Beating Hearts
Paved roads were supposed to make it easier to get to your destination. Trails were there for the inexperienced to make it through the woods without trouble. That was then though. Back when food and shelter were taken for granted instead of being a luxury. Now they followed the roads without any destination, mindlessly putting one foot in front of the other simply because there wasn't anything else to do. They never worried if a car would come or which side of the road they should be walking on, the white and yellow lines now just a reminder of what used to be. They had come this far and though there wasn't much hope they didn't have it in them to just lie down and give up.
Alexandria had fallen like they knew it would. It was too good to be true, a mirage in the middle of the desert on a humid day. They had gotten their drink, rested, and were back out in the real world to fend for themselves. Their group was smaller than it had ever been, the loss felt but not grieved as it might have been at one point in time. Seven People. Seven had made it out of Alexandria without being killed or bitten.
It could have been prevented, it should have been, but Daryl saw it the second he stepped through the gate. They weren't fighters. They were cowards. They hadn't slept on the ground at night, if he even slept at all, they didn't go without food in their bellies or a cool drink of water when the humidity was so thick in the air that it made it hard to breathe. They hadn't prayed for rain just to hide hopeless tears or for shelter so they could remember for one night what it was like to have a roof over their heads. They had hid behind their walls while he fought for his life and the lives of his group. He pitied their lack of strength and wanted to say that he couldn't understand their ability to sit behind the walls as if the rest of the world wasn't falling to hell around them except that's exactly what they did. As much as the apocalypse changed people, it didn't. They were still as lazy and willing to let someone else do the work as before.
The occasional deep breath was the only noise made by the group as they continued to put one foot in front of the other. Rick no longer led instead choosing to follow behind his son. Abraham, Michonne, and Maggie meandered on in the middle with Daryl and Carol in the back each on edge, ready to attack at a moment's notice if need be. He walked close enough to her that he could easily reach out and grab her hand but he wouldn't. Not yet. His eyes, although constantly scanning the area for any threats, landed on Carol every few seconds to assure himself that she was still there.
Her face was void of any emotion but determination, the tips of her fingers ghosting over the sheath attached to her belt as if reminding herself that she wasn't defenseless. Her clothing was speckled with blood, a larger red stain on her upper thigh from where Sam had tried to hug her one last time before she put a bullet through his head ending his misery. At the time she had did so without so much as a second thought or blink of an eye but Daryl wondered how many children she had to lose before she lost herself.
She had come a long way from when he first saw her at the quarry; a meek, voice shaking, woman with enough fear to fill the Grand Canyon twice over. She had wounded lips and salted cheeks. Losing Ed broke away the chain she had around her ankle but losing Sophia turned her into the warrior she was today. It was Carol that survived on her own, all alone, when Rick exiled her. It was Carol that single handedly rescued them from Terminus. It was Carol that went with him on a rescue mission to find Beth. It was Carol that had a strength that he had only ever seen in a Dixon but he was still in awe that she had it in her to take her next breath.
When they finally stopped for the night it was in a random cabin with one bedroom that had already been picked clean of any supplies or food. It was shelter though and it would give them somewhere to stay until morning. Michonne and Maggie took the bedroom while Rick, Carl, and Abraham set up in the living room. Daryl and Carol set their things in the kitchen wanting to be as far away from the grieving families as possible. Carl climbed on the dust filled counters, scouring the cabinets for any morsel of food that might have been overlooked. The only thing he found was a dead mouse in a rusted trap and without the words ever leaving his mouth Daryl snatched it out of his hands and tossed it in the garbage. The creak of the screen door was the only indication of Daryl's presence as Carol leaned against the porch railing, looking out to the overgrown grass that was dancing with lightning bugs in the midst of twilight.
"I was thinking of leaving at first light," Carol admitted and Daryl froze with his hand halfway to his mouth that he intended on chewing bits of skin off his thumb around his nail. He had come outside to clear his head. To get away from Maggie's soft cries and Rick and Carl's constant disagreement about what would be best for the group. He hadn't been expecting her to say anything let alone that and a growl started to rumble in his chest as he was about to argue with her about how stupid her plan was. She was his only saving grace and like hell he was going to let her go, again, but before the words of protest could even leave his lips she continued. "I could make it out there on my own again. Survival in is my blood. But there isn't anywhere left to go, is there?"
She glanced over her shoulder as she waited for his response and every fiber of his being wanted to promise her that there was some sanctuary out there where they could live out the rest of their lives. He wanted to but he couldn't lie to her. He couldn't fill her with false hope only to watch it drain from her eyes until the fire in her eyes was nothing more than smoldering ash. He couldn't give her anymore than the truth because it was the only thing he had to offer. "I don't know."
She didn't really need to hear his answer she knew in her soul they were forever going to be wandering the earth until the end of time. She wasn't a romantic, had never believed that life was a fairytale with a happily ever after, and it didn't surprise her that the world ended bloody. What did have her breath catching in her throat was when she realized how close Daryl had moved to her. He no longer smelled of stale cigarettes or worn leather but he would always be a comfort to her, one that she hated to admit because it made her vulnerable, and in this world vulnerability got you killed.
Daryl wasn't sure when he decided to step forward though he knew he felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. He had fallen for her like autumn leaves long before he even knew her name. At first he had convinced himself that it was just his brain telling him she was one of the last women on earth but as he watched her break through every barrier the world put in front of her he knew it was much more.
Placing each hand on the railing to cage her in, he held his breath as she leaned into him just a bit so that her back was touching his chest. Everything was forever changing around him except she was the one constant, the one that he could count on to be always there, and he was waiting for the day their worlds would finally collide.
Carol's eyes met his, searching for a truth, an answer or maybe even a question, but what she saw was peace. She never had to wonder about his ulterior motives when she was with him, and only him, she could feel that fire in her swell to an inferno. She thought she could feel his heart beating against her back but it could just have easily been her own. They stayed like that for several minutes before she eventually broke it, returning her gaze to the lightning bugs. She wanted to kiss him and had she looked one more second into his baby blues she might have. Hell, he might have even gotten the nerve to kiss her. But, she wouldn't allow herself to instead choosing to lean her head back on his shoulder.
Glenn and Maggie had openly confessed their love for one another multiple times only for it to end his life in the end. He had put himself between her and a bullet, leaving her to roam the roads aimlessly without him. Carol had survived many things over the years and even more so recently when she found her inner strength but she knew that come the day Daryl Dixon didn't exist would be the day she stopped fighting. And that was something that she just couldn't do. Not after everything. So to save them both she built back up her own walls, promising herself it was the only way they'd both survive.
Tomorrow may not be promised but neither was their next breath. They had to savor every moment they had together and every second that they could make the other smile. They didn't know what their future held or if there was anywhere they would be able to call home again but they had found a home within each other. They had hearts that beat for one another and without them they would just be the walking dead.