to leave the room. samantha grabbed her gun from carl, and together they made their way in to the halls.
faint calls for carl and samantha made the two run to where they were coming from, rounding a corner to find rick looking frantic.
"we heard gunshots." samantha remarked, but rick ignored it.
"i need your help."
and with that, rick went out the door, leaving samantha and carl to trail behind. he led them outside and to the fence where samantha now realized was denting due to so many walkers leaning up against with questionable strength. he instructed them on what to, having samantha help him keep the wood keep the fence up while carl nailed it down.
"think they're okay?" carl asked his father since his mind was still on the gunshots he heard earlier.
"if things were going bad, we would have heard more shots. maggie would have gotten us." rick assured them, before moving on to the next wood. "we have to do this."
"why would they even fire in the first place if it weren't bad?" samantha wondered out loud as she helped rick try to lift the wood.
"like i said, maggie would have gotten us." rick looked over at carl as he tried to help. "we got this."
"let me help." carl insisted, and rick let him.
"alright set it down."
the fence started to rattle, causing for the three of them to turn and find the wood starting to break from the pressure. rick hopped over to it as it started breaking down, when all the other woods started to break as well, before it broke open.
"run!" rick yelled at them. carl grabbed on to samantha's arm and started pulling her away, while rick knifed some walkers. samantha stopped to help rick when he fell and pulled him up, before running inside the watchtower where carl was.
rick slammed the door shut behind him, and just a second later, walkers began to bang on the door. the three left the tower by the other door, and watched as the walkers snarled and growled at them.
"dad, what do we do?" carl's frantic voice rang out.
"maybe i could back the bus up against the fence."
"will it hold?"
rick didn't answer. just looked down at his son, before meeting eyes with samantha, then looking back at the walkers as he tried to think of a plan.
"come on." rick said as he grabbed onto the both of the teens and led them to where the weapons were stored in. he handed them each a weapon and ammo, then began to walk towards the tower as he instructed them on how to use it.
"magazine goes in here. release is here. make sure it latches. pull back the operating rod and and rounds feed up. keep squeezing the trigger for rapid fire, okay?"
samantha nodded in understanding while carl gave a voiced reply.
rick went down to their eye level. "you shoot or you run. don't let 'em get close, okay?"
again, the two nodded in understanding. then, the fence went down and walkers soon started coming into the prison. the three shot them down, making sure to get those getting too close to them and the prison.
samantha could hear her heart beating in her ears as she shot them down, rapidly moving from one walker to another once she saw them go down. she had to take step back every time she had to reload, but other than that, she never stopped shooting.
soon, the flock started to decrease until there was no more left standing. samantha immediately took out her knife and stabbed the ones still alive, while the other two went to put away their guns and grabbed crowbars.
samantha let out a sigh of relief when she noticed the group's van approaching and ran to go open the fence. when daryl got out, she didn't waste a second before hugging him, causing him to let out a grunt in surprise.
"i'm glad you're back." she said, her words muffled by her head in his chest.
he awkwardly patted her back, confused on her sudden affection. "somethin' happen?"
samantha released him just as the father and son duo arrived. "you have no idea."