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Let's Do This

Enid trembled after the gunshots. She still had no clue who'd fired them and whose arrows were in the heads of the walkers that were going to attack unconscious Carl. Even in the chill of the fall afternoon, she almost felt warm about the people who had protected her.

Although her lips still quivered, she felt like maybe, just maybe everything could be okay for at least another 15 seconds before the owners of the used, hot bullets walked to her. Her eyes wandered back over to Carl for the remaining 10 seconds and gazed at his cold, pale cheeks, hoping that any form of rosiness would suddenly flush his face. Her sad view was interrupted by a dirty hand apparently being held out to help her up. Enid reached up and gripped the firm, calloused hands and shakily stood. She blinked the sun out of her eyes before realizing who stood before her. The brown-eyed girl immediately recognized the leather bike jacket before her and the olive skin of the other behind her. It was Daryl and Glenn. They'd come for them!

Enid gasped in happiness and rushed towards Glenn, careful not to hit his gun, and pulled the two men into a huge hug. There was laughter all around and even a smile from Daryl. Suddenly, Enid's laughter vanished when she remembered the state that Carl was in. She pulled away from the two and pointed to Carl while trying to piece a sentence together. Where should she even begin?

"Uh-uh, Ca-Carl. He...his arm. There's a gash."

Glenn ran over to the boy alongside Daryl as Enid tried to continue—this time with a better handle on things.

"He f-fell while we were running and-"

"Why were you runnin'?" Daryl interrupted with a worried look on his face.

"There were some men chasing us because they thought we had overheard some plot of theirs..."Enid said with more confidence.

She had to remind herself that she was safe, but her friends in Alexandria might not be if she wasn't perfectly clear.

"While we ran, a tree branch from out of nowhere hit Carl in the face, knocking him back. He thought that he landed on a sharp rock on his arm."

"Which arm?" Glenn yelled realizing the mass amount of blood on Carl's shirt and his jacket laying to the side. "He lost a lot of blood. We need to get him back to Alexandria so Denise can stitch him up."

"I already did," Enid announced. "But we have to hurry. I-I told them about Alexandria in exchange for our lives," Enid said on the verge of tears from her mistake.

Daryl noticed Enid's repentance.

"It's okay! You did it to save yourselves. It's okay. It's okay..." Daryl comforted.

He set down his cross bow and reached into his leather jacket. His gruff hands pulled out a folded tissue when he noticed Enid's reddening face. He handed it to her and looked over at Glenn who was reloading his 22.

"We need to catch up with those guys," Glenn hurriedly said. "About how many were there?"

"Maybe five? Six? Something like that," Enid recalled.

"Okay. Let's hurry, then," Daryl said as he picked up Carl in his strong arms. "Hand me that jacket," he pointed to Carl's ripped jacket on the ground, intending to lay it over Carl's shivering body.

Even though he was out, his body still recognized that it was cold out. Enid rushed over and picked up his bloody jacket along with his sherif's hat. She turned to Daryl's arms where Carl now lay, legs dangling, head back with chestnut hair drooping over Daryl's left arm. Enid bent over and picked up Carl's hat so it wouldn't be forgotten.

"Let's go," Glenn exclaimed. "We should be able to catch up with them," he said and cocked his gun.

The three, with Carl in Daryl's arms, ran deep into the woods after the men. Daryl was tracking the men's every step. Fortunately, because it was cold, the broken leaves and twigs and the slight imprints of footsteps (clearly not made by walkers) gave away the path that the men took.

They knew that the men were headed towards Alexandria, but they had to know if the men actually made it there or not. They ran and tracked for a good 15 minutes before Glenn shoved his arm out in front of Daryl and Enid. With a finger to his lips, he silently shushed them as he nodded towards what had made them stop. It was a group of people around a small fire maybe 200 feet away.

"How on Earth did Glenn see them through the trees? I knew he had good eyesight, but dang!" Enid thought.

"Enid," Daryl whispered. "Are those the guys?"

Enid squinted through the forest and peered at the men seated in an oval-ish shape. First she spotted the black coat belonging to Tom, but Tom wasn't the one wearing it. Instead, this man had a blonde mop of hair on his head. Seated next to him was a woman. She sported Jarod's winter coat. This made no sense. Enid looked closer. The others also wore the men's clothing. But if these people had the men's clothes, where were the men?

Enid looked back at the other three and whispered,"Those aren't the men, but those are definitely their clothes. And since those guys took our knives, ma-maybe they'll have our weapons."

Glenn looked behind him at Daryl who was leaning Carl up against another tree.

"So what do we do now?" Glenn whispered looking at Daryl for advice.

"What we have to do," Daryl stated looking down at Carl. "I say we interrogate 'em and ask 'em where they got them clothes an' see if they have your weapons."

Enid nodded in approval, brushing back her long hair out of her eyes.

"Let's do this."