Hi friends!
Sorry for the wait (again), but life just gets in the way of everything, you know?
I'm not going to give some long-winded excuse for the lateness of this chapter, so I'm just going to say, I don't have anything to do with this amazing show, the only thing in this story that I own is Blake.
Enjoy!
"Ha-ha!" Blake exclaimed when she pulled a straw out of the tower and no marbles fell.
Carl went next. As he pulled his selected straw out of the plastic case, the remaining twelve marbles spilled into his slot. He half sighed, shaking his head.
"You're cheating." Carl accused with mock anger but real astonishment in his voice.
Blake, incredulous, asked, "How on Earth could I possibly cheat at kerplunk?"
"I don't know, but you're doing it." Carl pointed sternly at his friend while Rick and Michonne laughed.
Rick recalled all of the times that Blake had come over after school; she and Carl had played this game for hours on end, they never got bored of it. He never understood how trying to keep marbles suspended between plastic straws had caused such loud 'arguments' between the two, but he got it now. The game was intense! And it was suspicious that Blake hadn't knocked a single marble from the nest of straws.
"You know, I agree with Carl on this one." Rick smiled. "What's your secret, Blake?"
"Not you too Rick!" Blake cried, feigning shock while trying to hold her laughter in. "This is nepotism."
"Nope." Michonne chimed in. "I'm with the guys. How're you doing it?"
Blake smirked slyly and wiggled her fingers as if casting a spell. "Ancient Welsh secret."
"What?" Carl finally let his laughter out while Blake managed to keep hers in.
"Well, I'm not Chinese so I can't really use 'ancient Chinese secret' now can I?" She explained matter-of-factly while the others continued laughing. "Damn," Blake muttered, smiling at the fact that what was outside didn't matter right now, "you guys glad I found you or what?"
"Yeah." Carl smiled at Blake from across the bed, not able to remember the last time he'd laughed this much.
"Absolutely." Rick patted Blake's shoulder.
"You know what I think?" Blake tapped her chin, pretending to be thinking.
"What's that?" Carl mimicked her hand movement, staring her in the eyes and forcing his laughter to cease.
"I think you're just a sore loser, my friend."
"Now that may very well be true, but you're still a cheater."
TWDTWDTWDTWDTWD
"Shit." Blake cursed under her breath, replacing the curtains and checking to make sure all of the windows and doors were locked. The sound of a decaying hand slapping against the door made Blake jump, and she ran upstairs quickly and quietly, heading right into the guest bedroom at the end of the hall where Rick was sleeping.
"Rick." She shook his shoulder, waking him. "We got walkers outside. About a dozen." Blake was the first one awake as usual, the sunrise was her alarm clock.
"They know we're in here?" He asked, sitting up and preparing his gun.
"Yeah." Blake left the room, grabbing Carl's gun from the room he was sleeping in. Tegan's room. She still couldn't go in there without keeping her gaze trained on the floor, and didn't want to go in there at all, but Carl's gun had a silencer, and the less noise they made the better.
Blake borrowed Carl's belt off the bedside table and strapped it around her waist quietly, not wanting to wake him; he hadn't been feeling well the night before.
Blake met Rick and Michonne downstairs, at the back door.
"Guns are a last resort. I'll go around the left side, you two take the right." Both girls nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's go."
Rick opened the door and started around one side of the house. Blake and Michonne went the other way, going as fast as Michonne's air cast would allow. The two reached the front end of the house and pressed their backs against the wall, Michonne sliding past Blake at the last second and standing in front of her. Blake rolled her eyes and smirked, finding it funny that Rick and Michonne thought they needed to protect her.
The walkers were loud, groaning and snarling and banging on the front of the house, and their smell was worse. Rotting corpse was definitely not a scent that anyone ever needed to smell.
Suddenly, a whistle sounded from the other end of the house. Michonne stepped out into the open, Blake right behind her. About half of the walkers turned to Michonne and Blake, while the others turned in Rick's direction. Blake grabbed the nearest walker by the shirt and stabbed it through the temple, letting its head slide off of her machete as she slashed at the next one, chopping the head clean off.
Blake glanced to the side as she kicked the next walker back, making sure Michonne was alright. She was this time. The samurai managed to skewer three advancing walkers, then pull her sword up through their chests, essentially slicing them in half.
Realizing that the walkers on their side of the battle were all dead-or had fallen after being kicked-and rushed to the other side of the house, stomping on the fallen walker's head as she passed. Seeing as Rick was only one person and more walkers had flocked to his side of the house, he was obviously having a bit more difficulty killing the walkers.
Blake sliced through two, the tops of their heads flying through the air and making a disgusting pile of brains, blood and rotting skin on the overgrown lawn. Rick stabbed a walker while Blake grabbed one that was getting too close for comfort. Michonne's sword came out of nowhere, stabbing the walker Blake was holding and spraying her with blood. Blake pushed the body away, wrinkling her nose at the congealed mess that covered her hoodie, jeans and combat boots. Rick took down the last walker and nodded in thanks to Blake and Michonne.
"Should we move the bodies?" Blake asked, concerned about another group of survivors seeing the pile of twice-dead corpses and figuring out that they were inside.
"Yeah, probably." Rick panted from the exertion of killing the walkers and the adrenaline high that was wearing off.
"We can take care of it." Michonne stated in reference to her and Rick. "Go change and keep Carl company."
"You sure?" Blake asked, not wanting to sit around and do nothing when she could be helping.
"Yeah, we've got it." Rick agreed. "Won't take long."
"Okay." Blake sighed, kneeling to wipe her bloody machete on a dead walker's shirt. She didn't feel the need to deliberately smear herself with guts. "Come get me if you need anything." Blake started back around the house, entering through the backdoor and locking it behind her. She then went to the front door and unlocked it, poking her head outside to let Rick and Michonne know.
Blake was slightly ticked that Rick and Michonne wouldn't let her help out, but she wasn't too upset considering she and Carl got to hang out for a bit. Although, after being on her own for so long, it was strange to have others looking after her.
Blake wandered into her bedroom where the bag of clothes was and started digging through it. After a few minutes, she pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans, a grey long-sleeve and a dark burgundy hoodie, identical to the one she was currently wearing.
The teen got her bloody clothes off without getting any of the gory mess on her skin, and slipped into the fresh, clean outfit. She slid her combat boots back on, and headed across the hall to see Carl.
It was strange that Carl wasn't awake yet, he was usually up with the sun like Blake. She sat on the edge of the bed and admired how peaceful he looked for a moment before brushing loose strands of dark hair off of his forehead. As Blake's fingertips made contact with Carl's skin, she noticed that his face was alarmingly warm and slick with a thin layer of sweat.
"Carl." She shook his shoulder, concerned. "Wake up, bud."
"Hey." Carl groggily opened his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Eight thirty maybe?" Blake guessed. She had never really been good at telling time by the sun.
"Why'd you guys let me sleep so long?" He asked, sitting up partway before a grimace crossed his face and a hand flew to his stomach.
"Carl, lie down." Blake ordered. For once, he obliged without protest. "Here." Blake unscrewed the cap of a water bottle and handed it to her friend, who drank willingly. Blake pressed a hand to Carl's forehead, and bit her lip in concern. "You're burning up." She said, taking the water back and placing it on the bed side table where she'd gotten it before pulling the covers back.
"What are you doing?" Carl asked, curiously.
"Checking…" Blake answered distantly while she rolled up Carl's pant leg as gently as she could. "Goddamn it." Blake sat back on her heels and brushed the hair out of her face staring at the swollen, reddened wound in front of her. "It's infected."
Next chapter might take a while as exams are coming up soon and still I need to finish culminating tasks.
Please review! I'm not really feeling the love here... ;)