"We do have a lot in common. The same Earth, the same air, the same sky. Maybe if we start looking at what's the same, instead of looking at what's different...well, who knows?" -Meowth; Pokémon The First Movie

Sitting in Carl's room, Charlie looked at the young boy. He was deathly pale and coated in a thin layer of sweat. His abdomen was heavily bandaged, but blood still seeped through. Charlie couldn't help but feel a little sad for him, and it broke her heart knowing he was in such a condition. Without hospitals and the proper medical attention, Carl had a strong possibility of dying. She didn't dare say it out loud, though; the thought already hung heavily in Lori's mind.

Letting out a sigh, Charlie shifted a little in her seat. She'd recovered enough to give Carl some more blood. She was completely aware of the needle in her arm, of the lightheaded sensation she was feeling. Charlie was going over the time she told Rick she'd stay, but she knew that the group needed her help more than anything. With Rick gone with Shane and Otis, Carl needed a blood supply; and since Charlie's seemed to be the only one who could go with his blood type, she had to stay. Not to mention Hershel might need assistance in any further examinations on Carl.

The saddened feeling intensified in her. She never had children of her own, but she couldn't help but feel terrible for Carl. Sophia, too. All mentions of injuries and disappearances aside, Charlie couldn't comprehend what it was like having to grow up in the environment they were exposed to. Having to avoid walkers, move from place to place with people they barely know; the possibility of running into the living who'd stop at nothing to take what they could. The world was more dangerous than before, and there was nothing they could do about it. There were no laws, no policemen or government officials—they were on their own.

The one thing, though, that really struck a chord in Charlie was whether or not the rest of the world was suffering as terribly as America seemed to be. Had every other country in the world lost power? If they hadn't, were they able to communicate with each other? Charlie remembered hearing how the virus eventually went global, then the power was cut. She couldn't stand not knowing how the rest of the world was doing. From what she'd gathered, America had gone into a complete uproar when things really started getting bad. Riots were happening left and right. People getting shot by the military or killed by each other. It was complete madness.

—Us Against the World—

"You sure about this?" Shane threw a look Rick's way. Rick was still pale, looking a little sickly. It was to be expected, given he'd donated so much blood to his son. Shane could see the determination in Rick's eyes, and he knew what the answer would be.

"He's my son, Shane," he exclaimed, his voice sounding raspy. "I've gotta do something. I can't just do nothing..."

"That's the thing, you were doing something." Shane's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "You were gonna give Carl blood, remember? You were gonna stay there and keep an eye on him, be with Lori and all that. What do you do? You leave, Rick. That's stupid."

"He is my son." Rick sharply emphasized each word, glaring at Shane. "I will do whatever it takes to ensure his safety. Understood?"

A feeling stirred deep inside Shane. It wasn't unfamiliar; it had been slowly but surely making itself known to him. Ever since Rick had come back the sensation had been getting stronger and stronger. Things were getting complicated. Unnecessarily complicated. Looking over at Rick, Shane could see just how serious he was; getting those supplies for Carl's surgery was something Rick had to do. They'd already gone too far to turn back, even with Rick's delicate stage.

"Fine."

—Us Against the World—

"Gavin, please..." Charlotte's voice trembled. She looked up at him in horror. He looked almost expressionless, looking not at all like the man she thought he was. There was a look in Gavin's eyes that didn't look at all human. It terrified her. The men from the other group regarded her—leering at her—in a way that made her stomach churn. "Gavin...," she whispered, her voice trembling so violently it was painful.

"Do we have a deal or not?" The tone in his voice made a shiver of discomfort burst up Charlotte's spine.

One of the men from the other group, possibly the leader, gave a perverted smirk. "I'd say we have one," he exclaimed; making it obvious that he was checking Charlotte out. "It's not every day you get a deal this nice."

Tears ran down Charlotte's face. Gavin had just sold her to a group of men they didn't even know. She had to be mistaken, right? Somewhere along the line, she must have misheard something! Her boyfriend wouldn't just sell her to a group of men. Would he?

Charlotte let out a strangled sob.

"Charlotte," Gavin said, his voice sounding almost disgusted, "will you shut up?"

"Please don't do this," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible. "You can't do this."

Gavin looked at her. That was when Charlotte really started to understand the kind of person he had become. The man in front of her wasn't the same person as before; he was different. Significantly different. Before, Charlotte's boyfriend was still kind of hard to get along with, but there were so many things about him that Charlotte found admirable, that she loved. The man standing in front of her was cold, distant, unforgiving—he was the exact opposite as the man Charlotte was used to. The old Gavin was gone. He'd disappeared a long time ago, Charlotte was just too scared to see it.

She had to do something.

—Us Against the World—

The world was always a strange place. People either learned how to adapt to society in step-by-step intervals or they had to learn how to adapt all at once, in a giant messy cluster-fuck of what things were supposed to be like. What Charlotte came to understand was that the world didn't care about anyone's safety or wellbeing. Mother Nature wasn't going to hold off some kind of natural disaster just because someone was having a bad day. Before, there were hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes—all the things people were used (or not, depending on where they lived) to enduring. Zombies weren't things people were used to enduring. Charlotte saw the world as someone throwing a punch in the gut of everyone's lives. Once humanity got over the latest disaster, the world came in with the latest one.

Thinking it over, Charlotte couldn't help but laugh at how everything turned out. Two years prior, she never would've believed the dead would walk the Earth. It was something only seen in horror films or cheesy video games. But it did happen, and she was in the middle of it. Whether she liked it or not. Charlotte had to remind herself every day that the world, that Mother Nature, could give a rat's ass about whether she lived or died; she wasn't anything important, just some little human scuttling away from danger.

But, for some reason, she seemed to find refuge in Rick's group. Temporarily. Assuming she would be staying in Rick's group would be wrong, she never formally discussed it with him.

Leaning back in her seat, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to force herself to relax. A faint noise came from somewhere in the house. Opening her eyes, Charlotte stayed as still as possible, hoping she'd catch the sound again. Nothing.

But...she did hear something.

(A/N):

It's been a little bit since I've updated a new chapter. I've been so overwhelmed with school and work that my stories have been the last thing on my mind. I've got all my finals next Monday so I'm stressing out big time! Once they're out of the way, I'll be able to update a little more frequently.

TWD isn't mine.

OK, I know season 7 has been received a lot of hate from a lot of people (and, in a sense, I can understand; this season has its moments), but did anyone else feel like last Sunday's episode was a little pointless? As much as I love Tara, I just couldn't understand why the writers and producers would put together an episode like that. There was hardly anything good about it. Yeah, it was sad when Tara figured everything out, but I just didn't see the point in anything that happened in that episode. But, there's also the chance that Tara might use the Oceanside people in the potential war against Negan. If it's written into the show, which I don't see why not. Let me know your thoughts!

Leave a thought on anything I can improve on.

Sincerely,

Alek Haydn