If Tomorrow Never Comes
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from The Walking Dead; I have merely twisted them around for my own amusement.
"Hey, Carol! Would you mind watching Judith for me for a bit after dinner? I want to take Carl out for a walk give him a little one on one time…" Rick Grimes caught up with Carol Peletier as she walked through the cell block after pulling a double shift duty up on the watch tower. They had all been extra vigilant over the last few weeks after the events at Woodbury had cost them more than they had bargained for. They had lost Andrea in the fight as well as Daryl's brother, Merle. No one from the original Atlanta group had expected to see Merle again but for the sake of his brother had tried to accept back in. After what Merle had done to Glenn and Maggie no one wanted him staying at the prison, Daryl had even thought of going off alone with Merle but then the proverbial crap hit the fan at Woodbury and Merle had sacrificed himself to save Daryl. Ever since they received word that the so called 'Governor' of Woodbury had escaped the melee, Rick had stepped up security at the prison, even more so now that the refugees from the town had been drifting in seeking a place of refuge.
Daryl, Michonne and Tyreese, their best fighters had been forced to go out on a much needed hunt for fresh food leaving just Rick, Maggie, Glenn and Carol to provide sentry and fence duties. Carl had pitched in with watch tower and walking the perimeter fences but Rick was trying to ween the young teenager off the gruesome tasks whilst he was still in recovery over his mother's recent death.
Carol sighed heavily, as much as she loved Rick's little girl she was desperate for a little rest. It had been another long, sultry day up in the tower and all she wanted was a few moments peace in the cool dark cell. "Sure, Rick. Bring her along to me a little later when you're ready to go." None of her thoughts were visible on her face as she answered his plea with a small smile.
"Thanks, Carol. I'd ask Beth, but she's had her all day and I know she wants to spend time with her Dad this evening." Rick brushed a hand along Carol's arm in thanks and lopped off down the corridor in search of his son.
"Sure, and I've only been in the tower all day…God Carol you're such a whine ass!" Carol grumbled to herself as she continued up the steps to her cell block inwardly berating herself for her thoughts. She was interrupted again by Jeanne, a recent arrival at the prison from Woodbury. Jeanne was a bubbly, young brunette who seemed to be a firm favourite with the younger members of the group for her love of a good laugh.
"Hey, Carol. Do you think you could give me a hand with dinner prep this evening? Karen was supposed to be helping me but she's taken perimeter watch with Tyreese. I think she just wants to watch him personally, but what do I know? So, can you?" Jeanne had a habit of stringing all of her sentences together without pause and made the assumption that you would but in if you didn't agree with anything she said. As Carol was too tired to disagree, Jeanne squeezed her arm and waved a thanks as she bounced off back to the kitchen.
"Somehow I don't think that I'll be getting that long shower or nap this evening." Carol shook her head slowly as she wondered how on earth she had agreed to not only pull a double watch, but help with dinner prep on the only evening that she wasn't slated to cook and then babysit a restless infant whilst everyone else seemed to be out enjoying themselves. Glenn and Maggie were due for the overnight watch tower, with Karen and Tyreese on perimeter duties and Hershel in the medical wing there weren't very many other people around. There were about another ten people that were staying from Woodbury but Rick had them housed in a separate cell block and they didn't tend to meet up unless it was for meals. They were the latest arrivals and it was just too soon for them th be considered part of the family group.
As she walked up the final steps that led to C block, Carol was unaware that she was being observed by someone who was getting more and more irate at the way other people took advantage of her generous nature. He had arrived back from the run just in time to see Rick ask her to watch the baby and then for that brunette, to ask her to help with dinner. Didn't anyone else around her care that she was near worn out? He stepped back into the adjacent cell as Carol drew near, grateful that she was too busy looking down at her feet to notice him there.
Carol entered her cell and flopped wearily down onto the edge of the thin mattress and just sat there for a moment staring at her tan hiking boots. It had been a long hot day, and she had just returned from watch duty in the tower. She had slipped into her cell for a few moments peace before starting dinner preparations for the group.
"Must remember to ask the guys to pick up a larger size diaper for Judith on the next run, she's just about ready to move up, and Hershel asked if they could be on the lookout for more antiseptic and bandages, too." Carole reached over to jot a note on the notepad she kept by the side of the bed, muttering to herself all the while. As she leant over the pillow she heard a rustling noise coming from under her top blanket. She poked her hand under the worn cover to see what was making the noise and pulled out a small bar of rose scented soap and body lotion; the kind that you would normally see in a gift basket or as a complimentary gift in an uptown hotel. Carol raised the bar to her nose and inhaled deeply. God, it had been so long she had smelt anything quite so feminine. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, taking the scent deep into her nostrils and holding it there. As she sniffed a stray earthier scent hit the back of her nostrils, making her look over to where a shadow fell against the entrance of the door. As soon as she went to rise to her feet the shadow melted away and she ran a hand over her eyes, "Must be more tired than I thought, I could have sworn that I saw Daryl for a moment."
"Stupid redneck, ya almost blew it. Knew you shoulda showered first." He scuffed his feet together as he melted back unseen and muttered to himself under his breath. He was second in command to Rick at the prison and for a short time had taken over as leader whilst Rick dealt with the horrific aftermath of his wife's death during childbirth just a few short months ago. It had taken Rick a little time to come to terms with Lori's passing and even now still relied on Daryl to make decisions for the group when it came to going on longer runs. Daryl didn't want to name the feelings that he had for Carol, it started off as admiration when Carol volunteered to be the one to take a pick axe to her abusive husband's head after he had been bitted when their camp had been overrun near Atlanta.
"I'll do it, he was my husband." Carol reached over and plucked the pick axe from Daryl's hand and calmly swung it to cleave Ed's skull in two. Daryl could only watch in amazement as the delicate looking woman swung the axe again and again, seemingly unconcerned that just the one blow had been enough to prevent the man from rising up again.
Then it was pity when they searched in vain for her missing daughter, Sophia. The rest of the group had been prepared to give up their presence on the Highway when Rick's son had been shot whilst out looking for Sophia. He didn't know what made him so determined to find that little girl, despite the fact that Carol herself seemed to think that the chance to find her alive were slowly seeming more and more impossible by the day.
"I thought that you might be hungry, I brought you some dinner." Carol quietly entered the bedroom with a plated meal on a tray. Daryl rolled over quickly but carefully in bed to bring the sheets up to cover his bare chest. He had found Sophia's little rag doll in a ravine but had been pierced in the side by one of his own arrows whilst trying to bring that little piece of her daughter back to her. What made it worse was when Andrea had mistaken him for a walker when he finally did make it back to the farm and had taken a shot at him; luckily she had missed and the bullet merely creased the side of his head. He looked over to find Carol staring quietly at him and gasped as she lay the tray down and kissed him gently on the forehead.
"I just wanted you to know that you have done more for my little girl in the past few days than her own father did for her in his whole life. Thank you."
It only made things worse to discover that all the time they had been seeking sanctuary on Hershel's farm, Sophia had been locked in the barn on the property along with several other Walkers. He could only hold her close to him as they watched the creature that used to be Sophia stumble out of the barn hungry for flesh. He watched as Rick stepped up and raised the pistol covering Carol's hand with his own and feeling his own heart breaking just the same as hers. He didn't know what made him stay with her in the RV whilst she fell apart, they spoke not a word the whole time he was in there but he needed to be there for her anyway.
His feelings had slowly developed into something more when Carol resolved not to become a weeping mess in the group but to train herself to a stronger and defiant fighter. He had been hiding in the shadows once before when Carol had shaken off the pity that Rick and Lori had shown her one evening and had overheard her stating that she had 'only lost her daughter and not her mind.' He remembered nearly feeling overwhelmed with panic on that final night at the farm when they had been overrun with walkers and forced to leave. Andrea had paired up with Carol and he knew that the blonde hellion was good with a firearm so he had thought they would be safe together.
'Daryl circled back on his chopper, swerving along the dusty road as the group separated as soon as he heard the scream that pierced his heart through the night air. He revved the engine and raced around to the rear of the property where he had last seen Andrea and Carol head off towards the woodland. He couldn't see Andrea but was amazed to see Carol brandishing a wooden club as she tried to fight off several walkers looking like some kind of warrior princess. Merle would have called him a pansy assed baby for the tears that prickled behind his eyes as he soon as he saw she was still alive.
"Git on then, can't wait around here all night." His gruff words hid the fact that he was battling to hide his true emotions from her. The fact that she had made it through and Andrea, that tough broad, hadn't; well it truly amazed him.'
Daryl remained out of sight in the shadow of the doorway silently watching over the woman that remained in his thoughts constantly. Carol had slowly poured a little of the rose scented lotion out of the bottle into her hand and was gently rubbing it into the skin of her forearm. Daryl felt his mouth run dry as he watched her smoothing her hand up and down her arm, his eyes tracking every movement. He felt like a peeping Tom and could only imagine what Merle would have said at that point – "Well if it isn't little Darlena, stuck at lookin' at a woman when he shoulda' bin pokin' about at her instead." He couldn't help himself from looking again though and noticed that Carol had slumped over on the pillow, worn out from her watch duties still holding that little bottle of lotion in her hand. He moved out into the hallway, stationed himself just outside of the door and pulled down the blanket that Carol used as a privacy screen. It was one thing for him to watch his woman but he'd be damned if he would let anyone else sneak a peak! It was only then that Daryl realised something, he had finally admitted to himself that he thought of Carol as HIS woman, just what was he supposed to do about that now?