Author's Note: I thank you for hanging in there with me! We still have a ways to go with this story, but I promise Michonne will be in the next one. Now here's a chapter from Carl's perspective.

It's quiet.

It was quiet wherever Carl Grimes was but it was not lonely.

He always had a sense that there were people near or around him, but he just couldn't see them.

And then in one moment he saw something.

Papa Gene had his back turned to him but Carl knew it was him immediately. He had the same curly hair as his dad and his uncle and held the same stance that his dad did when standing. He was stroking the mane of one of the horses from the family farm and was saying something quietly to the animal.

Carl began to call out to him but stopped himself when he remembered Papa Gene had been dead for three years now. In the furthest corner of his conscious he was aware that this was probably some sort of dream but he was still going to enjoy the time he had with his Papa, whether it was a dream or not.

"You gonna stand there staring or are you gonna come say hi?" Papa Gene inquired and `Carl smirked as he walked over.

Papa Gene pulled him into a warm embrace and Carl felt safer than he had in awhile. But before the embrace was over Carl found himself frowning.

"This isn't real." Carl mumbled not allowing himself to indulge in the dream. Papa Gene turned to him with a raised brow.

"I feel pretty real." He retorted with a smile, but his smile fell when he noticed Carl was frowning deeply.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Carl asked quietly and Papa Gene took a breath as he wiped his hands on his jeans. "Am I dead?" Carl whispered afraid of the answer, and Papa Gene shook his head immediately.

"No son, not dead. Just visiting." Papa Gene explained and Carl felt himself growing anxious.

"I was shot." Carl stated and Gene nodded with a sad smile on his face. "And Duane.. I think Duane was shot?" Carl said and he felt saddened at the memory.

Papa Gene was quiet as he watched his grandson begin to remember that fateful day.

"Is my dad here?" Carl asked hopefully as he looked around the vast acres of land.

"Just you and me." Papa Gene affirmed and Carl bit on his bottom lip, a habit he had inherited from his mother

"Look at you," Gene whispered in awe as he placed a hand on Carl's shoulder, "You've grown so much." Gene took in his nearly sixteen year old grandson and he grinned as he saw both Rick and Lori in him. "But I didn't know I had a granddaughter, not a grandson." Gene joked as he pulled on Carl's long hair.

Even in a drug fueled hallucination Carl couldn't escape his family ribbing him about his hair.

"So," Gene said as he leaned against the fence facing Carl, "You gonna stay a while?" Gene asked and Carl looked at his papa who he now realized looked much healthier and younger than the last time he saw him.

"Yeah I think I can stay awhile."

Papa Gene was pulling his oldest horse, Chariot, along with him as he and Carl walked down the long dirt road leading up to the farm. He was listening as Carl talked about the latest comic book he had read. Gene never stopped smiling despite having no idea who Iron Man or Thor were.

Carl found himself laughing for the first time since being with Papa Gene as he recalled a particularly fun sleepover he had with Duane. He stopped walking when he remembered Duane being shot right in front of him. His heart nearly stopped when he remembered his best friend crumbling to the ground as Ron reloaded and shot in Carl's direction.

He remembered it all.

A searing pain shot through his left eye. Carl howled in pain and cupped his hand over his eye.

Gene watched on woefully as the pain brought his only grandson to his knees.

"What's happening to me?" Carl begged Gene for an answer as he grimaced through the foreign attack on his body. As Carl began to remember more about the day the more the pain intensified.

"You're starting to remember what happened to you that day- how it felt." Gene explained regretfully and tears spilled out of his eyes.

Suddenly a voice that was unfamiliar to Carl whispered into the air, "It's okay honey. You're going to be okay."

He was soothed by the soft female voice and suddenly there was no pain in his body. None at all.

Carl straightened himself up and blinked back his tears.

"Now what the hell was that?" Carl snapped growing irritated with this particular moment of his dream.

"That my boy would be the good stuff."

"The good stuff?" Carl asked skeptically and Gene nodded with a sly grin.

"They've got you on the same stuff they gave me when I first started chemo. The good stuff." Gene insisted and Carl relaxed.

"Papa. How long have I been here? Talking with you?" Carl asked and Papa Gene nodded his head.

"A while. Can't really figure how long but.. A while." He answered and Carl nodded sadly as he considered this. It hadn't felt that long but he supposed something was really wrong if the dream had been going on this long.

Like he had heard earlier Carl heard a whisper in the air, and this time he recognized it as his father's.

He was saying something about Grandma Dee and how she had knitted him something else- no doubt another blanket. He noticed that his dad sounded different. Tired, and profoundly sad. He wished he could take away some of that hurt for him.

He didn't hear everything his dad was saying but he did hear the last few words.

"Please just-come back to me."

Carl rubbed at his eye which was beginning to have a dull ache and he looked over at Grandpa Gene who had walked quite away ahead of him.

"You coming?" He asked nonchalantly with a tilt of his head towards the setting sun. He considered this for a moment. He knew that whatever was waiting for him outside of this couldn't be easy. He knew that from the times he could hear his dad or mom crying or praying for him. He knew it from the pain he felt in his eye every once and awhile.

Carl knew that whatever was waiting for him on the other side of this was never going to be as nice as walking and talking with his Papa. But he feared that if he stayed he would never see his dad or mom's face again.

It was time to say goodbye.

"I love you." Carl said with a smile and Papa Gene returned the grin and nodded and continued on his way.

It was quiet again.

And then he saw his dad.

Next one is Michonne and Rick! I promise not to keep you waiting too long.