S H I V A

Carl stumbled a little as Shiva shifted to lean against him, barely keeping on his feet as he buried his face against her neck. The noise was one that he’d never heard before meeting the tiger. A heavy, grumbling huff of breath that Ezekiel explained was the tiger equivalent of a purr. She was trying to comfort him, and some how the realization brought tears to his eyes.

“I wish my mom was still here,” his voice trembled, wetness slipping from his cheeks to the burnt orange fur. “I wish Shane hadn’t tried to hurt dad. I wish this had all been a dream. I wish I had woken up. Wish I didn’t get ATTACHED to people. We’re just gonna lose everyone anyway right? N’ it’s not like it’s just the walkers. People are killing people, fuck, we’re running ourselves to EXTINCTION.” He didn’t know when his voice had started to raise, or when the few drips of tears had become an unstoppable torrent, hiccuping sobs breaking up his words towards the end.

He was just a KID. How was he supposed to deal with any of this?

@thelasttiger​ said: *headbutts*

Carl rarely looked so lost, especially in the company of anyone who knew him. But, he supposed a tiger was different. His mom used to say that animals bring out the best in people, that they helped people HEAL. Maybe that was why when Shiva butted against his chest, Carl found himself clinging to the beast as if she were his only lifeline. 

“Do you think we’re gonna make it, Shiva?” His voice was a whisper, not really expecting any sort of answer, even as the tiger leveled him with a sage like look from her great yellow eyes. Fingers danced in the dense, striped fur, curling near her haunches. “I don’t know if I can do this any more.”