Title: Found
Author: thexxit
Rating: PG-13 (Just a bit of language)
Category: TWD – Carol and Daryl
Spoilers: Up to mid-season 4, Too Far Gone.
Disclaimer: The characters and premise are not mine. If they were, we would not have had to suffer through so many episodes without Carol!
Archive: Anywhere, please, just let me know and keep my name attached.
Feedback: Thank you so much for your continued kind words, follows, and favourites on my stories. I love receiving them. Reviewers are the best!
Summary – He finds her.
The first thing Daryl thought to do when he fled the prison with Beth was to find the rest of the group. He managed to pull along an exhausted Beth while he tracked the clues until he found Maggie and a few others.
"Here," he said, handing over Beth and two guns and a knife and a bag of ammo he was able to grab on their escape. "Go."
"What about you?" Maggie asked.
"I have something important to do. Go. You'll be safe together. Follow the tracks, you'll get there."
He walked away then, with just his crossbow and a sliver of hope.
xxx
Three days. He counted three whole days that went by. He slept in dirty, abandoned houses. He ate squirrel and even a raccoon. He added some berries thinking how she might chide him on his dietary choices.
After speaking with Rick, Daryl had an idea of where he'd left Carol. He figured she probably headed a bit further south. She had the benefit of a car, but something told him she hadn't traveled very far. He knew her. If he put his mind to it, he could almost see her choices. Somewhere calm, quiet, away from people. Somewhere she could have clear visibility so no walkers could sneak up on her. Somewhere warm, because she was always complaining of the cold at night. Somewhere beautiful, because she deserved that.
The third day he found her. It was completely by accident, in fact, he was trying to avoid whoever it was that had set up a small camp in the abandoned farm field. It was only when she stood up did he realize it was her. His search was over.
He recognized her immediately, of course. He would know her anywhere. He wanted to run to her; he didn't want to waste a single more second without her, but something rooted him to his spot. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was beautiful, slim and tall. Her hair was messy on her head. Her clothes looked clean, and he imagined she still found time to haul them to a stream and beat the dirt out of them. She'd built a fire and was putting away what looked like the remnants of a meal. He was pleased to know she was eating.
He watched her stretch, her body silhouetted against the dusk sun. She looked out into the open space and he wondered what she was thinking of. Suddenly, he could take no more, and took off towards her at a jog.
He was a fair distance from her and it felt like eons until he reached close enough to make out the familiar features of her face. She heard the noise, and turned sharply towards him.
It was as if time stood still. He stopped in his tracks, and she simply stood and stared. He drank her in, but felt embarrassed by his feelings.
"Hi," he said.
She didn't answer right away. Instead, her hand flew to her mouth, pressing her lips tightly. A tear slipped down her cheek.
He heard her pull in a shaky breath, then breath out his name. "Daryl," she sighed.
He didn't have anything to say to that. Yes, it was him. He was stupid and foolish and should have come for her sooner. He missed this, just her presence was enough. He missed her.
"I thought," she said, tears flowing down her cheeks freely now, "I thought I was imagining you. Until you spoke, I thought you weren't real."
"I am real," he said, his voice low and gravely.
"Where did you… how did you find me?"
"Doesn't matter. I shoulda been here sooner."
"Doesn't matter," she repeated, meaning it. "I'm glad you're here now."
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded, and suddenly launched herself into his arms. He wasn't prepared, and stumbled back a few steps before steadying his feet. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, her body pressed against his and he dropped his crossbow and held her tight. He couldn't get her close enough. He wasn't sure if he was squeezing too hard with his arms securely around her body, but part of him didn't care. He wouldn't let go.
"I knew you would come," she whispered in his ear, sniffing back her tears. "I didn't want you to get hurt, I really didn't want you to leave the safety of the group, but I knew. I knew you would come for me."
Guilt hit him hard at the thought that he hadn't arrived sooner. He should have left the moment he knew she was gone. He should have punched Rick in the fucking face for doing this.
"Why did you listen?" he asked, his voice rough from holding back emotion. "Why did you go?"
"Rick told me to. I was scared. I thought no one would want me. I thought – "
"No one would want you? Jesus, do you know how fucked up things are there?"
She moved to pull away, but he didn't let her. He wanted her close, but also didn't feel he could look her in the eye right now. "What?" she asked. "What happened?"
He wished he'd never brought the topic up. He wanted to forget that mess. He wanted to be with her, to hear her voice, to feel her soft, simple touches. He wanted to look at her and soak her up. He wanted her to feed him and throw a sexual joke his way. Everyone else could go to hell at this point. He just wanted to be close to her.
"Are you okay?" she asked. She pulled herself away forcefully this time, and he had to let go. "Daryl… you're bleeding… what happened?"
He grabbed her arm and pulled her down, sitting on the ground near the fire she'd built. "The prison's gone."
"What? But… how? What about the children? Judith, Lizzie, Mika? How did it happen?"
"People were sick and dyin'. The fences were fallin' down, everyone was out lookin' for meds, and the fuckin' Governor showed up."
"What?"
"I don't know what happened to the kids. I think they're on the bus. We all got separated. Hershel's dead."
"What? I can't… oh my god!"
"I'm glad ya weren't there. It was a fuckin' mess."
"Daryl… is everyone else safe?"
"I don't know. Can we not talk about it? Not now. I came to find you. We can sleep tonight and go find the rest of 'em in the morning."
"I don't… they don't want me there, Daryl. You'll have to go."
"The hell I will. They either want you there or they don't want me there."
"Daryl," she said, her voice soft and soothing. He knew she was going to say something he didn't want to hear. "Just because I'm out here, doesn't mean you – "
"Quit it! Just stop it. I'm not goin' anywhere without you, okay? Got anything to eat? I'm starvin'."
She looked at him, but he wouldn't look at her. He didn't want her to change his mind, and he knew how persuasive she could be. He waited until she patted his arm, then stood to get some food for him. He relaxed then, sighing and leaning forward, letting his shoulders slump.
He was exhausted. He hated this world. He hated the politics and the fear. He was serious, too. He could live happily alone with Carol if he had to. There was nothing else he needed in this fucked up place.