𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

"𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐘, 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋, 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐅𝐅 𝐔𝐏! Quickly!" Lori yelled, Casey was about to get ready to see her father at the hospital.

"Why?" Casey asked, turning to her mother.

"Baby, I don't have time to explain, just go get some clothes. Get your toothbrush, and your boots." Lori commanded, the answer wasn't good enough for Casey. She wanted to know what was going on. But seeing the look of distress on her mother's face, she just decided to do what she said.

"What about daddy?" She asked, running upstairs.

"Shane is getting him!" Lori exclaimed, she turned quickly looking at her mother.

A feeling of excitement went through her. Was he up? Was he okay? Was that why they were leaving? She didn't ask the questions, she just sprinted upstairs.

She grabbed one of her duffle bags and then started to grab some clothes. It was stuff like jean shorts, overalls, tank tops, t-shirts, shoes, socks, underwear. Her being the perfectionist she was, she started folding them neatly and making outfits out of her clothes before putting them in her bag. That was unlike her mother and Carl who were just throwing stuff in.

She grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and put it in a ziplock bag before putting it into the duffel. "Casey, honey, we don't have time to be folding and making it neat. I need you to just throw it in there." Lori's words were coming out of her mouth quickly, it almost sounded like gibberish as she spoke. Casey noticed the countless amounts of photo albums she had in her hands, and she furrowed her eyebrows. Why was she bringing those? Casey then continued to put her boots into her duffel

She zipped her duffel bag, then grabbed her school backpack. She put in her blanket, then Walter the shark. Once she was done, she grabbed the bag, it being very heavy. She already had her light blue Converse on by the time she dragged her duffel bag down the steps, it hitting every single one.

She saw Shane walking into the house, and she furrowed her eyebrows. "Mommy said you were gettin' my daddy." She stated as Shane grabbed her bag for her. Putting it on his shoulder. "Is he in the car?" She questioned, hearing her mother rushing down the stairs.

"Lori..."

Her mother's hand went to her mouth, and she took a few steps back. "No..." She let out, Casey furrowed her eyebrows, walking to her mother.

"Mom?" She asked as Lori wrapped her arms around her little girl. She held her head onto her chest, kissing the top of her head.

"He just...machines started flatlining, and..."

Flatline meant dead...She learned that when she was at her friend, Grace's house. She had an older sister, Macy, who watched Grey's Anatomy. When someone flatlined, they were dead...

Casey felt tears enter her eyes, and her arms fell limp at her sides. "I'm sorry..." He trailed off, watching as Lori held onto her little girl for dear life.

When he saw Carl walking downstairs, he looked down. Lori looked at her daughter, then crouched down in front of her. "It's gonna be okay, baby." She tried to reassure her, leaning her forehead against hers. Lori's hand went on the back of her head, as Casey just cried.

Carl took the hint...

He ran over to Shane, who wrapped him in a tight hug. "It's okay, bud." He whispered as Carl cried into his chest.

After letting the kids just cry, Shane knew they had to leave...They all did. They had to get to a refugee center as soon as possible. "Lori, we gotta go." He reminded as Casey sat on the step, her head buried in her arms.

She was sobbing, she didn't get to see her dad today. Shane promised her she'd be able to see him! Now she'd never see him again!

"Okay...Casey, Carl, grab your bags." Lori told them, she looked up at her, sniffling as she did. She quickly grabbed her father's jacket from off the chair, slipping it over her shoulders, the sleeves being too big, and the jacket moving to her knees. She grabbed her backpack from off the floor, not being able to control the tears that were falling from her eyes. Shane had her duffel bag on his shoulder, lucky enough for her.

Walking out to the car was a blur, when she sat in there all she remembered was just crying and holding her shark in her hand. Her mother reached back, putting her hand on her knee, and rubbing her thumb around her kneecap.

She just looked at her shark, clutching it in her hands. It always made her feel better. She had it ever since she was five, so, it was just what made her feel better.

Carl was no better than Casey, the only thing was that he didn't even try to hold back his tears like his sister was. He just let it out, that's what made the difference between the two. Casey would bottle up her feelings, and sometimes you could barely tell when she was annoyed. Carl was slightly sensitive, even though he grew up with the most sarcastic, judgy sister ever. You'd think he was used to it, but he was able to get upset real easily.

Carl was the empathetic one, if there was someone he didn't like, and they were hurt, he'd show some empathy. He'd try to see it from their point of view. Casey didn't give a shit most times. If she didn't like someone, she wouldn't show any empathy if they were dying on the side of the road. She'd probably just stick her middle finger out the window and grin. For being eight, she had a very...different personality.

Casey wasn't a total ass, though. Now, if it was someone she cared about dying on the side of the road, she'd help them as much as she could. If someone hurt someone she loved, well, it probably wouldn't be very good, even if she's only eight.

She was the kind of kid that held grudges. She still holds a grudge against her teacher, Mrs. C for yelling at her for bossing her favorite student, Micheal around. She was just telling him what to do, she wasn't being mean to him! Anyway, if Mrs. C was on the side of the road dying, she'd flip her off and laugh.

Casey and Carl were different kids. Casey was a lot more like her father, having small parts of her mother in her. Carl was a hundred percent like his mother, most definitely.

After being on the road for a little while, they got stuck on a highway. It was getting darker, and they were still a few minutes from the Refugee Center in Atlanta. The car had been stopped for a few hours.

Casey was sitting in the car with her shark. For a while, Lori was hugging her close. She kept saying, you can talk to me about it, yet Casey wouldn't. She didn't want to talk about it, she didn't know how. Every time she tried to get some kind of word out she'd just stutter and cry. Lori would hold her closely, that was until Carl got stir-crazy and started walking around. She followed him, and Casey listened to the radio Shane was trying to work.

Now she was lying across the backseats, she had the sheriff's jacket laid over her body. She was holding Walter in her hands, staring up at the roof of the car.

Casey wished she was like Walter the Shark. Sharks weren't afraid of anything, maybe whales, but they were at the top of the food chain! They barely slept, and they had their eyes open and they moved super fast. She wanted to not be afraid, but she was...She was a scared fish at the bottom of the food chain. Shane was more like a shark, he wasn't scared of anything, same with her dad. That's how she felt...

"Are you getting anything?"

Lori walked up to the door, then looked in the backseat to see Casey. She opened it up, sitting in the back, putting her head in her lap.

"There's nothing," Shane told her, his arm hitting against his lap.

"There's nothin'"

"Big surprise there." She muttered stroking Casey's hair, her fingers sometimes getting stuck into her thick curls. For once that morning, she'd worn it down and put a bow in, per her mother's request. Shane shook his head, looking back at the mother and daughter.

"No, I mean there's nothin'. Emergency Broadcast System stopped, and that recording about the refugee center. It's all gone." He told her, taking the car key out of the slot. Lori lifted Casey slightly, making her sit up. She looked at her mother, Lori staring into the same eyes her husband used to have.

"Casey, baby, c'mon." She said, Casey put Rick's jacket on, then hopped out of the car behind her mother. She grabbed Walter, putting it in her hand, then grabbed her mother's hand.

"I'm gonna go up the road, see what I can see," Shane told them, closing the car doors. He walked away from the pair, Lori close behind.

"I'll come with you." She stopped next to her son, who was sitting in the back of a trunk, playing with his new friend, Sophia Peltier. The trunk was Ed and Carol, Sophia's parents, car. Ed was on the side, smoking a cigarette, and Carol was nervously standing there.

"Ed must've forgotten to pack those M.R.E.s I found these in my purse." She said shakily, Lori didn't mind much, of course, it was unfortunate, but it was ok. Maybe she'd find something up the road.

"It's all right, um. Listen, do you mind keeping an eye on Casey and Carl for a minute?" She said, Casey shook her head.

"I wanna go with you," Casey said, Lori only kissed their interlaced fingers as Carol answered.

"No." She didn't mind watching the two kids, if Carl was polite and kind, she figured Casey wouldn't be much different.

Lori looked at Carl, playing with his hair and holding her daughter's hand. "Shane and I are gonna go scout up ahead for a minute and see if we can find someone who knows what's going on." She said,

"I wanna go with you," Carl said, Lori immediately shook her head no.

"Huh-uh. You two stay here, and be good for Carol." She said, before kissing Carl on the crown of his head.

"But I wanna go with you-"

"Hey, we'll be back before you know it. Okay, little man, huh? Case, don't cause any trouble." He joked with Casey, and tried to comfort Carl at the same time. He ruffled up what was Casey's once neatly done hair, and hit Carl lightly on the shoulder before walking away.

"Your dad is nice." Sophia complimented, Casey's head shot over to look at her.

Shane wasn't her dad. Her dad was dead. He's stuck in a hospital dead and alone. The thought of it made her want to rip her hair from her scalp. It worried her, him being alone.

"Shane's not our dad. Our dad is dead." Carl quickly answered her.

"Oh-"

A sudden explosion was heard, Casey jumped, clutching her shark in her hand. She felt an arm quickly wrap around her, it was Carol. She had Sophia and Carl tightly embraced, and the eight-year-old just stood there, an arm loosely wrapped around the little girl. She clutched Walter again, holding it to her chest. Her father's jacket was around her, also giving her a safe sense.

She was worried about her mother and Shane, they were all alone. She didn't know where they were. What if they were in the explosion?

When they finally got back, Carl launched himself into his mother's arms. Casey just stood there biting her nails.

What was going to happen next?

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

a/n

hello

i hope everyone had a good day and that y'all enjoyed this chapter! i really wanna have her reunite with rick soon, and also i kinda love how she wears his jacket😭😭carl gets the hat and she gets the jacket, i just think that's so cute. dw guys she's gonna grow into it at some point, it'll just be awhile. it adds a lil character to her.

anyways