for @saidsumset | ♥
‘ LISTEN T’ ME HERSHAL------ ‘ his head tilted, gently. he really didn’t want to be giving him this TALK. and now he knew how his DAD must’ve felt. ‘ YOU ARE NOT SAFE. ‘ every word of it still lived in his head. sometimes; he couldn’t sleep because of it. he wanted to be telling Hershel he could be safe, he could be FREE and not care about a thing. that’s what Maggie wanted. but it was a LIE. sure, Walkers came more rarely now. but groups had grown bigger, stronger, different camps & forming states vying for power. & RARER walkers meant you got less practise, anyway.
‘ NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ‘ROUND, OR HOW CLEAR THE AREA LOOKS. no matter what anyone says, no matter what you think... ‘ Rick’s voice rang in his ears; so long ago now. it was a GIFT he’d never wanted. but it had SAVED his life. ‘ it only takes one second. one second and it’s over. ‘
CARL PAUSED, LOWERING HIS GAZE BUT A MOMENT. ‘ that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy, or, laugh. or care about people. it just means------ being SMART. being ready to do what you have too. t’ do the RIGHT THING. ‘ that bit was NEW. his own addition. they weren’t on the ROAD, it did not need to be as starkly real.










