Who: Carl Grimes and Raelle Collar. When: Carl's arrival. Where: Town. What: Carl needs to be healed. Warnings: Talk of death. Status: Closed | Completed GDoc.
Carl found himself in a strange place – a place he was certain he hadn’t been a few moments ago. His father, Michonne – they both had been with him. Now he was alone, in a very loud, very strange place. Could this be the walker bite affecting him? It could be making him hallucinate at this point. He honestly had no idea what walker bites did before one actually turned into a walker. He had never experienced such a thing before, obviously.
He stumbled around for a moment, gun in hand. No, this was definitely not where he was supposed to be. This was definitely not where he had been until a few moments ago. His father and Michonne were nowhere to be found. No one he recognized was anywhere to be found.
“Help,” he rasped. “Someone, please…”
He really didn’t want to have to take care of this himself, not in the middle of a strange town with people all around. He did have the gun, but he didn’t want to have to take care of this right here. Right now.
Raelle was on her way to work feeling good about the day. She'd be moving in with Rory soon and that was something she was looking forward to. Hands in her pocket due to the coolness of the air, she noticed the boy show up first. You could always tell because there was a look of utter confusion, not that she could blame them. Then she heard him ask for help.
It was only when she got closer did she realize he was in a bad way. “Hey, what happened?” She moved closer, eyeing his injuries, but she was also aware of his gun.
Carl eyed the woman who approached him. He was a bit wary about this whole situation and everyone involved. He had learned that he couldn’t immediately trust a person, and that included this woman. But… she didn’t seem bad? Of course, the Governor hadn’t seemed bad at first, either.
But he had a gun. He could protect himself, even with the walker bite. He couldn’t be too picky at the moment – he needed help. And he had been about to put a bullet in his head right before he arrived here, so… what was the worst that could happen?
“Walker bite,” he explained, his speaking a bit labored. “Undead. I’m going to turn if I can’t get help.” He wasn’t exactly sure what kind of help he was looking for. As far as he knew, there was no help to be had.
He had to try, though.
He didn’t seem exactly friendly, but then again, he looked like he’d been through hell, so Raelle got it. He had the sort of look you had when you’d seen war, though he was pretty young.
Undead. Okay. So that was a bit out of what she had dealt with in the past, but she also knew she couldn’t die. If she healed him and took in whatever sickness he had, the mycelium would keep her alive.
“Well, I don’t know a lot about the undead, but I’m a witch and I’ve been able to heal a lot of things here in Madison - that’s where you are now. You’re not back home and as far as I know there aren’t any zombies around. So if you’d let me, I can try. But I have to touch you.” She held up her hands to show she was unarmed.
“My name is Raelle. Raelle Collar.”
Carl could definitely be friendly. Only not when he was worried about becoming a walker and infecting everyone around him. Including this woman in front of him. And he was currently dying of the bite as well, so there was that. He’d make up for his unfriendliness later – right now he would do anything to not have to use that gun in his hand.
So he immediately nodded, not caring if this woman claimed to be a witch or that she claimed to be able to heal him solely by touch – again, willing to try anything.
“Yes, please,” he said, his voice growing softer. More strained. “Anything.”
He registered that she introduced herself. “Carl,” he offered.
Raelle kept her movements slow since she didn’t know the boy. She assumed he wasn’t going to turn in less than ten seconds. She put her hands on his arm and then started to speak. It sounded religious, but her voice also didn’t sound normal either as she used her witch voice to heal him. It would take a moment or two - it was a big sickness to draw out of him. There was sweat on her forehead and it was only when she felt all the sickness leave his body she did stop. Raelle closed her eyes, feeling tired. When she opened them, she looked at the boy. The wound was gone, at the very least.. “How do you feel now?”
Carl wasn’t exactly sure what he had been expecting when Raelle touched him, but it definitely wasn’t this. He wasn’t expecting the words she spoke, or to start feeling better. Still drained, yes, but better. It was almost as though he could feel the sickness leaving. Sooner than expected, her hands left him. And she was asking how he felt.
He took a moment to consider her question. Finally, “...that’s amazing,” he said.
Carl then studied Raelle for a moment. “Are you sure it’s gone? And you’re not going to die now?”
Raelle felt tired, but she knew that would pass. At his question, she exhaled a small laugh and offered him a kind smile. “I'll be fine. I have something inside me that heals me.” That was the easiest way to explain it. She couldn't die and she had learned that the hard way.
“Are you feeling okay to walk? You should be all better now, but I should probably take you to the clinic just in case to make sure everything is okay. It's not far away.” She gestured to a building down the road. “I can explain this place as we walk too.”
Carl studied Raelle for a moment, then nodded. There was really no reason for him to not believe her – she seemed well enough. He would have to keep an eye on her, though. He wouldn’t want her to turn into a walker because she had wanted to help him. Because she had helped him.
He followed her gesture toward the clinic. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to go and get checked out. After all… he had probably almost died.
“Yeah, I can walk,” he said. He offered her a small smile as they started toward the clinic. “...thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
She offered a small shrug. “No, but I wanted to. I’m a healer. It’s what I do.” And he was just a kid, not that she was much older. No one deserved to turn into a zombie, or so she imagined anyway.
On their way Raelle gave a rundown and by the time they got to the clinic, the Welcome Committee showed up with the items for Carl. After they left, she turned back to him. “I’m sure it’s overwhelming, but I promise it gets a bit easier every day.”
“I certainly hope it does,” he said, after a moment. It was a lot to take in, but… he felt he could handle this. Especially without any walkers here. He had hoped someone else from home would be here – his father, or Michonne – but seeing as they had given him a guardian named Andy Barclay, he assumed no adult from home was here.
“Thank you, Raelle,” he said. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
He knew that it was nothing, really, his words. He didn’t think he could properly thank the woman for what she had done. Or show his appreciation well. He just hoped she would understand. Sometimes things were too big to put into words.