Warning: I'm not sure what rating this fic will be for certain yet but there will definitely be mentions or blood and gore so be advised.

Carl was on watch in the early hours of the morning. He skimmed the fence with binoculars from high up in the guard tower, looking for danger. Not a girl. He could have easily mistaken her for a walker, but the lumpy bulge she carried captured his gaze. It was hidden under a walker-blood (he guessed since they weren't attacking her) stained cloak that must have smelled awful. That odd detail held his eyes in place initially, but it was her movement that really held his attention- she didn't act like one of them. Carl looked at her and she steadily held his gaze. Unnervingly intense. And unlike the bodies around her, moaning and groaning like they did it for a living, she was silent. Her mouth was a thin line. He had a crazy idea. He put down the binoculars and raised an arm. He waved once, a long, exaggerated movement as if to say 'hey look I'm waving at you.' And waited. Her reply was delayed and subtle as she had to be careful not to draw attention to herself, but after a minute or so, her hand was raised just slightly above her shoulder. The other still hidden under the cloak.

Carl's mouth hung open. Wow. Coming right up to the fence with all those walkers? She must be seriously brave, or seriously desperate. Whatever she was, she was alive. And Carl was interested now- he would help her. He held up his hand with his palm facing her 'wait there I'm coming back' and saw her nod barely. The boy put down the binoculars and sped from the guard tower, taking only seconds. He ran to the mostly empty block Rick was staying in and found the man sleeping quietly in his cell.

"Dad," Carl whispered. Rick stirred in his sleep. Carl saw his closed eyes scrunch tighter together in a refusal to wake up. "Dad," Carl said again and finally the man woke up. He sat up and dropped his legs over the side of the bed, forcing out the sleep by harshly running a hand over his face.

"Carl?" He said, looking at his watch and seeing how early it was. But he realised that it must be something important or Carl would never have come to him looking so shaken. The boy could almost see a switch flick as Rick changed from man to leader in a breath. It was startling to watch. At least for Carl.

"What is it?" Rick said, deep wrinkles forming as his eyebrows mashed together.

"There's someone on the fence," Carl gasped,"

"I don't understand."

"A living person, dad. As in: alive. I don't know what to do...What do we do?"

"And the walkers?"
"She's covered herself in guts so she's fine, but that means she knows about that kind of thing," Carl held his arms out to his sides in excitement. "She looks capable,dad, she could be a good addition to the group. She obviously knows what she's doing."

"Hmm."

The way Rick saw it, he had three options:

1) Kill her.

2) Threaten to kill her so that she would leave (that way the likelihood of someone coming for revenge shrunk).

3) Or, he could let her in. But they'd live under watch until they became trustworthy.

Rick was pretty certain he wasn't going to go for option number 3. The governor had tricked people before and sending in a spy was certainly not off the list of things he was prepared to do. Not by any stretch. So Rick couldn't afford to rule the possibility out.

"Show me." He said finally, and allowed himself to be led outside. Carl scanned the fence but the girl couldn't be seen anywhere. What could however, was walkers. They were groaning louder and moved faster in their diseased bodies than they had before, swarming around a point. 'Oh God' Carl thought as he realized. 'That's where I found her'. He explained this to Rick, pointing frantically at the area of clustering walkers. There were 6 or 7 in the cluster as far as Carl could see. There were others on the fence but they were too far away to be interested. It wasn't many, but against one person the odds were not good. 'Hell, maybe she's already been bit,' thought Rick grimly. Truthfully Carl had thought the same. Once walkers had taken you down, more often than not you stayed down. The idea of the girl he didn't even know being torn apart by cruel mouths had almost consumed him, when an arm holding a bloodied machete rose from the bodies. It buried itself in a walker -a skinny male wearing a t-shirt that said humans suck!-'s head and brain. The creature slumped and the machete came free with a juicy, wet, sucking sound.

The weapon found its next target soon after and an opening was made in the cluster. Escape? The girl burst through it with all the force she could manage, but a dead one grabbed her cloak and she went down. Carl noticed that she made sure she fell on her side rather than her front, which would have crushed whatever she was holding. The walker gnashed its broken teeth inches from her face in a desperate attempt to taste her flesh. Carl could see the fear in her expression as she shielded the bulge in her arm. Carl knew he had to act or she would most definitely die, but the walker that had grabbed her was so close and he didn't know if he could pull out his gun in time. Rick had it covered. Bang! The walker that pulled her down went still on top of her. Bang! The next closest dead one dropped. The girl regained her composure with the time Rick had bought her and pushed the motionless walker off of her. She scrambled to her feet, took a breath, and brandished the machete once more.

Bang! Another one went down- thanks to Carl this time. He also took out a three more that had heard the commotion and wanted in. Now only two were on her but she was so tired. She rocked and swayed like a human parody of a playground springer. Rick swore- he had to reload. What's more, Carl had run out of bullets. Idiot! He grit his teeth. This girl was dead for sure. They really couldn't help people anymore, could they...

But Carl was wrong. She didn't need any help, didn't need a savior. This girl could save herself just fine.

She practically fell onto the closest one, only managing to get the monster's head by sheer luck. The kill was gruesomely messy. Bits of rotting flesh sprayed onto the her face, neck and body like a macabre party popper. A chunk of the walker's soft skull came free as she teared her weapon from it. Carl could almost smell the hot, moldering flesh from where he stood. However, she still had more to endure. After a sharp intake of breath through her nose, she kicked it in the knees as violently as she could. It crumpled- she must have broken its already weak bones with the force of her attack. The thing was left to helplessly crawl towards her on decaying arms and bloody fingernails, crushing its brain under her heavy combat boots was as easy as flattening an ant. She withdrew her foot once it had stopped moving and shook it in the air to remove some of the gore. 'Calling that impressive would be an understatement,' thought Carl, watching her put her foot back down on the corpse littered earth.

"Hey!" The girl yelled. She surprised Carl, who was jittery with the aftershocks of adrenalin. She sounded spent despite her confident tone. 'You gonna let me in?'

"Y- yeah!" Carl called back. "Dad- keys."

Rick looked unsure but handed Carl the keys nonetheless. He had finally reloaded his gun and used it to cover his son after he had opened the gates. The girl looked nervously around her like a rabbit poking its head out of its hole. New walkers were quickly replacing the ones killed in the scuffle and faster than she would have liked.

"Hurry."

Carl fumbled around with they keys and the girl jogged up to him while he fiddled with the lock. She grabbed the cold barrier between them tightly and stared, willing him to hurry. Once Carl had found the right key, they worked together to haul the fence open just a sliver of a gap, just enough for her to fit through. Carl wasted no time in heaving it shut again and slid the end of the chain back through the gate. The girl helped by feeding him the chain while he fastened it together. When they'd finished, both were breathing heavily. Especially her. Sweat was dripping from her tan face like condensation on a glass shower door. She looked about ready to pass out, but she stood strong. Rick had run over to them, gun trained on the newcomer's head, and demanded that she kneel. "Weapons on the ground. Hands behind your head," he said in his gruff, don't you dare try anything, voice.

She did as she was told and kneeled. She also laid down her machete, but the thing in her arms stayed where it was.

"Put it down," growled Rick, pressing the gun against her head now. She winced as she felt the pressure of the weapon against her skin. So slowly, so slowly, she used one hand to pull off the rancid cloak, nearly black with blood. But Rick stopped her, shoving the gun harshly against her skull.

"You try anything and I'll put a bullet in your head," he warned. Cautious. The girl made a mental note.

"Of course" she said, and continued.

Carl didn't know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn't this. She flung the garment to the floor and he saw that she had been holding her hand tightly over one part of the object. It was a small bundle of cloth. Presumably, it used to be white but was now brown with sweat and dirt and grime. She kept her hand over it for a brief moment more, thinking, deciding. Then let go. A sudden cry vibrated through Carl's ears and he realized that she had laid down a baby on the blood-stained soil. The girl looked up expectantly at Rick, but the man was at a loss.

A baby. A baby. A baby.

He knelt next to it and unwrapped the bundle as carefully as if he was handling glass, but he didn't take the gun away from the girl's head. He could see she was tense. But he could also see that she knew she wasn't in a position to protest. So she grit her teeth and clenched her fists as a stranger touched the most important thing in the world to her. Carl was taken by the baby's cuteness now he could make out its small, fairly dark-skinned face, round apple cheeks and pouty lips. But the baby's thinnes was scary, however.

"What's her name?" Rick asked, smiling at the snotty, crying child despite himself.

"Maddie," The corners of her mouth turned up as the name passed her lips, as if it gave her physical joy to say it. "Her name's Maddie."

"And yours?" Carl added, squatting down next to her and tilting his head to one side. Like a bug, the girl's soft smile shrunk away into the dirt-filled creases of her skin."My name's Mona," she said calmly, "we're not bad people."

Thank you for reading!

I'm completely open to constructive criticism so please, please tell me if have any suggestions on how to make this fic better! And if you see any grammar mistakes tell me please ^o^

Also this is a kind of AU were Carl is 16/17. Ye sexy Carl. Be prepared for surprises with this pairing!

If you like it please leave a review or favorite or message me and I love you forever ;)