That Was Than This Is Now
"Were Carl and Enid always like they the way they are now?" Lydia asked Aaron as the pair climbed over a fence in the middle of an abandoned village.
The pair had gone out scouting and had come across a small village. They had begun to search for anything useful.
Lydia had managed to find come across a couple handguns and some medical supplies. It wasn't a lot but with things coming and war on the rise, anything would help.
"What do you mean?" Aaron asked as he looked down an alley, making sure it was clear with the scope of his M4A1, before motioning for Lydia to follow him down the alley.
"I mean were they always the way they are now? So affectionate and kind and open about everything." Lydia elaborated.
Aaron chuckled, "Definitely not, Carl and Enid aren't who they were when I first met them…well not entirely at least." Aaron said.
"Can you explain that?" Lydia asked.
"Well when Enid first arrived in Alexandria, she was very closed off, she didn't speak to anyone for several days and even when she started talking to people she was very emotionless with her words. A boy named Ron tried to date her and she was his "Girlfriend," for a month or two."
"Wait, Enid dated the guy who shot Carl?" Lydia asked in surprised.
Aaron shook is head and chuckled, "Nope, Ron liked to say that they were, but I know for a fact that Enid only thought of him as a friend.
"So what changed for Enid?"
"Well not long after Carl and his group arrived, we found a massive heard of walkers, numbers was over a thousand. Anyway a majority of the community left to help divert the herd.
"Carl, Enid, Maggie, Rosita and I stayed behind with some of the others. A group called the Wolves attacked the community and we managed to defeat them, but in the aftermath, Enid ran away and no one knew where she went."
"But she clearly came back," Lydia said.
"Yeah she did…Maggie's husband Glenn found her and talked so sense into her and she came back with him and stayed this time.
"Why?"
"She realized that she couldn't run away from her feelings anymore and that it was okay to care about people, when she found out Carl was shot, I think that was the thing that made her stay, I think that she realized her feelings for him, she stopped shutting people out and instead let them in." Aaron said and Lydia nodded her head.
"What about Carl?"
"Well Carl was almost the same as he is now when he first got to Alexandria. The only difference was that he was shy and didn't open up a lot to people," Aaron said as they walked into a wooded area.
"After he got shot, he became very hard and put up walls, it was like he and Enid had switched personalities. The night…that we lost Glenn and Abraham, Carl witnessed it and he was the only one who didn't look away. He developed this lust for killing Negan and the Saviours and he went after them by himself, by some stroke of luck he wasn't killed and when he got back…something changed in him, maybe it was that his actions got someone killed and maybe it was that he starting dating Enid…what I think it really was when the Saviours attacked Alexandria and Carl was nearly killed…he was heavily wounded and it changed his perspective on life."
"How so?"
"He opened back up again and he and Enid become more open about their relationship and feelings for each other…Carl developed a real sense of peace and mercy and it made him into the person he is today."
"They're really amazing," Lydia said, smiling at the thought of Carl and Enid.
Aaron nodded, "They certainly are and they've certainly rubbed off on you," Aaron said.
"What do you mean?"
"You're very different from the girl who first came to Hilltop almost two months ago." Aaron said and at the moment he stepped in the wrong spot and cried out in pain as his foot got caught in a bear trap.
"What's wrong?" Lydia asked.
"My foot…It's caught," He grimaced in pain and motioned to the bear trap.
Lydia bent down and started to try and get his foot free, after several minutes she succeeded and Aaron nearly fell over from the pain. Lydia helped steady him.
"I think my ankles twisted," Aaron said painfully, his breath was raged and his face was clenched in pain.
"Let's get back than…I'll help you," Lydia said and with a lot of effort, she managed to help Aaron and up and support him as they made the long trek back to the Hilltop.
"You know two months ago you probably wouldn't have given me a second thought," Aaron said.
"Yeah but that was then, this is now," Lydia said with a smile, as she helped her friend walk.
/
"I must admit you are a skilled warrior but why should I trust you?" Alpha asked the gruff looking man who stood before her, breathing heavily and clutching a spear, "I mean you just killed several of my followers," she gestured to the dead bodies surrounding the man, "But why should I trust you?"
Daryl Dixon brushed his sweating hair out of his face and gave Alpha a cold hard stare, "Cause I'm the only option 'ya got if you want to beat my friends," he said.
"Fair but how do I know that you're telling the truth, two weeks ago you killed some of my people while rescuing my friends…so why are you coming to me now offering help?"
"Cause that was then and this was now," Daryl said.
Alpha nodded and an evil look appeared on her face, "Very well, you have yourself a deal, but from here on in you shall be known as Delta and you must know that when I find your allies, I intend to kill every single one of them.
Daryl didn't show any emotion, "You do what you have to," he said.
