ೀ ། ་ ᱙ ׅ Ivelle .ᐟ ׅ

And that was apparently all the conversation he intended to contribute.

You snorted.

He looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing,” You replied innocently, flashing him a small, teasing smile before facing forward again.

"Why're you laughing?" He frowned, already feeling slightly offended.

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm really not."

Carl rolled his eye and started walking down the road, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Whatever."

The two of you had been assigned to a supply run together. Nothing huge, no dangerous mission. Just checking a few abandoned neighborhoods a couple miles outside Alexandria for canned food, batteries, medicine—anything useful.

The road stretched ahead of you, cracked pavement swallowed by weeds. The world was quiet except for birds and the occasional distant groan of a walker somewhere unseen.

Carl walked beside you. The trip was mostly silent, as neither of you knew how to start a conversation with the other or what to even talk about. Sure, you hung out together a few times with the other teens in Alexandria, but it’s not like you two were that close. You didn’t mind his presence. In fact, you liked it. It was nice to meet someone new, around your age, that wasn’t a total dickhead like Ron and actually cared about what was going on behind the walls.

"You think we'll find anything?" you asked.

"Maybe." He murmured.

"That's your answer?"

"Yeah."

"… You know, normal people use complete sentences."

Carl sighed dramatically.

"I think we might find supplies."

"There you go." You grinned again at him playfully.

He shot you a look.

Eventually you reached the neighborhood.

Rows of houses stood silent beneath the sun. Some had collapsed fences. Others were overgrown with vines. Most had already been picked clean years ago.

"We split up." He offered, looking around and analyzing the houses that went on into the not-so-far distance.

You nodded. "Three houses each?"

"Yeah."

"Whistle if something goes wrong?"

"Yeah."

"You'll come save me?"

He looked offended.

"Obviously."

"Just... don't do anything stupid."

You smiled.

"No promises."

The first house had a few CDs, comics, and some packs of ibuprofen and band-aids. The second had a few cans of food and batteries. The third did too, but whoever lived there seemed like they liked hunting and you found a small box of bullets hidden at the back of a cabinet. Not bad.

You stuffed everything into your bag and headed toward the meeting point.

Meanwhile, several streets away, Carl stood in the remains of a small suburban home. The place had been untouched for years. Most of the rooms were empty, and a thin layer of dust covered pretty much everything.

He'd already gathered some medicine and canned food when he wandered into what looked like a teenager's bedroom. The walls were faded pink, old and wrinkled posters of boy bands and video games hung crookedly. Carl felt a little bad about grabbing stuff that was not necessary at all and would only take space in his backpack, but that one poster of Science Dog was basically screaming at him on his face.

A jewelry box sat atop a dresser.

Carl almost ignored it.

Then something caught his eye.

A small silver pendant. Nothing expensive, just a simple little thing shaped like a star. It hung from a delicate chain. It looked quite a bit rusty already.

He picked it up.

The metal caught the sunlight streaming through the window.

For some reason, it immediately made him think of you.

Which was stupid.

Then looked around like someone might've witnessed the thought.

The room was empty. Obviously.

Still.

You'd probably like it.

Maybe.

Or maybe you wouldn't.

Maybe it was dumb.

People didn't just give people necklaces.

Did they?

Maybe they did.

He didn't know. He wasn't exactly an expert. The only examples of romance he'd ever really seen growing up were before the outbreak, in tv shows with awkward teenagers at school and whatever weird stuff happened between adults.

Neither seemed particularly helpful.

Carl turned the pendant over in his hand.

The star glimmered again.

It looked pretty.

You liked pretty things.

At least he'd noticed you stopping to admire flowers sometimes. And sunsets. And weird little trinkets left behind from before. You always saw beauty in things everyone else overlooked.

Carl swallowed.

Then quietly slipped the necklace into his pocket.

Just in case.

An hour later, you reunited near the neighborhood entrance.

Carl was already there, leaning against a mailbox, trying very hard to look casual.

You walked up.

"Find anything?" You questioned, hand holding one of the straps of your backpack around your shoulder, the other fixing the few little hairs that always seemed to escape your ponytail. No matter what you did, those damned hairs always managed to set free. It was irritating, even in a world where what you look like doesn’t even matter anymore.

"A little." He replied, his voice low and somewhat distant.

"That's it?"

"What?"

"That's all you're giving me?"

Carl groaned. "I found medicine."

"Good,” you nodded.

"Food,” he continued.

"Great."

"Batteries."

"Amazing."

"Can you stop it?"

You laughed.

The walk home started peacefully.

Then a small herd of walkers appeared from between two houses. Of course. Because nothing could ever be easy.

Carl immediately moved closer to you, his right hand already lowering to find the knife settled in between his belt and jeans. He had to get used to the fact that shooting a gun is not always a good idea.

"Six."

"I see them."

"We go around."

"Works for me."

The walkers shuffled toward you.

Carl raised his knife.

You raised yours.

The fight was over in less than a minute.

A few quick strikes, few heavy breaths.

Silence.

Carl wiped blood from his blade on the grass next to him.

"You okay?" His tone was still a little quiet, crouching to reach down comfortably.

You smiled.

"I'm okay."

Only then did he nod.

"Good."

By the time Alexandria came into view, the sun was beginning to set. Orange light spilled across the walls. The sight always brought relief.

The guards opened the gates.

You and Carl stepped inside.

People moved through the streets. Children laughed. Someone was grilling food.

For a moment it almost felt normal.

Carl walked beside you in silence.

And silence.

And more silence.

You glanced over.

He looked weird. Nervous. Which wasn’t that unusual at all. He always seemed to be annoyed for some reason, always mad at something, even when nothing was going on. Whatever. It probably wasn’t your business anyway.

Still, "You okay?" you asked.

Upon the sudden call for his attention, he was brought back from his mind to quickly turn his head towards you awkwardly. "Hm?"

"You've been acting strange."

"I'm not acting strange."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"Yeah."

He let out a mix of a frustrated sigh and grunt.

You cackled at how little it took to rile him up.

His face grew red. Which only made you more suspicious.

"Carl."

"What?"

"What is going on?"

"Nothing."

"Carl."

He stopped walking. You stopped too.

The evening sun painted everything gold. People passed by without paying attention.

Carl stared at the ground.

Then at you. Then away.

Then back at you.

You blinked.

"… So?"

His hand disappeared into his pocket.

Your heart suddenly sped up.

He looked like he wanted to run away.

Finally he pulled something out.

The silver star pendant.

Your eyes widened.

Carl practically shoved it toward you.

"I found it." He mumbled, already sounding like he wanted to get away from there and go back into his house.

"Oh."

"Thought you’d like it."

The words left his mouth.

Your chest melted.

Carl looked horrified.

"I mean—not because—"

He stopped. Started again. Then failed again.

"It just—"

Another pathetic stutter.

"… You like pretty stuff..."

You stared at him.

The necklace glimmered in the sunset.

And suddenly you couldn't stop smiling.

"Carl." You spoke calmly.

He looked ready to die.

"What?"

"It's beautiful."

"Oh."

As you gently took it from him, his shoulders relaxed a little.

"You really thought of me when you saw this?"

Carl rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess."

Your smile grew. "You know," you said softly, "that's kind of sweet."

Carl made a noise somewhere between a cough and a groan.

"Oh my God."

You laughed.

He rolled his eye.

But there was a smile now. A real one. Small, shy. The kind he didn't give many people.

You carefully closed your fingers around the pendant.

A simple little star. Worth almost nothing.

And somehow more valuable than any treasure left in the world.

“Thank you,” you said, the corners of your lips suddenly stuck upwards, unable to relax. “Help me put it on?”