"Please be them," Carl whispered as the sound of a vehicle crunching on gravel could be heard in the still morning air. He and Carol had been pacing up and down at the lower gates waiting for the rescue party to return from Woodbury. They had left the previous night, a small party of just Michonne leading Rick, Oscar and Daryl into Woodbury to rescue the captive Glenn and Maggie.
"It's them. Hurry!" Carol recognised the familiar green of the Hyundai rolling toward the gate and she and Carl ran to open the main gate. Rick stepped out as the car came to a halt in between the first sets of gates at the checking point. He leant through the window;
"Drive them up, I'll meet you there." As he spoke Carol was anxiously checking the car; unable to see Daryl at all. Rick crouched down to enfold Carl in a warm hug. "Thank God." He whispered and kissed his son's cheek. "Where's Hershel?" He asked.
"He's in the cell block."
"Where's Daryl?" Carol asked anxiously, her voice pitched higher than usual with tension; and pressing a hand against her stomach to stem the nausea threatening to overtake her. Rick looked over from Carl and wondered how he was going to tell her that her redneck wasn't coming home. He strode over and placed a hand on her shoulder and bent slightly so that she could see his eyes.
"It's all right. He's alive." He reassured her and Carol let out a huge sigh of relief. "We ran into his brother." Rick watched as the animation drained out of Carol; leaving her pale and shaking in front of him. Damn you, Daryl, for leaving me to break this sweet woman's heart! Rick swallowed hard and let her have it all in one go. "They went off."
"They left?" Carol whispered in disbelief, her face paler than Rick had ever seen it. Rick dropped his gaze and kicked at a stone with his boot. "Daryl left?" She whispered again, hoping that it was just a mistake; that she'd misheard him somehow. "He's gone?" Rick looked up and Carol saw it was the truth from the misery etched on his face. "Is he coming back?" She asked, voice cracking with unshed tears. Rick reached out to touch her shoulder again and she shrugged off the comforting touch and turned away; struggling to hold onto her emotions.
"Hey…"
"Gone…" Rick and Carl stepped up to escort the now weeping Carol up through the field; Rick wrapped one around his friend's shoulder and the other across his son's back.
"And Oscar?" Carl asked, watching as Rick slowly shook his head to indicate that Oscar had fallen whilst trying to get them through the barricade at Woodbury. Carol made it a few steps into the compound before collapsing in silent sobs against Rick's chest. Carl ran back to pull the gate across the enclosure and stood helplessly watching as she cried herself ragged before slumping against Rick.
"Dad?" Carl questioned in alarm, Rick passed the weapons across to Carl as he hitched one arm under Carol's knees and lifted her into his arms.
"It's just shock, son. Run up ahead and ask Hershel to come over to check her out."
"Stupid redneck…" Rick muttered to himself as he carried Carol in the courtyard; he brushed past Axel and Beth hovering at the sight of him carrying a clearly unconscious Carol into the cell block. He reached the cells and decided to lay her in a cot down on the lower level so that she didn't have to face the sight of Daryl's empty perch every morning.
Hershel clunked in with his crutches and Rick moved a stool over so that he could examine the pale looking woman lying so still on the thin mattress. "Hmmm…pulse is a little thready but I can't see anything majorly wrong. She'll wake up of her own accord soon enough." He removed his fingers from around Carol's wrist and pulled a blanket up to cover her slim frame; before swivelling on the stool to face Rick. "Carl mentioned something about her receiving a bit of a shock, something about Daryl not coming back? He get bit?" Rick jerked his head to the side to indicate that he didn't want to speak about it in front of Carol and Hershel manoeuvred himself upright to swing himself out of the narrow cell. Rick led Hershel into the communal area just at the end of the cell block; where several small metal tables were screwed to the floor. He waited until Hershel got himself comfortable before taking a seat himself.
"We ran into a little trouble at Woodbury…that Governor of theirs got hold of Daryl and had him fighting in some sort of arena. They had Merle there too."
"Merle? Daryl's brother, Merle? The one that got left behind in Atlanta?"
"Yeah, he's been working as some kind of henchman over in the town. He managed to get Daryl out of the arena and we got out of there; but not without losing Oscar along the way."
"So where are they now, Rick?" Hershel leant back on the stool and looked over at the group's leader.
"I couldn't have Merle coming back with us; not after what he did to Glenn and Maggie. Daryl refused to go anywhere without his brother, so they took off in the woods somewhere."
"Now, I understand why you wouldn't want Merle living in the same cell block as our group; I certainly wouldn't feel safe with him sleeping a few doors away from my Bethie. From all accounts he's a bit of a hothead, but do you mean to tell me that you didn't even consider offering him a place over in A or B? Those two blocks aren't even connected to our living quarters, they even have their own exercise yard!" Hershel rapped his knuckles on the table top making Rick jump. "You've just forced our only provider of fresh food away because you didn't think through properly! You should have brought him back here so that we could have all had a say in deciding. You knew how hard Carol was gonna take his leavin' and now look how she's sufferin'. Poor child, she'd only just got Daryl comfortable enough with her to consider the possibility of somethin' else other than mere friendship and now he's gone…"
Rick ran his fingers through his already dishevelled hair and looked over at the older man.
"I've really screwed things up, haven't I?"
"Oh, I daresay that Glenn had plenty to say on the matter as well. I take it he wasn't too receptive of the idea of Merle returning with y'all?"
"Yeah…he was pretty vocal. Said he didn't want a rapist around Maggie, Carol or Beth." Rick muttered; trying to think of a way to make things right.
"And is he?" Hershel questioned quietly, and at Rick's quick glance clarified even further. "A rapist, I mean."
"Naw – just a mean looking hothead with muscle. Killer instinct, yes but he's not rapist."
"Okay, I'll talk to Glenn and Maggie about clearing out A and B and you think about how we can track Daryl and Merle down; that lady with the sword might come in handy, too. You might want to think about asking her to stick around a while longer." Hershel rose from the table and patted Rick on the shoulder. "Next time, just think things through a little longer before you act. I'll get Beth to sit and watch Judith near Carol; let me know if she hasn't come around in an hour or two."
Hershel shuffled out, leaving Rick to contemplate his next move. Could he even find Daryl and Merle? It had been at least four hours since they had parted ways; the pair of them were experienced trackers and were skilled at hiding their own trails. Rick sighed heavily as he realised he would need to ask for Michonne's assistance when she had regained consciousness, and probably do a little grovelling to get her to agree to help.