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Welcome to Walsh. This is a book from my 'Last Name Series '; a series that I have originally posted on my Wattpad account under @kingmuhkenzi. Basically, the OC in each story is a relative of a character from the show (and sometimes the comics and or video games on a rare occasion). This one in particular will be centered around Shane’s son. Please take into understanding that this is fiction. This is not real. This is imaginary. Carl is a character. This will be my only warning. Sincerely — with love, Muhkenzi (aka daddy)☓ ☓
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Blood crusted at the bottom of my converse, and I'll be honest, it was kind of disgusting.The sunlight was no longer shining through the dusty windows of the truck, any light was already long gone by now, leaving us with the cold, darkness of the night.I think a dark red color stained under my fingernails and my over my hands, no matter how hard I tried to wipe them on my jeans, nothing happened.Daddy and Carter were chatting lowly to each other in the front as I relaxed my shoulders in the back, looking out of the windows even though it was basically useless. I couldn't see anything."Christina?""Yeah, from the stories I've told you.""Christina from high school?""Hell yeah, Christina from high school!""Oh, okay, I get it now.""Bout damn time, fool."Daddy adjusts the mirror, eyes looking up into it to see my reflection before he briefly looks back at the road."You asleep back there, buddy?""No, daddy, I'm still awake!"I say."I promised you I wouldn't fall asleep on the way back!""Tell me you ain't still on that..."He trails off, sighing."I want that chocolate bar you promised.""Sage, you're getting that damn Milky Way."Carter grins, looking over his shoulder."I'll tackle your dad if I have to.""We'll see."Daddy says."Yes, sir."After one more hour or so, we were back in the small, one story house that we'd been staying in for the past few weeks.It wasn't anything special, but it was giving us protection and shelter, so I couldn't really be mad at that, could I?The gravel crunches under my shoes when I hop out of the truck, sliding my arms through the loops on my drawstring before tightening it.Carter unlocks the door before we all usher inside, making sure to scope around briefly even though it was highly unlikely for anyone to have stepped foot in this place that wasn't us."I didn't fall asleep."I comment, sitting down on one of the barstools.Daddy sighs, placing his large hand on my shoulder."Not givin' you any damn sweets before bed, you'll be hyper as hell." "You promised."I pout."I didn't say tonight, bubba."He says, flicking off the cap on the glass beer bottle."No arguin' about it either, I'm tired.""I won't, sir, I promise.""Shane, you sure as hell raised a polite one there."Carter rasps."Don't see how, you're a grumpy old man.""I'm fifteen now, I'm basically an adult."I say."I have to be mature.""You'll be mature when you've got hair growin' down there.""Daddy, ew!"I squeak."I already do!""Grow a beard and we'll talk about maturity.""I'll work on that, mister!"He grins, sipping on his beer. I lie my head down on the countertop and look up at him, he was like, my entire world. If all the scars, cuts, and bruises on his face didn't show all his toughness, then I don't know what will."Daddy, can I ask you somethin'?""What is it?""When are you going to pay off all the debt you're in with Mr. Negan?"He's quiet, face tensing up as he clenches his jaw. I feel a warm hand on my shoulder before looking up."Hey, buddy, how about we get you to bed, yeah?"Carter asks, sending me a sympathetic smile."Okay."I nod."I'll see you bright and early, bubba."Daddy speaks as I'm walking away."Yes, sir! Goodnight!"I had slowly stripped off all of my clothes and put on one of daddy's shirt before sliding on some sweatpants, taking off my socks, and climbing into bed after brushing my teeth.Carter sits at the edge of the bed and pulls the covers up to my collarbones, an instant warmth flushing my body as he begins to light a candle on the nightstand table.Slowly, he hands me Buttons, the teddy bear daddy gave me when I was little, and placed it against my cheek."Do you need another blanket?""I think I'm okay, Carter."I say."Thank you very much.""Okay, buddy, no problem."He grins, walking over to turn off the light."Sleep tight, little man.""Goodnight, Carter."When he cracked the bedroom door, I could still see a tiny bit of what they were doing in the kitchen. Daddy mostly just sucked down alcohol and Carter leaned against the counter and talked to him.I couldn't hear what they were saying, only because they were probably being quiet for this exact reason.I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, and I didn't want to, so I rolled over, cuddled Buttons, and shut my eyes slowly.My body woke up to the sound of ammunition clinking against the wood tables and guns were handled. It wasn't necessarily an annoying sound to wake up to, but for some reason, I'm still hoping I'll wake up to blueberry muffins and fruit salad like it was before the virus spread.I place my feet firmly on the wood floor, the morning breeze chilling the floorboard, making the bare skin cold for just a split second."Hey, buddy, good morning!"Carter greets when I step out of the bedroom, my eyes still a little dazed."Hi, Carter."I rasp, voice broken by the mask of sleep."Go get dressed, we're trainin' you today."Daddy says, snapping his fingers towards the bathroom."Yes, sir."I looked at myself in the mirror, just staring, furrowing my eyebrows a little bit. My hair was getting a little dirty, so I would have to sneak away from the two men sometime today so I could wash off.Luckily, it didn't take me very long to clean up and get ready. I threw on a regular old t-shirt and one of the flannel I wear almost every single day before sliding some jeans up my legs and struggling to put on my boots.To protect me from the sun, I decided to wear a trucker cap, just so I wouldn't get burned on my face."I'm ready!" "Don't you look cute today."Carter nudges my arm with his elbow."Kid is growing up fast, Shane, you might have to watch out for any boys.""Hopefully this shit'll buy me a few years."He huffs, throwing a bag over his shoulder as we begin to walk out."We're training today?""Correction."Daddy says."You're training today.""Are you sayin' I'm not very good?""You could be better.""That doesn't sound any better, man."Carter chuckles, guiding me through the thick grass.My eyes should've been looking down, because then maybe I would've seen the tiny hole that would dug into the ground, and I wouldn't have face planted on the hard dirt."Ow!"I squeak, ribs aching from the impact."Watch where you're going there, bud."Carter says, gently helping me back up to my feet, dusting off my shirt for me when I find my balance again."You alright?"I nod."Two thumbs up!""We good?"Daddy asks."We're good, I'm okay."He briefly nods his head."Let's set up right down here.""So, I have a question!"I say, looking at all the flowers."What is it?""How do we get the ghouls to come to us?"Asking, I kneel down and pick up some sort of flower that I'm pretty sure was colored red."Since that's what I'm trainin' on, right?"Walking over to daddy as he talks, I stand on my tip-toes and tuck the flower between his ear and head."Sage."He scolds."Are you listening to me? Focus.""Red looks so good on you!"I smile."You look so pretty, daddy!"He sighs, placing the flower between his fingers and looking at me."It's green, bubba, clovers are green.""Regardless, you still look like a flowery princess."I compliment, wrapping my arms around his torso."Shane, what do you want him on? Shotgun?""Not yet."Daddy shakes his head."Pistol first.""Alright, little man, are you ready?"Carter asks."Yeah!""Plug your ears, he's gonna fire a beginner shot.""Oh, okay."When he did, several ghouls started to spill out from the woods. Moaning, groaning, and shuffling their feet towards us. I would be lying to you if I said that my throat didn't almost start tightening at the fact that they were coming closer and closer."Blue shirt, bubba."Daddy says."He can't see blue!""Fuck! Orange?"Quickly, Carter helps me aim the gun towards the decaying body that wore an orange striped shirt. He leans up against my back and holds onto my hands tightly."It's gonna kick."He rasps."There's gonna be a kick, buddy, you ready?""Ready!""Shoot!"I did, I pulled my trigger and closed my eyes, arms and body jerking backwards a little bit, almost making me lose my balance since I was quite sure what to expect."The stomach isn't bad for your first shot, ready for another? Try the head, okay?"To be honest, I wasn't a very good shot. Can you really blame me though? Daddy was always working and never really had time to spare to take me out to the range or hunting or something.For that reason exactly, I had to take it easy on myself.My second shot was closer to the shoulder, which bothered me, because I was trying really hard! I was going to go again, but all four of them got shot down before I could get my hands on them, soft thuds occurring from the impact."Shane!""They were too damn close!"He groans."Try again, bubba.""On what?"Carter squints his eyes."You just fucking shot all of 'em.""I-I'll get better!"I say."Shane, do we have targets?""I can get him some paper."Daddy shrugs."Draw some ugly bastard on there and let him shoot it.""Yeah, okay, do that then."Carter sighs."I'll teach him how to throw a knife or something."When daddy walks away, Carter paces for a moment, tongue poking at his cheek as he looks down at the ground."Is your shirt yellow?""It is."He nods, grinning."Good job, little man.""I thought I was, I don't know how, but I just felt it in my bones."I smile.I felt like I was in school again when he started teaching me, it was as if I was in science, learning about whatever, but in all reality, he was showing me how to throw a knife as a simple gesture.Daddy came back eventually with a few pieces of paper with sloppy characters drawn on them with markers. I don't really know what colors they were, but I guess that didn't really matter since I was going to be piercing holes through them anyways.He tacks them up against the trees and comes to stand by me, taking the gun from my hands, and checking everything."Okay, you're good to go, buddy."He says."Let's start with the red one."I look around for a second, trying to figure out which one he was talking about.He sighs."Let's start with the closest one."My shot wasn't the best, but it was getting better. Obviously, I'm not going to be a pro, but hopefully I'll get there eventually.We did that over and over again for a couple of hours before I started to get tired. It was sort of exhausting, because the routine of training is super repetitive. Once we were back in the house, I immediately kick off my shoes and gently sit down on the floor. Carter lounges on the couch next to me, keeping a close eye on everything I did.Daddy, on the other hand, grabbed himself another beer and hung out near the wall. Sometimes, he got in moods where he thought secluding himself was best, just so he could see every single part of the room and make sure everything was going right."You did good today, sport.""Thank you, Carter!"I blush, lying down on my back."My boy doesn't disappoint."Daddy says."Damn right."Carter nods.I mostly just tossed and turned around all over the floor for another thirty minutes or so before Carter began to fix something to eat.With some enthusiasm and laughter, I helped him fix one of the most amazing meals we've had in god knows how long.Daddy usually doesn't help, he typically sits down on the couch and waits to eat. He's like the hardworking husband, and we're the housewives, except not because I'm his son and Carter isn't in love with him.I have to admit, though, I was thoroughly warm as I was sandwiched between the two men on the couch. I mostly leaned on daddy's shoulder as my eyes began to droop, he was comfortable and I liked the feeling of having someone there."Negan needs us tomorrow."He says."Great."Carter mutters."Daddy! You just went yesterday!"I whine."I know, buddy, but duty calls.""That's not fair!""Well, I'm sorry, but I have to support you somehow."He sighs."We're going raiding, Jasper will probably babysit you until we get back.""I don't wanna be with Jasper.""And why not?""He makes me uncomfortable."I whisper."I don't like the way he talks to me.""It can't be that bad.""But it is that bad!""Hey, little man, don't worry about it-- I'll stay back with you."Carter says, calmly."We'll see what the top dog has to say about that.""He basically wants Sage to be his little serial killer, I'll be surprised if he doesn't make him ride in the truck with us anyways."Daddy huffs."Get ready for bed, Sage.""It's early!""I didn't say it was up for discussion."He growls, shrugging me off his shoulder."Get.""Yes, sir."I frown."I'll see y'all in the morning.""Okay, buddy, sleep tight."Carter sighs."I'll try my best."I mumble, barely even finding the motivation to walk to the bathroom.There's no way I can spend another six hours with Jasper. I'm getting on that raiding truck, whether Mr. Negan wants me to or not.❈ ❈