Glen Mazzara revealed why Carl can’t simply stay in the damn house. He explained as much in a roundtable with the showrunners from Homeland, Breaking Bad, New Girl, and Justified. The writers were very nervous about that, “because Dale is a beloved character and if this other character is involved and responsible for that death, is the audience going to now hate Carl? But I thought the story was worth the chance. It feels earned, but it’s a risk, you know?”]
Source: https://gizmodo.com/walking-dead-showrunner-defends-carl-explains-why-hes-5919880