Chapter 6: Those Meddling Kids

Enid couldn't sleep in her own house. She tried in those first few nights, tossing and turning in her bed. It was stupid, she thought, how she didn't feel safe enough to sleep in a big house, behind a door she could lock, with a full belly and no walkers in sight. She couldn't help herself; she needed to get out of that house, to get away from the ghosts.

She spent a few nights sleeping in Carl's bedroom, on the floor beside the crib Carl dragged in from Judith's room. She was obviously not the only one who didn't feel safe in their new house. If Carl ever noticed her there he didn't mention it, but more than once Enid woke up to find herself covered in a blanket she didn't remember going to sleep with. Still, she always left before Carl woke up properly.

During the days, Enid searched for a road that wouldn't lead her in circles. That was how she got to know Claire… and Castiel. Claire's head was down since she was looking at her radio. She bumped straight into Enid. Despite the fact that they had literally knocked their heads together, the impact didn't hurt. The radio flew out of Claire's hands.

Enid went to pick it up when she heard, among the static, "Claire, are you alright?"

"She's fine," Enid answered on Claire's behalf, and tried to hand the radio back. The other girl looked surprised.

"Oh, hello Enid. I didn't realize you could hear me as well," The voice said. When Enid thought about it later, she realized she couldn't really tell if the voice sounded male or female, young or old. She could still hear the static, but as the voice spoke, she heard it less and less. "It would be best if you didn't acknowledge me at all. Most cannot comprehend my voice in this form. I also worry for your safety if those in charge knew I was speaking to you," the radio explained. "Nevertheless, it is my pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Castiel."

"That's my favorite radio station," Claire said with a shaky smile.

The three of them continued to have the strangest conversations over the next few days. Enid and Claire took incredible care to speak in double meanings, sometimes exchanging urgently discarded notes. Castiel would fill in the blanks, sometimes, but was incoherent more often than not. Sometimes he sounded (felt?) confused: repeating the same sentences over and over again, as if he was stuck in some sort of timeloop. Other times, he forgot he was speaking to Claire and Enid, addressing someone called Dean instead (a name that never failed to make Claire flinch, frown, or react in some negative way).

Enid learned Claire and Castiel were trying to find a way out. She learned that Claire was brought to heaven about a year ago, and that Castiel was taken prisoner at the same time. Those events were connected, even if Castiel's explanations were confusing, to say the least. Still, Enid found that she trusted the strange duo instinctively, despite herself.

She and Claire struck a fast friendship. Enid started spending the nights in Claire's bed. It felt innocent, like the sleepovers with her two best friends when she was ten and the only monsters in her life were the ones on TV. They used to have whispering conversations in the dead of night then, too. Even if the topics were incredibly different, it still felt so familiar to Enid.

"I'm from Illinois originally," Claire told her. "My dad, he left us. All of our relatives were super religious, so my mom fell out of touch with them. It was just the two of us for the longest time, even before everybody started getting sick."

"It feels like a lifetime ago," Enid said softly. She was lying on her back, eyes fixed on the motionless ceiling fan. "Remember how everyone thought it was a big hoax?"

"Yeah, it was just before Halloween. All the kids at my school were going to dress up like Zombies," Claire said. "Then they said it was some kind of bird flu outbreak. My school was an evacuation zone at some point, but I think it was overrun. My mom and I decided to board ourselves up at home, actually. Best decision ever, until the food ran out. Then we sort of drifted with one group or another."

"It was always just me and my parents," Enid said. "They treated it like some kind of an adventure in front of me, even if I was old enough to know better. It was so stupid the way they died. Our car broke down and they didn't notice the walkers were getting too close. My mom could've taken them." Enid smiled. "She was so badass, you wouldn't've believed it if you saw her."

"The dead weren't really the problem in our case. My mom was just too trusting. I think I was the one protecting her most of the time. She still died defending me. We were with this group… they were insane. Like, total psychos." Claire let out a harsh little laugh. "They were going to kill me too, but, um, you-know-who showed up."

"How did you get away?" Enid asked.

"We didn't."

The conversation was going a little too far into the forbidden territory, so Enid wisely changed the subject. "You know, I was on my own for a long time. Just surviving somehow. But then I ended up in Alexandria. This place kind of reminds me of it, now that I think about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, before Carl and his dad came along. Then people started dying and it stopped being so… Pleasantville." Enid sighed. "It was going to happen anyway. It's a miracle the place was left standing for so long. It's better now, like, it's more real."

"I think I would like to see it. Someday." Claire admitted after a pause.

After the blackout in Heaven, things changes. It wasn't just the two (three?) of them anymore. For one thing, Enid wasn't the only one to spend the nights at Claire's house. It started with the three younger kids. They were clever to keep their mouths shut about it, but after the flashlight conversation, they stopped trusting the faceless creatures who posed as their parents. To make room, she and Claire removed all the furniture from the living room, and instead covered the floor with mattresses from wall to wall.

The next evening, Carl was dragged in by Susan, who never seemed to leave his and Judith's side anymore. "It makes sense!" Susan insisted. "Why are you being so stubborn?"

Carl glanced at Enid. He didn't really manage to hide his blush behind his long hair. He mumbled something that got lost under Judith's babbling voice.

"He's just afraid I'll cut his hair when he's sleeping," Enid mock-whispered to the little girl.

Susan rolled her eyes. She turned to Carl, and said very earnestly, "I'll protect you."

They were only missing the other boys, Mikey and the twin brothers Scott and Jake. It seemed unlikely they would come on their own, but then Claire, who hadn't forgotten Scott's confession about his dad, went ahead and asked the boy if he wanted to join them. Scott immediately said yes. His brasher brother scoffed, but showed up the following night just the same. Mikey, not wanting to be left out, joined as well. It was like a weird slumber party with a big age range that never actually ended.

Living so close together, and with a shared goal in mind, they all seemed to be getting closer. Their days were spent looking for that mysterious exit, "something out of place". Enid and Annabelle, who turned out to be a surprisingly good climber, searched the rooftops and the treetops. Carl even let Susan watch Judith for short periods of time, while he and the other boys went through each one of the houses. Most of the time they just seemed to be goofing off, happily making a mess of each room they visited. Even little Oliver helped in a way, crawling into the tight nooks and crannies the rest of them couldn't reach. The all combed through the woods, even scuba diving in the lake.

Brian, of course, popped up and wanted to know what exactly they were all doing. He seemed very pleased by Claire's excuses of slumber parties and treasure hunts.

It was… fun. Enid was actually having a great time, for the first time in forever. The nights were a bit crowded and both Enid and Claire were very firm about which side of the room the boys were allowed to sleep in, but it was kind of nice to just watch movies and fall asleep surrounded by people you knew were real. Even if Judith sometimes cried for no reason, or if Jake kind of snored, it felt good to know where everybody was. Enid fell asleep easily, lulled by a general feeling of safety.

It almost felt like a betrayal when Susan went missing.