Win Some, Lose Some [Open]

[Emmy Robin]

Nothing could or would ever be the same. She had heard almost everyone say that one time or another since this whole fiasco had begun. Heck even Jeremy had said it. Even she had said it. But when she said it Jeremy would make some sort of joke and she would make one back. That was the friendship. That was one thing, despite the circumstances, that had not changed. Not until they had gotten separated that one day. That had made Emmy so angry, even now. Even if he was de.. No. She couldn't think that.

As she bent down and grabbed a water bottle from one of the coolers that her group had brought. It was early morning, time didn't really exist any longer so it was hard to put an exact numeral count on it. Unscrewing the top of her own thermos, a black one with painted yellow tape reading 'caution: awesomeness ahead' that she had brought from her old life back in New York City. Some things you could keep with you. They couldn't go run off. They couldn't mess around and get themselves kill...No. She was starting to go down that road again. No. Just no.

Taking a sip of the water she cringed slightly. She had never really liked water all that much despite the fact that it was necessary, ironically, for life. She had always been a soda girl. Unhealthy as it was, not like it mattered now, that's what she was used to and what she liked. She didn't drink coffee, only sometimes did she dip into tea, but soda... That was what she always had near by. But unfortunately that was a rarity nowadays, so rare in fact that she hadn't actually had a bottle in a month. She hated to admit it but deep down that was one of the reasons that she was actually glad to have ended up near Atlanta. It was the biggest city they had encountered since Philadelphia and that meant more options for tools, food, etc... And of course more walkers. But you won some you lose some.

Swallowing down more water she sighed and sat down on the top of the closed cooler (there wasn't any ice in it anyways so it wasn't chilly) and let out a sigh. It was early enough in the morning that no one from the group had gotten up yet neither from Rick Grimes' party or her own (which technically was Rick's now). That was the first thing Emmy had made certain of when she saw the large explosion and practically chased their RV down when eventually the two groups combined into one.

She didn't want to be the leader. She didn't want to be the one to make the decision calls for other people. She didn't want that responsibility and made sure Rick knew it so he eventually agreed to be 'leader' though he was hesitant about saying the title. Unfortunately for Emmy some people still came to her for advice and no matter how much she tried to redirect them to Rick or Shane, they kept on coming back. Sometimes it was more difficult to break humans of habits than it was the brain dead walkers.

Currently they were held up in a warehouse on the outskirts of Atlanta. A few walkers had been inside but they had disposed of them relatively quickly and no lives were lost... This time. They would stay here until things outside had cooled down, or at least until they had no choice but to leave because of lack of resources. Emmy didn't like the idea of anyone going back out there, the kids especially, and was actually pondering venturing out into the open to find some stocked abandoned stores to prolong and expand their provisions. This of course was ridiculous and dangerous but still... It'd be help. And better yet it'd be a reason to actually be out and moving. Oh god what she wouldn't give to be moving.

Taking another sip of her drink she hung her head and ran her right hand through her strands of brown hair. God what she wouldn't give for a shower or at least a water supply. Emmy was tough and could handle not bathing for a day, maybe even two, but this was getting to be a problem.

It was when she heard someone stumble and trip behind her that she hopped to her feet eyes widened. Instinct was what brought her there and ready to fight to only discover that it was just a part of the group. A familiar one at that.

"Whoah. You can't sneak up on people like that." She warned in a hushed voice, rushing in a few quick steps to the source leaning forward as she tried not to wake anybody who might be asleep nearby.

[ambrose]

Morning. He knew it was morning, even with his eyes closed. He had grown accustomed to the scent of the early morning dew and also the way the air would feel on his bare skin. He turned to the opposite side and folded his hands together, mumbling in his sleep. The floor wasn’t really comfortable for him, as they were now inside a warehouse. He preferred the ground better, because it was softer especially when there was grass involved. Of course, though, the bugs weren’t really pleasant, but at least they had bug-exterminating spray. Well, most of the time they would have it, at least until they ran out of it. Lucky for the child, he had found some of said spray in a room within the building, although he didn’t think he would need it much. Instead of using it, he packed it into his mother’s bag.

A gentle breeze fluttered in the building, and he shivered a bit. He was only in his boxer shorts, and he had basically wrestled with his sheet during the night, so it was a sudden chill down the boy’s spine. He grumbled as he turned and laid on his stomach, grabbing the top of the sheet that he could reach and then pulling up to his shoulders while adjusting his legs to wrap them up in the sheet as well. He was glad for his pillow, where his face was buried into for the moment. Then he thought of water. Water sounded pretty good for him right now. But groggily, the boy’s eyes slowly opened, and only half awake, he slowly rose to his knees. He scratched an itch off his chest and then stood up from there. Although he was thirsty, he wasn’t in a rush to fetch a bottle of water. Being a well-behaved child, he would’ve usually waited for someone else to wake up so he could have some without getting in trouble.

He yawned as he turned on his heel and glanced around. He could see the others a little. It was still too dark, though, to make out everyone’s faces, but he knew they were all sleeping. But then he noticed that two sleeping bags were empty. One was his, and another wasn’t. He scratched his head, trying to remember just who was sleeping in that particular bag. With another yawn, he ventured out into the open area headed for the coolers. But first, he halted to grab his shirt. His pants, he would put on later, when he was more alert and wouldn’t trip face first onto the cold floor by losing his footing. He started to rub his eyes as he started making his way again. After he had managed to rub out most of the sleep from his eyes, he started to adjust the shirt so that he could put it on properly. He was getting closer and closer to the cooler now. He halted when he saw a woman sitting on it, but noticed soon enough that she was one of them. He gently started to put his shirt over his head, letting it fall while it obscured his view of his surroundings, beginning to walk onward to the cooler. But he didn’t notice the wire ahead of his feet, and soon enough, he found himself tripping, his shirt halfway off with one of his arms having gone through one of the sleeves.

“Whoa!” He gasped when he hit the floor. Just then, he could hear the woman say something but her voice was so faint, he could even barely hear it. “Why are you talking so low? You don’t have to whisper, you know?” He grumbled as he got back on his feet and managed to fix his shirt properly. He made his way over to the cooler, keeping an eye out for any wires. “Can I have some water?” He pointed to the cooler that she was sitting on. Of course, he did think it was a little rude that she was in his way, and that she was actually sitting on everyone’s water. “You know, I don’t think anyone would want to drink your butt…” He smirked, trying to be funny in the worst of times. But he did his best to be nice. He didn’t really know the woman well, only that she had wanted his father to take full responsibility of her own group. He wondered if that was a good thing, but he did have a good reason to be worried.

[Emmy Robin]

Emmy raised her brow skeptically at the little boy. "Well because other people are trying to sleep don't you know. There are other people here than just you kid." She stated still soft but her voice was now low with a bit of a sarcastic biting edge to it. She had recognized the boy right away as Carl Grimes the son of Ricl Grimes the supposed leader of the survivor group. Upon arrival Emmy had almost instantly relinquished any of her leadership jobs onto Rick as she didn't want any of the responsibility. She couldn't take much more of the getting attached and losing thing. Not anymore.

"There's other people to look out for other than just yourself." She added as an after thought with a slight cock of her head before she reached out and gave the hem of the boy's shirt a light tug forcing it back down in it's rightful place. Sarcastic, witty or not she was still a caring individual who looked out for others and usually before herself. Whether they be adults of children. Emmy had a knack for getting along with children very well however. Her relationship with each child in the group was different. With Eliza the little daughter of Carol she was much more accomodating, soft, and sweet while with Carl she had the freedom to have an adult sort of conversation. It was in the way he carried himself, often times you just forgot that he was indeed a little boy.

"Funny, I always thought kids over the age of four could dress themselves." She quipped teasingly with a hint of a smirk as she raised her right brow at the boy. "How old are you Carl? Five then?" This would probably insult him but it was early, she was bored, and heck Emmy liked poking fun at people and this included kids sometimes. And besides... Carl had started it!

Back and sitting on the cooler she looked up at him, hands resting on either side of the top as she reclined. "Can you? Yes. May you? Probably not..." She stated cooly. Now she was just toying with him but only because she knew the boy could take it. "And I'll have you know that my butt is a freaking delicacy." Rising to her feet she turned around to open the cooler as she continued speaking. "So it's a damn honor that my butt is anywhere near the water supply." And without looking at Carl she held out her hand which held an unopened bottle of water jacked in one of their previous travels.

"There you go." Turning around to face one of the youngest of the group her hands rested on her hips and her head lulled to one side. "What else can I do you for?"

[ambrose]

He rolled his eyes at her. He felt that she was being rude for the most part, but he understood she was only trying to poke a stick at a possum. As cranky as he was, he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to give her any more ammunition. But he was surprised to find that she was adjusting his shirt, and mainly confused because he had already fixed it, he just stood there staring at her with his eyebrows furrowed. “Oh, shut up,” he muttered and answered her inquiry about his age, “I’m eleven.” He could barely hear her, so rubbed his ears lightly.

“I can dress myself, thank you very much.” He wasn’t really fond of her at the moment, but at least she was offering him some water upon his request. He smirked at her and gave her a slight shrug, “You got a big fat butt, I’m surprised the walkers aren’t cooking it now.” He knew just how bad women hated it if someone told a woman that her butt was big, but he hoped she wouldn’t do something as stupid as slapping him. His parents were too asleep that they wouldn’t see it, and if he tried to tell on her, they wouldn’t really believe him.

He unscrewed the cap of the bottle and started taking a sip, but then the woman had asked him something, and it immediately made him feel very uncomfortable. In fact, he was so uncomfortable that he dropped the water bottle, and gasped as if the woman had just turned into a walker right before him. “Why the hell do you want to do me?! I’m just a kid and you’re, you’re like, eighty years old! Ew!” He didn’t bother to pick up the bottle, didn’t mind the spilled water over his feet, but he was turning around ready to run for his parents’ aid. “I’m telling my mom!” He couldn’t believe his ears. Although, he really misunderstood her, but then again, he was only a child. He could believe anything he would hear, even though he had matured quite a bit over the course of the past month of so, because of all the bloody walkers and the madness with them.

[Emmy Robin]

"Wow. Shut up. Does your dad know that you talk like that?" She smirked a bit as she held the water bottle over his head. Well, this would most certainly be the most amusing part of the day. Emmy wasn't taller than many people but with Carl it wasn't even a competition and this was one victory that she would relish in especially if he was sporting the kind of attitude that he currently had. Little smart ass. Then again Emmy was a big smart ass. They'd either even each other out or meet in the middle and combust in a huge explosion. Both would be beneficial if only for messing with the routine of the day which had become so mundane since everyone had welled themselves up in the warehouse.

"Oh no! Shut up. I'm going to tell your mom!" She retorted in a completely fake, childlike voice before lifting the bottle even higher up over his head. She sucked in her left cheek and bit down on the inside as if to keep herself from cussing. "You want to be eleven? Act eleven and stop with the commentary." And with that she brought the bottle back level with Carl for him to take.

"Walkers can't cook. I give that joke a four for effort but you messed up the dismount." She quipped making some sort of pun in regards to her judging it, honestly she didn't care if he understood it or not. It was like talking to a wall as is. It didn't take much for her to notice him rubbing his ear, instantly her brow rose in question. "What's that all about?" She more so insisted than requested, nodding toward him. Currently it took all of her might not to snatch the bottle of water right back in order to force some sort of honest response out of the kid.

Out of no where the kid dropped the water bottle and she watched with slightly widened eyes as it spilled all over the floor. "What the hell are you doing?!" Instantly she went down on her knees to snatch it right back up and screw the cap back on. Water was a precious resource nowadays and if it wasn't it would be soon enough. She was in utter surprise but Carl's panicked question turned her to plain shock.

"What?!" Blinking with confusion she straightened onto her own two feet. It was during those few moments that she understood the misconception and then rolled her eyes. "It's a saying. It means what can I do for you." With that she roughly chucked the water bottle at his back during his attempt to run. "Idiot."

[ambrose]

He raised an eyebrow. How could his parents get upset with his teasing around like that? If he was swearing, then he would understand. But then again, he wasn’t swearing, and he was only picking on the young woman after all. He realized he had to basically bite the bait when he saw that she was holding the water bottle high over him. His eyes narrowed at her, his frown turned even deeper, and it was immediately obvious that the boy wasn’t pleased with that. It was rude to do something like that to a child, anyone would know that. Especially when they weren’t even related. If only she had balls… Then he could bring her to a world of unspeakable pain.

“Whatever,” said the youth with a smirk of his head as he finally grabbed the bottle, although it had been lowered to him during their little conversation. He had rubbed his ears during that time, and looked up to see that the woman had raised her own eyebrow. “What?” He asked, wondering what that look was for. But he didn’t have to wait around for an answer when she had asked that particular question that he had completely but immediately misunderstood. He had dropped the bottle, and saw that she had bent down. He didn’t let her have enough time to bend down all the way before he had turned on his heel and started running for cover, so to speak. Cover provided by his parents whom he knew could beat the living daylights out of that pervert.

Just then, something hit him in the back, and he fell on his knees, scraping them in the process. The skin were pulled off, and the wound was burning, but Carl didn’t care. He just wanted to get up and run. But then he turned around, wondering if instead he could confront her and beat her up. After all, he wanted to know just what had hit him from behind. He glanced across the floor as he started to stand up and saw the bottle that he had been drinking off. It had dirty water in it now, but it was capped, as if he had never opened it in the first place. “I ain’t drinking that,” he growled at the woman as he lowered himself into a crouching position, ready to strike. Then he lunged across the room at her, having attempted just now to tackle her to the ground. “That’s what you get, pervert!” He started to try and slap at her face while he was on her. He figured whatever happened, he could take care of it himself anyway. He was eleven years old, and after all, she wanted him to act his age. So she asked for it to start with.

Otherwise, he simply stood up, panting as he turned away and started walking for his parents’ sleeping bags. But then he realized something. He turned and blinked at the woman. If she had wanted to hurt him, she would’ve done it anyway. She was definitely bigger than him, and he was only a child, more vulnerable to anyone like her, or at least what he thought she was. He scratched his head and gulped, wondering if he hadn’t just pretty much broken a non-existent law just now. He didn’t really like that he had tackled her, or tried to harm her, since she was only a woman. If he had to run, he needed to run for fear of her now, not because he wanted his parents to protect him. But instead, he decided to try and be mature about it, and muttered under his breath, “… Sorry.”

[Emmy Robin]

She did feel guilty when Carl fell to the ground as a result of her throwing a water bottle. It hadn't been her intention to hurt him or anything. She was just picking on him like she would have with her own little brother back in her hometown... If it even was a hometown anymore. She hadn't been since the... Well... This mess had happened. She didn't even know if her family was alive and it was a question that plagued her every single day, but she couldn't let it show. So, in a way, she was using Carl as a surrogate for that little brother connection so for him to misconstrude it was another source of tension that she just didn't need.

She felt even worse when the boy rose back to his feet and faced her. She could see that he had knocked up his knees, not bad enough to cripple him obviously or even hurt him immensely, however it was enough to leave a mark (thankfully he wasn't bleeding which was NEVER good in this day and age with the Walkers around) but she still felt guilty never the less. For a split second this guilt showed itself on her face only to be swallowed back down and disappear once more. There was no room for feelings recently either. Heck, even before the Walkers started sprouting up she rarely showed them, only to close friends like Jeremy. That was another feeling that needed to be swallowed back down. He was gone. Maybe even dead. Probably dead... Or one of them... The very thought made her sick to her stomach.

"Well you better. We can't afford to let it go to waste. And anyways it isn't like any of the contents touched the floor just the freaking contain-" But she couldn't even finish that statement because by that point Carl had launched himself onto her hollering something and proceeding to repeatedly slap her in the face. Over and over and over again.

She cringed, closing her eyes to protect them from any dangerously close swipes. Her arms lifted and raised and her hands blindly found their way to each of his shoulders holding him off of her slightly even as she laid on her back on the ground. "What the heck is your problem? Get the hell off of me! Now!" With one final shove he was finally off and Emmy was rolling onto all fours.

Her brown eyes stared down at the ground as she gathered her breath more so from surprise than actually being hurt and then she moved to slowly rise to her own two feet. "What the hell are you trying to do? Wake everybody up? Christ!" She murmured in a hushed voice as she occupied herself with dusting off her jeans. In doing so hopefully she would also regain her pride which was lost upon being caught off guard.

Pulling at her sleeves which had become tossled in the debacle she murmured under her breath, not even looking up at the boy. "Yeah, yeah... Whatever." She all but cast him away without so much more of a look before bringing her hand down to clasp her lower arm. Carl had managed to scratch her there and it was bleeding. Not a lot, hell, not even a little, but a few little drops of blood had formed. She pressed down on the little dots with her hand. It'd stop quick enough and better yet it wasn't a wound it wouldn't hinder her movement nor would the aroma bring Walkers close. Not really a win but not a loss either.

"You don't play well with the other kids do ya?"

[ambrose]

He managed to tackle her, which made him feel slightly good. Then the slapping started, but she tried to fight against that, and in the end she was able to knock him off. Well, that was when he realized just what he had done, especially after he noticed the small cut he had given the young woman. That started to get him feeling bad, and so he had started to walk away. But instead, he stopped short and wanted to apologize quickly, although he was still uncomfortable with her. However, he knew he could’ve misunderstood what she was trying to say, since he knew he had issues with his hearing. So after all, what he had just done was probably for nothing. The idea was to defend himself, of course, but from what, was the question.

“What?” He asked as he looked up, confused. It sounded like the woman had asked him something else, but he didn’t hear it at all. Or rather, he didn’t understand it. He rubbed his ears again carefully and muttered under his breath before speaking up clearly, “What did you say?” He raised an eyebrow curiously as he faced her, trying his best to ignore the cut or the burning sensation he had on his knees. Maybe when he put the jeans on they would stop hurting, but somehow he really doubted that. His knees were badly scraped, of course, and anything, like cotton, being pressed against them could only make the pain worse. He didn’t like pain. He never had a broken bone once in his life, never got bit, but did have plenty of cuts and scrapes.

He started to slowly approach the woman, not wanting her to freak out or do anything stupid, like spank him. Although he wasn’t sure if he would’ve not minded that. But then again, just because he had a crush on her, without even knowing it, didn’t mean he had to be in love with her or anything like that. Wait a minute. Did he just realize he had a crush on this pervert? That wouldn’t be good for him, and if he could, he would’ve gulped. But of course, he couldn’t just gulp right in front of the woman he was having a crush on. Basically, he would have to admit why he just gulped, and he was usually honest. He hoped she wouldn’t catch on to it, nor his parents.

“Sorry,” he said again after a moment of silence. “But you hurt me first. And you freaked me out.” He grumbled under his breath as he reached her and the cooler. He hadn’t picked up the bottle that she had roughly chucked at him, since he wasn’t going to bother with it, but hopefully, if he was being polite and apologetic, and… He looked up at her with an expression that no one would dare deny; the famous puppy face, with his eyes so big and sad and his lips curled into a begging pout. “May I please have a fresh bottle of water?” Then he folded his hands together and held them up in a begging position, finishing the wonderful, traditional pose of the sadistic begging boy.

[Emmy Robin]

Her right hand hastily wiped across her left underside of her arm. Rolling up her sleeve to keep it as clean as possible (you needed to prolong the cleanliness of everything nowadays as long as you could) she frowned, her back to the boy she bit down on her bottom lip before using her right thumb to gently wipe at the scratch. The kid was half Wolverine for sure and not the cool comic book character either. Wolverine had always been one of her favorites. She had also been a fan of Batman if only for the fact that he didn't have super human powers. Same with Iron Man. Emmy tended to side with the sidekicks or the unsuper heroes if only because they decided on their own to help people. To fight back. Like they could possibly be real. Oh god, they could all use a hero right about now.

When he asked her twice more to repeat herself, in a round about way, she snapped back into protector mode spinning around on her lime green converse clad heel. "I knew it! Something's wrong with your ears!" She proclaimed loudly, not caring if anyone else from other rooms of the abandoned building heard. She was making a valid point after all. She was right and it was one of the few times she actually was and could own up to it! "Something's wrong with your ears." Her brown eyes were focused hard on him, unwaivering even after the events that had transpired with him pouncing on her just mere seconds earlier.

But, insistent as she was, she still didn't want to scare the boy and slowly released a tired sigh from her throat. The harshness dropped for her eyes and just for a moment concern took over as she walked toward Carl closing the distance between them. "I'm right, aren't I?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a gentle statement. It was blaringly obvious now and Emmy couldn't help but wonder how the boy's father hadn't noticed something so telling. Then again it wasn't like Rick wasn't busy enough. Leading was a full time job.

"You're like my brother. Terrible liar." She concluded before, without even asking, she reached out and gently, yet firmly, took his chin in her hands tilting his head slightly. Squinting somewhat in the dimness she peered inside though really, what good would that do? In the end she just wanted to feel productive. "You're a couple years younger but swear to god just as stubborn as he is." She continued as she went about continuing to study him over only to release him and take a step back giving him 'some' space. So, she had a brother! It was one of the many things Emmy rarely, if ever, brought up: her family. No one really knew anything about her past (other than Jeremy and a select few others) and honestly, no one probably ever would.

"I'm sorry I freaked you out kid. But I'm not sorry I said what I did." And that was as much as you'd get out of the stubborn young woman but that should have been good enough. Then again Carl was a child, he was free to debate anything. Noting the puppy dog expression a little smile crossed her lips, though she didn't laugh, and turning around she reopened the cooler and fished out another bottle, handing it to him.

"There. We'll trade." After all, there was no point in letting water go to waste. You had to save and use every little bit of resources that you had. That was unofficial law.

[ambrose]

If he wasn’t so appalled by the woman’s sudden exclamation, he would’ve been freaking out. Instead, he was only standing there rooted to the floor, blinking in utter confusion at the young woman. Exactly what was with her, he would never know for sure, but he knew one thing; she was definitely weird. Of course something was wrong with his ears, but he was surprised she had just now discovered that. His parents had known for some time, as well as most of his own group. But then again, it could be his fault for not letting her know sooner. After all, she wasn’t really that smart if she had just found out about it now.

He scratched his chest to chase away an itch and blinked again when she had started talking. Something about him being like someone, like her mother or brother, and immediately he glared at her, for either reason; if she had said he was like her mother, then she was basically implying he was either gay or feminine. But if she had said he was like her brother, then she was basically implying she didn’t mind incest! But then again, he stopped his train of thoughts and reminded himself that he was just misunderstanding most of what she was saying. At least he hadn’t gone completely deaf, although little did anyone know that his right ear was permanently damaged now. Another explosion and he would definitely be deaf all right.

Then she said she wouldn’t apologize, basically. He just glared at her again, but handed her the bottle with the dirty water as she handed him a fresh bottle. He unscrewed the cap and took a long gulp but kept his eyes glued on her in case she would make any sudden movement. He was slightly uncomfortable what with his wearing little, a shirt and a pair of boxers with smiley faces on white, so as soon as he screwed the cap back on, he pointed to his sleeping bag and muttered, “I’m going to get my jeans on…” He departed, and then in a couple of minutes returned to the woman, wearing his denim jeans now. “Thank you.” He said as he took another sip of his water. “I never actually got your name, I don’t think.” He scratched his head, wondering if she had indeed introduced herself in the first place. He was sure she knew his name, though. But just in case, “Mine’s Carl.”

[Emmy Robin]

There was just no pleasing this kid it seemed. Even when she acted on very good intentions, though she rarely ever acted on harsh ones, he seemed upset with her. Oh well, you couldn't fix a problem that didn't want to be fixed and you certainly couldn't make someone like you who had no interest in even being respectful toward you. She knew this better than anyone. Years of being a writer and at the low end of the totem poll as selfish actors wreaked all the benefits had taught her this skill. It was one very few people possessed and was quite rare: An understanding for how absolutely crappy human civilization could be. The world was shit. There was no denying that. Especially now.

"You do that." Emmy nodded turning around to tend to her own things beside the cooler. "Last thing you need is that Eliza girl waking up and seeing you in your skivvies. Especially those ones." She cast the comment over her shoulder as she opened her messenger bag, sifting through it. Eliza was the blonde haired daughter of Carol the woman who had been beaten by her husband who was now deceased. Eliza was one of the few children other than Carl in the group and one that had been a part of the group the longest. It was only natural, at least to Emmy, to tease the boy about the obvious. Two little kids at coincidentally opposite sexes... It was all too obvious.

At the question of her name her fingers wrapped around an object in her backpack and she pulled it out. A map. "That's cause I didn't give it." She stated simply, not even looking up as she opened the map. She had managed to yoink it during her own groups travels right when they crossed the border into Georgia. Why she still kept it was anybody's guess but Emmy knew why... Eventually she would leave. Someone would have to in order to get supplies, find more survivors, something productive. Course she wasn't about to announce that just yet.

"Nice to meet you Carl." Truth was she had already known his name. Conversation was limited with the group of survivors and it had come up multiple times, partially from Rick Grimes and partially from others but Emmy wasn't about to take Carl's one victory of being mature away from him. No for now she sat on the edge of the cooler and just focused her attention on the map. "My name's Emmy, some people call me Emma. Some call me Robin. Some call me Emmy, or Em, or whatever... But I reckon you'll just call me whatever the hell you please..."

[ambrose]

He glared at her for a brief moment when she mentioned Eliza. If he could, he would’ve blushed, but he was already far enough just realizing that she had seen him in his boxers already. It wasn’t a fun sight, especially when he just realized that he had a crush on this dreadful sick woman. How could he? It wasn’t right, but he was a growing boy, and things happened, things that would be out of his control. “Blah,” he said to the woman as he departed. Momentarily, he would return donned in his usual attire yet he was barefoot, which was a rare sight for the boy. But then again, he was inside. Why wear socks and shoes?

He blinked at her for some time, trying his best to comprehend just what she was saying to him. He wished there was some way they could communicate better. He hadn’t ever learned sign language although he had wanted to for some time in the past, but he never actually found the motivation to stay focused on it. He wished by now he had been paying attention and been more determined. Even then, though, it wasn’t like she would know sign language anyway. It didn’t seem like anyone in the group would know sign language, to be honest. He frowned as he reached up and scratched at his hair a bit before turning away and yawning.

By now, there was little movement in the sleeping bags. People would be starting to wake up at around this time, his parents usually being the last. Shane always tried to take him away before they would wake up so they could spend some time, so the man would say, but Carl had been told countless times by his mother not to even talk to the man. It was like he was forbidden to see Shane. But Shane wasn’t up yet, and so he wondered just what he could do. He looked over at Emmy, and frowned slightly, uncertain of what to do. It looked like she had pulled out some kind of map, and he had a feeling she was getting ready to leave. “How ‘bout I go with you?” He asked immediately without thinking.

[Emmy Robin]

Carl's question, or rather offer, that had come seemingly out of nowhere had caught her by surprise. Blinking her posture perked up and she turned her focus off of the map and onto him from where she sat on the cooler. "You?..." She wasn't sure which had her more doubtful: The fact that he was a child making a very adult decision, the fact that he had spoke up to spend more time with her at all because he seemed to hate her so, the idea that he had figured out she was planning on going somewhere, or the fact that he thought he had the authority to make such a call.

"You want to go... With me..." She repeated, still a bit dimwitted that he had made such an offer and so realistically! Her brow furrowed in confusion and she felt her nose wrinkle. And then there it was. "Where? To ToysRUs?" The word vomit that was her sarcasm. It had been accompanied by a crass little smirk but she suddenly regretted the habit and soon swallowed it down now the smile all the way gone from her face. She didn't want to hurt Carl's feelings, he was apparently trying to be kind and she wasn't going to penalize him for that but certainly he wasn't serious! And if he was he certainly didn't expect that to be okay!

"Nah I'm sorry kid, I don't think your mom or dad would agree with that one." She remarked, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders she went about folding up the map. Secretly she hoped that Cal wouldn't inadvertently spread the word that she was planning on possibly leaving... And for whatever reason. Somehow it was easier to pawn it off on the parents worrying about the kid then to tell the boy he was too little. That would be a smack in the face for sure.

"And besides..." She rose up off the cooler and knelt down shoving the map back into her worn messenger bag. "Who said I was going anywhere?" A bad lie, Emmy had never been a fantastic one despite her light acting training, but still she'd do her best to keep the thought of leaving the furthest from Rick Grimes' little boy's mind.

[ambrose]

He frowned immediately. She wasn’t being nice to him right now, what with the comment about this stupid old store that always claimed they had the lowest prices of all. Liars, a bunch of liars. He had wanted to get some video games from there once but they weren’t reasonably within the family’s budget, and he couldn’t find such games anywhere else. So he always hated that store with a passion after that. They lost a customer, but somehow they still managed to draw others in. Those evil bastards, evil indeed. Now that there were zombies around, he supposed the store was gone for good. But he really doubted it. He just knew he would never ever go to one in his entire life ever again.

“Shut up,” he muttered but then the woman had picked up the conversation again. In the end, she had given him a look and said she wasn’t going to go anywhere. But the boy knew better than that. He wasn’t three years old anymore, he was eleven and smarter than Emmy took him for. He pondered for a moment of what he could do, and then heard someone stirring awake. He glanced down the room and saw someone sitting up. It was neither of his parents, though, but in fact someone he didn’t really want to see him. He sighed, but then glared at the woman threateningly. “I will tell.” He nodded to the map. Indeed, people would get suspicious if they found out she had a map of all things.

“Honestly, I will.” He repeated to show that he meant what he was saying. He folded his arms and tapped his foot as he waited. “I can go with you when you do go, but if you’re going now, I’m going. Even if I have to sneak up behind you and all. I don’t want Sh-” He stopped himself immediately. He didn’t want her to know he was a little scared. “Ahem, I wouldn’t want you getting yourself hurt. If I let you go and Mom finds out I knew you left and all, she would kill me. You wouldn’t want that, now would you? So either way, I have to go with you. The only way you could really keep me from going is to knock me out and you sure ain’t gonna do that.”

[Emmy Robin]

Her eyes briefly cast a glance toward whoever was stirring. She couldn't quite make out who it was but she didn't necessarily care. That is until Carl spoke up. Immediately her gaze snapped directly onto him with a certain kind of coldness and a demanding urgency. "Oh yeah? And tell on me for what? For you misunderstanding the makeup of a sentence? Yeah. I'm shaking in my sneakers." She shot back. She didn't feel threatened at all in that retrospect.

She gave up all hope of lying and instead just closed the distance between the two of them, marching right up to the boy. "And so what if I was planning on going somewhere? What're you going to do about it? Sorry kid but I'm pretty sure I could take you." She added very flatly, leaving little to no room for argument. Emmy could be stubborn as hell and with this kid saying he was going to up and leave his family on a whim had her insistent and mad. Sometimes kids just didn't know what to be grateful for!

"You're being an idiot. You're following for the sake of following. That's not safe. It's not smart. If you've lasted this long, parents or not, you have to be smart so start acting like it." Reaching out she gave his chest a light push though not nearly hard enough to make him go backwards, it was more of a wake up call. "Furthermore you don't even know me. I popped up days ago with a group. I gave your dad said group. You follow him. Not me. I am not anyone's responsibility and you're not mine." Hopefully some of this would sink in with the boy. Sometimes you had to be harsh to get an idea through thick skulls.

"You have no obligation to me and quit trying to play hero like your dad. It's admirable when he does it, when you butcher it it's not even amusing." Hopefully these comments would get the kid to stay put no matter how determined he was. "If I were you I'd worry less about my parents killing me and more about the Walkers getting me." More than anything she hoped that last thought would stay with him and make him stay put.

"What I want is for you to leave me alone." But this was all hopeless and she knew it. Carl was showing little to no signs of backing down, and so, with a sigh she gave in... For now. "Fine. I'm going to go get some rest... Think I can go and do that by myself Lieutenant?"