Note: Okay, this chapter is going to be a bit different than like all of my others because it's going to be mostly in Carl's POV.

Darkness, pain, crying, shouting... All these things drifted in and out to me as I floundered in the inky-black of unconsciousness. I don't know how long I lied there - it could have been hours or just minutes when finally, I felt myself being lifted off the ground into a pair of strong arms. I couldn't see the person's face though. And suddenly, we were walking, no running. To where I didn't know and I didn't care either, the ebony darkness clouding my vision like a veil.

"It's alright, Angel. Everything's going to be alright..." a masculine voice said from above me, strained from emotion.

I knew at once who it was and I leaned into them.

"Carl..." I mumbled, my head lolling against his chest.

My cheek brushed against the soft material but that was all I remembered before falling back into the dark abyss.

Carl's POV

I ran as fast as I could, careful not to drop her in my arms but she was heavy. The blood from her wounds soaked her clothes, seeping through my fingers like water. But her face was serene, eyes closed peacefully as she rested against my chest. I tried to choke back a sob that welled up in my throat at the sight. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't lose her.

Not like this, not at all. Cramps shot through my legs at running for so long but I kept at it, desperate to get her medical help. She couldn't just be left there like that. Dad had offered to take her back to Alexandria but it was too far. She'd never make it there in time. No, the only option now was the Hilltop - they had a doctor.

A good one, too, from what I'd heard Maggie and Glenn say. At the name, memories flowed back into my mind and I winced. Glenn. I'd known him since I was just a kid and now...now he was gone. It didn't seem right, didn't seem fair. He shouldn't have died like that, shouldn't have died at all.

And now...now I was about to lose Angel, too. I hadn't known her long, not near as long as I'd have liked to. But I knew right when I met her - on the porch that night after the welcoming party - that she was the one. Cheesy, cliche, stupid - say all the things you want about it but that's how I felt. She was...she was so different from all the girls I'd met before. She was beautiful, sassy, sarcastic, funny, and most of all, full of light that she didn't even know she possessed.

She lit up a room when she walked in. Angel was...in all honesty? An angel. And everyone knew it but her. I know she could never see it. She always thought that because she'd been a Wolf once, that that was who she'd be for life - that no one would ever see her differently.

I glanced down at her face once more before putting on another burst of speed, dodging walker carcasses that were strewn along the empty street. But I had. I'd always seen her for who she was inside. She'd changed my whole world and the worst part of it was that I'd never even get to show her just how much. How much she'd changed everything for me. My Sheriff's hat tilted down slightly as I ran and I breathed a sigh of relief as the community of Hilltop came into view ahead of me.

The guards standing watch at the top of the gate must have recognized me because the gate swung open immediately. I sprinted inside, Angel's head swaying from side to side like a rag doll in her unconscious state. A man came outside then - light sandy brown hair, concerned blue eyes, and a mouth with smile lines around it - and I knew it was the doctor. He ran over to us and I stopped just in front of him, panting from the exertion.

"What happened? How long has she been like this?" he asked, raking his eyes over her frame to assess the damage inflicted there.

I swallowed and croaked out, "Negan. He-he...he beat her... I don't know how long it's been...twenty minutes maybe, an hour..."

He nodded gravely, ushering me towards the building, "Come on, we have to move quickly if we're going to save them."

Everything happened so fast then - taking Angel up to the doctor's make-shift hospital room, lying her down on the crisp-white bed, the doctor going around the room and frantically grabbing tools. A few more people came into the room and suddenly, I felt myself being pushed towards the hallway by a woman's gentle hands.

"You better wait outside, sir." she told me but I could hear the strain in her voice.

The door was shut on me then and I leaned my back against the wall, head in my hands as I waited for the others to arrive. My brown Sheriff's hat tilted down over my forehead as tears clouded my blue orb. It wasn't supposed to go like this, it wasn't supposed to go like this, it wasn't supposed to go like this were the words that repeated over and over in my head as the minutes, hours dragged on. Machines beeped loudly from inside and I removed my hands from my face, sliding my fingers down my cheeks as I stared at the closed door. 

Angel, please, be okay...please.