Your Own Worst Enemy

Hi Everyone! This new story is weird. Maybe even more weird than any of my previous stories. Definitely Twilight Zone. The premise is based on something I think about regularly, usually when I'm stuck in traffic. If I was given the chance to meet myself from either the future or the past, how would I react to myself? Would my past self be proud of what I've accomplished or would I be completely different from what she expected? On the flip side, would my future self be where I'm planning to be by then or will unforeseen circumstances have changed all those plans? What if Daryl Dixon was faced with this opportunity?

So part of this story could be considered a sequel to my previous story "The Green-Eyed Monster", although not the first chapter. I feel like it can stand alone if you just know a couple things first. To prevent spoilers, anyone who wants to go read (or re-read) that other story, I'll wait.

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Okay, welcome back! For those of you not interested in reading that, here are the spoilers. Daryl and Carol got together in that story (obviously, it's one of mine and I only write Caryl stories). At the end, Carol gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. They lived happily ever after battling walkers with their group in a huge mansion in Alabama. Now onto this story!

I do not own anything to do with The Walking Dead or The Twilight Zone but I love those who do.

Chapter 1 – At the Quarry

It was hot. Like melting your tires hot. Like frying an egg on the hood of your car hot. There had been one of those sudden rains storms earlier that Georgia was famous for. It came out of nowhere and just poured buckets out of the sky, soaking everything. Then it was completely gone within ten minutes. The sky was bright and the sun shining like nothing had ever happened. Unfortunately, the little downpour had raised the humidity mercilessly. The air felt thick and it made sweat stick uselessly to every person at the Quarry camp.

Daryl Dixon sat at the very edge of the camp, finishing off a new bolt for his crossbow. Now he had a good number of them to take on his hunting trip with Merle this afternoon. He rubbed a practically non-existent smudge on the frame, taking care that his prized weapon was in perfect condition. He couldn't help but taking pride in it. It was so much more than any simple knife or gun. It was the ideal weapon for this sort of world.

A young boy ran past him, disturbing his thoughts. The kid has narrowly missed tripping over him but he didn't seem to notice. He looked happy as he ran for the trail down to the water. Daryl knew the boy's name was Carl because his mother was constantly yelling it all over camp. It was hard to block out the shrill, shrieking voice of Lori Grimes.

He wasn't quite sure what was going on with the family dynamics surrounding the kid. He and his mom had been brought into camp by that cop, Shane. The guy was an asshole, constantly looking down on him and his brother like they were dirt. He didn't know if Shane was Carl's father but he certainly acted like it, despite the fact that Lori wore her wedding ring on a chain around her neck and Shane didn't wear one at all. He definitely knew that Shane was fucking her. Not that he cared much. It had just been an awkward moment for him to come upon them screwing like horny rabbits in the woods. He'd had to beat a hasty retreat.

Daryl stood up and instantly collided with someone coming around the tree. He turned his narrowed eyes down on the little blond girl. She had basically bounced off his solid body and stumbled back a few steps. He hadn't been displaced an inch. She stared up at him with an expression of fear on her face. Part of him wanted to tell her off for not watching where she was going but another part of him wanted to comfort her, tell her he wouldn't hurt her. Instead, he didn't say anything at all, just watched her.

He wasn't really sure what her name was. She was so quiet, even when she was playing with the loud-mouthed Carl and those Latino kids. It wasn't difficult to know why either. She was being abused, just like he'd been as a child. He knew her father's name because the bastard swaggered around the camp like he owned the place. Ed was a useless sack of shit, contributing nothing to the camp. His wife catered to his every want and need and then he'd beat her for the effort. Even Daryl had caught him falling asleep on watch duty twice. Dale had finally gotten fed up enough and kicked Ed out of the rotation. The man reminded Daryl of his father and it made him want to kick his ass.

"Sophia, come on!" Carl called out from down the trail, looking annoyed at the hold-up.

Sophia regarded him for a moment longer. Then her eyes fell to the ground and she mumbled "Sorry, Mr. Dixon." She inched around, giving him a wide berth before taking off after Carl down the trail. He wasn't sure how she knew his name but people around this camp were nosy like that.

Daryl swung the crossbow over his shoulders, making a noise of discontentment. He wasn't used to children, didn't know how to act around them. Not that it was so much better with adults. Lucky for him, most of them stayed away from him. He walked deeper into the woods, skirting the area where the rows of tents stood.

A noise caught his attention and he looked back with a frown. Like an evil spirit called forth by just the mere thought of him, Ed emerged between the tents. Daryl knew there was nobody else around this part of the camp during this part of the day so Ed expected to be alone. Moving quickly to the left, Daryl positioned himself behind a broad tree trunk so as not to be seen.

Trailing behind him was his wife. She moved hesitantly, obviously concerned about where her husband was leading her. There was fear on her face and she looked just like her daughter had a few minutes earlier when she's crashed into him. Unfortunately for her, it was unlikely she was going to get away unscathed like Sophia had.

Her name was Carol, Daryl knew that. Not because she had told him because she'd never actually spoken to him. It was because anytime Ed wanted anything, he'd bellow her name across camp. Didn't matter what she was doing, she had to come rushing to his side like an obedient dog to appease him. She was a weak woman but Daryl couldn't help but take some amount of pity on her. She reminded him of his own mother, who'd dealt with a man like Ed by deadening herself with booze. Right up until she set the house on fire and burned away to nothing.

Ed's hand went to her back and shoved her roughly in front of him. Carol gasped at the unexpected push, almost falling but catching herself in time. She whirled around to face him, her eyes wide with fear. They were so blue, like the sky over the ocean. So very blue. And beautiful, those eyes. Daryl found himself mesmerized by them, unable to blink or look away. He'd never noticed her eyes before, never really looked at her. She'd always just been in the background before.

She blinked and looked away, most likely not wanting Ed to see her as defiant. The spell was broken for Daryl. He felt like a creep, spying on them like this. Just walk away, he told himself. Yet, his boots stayed rooted to the same spot behind the tree, his eyes focused on the scene in front of him.

"You think you can talk to me like that?" Ed said to her, his voice dangerous.

Carol's eyes were darting all around now, everywhere but on her husband. "No," she said in a meek voice. "Lori wanted me to finish with the kids' lessons. I swear I was going to get your lunch ready right after that."

"You think that whiny bitch takes precedence over me?" he said as he took a step closer to her.

"Of course not! I promise it won't ever happen again," she pleaded with him.

"Damn right it won't," Ed muttered, looking like he was going to let her off the hook. He turned as if he was going to walk away and Carol was holding her breath, looking like she was hoping this would be the end of the confrontation.

Daryl almost bolted over there when Ed spun back and backhanded her across the face. Carol's head whipped around, a tiny strangled cry coming from her. Daryl's fingers dug into the bark of the tree, wanting to smash Ed's face in for touching a woman like that. He held back though, warring with himself to not get involved.

Ed wrapped his fingers around her arm and there was no way that his tight grip wouldn't cause bruises. He jerked Carol's body up so that his face was directly in hers.

"You belong to me!" he screamed at her, little bits of spittle spraying out of his fat lips. She just closed her eyes, like she was trying to block him out so he shook her. Her head whipped back on her neck painfully. "And don't you even think about leaving me, you bitch. If you dare take Sophia and try to run, I will hunt you down like the animal you are. I will skin you alive and then it'll just be me and my little Sophia."

Carol's eyes snapped open at those words. Even Daryl's eyes widened with how he spoke them. It was disturbing, the implications of what he planned for Sophia. There was an evil smirk on Ed's face as he relished the combination of fear and hate in Carol's eyes. Daryl took a step away from the tree, his hands clenched in fists. His father had been a miserable, abusive son of a bitch but to think of the girl being abused like that by this sick fuck was too much for Daryl to ignore.

Before he'd taken two steps, Ed balled his fist and smashed it into Carol's mid-section. Daryl couldn't help but wince as Carol collapsed on her knees, clutching her abdomen. The wind had been knocked out of her and she was gasping for air. Ed leaned down and roughly grabbed her by the chin to force her to look at him.

"Don't even think about telling your new little girlfriends about this either. 'Cause it won't be them suffering for it later. You hear me?" She nodded slightly. He sneered at her before pulling his hand back. "Jesus, you are such an ugly cow Carol. You're lucky to have me." He turned his back on her.

Daryl was moving fast across the forests. Ed was going to get his ass kicked. It was high time he experienced some of the same misery he dealt out. Daryl naturally moved quietly and neither Ed nor Carol knew he was coming. He counted on that in order to surprise Ed with the first punch. That asshole was going down.

A large hand suddenly pressed against his chest from behind, halting his forward progression. He tried pushing against it, his rage overtaking his senses. Another beefy arm came around, reinforcing the first one. He growled at the intrusion into his personal space and started fighting it.

"Calm down, baby brother," said a familiar voice into his ear. He relaxed a little. It was only Merle.

"Get the hell offa me," Daryl growled, still not liking the contact.

Merle's arms stayed right where they were. "You ain't thinkin' bout doing' somethin' stupid, like insertin' yerself into their family issues, right?"

Daryl glanced up and saw that Ed had disappeared. Carol was pushing herself off the ground and walking away on wobbly legs. She was somewhat hunched from the blow to the stomach. The couple never realized they'd had an audience. Daryl didn't answer and Merle's arms clamped down harder on him.

"Ya can't be getting all involved with these people. They ain't nothin' to us but targets. Ya just gotta keep yer head down another few days and then we'll be outta here. You got that?"

"Fine!" Daryl huffed and Merle let him go. He readjusted his crossbow, pissed off at Merle for stopping him. He was ready for a fight but Merle just started heading into the woods away from the camp. Daryl spat into the grass and stomped after him.