____________________
Chapter Seven: Rainy Nights
Written by indigo
____________________
- 5 Days Later -
The past week has been an easy train ride for Karma. The people of Alexandria began to trust the young boy, though Karma can see why it might have been hard at first.
Continuing to sleep in the cell has gotten easier. Over time the cot he would sleep on seemed to wear in enough that it no longer felt like sleeping on rocks.
Rosita had even offered to give Karma a blanket, instead of using his trench coat. Despite Karma's pleas, telling her that she needed it more than him, Rosita dropped it off at the cell in the middle of the night, and Karma awoke with it wrapped around his body. He attempted to be upset about it, but all he could do was snuggle further into the blanket.
Though, karma couldn't have been asleep for long, because before he knew it, Rosita knelt down to the teen, shaking his shoulder lightly.
"Cmon, Karma. Time to get up," Rosita hummed quietly. Karma shuffled around in his bed, pulling the light blue blanket over his head, causing it to be pulled off of his feet.
Rosita smiles lightly, but she isn't in the mood to wait around for the younger boy. So she grabs Karmas's wrist lightly but firmly and pulls him out of bed.
He rises quickly, dragging his feet behind him as he walks. He complains the entire time they walk, saying he's tired and wants to go back to bed. Rosita offers to let him stay in the cellar all day, but Karma knows he would much rather do something productive.
So he pipes down and continues walking beside rosita to the garden.
When the two arrive at the garden, there is an unfamiliar face speaking with Rick and Aaron. A taller man with light dreadlocks and if Karma wasn't mistaken, or possibly dreaming... the man had a tiger with him. Karmas mouth hung open as he stood at the animal.
"You see the tiger too right?" Karma asked, leaning the slightest bit closer to the Latina. Rosita nods, taking a couple of steps closer to the man. Karma follows her, afraid that he might become tiger food if he doesn't.
Rick greets the two as they approach the three men. Rosita gives a greeting while Karma just gives a weary smile, his eyes glued to the animal in front of him.
"uh- Ezekiel, This is Rosita and Karma," Rick introduces. Ezekiel's demeanor becomes harsh as he makes eye contact with the young boy. Karma almost flinches under his gaze.
"Karma?" He asks, holding the tiger's collar a bit looser. "Like... Negans son?" He adds. Well fuck. Karma knows he's in for it now. The man with the tiger as a pet is going to be the one to kill him.
Rosita uses her arm to push Karma behind her slightly, and he doesn't need to be told twice.
"he's a kid, man- a good kid at that" Rosita starts, looking at Ezekiel warningly. "So maybe don't sick Shiva on him just yet, alright?" She adds, a sarcastic smirk spread across her lips.
Ezekiel frowns and tightens his grip on Shiva's collar once more. He turns back to Rick and Aaron and continues their conversation.
Rosita turns back towards the teen, a soft expression on her face, "Why don't you get to work? I'll come to visit you later, yeah?" She requests. Karma nods and turns on his heel walking towards the gardening area.
—
His work is quite simple. The hardest thing he had done all day was plant a few new seeds, which, Karma believes he's gotten pretty good at.
and as Rosita promised, she stopped by around one with some lunch for the two of them, and to hang out. The two sat down on un-sturdy crates and talked for a while. Nothing important as always, just small talk about shower thoughts or would you rather questions.
"If you were a mermaid, what color would your tail be?" Karma asks, taking a firm bite out of a sandwich Rosita had provided. The Latina almost laughs,
"Excuse me?" She asks a leathered hand, hovering over her mouth. Karma repeats himself. and Rosita thinks. "I don't know, that is the weirdest question I've ever been asked." She admits. Karma smiles,
"Makes you think, doesn't it?"
Rosita nods, a laugh pressed between her lips.
"um... I think my tail would be warm colors. like a sunset type thing" Karmas head perks up,
"Creative" Rosita nods, finishing off her sandwich.
Rosita's name is called somewhere in the distance, and the two take it as a sign that their lunch break is over,
"See ya around, kid" Rosita smiles, patting Karmas's shoulder and walking towards where she was called.
The rest of Karmas's shift is pretty calm. one thing He's asked to help with is to restock the pantry. The boy agrees, but he doesn't realize how hard the task actually would be for him.
As he makes his way to the pantry, a sinking feeling in his gut continues to grow. and when he reaches the pantry he understands.
Olivia was in charge of the pantry.
Karma quickly places the food where it needs, making sure not to linger on his thoughts too long.
as he's putting away his final piece of food, karma notices something on the counter, a small post-it note. On it, there's a small unfinished drawing of a bird.
Karma holds the note delicately in his hands. Was she planning on finishing this drawing? would she maybe create some kind of portrait about it?
Maybe she had planned to do these things before Karma ended her life. Before karma took away the chance for her to create something amazing.
the young boy shook his head, setting the note back down on the shelf. he walks out of the pantry quickly before his brain tells him to turn around and go back.
He arrives at the garden quickly, and takes a seat back on the wooden crate, wiping his dried face to make sure tears hadn't fallen.
"Hey, I want all of y'all to go home early tonight. It's supposed to start storming soon," The gardener in charge says to the others, "Let's hope it's enough to get our crops through the season," The farmer adds, crossing his bandaged fingers.
—
The farmer got what he wanted because as Karma attempted to sleep throughout the night, raindrops kept fluting through the barred window and onto his face.
It wasn't unbearable, just a bit annoying. But after a while, the rain became more than just a few droplets.
it began pouring outside, an insane amount. Karma held the blanket over his head but it seeped through and began to soak his clothes.
He waited as long as he could to ignore it, but eventually, it became too much. He quickly put on his trenchcoat and wrapped the blanket on top of it, attempting to shield himself from the rain, and keep warm.
Both failed, and as karma swung his legs over the side of the cot, his boots made contact with the wet ground. A thin layer of water had begun to fill the cellar,
"Shit" Karma whispered. He stood up quickly and moved himself over to the other side of the cell. Karma watched as water poured itself into
his cell at a rapid pace. and the thin layer of water on the ground wasn't starting to look so thin anymore.
The cellar was flooding, and it was flooding quickly.
Karma quickly made his way back to the window and placed his trenchcoat over the bars, hoping that the thick fabric could stop the rain, but it continued to seep through and under the coat, still flooding the floor. Karma tossed the coat onto the floor since it was not sopping wet and wasn't doing anybody any good.
The next thought the teen had, was to find a way out of the cell. so he walked over to the door and attempted to open it. it was still locked. so karma pulled and pushed on it rapidly, hoping the old hinges were old enough to fall off. He seemed to be proven wrong again, and even after taking his fist and beating it into the lock, it did nothing but leave him with bruised knuckles.
Karma's last hope was to call for help. It was pretty pitiful, but it was his only chance. so karma walked back over and stood on top of the cot. it wasn't the sturdiest piece of furniture but it held him up.
He placed his hands on the bars and attempted to look out at the houses. none of which he recognized off the top of his head. but one of these people could probably get to rick.
So Karma mustered up any voice he had and called for help. He yelled and yelled, praying and begging that someone could hear him, and they weren't just ignoring him.
The storm was so loud, that Karma was honestly surprised he could hear himself, let alone anyone else could. But he continued to yell for help, using his same bruised fist to bang against the walls, trying to make any noise loud enough for someone to hear.
The water had risen higher, now finding its way right at karmas knees. He knew that if he didn't get help soon, he would drown in rainwater.
The teen continued to bang on the windows, calling for help. His fists hurt so bad but he didn't even care at this point.
His voice became weak from screaming, and his fists practically begged him to stop. and he almost did. He almost gave up and watched the rain fall, it would have been a pretty last sight, huh?
but thankfully for him, a woman with long brown hair, and pajamas came running out of her house and toward the window karma had been screaming out of. Karma only recognized her when she came closer.
Rosita knelt in front of the window, her hands reached out to grasp Karmas. Her eyes were scared and frantic.
"Are you alright?" She had to practically yell to be heard over the sound of the pouring rain, which now seeped into her clothes and hair. she didn't seem to mind though. Karma shook his head,
"It's flooded down here" He shouted back. Rosita ran her thumbs over the top of karmas knuckles, noticing how bloodied and bruised they'd become,
"I'm gonna go get rick, he has your keys," Rosita says, starting to stand up. Karma wants to hold onto her, and beg her not to leave him, "I'll be back, I promise" she says, looking down at the nervous boy. He gives her a worriful nod, and with that, she begins her run down the road, to the grimes house.
it couldn't have been more than a five-minute wait before rosita came back with a drenched rick grimes, and an equally drenched Carl behind him.
Rick fumbled sith the keys in his hand but quickly found the right one before descending the cellar stairs.
He unlocked the door and swung it open. his pants became drenched, as the water was now above his knees. He walked over to the cell door and unlocked it swiftly, opening the door with a hard pull.
It flew open, and Karma didn't need to be told twice when Rick told him to go outside.
Karma tumbled his way up the stairs and to Rosita who placed her hands on his shoulders, looking at him with worried eyes. she mouthed something along the lines of 'are you okay?' The teen nodded and Rosita smiled at him.
Carl stood behind her, a shocked and worried expression across his face. He looked at Karma as if he had just come back from a world war. But the Smith child just smiled at the Grimes as if this was a normal occurrence.
Carl's hair was sopping wet and stuck to his skin, and his pajamas were somehow even wetter. He didn't have his cowboy hat on, which didn't surprise the teen since he probably just woke up.
Rick placed a hand on Karmas shoulder to sturdy himself,
"I'm sorry about that, I completely forgot about the storm" Rick apologizes. Karma nods. He knew rick didn't leave him there purposefully.
Rick offered for Karma to stay at the Grimes house until they can find out what to do about the flooding in the cellar. Karma agreed immediately, thanking Rick immensely. and with a little bit of convincing, Rosita agreed as well.
So the small group departed. Rick, Karma, and Carl made their way back to their house while Rosita fled to hers.
The walk to the grimes house wasn't awful. it was more like a run if anything since Carl and Karma didn't feel like being in the rain longer than he needed to.
Once the three arrived, Rick immediately went to his room to clean up, telling Carl that he was in charge of Karma for the time being. Carl rolled his eyes, his ears going pink.
He ran off to the downstairs bathroom, grabbing a towel for both him and Karma to dry off.
"Um, showers upstairs if you wanna take one. I can give you some clothes to borrow too if you need," Carl offered. Karma accepted with a huge smile on his face. One that made Carl smile automatically in return.
So Karma quickly walked off to the bathroom and started the shower. surprisingly enough, the shower had hot water, which is the only correct way to take a shower.
He quickly unclothed and stepped into the shower. The hot water burned against his skin, but it felt so nice compared to the freezing water he was almost submerged in.
he scrubbed himself carefully, making sure not a part of him went unwashed. even going over a second time for safe measures.
The shampoo and conditioner in the shower isn't the kind made for curly hair, but Karma didn't care one bit. he lathered it onto his head and scrubbed it clean.
accidentally, Karma created some kind of rhythm with his hands. he began to hum along to it, craving the feeling of music.
Karma always enjoyed music. It had been something he enjoyed before the apocalypse, and it's something he hopes to enjoy after it's long gone.
The teen had learned to play guitar when he was ten and attempted to keep the lessons fresh in his brain by creating fake guitars, or finding old ones in abandoned malls.
While he was in the middle of his song, there was a soft knock on the door,
"Come in!" Karma exclaimed. The door creaked open,
"Hey, I got some clothes here. I'm gonna leave them on the counter," Carl said softly. Karma could practically imagine the boy awkwardly staring at the ground, even though Karma was fully covered by the curtain.
"Thanks," Karma called out over the shower. The door squeaked close with a click, and The teen continued his humming.
Once all of the hair product was out of his hair, the teen reluctantly exited the shower, wrapping himself with the towel immediately to avoid the cold air surrounding him.
He quickly changed into the clothes Carl left, which were red pajama pants, and a white T-shirt. Nothing too fancy, but not something that will keep
him warm.
He shakes the thought away and tosses the towel into the dirty hamper. He's hesitant about where to put his dirty clothes but he decides to just throw them into the hamper as well.
When Karma exits the bathroom, another cold gust of air hits him, and his hand comes flying to his shoulders since his second one is holding his boots.
He drops the boots off by the door next to three other pairs and makes his way to the couch where Carl is setting up and small make-shift bed on the couch.
Karma smiles at the boy's actions, watching as he makes sure there are enough blankets, and making sure everything is perfect.
"That's sweet of you," Karma teases. Carl's head turns around quickly to face Karma. He's showered as well. and he's now wearing a black T-Shirt and some boxer shorts.
"Shut up," Carl says with a smile. Karma smiles back and plops onto the makeshift bed, snuggling into the cushions. Carl is looking at the boy with a worried look as if he's genuinely wanting an opinion on how he did create the bed. Karma smiles,
"Comfy as hell, Grimes, don't worry," Karma says, then crossing his arms behind his head and sighing lightly.
"Good," Carl comments, patting the sides of his legs. "I'm uh- probably not gonna sleep for a bit. mind if I chill here with you?" Carl asks, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. Karma nods, lifting his feet so Carl could take a seat on the other end of the couch.
When carl does take a seat, karma places his feet back down so they rest in Carl's lap. The boy goes red, which just causes Karma to laugh lightly.
a comfortable silence erupts between them and Carl's hands come down to either side of his lap, resting over the top of Karmas's calf.
Karmas's eyes flutter close and with four walls and a cute cowboy next to him. Karma can sleep peacefully tonight.
———
AN
you guys don't even know how much I wanna write fluff for these two but I can't because I crave slow burn