112 | The Death.
THE TUNNEL SHOOK AND FIREBALLS exploded around them - burning Alexandria into dust and rubble. Their home, was slowly being burnt to the ground, into ash and destruction, yet all they could do was await for the saviours to depart, and to take the devil with them.
And so when their engines blasted and their vehicles drove away - leaving behind only fire and blood, the Alexandrian's pacing nervously within the tunnel prepared to leave and to escape to the Hilltop. They gathered their bags and they rounded everybody up, Daryl had took ahold of Judith's hand and sworn to keep her safe. Though, before they were able to exit the tunnel, a hoarse voice halted Daryl in his tracks.
"Let me say goodbye." Said Carl, in a croaky voice and Daryl obeyed. The young girl stood in front of her brother, and the rest of the group watched the interaction between the two siblings both silently and sadly - their breaths hitched within their throats.
Carl who still lay quietly, coughing on each breath and sweating after each action, took of his hat slowly. His whole demeanour was sickly - his face appearing as pale as a moonlit sail, and his lips a cold blue, deprived of blood flow. His eyes seemed further carved into his sockets, and were watery and blood shot, still as he sniffled, he was able to be heard when he addressed his sibling in a raspy voice.
"You be good, okay? For Michonne. For Dad." He inhaled sharply and withheld a sniffle. "You gotta honor him. Listen when he tells you stuff. You don't have to always. Sometimes, kids got to show their parents the way."
Judith stared at her brother with wide, curious eyes - she didn't quite understand all that was happening, but the tears within her brothers eyes were enough to trouble her.
Carl held his hat out to the infant in front of him and could not help but sniffle lightly. "This was Dad's before it was mine. Now it's yours. I don't know, just having it always kept Dad with me. It made me feel as strong as him. It helped me. Maybe it'll help you, too."
Carl pictured all the times of which he wore the hat and was able to feel brave - the times of which he felt lonely, or scared, and somehow, just wearing his dads hat made him feel loved, or feel safe. He remembered how he gave the star that was pinned to the front of the hat to Ophelia, and he hoped that she would treasure it - he knew that she would keep it safe, and he was glad that he gave it to her.
And from the time that he stuffed his face in with pudding on the top of a small rooftop, to the time he was escaping Terminus - he hoped that wherever his sister would go, she'd too feel safe with it. Whether she would feel his presence or their fathers, he didn't mind. As long as she felt safe.
Though, he didn't want to die - the idea of death terrified him, but still, he was able to mask his fear and as he embraced his approaching death, Carl offered a weak smile and added weakly. "Before Mom died she told me that I was gonna beat this world. I didn't. But you will. I know you will."
Judith started to become upset then, a small cry escaping her lips - it pained Carl to see his sister this way, but it hurt him even more that he could not be the one to comfort her, to soothe her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. Because the bitter reality that he still found it difficult to face was : he was dying.
Daryl had been watching the conversion from behind the girl and upon seeing her become upset, he scooped her gently into his arms and secured her in his grasp. He then looked at Carl, the boy who sat there, slowly dying, slowly fading away, who he'd known since he was a young, mischievous boy in Atlanta, who'd he become fond of, who his wife became fond of ; the boy who tried to reach for a star, and fell as a result.
"These people. You saved them all. That's all you." Daryl said, nodding. He then added, "If she was here, lia would be proud of you, man."
Daryl had been hesitant to add the last part - he didn't want to upset Carl further. But, he knew how devastated, how furious Ophelia was going to be to find she was unable to bid the boy farewell. He was after all, more than her friend, he was like a sibling of her own.
Carl reciprocated the nod and a tear escaped his eye slowly. He quickly wiped it away, and though it troubled him that he would not see Ophelia again, nor Enid, nor Carol nor Maggie, he remembered that he wrote them letters, and had faith that his father would give them to his family, shortly.
Siddiq then said thankfully, "you were helping me honor my mom Not just yours. Mine, too. You brought me here. You gave me a chance. I know I can never repay you but I can honor you by showing your people, your f-friends, your your family that what you did wasn't for nothing. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna honour you, Carl."
Daryl then casted a thankful glance at the boy before walking out of the tunnel and into the outside. With determination and vengeance following him, he spurted ahead and headed for the hilltop quickly - there he hoped Ophelia would be.
Everyone then followed the Redneck and departed for the hilltop. Though, Rick and Michonne stayed behind for a little longer, holding onto the dying boy whilst he still had breath in his body. The only thought of which kept them sane being that when his eyes fluttered shut, they'd open again in another place, where there'd be everyone they'd lost: Amy, Andrea, Sophia, Dale, Shane, T-dog, Lori, Merle, Hershel, Beth, Griffin, Glenn, Abe, Avery ; everyone.
A little after they'd bid farewell, and Michonne and Rick had lifted Carl out of the tunnel and into a house filled with rubble, a gun shot echoed through Alexandria and it became clear ; Carl was dead.
❦ ❦ ❦
TIME PASSED QUICKLY AFTER Carl passed. Too quickly. Perhaps it was the rage filling his farther, or the immediate hunger for revenge consuming him whole, that Rick ripped out his walkie talkie and screamed into the radio, saliva spurting of his lips furiously.
"Get me Negan. It's Rick Grimes."
Rick waited impatiently for Negan's voice to
boom through the speaker. He paced restlessly in the field he'd pulled over by, the image of Carl's death still fresh in his mind, as he did so. It had all happened so quickly, one moment his son was alive, the next he was dead ; it was plain and simple, there was no bringing him back - and that hurt Rick.
"Ricky. Look at you, callin' me up." Negan chuckled on the other side of the radio - he'd only arrived at the sanctuary a few hours ago after lighting up Alexandria. Naturally, he was still cocky about it. "You wanna tell me where you are so we can do this face-to-face?"
"Carl's dead. He wrote letters. He wrote one to you. He asked you to stop. He asked me to stop.
He asked us for peace. But it's too late for that.
Even if we wanted a deal now, it doesn't matter.
I'm gonna kill you." Rick replied.
Negan paused - his cocky frontier fading. "How did it happen?"
Rick furrowed his brows. "What?"
"How did he die? Was it us? Was it the grenades? The fire?"
"It wasn't you. Carl went out to help someone.
And he got bit."
Negan then paused again - his lashes started to become damp as his eyes became watery. His nostrils flaring, yet he tried his best to withhold a sniffle. "God damn it. Shit. I, um I am sorry. You know, I wanted him to be part of things. I had plans. He, That kid was the future."
"The only future is one where you're dead." Rick replied bluntly.
Negan deepened his voice. "What the hell are you doing, Rick? Why are you fighting? Why are you making this so hard? Carl is dead because of you.
Because you couldn't leave shit well enough alone.
I mean, hell, maybe he woulda died some other way.
Any one of us can get our ticket punched at any second. But, in this case he is dead because of you. Because you weren't there to stop him from doing something stupid. You set this course, Rick. Who's next?"
"You are."
"No. But someone is. You see, I stop people from dying. I am the answer. Now, it may have taken a hard lesson for you to hear it, but you should hear it now. It's time. Do not let any more of your shit decisions cost you to lose anyone else you love. That garbage, that sticks with you. Forever." Negan sighed heavily. "Just like Carl will. Hell, I'm feeling it. And I'm gonna be feeling it for a while. You could have just let me save all of you. I mean, that's why I killed your friends in the first place. So, you can sit there and you can say that you're gonna kill me, but you won't. You failed. You failed as a leader, and most of all, Rick, you failed as a father."
Negan then bluntly added, "just give up. Give up, because you have already lost."
And as Rick was left to his fury, Negan put down the radio and was left with an emotion that he had not felt in a while : loss. And suddenly, the sting of the cuts carved into his skin did not hurt quite so much - rather the pang of loss stung more so.
And, as he peered up at a window a few feet above him, he wondered how he was going to tell the girl he held captive that Carl was gone - arguably because of him. And that, made Negan feel even worse than he already did.
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A/N: i feel like I didn't make this chapter emotional enough ??? If so I'm really sorry :(
((sorry the past two chapters have very much stuck to the script in 8x08 - the next chapter will revolve around Ophelia learning about Carl's death and how she's going to cope, though, so that will be different.))
((Also providing what happens in the next few episodes of season 8, Daryl and Ophelia should be reunited fairly soon. But, two people aren't always going to be together in the apocalypse, and right now circumstances have just separated them. They also don't know that Negan has Ophelia, but they will find out - somehow 🤔😏))
Just a heads up for future chapters of this story! For the the purpose of this story, time will go a little faster than in the show. So if you see a sentence that starts with, 'it had been a couple of days/weeks/etc,' then you know why. I need more time to pass in order to both move the story to where I'm planning on it to go, and to move Ophelia's pregnancy along.
I hope you've all had a wonderful week! I went to walker stalker this weekend in London and the cast really are so kind and down to earth! Did anyone else go?
Anyway, I hope you have a lovely week and are looking after yoselfs! 💕 🌟