The Next World

Chapter 12

Glenn looked over at me annoyed.

"Come on. She's obviously going through something. She'll be safe with us. Let's just get home," I said.

"Amelia, about Daryl. If I'd known we'd be doing it yesterday, I would never have asked you to stay behind," he said.

"It's not on you. No one could have predicted this. And I can't think about what's happening to him...I just can't. It's taking everything I have not to. So, let's get home where they need our help and hope that Daryl, Sasha and Abraham make it back soon after," I said.

"Come here," he said.

He hugged me tightly. A tear had escaped my ducts. I sniffled and wiped it away.

"Come on. I doubt Enid slowed down for us," I said turning around to catch up with her.

We made it to the alley and took a different route than I had. We eventually found the road. We'd remained silent the entire time. The silence wasn't awkward. However, it was the kind of silence that we all needed to gather our thoughts. There was a walker on the side of the road. It's legs no longer there. Enid went ahead and dove her knife through its head rather viciously. Glenn and I looked at her.

"What? Think your wife wouldn't have wanted me to kill it? Or Carl?" she asked us.

"Carl knows you can take care of yourself. He wouldn't mind. And I don't. You do what you gotta do," I said.

She nodded. There were some balloons nearby.

"Checkpoints?" I asked Glenn.

He nodded.

"Smart," I said.

Enid walked over to them and undid them from the marker.

"We could use them to distract them," she retorted.

She tied them up on her backpack.

"There's a helium tank in those shrubs. More balloons, more string," Glenn said.

Enid made her way over and grabbed more balloons. I took a seat while Glenn knelt down watching her get to the other balloons. I nudged his shoulder.

"What?" he whispered.

"Talk to her," I mouthed.

"Why don't you?" he mouthed back.

"Because you need to do this more than I do," I whispered.

He looked at me then nodded.

"Who did you stay with back home?" he asked her.

"It's not my home...but if you want to know, I lived in Olivia's place. But I was on my own. Orphaned by walkers," she said.

"Me too. Right at the beginning," I interjected.

She turned and looked at me.

"Me, too. Probably," Glenn said.

"It's just what happens," she said.

"I get that you're scared," Glenn started.

"I'm not scared," Enid interjected.

"Yeah, you are. You don't want to lose anything again, so you give up and you say 'That's just what happens.'" he continued.

"I don't need a lecture," she retorted.

"Yeah, I think you do. You honor the dead by going on. Even when you're scared. You live because they don't get to. You think your parents wanted you waving around a gun because you're afraid?" he asked.

"We don't have to talk...we don't have to talk," Enid said. Glenn looked over at me.

"You did good," I whispered.

"Come on you two. We're almost home. Just a little further," I said a little louder standing up.

We continued walking. After a few more minutes of walking, we had finally reached Alexandria. The walkers had spread out to where I had taken off.

"Oh my god," Glenn said.

"Dammit. They surrounded the place," I said.

"We're gonna have to find another way in," he said.

He suddenly turned and we both saw that Enid had started taking off in the opposite direction.

"Stop...I said stop," Glenn said catching up to her.

"What's the point? The world is trying to die. We're supposed to just let it," she said.

"You're wrong, Enid," I said.

"We're not supposed to let the world die. And we're sure as hell not gonna let you die," Glenn said.

"I'm sure your wife will forgive you," Enid retorted.

"It's not for her anymore," Glenn said.

"It's for us," I interjected.

Tears had been streaming down her face. I wanted to hug her but I was afraid I'd get another gun to the face.

"Look, the walls are still up. The houses are still up. We'll find out the rest," Glenn said.

"Don't you see that there's hope in that Enid? We're not dead. We're still here," I said.

She looked at the both of us and eventually nodded.

"Now come on. There should be another way around. There's gotta be," I said.

"Hold on. I told Michonne that I'd show them a sign that I was okay," Glenn said.

"Maggie is still waiting on that sign, I'm sure of it. What did you have in mind?" I asked.

He looked over at the balloons. I smiled.

"Where are we gonna get the helium though?" I asked.

"Here," Enid said removing her backpack from her shoulders.

She pulled out the helium tank.

"Are you kidding me? Isn't that heavy?" I asked.

"Not really. I'm just glad it wasn't one of those big ones," she said.

"All right, Enid can you hand me some balloons?" Glenn asked.

She handed him the bag of balloons. She undid the three she hand on her backpack while Glenn filled eight more. I helped tie the strings all together. We walked a bit further from the walls so walkers wouldn't catch them. Glenn then let them go. We all watched as they ascended into the clear blue sky.

"Green. 'G' for Glenn huh?" I asked looking over at him.

"I didn't even put that together," he said.

We went back to watching the balloons go higher.

"Maggie'll see it. I just wish I was inside to see her reaction when she puts it all together," I said.

A few minutes later, there was a loud cracking going on. I looked over to my left and watched in horror as the clock tower came crumbling down.

"No. No," I said suddenly thinking of everyone inside.

They needed our help. I needed to be in there to know that they were all going to be okay. The walkers were now slowly entering Alexandria.