A/N: Dear viewer. First of all I would like to thank for all the wonderful feedback I received for my first ever FF "The lines we crossed". Your kind reception convinced me to keep writing. And so I will try.
This story comes from my idea of presenting some of the everyday life of our favourite survivors in the middle of the apocalypse, through Carol's eyes. As we all know, previous seasons of The Walking Dead were full of violence, fight for life and struggle with an unsure future. And because we got plenty of this in the show, I wanted to give you here something a little different. I like to think how the time is passing in the Prison for these people, how does Rick spend his time when he isn't worrying for everyone, what does Carl do when he isn't trying to be a badass mini copy of Shane…How is Carol spending her evenings…How Daryl keeps himself busy when he isn't hunting or keeping watch. Things like that. Of course I also want to see how the group dynamic will change now with Woodbury citizens coming to the Prison. Especially regarding Daryl and Carol's relationship, because that is what we are all interested in the most. I want to experiment. I want to take this journey with you, my kind reader, to see how will this all turn out. I have a general plan for this story, but the details and some side plots, where I will go with those, remain to be seen.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.
PROLOGUE"In one sense there is no death. The life of a soul on earth lasts beyond departure. You will always feel that life touching yours, that voice speaking to you. He lives on in your life and in the lives of others that knew him".
Angelo Patri
Death. It surrounds you. It's in the air you breathe, in the earth you walk, in the walls of this prison, outside those fences. It is also in the eyes of the people around you. Those who lived, those who are still surviving, and those who are forever gone.
You gathered outside prison's courtyard, around 2 deep holes in the ground. Not so far from here you can see three crosses, three graves. Two of them full, one empty. As it's been waiting for someone to be laid in there. You shook off those thoughts immediately. You are not here to think of what and how things could have been, but for other purpose. So you take a look at these two empty holes in the ground again. Another funeral. As if you all haven't had yet too many of those. You take a look at a group of the new people – Woodburians. Mostly elderly folks, but there are some children too. In fact, you are a bit surprised they showed up. But well, they knew well enough those who were about to be buried here. You watch them and for a second you wonder how many funerals have these people seen already since the beginning of all this. It seems to be no end to those.
You watch Rick and Michonne carry a body covered in blankets to where you all stand now, over a new open grave. You can see a painful grim on Rick's face, he is breathing heavily. Michonne's eyes are focused on the ground, her head down but no expression on her face.
The covered body belongs to Andrea, beautiful, warm, open, smart Andrea who's only mistake was trusting the wrong man, and believing for a second that there's hope for good and love in this world. And she payed the biggest price for it. Her life. You remember seeing her for the last time, how she fought for peace between Woodbury and Prison, how happy she was to see you alive, and how sad she looked when realized that your original group is now so much smaller. How she carried Judith for the one and only time. You think about all this and feel tears in your eyes, a lump in your throat. It all shouldn't have ended this way. It was all wrong.
Andrea's funeral though isn't the only funeral today. Someone else gave his life in order to give your small group a chance. And despite all the wrong things he may have done in his life, all the bad decisions he's taken, in the end he made all the right choices. Daryl and Glenn place his body near beside Andrea's. Two members of your original Atlanta group. Now dead.
Daryl's face doesn't say much, as usual. He just stands there with arms crossed, looking down at his brother's body being put to the final resting place. You know Daryl didn't want the funeral, he wanted to bury Merle on his own, but Rick convinced him that this way he will keep his brother close. So they decided to bury him beside Andrea.
You recall your last conversation with Merle. How cocky and sure of himself he appeared to be. How scared, desperate and lonely he really was. You saw it through his hard façade he tried to maintain for the world. But you knew him better and you figured him out. You have already been through this with his brother. And you knew that even if Merle himself believed to be a lone wolf and better on his own, he really was there also for the group. For and with all of them. All the way. He was a part of that team. In the end he did what was right to do.
Suddenly, Rick's voice breaks the silence so you leave your thoughts and turn to him.
" A while before…before it all started, I got shot on a patrol. Fell into a coma. Woke up in a hospital a few weeks later and didn't know anything about the outside world, about what happened with it…I was so naïve and vulnerable like a newborn child. But somehow I survived. And I wouldn't have if some people didn't help me go though these first horrible days. Andrea Harrison was one of these people. She was a member of our first original group back in Atlanta. Now only 5 of us are left. In the past year we've lost so many..now Andrea. Her death is a result of a one-man's madness. Andrea tried to prevent the war all the way should in her best. That's how she was. She tried. And she payed with her life for it. We are gonna make sure her death won't be in vain. We will try to overcome this crisis together. All of us. Us from Atlanta. From the Farm. From Woodbury. We stick together now. Just like Andrea would wish us to".
Silence. All that we are, were and we'll ever be, it doesn't matter. Only Rick's voice. Only thing that keeps us here. So he continues:
"We are also here to bury Merle Dixon. We all knew Merle and we knew that he wasn't an easy companion. But the Governor used him, just like he used everybody else. Merle gave his life in fight. For himself, for his brother who of all people was always the most important for him no matter what, and for all of us. He helped to give us time, chance, and he didn't leave behind or betray anyone of us even though he had a chance. And I am grateful for that. Rest in peace Merle.
Does anyone want to say something?"
Silence.
"Daryl?
Michonne?"
None of them said anything. All that was needed to be said, was said already. Words didn't mean anything anymore. Michonne only placed a small white flower over the blanket that covered Andrea's body. Her last goodbye.
And again the silence fell over 20 people standing in circle in the beautifully colored by autumn field outside the C-Block. Hershel started talking then and his voice sounded so calm, so perfect in the stillness of this whole scene.
"If we have been pleased with life, we should not be displeased with death, since it comes from the hand of the same master.
Rest in peace. Where ever the two of you are now".
The following days were as chaotic and hectic for everyone at the Prison as you could have only imagined. Two groups of people brought together now, even though a few days earlier they were enemies. Along with Rick and Maggie you started off with a bit of an introduction for the newcomers and showing them their way around the Prison, simple things like where the shower area was, the kitchen, where in the courtyard was safe and how to stay away from the catacombs, still swarming with Walkers. You help the new people locate in their cells and of course now you found out how limited space you will all have with eleven new people occupying Block C now. However, this situation had its advantages. More men to keep everyone safe, more pairs of eyes to keep watch, more women to help with everyday duties and more children to play, run around and laugh and pretend like everybody was living normal lives again. But on the other hand - it was twice as more people to feed, also more warm clothing was needed, as well as medical supplies and general medical care. Hershel did what he could and you helped him in your best way, but it soon turned out that your help in that matter wouldn't be that necessary. One of the newcomers, a pretty dark-haired woman, Karen - was a qualified nurse. You didn't really trust anyone of the Woodbury people and you knew that Karen was the only survivor of the massacre that the Governor performed on the highway. Rick, Daryl and Michonne took her in and gave her a chance. So you probably should too. But there was something in those brown eyes that you didn't exactly like. The way Karen looked at all of you. Like she pitied you. The way her eyelashes flickered whenever she was around Rick..or Daryl. The way she kept her dark, long curls around her beautiful face..Your hand instinctively travels to your short, also curly but already greyish hair, and when you observe Karen talking with others, you can't help but think "my hair used to be like this...but that was before I married Ed and before he made my life a living hell".
"Carol?"
Maggie's voice brought you back to reality.
"Huh?.. What did you say?"
"I asked if you already figured out how to locate the cells now that we are so many..I feel weird with sleeping so close to strangers but..it's not like we can lock them in like we did with the prisoners.."
"Hmm. Well, let's try to locate them the best way we can, keep the families together if possible. And maybe they could take the cells up the stairs and we take the lower cells..? We will see."
"Would you please take care of that? I have to go with Glenn on a run to get more blankets and sleeping bags, if we find any".
"No problem Maggie, just be careful you two".
You sigh as you watch the younger woman walk away towards Glenn who was already waiting for her at the car. Yes, you will all have to squeeze in somehow in the cell block. There were six cells downstairs, and five up the perch. There would be no possible way to have a cell all by yourself now, so you guess you should bunk with Beth. That will surely be best for Judith and taking care of her would be easier if the two of them stay around.
You move your things to one of the cells and wonder for a second which cell will Daryl be taking. And who will he be sharing it with. You can't help yourself to wonder, and you can't help your mind going to him. That was something you always did, even unconsciously. Your eyes always looked for him, searched and scanned every area to make sure that he is still here and that he is safe. It started some time ago but when Daryl decided to leave and go with Merle, you knew that even though he came back pretty quickly, you will always be worried that one day it will happen again. That one day he will become fed up with the constant worry about others, about all the responsibility over the group, or that someone will simply piss him off one day a bit too much and it will send him over the edge. There was always that spark of uncertainty in your heart that he will leave everyone. Leave you. You were aware of course that Daryl had found his place in the group, he found new family and a sense of belonging, but now Merle was gone and not coming back and it surely left a mark in Daryl's heart, it made him unstable again. And with all these new folks in the Prison now...Daryl was never a too social person and you know this new situation will be difficult for him in a way. Maybe he will choose solitude again. And even though your mind tells you "have faith in him, he will never leave, why would he?", this anxious spark in your heart was lightened up and was going to remain.
So when you walk outside and take a look at all the uproar and movement in the yard, and when your eyes automatically focus on the main gate and a man in a leather vest and a crossbow on his shoulder, you just wave your hand to acknowledge him that even though so much has changed now, some things will still remain the same and that everything will be okay. You pray for him to raise his hand and just wave back to you. Not ignore you or pretend he didn't see. You need him to notice you, to calm you down, to extinguish that ignited spark in your soul.
And Daryl waves back and nods slightly.
Maybe everything will be okay after all.
A/N: Dear viewers, if I get any interest in this, I will continue with posting next chapters. Reviews would mean the world to me and constructive criticism is appreciated. English isn't my first language so I'm very sorry for all the spelling or grammar mistakes that I may have missed.:)Many thanks for reading this. I really hope someone will enjoy this little story, I am putting my whole heart into it:)