Long Forgotten

Chapter 1… Carol

I heard a gunshot. I turned to look at Daryl on the ground, next to him was Axel staring at the gun in his hand. I run to them pushing Axel out of the way and kneeling beside Daryl, his eyes flutter open "Daryl… Daryl are you okay?!" I see a small pool of blood forming around his head and he slowly turns to me to reveal a rock that was smashed into his head when he fell from the shock of a bullet grazing the side of his head. He opens his mouth slowly, like if he is unsure of what to say.

"W-Who are you?" He murmurs his voice cracking. A mixture of fear and anger stirred inside me. I reached for the gun on Daryl's hip, turn around and blew Axel's head off, after that comes a blur of screaming as the group runs towards us and takes Daryl inside.

After that Rick stays behind and helps me off the floor, he goes on about how what I did was wrong until everyone has gone inside and we are alone in the courtyard then he leans close to me and whispers in my ear, "Good Job, that bastard deserved it." I smile at the gesture, as Rick helps me inside.

I sit by Daryl on his perch and wait for hours before he regains consciousness, when he does he is still critically lost and can't remember a thing. I think about the long months I spent slowly waiting for him to open up to me and let me enter into his life, I think of how hard it was and I refuse to go through that again, so I do something that the old me never would have done.

"You did what?" Rick says as we stand in the cafeteria.

"Shhhh!" I whisper. "He's gonna hear you."Ricks face looks tired and worn out as he slowly shakes his head. I can tell he's disappointed in me.

"Carol, what were you thinking?" I take a deep breath and I look for the right words to say. "I was thinking that I worked too damn hard for what we had and I wasn't gonna let it go that easy because I might not live tomorrow. I rather die with regret than live with the constant pain of what would it have been like if something hadn't happened to him and we got farther than friends."

Rick sighs deeply and looks at the floor for a moment "Alright fine, not that I think its right. What exactly did you tell him, anyways?" I took a minute to think and recollect all my thoughts.

"Just the basics of what was going on with the slight difference that we were married, and he remembered some things like Sophia so I told him she was his but died at the farm. He also remembered Merle so I told him he got lost a long time ago and we never found him…" I paused for a moment to see if I was missing anything "Oh and also he asked why neither of us had wedding rings so I told him he lost his hunting and I lost mine in a river… just in case he happens to ask, so you know." I finished explaining and stood silently.

Glenn cleared his throat "Alright sounds good to me…I guess. 'Bout time anyways." at that the group broke off muttering and chatting, the previous subject forgotten. Or maybe they were just going to gossip about it some more.

I walk over to the kitchen to get food for Daryl and myself before going back to the cell block. I set a bowl beside Daryl and sit across for him on his…our perch; he looks at it but doesn't move. "Daryl?" I say getting his attention, he turns to me with a confused look "It's called breakfast… its food… you eat it." I say slowly picking up my spoon and bringing it to my lips, he nods and does the same, then he looks at me like he is expecting directions for the next step "Then you repeat the process until the bowl is empty." a small smile crosses his lips but I can tell it's hard for him to feel so helpless.

I spent the rest of the day helping Daryl remember things like brushing his teeth, or getting dressed, mostly the basics like how to say certain words or hold a pencil, most of the important things like how to hunt and track came back to him, but he had almost no memories, he had no idea who he was. Even though if he remembered anything my plan would be ruined it still saddened me beyond possibility that he had no trace of who he was or what life used to be like.

Later I see Carl come up to me. "Look Carol, as far as I know his life was pretty shitty before all this happened, so I don't think what you're doing here is wrong at all." I looked down at the young boys face, this apocalypse had hardened him and the loss of his mother had impacted worse, but one thing I knew is that he and Daryl had grown to be close, they were alike in a way and I knew he was right, even though it was painful in some ways Daryl needed this.

"Thank you." I murmur quietly.

"But I'm just saying, he's gonna be pissed when he regains his memory, if he does that is." Carl says with a slight shrug and he turns away awkwardly. I watch him, feeling a little bit more guilt build up inside me.

After some time Daryl and I grew close again this time it was like we had been together for years and well that's how it appeared in Daryl's head… I guess. Even though I felt guilty sometimes I knew that I had made the right choice the only thing that worried me is that Hershel expected his memory to return after some time and I feared that even our time together couldn't stop him from realizing how he truly felt and there was a chance he didn't feel the same way I felt, but for now I would enjoy the closeness and the fun of having Daryl as a husband and maybe it wouldn't turn out too bad after all. I hope.