❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter one ―― i asked nicely
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "SULK ALL YOU WANT, it ain't gonna make me feel bad. You're alive and that's all that matters to me."
You can be a real jackass sometimes." Charlie muttered, rolling her eyes as she pushed herself off the hood of Shane's jeep and walked away from her brother. She made her way towards the group of kids who were playing with the few toys they had and she sat down, wrapping her arms around her shins. "Grown ups suck." She mumbled and the kids laughed, which brought a smile to her lips.
"I know you wanted to go." Carl stated as he looked up at the brunette. "But I'm glad you stayed, I like having you around."
"I like being around, kiddo." She smiled as she ruffled his hair, he swatted at her hands but the gesture was playful. "No, you get back here." She mumbled, pulling the kid into her lap as she tickled his sides. He laughed as he wiggled in her grasp. Lori smiled at the two, she had always been fond of the girl and even more so the way she was with Carl.
"Alright." Charlie smiled as she stopped tickling the boy but she kept him in her lap. "You think he's had enough?" She looked over at the other three kids, all three shaking their heads. "No?" She chuckled. "No?" She let the boy go and moved towards the other three. "What if I tickled you?" She asked, jumping towards them, landing on her side in the dirt and they all laughed but before she could actually get to them the C.B. radio hummed to life, making everyone turn towards it, all hoping it was good news from the rest of the group who had ventured into the city for supplies.
"Hello." A voice cut through the static, and though it wasn't anyone from their group. "Hello. Can anybody hear my voice?"
Charlie shoved herself from the dirt, but Amy, another girl in their group, beat her to it. "Hey. Hello?" She questioned, but there was more static.
"Can you hear my voice?"
"Yes, I can hear you. You're coming through. Over." A smile pulled at her lips as she looked up at Charlie and Dale – an older man with a white beard and a bucket hat on his head.
"If anybody reads, please respond." Charlie huffed, kicking at the ground. It was clear that despite the fact that they could hear him, he couldn't hear a word Amy was saying. "Broadcasting on emergency channel. Will be approaching Atlanta on highway 85. If anybody reads, please respond."
"We're just outside the city." The blonde stated, but all she got in response was static. "Hello. Hello?" She questions, but nothing. "He couldn't hear me. I tried to warn him."
"Try to raise him again." Dale told her as the others gathered around, it was the first time they had heard from anyone outside of their group for a while.
"Let me." Charlie offered, bending down next to the blonde who handed her the mic. "Hello?" Charlie questioned, her brown eyes narrowed on the knobs as she turned them just a little hoping to get the guys attention. "Hello? Can you hear me?" She sighed as nothing but static came through.
"Come on, son, you know best how to work this thing." Dale looked up at Shane as he neared then, lodging his ax in the stump the radio sat on as he squatted down and held his hand out to his sister and she handed it over.
"Hello, hello. Is the person who called still on the air?" He asked and Charlie chewed on her lip as they waited but got no response. "This is officer Shane Walsh broadcasting to person unknown. Please respond."
"We lost him." Charlie huffed, pushing her hair out of her face. "Damnit." She shoved herself to her feet, kicking at the ground.
"There are others. Not just us." Lori stated, hoping that it would ease the group. Maybe even give them some hope.
"We knew there would be, right? That's why we left the C.B. on." Shane told her.
"Lotta good it's been doing."
"Okay." Shane sighed, letting his head hang a little.
"And I've been saying for a week we oughta put signs up on 85 and warn people away from the city." Lori told him.
"Folks got no idea what they're getting into." Amy added.
"Well, we haven't had time." Shane pushed himself to his feet.
"Haven't we?" Charlie mumbled, her eyes narrowed slightly on her brother and he turned to her.
"Not now." He huffed. "I get your pissed at me, but this ain't helping." She rolled her eyes, but nodded her head.
"I think we need to make time." Lori stated, her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, that – that's a luxury we can't afford. We are surviving here. We are day to day."
"And who the hell would you propose we send?" Dale asked, hoping to ease the arguing.
"I'll go." Lori stated. "Give me a vehicle."
"Nobody goes anywhere alone, you know that." Shane huffed, seemingly getting annoyed with the conversation.
"I know how to shoot, you taught me yourself, and Daryl's been teachin' me how to use a bow. I'll go." Charlie added, getting a grateful nod from the woman on her left.
"No way in hell." Shane pointed a stern finger at his sister and she narrowed her eyes at him then Lori walked past them, muttering a yes, sir. "Why do you wanna leave so bad?"
"I wanna help." She shrugged a little. "That's it." She looked up at him, her face unchanging and he sighed before looking in the direction Lori had gone. "Go. I got the kid." She told him and he squeezed her shoulder before he walked away and Charlie turned towards Carl.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah." She nodded, a smile pulling at her lips as she squatted down in front of him. "Everyone's just a little on edge. How about me and you-"
"Would you really go out there?" He asked, stopping her as she stood up and she let out a sigh as she bent her knees again.
"I would." She nodded. "If the group needed it and if I could protect people, especially you and your mama, I would do just about anything."
"What if you don't come back?"
She was taken aback by his question, but she knew she couldn't not answer him. She took a breath as she put her hands on his shoulders. "You're my nephew, my favorite person in the world and I would do everything in my power to come back for you. You know that, right?" He smiled as he stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She chuckled a little as she wrapped her arms around him, patting his back a little. "Get back to your chores, okay? I'm gonna go help Amy."
"Okay." He nodded and she kissed his cheek before pushing herself up and ruffling his hair as she walked over to the blonde who was picking up the sticks she had dropped when the radio had gone off.
"Oh, thank you." The blonde smiled as Charlie picked up what she couldn't.
"Next time you go out for firewood, let me know. I'll join you. We can get more and have to make fewer trips out into the woods."
"You know," Amy smiled at her. "You're a lot like Shane."
"Please, never say that again." Charlie shoved the girl to the side, it was a playful gesture but her words were anything but. Amy chuckled as she found her footing and followed the brunette towards the pile they had of firewood – it was covered with tarp in case it rained.
"Well, you are." She shrugged and Charlie shook her head. "You're tough."
"Look at us, what we've survived." Charlie told her. "We're all tough."
"Some more than others." With that Amy walked away and Charlie shook her head as she lightly kicked at a stick that was laying on the ground. She didn't necessarily see herself as tougher than anybody at camp, they were all doing what they had to do to survive and that made them all tough.
"I need to talk to you." Shane walked over, stopping next to his sister and she looked up at him but his eyes were roaming around the group.
"About?"
"Come on." He nodded his head towards the trees and she followed him, her eyebrows pinched. Then he stopped when he thought they were a good distance away and no one was gonna over hear.. "What was that comment earlier?"
"You have to narrow that down, I make a lot of comments." She gave him a smile as she rocked back on her heels and he rolled his eyes.
"After I said we didn't have the time to make signs."
"Oh, that one." She hummed, sliding her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "You know, it's a bit strange that when Lori wanders off and you're nowhere to be seen either. And when you do come back, it's always seconds before she does."
"What are you-"
"I know you, Bubba." She told him, giving him a half smile. "I know when you're pissed, I know when you need a hug, and I know that you're in love with Lori. I know that you both sneak off but I don't wanna know what you do out there."
"Why haven't you said anything?"
"Because I'm not sure how I feel about it." She shrugged, her eyes dropping to her dusty boots. "You know that I love Lori. And I know that he's gone, it's just – it's weird."
"If it bothers you-"
"I'm not gonna tell you to stop, it's not my place. But maybe do a better job at hiding it." She patted his chest before turning and making her way back to camp.
"Charlie." She turned to see Lori waving her over and she made her way towards the woman.
"What's up?"
"How in the hell did you get Daryl to teach you how to use a bow?" She asked, her head tilted to the side.
Charlie chuckled a little, a smile pulling up the corner of her lips as she looked up at the woman with a small shrug. "I asked nicely."
"Really?"
"It took some convincing." Charlie nodded as she shifted on her feet. "But you know how persistent I can be." Her smile grew wider and the woman laughed, shaking her head.
"I think you mean annoying." Lori mumbled, nudging the girl with her shoulder as she walked by her and Charlie laughed as she watched the woman walk away. She really did love her, she was practically family, but still the whole thing between her and Shane didn't sit right with her. It made sense, after losing her husband and the world pretty much ending she needed someone and Shane just happened to be there.
But Charlie couldn't wrap her head around it, it felt like a betrayal to Rick, who was basically family. Still, she kept that to herself, she didn't want to mess up what little form of happiness Shane had found for himself. With a breath, she made her way back to camp and called the kids over for story time – it wasn't anything exciting. They read the same three books over and over again but she didn't mind and neither did the kids, for the most part.
NOVA SPEAKS !
this book completely took me by surprise and it has taken over my life lol i didn't want to write a fic for twd, but i knew it was inevitable.
i blame that_one_writer_chik ! she's to blame for this! she made me watch it! i hate you for it!! but, like, i also love you or whatever . . . also, happy birthday!!! i was gonna wait until tuesday, but i'm impatient and it's your birthday!!!
❪ lack of impulse control aside,
updates will continue tuesday ❫