Carl and Enid stood outside the walls of the Hilltop. They could see Saviors packing up in the distance.
Carl sighs, his words are meant for himself, but he ends up saying them aloud, "I don't think Negan's here, I don't see that black truck..."
Enid stills, realization of Carl's decision becoming clear... "So you aren't coming to help..." she practically whispers the words.
She sounded hurt. Carl cringed. He didn't mean to hurt her, but he knew as well as she did that he needed to do this, "I have to kill him." Carl paused for a moment, "You can come with me. We can kill him together." Carl knew she wanted him dead just as much as he did.
Enid was stunned. He said it like it was so simple, and maybe it was just that simple for him. But not for her.
"You don't have to, you want to. You're not doing this for Abraham, not for Glenn..." Enid walks up close to Carl and points a finger at his chest. "You're doing it for you." She sighs, her hand dropping uselessly at her side, "Say it all goes right, and you do it... how do you get away?"
Carl scoffs, "It wouldn't matter."
Enid frowns. "It would to me," she whispers. She's inches from Carl's face right now and leaning in even closer. Carl was shocked. He didn't have enough time to react, and before he knew it, her lips were softly pressed against his.
The kiss lasted for a mere second before Carl was pulling away with wide and concerned eyes.
He didn't realize how much she cared for him. He didn't think about how this plan would affect the people around him. He felt guilty for hurting Enid. He felt guilty knowing that he was only going to continue doing so.
Enid's voice breaks a little, "Please don't go... Just come with me, you can—"
Carl deflected, "I... I'm just gonna go home."
"...You're lying." Enid saw right through him. What was the point in lying? To make her feel better? It only made her angrier.
Carl shakes his head, and without looking her in the eyes he responds, "No, I'm not." It was a useless lie but he couldn't bring himself to look at her and tell her the truth.
For a moment, Enid only stares at him. Without knowing, Carl said it all in just those few words. He confirmed everything Enid feared. He didn't care. He didn't care about dying. He didn't care about her feelings for him—About her love for him—her mind rudely supplied for her. He... he didn't care, not nearly enough as she did for him.
It filled her with unreasonable anger. She couldn't help it. She knew she was talking to a dead man walking and yet she wanted to yell at him, spit in his face and tell him that she never cared about him either... But that would be a lie. And she was never good at lying.
Instead, she scoffs, "You shouldn't go..." She fixes the straps of her backpack before giving Carl a look that most resembled disappointment, "but I can't stop you."
Carl didn't want to end on bad terms. He knew he had to fix things before it was too late. He wanted to tell her that he still cares for her, but what he ends up actually saying is, "...I'll see you."
"No, you won't." And that was that. Enid was probably right anyway. It was a suicide mission after all. Carl watched her walk away, but he couldn't find it in himself to go to her. He felt awful hurting her like that, but something was still pulling him to the Sanctuary. He had to kill Negan. That would solve all his problems, wouldn't it?
____________________________________________
Carl snuck his way into the black truck easily. He was surprised to see a crate full of guns in the truck. All Carl had was a machete, he was originally planning to just kill a Savior with it and then take their gun, but he didn't have to do that now. This made his job easier, sweet.
YOU ARE READING
Imprint
RomanceCarl never feel safe in this kind of world. Anyone can die without notice and nobody ever has chance to prevent it. This poor young guy has been through many hard times and he still standing, still surviving. What could he ask more? Until he met so...