Collision

Chapter Twenty Five

~ Chapter Twenty Five ~

Carl's P.O.V.

I still couldn't believe it. Carol was right in front of us.

Daryl hugged her tight, the joyful tears streaming down his face as she wrapped her arms around him. It was an overwhelming moment, one I didn't want to see end.

Dad and I slowly walked towards her as she stood back to observe Daryl again, as if not believing what was happening. She opened up her arms and I hugged her, liking how she smelt like lilies in the summer. She gave dad a side hug as well, although I could sense tension in my father's thoughts.

As they let go of each other, we didn't have the time to catch up since we'd just opened a holography. I looked at the room to my left and my bottom jaw hung agape.

At the other end of the room was an enormous steel door, so big that about three extra large elephants could fit through at once. I slowly walked towards it with everyone behind, also staring breathlessly as if they've just found the stairway to heaven.

"One of the latches are loose. Would that be a sign of anything?" I asked, observing the gigantic door.

"We can't assume anything at this point, we have to make sure that the button impacts this thing," Daryl noted, Carol still at his side.

"What do you mean by button?" asked a woman, the one wearing the blue cardigan.

"We found something that, when applied pressure, triggers something. We heard a sound as soon as we stood on it, meaning that it must have done something in this maze."

"We had that too, except we came from this side of the maze," Carol added, furrowing her brows.

"Is there pressure on that button right now?" dad asked, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"No, we left it to try and find out what happened."

I was about to say what I was thinking when Daryl beat me to it, "If these buttons trigger these latches to unlock, then that could be our first step out of here. We have to test it out first, or else this door'll be for nothing."

After minutes of deciding, we all decided to split in half. Four of us, dad, Daryl, Carol and I, set off to make our way back to where Ellie was. The rest of the three, who were still strangers to me, stayed behind to monitor the door.

Running never felt so good, since it meant that I would be closer to Ellie rather than get farther away from her. Minutes felt like seconds as I kept my thoughts positive, hoping that we were all one step closer to getting out of here.

Ellie's P.O.V.

Seeing Carl again felt like a huge weight lifting off my shoulders. Gladly, I enveloped him in a hug only to smell the robust smell of sweat from his exhaustion. He was out of breath and it didn't take him long to find a seat on the floor.

"How was it?" I asked, not bothering to find out what they found. I had to make sure he was alright first.

He nodded his head as if victorious, "We found a huge door with a latch unlocked. We don't know if it has anything to do with this button, but we think it's worth a shot to try. We also found a group of women, whom you're going to meet, and they told us that they had a similar experience with another button on the other side of the map as well."

I noticed the older woman, who was now making her way towards Michonne and hugging her tight.. They must've known each other for a long time, I thought as she and the lady conversed.

Joel seemed as confused as I was, but he didn't bother interrupting the reunion.

"How did you end up here?" Michonne inquired the woman.

"The car I had ran out of gas and I didn't know anywhere else to go. When I saw the steel gate, I got curious and I was forced to get in or else I'd get killed," she replied. "Who are these people?"

Michonne gestured to me and Joel, "This is Ellie and that's Joel, we've been with them since the prison and they've treated us fairly. Ellie, Joel, this is Carol."

Carol, the name rang in my mind, that's the woman who taught Carl about his sleeping habits. 

Rick coughed, "Can we cut this short please? We've got quite a few people waiting on us at the door. Joel, could you just get off the button for a while? We're trying to see if this has anything to do with the latch we found unlocked."

Joel gladly did so and left the big button to rise from the disappearance of pressure. In a matter of seconds, a noise echoed itself around the hallways, ringing in our ears. It sounded familiar, as if I'd heard it before.

"All of you make sure to rest. Daryl, Michonne, and I will go to the rest of the group and find out if anything's happened. Carl, you stay close to Joel and Carol, alright?" Rick ordered, to which Carl briefly nodded. 

As they jogged out of our sight, Carol introduced herself to Joel and I with the help of Carl.

"She's the woman I talked to you about before," Carl implied, gaining a raised eyebrow from her. "Don't worry, I only ever talk good things about you."

Carol chuckled and shook her head. I offered her some water, but she politely refused. She appeared to be like a frail woman, but some part of her seemed like she had more to her than that. 

While waiting for the group to come back, Carol and Carl caught up with each other, leaving the gruesome details away. They wanted it to be a happy, hopeful reunion and the thought of other people dying was not one of a positive thought.

While I discussed with Joel the possibilities of romance between Carol and Daryl, since I saw them stealing glances at each other earlier, we heard numerous footsteps in rhythm. I stood up from the concrete and took out my dagger, Joel stepping in front of me with his axe in hand. Carl and Carol were at our side, both had a gun in hand but no other ammo.

Rick came into view first, letting us heave a sigh of relief. He had an odd look to him. He was deeply smiling, teeth shining as bright as a diamond, if diamonds even mattered anymore. 

He didn't even need to use words to express what he needed to say. His body language was enough, and the fact that every person behind him had smiles on their faces.

The button was a trigger to the door's latch. It, unlike every other disastrous try, was finally a key to success. One, in which we haven't had in a very long time.