Chapter 31: Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away
The weeks passed by quickly and uneventfully. Riley continued to help reteach Carl to shoot and things with Dylan were still a bit rocky. Carl and Dylan tried to get along but in the end had major problems with each other and every time they were together, things just got tense. So she tended to keep them away from each other and spend time with them separately. It seemed to do the trick in keeping things calm until they bumped into each other and started to bristle.
Carl was mad at Dylan for doing what he did to her and Dylan was protective of her from Carl so the whole dynamic was just a bad one. While she insisted that she didn't need someone being protective over her and that she was trying to give her cousin a chance again, it only satisfied them when they weren't in each other's line of vision. It was probably the most exhausting part of the day, but as long as that was the most trouble she had to deal with, she was happy with that. Though the fact that nothing had happened in such a long time just made her feel uneasy. Like something was brewing and she had to be prepared.
But nothing ended up happening. Things stayed the same and mostly uneventful. With her newfound hunting skills, she often went out to hunt at least once a week when she had nothing else to do. At first, it was hard to catch anything, but she found shooting the birds were a bit easier for her than small animals like rabbits and squirrels. Deer never really came by much so those she never had a chance to have a go at.
Because the lack of activity going on around the place, when she heard about a possible run, she jumped at the chance to join. Rick was a bit hesitant at first, but he must have remembered everything she started to do to help and decided to let her come along. Unfortunately, when Carl heard of this news, he also insisted on coming. Not that she knew he couldn't, she was just a bit worried since this would be his first run in a long time. At least he had a decent aim again from practicing so much.
Dylan wanted to go too, but she convinced him to stay back. Plus Rick was still just getting to know him and didn't quite trust him fully yet. So that left her, Carl, Rick, Michonne, Glenn, and Tara for this run. A good group for what they were doing and a good group left behind to watch over Alexandria.
The morning of the run, she got up early to prepared. She hadn't been on a run in a really long time so she wanted to make sure she had everything together. Carl was still snoozing at her side when she woke but she let him sleep and then proceeded to take a shower and change into fresh clothes. By the time she put her boots on, everyone else was starting to wake. One the way downstairs, she grabbed her knife off the rack and shoved her gun into place at her side. Carl and Michonne were both in the kitchen, talking quietly as they ate some fruit.
"Hey," she greeted, entering the room and taking an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter.
"Hello. Sleep well?" Michonne asked, giving her a teasing look.
She glanced over at Carl and felt her cheeks heat. By now everyone probably knew they shared a bed at night.
"Fine. You?" she murmured, trying to get the attention off herself.
"Good. Ready for the run?"
"Yeah. I'm tired of being cooped up around here."
The woman smiled a little at her and took another bite of her peach. Just as she started digging into her apple, Rick came downstairs with all of his weapons on him, ready to go. He greeted them good morning and took his own fruit, putting it in his bag for later.
"C'mon. We should get a quick start," Rick said.
Quickly, she finished off her apple and tossed the core in the garbage as they headed for the door. As they approached the front gate, she could already see some of the others getting the car ready with bags for them to carry things and water for them when they got thirsty. She smiled brightly at Glenn, who smiled back and gave her a pat on her shoulder.
"Ready, kiddo?" he asked with a small grin.
Rolling her eyes she shrugged. "Yeah. Where are we going?"
"There's a tourist attraction a good way out that seems like it might be untouched. Supposed to be for caves or a mine? Something like that."
"Sounds like it would have been fun."
"Yeah. I bet they'll probably still have souvenirs there."
"Probably. Might pick one up."
He chuckled and she smiled, reaching back to tie up her hair in a ponytail since she knew today was going to be a long and hot day. Before she could enter the car, she heard footsteps behind her and turned. Dylan was heading over, his brow creased in a way she knew meant worry.
"Hey. I just wanted to see you off. Make sure you're good," he explained, stopping beside her.
"I'll be fine. I've done this before. I've done a lot since we got split up," she reassured, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I know. You're just...you know my baby cousin."
"You're only two years older than me. I'm not really a baby. You're barely an adult. Not even one if we're talking about maturity."
"Oh ha ha." He huffed.
"Just telling it like it is," she snickered.
"Riley, you ready?" Carl asked, his voice stiff.
"Yeah. Just give me a sec."
Dylan glared at the boy behind her and she sighed heavily and gave him a light push. "Knock it off, will you two? I gotta go, Dylan. I'll see you tonight."
He hesitantly turned his attention back to her and nodded briefly, putting his fist out for a fist bump. A small smile came to her lips and she returned the gesture.
"Be safe, alright?" he pressed.
"I will," she promised, sighing a little and giving him a wave before she went to the open car door waiting for her.
Slipping inside, she situated herself and buckled up, glancing over to a moody-looking Carl in the seat opposite her.
"You guys really need to start getting along at least a little," she groaned, shaking her head as Rick started the car.
"That'll be hard," he grunted.
Not wanting to make the situation any more tense than it was, she left it be. Only they could get along if they wanted to. She couldn't make them do anything. They had to do it themselves. So she just decided not to bother pushing it and let them figure it out eventually. As long as they only sent glares each other's way and nothing more, she wouldn't intervene.
She heard Glenn and Tara playing I Spy in the seats just in front of them and she smiled a little to herself. Tara was such a child, but in a good way. She had a youthful mind and enjoyed the simple things that not many people did these days. And Glenn liked that about her too, which was probably why he was playing. He was going to be a fantastic father when Maggie had their baby.
"Practicing your paternal skills?" she commented, smirking at him.
He laughed and shook his head, looking back at her. "You can join. Practice your sister skills?"
She was just about to laugh but her brain processed what he actually said. Sister skills? Her stomach clenched and she stared blankly at him for a moment. Was he... I mean yeah the whole group was a family but...that almost seemed like he was saying he considered her part of his family. His family of Maggie and their baby. He smiled at her softly, giving her a knowing look and reaching back to give her hand a squeeze.
Her heart fluttered and she felt warm and tingly. This was almost like an official family for her. She loved everyone in their group, but especially Maggie and Glenn. The two of them connected with her on a parental level she never really had since her parents died. Rick also treated her somewhat like a daughter, but not exactly like the Rhee's.
Biting back a smile, she squeezed his hand back before letting go. She could see Carl smiling at her from the corner of her eye and she ducked her head slightly, feeling a little awkward with all of the attention on her.
"I'll play," she decided. "You start, Tara."
The woman flashed her a smile and then took a moment to look out the window and around the car. Some of the objects they had to guess quickly because they would drive by it and if they didn't get it, they'd lose a point. Tara especially liked to pick objects that would pass by quickly and often dwindle their points down to the negatives when she felt particularly mischievous. She did it often enough that they had to make a rule that only every other turn could someone do that.
Eventually, Carl joined in and so did Michonne. Rick just smiled at them and paid attention to driving, but she had a feeling if he wasn't driving, he'd probably join in. Moments like these were always the best. Small, silly moments where everyone was happy and having a good time.
They got bored of the game after a while, but it was alright because they were almost at their destination according to Rick. And on the way, they also figured out that there was a small town a couple miles beyond the tourist caves. It would make their travel just that much better, since the drive was over an hour. For the rest of their drive, most of them remained silent and glanced at the scenery and walkers that occasionally passed by.
When they arrived, she could see why they picked this place. It was huge and there had to be something inside. The main building sat on the top of a smaller hill and had a grand, cabin-looking entrance. A couple walkers meandered around the parking lot, but otherwise it seemed pretty clear. Too clear. She also noticed a few paths that seemed to branch off through some woods. Where did they lead?
"We'll take out the walkers and see what we can do to get inside," Rick informed, parking the car and pocketing the keys.
A couple walkers noticed them and started their way. Riley took a deep breath and unbuckled herself, ready to get out and start this run.
Rick went out first and took out the closest one. Everyone then filed out and once she was free from the confines of the van, she took out her knife. There were only four more, so she never even got to touch one as the others were already ahead and took them out quickly. Tara was the first to the door and she turned the knob to see if it was unlocked. To their luck it was. Something felt weird about that.
"Next walker you see, you should take care of," she commented to Carl, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with him up the steps toward the building.
"What?" he questioned, giving her a weird look.
"I just think you need to get back into the groove. Good practice." She shrugged.
"Alright..."
She bumped her shoulder with his to reassure him, noting he was being awfully quiet. "You know, you didn't have to come if you weren't feeling up to it."
"I know... I just didn't want you to go by yourself..."
"I'm not by myself. I've got everyone else here. You don't have to protect me."
"I know, I want to. I have to... I just... care a lot about you, Riley, okay?"
She pressed her lips together and looked up as they slowly entered the place. The front lobby was a bit messy with a few chairs tipped over and broken glass on the floor. Also inside the lobby was a gift shop of sorts, with key chains hanging from a rack and other little nick-knacks on shelves. Something caught her eye and she moved closer, smiling when she realized what it was.
A shining white stone with rainbow hue stood out clearly on one of the shelves, encased with metal and attached to a cord. Opal. Her birthstone. Or one of them, anyway. October was one of the weird months with more than one birthstone.
Her fingers clasped the necklace and she looked at the tag, which read:
RARE opal stone taken from our very own mines!
The price tag was quite high as well, a little over two hundred dollars. Why would they just leave it out on the shelf like that? Unless someone else took it out from the display cabinet, which was a shattered mess.
"Find something you like?"
She turned slightly, looking at Glenn as he approached with a smile.
"Just found a necklace. It has my birthstone in it. Opal. For October," she replied, shrugging.
"You should take it. It's not like anyone will be missing it anyway."
He was right. It was very pretty and no one would care anymore if she took it. But before she could completely process it in her mind, she heard a low groan behind her. Everyone turned and a couple of walkers stumbled out from another room, rotting fingers reaching out to them. She pulled her knife from her jeans and shot a look at Carl to remind him of what she said earlier. He needed to kill one of them.
Pulling out his knife, he gave her a small nod before moving forward. She followed him, staying a little behind just to be back up if anything happened. Some of the others went ahead to kill the rest while Carl focused on one. He was now tall enough to reach its skull with ease and just like he always had, he grabbed onto its shirt collar and plunged the knife into its head. Easy. That was something that didn't really need practice. But she wanted him to do it just so he could start getting used to the routine again.
The walker fell at his feet and he pulled out his knife.
"Hey, look!"
Her head snapped up and she looked to see Tara lingering in the doorway, gesturing them over. In unison, they all moved closer, curious to see what she had found. On the wall hung a large map that showed the layout of the place. Apparently, there were more buildings scattered about the property, with a cafeteria halfway down one of the trails. The other buildings were all different, with certain minerals in one and even a small museum and playground near the back of the trail.
"If we head down the trail, should be able to see if there's anythin' left in that cafeteria," Rick murmured. "But finish searchin' here first. Split up into groups n' be back here in five minutes."
She gestured for Carl to follow her and the two of them went down the hallway together. Reaching one door, she rapped on it to see if she could heard anything on the other side, but she heard nothing.
"I'll open, you guard," she murmured, reaching for the knob.
He lifted his knife up, ready to attack if anything came lunging at them. Slowly, she turned the knob and then wrenched the door open. Nothing came at them immediately, but it was dark and harder to see. Slowly, Carl inched forward, stepping inside first. She followed after, shifting along the wall until she got to the window. She pulled the curtains open and light flooded into the room. It seemed like a break room for employees, with some cubbies for belongings and a desk for paperwork. Nothing there seemed too bad until her eyes landed in the corner of the room, where a dead body sat.
In its hand was a small revolver and in its temple was a bullet hole. A man, probably in his late thirties, but it was hard to tell because of the body decay. Some people just couldn't seem to take this world and it was sad.
Frowning slightly, she moved forward and bent down to take the gun. His fingers were wrapped tightly around it and it took her a moment to pry the gun loose, but after some tugging and a sickening crack, it was free. She took a moment to look and see how many bullets were left. Two. Not bad, but not great. Still, it was a new gun and new weapons were always a good thing.
"See anything else?" she asked, putting the revolver in the bag she carried.
Carl shuffled about the room for a minute, mostly going through drawers. "No. Just paperwork. Come on, let's keep looking."
The two of them moved onto the next room and made quick work. They didn't really find much else and after five minutes, they returned to the lobby where Rick and the others were waiting. She took out the gun and held it with one finger looped through the trigger guard to show them her find. Out of all them, it was probably the only useful thing in the entire place. So they decided to move on down the trail and head toward the cafeteria.
The trail itself was rather nice. They had obviously tried to make it somewhat whimsical and entertaining for children walking on the path with their parents. Little statues of miners and mine carts were scattered around the trail and she even spotted a small mine cart ride. Carl made a comment about wishing there was power to they could ride it, making the both of them smile.
Even though everything was calm, she still felt uneasy. Something about the lack of difficulty and danger seemed weird. No one had gotten tackled by a walker or cut by a shard of metal. Things were going too right. Not that she wanted something to go wrong, but without some sort of trouble, it almost felt like something else was looming over them, waiting to do something worse than they could imagine.
Trying to push these thoughts from her mind, she continued on, noticing that she had fallen considerably behind in her thoughts. However, something in the corner of her eye made her freeze. Was that a person?
She peeked through the trees, noticing there was a small path that seemed to veer off the main one. It was blocked by a simple chain barrier and on the other side a little way down, she could see a body standing upright, completely still. It was most likely a walker, but something about it seemed so strange. Walkers usually didn't stand so still. But its back was to her so if it was a person following, he was doing a crappy job.
"Riley!"
She heard Carl call out to her and she looked back at him a considerable distance ahead. Pressing her index finger to her lips, she turned and stepped over the chain. She just wanted to make sure it was only a walker. If it was a person, they'd be having problems. And if it was a walker, it wouldn't hurt to get it out of the way so it wouldn't cause them any trouble on the way back.
When she got near enough, she could smell the strong stench of decay, indicating it was a walker. She looked back toward the beginning of the path, where Carl was standing at the chain.
"Just a walker. Lemme take care of it," she said, pulling out her knife.
It turned when it heard her speak and she raised her weapon, poised and ready to attack. But as soon as she took a step forward, she heard a loud creak and the next thing she knew, she was falling and her knife was slipping from her fingers.
Her stomach lurched into her throat, blocking a scream from erupting as she flailed wildly. Luckily, the walker fell before she did and its head exploded on the floor below. She landed face down just after, the wind escaping her lungs and her stomach feeling like she'd been punched in the gut. She coughed, rolling over. As she did so, a hot and sharp pain stung her side, leaving her vision blurred from such an intense pain.
She could barely hear Carl screaming for her as something latched onto her legs. Growling brought her back into focus and she blinked the blurriness away, instinctively kicking at it to try and get it off. The pain in her side intensified, leaving her unable to breathe as she tried to get the thing off of her. She reached around to try and find her knife, but all she could feel was dirt.
She got a brief chance to look around in the panic and discovered she was in a mine shaft, with mine carts to her right. And a large group of walkers slowly creeping from the shadows from every side. The walker at her feet suddenly collapsed and the gunshots registered in her mind a few seconds late. They were trying to help her, she needed to get up and move.
So she got to her knees, gasping for breath as the pain blinded her once more and she froze to try and get the pain to stop. Blinking open her eyes, she looked down to see why she was in so much pain.
The knife. Her knife. Plunged right into her side. Her eyes widened and her body tensed with shock. She must have landed on it when she fell and it went right through her muscles, digging in deep. No blood was coming out, but it was probably because she hadn't pulled it out yet. Rule number one of stab wounds, don't pull the knife out right away. Her father had told her that. The knife kept the blood inside.
"Riley! Your gun!"
With trembling fingers, she reached for her gun, trying to determine exactly how many of the dead were around her. It was impossible after she tried to count for a second because they just seemed to keep coming out from the shadows. So she just started to shoot, her body rattling with each gunshot that went off along with the ones from the others. She emptied her gun faster than she thought and was soon met with the click of an empty chamber. There was no way she was going to get out of this.
Tears started to drip down her face and she scanned her surroundings as the walkers grew closer. She couldn't give up. It wasn't in her nature. She'd go down fighting before she gave up.
Her eyes caught sight of a break in the cave wall, right in front of her past a wall of the dead. She had to move fast and she knew having the knife digging in her side was only going to hinder her. With every move she made, she could feel it tearing up more muscle and flesh and the pain was agonizing.
A walker grabbed onto her shoulder with its rotten fingers and she drew in a breath, reaching down to grab the hilt of the knife as someone shot it down. She braced herself and then yanked it out as quickly as possible, a scream ripping her throat and hot tears flying down her cheeks. Lava engulfed her side and she collapsed to all fours, drawing in sharp, heavy breaths as her vision blurred over once more. So much pain. She'd never felt anything like this. Like lava and spitting fire piercing her wound each time her heart beat.
Blood oozed out all over her in a thick, steady flow, sticking to her skin and forming a small puddle beneath her. She couldn't stay here. She had to move.
With a tear-filled gaze, she looked up toward Carl, giving him a scared glance before starting to scramble through the crowd.
"RILEY NO!" she heard him scream, his voice cracking with emotion.
A sob lodged itself in her throat and she ducked under hands and legs as she hurried to get through without getting bit. Her side still screamed in agony, but she pushed herself, pure adrenaline pushing her on. Somehow, she was able to get through and as soon as she was, she got to her feet, pressing a hand to her wound and letting out a groan of pain. Blood seeped through her fingers and she stumbled blindly down the path, trying not to look back to see how many were following. Each turn led her further and further to somewhere, sometimes making her come face to face with more walkers, the only evidence of her even being there the blood trail and bloody hand prints she left behind.
The only thing that terrified her more than having the dead catch up to her was running into a dead end. But she saw light up ahead and that made her move faster, the pain increasing with each step. Her vision continued to get more blurred and by the time she reached the exit, she was light headed. She felt the intense urge to pass out, but as she stumbled out to the light, she nearly fell right down the edge of a cliff.
Rocks catapulted down the steep drop and she hunched over, breathing heavily and pressing against her wound. The bleeding seemed to have slowed, but she couldn't even tell nor did she care at this moment when she could still hear the growls coming from inside the mine.
She quickly looked around, trying to figure out where she could even go while she was still conscious. A small ledge to her right caught her attention; it was just a little higher than the one she was on now. They wouldn't be able to reach it, but would she? She had nothing to lose, so took a running start, stumbling a few steps but pushing herself nonetheless.
Launching herself from the ledge, she grabbed onto the other one, a cry escaping her lips as her wound snapped at her. One hand slipped from the ledge but she quickly adjusted, using the little strength she had to pull herself up. Grunting, groaning, and crying, she kicked her legs up and over and rolled onto her back.
Riley took in short gasps, blinking through the pain and listening to the walkers as she heard them tumble down the steep drop off to their death. Her wound was bleeding again and she gingerly tore off her jacket and started to wrap it tightly around her side to try and soak up the blood and keep pressure on it. The simple action left her breathless and as soon as she was done, she fell on her back. Maybe it was because she was out of danger, but she felt herself fading and the shadows engulfed her.
A/N: Okay. Please don't hate me o.o I've planned to have something like this happen for a VERY long time. This is the chapter that I promised I would write the Carl POV oneshot from. Because as much as it hurts Riley in this chapter, it's ten times more devastating for Carl. So I think that for a thank you for the 100 review mark we passed and for the three year anniversary of this fic (April 15th), I'm going to hopefully have that chapter posted as a oneshot on April 15th.
In other news, the song theme for this chapter is "You Are My Sunshine" by The Phantoms. And I also made a super feelsy gif to kinda encase Carl's feelings of this that is posted to my twitter and is also on my wattpad (on this chapter). Were you guys expecting this? What are your thoughts and what do you think is going to happen? I'm really hoping to get the next chapter up next week, but I do have more exams coming up so it's a hit or miss, I'll keep you updated via twitter.
I reallly want to thank you for all your support! Your reviews are so kind and I look forward to them and every time I see a favorite or follow I get all smiley! :) You guys are seriously the best readers any writer could ever have and I thank you sooo much for everything and for being so amazing! I hope you liked this chapter and that it didn't cause you too much stress, and I hope you guys have an amazing week! :) You rock!
