chapter eleven !
❪ you'll burn for this ❫
GABRIEL LED the group to his church, rick throwing questions at him. "hey, earlier, we're you watching us?"
"i keep to myself. nowadays, people are just as dangerous as the dead, don't you think?"
"no," daryl disagreed. "people are worse."
carl handed riley some pecans, which she gladly took with a smile. "well, i wasn't watching you." gabriel said, "i haven't been beyond the stream near my church more than a few times since it all started. that was the furthest i've gone before today." he explained.
nobody said anything until he continued, "or maybe i'm lying. maybe i'm lying about everything and there's no church ahead at all." riley's eyebrows furrowed, "maybe i'm leading you into a trap so i can steal all your squirrels."
rick and daryl eyed the man suspiciously. "members of my flock had often told me that my sense of humor leaves much to be desired."
"yeah it does."
riley moved all the bushes in her way as they continued to walk to the church.
a sign that said, 'st. sarah's church' told them that they had arrived. she noticed that the church wasn't huge but also not so small.
gabriel walked to the red doors for them to enter but rick stopped him, "hold up. can we take a look around first? we just want to hold on to our squirrels."
gabriel nodded in understanding and let rick and some of the survivors check the place out.
riley and the rest of them stood outside with the priest. "so," riley looked at gabriel, the man turning his head at the girl, "should i call you father gabriel or something?"
"oh no," the stranger chuckled lightly, "just gabriel is fine."
the brunette smiled and looked at carl who was already staring at her with judith in his arms.
rick soon came out with the others. "i spent months here without stepping out the front door. if you found someone inside, well, it would been surprising."
"thanks for this." carl smiled at the kind man.
"we found a short bus out back. it don't run but i bet we could fix that in less than a day or two. father here says he doesn't want it. looks like we found ourselves some transport." rick remained silent as abraham continued, "you understand what's at stake here, right?"
the leader remained his eyes on his daughter, brushing her small hair back, "yes, i do."
michonne sighed, "now that we can take a breath–"
"we take a breath, we slow down. shit inevitably goes down."
"we need supplies, no matter what we do next."
"that's right," rick agreed before walking inside, "water, food, ammunition."
"short bus ain't going anywhere, bring you back some baked beans." daryl headed inside the doors, riley following behind him.
she looked around the place, finding drawings from kids and bibles. riley placed her things down on the brown wooded benches.
"how'd you survive here for so long?" rick asked the priest. "where did your supplies come from?"
"luck," gabriel simply said, "our annual canned food drive. things fell apart right after we finished it, it was just me."
carl walked up to his dad, "come here judith." he took the baby from his dad's hold.
"the food lasted for a long time and then i started scavenging. i've cleaned out every place nearby, except for one."
"what kept you from it?" riley asked him.
"it's overrun."
"how many?"
gabriel shrugged, "a dozen or so, maybe more."
"we can handle a dozen." rick stated.
"bob and i will go with you." sasha spoke, "tyreese should stay here, help keep judith safe."
"that'll be okay?" rick looked at the man in the beanie.
"sure." he nodded with a smile. "you ever need me to watch her, need anything for her, i'm right here."
"i'm grateful for it," rick stepped forward, "and everything else."
"i'll draw you a map." gabriel told them.
"you don't need to. you're coming with us."
"i'm not gonna be of any help." he nervously said. "you saw me, i'm no good around those things."
"you're coming with us."
rick and the people who were going gathered their weapons to prepare for the overrun. riley walked away and sat with maggie and glenn, who were holding hands. "so, we're y'all married before the outbreak or–"
"during." glenn interrupted with a small grin before looking at his wife with awe eyes.
maggie and glenn continued to stare at each other but teared their eyes apart at the sound of a gagging noise coming from beside them.
they looked at riley with a smile. "don't worry, i'm sure you'll find someone that you'll care for." maggie told the young girl.
the brunette chuckled, "yeah, right."
the married couple shared a look with each other before glancing towards carl's direction, who had judith on his lap.
"you'll never know, kid." glenn smirked.
rick walked towards his son and knee'd beside him while carl sat on the bench, "listen, i don't trust this guy..."
"why?"
"why do you trust him?" rick inquired.
carl slightly shrugged. "everyone can't be bad."
rick nodded at his sons response, "well, i don't trust this guy. that's why i'm bringing him with me. but he could have friends, so i need you to stay alert and protect tyreese protect judith, okay?"
carl bobbed his head as his father continued, "now... i need you to hear what i'm about to say."
"okay."
"you are not safe." rick shook his head, "no matter how many people are around or how clear the area looks, no matter what anyone says, no matter what you think, you are not safe."
"it only takes one second. one second and it's over. never let your guard down, ever. i want you to promise me."
"i promise." carl muttered.
"okay..." rick stood up, about to leave until carl's voice stopped him.
"dad!" the boy in the sheriff hat called out. rick turned around to his kid, "you're right. i am strong, we both are. but we're strong enough that we can still help people and we can handle ourselves if things go wrong and we're strong enough that we don't have to be afraid and we don't have to hide."
rick nodded at carls explanation, "well, he's hiding something."
"i'll stay safe, dad."
the father touched his sons shoulder. rick turned around to leave before he remembered something, causing him to stop in his tracks, "hey carl?"
"yeah?"
"make sure riley is protected," rick told him.
carl nodded and looked over at the girl, who was talking to glenn and maggie. something they said made her let out one of her rare but beautiful laughs.
"always dad."
RILEY LOOKED at the church, seeing only scraps on the white walls and long plants on the ground, surrounding the whole place.
"what you looking for?" carl asked, coming out of the red wooden doors.
"just anything suspicious about father gabriel." she shrugged, keeping her eyes on the church.
carl let out a small chuckle, "he said you don't have to call him father gabriel."
"well, i like father gabriel better."
carl stared at riley before walking towards her. "did you find anything yet?"
"nope," she simply answered.
carl turned his body towards her direction, "can i ask you something?"
"sure, what's up?" she folded her arms across her chest.
"do you think gabriel is a bad man?" carl inquired.
"uhm..." riley glanced down, "i don't think he is. why? did your dad say something?"
"he said that he doesn't trust him and that something is off."
the girl sighed, "i mean, yea he does seem a little off but he wouldn't just let us stay in his church so easily though."
"yeah, your right. i just wish my dad could see that not everyone is bad and we can help save people." carl huffed.
"you can't save everyone, carl."
riley turned around, about to leave the conversation before she tripped on a hard rock. carl grabbed onto her forearm before she could hit the ground, pulling the smith girl close to him.
the teens had their eyes remained on each other for a minute until carl landed his blue ones on the white wooden wall, his eyebrows quickly furrowing.
"what is it?" riley looked at his direction and her face slowly dropping.
'you'll burn for this'
THE PAIR sat far away from everyone with plates, that was filled with food, in their hands. the church was filled with candles to give the room a little light.
riley and carl took bites of their food, looking at everyone laughing and chattering. for a while, they talked about more of their interests and dislikes.
"i hate tomatoes."
"what?" carl gasped, "i love them."
"gross," riley scowled before taking a bite of her beans.
"favorite food?" carl asked with raised eyebrows.
"hm," riley placed a finger on her chin, "pizza."
carl chuckled, "out of all the foods in the world?"
"yup."
"you're crazy," he shook his head, "i would say a crispy–cooked turkey right now is my favorite."
"your favorite holiday was probably thanksgiving right?" she laughed.
"what can i say?" he shrugged, "good food, rye."
"how about favorite color? and you can't say you don't have one because everyone does!" she exclaimed.
"simple, dark red."
"oh? interesting," she smiled, "mine is probably green."
"why green?" he asked.
riley sighed before glancing between his blue ones, "your eyes," she said. "they have a little green in them..."
her voice got lower at the last part when she continued to gaze at him. riley and carl's eyes remained locked, the background conversations slowly drifting away.
carl had this unfamiliar feeling building up in his chest as his heart started racing. riley didn't understand what she was feeling because she felt her chest would burst in any moment now. tension flew in the air, a small space between them. as they got closer to one another, a deep voice caused them to shatter the moment and look away.
"i'd like to propose a toast." abraham called out, the conversations lowering down. "i look around this room and i see survivors. each and every one of you has earned that title." he paused and lifted up his drink, "to the survivors."
"survivors!"
"cheers!"
"is that all you want to be?" the redhead interrupted. "wake up in the morning, fight the undead pricks, forage for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, rinse and repeat?" everyone stood quiet while riley rolled her eyes, "cause you can do that. i mean, you got the strength. you got the skill. thing is, for you people, for what you can do, that's just surrender. now, we get eugene to washington and he will make the dead die and the living will have this world again. and that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip." he explained.
"eugene," he said. "what's in DC?"
riley rolled her head back, "might as well fall asleep now." she murmured, carl smirking at her humor.
"infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this fubar magnitude." eugene began, "that means food, fuel, refuge. restart."
"however this plays out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there. safer than you've been since this whole thing started. come with us. save the world for that little one. save it for yourselves. save it for the people out there... who don't got nothing left to do except survive."
judith made a babbling noise, rick tilting his head, "what was that?"
riley and everyone else lightly chuckled at the baby and her father. "i think she knows what i'm about to say." rick turned his head to tyreese, "she's in. if she's in, i'm in."
"we're in." the leader stated. "let's do it."
cheering and claps erupted the room. riley walked up to rosita with a small smile, "hey."
"oh," the woman glanced up at the girl, "hey."
"did i ever tell you that your style in clothing is so good?" riley complimented.
rosita laughed and patted down the spot next to her for the young girl to sit.
"let's chat, it's time for me to help a girl out."
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AUTHORS NOTE:
THE RILEY AND CARL CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER?!?! HELLO?
starting the rosita and riley bond >>
am i the only one or i hate getting strict teachers for the year bc i have such bad experiences with them LMFAOOO
but alongside that, my fanfic tiktok acc is kinda flopping so if you guys wanna support it then its @twsired.wp
i should be doing my homework rn but i'm updating instead hehehe
ALSO BEFORE YALL COME AT ME SAYING "carl doesn't have green eyes" IK I JUST SAW A IMAGE OF HIS EYES ON PINTEREST AND IT LOOKED LIKE A BLUEISH GREEN.
anyways 😄
please vote for the next chapter and DONT BE A GHOST READER <3