Our Sanctuary

The Warehouse

Carl and Enid followed the tracks further and eventually found where they ended. It was the black spot they had seen on the horizon from the stream.

A wire fence covered the parameter of what looked like an old abandoned warehouse. From the outside it seemed about half the size of the prison but outside was a large parking area and a large area of grass.

There were a couple of broken down cars in the parking lot. Just rusty red Fords with the trunks wide open. There was a big storage truck too, the kind that used to bring frozen food up and down the highway before the whole world went to shit.

The gate was surprisingly unlocked and Enid opened it. Carl carried her inside and finally putting her down on a thick yellow parking bollard that was just strong enough to support her weight. Carl shook his arms and rubbed them.

"Thanks for carrying me, Carl." Enid said. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Carl smiled and gave a thumbs up but quickly turned his back and screwed his face up and bit his tongue to stop himself crying out. He rubbed his arms again as they hung limp by his side, completely dead.

Carl told Enid to wait sat on the bollard while he scouted the area. She felt unprotected and exposed even though she had a knife and a gun in her backpack. She hoped Carl would come back soon.

But the place seemed quiet, not a sign of life - neither living nor dead. Carl looked peeked inside the warehouse holding his gun ready and then opened the large corrugated metal doors. He went in. It was almost pitch black with only small split windows near the top that were caked in dust letting through slivers of sunlight. The warehouse was largely empty except for a forklift sat in the centre . There were shelves around the outside and on the shelves were stacks of cans. All kinds of cans were there, baked beans, refried beans, spaghetti hoops, chilli - all the things he remembered eating when he was younger. The stuff his mom always made for him.

Carl picked up one of the cans. It was still full of food. Carl pumped his fist in the air. He had hit the jackpot. He took one of the cans and put it in his backpack to show Enid and then had a another quick look around thinking that it would be a good place to spend the night.

"Enid!" Carl shouted as he came running out of the warehouse. Carl shouted her name again but Enid put her finger to her lips and told him to be quiet.

"Shut up! There could be walkers around here." she whispered.

Carl lowered his voice. "I checked the place out. It seems safe."

Carl opened his backpack and showed her the can of beans. Enid looked at the can and caressed it between her hands like she hadn't seen food in weeks.

"There's hundreds of cans here. We can stay the night and then take the rest back to Alexandria."

Enid looked up at the sky. The afternoon blue sky was fading into dusk with an orange tinge lingering behind the clouds. It would be dark soon and cold. They needed a place to stay.

"You know what," said Enid handing him back the can, "I don't want to go back to Alexandria. Let's just stay here."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, there's nothing for us there. This place has fences and walls and food and there's a stream near by. A forest full of nuts and berries. There's no reason why we can't make a home here. What do you say?"

Carl hesitated. He liked Enid and wanted to stay with her at least one more night, but he couldn't imagine deserting Alexandria. He couldn't desert Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Carol, Daryl and especially his dad. They had survived through so much together.