Title: Lost
Author: thexxit
Rating: PG – Language
Category: TWD Post Ep. – Daryl, Carol, Rick
Spoilers: Indifference (4/4)
Disclaimer: The characters and premise is not mine, though sometimes I wish it was! I just hope to share my love of the story with others.
Archive: Anywhere, please, just let me know and keep my name attached.

Summary – Indifference Post Ep. (written before the next episode).
a/n - Please excuse any errors. I wrote this rather quickly.

Daryl had been wandering around the prison for a while now. Since he'd gotten back he'd been in a foul mood. He wanted to scream. He wanted to hit someone, hard. He wanted to tell ungrateful and unworthy people to fuck off and leave, they could die out there in walker land for all he cared.

It wasn't obvious, maybe not even to him, but he was searching her out. The new and improved Daryl Dixon didn't let his anger get the best of him, but he had to do something. He knew if he could just talk to Carol, tell her what happened, she could tease him and help him laugh about it and make it better. They could share their secret understanding and things would seem more clear and it would make him forget how pissed off he was. And he was pissed.

After he'd wandered everywhere he could think of, he went to quarantine. He asked for Carol, then asked for Lizzie, who told him she'd gone out with Rick. But didn't he see Rick out in the yard?

A quick jog out there and he found him, hunched over the garden, viciously pulling out weeds. 'Seems like I'm not the only one having a shitty day,' he thought, as he walked towards Rick, squinting his eyes against the sun.

"Hey," he called before he reached him. He watched as Rick stood, looking defensive, his jaw set and his arms tense.

"Hey."

"Heard you and Carol went on a run. She don't usually do those."

"No. She doesn't. I needed Maggie here, and we needed supplies."

"Why didn't you take Maggie and leave Carol?"

Daryl waited for an answer, but it seemed none was forthcoming. He shifted his weight on his feet, suddenly very uneasy about the situation.

"Where's Carol?" he asked. Rick looked him in the eye, then looked away.

"I said where the fuck is Carol?" Daryl repeated, louder.

"She's not here."

Daryl felt his stomach knot. "Well, where is she?"

"She's safe."

If he was pissed before, it was nothing to how he felt now. He charged forward, stopping mere millimeters from Rick's face. "I'm telling you to tell me where the fuck she is, Rick. I'm not gonna ask so nicely next time."

"I think we need to talk in private," Rick said, looking to the others working nearby to fix fences.

"No, I think you oughtta tell me right now."

"She's gone."

"Whaddya mean, she's gone? You best talk fast. I ain't screwing around."

"She killed them. Karen. David. She killed them."

Daryl didn't move away, but he didn't speak either. He was confused, searching Rick's eyes for any sign of deception. How could...

"How do you know?"

"She told me."

"So lemme talk to her. I can find out why."

"She told me why. She thought she could contain the virus. She though they were the only two contaminated and if she got rid of them, it would be safe for the rest of us."

"Then what the fuck is the problem?"

"What's the problem? What's the problem? Daryl, she *killed* two people!"

"They was gonna die anyway!"

"How do you know?"

"Because every single fucking one of them has died so far, Rick! They ain't getting better, and we don't even know if this medicine we brought will help them. Hell, she probably did them a favour, put them out of their misery."

"You wanna try explaining that to Tyrese? What if it was reversed? What if it was Karen who killed Carol? What would you think then?"

That gave him pause, but only for a moment. "I think I would understand."

"You wouldn't. You would be pissed. Tyrese will kill her if he finds out, Daryl. She didn't consult anyone. She took it upon herself to kill two people without question. We can't have that here."

"Who made you boss? You didn't want to be dictator. You didn't want to make the tough choices. Well someone has to do it. She did it. Don't forget, you killed someone too, remember?"

"He was gonna kill me."

"They were gonna kill all of us! I wanna know where she is, and I'm going to get her. No, we're gonna get her."

"You won't find her."

"Why? Did you kill her? If you fucking killed her, Rick-"

"I didn't! I didn't kill her. I told her she would be better off on her own. She took a car, she had gas. She had food and supplies."

"Alone? Out there with them walkers? You did kill her! I swear to god, Rick, if you don't find her..."

"You'll what? You'll what? You'll kill me?"

"Just tell me where she is. I'm going to get her."

"You seriously think you can bring her back here? After what she did?"

"You bring her back here or I leave. What're ya gonna do, Rick? People are dying. You can't take care of this prison with such few people. And I ain't coming back without her."

Rick paused. Daryl knew he understood. There was no way around this.

"You know I'm right. If you want to be leader so bad, do the smart thing."

"I don't even know where to find her."

"Start with where ya left her. I'm not giving up. And I ain't stayin' here without her."

Daryl knew he'd made his point with the resigned look on Rick's face. He was furious, but more than that, he was worried. She was strong, that was for damn sure, but it was dangerous out there, and it wasn't just the walkers. If anything happened to her, the result for Rick would not be pretty.

"Fine," Rick growled, tossing his shovel to the ground and walking towards the prison. Daryl was hot on his heels. They would leave now and hopefully find her before dark, before anything happened to her. Then, if he had to, he'd defend her to Tyrese or anyone else who questioned her place in the group.