Chapter 62: Wolves


CARL'S POV

~1 year ago~

"Shit," I cursed.

"Swear!" Kat didn't like when I swore. Walking over to me, she gently rose one arm and the other she lowered it, making sure my aim was right while using her bow. "You know I don't like it when you swear. You're still too young yet," Kat didn't like me acting older than I was.

Sighing, I was doing my best to get the right mark with Kat's bow. I had to admit, it did weigh a good bit and it made me wonder how Kat could do it every day and get perfect head-shots every time. "I'm not going to be a kid forever," I told her.

Tapping under my chin, she raised my eye level to the right place, so my aim would be a little more accurate. "No...but right now, you're still a kid," she wasn't going to let me win this one.

Trying again, I almost had a bulls-eye but just missed it by a few inches. "Better," Kat approved, clapping her hands and smiling at me. "But you're hesitating Carl. Trust your instincts, they'll help the skills kick in. Never hesitate," she warned me, as she came to stand beside me to lower my bow arm.

"Kat!" I heard Daryl call from the distance.

"Yeah?" Kat turned a little over her shoulder to look at Daryl, her hand came up to cover the sun from her eyes.

"Goin' huntin'. You comin'?" Daryl asked her, getting his crossbow and gear better situated on his shoulder.

A small smile was appearing on her lips as she watched Daryl chewing on his inner cheek. "Yeah, I'll be there in a second!" she called back to him. I noticed how Kat watched Daryl nod and walk away from us, how her eyes focused solely on him and not on me.

She couldn't look away. "You like him," I pointed out. It was obvious to all of us that Kat had a thing for Daryl and that Daryl had feelings for Kat too. Except, neither could figure out that they liked each other.

"Shut up," she messed my hair up as I tried to dodge out of her touch.

Laughing, we both grinned at each other. "Go help dad feed the pigs," she encouraged as she saw dad making his way to the small pigsty we had made. His smile grew as he saw the both of us together, messing around and laughing.

Handing her back her bow, she took it softly from my grasp. Moving to go to dad, I knew she was going out and usually was smart when it came to outside. "Stay safe," I encouraged her to keep her head.

"Always am," she assured me she was keeping smart. I needed her back, she knew that and she always came back.

Sometimes, I feared the day she wouldn't come back. "Love you," I called out to her.

This was our way of saying goodbye to each other when she went on trips like this. "Love you too," Kat said with a small smile on her face. Getting her arrows and quiver, she jogged over to Daryl and spoke to him briefly before they made their way out.

Grinning on my way over to dad, he was smiling too but he had a confused look on his face. "What's goin' on?" dad asked me, curious to know what was making me smile.

"Nothing..." I didn't want to explain anything and decided to keep it secret. Rolling my sleeves up, I knew it was time to feed the pigs. Dad said nothing else as we worked on the pigs and plants.


PRESENT DAY...CAROL'S POV

Deciding on what to make for dinner today, I was hoping something everyone could enjoy, something that would fill the bellies of all of our group. Especially seeing as they were out doing the test run on the plan Rick had laid out.

Part of me wanted to be there with them but I had my part to play here, to keep an eye on everyone and to look after Carl and Judith. Glancing through the shelves, I had been keeping an eye on the products that were being used and what wasn't. "Celery soup. It's been here since the start. You're very brave," Olivia said as she watched me pick out my choice of can.

Picking up as many of the soups as possible, I chuckled at the fact she had no idea how brave I really could be. "Well, I'm hoping the paprika will mask the soup's celeryness," I commented, having high hopes I could make something good with all my pickings.

"Then you'd be stuck with something that tastes like paprika. No, thank you," Shelly remarked.

Glancing at what else I could use, I'd examine some and put them back. "Well, I just figured since we're running low on staples, I'd try to use a few things nobody seems to want," I explained the method to my madness.

Whatever they didn't want, I would take. Easy as that. "I used to make Ed these spring cleaning casseroles just to empty the pantry," sometimes I hated talking about Ed, as all it did was remind me of Sophia and the horrible times I had with him.

All of it was just me being weak, enduring it all this time and now, I was strong. Stronger than ever before. Sometimes, I had wished I was this strong when before Sophia went missing. Before all of it, too. "I made some miracles happen with water chestnuts," I told Oliva with a cheesy grin.

Glancing at the girls, I was trying to make this talk seem like I was actually interested in it when in fact, it felt strange getting used to living an ordinary life. I never used to live an ordinary life before all this. Not with how Ed was. "Talk about miracles, that recipe for cola canned ham. Mmm. Ms. Peletier, you are an honest to goodness hero," Erin said, distracting me from my musings.

Letting out a giggle, I faked a smile and continued picking out random foods I could use for what I had in mind. "Ugh," Shelly grumbled from behind me.

"Something wrong, Shelly?" Erin slowly approached her neighbour.

Being called a hero, it was sitting on me and I really had been that, once, for my group back in Terminus. "It's just those old noodles. I mean, I tell you, if someone would just find me one of those machines, I swear we would all be eating like we were on a tour of Tuscany," Shelly was trying hard to convince someone to find her one of those machines.

There were so many other ways of making pasta, she made it seem like the machine was the only and the right way of doing it. "You know, Shel, I could teach you how to make pasta with your own two hands," I told her factually.

But, there was one condition. "But you'd have to promise not to smoke in the house. It's just a disgusting habit. And it kills you," and I didn't want it getting into poor little Judith's lungs. When Daryl used to smoke, he'd do it outside and anyone else who shared the same habit.

"If you ask me, there are too many things trying to do that already, right?" I tried to make light of the subject but it was truer than they knew now. Walkers and people, they were murderous monsters out there.

The women all glanced to one another before looking at me, forcing a fake smile on their faces at my statement. "Right," Erin agreed with me through gritted teeth.

Grabbing what I needed, I took them with me and made my way back home. What I didn't expect, was little Sam sat outside on the steps, waiting for me. His sad little eyes looked up at me, a red stamp with an 'A' on it was clutched between his hands as he stared at it blankly before I showed up.

"Your dad used to hit you and then he got himself killed. It happened. Now it's done," I tried to encourage the boy to move on, that his father got what was coming to him. "You live with it or it eats you up. Go home," I ordered before stepping past him and leaving him out there.


MAGGIE'S POV

Taking Glenn's advice, I knew I needed to encourage Deanna to come back to us, the same way my dad had tried with Rick back at the prison when we lost Lori. Grabbing a couple of shovels and some seeds, I knew we could build something beautiful here, that would encourage Deanna to boost her spirits again.

Since Reg's death, Deanna wasn't the same woman I once knew. She became cold and distant. "We got some panels to put up, but we don't have to wait to start growing things. There will be some sore backs and tired feet. That's how you know you've put in a hard day's work," I tried to keep positive, as I remembered these were the exact words my daddy used with me when I first started helping him back on the farm.

Taking out a packet of seeds from my back pocket, I offered it to her and she slowly took it from my hands. "They found crates of these at a nursery just a few miles out. Tomatoes, carrots, you name it. We can plant them right here," I gave her all the information she needed.

Glancing around, there was a lot of work that needed to be done before that. "Just need to finish the expansion and the wall needs to go up," I sighed.

I wanted to give her that hope again, the same hope that inspired us when we were first here. "Reg wanted this community to grow. You did, too. Has that changed?" I asked her and when her eyes met mine, there was a flicker of a light in them.

For me, I felt it was because I had mentioned Reg and their hopes, their dreams. Something, she could accomplish in his legacy. "Everyone that's here is here because of you. You need to show them you're still here," I encouraged her, offering her a shovel and slowly, she took it from me, her eyes never leaving my gaze.


CARL'S POV

Strolling Judith around the town, I thought I might as well do it while Kat, dad and everyone else was away. Looking after her, I thought she would enjoy the walk, the fresh air for a while. When I walked past a tree, I saw Enid and Ron sat together, making my heart sink at the sight of them.

Lowering my head, I was about to leave them and head back home, not wanting to be out anymore, all of a sudden. I knew Enid and Ron were friends but how he was drawn to her like I was, it annoyed me. Made me think she liked him more than me. "Carl?" I heard Gabriel's voice call to me.

"What?" I snarled, turning to face him.

I had heard of what he'd told Deanna, it was one of the first things I'd heard when dad got home. Carol was the one to inform us of what he'd said and I didn't trust him after that. "You heard what I told Deanna about your group," Gabriel could pick up from my tone of voice.

Before, I trusted him, I liked him. I encouraged my father to let him stay with us and go against us was the first thing he did at this chance? I disliked him for his actions. "What do you want?" I wanted this conversation to be over quickly.

Already in a bad mood over what I'd just seen, having Gabriel come up to me now was just another thing to be irritated about. "It was about me, not you or your group. I know that now," he was convinced he had it figured out. "I want to help. You tried to teach me back at my church. But I'm ready to learn now."

Letting out a soft sigh, I believed him. His eyes never left mine as he spoke clearly and honestly. "I think you need to tell everybody," I gave him my advice, as I felt that the others needed to hear this from him too. Otherwise, they'd never take him seriously.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Gabriel agreed, nodding before he turned around and went to leave.

Turning my back to him, I was about to just leave him there but I knew, if dad or Kat were there, they would try to help someone that came to them for this kind of training.

This was my chance to help him, the way I wanted my dad to. "Come by around 3:00. We'll start with the machete," I gave him a time, a place and the weapon we were going to practice with. As I began walking away, returning home, my eyes drifted magnetically to Ron and Enid.

Watching him as he leapt out of his seat a little to pull Enid into an embrace that she didn't settle into until a few seconds after. Her eyes swiftly found mine and we gazed at one another briefly, all before I decided to turn away and walk off. Acting like I saw and knew nothing.


CAROL'S POV

Cooking up the meal was easy as I became inventive with a recipe, I could only hope everyone liked. Popping it in the oven, I began ceiling some things and setting a timer as I watched Judith through the baby monitor. The ticking was a consistent noise in the back as I walked over to see Shelly stood outside, a cigarette between her fingers.

Not taking my advice on giving up, it was at least her showing a sign that she was willing to agree to my terms if she wanted me to show her how to make pasta. Suddenly, Shelly jumped with fear, like she was going to dive and escape. Except, it was too late. A man appeared out of nowhere and sliced her side. Before throwing an axe to her head.

We were under attack and I had to do something. I had to protect the kids and fight.


MAGGIE'S POV

Digging at the dirt, suddenly, we heard screams and shouts coming from inside the walls, making us stop our work. "Richards," Deanna called out to the guy we had on lookout for us while we were digging. "What's going on in there?" she asked him with a loud voice.

Dropping my shovel, I had my gun out and in the palm of my hands. I was ready, for anything, as I felt that perhaps, we were under attack. And to my surprise, we were.

Screaming continued before one Molotov was thrown to the wall beside Richards. The second that flew from the air, hit him. "Oh, no," Deanna was shocked to see this. "No," she cried as we ran over to the fallen body of Richards that had caught fire and lit up in seconds.

Racing over, I aimed but couldn't see a clear shot of the guy that threw the Molotov at Richards. He had begun climbing the wall and made it over by the time I went to shoot. It was too late, he already made it inside. "Come on!" I called for Deanna to follow after me as I lead her to somewhere we could get easy entrance to. It took Deanna a few minutes to follow but she eventually caught up.


CAROL'S POV

The sound of a woman screaming outside was loud enough for us to hear inside. Rushing to get to Carl, to Judith, I needed to instruct him on what to do next. Already, he had his assault rifle in hand. "I saw from upstairs. They're coming in from all over," he told me, as I already had my gun out too.

Alert, we still were and I was pleased we were ready for these kinds of situations. "You have to stay here and keep Judith safe," I instructed of him, knowing that if anyone could protect his baby sister, it was Carl. Leaving the house, I had no idea what I would be going out into.


CARL'S POV

Keeping on high alert, I kept hearing my dad's and Kat's words. Do not hesitate. Over and over again. Walking around the house, I was making sure no one was getting in, checking the windows, I eventually heard a doorknob rattling.

Getting ready, I pressed up against the wall, hiding as I watched a figure trying to pick the lock on the door open. Just as they finally got it to open, I raised my gun and slipped out the corner, only to face Enid who strolled in, uninvited. "Hi," she greeted me awkwardly.

Glancing at my gun, it was like she was surprised to see me carrying it and pointing it directly at her. "Why didn't you just knock?" I asked her, a little annoyed she almost had me shoot her for coming in uninvited. Shutting the door behind her, she raised something in front of me.

"I have these," she said, showing me that what she had, was keys and it hadn't been her trying to pick the lock. "Didn't want them to have them," she stated before giving the keys to me. "And I wanted to say good-bye."

She had followed me into the front room, where I placed the keys in a bowl and hid them. So no one could see them. "Okay, watch the back door. Tell me if you see them coming," I instructed of her, ignoring the fact she wanted to say goodbye to me.

"I'm not staying," Enid argued as she followed me, keeping an eye out for any intruders through the windows. Luckily, I saw none walk past yet.

How she could want to just leave? I didn't understand. She could get killed and if she didn't get killed, she could get bit by a walker out there. "You're not going anywhere. Sit down," I was stern about this. I wasn't going to let her risk her life.

Whatever she had planned to do, I knew it couldn't have been thought out properly. "You're helping me protect Judith," I told her what her job was going to be. "They're not getting inside this house. We're not gonna let them," I said as I sat down, she did the same and pressed her back into mine.

Both of us were guarding every corner, making sure nothing came in or out. "Did you see them?" I asked her after a few minutes of silence had enveloped us for long enough.

I wasn't going to let any of them get into the house and hurt my baby sister. "They're just people," she informed me of what was out there. "This place is too big to protect. There are too many blind spots. That's how we were able to-" she went to say something negative.

Again, I wasn't going to let anything bad happen to my baby sister. "They got in the walls, but they're gonna die. All of them," I was sure of this. If any of them entered my house, I wasn't going to hesitate. "Don't tell me good-bye," I pleaded of her.

Part of me didn't want to lose her, I wasn't going to accept her disappearing or dying. I couldn't. "Okay. I won't," Enid's voice was soft, gentle and like she had something else on her mind. I dreaded what it could be.


CAROL'S POV

Staying hidden in the grass and bushes, I laid low and creeping my way around. Watching how they killed people and kept some as prisoners. These people were borderline insane. One guy repetitively kept stabbing a corpse that had been dead long ago but he kept digging his knife into her. Using her blood, he happily wrote a 'W' on his forehead and that was when I knew I needed to go.

Pacing myself, I rushed to hide behind the houses and tried to keep out of any of their sights. How they sliced and mutilated corpses, was vile and inhumane. This was the kind of thing Rick warned them about. And none of them wanted to listen. I was sure that after this, the ones that survived, were going to listen to Rick now.

Coming up to Erin's place, I had seen her trying to get back safely to her home, a man was approaching her and had sliced at her stomach, her intestines hanging out as she screamed. Stalking closer, I got to him and stabbed him using my knife to his back, then to his head. Getting to Erin, who was trying to escape, I covered her mouth and tried to silence her.

Taking my knife that I had left when I got to her, she glanced at it, like she wanted her pain to stop. Her suffering to end as blood poured out of her and onto the floor by my feet. Clutching her head, I held her close and dug my knife into the back of her head. Ending her suffering, as she had pleaded me with her eyes.

Lowering her corpse on the ground, I hated that these 'W's had put our people in danger, had hurt them and did horrible things to them. Gathering my breath, my senses, I knew I needed to get up and make these bastards pay.

Grabbing the corpse of one of the guys, I took his clothes and made my way, incognito, to reach the armoury, get some more guns, more ammo and take these people down. One by one.

Witnessing Morgan by the entrance, he was facing a guy with an axe, a guy who was twice Morgan's size. Coming up behind him, when he least expected it, I would attack. "Gonna be slow," were his final words before I ended him with a knife to the heart.

Saving Morgan, I had at least expected a 'thank you' as I removed the scarf that hid my face. "I could have stopped him," Morgan insisted instead.

Ignoring him, I ducked down and began searching for anything the guy had of use. "The others back?" I asked Morgan, wondering if the others had returned with him.

If Rick and the others were here, these people would fear us much more. As most of our best fighters had been out there. "No," Morgan answered. "It's happening out there," he told me that the plan was actually going on out there. Right now.

"They're doing it now?" I was shocked to find out the truth here.

Using the guy's fresh blood, I wiped a 'W' on my forehead and took the chains from him. "We had to," he informed me that there was no other choice in this matter, which I didn't completely believe.

The chains weighed a little but it was my only hope to keep Morgan alive and to get to the armoury before we all died. "These people don't have guns," I pointed out to Morgan.

I had hopes that this information would relieve him but instead, it only angered him. "I could have stopped him," Morgan was certain of this but I highly doubted it. This guy had murder in his eyes, while Morgan looked like he wanted to bring peace to all mankind.

"If they had guns, they'd be using them," I argued, knowing full well these people were of a pagan worship. The way they acted, they loved blood and thirsted to see it.

I didn't look to him as I kept an eye out for anyone coming our way. "Did you hear me?" Morgan questioned my sense of hearing but I had heard him loud and clear. He didn't want me to kill.

Not killing them, was out of the question. It was either them or us and Morgan needed to understand that. "We have to get to the armoury before they do. If we keep moving, this might work," I continued telling him my plan, ignoring his constant words of not needing to kill these monsters.

"You don't have to kill people," Morgan repeated.

The fact he ignored that these people already killed most of our own and Morgan still insisted we keep them alive, was a fantasy. These people were bad and before I died, they were going down first. "Of course we do," I argued.

The more I insisted against him, the more angered he became. "Carol!" he yelled my name. "You don't like it," he told me, like I enjoyed doing this kind of thing.

I liked the adrenaline rush, that wasn't a lie. It reminded me I was alive. But killing wasn't who I was. "I'm gonna get to the armoury and I need your help," I said as I put the scarf back over my mouth and got back onto my feet. My eyes meeting his seriously.


MAGGIE'S POV

Finding a way around, to find an entrance, we came across the watch tower, that had a huge truck now wedged into its side. The building looked ready to collapse. "Mom!" I could hear Spencer in the distance.

Running towards the sound of her child, I watched as Deanna met him and ran straight into his arms. "Oh, God. Spencer. Thank God. Thank God," she muttered as she hugged the only son she had left. Her only family.

This made me think briefly to Glenn, to the family we were creating together. "We need to get inside," I interrupted their little moment with the urgency we had to get in there.

Pulling out of her son's embrace, she turned to face me. "I can't go in there," she was quick to refuse. "I don't have a gun. I don't know how to fight," she listed all the things that she wasn't good at.

Honesty, sometimes had its way of getting her out of certain important moments. "If I go inside, I'll just be another person who's got to be saved," she explained the trouble of her being in there if she went with me. "Best thing that I can do for everyone in there is to stay out here."

Knowing she was right, the people needed a leader and no one was willing to have Rick take charge. Deanna needed to be safe, if that was her way of leading and I had to accept that. "Keep her safe," I encouraged Spencer to look after his mother.

"I will," he assured me he had this under control as his mother climbed into the truck. Leaving them, I went to search for an entrance and knew I needed to help the others. Before it was too late.


CARL'S POV

Glancing out the window, I had seen Ron was stood behind a tree, a guy not far from him. Just when it appeared that Ron stepped on something, the guy noticed and went chasing after him. Before he could get Ron, I speed up to the door, swung it open and shot the guy in the leg.

Falling to the ground as screams left the guy, Ron slowed his run and stopped. Going over to the guy, I kept my gun up and focused on not falling for a trap. "Please, man. Please don't kill me, man. Please. Help me, please. My leg," he pleaded with me as I aimed the gun for his head.

Next thing I knew, he leapt up and reached for my gun, trying to take it from me. As we struggled, I forgot the one thing I had been repeating in my head over and over again. Do not hesitate. And here I was, hesitating again. Squeezing the trigger, it shot at the guy and luckily was a head-shot.

Panting, I feared that I was going to die just then, as I had no full idea how to fight but I would if I knew how. I wasn't like dad or Kat, who knew how to defend themselves against guys like these. "Come inside. I can keep you safe," I invited Ron to join us inside.

Enid had been waiting at the door, guarding it so that no one entered the house. Seeing Ron glance to me then to Enid, who was waiting for us, he shook his head and had a look of disappointment. "No," he rejected my offer and speed walked to his house.

"Ron," I tried to call out to him.

There was no way to get through to him and I hated that. Before everything, we were friends. Now, since my dad killed his dad, he hated me. "Carl, come on!" Enid yelled for me to come back inside. At least, someone trusted me to keep them safe. Running up the steps, I followed her as we both returned to the house, guarding it to protect Judith.


CAROL'S POV

Rushing, I had put chains on Morgan, using him to keep him both safe and to look like I was one of these people. "Good catch, Aphid," one guy said as a couple hurried past us. Leading Morgan to the armoury, I needed to be fast as I kept hearing screams in the distance of houses. People were being attacked everywhere.

Walking past an open space, I saw Gabriel get grabbed by one of those people. "Come on," I encouraged Morgan to follow quickly. "Leave him," I had seen how he stared over to the priest getting tackled by the big guy, trying to kill him.

Fighting against me, he took his chains off and grabbed his stick from me. "No," he decided to leave me.

Trying to be quick, I had noticed a few people leaving a building carrying things with them. "Hey, Aphid, where'd you get the gun?" a woman asked me before I raised the gun and shot at her head. Bang. One down. Bang. Now two were down. Seeing two more leave the building closest to me, I aimed at the woman and then the other man.

Bang. I shot again but missed. Trying to shoot again, I came out empty. Running into the armoury, I needed to grab a new gun if I was going to kill these two. Hearing their footsteps as they followed, I rushed straight into the armoury, opening the doors and grabbed the first gun I could.

Being pushed into the guns, the second I grabbed one and turned around, I shot straight for the woman that had chased me inside. Next, the man followed after her, when he saw me with the gun, he tried to run away but I shot him down before he could leave. Seeing the blood splatters on the floor, I knew I could track him down or that he was going to die regardless.

Hearing the dying pants of the woman, I used my knife and ended her suffering. Hearing a rustling behind the door, I opened the closet and found Olivia there. My knife still in hand, I feared one of them was in here.

"Please don't kill me," Olivia pleaded of me.

Removing my scarf, I was relieved to see it was her friendly but scared face, rather than one of these psychopaths. "It's okay. Anybody else down here?" I tried to calm her down enough to get answers out of her. "Olivia!" I yelled when she didn't listen to me the first time.

She was terrified, teary eyed as she glanced around and saw the bloodbath I had made. "No. No, I'm the only one," she finally answered me with a wobbly voice.

Grabbing a bag, I began picking out guns from the collection we had in the armoury. Dumping them in the bag, I was determined to get my people armed and ready for whatever was coming next. "Come here. Now," I ordered of her when she didn't move the first time.

She was trembling with fear but she needed to toughen up if she was going to survive. "You barricade that door behind me once I leave. Do you know how to shoot a gun?" I asked her after I gave her some instructions.

"Stand here. Finger here. Aim there," I gave her as much information as she needed when it came to using a gun. "One of them comes through that door, you squeeze and you don't stop till they're on the ground," I encouraged her that this was the only way she'd survive.

Leaving, I closed the door, to hide her at the very least before I went out and searched for my people that were still breathing. Finding Morgan, I was sure I'd find him with Gabriel after he'd saved him. Assuming correctly, I found them tying one of the enemies up and he had woken up.

"We're freeing you. You're trapped. You need to know, people don't belong here anymore," the guy had said before I shot him in the head. Handing them both a gun, I then carried on looking for more of my people and saw the disapproval in Morgan's eyes.


MAGGIE'S POV

Finally entering through the gates, I found only a few guys that I shot each down and from there, the town was practically empty. Walking through the smoke, through the massacre we had faced, I saw one person approach me. "Carol?" I was shocked to see Carol dressed like one of them, wearing a 'W' on her forehead and carrying a bag.

"Maggie!" she yelled as she ran towards me, offering me a gun.

"I've got mine," I assured her that I had enough with my pistol.

Taking my hand, she gave me the other gun, her eyes staring deep into mine and made me fear just what she'd been up to. "Take it, in case," the last thing I wanted, was for me to be left alone with one of them and with no more ammo.

Glancing at the gun, I took firm hold of it and looked back into her eyes. "Thanks," I didn't know what else to say to her.

"Come on, this isn't over," she told me before bringing her scarf over her mouth and rushed away to search for any others that threatened us. Following her lead, I took a different route and kept myself on high alert.


CAROL'S POV

Returning to the house after killing a few others that had killed our own, I came across the guy that killed Shelly. Seeing him there, still chopping her into itty bitty little pieces, it disgusted me. Shooting him in the head, I watched as he fell and became lifeless.

My eyes then trailed to poor Shelly, who was killed by something that wasn't her packet of smokes, like I had predicted earlier in the morning. Taking her packet of cigarettes, I went to sit down on the porch and went to take a smoke.

Realising how stressful and long the day had felt, what started off in chaos, had ended in minutes. I heard gunshots going off. Deliberating on taking it, all I could think about was how did this become of today? Trying to rub at the mark on my forehead, I felt so out of place. A woman, capable of doing anything to survive.

Glancing to my left, I found the letter 'A' in red marked on our porch. Sam. Even after everything we had done, he still considered us to be a part of Alexandria. All I could think of, was how could I be a part of the 'A's when I wore a 'W' on my forehead in order to save all the 'A's. I wish I did more. Saved more.


MAGGIE'S POV

Returning to where we started, myself, Spencer, Rosita and Deanna had searched the area to make sure that no one was lingering outside the walls before we went back in. The sound of a walker snarling caught my attention. It was Richards, now burnt and revived into a monster. I got my knife and slammed it into the side of his head after I pressed down on his arm with my foot.

Turning around to Deanna, she looked so lost, so afraid and broken. Like she'd lost all hope to carry on. "We're still here," I repeated my words of earlier. It might have been a loss but we had something to hold onto.

"Not all of us," Deanna grumbled, already hearing of our great loss. So many had died and there was no way we could have prevented it.


CAROL'S POV

After the tears had dried, I went to find the others, to make sure that those that survived, were okay. That those that died, wouldn't come back. I needed air, I needed to breathe and as I walked the roads, I saw Morgan approaching. Walking past one another, I didn't say a word.

We both had different ideas when it came to survival. Sometimes, it was kill or be killed. I wasn't going to be put in the killed part. I couldn't. As long as I could fight, I would. I had a family, not by blood but by bond and because of it, I had to survive.

Morgan saw all life, even the worthless ones like these monsters, as precious. Even after all they had done, all the lives that they took, they were still worth saving to Morgan. That was something I couldn't agree on, not after seeing Shelly and Erin die right in front of me. Not after all the death that happened around us.

As we both went on separate paths, I didn't regret not looking back at him as I kept walking. He had his views, I had mine.


CARL'S POV

Glancing out the windows as I kept guard, I had Enid upstairs with Judith, keeping her safe. Seeing the guy outside the house, he laid there, not moving. Dead. I hated myself for being so dumb. Kat and dad would of never hesitated the way I had.

Putting down the rifle, I was about to head up the stairs but I couldn't hear anyone around. "Enid? Enid?" I called out for her but when I came to the front door, I saw a note sat there on the ground, waiting for me to pick up.

Taking it, I read the words 'Just Survive Somehow'. 'J.S.S' the same letters she'd carved into the wood we had sat beside that time we were talking. It all made sense now. Is this her goodbye? I feared that this was in fact, the end of me and Enid. Hearing the timer ringing, I went over to it and silenced it, before taking the food out of the oven.

Everything was back to normal. Or so it seemed. Now, I just need to wait for dad and Kat to get back home.


ENID'S POV

After travelling for what must have been hours, I came across a little town, the buildings were quiet and the streets were empty. Entering one building, I had felt nervous, like I was dreading coming face to face with another monster I couldn't face.

Leaving Carl the way I had, it was sad but it was something I knew I needed to do. Taking my steps slow, I approached the building and heard a soft grunt. It sounded like a woman, as she hopped down from somewhere. Hiding, I kept my knife in my hand and stayed as quiet as possible.

Footsteps slowly approached me, as I got as small as I possibly could and as quiet as I could. I could hear the sound of metal grazing a holster. Not ready for a fight but I would have to, if the person here was going to hurt me. As they rounded the corner, an arm came up and went to swing a machete at me.

Raising my knife to stab her, I stopped when I realised who it was. When my eyes met familiar blues, she was almost hardly recognisable under all the blood and gunk. She reeked of both walker guts and of sweat. This girl must have been surviving for hours out here and I could hardly believe my eyes.

I couldn't escape the Grimes family. "Enid?" Kat's voice was just as shocked to see me, as I was to see her. Her arm slowly lowering her machete as I lowered my knife.

Fear came over me, as I pushed past her, ran down the stairs and out the door. Racing through the streets, through alleys, to get away from her. I didn't want to go back home. I had made my peace with Alexandria and needed a new place now.

"Enid!" I heard her call out to me as she chased after me, trying to catch up with me as I fled the scene.


Author's Notes: Granted, this is probably one of the shortest chapters I have ever written but it was a necessary chapter. You wanted badass Carol, well here she is. You might of wanted Kat? Well, mentioning her and the small scenes she was in towards the beginning and the end will hopefully suffice. I hope you liked this chapter. Anyways, same as always. 5 reviews please, it gives me a bit of energy to write these chapters for you guys.

This is it guys, this is chapter 1 out of the 7 amount of chapters I'll be throwing out today. I wanted to give you as many as I could before spooky season finished. So I hope you'll forgive me if its past it but I wanted to get as many chapters out before the first half of this new season finished. Enjoy the next chapter, you've got lots to read!

Questions to answer this time...

1) What did you think of this chapter?

2) Did you like the Maggie, Carol and Carl pov's this chapter?

3) What did you think of the Enid pov scene?

4) What do you think Kat and Negan's relationship will be like during 7-8?

5) What do you reckon will happen, involving Kat when Negan arrives?

Much love,

HeroJustInTime90