The Wolf You Feed

Chapter 35

Deanna hummed as she made breakfast for Carl and Enid. Spencer had not officially moved out. Not yet. But he hadn't slept at home in nearly a month. While there was still no formal arrangement between them, he liked to sleep at Eugene and Olivia's house so that he could help Rosie with her baby during the night and in the mornings. Whether they were doing more than just sleeping together yet or not remained anyone's guess, but there seemed to be some genuine feelings building between the couple. Deanna was happy for her son. Especially now that it seemed more obvious than ever that nothing romantic was ever going to happen between him and Rowan. She wanted her son to be happy. But having Spencer gone made Aiden's absence tug harder on Deanna's heart strings than it had since the day her youngest son died.

Sausage and eggs and pancakes was going a little overboard for just a normal weekday morning. But Deanna was so happy to have kids in her house to make breakfast for that she had decided to throw caution to the wind and use the small amount of butter that she had left in her fridge. The end of the world had turned butter and fat back into the luxury items they had once been over a hundred years before. Nothing was wasted anymore. Even the grease from the bacon she was cooking would be drained and saved in a small crock that sat out on her counter to be put to further use.

Carl woke up already licking his lips. The smell of fatty meat frying had not been only a dream. He pushed his hair out of his face and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The other side of the bed was empty and he immediately started scanning the room for Enid. Knowing where the girl was and if she was safe seemed as necessary as air to him lately. On this morning she was easily found. Enid had pulled one of the plush chairs in the room over near the window and she was curled up in it, sipping something from a mug and using their high vantage point to look out over the wall into the woods beyond.

"Is that coffee?," Carl asked, sounding hopeful. Enid smiled without turning away from the window.

"Deanna made us hot cocoa." From the tone of her voice it was obvious that while Enid may have found Deanna's insistence upon treating them like children slightly comical, that didn't mean she wasn't enjoying it. Enid almost never mentioned it, but Carl knew she missed her mother. Being an only child, the two of them had been close. The woman's death had left a hole inside Enid's heart that she had been looking for someone to fill, even if her search had been on more of a subconcious level rather than outright intentional. "Yours is next to the bed," Enid added with another small smile before Carl could ask for a sip from her cup.

"Thanks," Carl said, pushing himself up into an upright enough position that he could grab for the mug and sip it without spilling. He couldn't remember the last time he had hot chocolate. He guessed his mother must have made it for him at some point in his childhood. Knowing his mother, the cocoa would had been from a box mix that came with the tiny dehydrated marashmallows already mixed in and not from scratch and mixed with fresh milk. Probably with a few chunks of the instant powder floating around in it from his mother not having stirred it enough. But he figured he still must have had it at least once. Carl scanned his brain, really trying to think about the last time he had a mug of hot cocoa. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to focus on such a minor detail, but it just annoyed him that his memories of life as it used to be before the turn were starting to get hazy and less clear as time went on. He didn't want to forget his mother. Judith would eventually get old enough to ask about the woman that had died bringing her into the world. And he wanted to be able to tell his sister what she had been like.

The loud protesting grumble of Carl's stomach pulled him out of his thoughts and back into the real world. He took a careful sip of his cocoa, checking to make sure it wasn't hot enough to burn his mouth. Finding it to be a comfortable temperature he slurped down about half the mug before slowing down and sipping the rest.

Enid was still staring out the window. Her legs were curled up in the seat of the chair. One bare foot stuck out, half covered with the leg of the plaid pajama pants she was wearing. Her hair was down and it was fluffed up around her face from the curls that had been put in it as part of her costume from the play the night before. Her face bore a serious expression. Even from the profile view he had, Carl could tell she had something on her mind.

Keeping a careful hold on his cocoa, Carl tossed the covers off and swung his legs out of bed. He moved across the floor and set his hand on Enid's shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. Her mug was nearly empty and the cup was resting on her thigh. She reached up with the other hand and squeezed him back, twining her fingers in with his.

"We should go downstairs," she told him, "Deanna's making a crazy big breakfast. I'm starving."

Despite her mention of how hungry she was, Enid made no move to rise from the chair she was sitting in. Carl pulled his fingers loose from hers and trailed his hand up the line of her neck. He stroked the soft round of her cheek with his knuckles before tracing down her jawline with the tips of his fingers. How soft her skin was never ceased to amaze him.

"Something wrong?," he asked her. Enid turned to face him, grasping his hand in hers again and planting a soft kiss in the center of his palm. She shook her head. Nothing was wrong. Well something was wrong. But nothing was wrong between her and Carl. She had up since the early hours of the morning, trying to figure out who she had seen spying on them the night before. At the time she had been too drunk and shaken up to remember the details. But after a few good hours of sleep she woke back up with her mind feeling more clear. The more she thought about it, the more sure she was that she knew who had been spying on her. But since Carl had already gotten into one physical fight with the boy in question, she didn't want to start any further trouble between the two young men unless she was absolutely sure that Ron had been the dark figure she had seen in their doorway. Right now all she had was a hunch.

TWD

"Okay Olivia!," Carl hollered much louder than was necessary for the woman to hear him, "If anyone needs us we will be out by the lake cabin!" Enid kept a tight hold of Comet's reigns. She buried her face into the large tan horse's neck to keep from laughing. She knew the plan was to be really obvious about where they were going. The theory was that whoever had been spying on them the night before might want to spy on them again. It was no secret that they liked to go out to the lake so they could be alone. So they walked the horses all around town, telling everyone they ran into where they were going in the hopes of baiting the spy into following them so they could catch him. The problem was theatre wasn't really Carl's strong suit. He was being a little too obvious.

"There's no reason to shout," Olivia announced as she backed up to save what was left of her hearing after Carl finished screamed almost directly into her face. "I'm standing right here."

"Sorry Olivia," he said, trying his best to keep a straight face. Eugene walked up behind the woman and slipped his arm around her waist. In his other and he was holding and apple that he was nibbling on. The sound of him crunching urged Molly forward. He tried unsuccessfully to hide the apple from the large black horse but she was wise to his tricks. Molly's head disappeared behind Eugene's back and popped back up with his apple gripped securely between her teeth. Eugene looked down at the horse slobber that was covering his hand like he was about to throw up a little in his mouth. Olivia laughed at him before she hurried away to get him a towel.

"Going to catch your spy today?," Eugene asked the young couple. Enid put her finger to her lips and shushed him. If the spy was listening in, she didn't want him to catch on and realize he was being led into a trap. "Sorry," Eugene said, lowering his voice significantly and giving Enid a wink, "good luck."

Spencer slid the gate open for them. Enid waved at the top of the guard tower. She couldn't see the woman but she knew Sasha was on guard duty. Once they led the horses past the maze of cars that were parked around the entrance to their town, Enid swung herself up onto the back of her horse. She was riding Comet and Carl was riding Molly, Rowan's horse. Enid had not been in favor of this part of the plan. Molly was harder to control and had a tendency to buck. But Carl was determined to get the black horse used to him. She was not only the prettiest horse they had, she was the fastest runner. Carl hoped that one day that skill might be of use.

Being young and hopeful, Carl thought much futher ahead into the future than most of the adults around him. According to the many books he had read on the subject, back in the frontier days mail and messages had been delivered by horse. And he felt Molly was the perfect horse for that job. They just needed to meet some people they could send messages to first.

Molly was prancing nervously. Carl was keeping her at a slow trot and the large black horse was eager to show him just how unhappy that was making her. Every few steps she would toss her head and paw at the ground. The more he tried to control her movements, the more determined she seemed not to listen to him.

"She does that to Rowan too," Enid said, pulling her much calmer horse up as close as she dared to the snorting prancing beast Carl was sitting on the back of. She fought the urge to tell he he had better get his feet out of the stirrups in case she bucked him off.

"How does Roe make her stop?," Carl asked. Rowan had strange ways of getting her animals to mind her but at this point he was willing to try anything. Molly was getting more agitated by the second and Carl had no desire to be bucked off the back of an angry horse and dragged through the woods.

"Rowan takes Molly for a hard run when she gets like that," Enid answered back, the smile already spreading across her face. Her eyes locked with Carl's. Before he could agree or disagree to her plan she kicked her heels into Comet's sides and pulled him hard to the left. The hard canter of the horse jogged and bounced her at first. But Enid had gotten in enough practice that she knew how to adjust how she was sitting to keep her ass from being pounded sore against the leather saddle. She leaned forward and kept her head low as the trees and bushes started whipping past.

Their well laid plans to catch Enid's peeping tom were quickly forgotten as they raced through the woods towards the lake. Molly only needed a slight nudge of encouragment. Once she got going Carl had no choice other than to cling to her back for dear life. Enid was next to him for a moment before he left her in his wake. Carl had seen Molly run before but riding her back as she did it was an entirely different experience. He developed a new level of respect for Rowan, who he knew often rode the horse at this speed bareback without any reigns. The woman had such a calming gentle vibe about her it was easy to forget that she had a wild streak.

Carl made it halfway around the lake before Molly finally slowed down. He slowed the horse to a hault, immediately noticing the difference in his ability to control her. Now that she had gotten her energy out, Molly was following his directions without complaint. Carl led her down to the egde of the water and loosened up on her reigns so she would be able to lean down and get a drink. After a few minutes he started glancing around nervously behind him, worried about where Enid was and why she hadn't shown up yet.

Carl forced himself to count. It wasn't time to panic yet. Enid might have just slowed her horse to a trot once he got far enough ahead of her that there was no way for her to catch up and beat him to the lake. Carl counted to one hundred twice as Molly quenced her thirst. Then he pulled hard on the horse's reigns and kicked in his heels, unable to wait any longer.

Molly was tired from her run, so she was more interested in a leisurely walk than in another race. Carl urged her forward, heading back along the same path he had taken to the lake. As he rounded the corner he saw Comet. Enid was missing from the tan horse's back. Carl's stomach bottomed out.

"Enid!," he screamed, not caring if every walker in the area heard him. "ENID!"

"Hey!," the girl shouted back, "I'm right here." She came around from behind the other side of the large horse. Carl would have seen her there if he had gotten just a little closer. He swung himself down from Molly's back and rushed at the girl. Pulling her so tight against his chest that the gun on her hip dug into his side, Carl kissed her. When he pulled away he saw that she wasn't alone.

Three strangers were standing near the edge of the wooded path. A man with medium length dirty blonde hair and two women were gathered together. They looked skinny and underfed, like they had been on the road a while. None of them had packs or bags of supplies though, which immediately struck Carl as strange. They only thing they were carrying was a beat up cooler.

The two women smiled at Carl and Enid. The man kept his hand on the knife at his hip and scowled until the darker haired women nudged him, indicating that she thought he ought to relax. Before any introductions could be made the blonde woman's face turned pale. Her female companion dropped the cooler she was clutching and attempted to keep the other woman on her feet.

"She been bit?," Carl asked, moving his body slightly in front of Enid's and pulling his gun from the holster. He didn't point it directly at the strangers. Not yet anyway. The darker haired woman held her hand up and shook her head.

"She's got diabetes...," the woman explained, "we ran out of insulin for her this morning." Carl turned towards Enid, the two of them exchanging worried glances. Bringing strangers into Alexandria was not forbidden, but it was usually Aaron or Heath that brought them in. Carl knew they preferred to watch the people for a while first. Aaron usually followed people to make sure they weren't part of another group first. But in this situation Carl wasn't going to have that luxury. He had to make a snap decision or else this woman was going to faint and likely die right in front of him.

"How many walkers have you...," he started in on the three questions. The ones they used to ask people before they allowed them into the prison community. But Enid cut him off before he could even finish the first one.

"We have a camp nearby," she said. She reached for Carl's hand a squeezed it to reassure him. "There's a medical center. A doctor. Maybe she could help?" The three strangers glanced at each other. The women looked hopeful while the man looked a little more skeptical. Finally the darker haired woman spoke up.

"Come on D," she pleaded, "what have we got to lose?"