Monster
Summary: Carl is a monster but at least he's not delusional, and he's about to show a sheltered girl in the Alexandria Safe Zone just what sort of a messed up world is out there. Carl/OC. Side Richonne and Bethyl.
A/N: Yes, it's Ben and Billy... but not THE Ben and Billy. Lizzie and Mika took that plot. This Ben and Billy are mere zombie fodder. And here's the first sign of psycho!Carl.
Please comment with a name for the female OC, character traits, or if you want to write in your character.
Carl is kind of a loner, but he'll get to tell everyone "I told you so" eventually if I continue writing this.
"Hey Carl!"
Carl wanted to barrel right through the kids in front of him as if he had somewhere more important to be, but he faltered as they spotted him and were calling him over. Ben and Billy, the twins, were out playing dodgeball in the streets just another thing that got on Carl's nerves about this place.
"You want to play?" asked Billy with the type of wide-eyed innocence Carl vaguely remembered having once - before he played around with walkers and led one to feast on Dale, and before he had to shoot the reanimated Shane in the head.
That may as well have been forever-ago.
"Do I look stupid to you?" Carl shot back, leaving the twins confused and trying to work out what he meant. That's what stupidity was to Carl, playing games while flesh-eaters were outside the walls just waiting for the opportunity to get in. "No. I don't want to play, and you shouldn't either. You're wasting your time."
They were only ten, while Carl was all of fourteen. The twins probably didn't even understand but to leave them in the dark like this was murder. If they didn't learn how to fight back they'd be dead instantly if anything happened, which was just a matter of time.
"There's nothin' else to do. Miss Beth isn't gonna give us a lesson till this afternoon."
Carl rolled his eyes. Beth had taken over as teacher after the last one took an unfortunate trip outside the Alexandria Safe Zone walls and never again returned. Beth was playing house too, with Daryl, and Carl had started to think that everyone was losing their minds in this place but him.
Even Daryl was fixing vehicles up and going out on runs for stuff and acting like they may as well just all stay here forever. Staying here forever with the twins playing ball and the other mindless, sheltered kids was a whole new kind of hell for Carl. He would rather be out there risking his life than having to do this. Than having to pretend that they could live normal lives.
"I think it's a fun way to pass time," came a voice behind Carl and instantaneously his heart jumped up into his throat stopped his ability to speak. "We've got to do something."
Carl turned.
He'd seen that girl around. She was a pretty fifteen year old with blond hair that curled at the ends, glasses and wide eyes behind them. Carl had said all of two words to her since he arrived as he figured out pretty quick that they had nothing in common. She liked reading and deluding herself that the world hadn't turned to crap and he liked teasing walkers and shooting moving targets.
Yeah, they weren't really a match.
Carl had to avert his eyes just to be able to answer her, otherwise he'd just end up a blushing, stuttering fool. He was a straight shot, fearless when it came to coming up against the evils outside the walls and here he was unable to talk to a hot girl. "All the playing in the world isn't going to save you if the walkers get in."
She reminded him of a female Patrick. Naive and childish. Two traits that inevitably would find you dead in this world.
"Nothing is going to get in, we're safe here."
A likely story. Carl was personally getting sick of hearing that.
"Playing kids games is dumb," Carl responded, sounding more like a petulant child than he would have liked.
He turned his back on all of them, anger and embarrassment bubbling up within him. He was sick of feeling like nobody understood. People had to be awakened to it, even if it meant that Carl had to let the walkers in himself. Not that he would do that... but it would certainly do the trick.
He could hear the girl walking over to Ben and Billy and their whispering together about Carl and what was wrong with him. Something about how he didn't mean it and he didn't belong here and crap that Carl really didn't want to hear.
He tensed, his back straight. His hand hovered above his gun. Suddenly the insanity of it all got the better of him and he snapped. He drew the gun, spun back around and aimed and shot.
The bullet went straight through the ball on the ground, deflating it with a 'psssst'.
The girl's mouth was hanging open and the twin's eyes bulged.
It took only two seconds before people came running at the sound, but at least in that two seconds Carl could flip his gun back away with the safety on.
"Ben! Billy! Oh thank God!" A woman crouched and grabbed the two boys, hugging them to her chest, tears threatening to fall.
"Was that a gunshot?" said another man coming behind her.
"How did he get a gun?" the woman gasped noticing the gun in Carl's holster.
The hot girl stared at Carl as if he'd grown an extra head, unmoving from where she'd been when he fired the shot.
As the acting sheriff his dad was right on the scene after the few adults that had been residing nearby in the quaint houses that aligned the street. When he spotted his dad, Carl found he couldn't defend his actions. Guilt betrayed him and he was sure his dad spotted it.
He hated it here even more now.
"What the hell Carl?"
"They're idiots for playing stupid games, okay?" Carl was yelling at his father now. He saw Michonne standing a ways off, watching the scene. "Playing games gets you killed. It gets everyone killed."
Carol would have agreed with him.
"We'll talk about this at home."
"It's not our home," Carl responded darkly. When were they going to understand that?
TBC
