JUST SURVIVE FOR YOU
by Lifes Rich Pageant
Chapter One: Young Love
The late afternoon sun shone a dim orange that reflected off the tops of the trees and tinged the whole forest in a warm glow. It was mid-fall in Virginia and the forest was already awash with the yellows and browns that made the people of Alexandria believe that life could continue.
In the half-light of dusk, Carl and Enid ran deeper and deeper into the forest. They had run so far that they could no longer see the high walls of their home and they could no longer hear the dreadful gnarls and snarls of the walkers that meandered around the outer perimeter. Now all thoughts were turned towards each other.
Running hand in hand their galloping feet kicked up the soft autumn leaves. The leaves lay so thick that they came up past their ankles and as their feet sank in each time, they had to jump pulling each other along with all the joy and happiness they thought had been forgotten since the end of the world.
Carl let go of Enid's hand and ran on ahead. Enid giggled and skipped through the thick leaves and tried to catch him up.
"Hey! Slow down!" she cried outstretching her arms trying to grab a hold of his plaid shirt . Just as she was about to wrap her fist around his collar, Carl made a sharp turn and dodged out of the way. His cowboy hat flew off. He reached down to get it when Enid snuck up behind him and jumped on his back.
"Got you now, Sheriff Grimes!" she said draping her arms over his shoulders and bringing them softly around his neck.
"Oh yeah?" Carl replied with a smirk. "Looks like I've got you!"
Carl took hold of her thighs and jolted her up so he could balance her weight better in a piggyback position. Enid squealed and lightly slapped the back of Carl's shoulder. Carl started to run with Enid on his back going faster and faster until almost losing his balance. Enid gasped as they both tilted towards the ground.
"Stop running so fast, Carl." she said in a panic.
Carl laughed as he regained his balance and slowed down to a brisk walking pace.
Enid felt a lot more comfortable now and she relaxed nestling her head next to his. She smoothed her fingers over his face moving them over to the rough white bandage that covered his right eye. Carl grimaced when she touched it. He had been sensitive about ever since he was shot that night by Ron.
Enid thought about Ron a lot too. In the month after the walker invasion and during the cleanup of Alexandria, Enid had been there by Carl's side holding his hand and praying for his recovery. Looking at Carl lying prone on the bed with wrapped in bandages, she just couldn't believe that Ron had done this. She had hardly imagined the day that she stormed out of Alexandria that she would return to such a nightmare.
She hated Ron now. She was glad he was dead.
Each day after the cleanup and as Carl got back on his feet, Enid spent more and more time within the walls working with Denise and making sure Carl was all right.
Enid looked across at Carl who was staring directly in front of him. She knew he was thinking the same. He didn't often say speak his feelings, he was often strong and silent and would do anything to protect her. He was so different to Ron.
"You can put me down now." Enid said stroking the side of his cheek.
Carl ignored her request, jolted her up again and walking faster until they were in the practically lost in the middle of the forest.
"Why are we out here?" Enid asked.
"It's better than being in there sometimes." Carl replied. "You know that. I never forgot what you told me, 'Just Survive Somehow'. Real life is out here. There are no walkers in this forest, no saviours threatening our lives. It's just us surviving. This is as good as life can be right now, don't you think?"
"As long as we are here together then this isn't just surviving. This is living."
Her words struck her as odd. She had changed so much and matured along with Carl with Glenn and Maggie's help. She finally wanted to live and live with others. She thought that her JSS phrase didn't even really apply anymore.
"What do you think, Carl?"
A few seconds went by in silence when Carl suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Enid replied.
"I heard something up ahead, maybe a walker."
"Are you sure?"
He was sure he heard the rustle of the leaves.
Carl slowly walked forward until the faint rustling of leaves grew into a loud rummaging as it got nearer to them. Then they both spotted a solitary walker stagger from behind the trees.
"Let me down, Carl, I'll deal with it."
"No, no, it's just one. It's not worth it."
Enid jumped off Carl's back and took a knife out of her belt.
"Carl, if you leave one, then that could attack home. We have to take out all of them. I've got your back, remember. I'll always save you, just like you'll always save me."
Enid marched towards the walker. Carl whispered out to her for her to stop but she didn't listen. Enid approached the grotesque walker. Its skin was peeling off and its eye sockets were hollowed out but Enid was so used it. She saw more of these things than she did people. Four years earlier she would have fainted at the sight of blood but now it was such a normal part of her life - as normal as the air she breathed or the food she ate.
Enid confidently stepped up and jammed the knife right in the middle of the walker's skull. It crumpled to the ground as she struggled to pull it out.
"See Carl, nothing to worry about." she said taking the knife out and smiling back at Carl. But Carl wasn't smiling back and when she looked around she realised why. There were more walkers - ten or maybe twelve. There was a whole pack of them making their way through the leaves.
"Come on," Carl whispered ushering Enid back towards him. "Let's get out of here!"
Enid ran back to Carl and took his hand as they ran together. Carl was now wishing he hadn't wandered so far into the forest. He was just running in random directions but he couldn't tell east from west and it was getting darker.
Enid turned to Carl, his face filled with fear as they fumbled together through the twisted maze of trees and leaves. It went quiet for just a moment and they thought it was all over but two more walkers stepped out of the shadows behind them. Enid screamed and stumbled backwards and dropped her knife. Carl took his knife and went straight for one of the walkers, he lunged at it inserting the knife into its temple sending them both crashing to the ground. His holster came undone and his gun fell out he wrestled with the walker and continued stabbing it multiple time.
The other walker came at Carl as he struggled to stand. Its clasping, clawing arms were so close, just one scratch would be enough to turn. When Enid saw Carl struggling with the walker now almost on top of him she panicked. She looked at the ground and saw that his pistol had fallen out of his holster. Enid picked it up and fired two shots directly into the side of the walker's cranium.
The shots were loud and echoed throughout the forest. Carl tossed the walker aside like a sack of potatoes. Enid offered her hand to help Carl up but he didn't take it. He stood up on his own, dusted himself off and snatched his gun from Enid's hand.
"Don't fire guns!" Carl said. "There was no need! Now every walker from around will have heard that and will be coming."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I dropped my knife. I saw your gun and you were in trouble. If I hadn't shot it, that thing would have bitten you!"
"That's no excuse, Enid. I thought you were smarter than that! I thought you were a survivor! I guess I was wrong about that."
Carl stormed off leaving Enid standing. She suddenly felt cold and alone. She knew the walkers would be attracted to the area so she ran to catch up with him.
"Hey, wait up, Carl!" she cried.
Enid ran in his direction but soon he was out of sight. The worst feeling sank down her throat. She didn't want to call out again in case more walkers came. It was almost pitch black now and she had no flashlight, no way of finding her way out of the forest. She took deep breaths and told herself to just survive somehow, just survive somehow.
Enid paced slowly around the forest now not knowing what was lurking around the next corner. She occasionally whispered Carl's name but got no response. She stopped to take a breather by a nearby tree. She crouched down low and checked around to make sure she was safe.
Then in she was blinded by a brilliant flash. She instantly turned away as the roar of a car engine turned the quiet forest into a cauldron of noise. There was shouting - two men, maybe more. Enid looked back. She saw a large white van parked just twenty feet in front of her. She crouched down lower hoping she hadn't been spotted.
That is when she saw Carl. He was struggling with two men and trying to fight them off. Then a third man came out of the van with long straggly blonde hair. Enid had seen him before. The bright headlights shone on his half disfigured face. It was the saviours, for sure, she thought.
The blonde haired man took out his gun and hit Carl in the back of the head with the butt knocking him unconscious as the two men picked him up and loaded him into the white van. The blonde haired man signalled for the others to scan the area.
Enid crawled out from behind the tree and moved further away. She kept her eyes firmly focused on the three men scouring the area. She was focused so much that she didn't even notice the walker coming up behind her. She felt the clammy hand of the death on her shoulder and she gasped and in an instinctive move, swung her knife around and stabbed the walker in one fluid motion.
It crumbled down on top of her. She thought it would be a good way to hide both from the living and the dead. The putrid smell of the walker's grey scaly skin was horrifying. She thought she was going to throw up but she managed to keep it in.
Eventually the three men gave up searching and went back to the van. Enid looked across as the revved up the engine once more and drove out.
Enid didn't know what to do. For now, she knew she was safe under the walker but it was going to be the worst night's sleep she ever had.
"Carl!" she cried. "I'll save you. I promise."
She didn't know how but she just knew that she had to.
TO BE CONTINUED...
a/n: thanks for reading. This is the first part of this Carl and Enid story. I just think they are a really cute couple and there aren't enough stories about them. Next chapter will be focused on Enid trying to rescue Carl. Is she going to make it to the Saviours' Hideout?