We are the Enemy

Piper had tried time and time again to contact her brothers throughout the past weeks. She had gotten it down to a routine. She would wake up in the morning, check her phone, and try to call them. The phone would go to voice mail and she would sigh as it told her the mailbox was full. All of messages from her. Then again right before she went to bed. As the weeks wore on, her voice grew less and less hopeful. The world was over, as they knew it. Were her brothers even still alive? It had been days since Piper had last tried calling them, she couldn't stand to hear that Godforsaken beep again. It had started to haunt her at one point, she had needed to let it go. Miracles would be needed on multiple fronts if she was to ever see either of them alive again.

Doing her best to avoid meaningless conversations, Piper spent most of her time in the gym, doing one thing or another. She was either reading a book there or in the small equipment room off to the side of the gym, working out her frustrations. It was the only thing keeping her from going off on someone. Piper wanted to leave but she wasn't willing to be the first to try, not when she had no idea if someone would try to stop her. She was in no place to put up a fight against hundreds of people.

Piper was laying down, her nose buried in a book she had picked from the library. At first the banging hadn't been too much of a distraction but when it just didn't stop, she let out a sigh and closed the book. Pushing herself up, Piper made her way out of the gym. Her eyes narrowed, spotting a group of people watching the main doors. What the fuck was going on?

Before she could even get close enough to ask, or see for herself, Mathers was opening the door. A man that was more blood than anything else stumbled inside. Piper's instincts kicked in then and she raced forward, sliding onto her knees as she got up to him. He'd fallen down. "Towels. Clothes. Gauze. Rubbing alcohol. A needle... thread!" Piper started shouting random words, supplies she would need to stop the bleeding. When no one seemed to move, Piper looked up with a glare, "Now, you fuckin' idiots!"

Piper was applying all of her weight on the wound that she had found - it was too covered for her to figure out what type of wound it was. Soon enough, supplies were brought to her and she went to work. Wet towels wiped away the blood to give her a better view of what was going on. Her schooling was screaming in the back of her mind - she shouldn't be touching the blood but there had been no choice. "This is going to hurt," she muttered to the man who seemed more out of it than anything as she all but poured the alcohol onto the wound.

"Someone... something, bit him?" Charlie spoke quietly, more to herself than to the staff crowding around her. Her stomach was a knot, something was wrong and yet, she didn't stop moving long enough to consider what could be wrong.

Keep running, keep running, keep running. Was all that could go through Olly's mind. There were people after her, and she was, admittedly, scared. She didn't know who these people were; all she knew is that they wanted to kill her after she stumbled upon their camp.

Hearing voices behind her, Olly's distraction caused her to trip and fall into the grass, groaning as she regained a good thought process. The voices were getting closer, and taking no chances, Olly hid behind a tree, hoping that was the secret to her life being saved. It wasn't an easy world to live in, but damn it, she was going to try.

The man had passed out before Piper could even hope to get any answers from him so she was working dutifully to close the bite wound. Piper was doing her best to ignore the people that were buzzing around her, she had been in her last year of schooling so there was very little left for her to learn, thankfully. Stitches were nothing to scare her. What did scare her though? Piper had so intently been focused on her work that she didn't notice the man stop breathing. The man rolled without warning and lunged for her neck.

"Jesus, fuck!" She shouted, throwing herself backward, out of the chair she had been sitting in. Piper backed away, eyes wide as she watched several men rush forward to restrain the man. Piper was already back on her feet, a chill running down her spine. One person was infected with whatever this disease was that had landed them here. In their walls. No clue what it was or what a cure may be, Piper needed out. Now. Turning, she grabbed a clean cloth and ducked through the gathering crowd, wanting to get to the gym where her cot and belongings were.

---

Shouting from a bit far off caused Rick to tense, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the horizon in front of him. He was out alone, just needing to clear his head. He had a knife strapped to his hip, one to his ankle, a gun holstered on his other hip, and one in his hand. Under no uncertain circumstances would he be unprepared. Especially being outside of the prison on his own. He had been turning to rush back to the prison, away from the looming threat, until he caught sight of a girl that more or less threw herself behind a tree. His brow furrowed as he turned back around, hiding himself behind a tree.

Rick brought his fingers up to his lips, placed his thumb in one corner and his pointer in the other, and whistled quietly and long enough that he hoped it would get Olly's attention. How many people were after her, he didn't know, but he knew that if they wanted to make it back to the prison alive, they needed to step very carefully.

As the thing was restrained, Negan watched carefully as Piper ducked her way out of the crowd and made a beeline straight to her little abode, grabbing as much of her already few belongings as she could carry. Curiousity got the better of Negan, and as he walked towards Piper, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. The girl had lost her family and was unsure of her brother's whereabouts, and that was a tragedy enough for anyone to endure.

"Going anywhere?" Negan asked with a small grin.

---

A low whistle caught Olly's attention, and as she saw a bearded man, she nearly gasped with a mix of fright and relief.

"Help me!" She mouthed, tears running down her face as the men came closer, their voices growing louder. Olly was frightened, her heart nearly thumping in her throat. It was a tense situation, and how she got here just by accidentally stumbling across a camp was a mystery.

Piper nearly jumped out of her skin when Negan walked up behind her. She looked up with a slight frown. "Look. I'm leaving, this place," she paused to motion around the room. "This place isn't safe anymore. Whatever disease is outside, that guy he has it. It's in here now. This place isn't any more safe than being outside of the walls." Piper raised to her feet and shouldered her bag.

She had little knowledge of Negan, what little interaction they had had since this place opened had been negative and Piper doubted it would change now. She would likely never see him again. "Get out of my way. Please," she spoke, her voice void of emotion as she stepped up to him.

---

Rick held a finger up to his lips to single her to be quiet. The moment she nodded, Rick's attention was far away from her. His eyes narrowed as he leaned around the tree a bit more, just enough to be able to count the men that had been after Olly. Three of them, one lone female. He winced, knowing he didn't necessarily want to be that person but something about Olly had him wanting to help her. If for no other reason than she seemed like she was in a situation she couldn't keep out of, through no fault of her own.

The group passed by him and Rick stepped carefully, wasting no time in pulling one of the men into a chokehold. The man was down and Rick jerked a knife free from the man's belt. He raised back to his feet, took a deep breath, and threw the knife toward the next closest man. Rick didn't wait to see the impact the knife had. He moved through the trees as quickly and silently as he could, toward Olly.

"Now, now," Negan chuckled. "Don't be in such a hurry to go. Just because one person has it, doesn't mean everyone else will get infected. We have it under control." He reassured. His voice was confident about it all, a world outside had gone mad, and he acted like it was the most normal thing in the world.

He studied Piper for a bit longer. "You'd be in more danger out there than you would be in here, that's for sure."

---

Olly gasped as the stranger made his way towards her, and she couldn't help but cower backwards, into the bark of the tree. She couldn't be sure if he was safe, although he had just saved her life - a kind gesture.

"Thank you." She said, almost silently.