This was Rio's third funeral. He felt it was useless to keep count anymore. The way things were heading he'd be seeing a lot more. Rick spoke for Dale, he talked about his stubbornness, how he always said how he felt, his honesty and his bravery.
He had killed a good man, was all Rio thought about. He hadn't spoken to Carl. He needed to speak to Carl, desperately. He was the only other person who knew.
Rio cried as Rick continued speaking, he didn't know the man, not well enough to truly mourn him but he felt overcome with guilt. He cried the more he thought about it. He willed himself not to make any noise and just let the tears fall. No one would notice his crying that way. Except Daryl. Daryl spared him a concerned look and stood next to him throughout the whole service, hand upon his shoulder.
He left soon after that, Rio had asked him not to leave but couldn't give the man a reason why. He couldn't tell him what had happened, he couldn't tell him how he was feeling. Daryl left to go and do some job Rick had given him. He said he'd find him again later.
Rio took the chance to speak with Carl. Everyone was taking stuff to the farmhouse. Hershel had officially let them move in. He sought the other boy out whilst everyone else was busy.
"Hey." Rio began, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He'd been given some more clean clothes from Maggie. A pair of jeans he had to roll up about five times and a long sleeved check shirt.
"Hey." The other boy replied.
"How are you—." Rio began to ask him how he was feeling but Carl quickly cut him off.
"We did it."
"Yeah." Rio hung his head in shame. He had wanted to bring it up, but not like that.
"We have to tell someone. Or at least I have to, I feel like I need to."
"But who?"
"I... I know who." He hesitated. Rio didn't want to ask who he was going to tell, he couldn't see anyone taking this lightly.
They approached Shane.
"Hey, Shane?" Carl called out.
"What's up, dudes?" He replied, Rio cringed at the nickname. "What're you doing wandering around by yourselves?"
"We're not by ourselves, we have each other." Carl retaliated.
"You know that's not what I meant." Shane let out a long sigh before placing wood down in the boot of the car.
"If, um... if we tell you something, will you promise not to tell my parents?"
"Or anyone." Rio added. Carl shot him a look and Rio just shook his head. No one else needed to know.
"I think that's probably a bad idea for all of us, bud." Shane went to pick up another plank of wood as the two boys headed off.
Carl let out a long sigh as he shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket. Rio just watched him with concern. It was eating him alive, and as much as Rio wanted to ignore it, it was getting to him too.
"Hey, uh, come on back." He changed his mind, sitting down in the boot of the car.
"Go on." He said, gesturing for either boy to speak.
Carl slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out Daryl's gun. He handed it to Shane who tossed it in his hand
"I took it from Daryl's motorcycle. If he found out I took it he'd kill me."
"What you doing with this?" He asked finally, emptying the magazine into his hand.
"Dale." Carl spoke, "It's my fault he died."
"Carl, why would you say that, man? He got bit by a Walker."
"We saw the Walker." Rio interrupted.
"I was gonna shoot it." Carl continued. Shane bit his lip and turned his head away. It was hard to read him. Carl scuffed his boots in the dirt. "It was stuck in the mud. I was... I was throwing rocks at it and stuff. But I was gonna do it... shoot it right in the head, and it... it got free, came after me and..."
"Where do you come into this then?" Shane asked, turning to face Rio.
"I was there too, I helped him get away... we ran away. I had the chance to kill it but I couldn't. If I killed it Dale would still be here."
"I want you to stop that, okay? This ain't your fault, you can't afford to think like that here." Shane paused, picking Daryl's gun back up off the car boot and handing it out to Carl. "You need to hold onto this. You need to protect yourself."
Carl inched away from the man and shook his head slightly, Rio barely noticed it.
"As long as I'm around you, nothings gonna happen to you, Carl. But I can't keep my eyes on you 24/7. Only you can do that. Carl take it."
"I'm never touching another gun again." He shook his head more obviously this time, his face breaking into a frown.
"That ain't an option Carl! Okay?"
"Just give it back to Daryl." Carl stormed off quickly, leaving Rio with Shane. He didn't know wether to follow him or not, it seemed that all he did was follow people.
"Kid," Shane sighed, "take it."
"I'm not a good shot." Rio tried to argue.
"Take it. You can practice." He shoved the gun into his hand, pouring the emptied ammunition into his palm as well. "If he's not gonna defend himself, someone gotta do it for him."
Rio stared down at the gun in his hand. He poured the ammunition into his jean pocket and just stared. Shane had continued working when Rio looked up, no longer interested in the boy. Rio wanted to question the man, question why he thought he could protect Carl. Shane made a 'shoo' gesture and Rio left. He didn't want to stay any longer than he needed.
He found Carl in the house. He walked over, the gun in his pocket seemed to weigh as much as the boxes everyone carried. He sat down next to the boy in the corner of the room, hoping no one would comment on their lack of help to moving everything.
"It's not your fault." Carl said, "If I didn't... didn't tease it, it wouldn't have gotten free."
"But I could've killed it, I had the chance when I saved you."
"No you didn't, you had no weapon, the gun was on the floor."
"I don't need a weapon. I killed one with Daryl, I knocked it over and stamped on its head. I... I could've done it again for you. For Dale."
"It's not your fault." Carl muttered again.
"And it's not yours."
Carl just looked up at him, there wasn't that much between them but Carl had slouched against the wall.
"You didn't know." Rio whispered.
Carl gave him a smile, a small one but it was a smile nonetheless.
"Are we gonna help now?"
"Nah." Rio replied smirking, Carl laughed at him dropping his head onto Rio's shoulder.
"I've gotta... I've gotta go find Daryl. I won't tell him. I'll say I took it."
"Really?"
"I'm actually not sure." Rio said, rethinking as he turned to face Carl. "Maybe I'll just say I found it, on the floor."
"He won't believe that!"
"We'll see." Rio got up and headed through the farmhouse, Glenn gave him a pat on the back and asked him how he was doing. He made small talk for a while and Rio didn't mind it, he liked talking with Glenn. The older boy lifted his cap to mess with Rio's hair before saying goodbye, walking over to Maggie.
He headed towards Daryl who was atop the barn, patching up the hole he and Carl had climbed through days before. Rio climbed up the ladder, treading lightly. He didn't know how strong this roof was.
"What's up?" Daryl asked, not looking away from the nail and board.
"Uh, I found something of yours."
"What?"
Rio held Daryl's gun out in his hand silently. He waited for the other man to turn around and when he did his face scrunched in confusion.
"Where'd you find that?"
"It was on the floor down there. You must've dropped it or something."
"Liar."
"I'm not lying!" He was totally lying. It was so painfully obvious that he was lying. Daryl didn't even need to ask again.
"Was it Carl? Did he take it, give it to you?"
"No."
"Why did you need it?" He asked, tone changing, suddenly worried.
And thats when the truth pored out. Absolutely all of it. Rio sat down on the roof and didn't hold back any details. He repeated everything he had told to Shane to Daryl.
"It's not your fault Dale died."
"Carl tried to tell me that."
"Well, he's right." Daryl looked almost pained to admit it.
"No. There's so many things I could've done. I could've stopped Carl, pulled him away earlier, I could've killed the Walker, or even just made sure it was still stuck! I could've gotten you, you could've killed it!"
"It was just an accident, that's all."
"Do you blame me?" Rio asked nervously. "Because you know when parents comfort kids and tell them they did nothing wrong for something they definitely did wrong—."
"What? No." Daryl didn't even know what to say.
"I do." Rio admitted. He blamed himself for a lot of things.
"Well don't."
"How?" He frowned.
"I don't know." Daryl sighed, turning back to his work. "I'm not a therapist!"
"What's a therapist?"
"You don't know what a therapist is?" He asked, stopping again.
"Should I?"
"One of them would be good right about now."
"Okay." Rio said, swinging his legs off of the side of the roof. "Wait you just changed the subject."
"We're not going back to that. I don't blame you and you shouldn't blame yourself... but I can't force you not to."
"Okay."
"So, we good?"
"We're good."
"Now go. I need to focus or I'll knock a finger off."
Rio laughed at the man before climbing down the ladder. He climbed back up.
"Actually can I stay?" He asked. "Please?"
"Fine. Just till I'm finished."
Rio grinned at the man. He felt okay again, why was everything making him feel okay? He shouldn't feel okay about what happened. What was wrong with him?
***
T-dog came running back to the farmhouse sometime later. Rio was sat on the steps of the house with Glenn. He was sad, Rio could see the tear stains running down his cheeks yet he still made time to talk and joke with him. Rio felt bad.
T-dog yelled as he got close, waving his arm frantically. "He's gone!"
"What do you mean he's gone?" Rick asking, squeezing past Rio to make his way down the steps.
"I don't know, he must've escaped, the shed's empty."
"Shit." Rick hissed, he threw his head back and let out a long sigh. Daryl made his way over, the three of them ran over to the shed.
Andrea, Daryl, T-dog and Rick went inside, searching the shed for any small clues off how he escaped.
Rick turned to Rio and Glenn, "Run over there, tell everyone else what's happened."
"Are you sure?"
Rick nodded his head and Glenn left, Rio following closely behind. They ran into Lori first who immediately knew somethings had happened.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Randall's missing." Rio replied.
"Missing? How?"
"How longs he been gone?" Hershel asked, jogging over. Everyone crowded around them now, desperate to hear the news.
"It's hard to say."
"What going on?" A woman asked, making her way over too late. Everyone walked over to the shed, where Rick, Daryl, T-dog and Andrea still searched. Rick walked out of it.
"The cuffs are still hooked he must've slipped 'em." He announced.
"Is that even possible?" Carol asked quietly.
"It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea replied, walking out of the shed.
"The door was secured from the outside." Hershel argued.
Rio looked around for anyone that wasn't there. He walked over to Carl, "Who's not here?" He asked desperately.
They both looked around before noticing someone missing. "Shane's not here."
"He wouldn't do that." Carl defended, he looked uneasy yet still said his words with confidence. Rio was about to ask him, are you sure? when the man broke through the trees, calling for Rick.
"What happened?" Someone screamed. Shane's face was bloody, his nose looked broken and cut. Rick and Shane hurried over to each other.
"He's armed! He's got my gun!" He announced to everyone, his voice was gruff and panicked.
"Are you okay?" Carl asked, his mouth hung open and his brows were furrowed together. He was as much confused as he was concerned.
"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face."
"All right, Hershel, T-dog, get everybody back in the house." Rick shouted. "Glenn, Daryl, come with us."
Daryl grabbed his crossbow from off his back, reloading it quickly.
"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane shouted
"Just let him go. That was the plan wasn't it, to just let him go?" Carol asked sheepishly. Shane walked closer, grabbing the gun out of T-dogs hand.
"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun!" Shane retorted.
"Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen." Carol pleaded.
"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put." Rick ordered.
Carol went to protest but Andrea grabbed her arm, pulling her along. "Let's go back in the house."
There was overlapping chatter from everyone. Whispered worries and frantic questions. Rio couldn't make out any of it. It was just all... noise.
Carl pulled him along as Lori pulled him. They were the first in the house, followed by Beth and Maggie and Hershel, and then everyone else. Hershel held the door open for them all, locking it quickly after Andrea came through.
"Where are you staying?" Carl asked Rio as they headed upstairs.
"I'm not sure, probably the living room somewhere."
"Well, I'm upstairs you can come with me."
"Your parents are staying there too, that's way too crowded." Rio argued as Carl opened the door to his room.
"My dad won't be home, and my mom'll probably stay downstairs, she helps out a lot when she's stressed."
"How do you know your dad won't get back?"
"Look outside, it's getting dark already. My mom is probably going to try and put me to sleep soon enough."
Rio laughed but it was true. Night was drawing closer, the sky was a dark blue. Glenn and Daryl and Rick and Shane were all still out in the woods, looking for a man. A man who was armed.
"Here." Carl caught him looking out the window and handed him a pair of binoculars before flipping onto the bed.
"Where'd you get these?"
"I don't know, they were just on the cabinet by there."
Rio nodded and whispered a thanks before walking over to the window and looking out. He didn't see anyone, he hadn't expected to. Carl was already half asleep so Rio just laid down next to him.
"Are you scared?" Rio asked, turning to face the other boy.
"Of Randall? No." Carl replied almost instantly. He stopped for a moment, looking carefully at Rio's face before asking, "Are you?"
"No." Rio replied, not as fast or as sure as Carl had.
"We should get some sleep." Carl suggested, burying himself further under the blanket.
"Yeah."
"Goodnight." He whispered.
"Night." Rio replied, placing his hearing aids on the night stand. He turned onto his left side, he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.
***
Carl knelt on the floor next to the bed, shaking Rio's shoulders. The binoculars were around his neck and his face was full of concern. He was speaking but Rio couldn't hear anything. He sat up, Carl's words becoming a bit clearer.
"Something's... outside... problem."
"What?" He asked groggily, getting out of bed and placing on his hearing aids. He turned them on and then chucked on his jacket.
"Somethings happened. People are fighting."
"Who is it?" Rio asked, slipping his shoes on.
"I... I think it's my dad." He replied, voice wavering.
Rio felt a wave of relief flood over him, realising it wasn't Glenn or Daryl. Then he felt immediately guilty. Rick was nice to him, he shouldn't have reacted like that. He tried to calm Carl down but soon they were hand in hand running through the farmhouse.
Everyone was asleep so they got out easily. Rio didn't think Carl slept at all, he looked tired. He'd just been pretending when they were in bed.
They approached the field together just in time to see someone fall to the ground. Carl let go of Rio and ran faster when his father began to cry. Shane was on the floor. Blood poured from his nose and chest.
"Dad?" Carl cried out. His voice was high pitched and broken.
His father looked over at him, still in shock. His body jittered as he tried to stand. "Carl..."
The boy's breathing got heavier. He looked between Rio, his approaching father and the man on the floor. His eyes were frantic.
"You know..." Rick began. Rio watched as Carl's hands traveled to his pocket, he could see something glinting. His gun. Rios gun. "You should be back home with mom." Rick said.
Carl pulled the gun from his pocket, holding it up high in front of him. It was only then that Rio caught sight of it. He wasn't drawing a gun on his father, he was drawing a gun on Shane. Shane who was now hobbling towards them, groaning and dripping blood.
"Carl..." Rio began. He was getting closer to Rick. Too close.
"Just... just put the... put the gun down." Rick muttered, unaware of the man behind him. He continued to stumble forward, trying to reach his son. He looked to Rio for help to which he just shook his head nervously. He couldn't speak.
Carl's eyes welled with tears as he kept a shaky grip on the gun. He aimed it higher, trying to line it with Shane. He pulled the trigger and the man flew back. The bullet went straight over Rick's shoulder knocking Shane to the floor.
He stumbled back, barely noticeably and his breath shook. Carl turned around abruptly and wrapped Rio in a hug. Rio wrapped his arms around the other boy uncertainly, he didn't know wether to do or say anything. Rick looked at the two boys. Rio couldn't understand him. Too much seemed to be going on, his face was blank but also seemed to hold every feeling in the world at the same time.
"Sorry." Carl murmured. He placed the gun back in Rio's pocket. He wasn't sure wether he was apologising for using his gun or crying. He didn't care though. Carl didn't need to be sorry for either.
"No." Was all Rio could make out. "No. You don't..."
Carl nodded his head in understanding. He pulled back and walked over to Shane's body. Rick stopped him a few feet away.
"Wait, wait, wait..." He stuck his arm out in front of the two boys. He dropped to the floor beside his friend and gently grabbed his face. The two boys watched as him sadly.
***
so sorry guys this has no chapter relevance but i just thought of like a subplot?? (i think is the word) for season 8+ but it all depends on if I kill off Carl or not and now I'm torn
please help me out before I go insane and start writing two endings 🤗🤗🤗