❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter three ―― cool car

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE WALKED THE FENCE of tin cans they had strung up as a sort of alarm if any walkers got too close to camp. She had her pistol - a 1985 Kimber micro - tucked into the waistband of her jeans and a pocket knife attached to her pocket as her eyes scanned the trees. She usually hated walking the fence, but she was willing to do just about anything to avoid Shane or people in general.

She stopped and sat down, her back against a thick tree trunk and she laid her head back, her eyes on the bits of the blue sky she could see between the tree branches above her. She lightly chewed on her lip, her hands shaking slightly with the thought that Mason might not make it back.

"You're insane." The boy laughed, his blue eyes on the brunette as she climbed a fence and hoisted herself over the top.

"Keep up." She smirked as she climbed down the other side before jumping the rest of the way. "Come on, Mason." She shook the fence a little, looking up at the boy between the chainlink.

He rolled his eyes, but pulled himself up the fence. "You're gonna get me killed one of these days." He muttered, mostly to himself then he let himself drop to the ground next to her.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked and he rolled his eyes and they made their way towards the old condemned playground. It had been their hangout since they were kids, and that wasn't gonna change because they claimed it was falling apart and they put a fence around it.

"The things I do for you." He huffed, following her to the old swing set - it was missing a few swings and the chains were a little rusty but neither cared too much as they sat down. Charlie pushed herself back with her feet and the swing squeaked as she swung forward.

She swung forward again and it made the same noise, just a little quieter but before she could push herself back they heard voices and they turned to see a guy they had gone to school with and an older man. It was dark, but with the dim glow of the street light they could make out the trading of objects.

Mason stood up and the swing squeaked, drawing their attention then they were running toward them. The blue eyed boy wasted no time as he pulled on best friend's hand and ran, pulling her towards the construction equipment and up into a bulldozer. He covered her body with his as they waited, they could hear the guys talking - one asking where they had gone and the other letting one cuss word after the other fall from his mouth.

Once the voices died down, they made their way out of the bulldozer and back over the fence they went.

"Shane never finds out about this." Was all Charlie said as they climbed into his red mustang and he nodded.

"There you are." Shane mumbled, making his way towards the brunette who had tears in her eyes. "I have other people to look out for, I can't be worried about you all the time."

"Sooner or later, you're gonna have to get over it." She told him as she pushed herself up, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I love you, Bubba, but you have to stop this overprotective thing. I get it. It's dangerous. But this is the world now and I have my gun ― the one you gave me ― and my pocket knife. I'm gonna be fine."

He sighed as he looked at her, he knew she was getting restless, she always had been but this was different. He knew that there was a lot to do and that she wanted to do it, to help even if it meant doing the dangerous stuff. "Next time we send people out scavenging, I won't try to stop you from going. I ain't gonna like it, but I'll keep that to myself."

"Thanks." She gave him a small smile, it didn't reach her eyes. "You head back to camp, I'll be back soon. Gonna walk the fences one more time."

"Alright." He patted the top of her head before leaning towards her and kissing the top of her head then he walked away. Charlie sighed as she leaned back against the tree, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. She took a breath and pushed herself up before she walked the fence again, making sure the cans rattled and that it covered that entire side of the camp.

Once she was done and she had spent more than enough time by herself, she made her way back to camp. Her ponytail swayed as she hummed the melody of a song she had since lost all memory of the lyrics, but the melody. . . that she remembered.

As she neared the camp, she smiled when she saw Carl sitting in front of Lori as she cut his hair, across from them Shane sat in a chair as he cleaned his gun. They were laughing as Shane told the boy he'd teach him how to catch frogs.

"Ain't that right, Charlie? Frog legs are delicious." Shane asked as she stopped next to the fire pit and sat down, pulling her legs up to her chest as she narrowed her eyes at her brother.

"It was one time and you tricked me." She told him, getting a chuckle from him and Lori as she turned to Carl. "He told me they were gummy frog legs, cause I love gummy bears. I took one bite and I knew he had lied. Weirdest thing I've ever eaten." She shook her head, getting a laugh from the boy.

"Weird." Shane repeated. "Not disgusting." He mused and Charlie rolled her eyes.

"Catchin' frogs is fun, though." She told the boy. "He taught me when I was close to your age."

"So, it's settled, we're catchin' us some frogs." Shane grinned and the little boy smiled up at him. "Heroes, son, spoken of in song and legend. You and me. Shane and Carl." The boy smiled at him and Charlie couldn't stop the smile from growing on her lips. It still didn't sit right with her, the thing between Shane and Lori, but she could see just how much he cared for not just Lori, but for Carl, too. And she knew that Carl needed a male role model in his life and Shane was just about the best one, in her opinion at least.

"They are disgusting though." She added. "But at this point I'd eat-" the sound of a alarm cut her off and it sounded like it was heading in their direction and everyone looked over towards Dale and he looked through his binoculars.

"Hey, Dale, can you see what that is?" A man called out and Shane pushed himself up from his chair and made his way over to the rv. Charlie moved closer to Lori and Carl then she shifted so she was on her feet.

"Talk to me, Dale." Shane called out.

"I can't see it yet." The older man told them before looking through his binoculars again and Charlie reached back, her hand on the handle of her gun.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked, hoping for the best where her sister was concerned as the others moved closer. Charlie kept her hand on her gun as she moved to stand in front of Carl and Lori, she told the boy she'd protect him and his mom and that's what she intended to do.

"I'll be damned." Dale muttered.

"What is it?" Charlie looked up at the older man.

"Stolen car is my guess." He told her and they all watched as a red Challenger pulled up and came to stop, the alarm still blaring as a Korean boy stepped out of the car with a wide smile on his face.

"Glenn?" The brunette mumbled, her brows pinched.

"Holy crap! Turn that damn thing off!" Dale shouted down to the boy.

"I don't know how!" He shrugged as Charlie made her way over to him, with Shane and Amy following. Shane was trying to get him to pop the hood and Amy was asking about her sister.

He finally slid back into the car and popped the hood as Amy continued to ask him about her sister, which he had yet to answer as Shane and Jim looked under the hood.

"Is she alright? Is she okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, she's okay!" Glenn shouted over the alarm. "She's okay!"

"Is she coming back?"

"Yes."

"Why isn't she with you?" Amy asked and then Shane finally cut the alarm off and Charlie let out a sigh. "Where is she? She's okay?"

"Yes!" Glenn shouted.

"Hey, Amy, lighten up." Charlie stepped closer to the blonde, putting her hand on her shoulder. "Let the boy breathe, give him a chance to explain."

"Thank you." He mumbled, getting a nod from Charlie. "She's fine. Everybody is." He told them, looking around the group and they all let out a relieved breath. "Well, Merle, not so much."

"You crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here?" Shane huffed, clearly annoyed with the boy, and for good reason. "You trying to draw every walker for miles?"

"I think we're okay." Dale told him, looking around and not seeing a single walker.

"You call being stupid okay?" Shane asked, looking over his shoulder at the man.

"Don't be a dick." Charlie told him and he narrowed his eyes on her.

"That alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source." Dale continued and Shane turned, his hands on his hips. "I'm not arguing, I'm just saying. And it wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" He pointed at Glenn.

"I can do another sweep later." Charlie offered, looking over at Shane and he nodded.

"Sorry." Glenn mumbled. "Got a cool car." He pointed into the car and Charlie chuckled as she made her way over to him.

"I'm glad you're not dead." She told him, wrapping her arms around him and he smiled as he patted her back before they pulled away from each other.

"Thanks, Charlie." He smiled, then he turned when a truck pulled up and stopped closer to the end of the row of cars they had.