Travelling through the multiverse starting with: The Walking Dead

Moving towards the sound Shane called out to Dale, "Hey, Dale, can you see what that is? Talk to me, Dale!"

Dale Called back trying to focus on his binoculars, "I can't tell yet."

From the side Amy questioned Dale, "Is it them? Are they back?"

"I'll be damned." Dale muttered.

"What is it?" Amy Asked.

Dale still staring down the binoculars, "A stolen car is my guess."

The car—a rusted Dodge Charger, its wailing siren still echoing—came skidding to a stop near the center of camp. Glenn was the first to hop out, his face alight with excitement, but tension laced his hurried movements.

Still jumpy from the past few days his hyper voice comes out. "Hello."

Dale moved towards the car getting Glens attention, "Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off!"

"I don't know how."

Shane approached Glen and the car trying not to lash out he says "Pop the hood, please. Pop the damn hood, please."

Amy ever eager called over Shane's shoulder trying to get Glen's attention, "My sister Andrea…"

Shane still being ignored, finally blew up. "Pop the damn hood!"

Having his attention finally, Glen turns to Shane. Overwhelmed by the bombardment of everyone, he sees Shane about to blow a brain vessel, "What? Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah!"

Glenn moves around to the drivers seat and tries to find the release latch.

"Is she okay? Is she all right?" Amy still not having had her answer keeps calling.

Glenn after moments of pulling at random things, pops the hood so Shane can disconnect the battery to turn the alarm off.

Glenn turned to Amy, "She's okay! She's okay!"

"Is she coming back?"

"Yes!"

"Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?"

"Yes! Yeah, fine. Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much." The last couple of words came out strangled.

Shane having taken a couple of breathes to calm down turns to Glenn only to see a smug smile on his face from his joyride and blows up again, "Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles?"

Dale trying to de-escalate the situation intervened, "I think we're okay."

Turning to Dale, "You call being stupid okay?" 

Rational as ever Dale came up with a feasible excuse "Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"

Elliott spoke from behind Shane, Carl attached to his side, "It won't matter, with how loud all of you are they'll be here soon anyway." His face stayed cold, the tone of his voice making it seem like a curse had just been unleashed upon everyone.

Shane looked at Elliott thankful for the backup. Glenn looked at Elliott then at Shane with a 'Who is he?' expression.

Shane shook his head saying 'Don't worry about it'. Glenn's focus came back to the conversation. "Sorry. Got a cool car." He smiles at everyone, proud of himself.

Taking there focus off Glen, Shane and Elliott hear another vehicle approach, Carl knowing they had better hearing than others followed their line of site. One by one all the group turned and then finally Glen.

The sound of a truck reached everyone's ears. 

It came to a stop and Andrea jumps out looking around for Amy, "Amy. Amy"

Amy seeing her sister cries out for her attention, "Andrea!"

Andrea runs up to Amy and the two sisters hug falling to the floor. Morales coming from the truck opens his arms wide and his kids jump straight into them, embracing them in a big hug.

Carl looks down upset. He knows he has Elliott and Shane now.

After how his mum has been neglecting him, Carl has been reflecting on his past noticing how this isn't any different from how it used to be. His dad would force her to spend time with him because he would always be at work. His dad never being there always confirmed his thoughts that his dad preferred the city he protected over his own son.

As time passed since the talk at the fire a couple of days ago, Carl's emotions had spiralled, he knew at this point he was going to leave with Elliott and Shane and nothing would change that, but after Elliott told him his dad was coming back he felt a bit hopeful at the thought.

Shane looks at Carl standing beside Elliott and goes to crouch down at his side.

"Carl, I know how you must be feeling but he is coming back remember? Elliott told us so, so don't worry."

Carl looked into Shane's eyes with confusion. "I'm not worried about anything. I know he is coming back but... I don't know if I want him too."

Shane's eyes went wide, shock evident in his face. He looks to Carl's eyes for an explanation and he can see that Carl is trying to supress his feelings. "Him being here is going to be confusing, for everyone. I've already decided I'm going with you both. And nothing is going to change that. I hate it here, this world is dying and there is nothing I can do to stop it."

Elliott crouched next to Shane making them both eye level with Carl. "Hey bud, It's ok to want to have hope." Carl looked into his eyes shocked that Elliott had figured that out. "Carl you have to know, we can't take him with us, but, eventually you may be able to come back and see him. Its and big 'but', but it could happen, but that is gonna take years. So if you want to see him again and talk to him, that's ok. He's still your dad."

Carl looked ahead his eyes flickering between Shane and Elliott. They both looked happy for him to talk to his dad. A smile appeared upon their lips and tears started to spill from his eyes. 

For the first time in days since his mum stopped talking to him, Carl's blue eyes lit up with emotion and he seemed happy. Carl reached out and put his arms around Elliott and Shane's neck's pulling the into his chest. 

Elliott's ears picked up the talk of the group around them.

Glenn was talking to Dale, "New guy… he got us out."

Dale concerned about someone else joining the camp asked, "New guy?"

Morales picked up the rest form there, "Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town. Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello."

Knowing what was to happen next Elliott pulled Shane and Carl away from the hug and said to Carl with a small smile and a pat to the chest. "Go say 'Hello' to your dad Little Soldier."

Rick came out of the truck he had arrived in and walked closer to the others questioning every step.

Morales turns and looks to Shane, "The guy's a cop like you."

Shane nods, if he had any doubts about Elliott now, they were all gone because looking up he could see his brothers' red eyes, confusion all over his face.

Rick looks up to see Shane's tall body towering next to a small figure.

Rick's eyes fall down to the small figure next to him and he sees his little boy, with a huge smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

Tears fall from Rick's eyes, "Oh my god."

Taking of as fast as an adult Carl sprinted to his dad.

"Dad! Dad!"

Rick takes Carl in his arms, crying.

"Carl. Oh!"

He kisses Carl on the cheek and starts squashing him in his arms.

Carl feels someone from behind him, squashing his back further into his dad's body. He knew it was Lori, it disturbed him how she could run straight into his arms without any sense of guilt. Carl ignored her presence and decided to take in the familiar scent of his dad.

The hug ends and Lori looks over at Shane, he stares at her with no emotion, Lori flinches back and Rick notices. 

Rick looks at Shane, seeing his friend look at his wife like that worries him. They got on well before the coma, what happened? 

Shane felt disgusted watching her so attached to him. Rick had no idea what Lori was like behind closed doors, to his friends, to his son. If she thought no one was gonna tell Rick then she was wrong.

Shane's eyes went to Rick, meeting them in the middle, although Shane knew he was coming back he was a bit surprised to see him. 

He wanted to be happy for Carl but a part of him wanted to pull Carl away and scream and shout at Lori and Rick that Carl was his. Theirs. 

The only thing holding him back was a hand that stretched across his waist cradling him in a firm grip.

Shane turned to Elliott and they walked off. The only reason they were here was to be with Carl. And he didn't want to look at two of the things that could take him away from them. 

~~~

Later that night Rick is sitting down with the group around a fire camp. Lori leaning against his shoulder with an arm around her and Carl laying across Ricks lap.

Everyone was eating their food around the fire, Shane and Elliot walked over with plates in their hands. 

Seeing the two men, Carl jumped off his dad and walked over to sit with them. Elliott and Shane sat down on a large log in front of the fire. Carl grabbed the second plate in Elliott's hand that was offered to him and sat on the ground between the two's legs.

Rick watched Carl stand up and walk away from him. He saw how Carl's face lit up as Shane and a man he didn't know came over to the group and went over. 

Rick looked down to his wife on his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. Lori didn't notice Rick's look. She was focused on glaring a hole through Elliott. 

Breaking him from his thought's, across from him Dale said, "What was it like?" Everyone looked to Dale and then followed his line of sight to Rick. Hearing a voice directed to him Rick looked up, "What was it like waking up in the middle of all this?" 

All conversations around the fire silenced, everyone was focused on what would be Rick's answer.

Numb to the question, Rick wasn't sure how to answer, the first thing that came to mind after thinking was, "Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but… Disoriented comes closest."

Silence followed his words, Dale trying to offer worsd of advice said, "Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short."

Rick nodded and continued, "I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

Carl from the side threw a dig at his mum trying to get a reaction. It was awful, Carl knew that but he didn't care. One way or another his dad's opinion of his mum would fall. And die. "Mom said you died."

Rick looked at Carl Shocked at the venom in his voice, Rick ever Lori's knight in shining armour jumped to her defence without any thought, a bit too forcefully. Rick raised his hand with a finger pointed at Carl and harshly said, "She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

Carl looked at Rick angry at his tone. Tears started to swell in his eyes clouding them. "It get's hard to not doubt someone like her." Carl dropped his plate beside him, food spilling to the ground. Pushing himself of the ground Carl runs off, towards the woods. 

Silence radiated through the camp. People all around shifted uncomfortably noticing the reason for the tension throughout the camp. 

Glenn from the side spoke, "What was that about?" He looked around for an answer, his eyes went to Dale then Shane. 

Glenn found his answer in Elliott, "They haven't spoke." Glenn looked at Elliott expecting more. Leaving Glenn to find the answer himself.

Andrea from the side spoke up next, "Since he nearly got hurt?" Andrea looked to Elliott, Shane and then spun her head round to Lori. Her eyes and face red with anger. "You haven't spoken to him? Not once since we left? We've been gone for days and you left him alone that entire time. Did you not think to apologise?"

Lori's face twisted. She rose from the ground with sharp movements, her voice rose in anger and humiliation. "Who do you think you are shouting at me? Why should I speak to him first, he's old enough to apologise first."

The camp went silent. Nobody knew what to say to that. The selfishness that oozed from that statement froze almost everyone. 

Shane's voice came next, laced with fury and frustration, "He's a kid Lori what do you expect, he's only ten. You're an adult, his mother, start acting like it."

Rick moved in front of Lori to defend her from all the anger being directed towards her, he didn't understand why, but he felt like it concerned Carl so he would have to.

As Rick was about to make his first argument, Elliott's voice rose loud enough so everyone could hear his words.

"Shane, stop." He raised his arm to point at his ear, there was an etch of worry on his face. "Listen"

Confused looks went Elliott's way as all people could hear was the water from the quarry and the rustling of leaves from the woods. 

But Elliott and Shane's hearing were leagues above everyone else's. Shane closed his eyes as his ears reached the forest. 

Multiple footsteps could be heard, they were heavy and were moving toward something specific. Walkers, there were tens of them, nearing 40 in numbers. 

Then there was a separate pair. They were light, efficient but they were charging straight at the other group. Carl. It seemed he didn't know.

Shane's heart sped up at the thought of losing him. Breaking from his trance he looked at Elliott his eyes shrunken with fear. He whispered out "Carl."