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Carl's sneakers were soaked through as he ran on the saturated ground. The rain hammered against his hat, nearly causing it to fall from his head as ran blindly through the forest. Panic flooding through his body as his eyes dart around to look at his surroundings. He's lost. Completely and utterly lost. The forest around him is slowly losing light as the sun starts to set. The moan of walkers coming from behind him sends a surge of adrenaline through his veins and he reaches for his handgun in his holster. He fumbles for the trigger but cries out in despair as instead of the sound of a bullet finding its prey, He is met with the small click of no ammo.He shouldn't have been so stupid, running away from what was once the prison without thinking. He thought that his dad was right behind him but he was wrong. So very wrong. He had tried looking for his Dad and Judith but he just couldn't find them, then he was being chased down by some of The Governor's minions, they were shooting blindly at him, clearly not caring that he had obviously run out of ammo. So he had just run, trying his best to dodge the bullets that were being thrown his way. Thankfully they were pretty bad at aiming, obviously having zero experience.He couldn't help but picture all the worst possible scenarios that all involve the people that he cares about lying dead on the floor. He doesn't know if anyone survived, hell, he could be the only one.Curses and incredibly rude words fly from the boy's mouth, leaving his breaths uneven and labored. His clothes were soaked through but that was the last thing he cared about at the moment. He frantically looks behind him while he runs, when he sees that he was starting to outrun the walkers, he feels some relief flood him, but immediately followed by panic as he begins to think about his dad who was possibly left behind again.Suddenly he feels a sharp pain burst through his foot and he stumbles, knees crashing against the sodden ground and his body collapses to the floor. But his body doesn't stop moving. He screams as his body gets thrown down what he assumes to be a steep hill. He closes his eyes as he feels his body start to plummet to the lower ground, he almost feels like he is in mid-air for a second before he feels more of the pain caused by him uncontrollably crashing down the hill. Rocks and sticks dig into all parts of his body and he scrunches his eyes up in pain.Stones and rocks scratch at him and he gasps in pain and shock, his head repeatedly hitting the ground, his hands scramble at the floor, trying to find something that he can hold onto to, but it just results in him scratching his wrists and hands again.He suddenly hits a fallen tree at the bottom of the hill with a 'thump'. Then everything is still. His head stops spinning but is replaced by a throbbing pain. His eyes scrunch up. He had fallen as cold as a lump of clay, bruised and bent. Pain surges through his lower back and it consumes him. As well as terror and pure shock."Crap..." he whines through gritted teeth. Bumps and bruises starting to ripen like gone off fruit dotted all over his body, he manages to wriggle his toes and the fear of him being paralyzed quickly flees his body.With a pained grunt, he manages to roll his body over so he lies his back. He nearly chokes on pain and his body puts pressure on his bruises and injuries. At least he knows that his spine isn't broken, because if it were then he wouldn't be able to even move without screaming and howling in pain...or even worse, not feeling anything at all.Carl lies on his back, heavy rain plummets into his eyes and mouth, he coughs and sputters and struggles to breathe, he manages to keep his head at an angle that allows him to inhale some oxygen and not just rain water. His eyes screw shut to make sure that no rain waters goes in.His sweat from his body merges with the rain water and what looks like it could be blood, He can feel the warm and sticky substance cling to his sleeves. Water starts to seep into his ears and he realizes that his beloved hat has fallen off.The wind picks up and the rain hammers against his skin, almost painful, but not as painful as the tension of the walkers possibly spotting him or maybe falling down the same hill that he has.He holds his breath and thinks of every single possible outcome that can happen. None of them looking good.He tilts his head and looks around, above him, there is a massive hill, almost like a muddy cliff, kind of like a deranged slip 'n' slide gone wrong.He feels a small tug on his shoes, Carl's blood runs cold as he looks down to see his feet stuck in a small pit of marsh, he begins struggling as he hears the sound of wild footsteps getting closer by the second. He felt something cold and sticky slowly moving up his thigh. "Holy crap". He said with a quivering voice."Oh, shit this is bad!"His body shaking with frustration, he was sinking. Carl looks up hoping to use a tree branch to pull himself up with. But there was no hope, the adrenaline he once had was gone, He had no strength left. Carl shuts his glazed eyes, now all he could think about was being with his mother that he could hold her again, feel the warmth of her arms. A tear was shed."The Governor needs Rick's little shit son, We need to find him."Carl's head whips up, shock flowing through his veins at the sound of someone's voice."Spread out."The same rough voice ordered.Carl looks around, trying to spot the body that belongs to the voice. And soon enough his eyes meet the figure of a man standing in front of a group of about 9 men. It's the people that chased him out of here.The other men obliged and went off in pairs. Whilst the other man who was quite obviously the leader pulls out his handgun and began to slowly and carefully hike down the hill. Carl knew what was about to happen, he was either going to be met with a Walker or one of The Governor's minions, either way, he would be dead. By now the marsh was up to his shoulders. The man saw Carl straight away struggling in the marsh pit, an evil smile began to fill his face, he grabs on to a rooted tree and swings his weight onto the ground where Carl was stuck. Carl was startled as he was facing away from the man."Well, We found you!" He snarls obnoxiously. Carl didn't speak. The man chuckles and walks over to where he could see him."Kid, did you ever play Hide N seek back home? Because surely the first rule is not to hide right in front of me ?"The man laughs at his own lame joke and Carl shoots him a look that could turn fire into ice.Carl continues to remain silent, just silently praying for his dad to return, or Michonne...he just needs someone. He hates this feeling, feeling powerless, helpless."Did your Daddy ever teach you how to speak ?" The man jokes. He looks around with a huge grin on his face. The man kneels down in front of him still keeping his gun close to him."No one is coming for you Babyface"He whispers in Carl's ear, sending shivers down his spine making him tremble with frustration. Carl grits his teeth and decides to speak."Fuck you." Carl's voice seething with rage. Carl's sudden outburst of confidence surprises the man, The man's smirk transformed into a look of displeasure, causing him to lift his gun to Carl's trembling temple."Maybe I will kindly say to The Governor that I had no choice to kill you." He mocks and , Carl shuts his eyes knowing that this would be the last moments of him breathing. Stuck in a marsh pit, with a man pointing a gun at my head. Is this really how the Sheriff's Deputies son was going to be remembered? He waits for the click of the trigger, expecting it to be loud, painful and sudden.A loud boom sounds through the forest, one of the loudest that Carl has ever heard. Carl jumps in his own skin and waits for the pain. But it never comes. Maybe I'm already dead ?. He opens his eyes and gasps. The man who was standing in front of him falls to the ground in a heap, a bloody hole seeping brain matter between his eyes."Hey, assholes! I called dibs"Carl's head whips up and he gasps as he sees two figures, one taller than the other. The slightly shorter person was wearing dark clothes and had a dark hoodie, almost completely covering their face. The figure suddenly rushes towards Carl, almost like a bullet. Whilst the other figure aims their gun and fires it, aiming straight for one of the men that chased Carl. Headshot.The Governor's men look freaked out as they have only got two guns on them, they start to fire blindly at the figure but missing by miles. The figure chuckles, that's when Carls realizes that that's not a definitely not guy. The figure suddenly whips out two dessert Eagles and starts firing. That's when they start dropping like flies.The figure that had taken off running, arrives next to him. His eye widens in curiosity and he stares at them. The person bends down tries to reach him but fails because of the mud. Suddenly they lift up their arm and reach to grab the red hood that conceals their face. The first thing that Carl sees is big green eyes. He marvels as the figure lifts their and looks at Carl. It's another girl. Her dirty blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail apart from her fringe. Carl looks into her eyes, She's pretty."Who the hell are you ?"Carl asks, slightly freaking out.The girl looks around her, she grabs a long, fallen branch from the ground. She reaches it over to Carl."Here, take this! Try and get one of your arms free, I promise I will get you outta there." She yells at him and beckons for him to grab it.Carl wriggles his arms about, trying to move them out of the gooey mud that clings to his skin. With a groan, he manages to release his arms and he grabs hold of the branch. she gives him an encouraging smile and calls out to him. "Okay on the count of three, one, two, three !"She shouts and pulls on the branch.Carl wriggles his feet and legs as much as he can. He puts as much physical effort he can into moving his body to get out of the mud. He manages to scrape his foot against a large rock that had obviously fallen inside of the mud and he puts his foot onto that and pushes off with all his might.Suddenly he feels the bone-crushing pressure of the mud surrounding him leave. The girl keeps pulling on the branch until he is free.Carl flings forward and lands on the firm ground with an "omff". The girl groans and crashes back so she's lying on the ground next to Carl, Both of them panting.Suddenly the last gunshot fires through the night, the sound of a body falling to the group signals that all the men who chased Carl have died."Ah, Wow, I haven't had a good fight like that in years." The other mysterious figure over dramatically sighs, with a weird feminine voice and with heavy breaths coming through the black scarf that covered her mouth and nose. Carl didn't know whether to be afraid or turned on. When Carl finally works up the courage to ask the two mysterious figures who they were, it was like they read his thoughts, saw every intricate and complex memory.The first figure removes the scarf from their mouth and nose and the hood from their head revealing a girls face, her full, plump lips naturally pink and delicate like a peony, Carl's eyes drifted up to the girl's sharp cheekbones and jawline sat perfectly making her face whole. Her eyes were enchanting, troubled and focused. They shone like the sunlight on polished stone, they glimmered a seductive dark, rich hazel color which hid a wealth of strong-willed attitude. Her brunette, russet, coiled long hair flowed angelically in the intolerable breeze, her hair sits perfectly over her boobs. She was wearing a white crop top and low cut, black skinny jeans that were torn up to her slim thighs, The crop top and jeans exquisitely shows off her, flat stomach. Carl's eyes wonder before he can stop himself.To accompany the crop top and jeans were tall, black combat boots that laced up to her knees, with small silver, rings that held four sharpened, short throwing knives. Around her hips were two gun holsters either side, with fully loaded rapid-fire silver handguns, this girl also had two loaded, automatic machine guns crossed on her back, she also carried a backpack. Carl was sure there were more weapons in the bag. She looked kind of bad-ass, she almost reminded him a bit of Michonne."Come on Blondie, let's get you off of that floor"The beautiful brunette laughs and rolls her eyes at Carl and the blonde girl who are both sprawled on the floor in a heap of mud.'Blondie' reaches her arms up in the air for the brunette to grab and she pulls her off of the floor. As soon as she's standing she grabs one of the backpacks off The brunette's shoulder and starts rummaging through it."I need to find some bandages, I think he's bleeding,"She says quickly and darts worried eyes towards Carl. He feels grateful towards the concerned girl."Don't sweat it, they are in there" The Brunette states towards 'Blondie'.Carl grunts as he shuffles up into a sitting position, very slowly and very painfully. He manages to lean his bruised back against a nearby tree and he watches the two girls that had saved him. The brunette looks like she could be in her early twenties and the blonde looks much younger, could be the same age as Carl.The beautiful green-eyed girl suddenly throws a muddy hat to her brunette companion, as she chuckles and smirks at Carl."Is this yours Cowboy?" The brunette asks. Placing it perfectly on her head, and posing like a supermodel. Marley smiles sweetly at her friends' attitude. But Carl frowns, automatically feeling over-protective, nobody gets to touch his hat." Hey !, That's mine, My dad gave it to me," Carl shouts."Hey, finders keepers Babyface." replies the older brunette. Carl frowns and feels annoyed and disheartened. He's starting to get pissed off. The girl seems to notice how serious he is, and reluctantly takes it off her head and hands it to Carl, with a sorry expression written all over her perfect face.Carl places to hat comfortably on his head, feeling thankful that he didn't loose it."Who the hell are you guys ?"He asks, confusion and anger flooding him."I'm Raven."The brunette says with a wink. Carl scrunches his face in uncertainty. Raven's a very different name, but he's not one to judge."This is my sister Marley," She says while gesturing to the blonde girl who pulls out a bottle of water from her bag."I think it's best if we assess the injuries after we get you cleaned up. We need to clean the possible wounds before applying the dressings because if we don't then you could get an infection" Marley says politely. She stands up and walks over to him, hands him the bottle and he takes it with no questions asked. He unscrews the lid and his mouth waters. He can't remember the last time he had bottled water. He takes three large swigs before screwing the lid back on, knowing that he should savor the fresh water."So what's your name?"Marley smiles sweetly, looking at Carl through her long eyelashes."Carl""Cool, nice to meet ya Carl"Marley sticks out her muddy hand and Carl shakes it.Carl pulls away "Why did you both help me? I don't even know you".Raven looks at Carl and cockily smirks "Well we know them, they were complete and utter ass-holes. They used to be in our group until they turned into pussies. The big guy that was talking to you, yeah, well his name was Nick and he was a nasty piece of work. He killed one of my ex-boyfriends just so he could win some petty bet"."Oh, I'm sorry.."He apologizes, feeling sympathy for Raven."Nah don't be, I was gonna break up with him anyways. It's just that some of those guys were vicious and just...dirty, they needed to be put down".Marley looks up, she looks as if she's about to say something thing but she then closes her mouth. Carls brows crash together. What was she going to say ?."You're just lucky that we heard your little girly scream"Raven continues. "We were just passing through this area to filter some water from the lake nearby. We heard you so we came running, then we started to recognize some of the thugs that were hurting ya" She says with a shrug."Why were they after you anyways? You must of really pissed them off"Raven asks.Carl shrinks and plays with a loose thread on his dirty sleeve "I don't really wanna talk about it"He states, not really comfortable with telling them this much. They may have saved his life but he doesn't really wanna trust them so easily. And they don't need to know, frankly, he can't be bothered to tell the long winded story from the beginning."That's fine Carl, Raven is just too nosy for her own good," Marley says with a cheeky smirk and places a comforting hand on Carl's muddy shoulder. He feels grateful for the affection."We should take him with us down to the lake so he can clean his injuries," She says and whips out a torch, she jokingly flashes it in his face and he bats it away from him."Seriously! Come on, we just saved his ass. I don't want another annoying little brat tagging along, I've already got you for that"Raven says with what Carl hopes to be sarcasm."Come on Raven, he could be useful you know !"She yells clearly getting fed up with her sister's antics.Raven scoffs "Oh please, This kid is about as useful as a vibrator with batteries".Carls head whips up, "Wait, what ?" He says quickly, clearly seeing that Raven doesn't care that he is standing right in front of her.Carl hides the feeling of hurt and frustration. This Raven chick is turning out to be a piece of work. Carl thinks about it and decides that he doesn't like her. But he does feel gratitude towards her, she did just save his life. If it wasn't for her and Marley he would probably be drowning in a pit of mud or being dragged back to the prison."I'm not annoying you know, And I'm standing right here !"He says with a frown while realizing how childish he sounds."We can't just leave him !"Marley shouts at her sister."Okay fine, I was only joking, don't get your little panties in a twist. Now come one, we are losing daylight" Raven says and pulls her backpack onto her shoulders and starts walking."Wait !"Carl calls out to them."What ?" Raven asks with an eye roll."I can't just leave my dad"A flash of confusion flashes through Marley's face, she turns to look Carl sadly in the eyes "Where's your dad ?" She asks softly.Carl thinks about it. Like Raven had said, they are losing daylight. He needs to find his dad before dark. He just needs to know if he's alive. If he doesn't then it will drive him insane.Carl stutters "I don't actually know, but I need to find him. It's important" He states, confident that they will listen to him."Are you trying to waste my time baby face ?." Raven mocks with an eye roll."No, look I need to find my dad, he could be really hurt, and I don't want to be the reason that he dies,"He says with a look of determination."Look I am sure your Dad is a nice guy, but with the explosion, I heard he is probably dead," Raven states seriously. Carl's eyes narrow. How could she be so arrogant and just assume that?. He must be alive. And if he's not, then Carl stills needs to find him before he...turns. He can't let his dad go through that. He won't let him. How dare she just undermine him so easily.All he could see was red. He looks around and looks at Marley's hand which was holding a 19mm Walther P99, Without thinking he lunges for it, grabs it and during the process accidentally twists Marley fingers back, causing her to whip back in surprise and clutch at her hand with a small 'yelp'. But Carl's too frantic to notice. Carl points the gun reluctantly at Raven whilst gritting his teeth. Raven stares at her companion who inspects her hand while hissing in pain..."You ok?!" Raven asks her friend and gives Carl a deadly look."No, I am not ok!". Marley replies sharply with an angry tone which Carl wouldn't expect from the polite girl, then he looks down and frowns at her swelling fingers, they are turning bright pink as the blood rushes to her skin. He stares and sees a rather large cut bleeding on her hand, he then looks at the rusty, sharp button on his sleeve and see's that it must have gotten caught on her hand. Guilt rushes through him as he hadn't meant to hurt Marley, his anger was only directed at Raven.Raven scoffs and chuckles, "What are you gonna do, shoot me, because I bet I could take you down faster." and with that Raven suddenly ducks and quickly swings her leg in one quick swipe causing Carl to lose balance and fall to the ground with a loud thud, pain from his already injured body spurting through him. The gun flinging out of his hand. He quickly whips his arm out and grabs it again.Carl groans. Raven moves quickly to disarm Carl. And succeeds, bending his fingers back way causing him to squeal out in pain as it erupts from his fingertips, probably joining Marley with the hurt fingers..."Ha, there's that girly scream again"As Raven rose to the ground, brushing her legs off. Raven stares at the other girls gun and smirks at him, Carl trying to catch his breath."Next time you pull a gun on me, pretty boy, make sure the fucking safety isn't on first." Raven snarled.Carl tries to stand up off the ground and looks over to the beautiful green-eyed girl who looks as if she were about to have a breakdown. Raven walks over to her and comforts her as she took out a bottle of vodka from her bag. Carl looks at her confused, as he opens his mouth, Raven spoke."We need to clean the wound or else it could get infected." She said as Marley was still crying. Carl couldn't help but feel bad, after all, it was all his fault."Hey, sis, This is gonna hurt like a bitch." Raven declares as she undoes the bottle. She looks over at Carl and beckoned him over."Carl, I need you to hold her hand, this time try not to cut it," Raven suggests. Carl heard the desperation and how serious she was in her voice, he obliged, knowing that he hasn't got a choice. His bottom lip trembles and he holds his injured hand to his chest. He refuses to cry. Instead, he walks over to Marley all the while staring at Raven coldly."I am 15 years old Raven, I don't need someone to hold my hand". Marley argued."Marley I know that Carl's hand is something for you to crush so you don't punch me in the face again." Raven glares at Carl and it slightly scares him, his hands wrapped around Marley's hand which sent electricity up Carl's arm, his fingertips tingle and he stares apologetically into her green eyes, his breathing starts to quicken, as Raven pours the Vodka on Marley's bloody hand straight onto the open wounds. Marley bites her lip and squeals, the vodka sterilizing the wounds. Suddenly, Marley nearly crushes Carl's hand, he was amazed at how strong the teenager with green eyes was. Raven looks up at Carl,"Hey, Carl get me the dressing from my black bag over there," Raven asked calmly. He was surprised to hear how kind and solemn her voice was, after how vicious she was earlier.Carl contemplates running off. Just running and sprinting to find his dad or Michonne, anyone. But he knows that it won't do him any good. He is injured and muddy and cold. He knows that he would probably just get himself killed. And he kind of feels like he has to do something for Marley, considering she had just been kind and sweet to him, and he had repaid her by accidentally hurting her hand."Sure," Carl replied as he reluctantly lets go of Marley's hand. He stands up, then turns back and awkwardly smiles at her causing him to blush again. Raven notices the look they had just exchanged, and she smirks at her sister, teasing. Raven chuckles. Marley stands up, with her sister right behind her. Marley held her shaking hand and turns around to see Raven staring at her, smiling."What?" Marley laughed. Marley looked away, but Raven saw right through her."Come on it was quite obvious that you two were both undressing each other with your eyes." Raven whispers.Carl, completely oblivious to their conversation, rummages through the bag and sees lots of water bottles, ammo, knives, guns, a weird looking silver thing, packets of beef jerky, nuts, and first aid kits. He opens up a first aid kit and finds the dressing and passes it to Raven, awkwardly standing next to Marley, contemplating whether or not he should speak. Carl sighs and walks over to a rotting tree and looks up to the sky with sad eyes."He's covered from head to toe in dirt"She whispers and darts her eyes over to where Carl awkwardly shuffles and starts prodding at an oddly shaped bruise on his arm and looking guilty."So ?"Raven asks while shrugging her shoulders."So, he needs to be clean."Raven looks over at a very lost Carl and gives a reassuring nod. Carl looks up at her. He narrows his eyes, not caring at how petty he looks. Raven rolls her eyes and turns away."Fine," She says and glares at Carl. He returns the favor by staring at her."Let's give this baby his bubble bath". Raven whips around and starts walking over to watch Carl. Carl turns around as he hears a sigh coming from Marley's direction. Guilt flushes through him as he sees her bruising fingers and the sad facial expression on her face."Look, Carl, I know you want to find your family"She murmurs and looks into his blue eyes "I completely understand, but it's getting really dark, and I can see that you are bleeding".Carl says nothing, he just looks at her and listens to what she has to say."I promise that we will help you look for your dad, but Raven is not like me, She's been through a tough time believe it or not," Marley explains holding her hand close to her chest. Carl scrunches his face up in confusion. Marley seems to have noticed and explains more."Raven doesn't like people." Marley says smiling, "But I am sure you already know that." She added. Carl gives a small smile and she beckons him to walk to the lake with her.He puts his weight on both feet. A shock pain spikes through him and he winces. His back throbs and so does his left ankle, and of course his fingers. Another reason to love Raven. But then again, he did hurt Marley's hand, but that was by accident.Marley notices Carl's wince and she steps closer to him "Do you need a hand ?" She asks and gestures to him.Carl sighs, he doesn't want to seem like a weak kid. He's sure that he can handle small walk to a 'lake'."No thanks"He mutters under his breath.He adjusts his hat so it's straight and he limps onward. Hissing through the pain and trying to ignore it. Marley rolls her eyes and leads the way.After about five minutes of walking through the quickly darkening forest, they reach their destination.The lake was so peaceful and statue still, ripples pulsing through the cold water. The now evident moonlight shone upon the edge of the water, almost like a glistening mirror. Cicadas and crickets chirping in the background, filling up the silence."Holy shit !."Raven suddenly shouts, causing Carl's head to suddenly whip up.Carl and Marley were close behind and rush over thinking something was wrong. When they see her she was already ankle deep in the water. Her clothes and rucksack had been thrown onto a large rock, leaving her in only her bra and underwear, causing Carl to blush and look away."Raven !, What are you crying about ?"Marley shouts, looking at her sister in confusion."First of all, I don't cry. Second, of all, it's cold" She says with attitude and an over dramatic shiver."Whatever" Marley sighs, she looks over at Carl and frowns, but then she bursts into laughter,"What the on earth is wrong with you ?"She asks, nearly choking on her laughter at his facial expression.He can feel turn his face turning beetroot red. He takes a deep breath to control himself, forcing himself to look away from the practically perfect body in front of him. It's almost like she is doing it on purpose just to get him worked up and embarrassed."Jeez, he's acting like he never seen a girl before.."Raven groans before suddenly diving head first into the water. When she resurface's she gasps and splutters. "Ah! That's so cold" She yells and starts washing off her arms.Marley starts to excitedly take off her clothes one by one, Carl looks at her confused and shocked at her confidence. Seems like they are way too comfortable."Come on Carl you are covered head to toe in mud, you need to be clean," Marley states encouragingly. Marley takes off her ripped top and reveals a petite frame, which makes Carl stare at her and marvel at her small body. Shit, he stared for too long because when his eyes make their way up to her face, she glares awkwardly at him but then laughs and splashes into the lake beckoning Carl over. His fingers played with the bottom of his shirt until he awkwardly gets it undone and throws it onto the ground. Suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious."Hey Carl, it's not that bad," Marley shouts, beckoning him into the water.Marley grabs onto his arm and drags him into the water up to his knees, he gasps at the freezing water hits him.Carl breaks away from Marley and rubs away the crusty mud that had started to dry on his shivering body, turning his back to Marley to give her some privacy as she cleans herself.Carl looks up at the sky, to see it full of bright stars and moonlight, With a sad smile he counts the stars; One for each person he has lost. The brightest being Judith, the little baby that had brightened everyone's lives, put smiles on everybody's faces.With a tear trickling down his face he stares at the star. They have to still be out there. They can't all be dead, he can't be the only one.He's going to find them. With or Without Marley and Ravens help.