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A L I C E

ALICE DUNLAP NOW HAD a plausible theory surrounding the details of her father's disappearance. After having around half a year to get settled into the prison, the girl had accumulated bits and pieces of information about what went down between their group and the governor. Their people didn't really speak of it, much. But Alice was able to piece together that the man was nowhere near the illusion of perfection that he'd so-boldly claimed to be.

How it all started was the kidnapping of Glenn and Maggie while they were on a run for baby formula. This resulted in the two communities intertwining, which didn't bode well for the small group at the prison. The governor'd murdered a few close friends of the people of the group—the people that Alice was actually starting to like. Then, he tried to take over the prison. When that didn't work out, the man threw a tantrum that resulted in the death of every person on his army, besides Karen, who lived to tell the tale and to persuade the people of Woodbury to become one with those at the prison.

The two people who Karen had to persuade were Sasha and Tyreese Williams, who were taking watch at the main wall, protecting the women and children who'd stayed behind. Those two had a short history with the prison group—that of which was the reason they readily agreed to relocate there. Alice also caught word that the person who'd saved the Williams siblings and brought them into the prison was Carl Grimes. She'd never suspect such a thing from the boy, and thought of it as nothing more than potential misinformation. No matter how the two came in contact with the prison, they ended up at Woodbury. And to Alice, everyone, somehow, just seemed to end up there, as if brought there by a higher power—or someone who thought of themselves as such.

That day in the woods, when Alice and Elliot's father first went missing, the girl had no idea that these kinds of people existed. She never would have thought that someone would murder a father, intentionally orphaning two weak children just to take them in and shape them into mindless soldiers. But now, that was exactly what Alice Dunlap thought of the man who'd supposedly saved her.

Though the girl lived easily by not grieving the things that she wasn't there to witness, her mind couldn't help but wander to places unknown. She'd try to piece together different narratives of what'd happened to her father. And this narrative seemed to make everything fall into place. It was the only believable option, as the governor had stumbled upon Alice and Elliot just around half a day after their abandonment. It couldn't have been just a coincidence.

It wasn't like Alice wanted such a horrible answer to her brother's questions—it was just the harsh reality of the situation. This reality was one that the girl was able to piece together just after Michonne had asked the girl a favor. The woman needed her to feed and groom the horse for her before she were to leave to pursue yet another search for governor, later that same morning. The woman's dedication to the man's death was—besides seeing it with her own eyes—all of the evidence that the girl needed that the man had most likely something to do with her father's disappearance.

For some odd reason, Alice's head could not stop spinning with endless reasons as to why her father had most likely been a casualty of the governor's selfishness. The girl, for so long, sought to avoid closure—thinking that it would hurt her more than the unknown.

But, the girl stood at the stable, grooming Michonne's horse with puffy, purple bags underneath her eyes. She hadn't slept. Though she tried to act oblivious the night before, she could hear Elliot's muffled cries into his pillow. Despite the fact that they were what first woke her, her brother's tears were not what kept her up all night. It was the girl's guilt. She knew that her brother needed closure and she would've done anything to give it to him, no matter how repulsed she felt about the subject.

It was almost as if the streaks of brown horse hair right in front of Alice's face had pulled her into a trance. She'd become so consumed with her groggy thoughts that she didn't even hear someone's footsteps approaching the other side of the stables.

"You didn't wake me up!" The girl's droopy eyes quickly snapped away from the horse. It was Carl Grimes. He was traveling down the gravel path with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets. The boy was walking up to his father, who was leaning against the fence of the adjacent pigpen.

Alice let out a huff, rolling her eyes and returning her attention to the horse. For a moment, she'd worried that Carl was approaching her.

"Because I knew you were up all night reading comics with a flashlight." Rick answered his son, wearing a smug look about him.

The father and son came together at the chicken-wire fence of the pen, just within the corner of Alice's eye. She tried to keep her focus on the mane brush in her hand, watching as its lengthy bristles tore the shedding hair from the horse.

"What's up with Violet?" Carl asked. The boy tilted his head to look up at his father, squinting his eyes from the morning sun.

Although Alice wished she wasn't close enough to hear their conversation, she'd found herself amused at the boy's name for the pig. The small gesture towards an animal woke the girl right up—refreshing her groggy attention span. It was obvious that Carl hadn't yet noticed that she was standing on the other side of the metal stable. Had he seen her brushing the horse, he might not have let words so human meet the surface.

"Carl I told you not to name them." Rick started. "They—they're not piglets anymore. They're food."

"I just thought—you know, until," The boy began to fumble his words. His defense of his own, childish antics caught Alice's attention even more. Although Carl Grimes was a child, the girl had never seen him actually embody the role. "Okay."

"I don't know what's going on with her." His father shook his head, answering Carl's initial question, and dropping his momentary resentment for the pig's name. "Could be sick—could be nothing."

"Feel better, Violet." Rick smirked as he amused his son's antics.

For a few moments everything went silent, as the pair studied the lethargic pig lying in the corner of its muddy pen. The two seemed a little confused and disappointed. Rick seemed worried that a sick pig could cost his people a meal, in the near future. Carl seemed almost bummed for the suffering animal.

The man stepped away from the pen, placing a hand on his son's upper back. "Come on, let's get to it."

Carl followed suit, always eager to do anything that his father said. But before he stepped away from the pen, he briefly scanned the area. What was supposed to be a glance of reassurance towards the security of his surroundings, turned into a blank stare as he suddenly met eyes with Alice—who he'd realized had been standing there the entire time.

The girl watched the boy's face soften underneath her gaze. An amused smile spread across her lips. Assuming that he was being laughed at, Carl rolled his eyes and began walking away, underneath the guidance of his father's arm.

Alice watched as the pair walked away, destined to whatever task that Rick had set out to complete. She pulled her eyes back towards the horse, still wearing her fading smile. The confused girl furrowed her eyebrows, trying to decide if her amusement was more-so from Carl Grimes' humanity or his moment of embarrassment.

☆

Upon spending her entire morning pondering the possible whereabouts of her father, Alice's thoughts shifting over towards Carl Grimes almost seemed to resemble relief. She normally didn't like to pay the boy much mind, as she thought she'd already had him all figured out. Carl had a complex—something to prove, as the leader's son—and Alice wanted no part of it. But the small piece of the boy that she'd witnessed that morning gave his disregarded personality some dimension. Maybe he was the boy rumored to have saved the Williams in the tombs of the prison.

Her curiosity after the encounter made her almost hyperaware of when Carl was nearby—just as he seemed to do the same with her presence. He'd laid off of the dirty looks for a long while, after that talk that he and Elliot had. But, that afternoon, Alice would often catch the boy glancing at her out of the corner of his eye—as if to make sure that she wouldn't catch him off guard, again. It was almost like he wanted to know where she was, at all times.

The boy's dirty looks were laid to rest when Patrick decided to pick up the soccer ball. The three kicked the ball around in the main field, ridding Carl of having to worry about Alice hearing something she wasn't supposed to hear, again, as he knew exactly where she was—meaning that he was to be on guard, at all times.

Distant shouting from the younger kids at the main fence was the first thing to distract the boy from worrying about Alice's every move. The girl almost became relieved as the boy picked up the soccer ball and headed straight towards the yelling. She, however, followed after him, because that was exactly Patrick was doing. Also, the girl'd secretly hoped that the three would be able to continue playing soccer before she and Patrick had to go grab Elliot for story time.

When Alice and Patrick arrived right behind Carl, she realized by the tone of his voice, that their soccer time had already been cut short. "You're naming them?"

The kids turned around, aware of all that Carl Grimes had to offer. Alice noticed how their smile's faded once they realized who was speaking to them. Only one of the kids had a smile that was nearly impossible to make go away, and that was Mika. "Well, one of them has a name tag so we thought all of them should."

"They had names when they were alive." Carl started. He shifted the soccer ball around in his grip, which was the only thing keeping Alice's focus on him. "They're dead now."

"No they're not," Lizzie started. "They're just different."

Alice often had to conceal her eye rolls from Lizzie, back at Woodbury. She knew that there was something out of place about the girl, especially her beliefs about the dead. But the sheltered child was so fragile that there was no telling how she'd react to the truth. Alice Dunlap quickly understood that it'd be better not to react at all than to make Lizzie overreact.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Carl Grimes, having refused to interact with any of the girls around his age, obviously hadn't gotten that same memo. "They don't talk—they don't think. They eat people. They kill people."

Alice spectated the awkward scene, with folded arms, not knowing who she agreed with less. For safety reasons, Carl Grimes was right. However, his presentation needed some heavy work. It was clear that the boy held an anger towards the girl over her cluelessness, more-so than the danger it could cause.

Lizzie slightly shook her head, just above her shrugging shoulders. "People kill people. They still have names."

"Have you seen what happens?" Carl raised his voice at the girl. "Have you seen someone die like that?"

Alice was beginning to notice how far Carl was willing to go with the fact that he was right. He was approaching territory that was sensitive to Lizzie and Mika—as their own mother had, in fact, died that way. Her arms nervously unfolded themselves as she prepared herself to react.

For a few moments, the girl stared into Carl's eyes, with a blank expression. "Yeah, I have."

"They're not people and they're not pets." The boy enunciated. "Don't name them."

As she nervously awaited Lizzie's impending meltdown, Alice Dunlap was finally able to piece together what this was all about. This was what Carl Grimes had to prove. He was scolding Lizzie about naming the dead the same way that his own father scolded him for naming one of the pigs. The boy was compensating for the soft side that he'd accidentally let show in front of Alice, earlier that morning. And with a few glances over his shoulder to check if the girl was still paying attention, he thought he'd done his job of reversing the embarrassing moment.

Lizzie looked at the other kids, turning on her heel. "We're supposed to go read, c'mon."

Although not directed towards her, Alice followed suit, with an eye roll and a shake of her head. She caught up to Lizzie, walking next to her and putting her supportive hands on the girl's shoulders. After realizing that Lizzie had been personally attacked by Carl the same way that she'd been, just a few months ago, Alice felt the need to protect her from his aftermath.

The girl woke up that morning with the impression that Carl Grimes was just a boy with an eager desperation to fulfill his role as the leader's son. For a brief few moments, she thought he could've been something more than that—behind closed doors, of course. But as she walked away, looking over her shoulder and glaring at the boy through her squinted eyes, Alice Dunlap was almost disappointed at the fact that she'd been right about him all along.

☆

The girl silently pondered her thoughts, trying to find something to take away from all that'd happened, that day, as she listened to Carol's soft narration of a children's story. It wasn't like Alice needed to be listening, anyways. The true story time hadn't even begun yet.

As soon as Mr. Samuels was to step out of the room, the story would be cut short. His exit was what everyone was waiting for. Most of the kids twiddled their thumbs, and others pretended to be interested for the sake of making this whole scheme believable. Then, once the time came, Alice would take watch, by the door. As the only Woodbury kids who'd handled weapons, the Dunlaps would switch watch-shifts every other story time. That day, it was Alice's turn.

Alice, however, was concentrated on anything but story time. Between Patrick's profuse fidgeting and her busy thoughts, the girl found herself staring off into space. The only thing on her mind was Carl. She didn't know why the boy would try so desperately to hide something so normal. He was willing to seem like a complete ass in front of an entire group of kids, just so one girl wouldn't think of him as anything else. His efforts to cover up the interaction between himself and his father told the girl more about him than the impression that he was actually trying to leave her with. In just a few extra steps than the boy's silly plan, Alice reached the conclusion that he was—no matter what—a complete jerk.

With a sigh, the girl decided to attempt to clear her head, nonchalantly scanning her eyes around the room in order to check and see if Mr. Samuels had stepped out. But, before she could peek around to where the man was standing, Alice caught a glimpse of something quickly moving out of her sight, hiding behind some bookshelves. She whipped her head around, seeing Mr. Samuels' absence that she had previously failed to notice.

Looking over at Carol and the other kids, Alice realized that they were already beginning their lesson. "Ma'am, should I take watch now?"

Carol lifted her eyes from the trunk of weapons, only for a moment. "Yes, Alice. You do that."

Alice used this opportunity to get closer to the bookshelves. Her focus on whatever was behind them drowned out the beginning of Carol's lesson being interrupted by Patrick. She could faintly make out what the two were saying to each other, as she gripped the handle of her knife, resting her wrist against her belt.

She crept alongside one of the perpendicular shelves, in order to glance in between the other rows of them. Once she finally caught a sign of motion on the far side of the room, her feet hurried around the front shelf, as she met the being, face-to-face.

Her grip on her knife loosened itself when she met eyes with Carl Grimes. He'd finally shown his face, upon the realization that he'd discovered what story time really was, and no longer needed to sneak around to find out. Although Alice's body tensed at the thought of it possibly being a walker, catching sight of the boy didn't exactly allow for any feeling of relief. The girl might've preferred if it actually had been one of the dead. Then she could've put it down, and this whole situation would've been one avoided accident.

"Please," But, as Carl Grimes shifted his gaze between Alice and Carol, the woman had been caught. "Don't tell your father."

The boy took one last glance at Alice before rolling his eyes, and walking past her. A harsh bump to the girl's shoulder, on his way out, was enough to make the girl realize that Carl Grimes had finally shown her what it was like for someone to see something that they really weren't supposed to.

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2991 words
January 11, 2023
12:00 AM

A/N

I promise that this is the closest to a filler/word for word scripted chapter that I will ever publish. I usually hate reading fics that do this but I needed to for the sake of their tension. also I hope that I made up for it with those two little full-circle moments!! the next three chapters definitely will stray from canon scenes (I've already started writing chapter three) so I hope those make up for this!!

Also can we give disturbedia a round of applause?? I've been consistently updating this book every two weeks and it's not looking like that's going to change anytime soon!! I know two weeks seems like a long time to some people, but time flies. we're already on 4x1 and I feel like I just published this book yesterday. I'm dying to get parts uploaded bc I'm so excited for you guys to see everything I have in store!! AHH!

AND my tiktoks of this book have been FLOURISHING so thank you to everyone who comments on them and saves them!! this book would not be possible without you all!!! I'm hard at work finding scenes of my younger face claim for this book, and I can't WAIT until I get to S5 and can edit with my older face claim!! you guys are NOT ready!!

I'm staying up until midnight on my first day back to school just to upload this ASAP!! ily and PEACE OUT!!

☆vote for Carl to stop being annoying ☆