Carl's P.O.V
Emma had just walked out the front door.
"You know who she is, right?" I asked Valerie.
"Yeah, she's Emma..?" She said, more so looking for an explanation.
"She was Emma Frazier, but then she found her dad, and she changed it to Dixon." I explained.
She started laughing.
"You two aren't dating, are you?" She said through laughing.
I stayed silent, not in an ashamed way, more of an "yeah, why, do you have a problem with it kind of way."
"Oooh, its worse than I thought." She said stopping her laughing suddenly. "I mean, you must've thought she was the last girl your age you'd ever seen again, right?"
I stayed silent, waiting for her to come to a realization of some sort. I want to work things out, not make them a problem.
"You at least got some from her, right?" She went on.
I shook my head no, "That's not what I'm after." I stated, blankly.
"She's such a slut though... at least she was before. You really should've already. She used to get some from an old dude... word was she asked for it. You saw how she was earlier, she's probably just all messed up because he's dead now, you should know, you two are together. That's why, right?" She went on and on.
"Look, I'd rather not hear you talk bad about her. Theres only one reason I'm here, I think you should apologize to her for all the things you did to her. Things are worse now, people are worse now, its best for you two to get along if we're all gonna stick together." I said.
"Oh, yeah. I'll apologize, BUT only under one condition." She said.
"What?" I asked.
"You have to break up with her. Then I can show you what its really like to be in a relationship." She said.
Emma's P.O.V
I could hear Valerie and Carl's conversation. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop but I was.
"You have to break up with her. Then I can show you what its really like to be in a relationship." Valerie said.
I walked off the church steps.
What could I do? No matter how much I want to kill her I can't its too soon. Carl wants to keep the peace. I have to keep the peace for Carl. I'd do anything for him.
I walked back to the steps, I hope I didn't miss anything.
"And if I don't?" Carl went on.
"Then I'll just keep doing what I was to her, it'll get worse progressively. She's just the scum of this world, she doesn't belong here." She said.
I opened the door and walked in with a smile.
"Hey guys, what's up?" I said.
Valerie glared at me and rolled her eyes.
The smile from my face fell, and I glared right back at her, then I stood next to Carl, showing to her that I belonged there, not her.
"I honestly thought you killed yourself, and for once I thought the world was a good place." Valerie said.
I don't know if that was meant to hurt my feelings, but it didn't at all.
"I mean, if you haven't noticed, theres dead people walking around and they wanna eat your face off, but the world would still be a better place even though this is what followed my supposed death." I said.
I've never been good at comebacks, but hey, its worth a shot, especially if its to show Valerie that I don't care what she has to say anymore.
"Oh, wow. What's this, she talks. This has never happened before, its a day for the books." Valerie said.
Again, I wasn't fazed.
"Either way, I'm just gonna let it sit with you that while you're saying all this stuff, I'm with the guy you want... oh, and I didn't have to bribe him to date me either." I said grabbing Carl's hand.
"If you guys are so serious, why don't you kiss?" Valerie said, I don't know what she was trying to prove, but there was no way I was letting her weaken me down again. I wasn't gonna let her affect me, and I was gonna do whatever it takes to get her to leave Carl and I alone.
So, I did exactly what she thought I wouldn't, but this time it was way different. It was long, longer than anytime I've kissed him before. I was more serious. It was more... sexual. I don't know what had gotten into me, I had never been like this before and now I'm letting her get to me, just like I didn't want to.
Carl and I pulled away from the kiss.
"This isn't over." Valerie said, mad, and stormed out of the church.
"Emma, what was that?" Carl said once she was gone.
"I'm sorry. It was stupid. She just gets to me so much, I want to get to her. I don't want her to think that she threatens me." I paused. "I can't ask you to understand that. I'll do better. I won't stoop down to her level. I'm okay." I said.
"I wasn't complaining about the kiss. Just the fact that it was fueled by her. I just want to make that clear." He said, with a smirk.
I smiled back. "I hope you know that the only reason she isn't dead is because you insisted I try to live with her.... I don't think your plan of talking to her went over too well." I joked.
He shook his head, agreeing that it didn't, then I left and walked outside to my dad and Carol.
"Hey Emma, do you want to come with us to get some water?" Carol asked.
"Uh, will we be back fast?" I asked.
"We're not going that far. We'll be back before the days over." Dad said.
"Okay, sure. Just let me go tell Carl real quick." I said.
They nodded, I walked right back in, he looked at me from the very front of the church with Judith in his arms.
"I'm gonna go with my dad and Carol to go get some water, it shouldn't take us too long according to them. You got everything covered here, right?" I asked walking towards him at the front of the church.
He nodded, as I approached him.
"You know how I am. I give everyone a hug before I leave or they leave, so you get one too." I walked towards him then opening my arms for a hug.
He had Judith in one arm, and wrapped his other one around me, while I tightly wrapped both my arms around his waist.
I gave Judith a kiss on the cheek, then I gave Carl one, just to keep the theme going.
"I'll see you later. I love you, Grimes." I said as I walked away.
"I love you too, Dixon." He replied as I walked out the door.
"You two are too cute." Carol said when I walked out there.
"Its not nice to eavesdrop on peoples conversations." I said, blushing.
They both shook their head at me in more of a joking manner.
Valerie came up behind me and started asking questions.
"What're you guys doing?" Valerie asked.
"Just gonna go get some water and bring it back, it'll be nice for when they get back here with the food." Carol said.
"Are you going too?" Valerie asked me.
"Yes." I said through gritted teeth that formed a clearly forced smile.
"Oh, okay. Don't worry, Carl and I will keep everything held down here, safe and secure." She pushed me.
"Do you even know how to use a weapon?" I asked normally.
"No, but how hard can it be?" She asked me.
I pulled my knife out, well Carl's knife out, and threw it past her head hitting a tree about ten feet away from her, that would be fifteen feet away from me. His knife wasn't that bad when its sharpened.
"You just tried to kill me!" She accused.
"Incorrect, I was simply demonstrating how I could use a weapon. Could you do what I just did?" I asked her.
She shook her head no.
"How about shoot a gun?" I asked.
"No, but I'm sure I can get someone to teach me, maybe Carl." She said.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure he would. He's one of the best shots I know. Though, the best in our group is Sasha." I explained, trying to do better and not stoop down to her level. Just not letting it bother me although it was eating away at my insides, I just can't let it show.
She nodded and went for the church.
I braced myself as the door slammed shut.
I walked over to my knife and grabbed it.
"Alright, lets go." I said grabbing two gallon jugs as Dad and Carol did the same.
Dad decided to strike up conversation, that was more focused towards Carol, and some that I didn't fully understand.
"Hey, I get it. You don't want to talk about it... You okay?" He spoke towards Carol.
"Gotta be." She replied simply.
She wasn't wrong, nowadays we don't have time for people to not be okay. Which sounds really hypocritical coming from me. We don't have time for people to have a breakdown, because that could mean their life and the lives of others, though, I sure seem to have enough breakdowns.
A look of traumatized suspense came to my face, I need to learn to be okay, I have too many breakdowns to a point where its ridiculous. I just need to stop putting my emotions on display for everyone, just keep them to myself. Its how we're gonna survive. Its just what I've gotta do, exactly what needs to happen.
While I was thinking, I zoned out and missed the remainder of what either of them said, so now the conversation really made no sense, but I went along with it.
"We got lucky. We all should be dead." Carol said as we got over a hill and seen a car. "I'll check it." She spoke.
Carol then set her jugs down and walked to the driver's door of the car. I set my two jugs down as well so I could take my knife out, just to keep watch, it made me feel more secure being able to have my weapon in hand as quickly as possible.
The car didn't start so Carol decided to peak in the trunk, looking for some extra supplies.
I was looking into the woods, waiting for something to come out at us, but that something just wasn't there. Though, I now know what Rick and Dad were talking about, the feeling of someone watching us.
"Hey. We ain't dead. And whatever happened, happened. Let's start over." Dad approached her.
"I want to." She said softly.
"Well you can." Dad said, and continued to watch while Carol pressed a button on a car battery charger.
"We should leave this here incase things go south at the church." Carol said.
Dad and I nodded, I walked back over towards them to grab my jugs of water.
"You want me to carry one of those?" Dad asked Carol as she picked up her water, pointing with his own jug that then slipped out of his hand and began falling to the ground.
I don't know how I managed to successfully go for it, but I did, and I caught it, not letting any of the water spill on the ground, but onto me. It wasn't just a bit either. It was a majority of the gallon.
Carol and Dad looked to me, then to one another.
"No." She replied with a smile before busting out laughing, then Dad and I joining in.
We started walking down the street. I lost track of where we were going, but it feels nice it just being Dad, Carol, and I. Don't get me wrong, I love everyone else and would and have literally killed for them, big groups have just never been my thing.
We had been walking for a real long while, but I'm not even worried about getting back to the church as bad as that sounds. I mean, I'm worried, but I'm dreading it because I can just sense the whole shit storm I'm gonna have waiting for me with Carl and Valerie when I get back. I don't know what she's willing to do, and it's not that I don't trust him. I don't trust her in the slightest.
We were just walking in silence, so I thought I should spark conversation. Maybe I can express my hatred for Valerie while I'm at it too.
"Carol?" I said, getting her attention, which worked because she gave me her full attention. "You can't start over, I get that. It sounds a lot easier than I feel it would be. You can't just forget all we've been through, all we've had to do to stay alive, but you can make yourself happy again. And I think you have the best chance of that with Dad and I. So please, stick around. Always stick around. We all need you, everyone back at the church, Dad, and me. I need you. It sounds hard to push past the things, I know, but in a lot of those situations you had no other choice. It was to stay alive, and no ones judging you for it." I said, looking up at Carol who was now tearing up.
"Thank you, Emma. You're right, I'm happy just right here with you two, you guys are my favorite people. I don't think you know the full story of all that has happened though." Carol said.
"Try me, I know more than I let on. Some things are guesses, and if you don't want Dad to know, we'll talk about it some other time." I suggested.
"How about you make guesses of the things I was gonna say, then I'll tell you if you're right or wrong." Carol suggested.
I nodded in agreement. "Okay, I know the first thing you're gonna talk about is Karen and David, and in my opinion, it wasn't right, but it was logical. You were just willing to go to extremes that hadn't been explored by anyone else with us at that point. It makes sense, it seems harsh, but I'm also completely aware of other people who have done way worse." I spoke.
"You got one of them. Theres one more." Carol added.
"Okay, so a few hours before I found Dad, Rick, Michonne, and Carl on that road, I came across a little house out in the middle of nowhere. It was beautiful and surrounded by trees. I noticed two freshly dug graves in the front yard, along with a noticeably older grave. The graves were too small to fit an adult, and keep in mind, I was alone hoping to find someone from the prison, so I searched every logical possibility I could of how to find someone from the prison. So, I started thinking of kids that I seen get out with adults I know could've kept them safe, and after thinking of like two other people, I thought of Lizzie and Mika. I seen them get out with Tyreese, and I know he could keep them safe, and you were with Tyreese when I found you. It's all connected, and I didn't realize how much I thought this thing through now that I say it out loud. I guess what I'm trying to say here is, did you have anything to do with the digging of those two graves? I don't need an explanation, I just want to know if I got the other thing." I stated.
"You should be a detective, when Abraham and Rosita get Eugene to D.C and this whole thing blows over and jobs are reestablished, you'll be old enough to go into the field of a detective of some sort." Carol said.
"So I got it right?" I asked.
She nodded.
"About the detective thing, I never really wanted to be anything other than an actress when I grew up. I know it sounds dumb, but its what I wanted to do. Living with my mom, not meaning a single thing to anyone. I wanted the world to know me, know my name." I explained.
"I think you'd be a great actress." Dad said.
"Thanks, I just don't know how thats gonna happen now." I gave a sad chuckle.
"For what it counts, the new world is gonna know your name. I'll be sure of it." Dad said.
I looked up at him and smiled, but we all still kept on walking.
"I'm sorry, I've really been needing to get this off my chest... I hate Valerie." I laughed, just because of how random it was.
"I mean, we've got time, so give us the story of it all." Carol demanded.
I nodded, showing I was willing, and I began, "Back in school, I was never really the most popular girl. I didn't really have many friends, in fact, I didn't have one friend. Then back home, there was mom and Marcus, and you both know the story with those two. I just wasn't important to anyone, I didn't mean anything to anyone. Valerie would be the one to pick on me, I guess you could call her a bully, but I don't like that term. It makes me feel weak, and I've felt weak for long enough, now I know I'm strong... I know I am. Valerie was the most popular girl, and every time she would do anything to me, she would become more popular. Though, it became harder for her to become more popular after she had been at the same 'level' of bullying me, so it got progressively worse. Before my mom took me out for a while--" I was interrupted.
"What do you mean took you out for a while?" Carol asked me.
"Well, she kinda sorta stuck a broken glass bottle into my stomach, causing me to be hospitalized and I fell into a coma. I still never got to thank whoever it was that found me and took me in." I said, Dad is still the only one who has seen the scar, I don't want anyone to see it. Its a constant reminder of how bad things were. I don't want to go back to those things. I won't have to.
I then realized, I still need to continue, "As I was saying, before my mom decided it would be a good idea to try and kill me, Valerie had just started incorporating physical abuse into her daily routine of bullying. So, I not only had to deal with her, but my mom. Oh, it all just got worse when she started seeing the bruises on me, when she somehow heard about Marcus in some manner. She started telling everyone I was so desperate that I was begging for it from an old guy... I was barely even in middle school, I had just started seventh grade. She made my life a living hell, and when Carl tried talking to her about apologizing for what she has done in the past, she said she only would if Carl broke up with me for her. Then when he asked if he didn't, Valerie told him that she would just continue to mess with me, and pick on me, and just keep it getting progressively worse... The thing I don't think she realized is, I'm a lot stronger than I was back then. I've done things, that are unspeakable, things she would simply fear me for. Hell, the last girl who gave me a hard time, got punched right in the nose. Anyone remember how I broke it?" I stated, more than asked but Dad and Carol still nodded. "The same girl then tried to take Carl from me, make me feel sorry for her, that I supposedly took the boy she was in love with, notice how she's not with us any more?" Again, I stated more than asked, but Dad and Carol nodded. "I threw a knife into her skull and used her blood as ink for my letter." I said, coldly.
I kept looking straight forward, but I could tell Dad and Carol just looked at one another, though, I don't know their expressions.
"Are we heading back to the church now?" I said realizing it was becoming dark.
"We just need to go back and check on the car and it's battery and we'll be on our way. I'm sure Rick and everyone else is back by now." Carol said.
So we all reached the car, just as it was getting completely dark outside, and a car with a white cross on the back rushed passed us. This peaked Dad's interest, because he broke all the lights on the car, and demanded Carol and I get in the car.
So, Carol and I did, and so did Dad.
"Dad, what is this about?" I asked him as he started up the car and began driving.
"Those are the people that took Beth." Dad explained.
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Wow, look at me... being an author and crap. Updating twice in one day.
Who is she?
We don't know her.
I'm just kidding. I hope y'all are enjoying. I'm so grateful for all of you. You're all beautiful.
-much love, the random girl who wrote this book<3