Alive

Always

Enid POV:
"Hey, it looks like there's a sign coming up." Carl points up ahead and I see a wooden sign. We reach it and I read aloud, "Jonesville. 1 Mile Ahead." "Good, maybe we'll find some meds or somethin'." Carl said. "Yeah, do you need a rest?" I ask, examining him for fatigue as best I could, knowing he'd deny any need for rest. He seemed to be wearied a little bit, but okay for the most part. "Nah, I'm fine. Let's keep going." He replied. I admired that about him, the way he was so determined and never stopped no matter what. It reminded me of Rick, even though I hadn't known him for long. We continued on until we came upon a small town. At the first building, I said, "What about here? Its near the road, so if we need to leave quick we can." Carl looked it over and replied, "Looks good to me." The place had once been a law firm, hence it's name, "O'Malley and Andrews Injury Attorneys." The door was locked, naturally, so Carl mustered up all the energy he had, and busted it open. I had my gun at the ready, but no walkers were waiting on us. We banged on the door, and one highly decayed, weak walker wearing a tattered black suit stumbled out from the hallway. I holstered my gun and unsheathed my knife. I took care of the walker while Carl secured the door. We were a good team, and continued with our standard protocol. There was a small waiting area, a front desk, and then to the right there was a short hallway. With guns drawn, we made our way down the hall, checking the two rooms. It was a small building and it looked like it had been abandoned early on. "Alright, Carl, let's get you seated. You don't need to be on that leg anymore than you have to, especially after all of that walking." I told him, and I helped him sit in one of the chairs in the waiting area. He sat down and let out a sigh of relief, a sure sign to me that he really was hurting. "They've got to have some sort of first aid kit in here somewhere, right?" I said as I walked behind the desk. Sure enough, underneath the counter was a first aid kit containing some bandaids, gauze, tweezers, Neosporin, and some other anti-bacterial cream and spray. "Okay, so, the bullet went right through, so we don't need to worry about pulling it out." I stated, trying to look at the positives. "Well, that's a plus." Carl replied, a smile etching onto his dirty face. I took out the Neosporin and anti-bacterials, and looked up at Carl without saying anything. He nodded his head and gripped the arms of the chair. I sprayed the anti-bacterial on his wound and his face contorted in pain, but he told me to continue. The creams didn't seem to hurt as bad, as he loosened his grip on the chair-arms, and his face seemed to relax. I wrapped the wound in gauze and then packed the kit up and put it in my bag. I turned around to find Carl standing up facing me. He said, "Thank you, Enid." And before I could respond, his warm, rough, calloused lips were on mine. I immediately kissed back and it was as if I could see the sparks fly. It was passionate, and strong, but gentle and caring all at the same time. We both poured our feelings into that one kiss. We pulled back and silence followed, just staring into one another's eyes. Finally, Carl spoke, "Listen, Enid, I'm not good with feelings. Neither was my dad, and we're a lot alike. I, I just need you to know that I care about you more than anything. You keep me alive, Enid, and I don't know what I'd do without you. Life is short, way too short nowadays, and I don't know what's gonna happen. Nobody does anymore. So I need you to know that I, I guess I'm trying to say, I love you, Enid. Always." I was dumbstruck. I couldn't stop the tears that pricked at my eyes, and I replied, "I love you too Carl. Always." as I wrapped him in a hug.