TWD: Awakened As Rick

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Carol moved through the garden with practiced silence, her hands deep in the soil as the first light of morning filtered through the trees. The carrots were sprouting uneven again, but they were still alive.

That's more than I can say for some things, she thought.

Every morning started this way—quiet, methodical. She preferred it. In the early hours, before the drills started and the world reminded her it was still broken, she had a moment of control. A space where no one shouted. Where hands didn't clench into fists. Where breathing was easy.

Here, things grew.

Back inside the walls… that was harder.

Ed hadn't changed.

Even after the world ended, after the walkers rose and civilization fell, he was still the same man who barked orders like a sergeant and expected his dinner hot. His voice still boomed across camp when he drank too much. His presence still made her shoulders curl inward out of instinct.

But something was different now.

Carol had changed.

She didn't cower like she used to. She didn't jump when he raised his voice. And if he so much as looked at Sophia the wrong way, he'd find her standing between them without hesitation.

The others noticed. T-Dog always lingered a little longer when Ed walked by. Rick watched with eyes that missed nothing. Even Daryl had offered her a knife once—not in fear, but in trust.

She never told them the full story.

She didn't need to.

After the morning harvest, Carol carried a basket of greens to the mess tent. Jacqui greeted her with a tired smile, hands already dusted with flour. They worked in tandem, chopping, boiling, stirring—Carol took comfort in the rhythm.

Sophia joined them soon after, helping scrub pots and sneak bits of carrot to Carl when no one was looking. Amy giggled from across the room. Carol smiled softly.

Moments like these made it easier to breathe.

To believe in something better.

Ed passed by the open flap of the mess tent just after noon.

He didn't come in. 

Carol didn't flinch.

She met his gaze across the distance. 

He scoffed and kept walking.

Jacqui glanced up. "He still giving you trouble?"

Carol shook her head. "Not out loud."

Jacqui said nothing more. She didn't need to. Her hand just rested on Carol's for a moment—gentle.

Carol said thank you without words.

Later in the day, Rick stopped by the garden with Carl in tow. The boy was learning how to identify edible herbs. Rick said it was "strategic resilience." Carol said it was just smart.

Carl knelt beside her and listened carefully as she explained which plants helped with wounds and which were poisonous. Rick watched quietly, his arms crossed, his face unreadable.

When Carl ran off to tell Sophia what he'd learned, Rick spoke.

"You're doing good work here."

Carol brushed dirt off her palms. "It's nothing special."

"It is," Rick said. "You're teaching them how to live."

She looked at him, surprised by the weight of those words.

Then nodded. "Thank you."

Later, Ed came to her with demands.

"You're gonna take Sophia with you tomorrow when you go gather herbs, right?" he said, not asked.

Carol didn't answer right away.

He stepped closer. "You are, right?"

She looked up at him, holding his gaze.

"If she wants to come, she will."

Ed's eyes narrowed. "You're not gonna start tellin' her what's best now? After all this time?"

Carol's voice stayed steady. "I already am."

He didn't like that. She could tell by the way his jaw set, the twitch in his hand.

But he walked away.

Not because she was bigger.

Because she wasn't alone anymore.

And he knew it.

That night, Carol sat by the fire with Sophia leaning against her, half-asleep. T-Dog passed her a bowl of stew. Andrea handed her a new set of seeds she'd traded for.

"Marigold," Andrea said. "Thought they might be good for the garden."

Carol smiled. "They're beautiful."

Andrea smirked. "They're tough. They keep bugs away. And they don't die easy."

Carol looked at the little paper packet.

Then at Sophia.

Then at the fire.

She thought about everything she'd become.

Not a warrior. Not a leader.

But something else.

Something quietly strong.

She was the one who stitched wounds. Who cooked. Who tended the sick. Who whispered encouragement when someone thought they couldn't go on.

And when Ed glared from across the fire, she no longer looked away.

She no longer lowered herself.

He could hate that.

But she couldn't undo it.

As the fire burned low and the camp slowly quieted, Carol leaned back and looked at the stars.

Tomorrow would be another day.

There would be chores, and noise, and maybe another round of silence-turned-threat from Ed.

But there would also be Sophia.

There would be green things growing.

There would be people who saw her.

And that was enough.

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If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Ptreon for early access, exclusive chapters, and more:

15 Advanced Chapters on Patreon

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