"Look," Enid pointed at a balloon on the ground. I squinted slightly against the sun as she picked it up. There was a note sitting on top of the balloon,
"What's it say?" Carl asked. Enid opened it, and I glanced over her shoulder, but the note was near impossible to read.
"It got wet. It's all gone," Enid sighed.
"Come on," Carl said, grabbing my hand and pulling me with him. Enid was quick to follow, the note still in her hand.
"It doesn't look that old," Enid said as she observed the paper.
"Yeah?"
"It might not be. I mean, it rained last week, didn't it?" I asked, looking through the trees as I followed Carl.
"Mhm. I mean, we can't read what they wrote, but just by doing this, they're saying something," Enid continued, coming to walk beside me.
"What?" Carl questioned
"We're not alone," Enid replied with a small laugh.
"We knew that. We saw it. People died," Carl said, and it went quiet for a minute.
"Why do we come out here?" Enid asked.
"'Cause, we're kids. It's what they do," Carl answered.
"Yeah, and we need time away from all those grumpy adults," I laughed.
"We're not kids," Enid sighed again.
"Don't be a buzz kill, Enid," I said, giving her a look with a soft smile. "Oh, shoot!" I lifted my already dirty converse, which now had a thick glob of mud on it.
"Careful. Don't hit me with your muddy foot!" Enid exclaimed, stepping away from me. I rolled my eyes and kept walking, trying to rub my foot on the grass.
"You think the grounds safe to sit on?" Carl asked as we reached our spot, which had a log on the ground for us to rest our backs against. It was our spot for just the three of us. I pulled out two comic books from a metal crate we had brought out here, one for Carl and one for me. Enid was too busy observing the note.
"It should be okay. I think it was just that one spot I stepped on," I said, gently sitting down. Enid came over and sat on the left side of me, while Carl was on the right.
"Oo, is that beef jerky?" Enid questioned, reaching into the crate and pulling out a pack of beef jerky I found in one of the kitchen cabinets at my house. She returned to my side, sitting down.
"Yep," I said, popping the 'p' as she stuffed a piece in her mouth. She handed me a piece, to which I handed to Carl who now had his sheriff hat off. He took it and quickly ate it. Enid handed me another piece for myself, which I chewed slowly to savor it as I began to read. We continued this for a while before we heard leaves rustle. The three of us were immediately alert, standing up.
"Come on," Enid said, stepping behind the log as Carl crouched down with his gun. I had my hand on one of my throwing knives. We tilted our heads to look through the trees and soon became relieved as we realized it was only Michonne and Deanna's son, Spencer.
"It was just Michonne and Spencer," Carl announced.
"They didn't see us, right?" I asked.
"I don't think so," Carl replied, standing up straight.
"What were they doing?" Enid asked as she stepped out from behind the tree.
"Walking. I don't know." Carl shrugged, sitting back down. I followed his lead, plopping down in my previous spot beside him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder before continuing to read his comic.
"I don't want to come out here anymore," Enid said quietly. I looked over my shoulder to see her. Carl made a small noise, standing up and putting our comics and food away in the small tin crate we had out here.
"Okay," Carl nodded, putting his hat on and beginning to walk away.
"Here," I handed Enid her backpack and followed after Carl. Enid and I were quick to catch up to Carl. The three of us paused at the sound of a walker.
"Carl," Enid called to him quietly as he pulled his gun out and walked towards the walker.
"Michone's out here. I'm not leaving it," Carl said.
"Michonne's back there," I said, motioning to where we had come from. "And it's going the opposite direction."
"Still, I'm not risking it," Carl argued before whistling. The walkers stumbled as it turned to face our direction.
"No," Enid whispered as we saw who the walker was. I gazed at it sadly, my mouth slightly agape.
I licked my lips quickly as Carl called out to it. "Hey, come on."
"What are you doing?" I placed my hand in hers in an attempt to ease her discomfort.
"Carl knows what he's doing, trust me," I assured her but I could still see she was unsettled by this.
"Come on," Carl said again.
"What are you doing?" Enid asked again harshly.
"Just go," Carl snapped.
"Carl," I said in a warning tone. He said nothing to me. Enid released my hand, and for a moment I thought she was going to leave but instead she grabbed a knife.
"We should kill it," she said.
"Go home," Carl snapped again.
"No," Enid said fiercely.
"Enid."
"This is bullshit! It should be dead," Enid exclaimed and not very quietly either.
"Stop arguing," I spat through my teeth at the two. I was already tired of them. Enid moved to step forward but Carl quickly gripped her arm. She struggled against him.
"Let go!" She yelled.
"Just leave," Carl said.
"Stop it," I said lowly, pushing the two apart. I quickly moved into action, pulling walker Deanna off Enid. I barely realized she had approached us, to be honest. I felt Carl latch onto my arm as I moved to stab Deanna. I was never very close with her, but I felt as if she should be put down before Spencer could see her. Carl pulled me into his chest.
"You two are not killing it," Carl argued.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Enid asked. Her staring was beginning to dig a hole into our heads.
"You wouldn't understand," Carl said. Enid looked at the ground. "You don't want to be out here. You said it. So go home." Enid shook her head, running away.
"Damn it, Carl. Let me go!" I exclaimed, thrashing around in his arms.
"Stop it," Carl hissed, carrying me away from Deanna like how he did before, only this wasn't playful.
"Seriously, Carl, I love you but if you don't let me go I'm going to elbow you," I threatened him as he carried me through the forest.
"Come on. We're going back to my house."