This Sorrowful Life

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. All rights go to Skybound, Telltale Games, AMC, and Robert Kirkman.

Chapter One: Made to Suffer

Yup, I decided to remake my previous TWD story because I wasn't happy with how it came out. I also changed a few things regarding the last story so I hope you guys enjoy this. Feedback is also appreciated greatly!

As for my previous book, I'll be marking it as complete, even though it isn't. The poll I still have up for "Family is Everything" will be used in this book instead. So get out there and vote or I'll come to your house and spit on your food while you eat ;)

Anyway, here's a few things to keep in mind while reading this book:

#1: Carl is following his age from the comics. During the events with Negan and The Saviors, he was 11 years old so following the time-skip he'll be in his late-teens.

#2: This story is a MAJOR AU. With Negan winning and Rick gone, TWD lore will undergo MAJOR changes to certain characters, places, and events.

Sometimes I don't know where

This dirty road is taking me

Sometimes I can't even see the reason why

I guess I keep a-gamblin'

Lots of booze and lots of ramblin'

It's easier than just waitin' around to die

("Waiting Around to Die" by The Be Good Tanyas)

"Can I try now, brother?"

"Shh! Be quiet, Judith. You're gonna scare it away."

"But you said I can-"

"Not now."

A young man in his late teens, Carl Grimes rose up out one of the bushes, taking in a deep breath as he pulled the bowstring gently back behind his ear. He aimed the bow with his one good eye, sticking his tongue out in concentration. His target nibbled on some of the green grass in front of it, its ears twitching with excitement.

TWISH!

THUNK!

'Gotcha!'

The rabbit lay motionless on the ground as soon as his arrow pierced through its small body. Carl smiled proudly at himself when he picked up the carcass with his gloved hand by its tail, delighted at how heavy it was. He pulled the arrow out of its body awkwardly, managing to get small specks of the rabbit's blood on his brown shearling jacket. Not that he cared since the jacket and the fur inside was dirty as is. His jeans were tattered, and the sleeveless-white shirt underneath his jacket was spotted with specks of mud.

His greasy, onyx-colored hair was slicked back, reaching the back of his neck and behind his ears. The most notable feature on the boy was the bandage wrapped around his right eye.

"I could've gotten that for us." A young girl, around the young age of six, jogged over to the boy from behind the bushes, a slightly disappointed look on her round face. Her face was filthy with dirt and her ash blonde hair-braided in two pigtails-swayed back and forth behind her. She donned a small worn out denim jacket with a dirt-stained blue t-shirt underneath it. Her jeans were ripped up and cut as if she did it herself and her brown & leather combat boots looked a size too small on her feet. "Last time you said I can get our food for us."

"Sorry about that, squirt, but this lil' guy might've been too quick to be your first catch." He allowed a small smile to curve his lips while placing the rabbit carcass in a burlap sack that was stuffed in his bookbag.

Judith is his younger sister, both being children of the former King County Sheriff's Deputy Rick Grimes and his wife Lori Grimes. Carl was born long before the apocalypse began, but Judith was born well into it. Judith, however, had never gotten to know her mother, unlike Carl. Lori had to be given a C-section in order for Judith to live, and Carl had to watch.

After that, he had to shoot his Mom to prevent her from turning.

When he told his Dad, Rick began to lose it. He started to act like he was insane. He loved Lori so much. All the hardships they went through with his former friend-turned-enemy Shane, Hershel's Barn, the journey he went on to see her and Carl…all of that was now taken from him.

"But I'm smarter than that thing. I could've found a way."

"You still have to be patient, Jude. And you're clearly running thin of that."

Judith huffed.

Tying the sack shut, Carl handed it off to his sister, who grunted once she lifted it over her shoulder. "That's not too heavy for you, Judy?" He asked after noticing her hunch over, the carcass-filled sack taking up some of her small body. He then placed his bow back in its strap on his backpack and approached her. "I can carry it if you want-"

"Can you not call me Judy anymore?" Judith cut her brother off.

Carl was taken aback. "W-What?"

"Judy. I don't like it. It makes me sound like an old lady." She clarified. He couldn't help but feel guilty about that. He's been calling her that ever since she was younger yet she never complained about it. Why now all of a sudden?

Fixing the sheriff hat on his head, which once belonged to his Dad, Carl flashed his sister a small frown. "I thought you liked Judy?"

"I did…when I was a baby."

Carl then smiled at her. "How about Lil' Asskicker? That nickname sound better?"

"Asskicker?" Judith giggled at the odd name. "I don't think you can call anyone that..."

"Why not?" Carl shrugged his shoulders. "Makes you sound tough. Besides, it's the truth: you are an ass kicker." He then glances down at her. "Remember Daryl? The one I told you about with the crossbow? He wanted to name you that for a while."

"I think I remember him. Wasn't Dad and him friends?"

Carl nods his head at her. Daryl was one of the most badass people he ever met. He always kept to himself, but he got the job done when somebody needed his help. Not to mention he was so close with his Dad that they practically became "Apocalypse Brothers". Daryl was stubborn as hell too, but Carl couldn't blame him since he was stubborn as well. In a way, that redneck was like an uncle to him.

"Sure was." He smirked to himself, fondly remembering the memories he shared with the man. "He was the one who taught me how to hunt, y'know? And how to skin an animal-"

"Can you teach me how to do that too?" Judith beamed, cutting off her brother once again. "I always wanted to learn, but it looks disgusting." She grimaced when remembering the times she'd watch her brother skin and gut their food.

"I was like that when Daryl first showed me," Carl said sympathetically to his sister. "But you'll get used to it sooner or later. All it takes is a little willpower-"

Judith cut him off with a mumbled voice. "I don't think I have enough willpower."

"What makes you say that?" Carl questioned her, raising an eyebrow. His sister never replies, which worried him. Judith always gave him an answer, no matter how ridiculous or difficult the question was. What was wrong with her? "Judith?" He called out to her after the short silence the two shared.

Said girl tilted her head. "Hmm?"

"Did you hear what I asked?"

"Yeah…"

"So why didn't you answer?"

His tone had changed straightforward, which made Judith grow nervous at the sound of it. Before she could respond, they heard snarling coming from up ahead. Carl narrowed his eye and motioned Judith to stay low, which she did. He saw something that resembled a person limp in the distance, its clothes bloodied and torn apart.

Judith gritted her teeth together when she caught sight of the creature. "A ghoul…" She nearly hisses, drawing out a blue-handled butterfly knife that was tugged away in her front pocket.

Even though they looked scary with their rotten flesh and horrible stench, she never was afraid of them. They were simply a nuisance to her. She hated hearing their familiar growls. She hated that weak things like those are able to kill people. She hated the fact that people were scared of those things. The stories Carl told her about his friends and family having their lives taken because of them angered her. They were part of the reason why she has no family. They ruined everyone's lives. They were the reason why she didn't have the perfect life like the characters from her stories. She wanted to kill every last one of them!

Carl made a small noise in confirmation. "Looks like it isn't alone." He whispered when he spotted another walker follow the first one. "Stay close to me. Be my other eye and ears, got it?" The little girl nods, making Carl take out the hatchet that was sheathed to the back of his pants. The weapon was from his Dad as well before their home got destroyed years ago. He cherished it this whole time, keeping it sharpened and clean whenever he had the opportunity to.

Just thinking back to that day made him tear up. He and his old group had run into a large group that named themselves "The Saviors" with their leading being a barbed-wire baseball bat carrying monster named Negan. In their first encounter, he killed Glenn, one of the first people his Dad met ever since the apocalypse started, smashing his head in with the bat he called "Lucille". Negan said that was just a taste of what was to come unless they followed his rules. He wanted half of everything they had back in Alexandria, and he meant it. His dad was so broken that he agreed to it.

They served Negan for a while until Carl went back to his base with a loaded gun and opened fire on his men, killing a few and injuring some. Negan only laughed at how badass he looked and offered him a ride home. Carl had never felt so confused and scared in his whole life. Still, he never regretted what he did. Even to this day, he wished he had offed Negan when he had the chance.

When he brought him back, Negan took it upon himself to rest in his house and cook him dinner. When Carl asked why he was still here, Negan revealed that he wanted to see Rick, but since he wasn't home, he figured to wait there for him. When his Dad arrived, he walked into something gruesome. One of the previous leader's sons, Spencer Monroe, was gutted like a pig and the inventory manager at Alexandria, Olivia, was shot in the head in retaliation for Rosita missing Negan and shooting "Lucille" instead. For that, Negan relieved them of their "bullet maker", Eugene, and took him back to Sanctuary with them.

On that day, something in his Dad snapped.

He planned to go to war with Negan, along with the other communities who were under his rule. He gathered almost anyone he could from The Hilltop to The Kingdom to take down The Saviors once and for all. The plan was set in stone, but they had yet to find enough guns and ammunition to go through with the plan. They were going to go to Oceanside to convince its people to hand over their guns so they can free them from The Saviors.

Unfortunately, Negan managed to catch wind of their plan. Carl was never sure how.

He burned Alexandria to the ground, along with The Hilltop and The Kingdom shortly after. It was a surprise attack no one saw coming. He even managed to take a group full of people and order his men to execute them. Among those executed was Aaron, Eric, Father Gabriel, Jerry, and most of the residents of Alexandria. Rosita and Tara were killed trying to save some of the residents. Negan ordered for their bodies to be burned.

Daryl, Michonne, and his then-girlfriend Enid were taken captive by The Saviors during the attack. Negan said he saw something special in them and that Daryl would make, in his own words, a "fan-fucking-tastic" soldier for him. As for Michonne, Negan took her so she can become one of his many wives back in Sanctuary. He wouldn't be surprised if Negan did this solely to say "fuck you" to his Dad. The reason for Enid's capture was still unclear to Carl. Though, who knows what the fuck Negan was thinking about when he took her.

Maggie and Jesus, one of the inhabitants at The Hilltop, managed to get away before they got caught. Carol was injured in battle and Morgan managed to help her get away. Carl hasn't seen them since. Hopefully, they were somewhere, alive and well. Maggie deserves to have that, at least.

The last two to put up a fight was his Dad and King Ezekiel, the ruler of The Kingdom. Carl thought Ezekiel would've given the better fight, considering he had a fucking pet tiger. Instead, Shiva succumbed to the bullet wounds The Saviors drilled her with when trying to save her master. Negan was the one to deliver the final blow to the "king" using "Lucille". He had them kneel down on the ground and watch Alexandria burn to the ground, mocking them while doing so. Still hearing that man braying made Carl's blood boil to this day.

"You see the shit you've started, Rick?" Negan laughed as tears began to flow down the sheriff's face. "Don't be like that. After all, this is what you fuckin' wanted, huh?" He then bent over to the sheriff's level and wiped the tears off his face. "Just seeing you like this pulls my goddamn heartstrings…but all you had to do was follow my fucking rules!" Spit flew from his mouth as he yelled, some of it landing on Rick's face. "This little rebellion you tried to start? Well, look where it got you! Absolutely nowhere!" With a snort, Negan lifted "Lucille" in the air. "And to think you had some balls, Rick…"

He swung "Lucille" against King Ezekiel's skull, creating a sickening cracking sound. Negan brought it down on his head again. And again. And again. And again. And again until the King's head resembled a crushed watermelon. His body was still twitching, making Negan force a devilish smirk on his face.

Carl remembered watching from behind one of the bushes, holding baby Judith in his arms as Negan started to talk to his Dad again. Even though he wasn't in hearing range, Carl knew the man was mocking his father. Whatever he said must've worked because his Dad let out a war cry when he tackled him to the ground, screaming that he was going to kill him.

BANG!

Carl felt his own heart stop once the gunshot rang out. He covered his mouth with his free hand when his Dad collapsed to the floor, blood pouring out of the bullet hole in his sternum. Judith began to fuss at the sudden loud noise and Carl had to keep her close to his chest to keep her quiet.

Negan rose to his feet, smoke hissing from the hot barrel of his Beretta in his left hand. He placed it back in its holster and took hold of "Lucille" again, swinging it over his shoulder while looking down at the dying man. "I didn't wanna have to do that to you, Rick. But you just had to keep busting my balls, didn't you? You fuckin' failed, Rick. You failed your people. You failed your kids. And most importantly, you failed me. Fuck you, Rick. Seriously, fuck you." He chuckles darkly, flashing Rick a tooth-filled smirk before departing with his men in tow.

He cried out as he swung the hatchet at an unsuspecting walker, who dropped dead on impact. Judith followed closely behind him, her butterfly knife in her hand in case any snuck up behind them. Another walker heard the cry and limped at him, dragging its foot behind. Carl threw the hatchet at it, plunging it right in the middle of its forehead. Picking it up, he barely had time to notice the walker next to him before Judith kicked it in its leg, breaking it with ease. She grunted as she dug her knife in its skull and pulled it out with some force.

"Carl…" He held his Dad's bloodied hand as he began to gasp for air. "T-take Judith…and run. Take care of her for me…a-and your Mom…it's what she would have wanted."

Seeing his Dad in this state was a nightmare come true. He feared this day would happen, but never by the hands of Negan. This time, Carl didn't fight back the tears and let them spill down his eye.

"O-Okay, Dad…" He sobbed, clutching his hand tighter. "I promise I will." He felt his Dad lightly squeeze his hand in return, giving his son the best amount of comfort he could.

"When Lori died, I-I forgot who I was," Rick gagged, feeling his blood slowly rise up in his throat. "But you made me remember who I was. Remember that day I walked with you? Back you were j-just a child?"

Carl nods his head. "Y-Yeah."

"We were walking s-side by side but you were bringing me somewhere." Rick flashed him a bloody smile, his teeth stained with the red substance. "Bringing me, bringing all of us to a new world, Carl. Y-You showed me the new world. You made it real. I see it, I remember…t-thank you." He then caresses Judith's cheek, leaving a smudge of blood on her face. "My sweet baby girl…C-Carl will take care of you now, okay? B-Be strong for him now…You'll always be Daddy's lil' girl."

Judith stared at her Dad, fussing since she had no idea what was happening.

"Take my stuff and g-go." Rick gagged, blood blocking the airways in his throat. With the very little strength he had left, Rick slowly pulled out his trademark Colt Python out the holster on his belt. "Here…Take it. Y-You know what to do." Despite the exasperating pain shooting through his body, Rick was still giving his children a proud smile. "I-I'm proud of you, Carl...for the man, you'll…become."

"Dad…" Carl sobbed as he brought his hand to his lips.

"N-Negan will keep looking for you…so just keep m-movin'." Rick's eyelids soon started to become heavy and consciousness was slipping away from him. "I love the both of you. S-show people…the new world…that you've shown me."

Carl rapidly shook his head in denial when he felt his Dad's hand go limp in his. The tears never stopped flowing down his face as he kept staring at his dad's corpse. No…No! Not again! He couldn't go through with this again. His Mom's had haunted him for a long time, but he knew his Dad's was going to haunt him for life. He didn't want to do it, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

He ran his fingers across the cold steel barrel for a moment before taking hold of the wooden handle. He opened the cylinder, counting three bullets inside before shutting it. The lever of the gun was already pulled, so now all he had to do was pull the trigger. Carl sobbed when he raised the gun to his Dad's head, tears blinding his view at his Dad's corpse. The crackling of the burning houses behind them made the task even harder considering how much they've done for the place.

"I'm sorry, Dad..." Carl sobs, his finger on the trigger whilst shutting his eye.

BANG!

Then came Judith's haunting cry.

"Hey, Carl. Look!"

Judith snapped Carl out of his thoughts when she pointed at a building behind the trees. It revealed to be a church with the exterior walls made from cracked and broken brick. It was giving Carl mysterious and eerie vibes the closer they got to it. The roof of the Church was green with moss and caved in at one place. The bell tower was leaning dangerously over the caved in roof. The windows were tainted with dirt, some of them even being broken. Ivy was growing around the outside of the brick walls as if it came up from the very Earth itself.

"What kind of place is this?" Judith asked in curiosity, running her fingers across the rough brick exterior wall.

"It's called a Church." Her brother replies, crossing his arms over his chest as he, too, studied the building, "This is where people gather together to worship Jesus."

"Jesus?" Judith asked, turning her body to give her brother a questionable look. "Who was he? A leader like Dad was?"

Carl forced a small smile to curve his lips by Judith's curious nature. "In a way, yeah. Anyway, looks like we found our next stop. Let's check it out. " Turning to the tainted dirt window, he cupped his hand around his eye as he tried his best to get a look inside. The smudges on the glass refused to let Carl get a clear look inside, making the boy suck his teeth. "Shit. Looks like we're going in blind." Carl then unsheathed his hatchet again before glancing over at his sister. "Stay on guard, alright?" She nods as he slowly opened the door, flinching as the door began to creak from its worn hinges.

The inside looked just as bad as the outside: the church pews were broken and mucky, broken candles and melted wax stained the floor, curtains were ripped from the windows, and the stained glasses were graffitied on with all sorts of cuss words. The part of the roof that caved in granted light to enter the room and shine directly on the lectern. What made Carl send shivers down his spine was the statue of Jesus on the wall, crucified with his head off and on the floor right under his feet, his eyes looking wide as if he witnessed what happened in here. Below the statue, the old wooden floor was painted with the familiar red substance Carl knew all too well.

Judith walked up towards one of the walls that had carvings written on them. The carvings were as followed: "We Have Sinned",

"God is Punishing Us",

"Lord Forgive Us",

"Jesus Save Us",

And "Speak the Word Of God before it's too late".

"C'mon, Judith." Carl placed a hand on her shoulder after reading the carvings himself. "Let's look in here then leave. This place gives me the creeps."

"You said it."

Since this was a church, there had to be a food pantry in one of those rooms. Hopefully whoever was in here didn't take everything. They could go for some extra food in their stomachs. Whilst checking out the nave, Carl shook his head when he spotted more carvings on the pews with the same wording. The lectern was chipped and moldy, but still held a opened bible on top of it. Curiosity filled Carl as he approached the lectern.

"Looks like someone's been reading this…" He said to himself before noticing something rather strange. "Weird. Some of the pages have been ripped out." He grazed his fingers over the leftover paper from the ripped pages, feeling somewhat anxious. This place just got 10 times creepier than before.

Turning around, he saw Judith sitting in the pew in front of him, swinging her feet since she was almost tall enough to have her feet touch the floor. She was looking around at the tampered stain glasses, looking in awe as they were reflecting a dark purple light inside. Next to her was the sack with the rabbit in it. "You okay, Judith?" He asked his sister, crouching down to her level.

"Yeah, just looking at the windows. Why are they so colorful?" Her hand was placed over the sack next to her.

Carl followed her gaze at the glass. "They're stained glasses." He answered with a smile. "It's basically colored glass that people can use for decorations. Well, the church mostly uses them."

"Why would anyone want to color glass? You won't be able to see the ghouls outside." She stood up from her seat, shaking her head at the nonsense she was being told. "Whoever came up with that idea was stupid." A bewildered look was plastered on Carl's face as his sister approached the lectern. He looked over in concern at her while she flipped through the bible, furrowing her eyebrows together from the number of words she was seeing. "This book has no pictures in it. How come? What if I wanna know what the people look like?"

"…Well some books want you to imagine them on your own." Carl rubbed the back of his head and approaches his sister. "And besides, this is a Bible, squirt. Not many people call it a book."

"What's a bible?"

"I'll tell you later. C'mon, let's keep looking around." He gestured to his sister to follow him.

Continuing their scavenging, Judith had pointed at a door to the left side of the first row of pews. The wood had been chipped and scratched. He approached it and took hold of the knob and twisted it. It locked in place. He sighed out before taking out his hatchet and hovering it over the deadbolt. He chopped it, leaving it dented as wood chips flew everywhere. He brought it down again, this time with more power. The lock was nearly loose, so with one last swing, he managed to break the lock.

"Nice!" Judith pumped her fist in excitement.

When Carl swung the door open to the dim-lighted office, they both were presented with a horrifying sight. In the middle of the room was a priest slumped in a chair, his hands tied around the arms of the chair and his feet tied to the legs of the chair. The man's body was nearly covered with blood, causing flies to start swarming around his corpse. His stomach was cut open, allowing the man to be disemboweled, his guts being spilled on the purple carpet beneath him. The bulb on the ceiling fan began to flicker chaotically, almost as if someone was flicking the switch up and down. The sudden stench the body emitted made Judith cover her nose and grimace as she kept staring, unable to take her eyes off him.

Carl shivered when he saw the look of fear that was frozen on the priest's face. His jaw was dropped, a sign that rigor mortis had done its job, but Carl couldn't help but assume he was screaming right before he died. A large bullet hole was also visible in his forehead once Carl got closer, allowing him to notice parts of his brain and skull from the inside. Maggots were crawling around the hole in his head, as well as his exposed intestines. It was obvious to Carl that this man had been tortured, but for what? Why would anybody torture a priest this gruesomely? Then again, stuff like this was pretty common these days.

"He's all tied up…was he a bad man? Maybe he deserved it?" shrugged Judith when she stepped closer to her brother.

"Nobody deserves to be put out like this." Carl countered. He imagined how scared the man probably was, how much pain he must've been sitting through as his assailant mutilated him. Whoever the attacker was, they either held a grudge against him, or they were simply bat-shit crazy enough to torture someone for fun.

Either way, Carl didn't want to stick around to find out.

"Don't take too long looking around. The faster we get outta here, the better."

"I'll check his desk for stuff." Judith announced while making her way towards the mahogany desk that sat at the far end of the room.

The top of the desk was cleared off, leaving nothing more than dust bunnies. Near the entrance was a bookshelf made from the same material, holding up books and knickknacks that had collected dust. A few glass bottles also lined one of the shelves, the colored glass replaced with the grey-white layers of dust. Carl lifted a bottle off the shelf and found it to be half-empty once he swirled it around for a second. Popping the cork off the top, he sniffed the rim and cringed at the strong scent it delivered.

"No way we're drinking that." He shook his head in disgust, placing the bottle back in its previous spot.

Underneath the row of bottles stood small, wooden sculptures of various animals: a Greyhound with its head turned at Carl, a Lamb with one of its hooves lifted off the base and its head fixated upwards, a Dove with its wings spread open as if it was about to take off, and a Cobra with its lower body curled up and the upper half of its body erected. Its jaw was hung open, revealing four sharp fangs and its long tongue sticking out. Carl found them to be quite impressive, especially the Greyhound one. That one alone put all of his sculptures to shame.

"Reminds me of my work," Carl picks up the Greyhound and holds it up to his eye level. "But the wood is polished, unlike mine. They also used some type of metal for the dark spots on the dog's fur. Professionalism at its best. Maybe I can make something similar to this…?" He then forced a smirk to curve his lips and put the sculpture in his back pocket. "Won't hurt to try." The hobby of carving wood came to a surprise for Carl. It spawned by a night of complete boredom and ever since then, it became a daily habit. It first started with animals, then he bettered himself by switching to people. The carvings weren't the best, but the ones that meant something to him had the better detail. "How'd it go with that desk, Jude? Find anything useful?"

"Picked clean. But, I did find a door." When Carl faced her direction, there was, in fact, a grey-painted door to the right side of the desk. The paint was chipped, revealing the actual wood from the door, and the doorknob was dented. "You think we can find anything good in here?"

"Let's hope so." Carl took out his hatchet and gripped the doorknob. "Ready?" Once she gave the nod, Carl swung open the door and immediately gagged from the putrid smell that he breathed in. What looked like to be a stock room, it reeked with the familiar smell of a decaying body mixed with a metallic odor from the walls, courtesy of the blood that was splattered on them. The few steel shelves in the room were very bare, only having a few empty cans rest on them. The worst part of it all was the rotten, severed human fingers that spread on the floor. At least he knew where the priest's torture had begun. "Just our luck, Jude. Looks like we have to make that rabbit last."

"Fuck…" Judith mumbles, lowering her eyebrows at their sudden misfortune.

"You got that right, kid." Carl nods his head in agreement with a small chuckle. "Nevertheless, we should still look around for anything useful. Maybe our luck might change by then." Judith made a small hum in understanding before walking down the dark-end of the room, telling her brother she'd "take point". "Wait a minute, Judith. I didn't say you can!"

"Why not? We're not outside anymore. Besides, there're no ghouls in here." She argued.

"You don't know that."

"So I'll go make sure there isn't. I'm not gonna get bit or anything, Carl! I'm smarter than them!"

She turned on her heel and headed straight to the end of the room. Carl narrowed his eye at his sister's back before sighing out in defeat. When it came to dealing with walkers, Judith became very stubborn, as much as he hated to admit. It didn't worry him, but it was something to look out for.

Grunting, Carl unhooked one of the straps from his backpack and placed it on the floor. His bow clanged against the tiled floor while he unzipped the bag open, presenting himself to a handful of useful and miscellaneous items. The fletching on his arrows poked out from the bag, causing Carl to grab the few he had left and set them beside his feet. He dug some more, moving aside an empty canteen that made his throat dry just by the sight of it, until noticing a children's book and examined it.

"Madeline." He observes to himself with a smile. "Just the adventures of a girl attending a boarding school in Paris. Not sure why Judith prefers this book over the others she's read." He shrugged mentally to himself before tossing the book back in the bag. His Dad's Colt Python rested in the bottom of the bag and Carl pulled it out, opening the cylinder and giving it a spin. Still two bullets...just like he had left it. "Anything yet, Judith?" He called out, placing the gun back in his bag.

"Nothing yet." Came her small voice, sounding slightly agitated before he heard her gasp. "Oh, wait! I found bullets! And cans of food! You were right, Carl!"

When said boy opened his mouth to respond, he felt the cold barrel of a gun press against the back of his head causing his hat to nearly slide off his head.

Click.

"No sudden movements, now." A croaky voice warned the boy, causing his good eye to go wide. "Arms up and stand. Slowly." Carl obliged, carefully raising his hands just above his waist and slowly standing to his feet, the gun still pressed against his head. "Good. Walk forward."

"What do you want?" His wide eye had quickly narrowed, seething at the unknown man behind him.

Despite not facing the man, Carl could practically hear the smirk on his face when he spoke. "I'm wantin' the same thing as you. Now move." He obliged him again, slowly walking towards the end of the room, averting his eye to the dark-end of the room to see Judith hiding behind one of the shelves, a dangerous glare on her face as she watched her brother's assailant hold him at gunpoint. "And I know you're not alone, either. I heard someone else in here. Sounded like a lil' girl to me. That your sister? Or a cousin, maybe? Niece?"

"I'm not telling you anything." Carl growled, feeling his blood boil throughout his body.

"Shame. I was hopin' to start a friendly conversation with you." The man chuckled darkly before looking over at the shelves where Judith hid behind. "Come on out, lil' girl! No use in hiding!" When he received no type of response, he fired a shot in the darkness. Carl jumped, gasping as he snapped his head in Judith's direction. "I ain't gonna tell you again! Come on out!" Again, the man received no response. He turned his arm to face Judith's direction and fired two more shots. Carl could only stare at the wall in front of him, hoping his sister was able to cover herself from those shots. Smoke hissed out of the chamber of his pistol and the man shook his head. "Fine. You better show yourself, or the next shot is going straight in his skull!"

"No! Please don't!" Hearing Judith's small cry nearly made Carl's heart shatter. "I'll…I'll come out."

Judith emerged from out of the shadows, her right arm raised up with her butterfly knife in her hand while her left arm was holding three cans of food. The tall and lean man gave her a tooth-filled smile, some of his teeth being crooked and near-black. The dirty sweater the man wore was zipped all the way up, leaving some of his chest hair exposed. The man showed signs of balding on his head and perhaps the most distinguished feature was the two different colored eyes he had: his left eye being brown and his right eye being blue.

"Attagirl. Now, hand'em over." He ordered, gesturing to the cans of food Judith was holding while aiming his gun straight at her torso. "I'm starvin' here." The man then reached out to grab her, but Judith reacted quickly and drew her knife out, the blade nearly cutting the man's hand. "Now that's impolite." He rose his gun to level it with her head.

"You can't steal this food from us." Judith hissed, looking the man straight in his two different colored eyes.

"Oh yeah? And who's to say that's your food?" The man argued, still smirking with his gun steadily aimed at the middle of her forehead. "Besides, it ain't stealing if it wasn't yours in the first place." Carl could only watch nervously as his sister stood toe-to-toe with the armed man. However, he couldn't help but feel a tang of pride when she was.

"I'm strong. I can kill someone like you."

"Sure you can, princess." The man chuckled again. "Let's see how far that gets you."

Carl's eye went wide when he noticed the man's finger move to squeeze the trigger before he stopped him. "Wait! Okay, we'll give you the food." Judith looked at her brother as if he grew another head on his shoulders. "Give him the cans now, Judith."

"But we can't let him take our-"

"I said now!" Judith flinched at her brother's tone, his glare making her shrink. Whenever her brother looked at her like that, she was always scared. It was like he became a totally different person, and that alone made her start to freak out whenever he got angry with her. Sighing, she placed each can on the ground in front of the man before raising her arms in the air. "There. You got what you wanted. Whoever you are, just leave us alone."

"Abel's my name, kid, and I ain't leavin' just yet. Still got some things to take care of." The man named Abel began, his gaze set on Carl. "First, I'm gonna need your lil' friend here to join you by that wall." He shooed Judith away with his gun, which the girl obliged, glaring daggers at the man. "Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to thank y'all for catching my dinner tonight. Been a while since I had Rabbit Stew." He lifted up the burlap sack that was resting behind him, causing Judith to grit her teeth. "Nice size too. Y'all were lucky to find such a thing. These grounds have been scarce of them lately."

Judith took a step forward at the man, her tiny fists clenched. "That's ours! Give it back!"

"I wouldn't get any closer, princess." Abel shook his head. "That is if you want a hole in your pretty lil' face." He then averted his eyes down at Carl's open backpack, a smirk curving his lips. "What'd we have here?" Carl held his breath when Abel pulled out his Dad's revolver, examining it from the barrel down. "You know, it ain't wise leavin' a gun like this unsupervised. Gotta be carrying this thing on you everywhere you go." He flicked open the cylinder. "And it has bullets inside? You're one dumb kid for that, y'know?"

"You better put that down before I fucking kill you." Carl was fuming with an icy stare directed at Abel. Despite not using that gun in years, Carl had always cherished it with him, treating it more as a sentimental value of his past rather than a weapon. After all, it was the last thing his Dad gave him.

"You got spunk, kid. I like that. Unfortunately, you're in the wrong position to say shit like that." Abel flashed him a tooth-filled smirk before closing the cylinder to the revolver. "Besides, not like you'll have great aim with a missing eye." He then noticed the bow strapped to the bag, followed by the arrows sitting on the floor next to it. "Well, guess I stand corrected. What else can you surprise me with?" Carl remained silent, glaring harder at him. "Nothing else? Shame. What about the girl, then?"

"Fuck. You." Judith then stuck her tongue out at him.

"Such manners. Clearly, you ain't teachin' her the meaning of the word "respect"." Abel, much to Carl's relief, dropped the gun back in the bag. "Y'all got a group? Little hard to believe that you've been on your own this whole time."

"Just us." Carl answered honestly with the small shrug of his shoulders. "Been going place to place for a long time. This place was just a stop in our travel."

"Loner types, eh? Can't say I blame you." Abel shrugged his shoulders before lifting the cans off the floor and tossing them in the burlap sack. "It's a shame what happened to this place. This once holy building where people prayed to some guy up in the sky is now nothing more than four walls and a roof. The Father out there learned that the hard way. He was stupid enough to let the people who did that to him inside. Goes to show you gotta be cautious about people these days, even those who pretend to be your friend."

As much as Carl hated to admit it, he was right. He learned that the hard way when the people from Terminus welcomed them to their home, only to try to kill them and eat them. The worst part was he and his group were traveling there for days, even being split apart until they found each other stuffed in a boxcar. Luckily they managed to free themselves and burn the place down, along with taking everyone's lives who lived there.

"Thanks for the advice." Carl spat with the roll of his eye.

"Don't mention it." Abel darkly chuckled while fixating his head down at the bag. "What else you got in here for me, kid? Oh, a blanket? Might keep me toasty at night-AH FUCK!"

Carl's eye went wide when a can of food nailed the man in his left eye, causing him to place his hand over it. He quickly averted his eye at Judith, who had the slyest smirk on her face while holding another can of food in her hand.

"Now, Judith!" Carl shouted, running over at Abel who still had his hand over his eye. He charged and shoved the man against the wall, the gun flying out of his hand and sliding across the floor. Judith ran as fast as her little legs could, quickly snatching the sack filled with their food out the room with her. Carl acted fast and zipped his bag shut, wearing it back on his back until noticing that he forgot to pack his arrows. "Oh, shit."

"Big fuckin' mistake, kid!" Abel growled, grabbing hold of Carl's wrist and gritting his teeth out of pure anger. With his free hand, Abel landed a hard blow to Carl's rib. The teen collapsed to his knees, groaning in pain with a hand placed over his ribs. "Know what the funny thing about this is? I was gonna let you walk away scot-free, but now-AAAAGGGHH!" Abel screamed in pain when an arrow stabbed him through his thigh, courtesy of the one-eyed teen. "FUCK! GAHH!" Carl smirked-picking himself off the floor-and then pushed the man against the shelves, knocking them over. "GOD DAMMIT!" That wasn't going to hold him down for long, so Carl quickly put on his backpack and ran out of the room, finding Judith nowhere in sight.

"Shit. Judith?!" Panic overtook him and he sprinted out of the office, nearly knocking over The Father's corpse while doing so. He huffed when he stood in the doorway to see his sister face-to-face with a few walkers who had staggered through the front door.

Judith kicked a ghoul in its leg causing it to lose its footing, followed by jamming her knife in the middle of its forehead. She kicked it away while another ghoul swiped at her, but Judith moved her head back and tripped the ghoul to make it fall-face first on the wood floor. She climbed on top of it and stuck her knife through the back of its head.

"I got'em, Carl! Don't worry!" She smiled over at him.

"Forget about them! We gotta go!"

"But-"

"God Dammit, Judith! I said-"

BANG!

Carl cried out in pain, clutching his left shoulder.

"You pieces of shit!" They heard Abel yell. "I'll kill you!"

"NO!"

Judith's eyes went wide in horror when she looked at her brother before glaring dangerously at the lean man. She could see the satisfied smirk on his face as he turned his aim at her. Fortunately, a ghoul managed to sneak up from next to him and grab him, nearly sinking its teeth in the man's arm.

"What the fuck?!" He shoves the walker off of him and shoots it in the head. Then another walker stumbles toward him, latching onto him like the previous one. Suddenly, yet another managed to sneak up on him and latch onto him from the other side. "Shit! Get the fuck off of me!"

Carl squeezed his eyes shut and winced to himself. He immediately brought his hand to his left shoulder, feeling his fingertips getting wet as he put pressure against his new wound. That fucking asshole managed to shoot him!

"Run!" He still kept his grasp on his sister and they ran as fast as they could from the church, hearing Abel's gunshots in the distance. They both panted while running into the woods, not even daring to see if Abel was right behind them. If he was, they knew he'd lose their trail sooner or later.

The sun began to set when Carl and Judith finally decided to treat the former's wound. Before, Carl didn't mind the pain, since he was hooked on adrenaline at the time. Now, it started to bother him, making him wince whenever he tried to move his arm in any sort of direction. He felt the bullet dig in his skin further in when he moved.

"This should be good." He winced.

Judith set the sack down and ran over to her brother, worry masking her face while he sat on top of a log. The teen hissed from pain while taking off his jacket, dropping it to the side. Judith let out a small gasp upon seeing the wound up close.

"Y-You're hurt..." He heard her voice slightly break as she spoke.

Carl gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Lil' Asskicker. I've been through worse." He gestured to his right eye.

"I really wanna kill that guy next time we see him." Judith clenched her fists together after Abel's devilish smile flashed in her head.

"Well wait in line, kiddo, because I call dibs if we meet him again." Carl lightly laughed. His vindictive nature had started to rub on Judith, and he wasn't sure if that should be concerning or not.

Judith's attention then went back to her brother's injury. "What should I do? W-We don't have any band-aids o-or tape or anything..." Carl detected the nervousness in her voice.

"Relax. It's gonna be okay." He grunted while leaning forward for Judith to get a closer look at it. "Just check for me if the bullet's gone through. Can you see through it?"

Judith hummed, raising her eyebrow as she looked at the wound. There was nothing but blood and broken skin. However, she was able to see the tree trunks behind them through the hole in his shoulder. Was that a good thing?

"Y-yeah. I don't see the bullet." She responds. "Is that a good thing?"

"Very." Carl sights out in relief. "We just got to clean it and patch it up. Maybe stitches too."

Even though they wandered the country together doing dangerous shit, Carl was glad to say that neither he or Judith had suffered an injury like he had right now. The worst one they've endured in their time was a cut Judith gave herself when she was playing around with her knife for the first time. Luckily, she didn't need stitching so all they did was clean it and put the last bandage they had on it.

"Isn't that gonna hurt? The stitching? Won't it make it hurt more?" Carl gave his sister a small smile.

"Kind of. You'll get used to it by then." He grunts, sliding his bookbag off his back and dropping it on the ground beside him. "The blanket in here should help stop the bleeding for now. Hopefully we'll find supplies soon to-"

"I thought I heard voices over here!"

Carl's reflexes kicked in and he immediately went for the magnum in his bag. Judith snapped her head in the direction where the voice came from, her eyes slightly wide as she clutched her knife in her hand. Did that guy from before find them? Did he follow them all this way?

The sound of footsteps coming towards them were as clear as day. Some of the bushes began to rustle from the immediate presence of someone, making Carl and his sister keep their guard up, weapons drawn. The former's eye went wide when he realized he had his Dad's gun in his hand. Before he had the chance to put it away, someone emerged from the bushes, their eyes going wide at the situation in front of him. A shot teen with one-eye and a little girl with a knife both having their weapons drawn on him wasn't something you see every day.

"Holy shit, dude."

Carl rose his eyebrow at the boy in front of him. He looked no older than he was, having brown hair that reached down the back of his neck and over his ears. The boy was certainly taller than him by a good few inches as well. Over his shoulder was a cottontail rabbit carcass, much like the one he caught earlier.

"Mitch? Mitch, what is it?"

"Guys, we have to get back to-"

Two other teens around his age emerged from behind the taller boy, their eyes wide at the sight as well. The other boy was shorter than him, roughly around Carl's height, with black hair and a small soul patch growing underneath his lip. He was a few shades darker than the rest, and if Carl had to guess, he had to be that of Indian race. Noticing the bow he had in his hands, Carl turned the gun to aim at him, his eye narrowing threateningly at him.

The last of the group was a girl around, again, their age. Her auburn hair reached the back of her neck and her grey eyes were showing panic when Carl saw into them. Much like the taller boy, she too had a cottontail rabbit over her shoulder. Judith seemed surprised by the girl's presence but still held her ground, shielding her injured brother from the possible danger in front of them.

"Nice going, Mitch." The Indian boy spat at the tall boy, his hand raised slightly above his waist in surrender. "You led us right into danger. I swear if we get robbed or killed by a little girl and someone with one eye then-"

"Hey! I didn't know they'll draw on us, alright?" Mitch shot back at the boy, glaring at him. "Besides, you're the one with the bow! Why aren't you raising that thing to defend us, Aasim?"

Aasim snorted. "Are you fucking kidding me? Look at what he has!" He pointed over to the magnum in Carl's hand. "I'll be lucky to even touch an arrow before he sends a bullet in my head!" He shook his head at him before turning towards Carl, his voice more calm and collective than before. "Look, we don't mean any trouble. We were just heading back home until we heard you guys. Mitch thought you needed some help."

"What makes you think that?" Carl inquired with a low tone of voice.

"When we heard the girl ask you about stitching," Mitch replies before he and Aasim exchanged a look with each other. "And by the looks of it, you're gonna need some. You got shot, right? Bullet went clean through?" Carl placed his hand over his wound before giving them a small nod in confirmation. "Yeah, you're definitely gonna need some. Good thing we have Ruby to-"

"Mitch!" The girl shushed him up with a scowl. "Don't tell me you're gonna bring them to the school. You know Marlon isn't gonna like that, right?"

"Yeah, I'm with Brody," Aasim spoke up after squinting his eyes in thought for a moment. "We barely have enough food as is. If we bring these two, Marlon might flip his shit. Besides, we already have two new people there already. That's four new mouths to feed if we bring'em."

As the three started to argue, Carl watched on impatiently while Judith watched on curiously. Even though he started to grow slightly annoyed by them, he couldn't help but sympathize with them. After all, he's been in their shoes before. In fact, this tended to happen whenever they stumbled upon someone new. As for Judith, she simply felt lost at what was going on, darting her eyes between Mitch and the others as they kept on arguing.

"Look, I'm not leaving some little girl out here knowing we can take care of both her and her brother." Mitch defended himself with a scowl directed at his friends. "We have the right stuff to help him. Even if they don't eat, it's the least we can do."

"W-We have food." Carl spoke up, lowering the magnum in his hand. Mitch and the others faced him with their eyebrows risen. "We have a rabbit and some cans we found in the church just ways down. Not sure what's in them, but it's better than nothing. Maybe we can share and-"

Judith looked up at her brother with lowered eyebrows. "Carl, that's our food! We found it, not them!"

"I know, Judith, but-"

"If we give it to them, they're no better than that bad man who shot you!"

The auburn haired girl's eyes went wide in panic. "Man? What man? You met him in that church?" Judith nods her head in confirmation. "What did he look like? Did he follow you? You have to tell me..." When she walked closer to Judith, Carl blocked her path, nearly nose to nose with the girl with his eye narrowed. The girl felt her cheeks get hot.

"Why do you care?" His voice returned low when he asked. "You know him or somethin'?" The sudden way the girl was acting sounded the alarms in his head. Before she was acting all unsure and heated, but now she looked worried as hell.

"...No. J-Just asking is all." She responds with a small stutter. She turned around to face her peers and Carl could hear her breathe deep and slow breaths. His scowl on the girl quickly fell, replacing it with a small frown. "It's just...fuck...it's okay, it's...breathe, Brody, c'mon..."

"It's okay, Brody. Just relax and breathe." Aasim comforted her, placing his hand on her shoulder. Judith looked over at her brother, who shrugged at her. "It's just another panic attack."

Carl scratched the back of his head at the uncomfortable situation. "Uh...are you gonna be okay?"

"She'll be fine. Brody does that from time to time whenever she's nervous." Mitch explains, stealing a glance over at her and Aasim. "Now, about you two. How about we make some sort of deal?" Carl nods his head, gesturing for the teen to continue. "You hand over your food so-"

"No!" Judith cut him off with a growl.

"Judith..." Carl rose his voice at his sister, who quickly shushed up after the look she received.

Mitch continued. "Uh...So anyway, you hand over your food, we feed you, stitch you up, and you can be out by then. That sound good?"

"Mitch..." Aasim huffed, stealing a glance over at him.

"Look, man, if Marlon has a problem with this, he can talk to me, okay?" Mitch furrowed his eyebrows together when he spoke. "Just look at them, Aasim. They look like they've been through some shit. Besides, Marlon brought in that girl we don't know when she was hurt. Why can't we do the same?"

Aasim exchanged a look with Brody, who calmed herself down after her small panic attack. The latter gave him a look before shrugging her shoulders, causing Aasim to sigh out in defeat. "Alright, fine. We'll bring them back to the school. I still don't like this, though."

"Oh fuckin' well, man." Mitch scoffed at him before facing the siblings with a small smile curving his lips. "So, whaddya say?"

Carl bit his lip in thought while averting his eye over at Judith, who looked skeptical at the trio. It's been a while since he's been with a group with people his own age, let alone a group in general. Though he never thought about joining one anytime soon because he was solely focused on Judith and her survival. If he wasn't injured, he most likely would've turned the offer down.

"Let me check in with my sister, make sure she's okay with it." Mitch gave him a small nod and Carl crouched down to her level, covering his open wound with his gloved hand. "What'd you think, Judith? You trust these guys?"

"They're gonna steal our food, Carl. Like that bad man tried to in the church." Judith accused, pointing her small finger in the group's direction. "What if they have bad people like him there?"

"If they did, they would've done something by now." Carl quickly defended the trio whilst frowning at his sister. "I don't entirely trust these guys either, but they're offering to help us. They can fix me up, Judith. Besides, you've always wondered what it felt like being with a group, right? Like one Dad and I were in?" Judith nodded her head slowly. "Then this is your chance to experience that. Don't blow it away because of a rabbit, okay?"

"...They're gonna feed us?" Judith mumbles after a short silence fell between them.

Carl nods his head. "Of course."

"We have kids your age, hun," Brody spoke up, taking a step closer to them with a smile on her face. "No adults. Just people like us."

Carl rose his eyebrow. "No adults? Like, none at all?" When three nod their head in unison, Carl cocked his head to the side. "That's a little hard to believe. Where did they go? What happened to them?"

"Bailed on us as soon as walkers first showed up." Mitch responds. "Fuck'em, though. We've been taking care of ourselves without their help."

"You have kids like me there?" Judith asks in awe, her blue eyes slightly wide. When Brody gave her a nod, she tugged on her brother's sleeve with a grin on her face. "Carl, I can be like Madeline! T-they have a school and-and I can make friends and go on adventures!"

Carl smiled at Judith's excitement. "I thought you said I'd be your only friend?"

"You're my best friend, not my friend." She corrected, causing Carl to chuckle.

"I guess she's sold, then?" Mitch smirked at Carl.

"Looks like it to me."

"Ah, perfect. Looks like we got a deal." Mitch held his hand out and Carl gave it a firm handshake. "I'm Mitch. Over there's Aasim," said boy gave him a nod in acknowledgment. "And over there's Brody."

"Sorry about that whole...failed interrogation before." She rubbed the back of her head with a blush on her face. "I was just on edge about something."

Carl smiled at her. "I understand. You were just paranoid, happens to the best of us." He then placed a hand over his chest. "I'm Carl. My sister is Judith." Said girl gave the group a small wave, to which Brody and Mitch waved back.

"Carl and Judith," Mitch repeated before turning his back on them. "Let's hurry back before that wound gets infected. Can't risk losing another kid's life."

"Some of our people should be clearing walkers from our path back to the school." Brody explains. "Once we get there, I'll bring you to Ruby. She can clean it and stitch it up for you."

"Thank you." Carl sighed out while putting on his backpack strap over his one good shoulder. Judith swung food-filled sack over her shoulder with both hands.

"I'll take that off your hands if you want." Mitch smiled down at Judith. The younger girl simply stared up at him, an uneasy look on her face for a moment until she gave in and sighed. Mitch grunted while swinging it over his shoulder.

"You take lead, Aasim. You're our knight in shinin' armor." Brody teased.

Aasim rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"I'll take lead too." Judith jogged over to Aasim, who gave her a perplexed look but the former only ignored it.

"Judith..." Carl sighed out in defeat when Judith stood in her spot, her knife drawn as she took point with Aasim.

Brody giggled, witnessing the look on his face.

"She always like that?"

"Yeah...but you'll get used to it."

The others then followed Judith and Aasim back into the woods.

'...I hope.'