Had to make up some characters again. I like this one because Y/N is such a badass. Hope you all like it :)
During the beginning of the apocalypse I was terrified. I sucked at physical activity, had no idea how to hunt, and didn't even know how to hold a knife properly. I was afraid I would be dead weight and everyone would grow to dislike me, so I knew I had to change. Well, it took me a couple of weeks to actually try to change because I was so nervous that I would fail.
But I didn't want the whole group to notice my attempts at improving- it'd be embarrassing if they caught me trying to learn an extremely basic concept. I decided that this technically could be a life or death situation so I really just needed to learn. I was way too intimidated by Rick and Daryl to ask them, especially since they seem to be holding this group together, and I realized the one person I felt most comfortable asking for help was Carl Grimes.
Carl and I weren't really 'friends' per se, but we always got along well. To my surprise, he very willingly- almost excitedly- agreed to help me practice my skills. At first I was nervous and afraid to make a mistake, but Carl never made me feel 'dumb' or 'useless,' which I was super thankful for. He seemed to have a ton of patience even after I missed the target for the twelfth time in a row, and we soon developed a friendship. As we got to know each other more, we both developed some stronger feelings for each other. At this point we've been dating for about six months now, and I'm the happiest I have been since the start of the walkers.
Carl made me feel more confident in my skills which led me to obtain more responsibility around the prison. However, he would never accept my thank yous and told me that he had only brought the hidden skills out of me and refused (and still refuses) to take any credit.
Ever since we moved to Alexandria I've been practicing most days on my own with different weapons and physical activity. I absolutely hate running, but I know I must do it in order to survive in this world, so I still practice. Besides, there's not much else to do after I'm finished with the day's tasks.
Today, however, I decide to take a rest day, exhausted from the physical work I've been doing by helping to strengthen the walls. Instead, I try to find Carl and see what he's been up to. Almost immediately I see him walking up to his house.
"Carl!" I shout, which causes him to turn around. I rush over and wrap him in a huge hug, making him laugh. "I missed you."
Carl squeezes me and then we pull away. "You literally saw me this morning. Which was about five hours ago."
I shrug. "Okay? And I missed you for five hours."
"Yeah, okay I missed you too. So Ron's friend Tyler is throwing this party at that shack about a half mile out that way-" he points to the back of Alexandria over the walls- "if you wanted to go."
I nod. "Yeah, sounds fun. What time?"
"He just said when the sun starts to set. We'll have to sneak off quietly, but Enid says she knows a way out and she'll show us tonight."
At that statement we both enter the house and go up to Carl's room. I plop down on his bed and sigh.
"Didn't you just work in that?" Carl whines. "And now you're on my bed?"
I giggle. "Yup."
I hear Carl groan before one of his flannels is thrown at my face. He knows me so well. I take off the shirt I'm wearing and slip on the flannel while Carl does the same with one of his other clean flannels.
"I'm literally so fucking tired," I exclaim.
Carl sits down on the edge of the bed next to me. "Same."
I'm honestly not really sure how it happened but the next thing I know I'm waking up in Carl's arms as he's stroking my hair. The light in the room has dimmed meaning the sun is going down and the party is getting closer. I sit up in the bed but Carl still has a tight grip on me while he's still laying down.
"Carl, the sun is setting. Enid will be here soon."
I hear Carl mutter into the pillow, "I don't care. I just want to sleep."
I laugh at his sleepiness. "Oh, shut up and come on," I say, dragging him up from the bed. I fix my hair a bit and so does Carl, and then he grabs my hand and we head downstairs.
When we step outside we see Enid walking over towards us, looking side to side to make sure nobody else was watching.
"Hey!" I say, giving her a hug. I love Enid; she's the sweetest thing in the world.
"Have you ever been outside the walls?" she asks, looking at me. She knew Carl had a couple times before.
"Like, once or twice, I think. But I didn't go far. It was just with Carl."
She smiles. "Okay, well I have the best way out. Come on."
We rush after Enid and Carl shouts, "No, you have the second best way out."
"Carl, the last time you went your way you were caught and got yelled at by Rick. Don't even," she answers back.
"Guys, shut up, people are gonna hear us!" I whisper yell.
When we reach the wall we all pause for a moment to catch our breath from the running we were just doing. "Okay," Enid finally says, "I'll go first."
Enid starts climbing and when she's almost at the top I decide to follow after her, Carl doing the same after me. "Y/N, careful!" Carl says. "You're scaring me, you're gonna fall!"
I roll my eyes even though he can't see. "I'm not gonna fall. If anything it's you who's gonna fall."
It takes about another two minutes before we're all down on the other side of the wall safely and it's quickly getting darker out. We trudge through the woods for about 10 minutes before we hear distant chatter and see a fire going. There's barbed wire with cans along them in order to keep out walkers, so we just step over it.
"Hey, Enid!" Tyler shouts out, walking over towards us. "Carl!" he smiles. He looks at me and points, clearly trying to remember my name.
"Um, Y/N," I say awkwardly.
He takes a few steps closer to me. "Y/N... that's a nice name," he smirks, biting his lower lip.
Carl immediately wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into him. "She's with me," he states.
Tyler continues to smirk and looks over at Carl, completely unbothered, takes a sip of his beer, then heads back to the party. We shortly follow.
"Ron!" Carl says, giving him a quick hug. "What's up?"
Ron smiles. "Here," he says, giving Carl a bottle of beer. "Tyler and James found tons of beer on one of their runs."
"Carl," I say once Ron's gone. "Really?"
Carl is in the middle of taking his first sip and then stops when I say something. "Want one?"
"No- where's Enid?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. Come on, let's go by the fire." Carl drags me by the hand to the circle of people sitting around the flames. Mostly everyone was drinking but it's not really for me, so I'm just going to stay sober tonight.
Carl pulls me onto his lap as he chats with other friends. His one beer turns into two, which turns into three, which turns into four... By this time Carl seemed to be having the time of his life. At least he's a happy drunk as opposed to an angry drunk.
A little while later Enid comes over and I go off with her. I haven't seen Enid in a couple weeks so I'm excited to catch up. "So how are things with Carl?" she asks me.
"I love how that's the first thing you ask. But no, we're really good. He's really sweet. What about you and Ron?"
Enid freezes. "How do you know about Ron?"
I shrug. "I have my ways." Actually, Carl told me because Ron told him.
"I guess we're good. We haven't made things official yet, obviously, but he's also really sweet." Ron's voice calls from the door of the shack for Enid. "I'll be right back, okay?"
I'm about to tell Enid that I'm happy for her as she walks off when a voice appears behind me. "Y/N, how's it going?"
I spin around and see Tyler. "Oh... hey."
He reaches over and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear, then takes a sip of his beer. I back up and cross my arms as he says, "Wanna have some fun?"
"Absolutely not," I state, hoping he doesn't mean what I think he means by 'fun.'
"Where's your boy? He seemed so protective of you earlier, and now he's letting you off on your own... doesn't he know that's not safe?" Tyler takes a few steps towards me and is about to touch my arm until I swat it away.
"Tyler, stop. Just leave me the fuck alone." He's giving me a bad feeling so I push past him and head back towards the fire, towards Carl. I'm almost there when Tyler shoves my back, hard, making me fall forward onto the ground. "Fuck," I mutter under my breath.
There are gasps all around as everyone pauses what they're doing to watch the scene. Tyler laughs and I start to stand up, but he shoves me back down again. This time I turn around to face him before standing up.
I hear someone by the fire say in shock, "Carl, aren't you going to help her?"
Carl just chuckles. "Nah. I'd just be in her way."
With that I send a powerful right hook to Tyler's face which sends his beer flying out of his hand. Almost immediately an uppercut hits his jaw, and then I shove him hard to the ground. There's some laughter, more gasps, and cheering, but some of Tyler's friends are silent. Tyler stands up and pulls a knife from his pocket holding it out in front of my face. He thinks he's scaring me, but I just whip out my own knife as well.
"You really wanna try me?" I ask him.
"Fucking bitch," he mutters, trying to slice my cheek.
I dodge it and do my favorite maneuver to grab the knife out of his hand. I wrap my arm around his neck with a knife held against it, and the other knife I tuck safely back in my pocket. The only noise at the moment is the crackling fire.
"That's my girl!" a drunk Carl shouts from the distance, holding up his beer in the air and breaking the silence.
I let Tyler go but keep his knife, and he awkwardly shuffles back to his friends. Everyone slowly goes back to what they're doing and I go back to Carl.
I sigh and sit on his lap again, leaning my head on his chest. He wraps his arms around me and strokes my hair as he says, "that's my girl."
Carl is so cute in this I can't.