Ties In The Torn World

Veiled Obstacles

Carl's pov:

the car slows down once again, and the headlights reveal yet another obstacle, not walkers this time. 

"what the.." my dad says as he unlocks the car door and gets out angrily.

"what the f*ck!" Abraham swears loudly as he hops out of his truck and looks ahead of us. 

there's four big trees that fell right in front of our path.

"quiet down pendeja, you'll attract the walkers" Rosita hops out after Abraham. 

"how did this even happen" Glenn rubs his eyes in frustration as Daryl walks over to inspect.

"there wasn't any storm Rick" Carol says "trees don't fall by themselves".

"they didn't" Daryl calls out.

"what?" Rosita asks, confused. 

"look" Daryl waves us over and points to the tree trunk on the left side.

"this wasn't no damned storm" he says "someone cut this down".

damn it..

"the saviors didn't know we were coming, so who did this?" I ask.

"or did they?" Michonne hinted.

"what are you suggesting?" Rick asked.

"I'm not suggesting anything but--" 

there it was, a two toned whistle.

the savior's whistle.

everyone twisted around in all directions, terrified. the dark made it extremely hard to see absolutely anything. 

there it was again

"guys is that-" 

"yes, yes it is" Glenn's voice came out shaky before he cleared his throat and said firmly

"what do we do?".

"I cant see sh*t" Abraham squinted.

"there's only one whistle" my dad said.

"which means one savior" Michonne finished for him.

"grab your flashlights and-"

again, the whistle 

"grab your flashlights and a weapon, no guns, find this savior" my dad instructed.

"we cant let him get away and tell Negan" he said and everyone nodded, going to the cars and grabbing flashlights. Daryl went first, biting the flashlight in his mouth before stealthily going into the forest with his crossbow. 

I don't understand though, why would the savior whistle if they wanted to get away and tell Negan? why didn't they just stay silent?

everyone went off into different directions, I opened the car door and reached for my flashlight under the seat and a knife. I turned around to go into the forest but was blocked from my dad.

"Carl" he said in a warning tone.

"dad I have to go" I protest, trying to walk by him. 

"no, you promised you'd choose flight instead of fight, that was the deal" he said sternly.

"I-" 

"no, your staying here, guard our stuff" he says, pointing his finger at me.

"Carol!" he calls her over "will you watch him?" he asks.

"got it" she sheaths her knife and walks over to me. once my dad leaves I turn to her.

"Carol come on, please" I beg her.

"Carl..." she asserted, not letting me go. I grumble and lean against the car, crossing my arms. she inspects my face, walking over and grabbing my chin like a worried mother. 

"what happened here?" she asks pointing to my lip.

"someone broke into the armory, not sure if it was a savior. that's why I'm here, to figure it out" I say. she looks as if she's about to teach me a lesson but she decides against it and leans against the car next to me. 

the best part about this group is that I've known some of these people since the beginning, and even if I met them in the middle, the things we've been through together, that brings us closer then family. I stand next to Carol in silence, too lost in my thoughts about the girl from the armory for it to feel awkward. 

although the silence is never awkward, sometimes, silence speaks more then words. 

the group that went to the woods comes out in different directions, none of them dragging a savior.

"lost em'?" Carol asks, walking over.

"its like there was never a savior in here to begin with, they left no trace, nothing" Daryl says. 

"well sh*t" Abraham swears as he turns his flashlight off. 

"We're far from the Sanctuary, but we have cars, they don't" Glenn assured. 

"your right" my dad said "if we make it there before, if we speed the plan up we can get out before the savior comes back on foot".

"and if they weren't on foot?" I ask, narrowing my eyes "what if they had a vehicle on the other side of the trees?" everyone looked uneasy at the possibility.

"then we better hope they didn't" my dad replied. 

we get back on the road after the pause and I look at the time on my dads watch.

11:39

f*ck.

we had to take the long way, going away from the blocked road and the farmhouse that indicated only thirty-five minutes until the Sanctuary, and onto the winding road that goes through an abandoned town. 

another tiring hour goes by until we have to make a pause, twenty minutes until we get there. 

"pass me the tape" I say as I reach a hand out to Michonne and she passes me a roll of black tape. I step out of the car, same time as Aaron and Abraham. I kneel in front of the headlights, pulling the tape and covering the lights with them, making the next twenty minutes driving in pitch black and relying on muscle memory and hope. 

we don't stop driving, illuminated by the moonlight, until we see the lights inside the sanctuary. we leave the cars off the side of the road and trudge along the path towards the Sanctuary.

walking past the fence with the walkers attached to it, groaning and hissing as they hear the crunching of the gravel beneath our feet. 

we near the stairs that lead to the backdoor of the second floor, where the circuit board could be, also where she could be...