The Truth Comes Out
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated with, The Walking Dead in any way. Unfortunately.
They laid there quietly, the only sound being their own ragged breathing.
"You okay?" Daryl asked quietly.
"Gotta be," Carol said, turning and smiling at him in the dark.
"Seriously," he said as he too turned onto his side, "I mean it this time." She was silent for a moment, warring with her own thoughts and emotions. She desperately waned to tell him about Lizzie and Mika, but would he understand? She wasn't so sure she understood the whole thing herself...
"Carol."
She took a deep breath and blinked rapidly. She could feel the tears gathering in her eyes as the memories of that day at the Grove came flooding back to her. A sob escaped her and she clamed her hand over mouth.
Daryl stared at her, wide eyed, not really sure what to do. Eventually, he reached his hand out to grasp hers and she gave him a watery smile.
"Carol..." he said again and she sat up slowly.
"I lost Lizzie and Mika," she whispered as he sat next to her.
"They could still be out there ya know," he said, "Taken in by another group or sumthin'-"
"No Daryl," she shook her head, "They escaped the prison with Tyreese. I found them in the woods..."
"What happened?" Daryl asked.
"I knew something was wrong right away," Carol said, "I tried to ignore it. I was with them again, you know? And Judith..." She paused and closed her eyes, leaning her head forward and resting it in her hands.
"Lizzie didn't understand the walkers," she continued, "She thought they were her friends... I found her playing with one one day. She was letting it chase her and got so upset when I killed it." She looked at him and Daryl could see the pain in her eyes.
"Lizzie killed Mika," she said and could clearly see that Daryl hadn't been expecting that. "She wanted Mika to turn so she could prove walkers weren't bad. Tyreese and I had been getting water and we were too late... If we had gotten back any later Lizzie would've killed Judith too." The tears were streaming down her face now and once again Daryl reached a hand out to her.
"What happened to Lizzie?" he murmured.
"It wasn't safe for her anymore," Carol whispered, "She would've killed Judith if given the chance and we couldn't just leave her. What if another group picked her up and she did it to them? So I... I killed her."
She expected Daryl to pull away from her in disgust. Instead, he pulled her close to his chest and held her tightly.
"I killed her," she choked out.
"C'mon now," Daryl hushed her, "We'll figure this out, a'right? Ya ain't alone here, ya got it?" She nodded, but didn't pull away, instead she pressed herself tighter against him. They laid down again, taking comfort in the closeness of each other.
Just a little prediction of something that could happen in tonight's episode, but probably won't. I'm so excited, whether it's Caryl relationship or Caryl friendship, I just love their relationship. I think Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus have both said it great, they're two broken people who gravitated towards each other. No matter what the level of their relationship is, I'm so glad there's going to be an episode exploring their characters!
On that note, there's a poll on my profile for the longer Walking Dead fic I'm working on so if you're interested go and vote!
Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!