Carol felt an arm wrap around her midsection. "No…leave her… ain't nothing you can do now…" The gruff redneck voice spat in her ear. He dragged her away from the horror before her. "Come on, come on… in there," he said. Carol was numb with fear, pain, paralyzed in shock, but she somehow found a way to turn and run after him as Daryl dragged her towards the RV.
They stepped over Dale's lifeless, mutilated body and Daryl shoved her ahead, into the vehicle. His shove was rough - the same kind of push she'd endured for many years with Ed, but it wasn't an angry shove, no, Daryl was trying to save her life. Carol caught her balance. She'd had a lot of practice at being pushed and staying on her feet, although at times it was better just to fall because sometimes Ed would walk away once she was down.
She scrambled inside and turned to see Daryl fire off a shot with his crossbow putting a bolt through the head of an approaching walker. He pulled out his hunting knife and stabbed two more of the snarling creatures in the head before he could finally pull the door shut and latch it. They were inside. They were safe.
"Down on the floor," Daryl hissed, laying flat. "Gotta wait them out," he added.
"But the others…" Carol said. It came out in a whimper. Sophia was still out there somewhere. Her baby. She needed to go back out.
"Anyone still out there is dead," Daryl grunted. She knew he was right. There were no more screams, no more gunshots. The only sounds were the inhuman grunts and snarling of the monsters. He met her eye and his voice softened. "I saw her and Carl run into the woods when the herd showed up. They might be fine… maybe they got away…" His voice didn't sound all that confident. "We'll find them," he added, putting a lot more effort into making his tone reassuring.
Carol put her head down on the floor of the RV and started to cry. She cried silently, knowing that they needed to be quiet for the walkers to pass by. How had this happened? She was living a normal life as a stay at home mom - well maybe not completely normal since Ed treated her like shit and beat her regularly - but compared to this world it was normal. Now here she was bawling on the floor of an old man's RV - an old man that was ripped to shreds just outside the door - with a gruff redneck she barely knew. They were both smeared with blood and the smell was a horrid stench that had her on the verge of vomiting at any second.
Her husband was dead. Carol had seen a walker chewing on him near their tent. Sophia was likely dead too - even though there was still a shred of hope. All the women that had become her family, the sisters she'd never had - Lori, Andrea, Jacqui, Amy… They were dead too. Carol lost track of all the people she'd seen lying on the ground with chunks of flesh missing, pools of blood around them, some still being eaten. The same people she'd sat around the campfire with the night before.
She should have been dead too. She didn't even have a weapon. She couldn't find anywhere to hide in the chaos. And before Daryl arrived there was no one to save her. But somehow she was there, with him, lying on the floor crying with not a scratch on her body. She had run, dodged, and ducked her way through the madness. It never should have worked. They should have ganged up on her and had a walker buffet on her lifeless body. Why? Why was she the one who got to survive?
It made sense that Daryl was still alive. He was a badass with a massive chip on his shoulder. He wasn't afraid of anything. He made it clear that he didn't like anyone and wanted to be alone, especially after what happened with his brother. Rick had handcuffed Daryl's older brother to a roof in Atlanta. They went back for him and returned with only a hand. The man had sawed off his own hand to escape and might even still be out there somewhere if he didn't bleed to death. But chances were… in this world… Daryl would never see Merle again. Just like me, Carol thought. If they didn't find Sophia's body out there in the woods… if she somehow survived... it was still highly unlikely Carol would ever find her again anyway.
She bit back a sob as she realized that she had lost her only child. Her baby girl. The one thing that was always good in her life. Now there was nothing good left. Nothing but her and this angry man she barely knew. The angry man saved your life, a voice in her mind pointed out. Carol lifted her head enough to sneak a peek at him. She never had figured out how old he was. He had young looking features and acted childish but the wrinkle lines around his eyes and the corners of his mouth suggested he actually may not be much younger than she was.
He was handsome. Even through the dirt, the ripped, grungy clothing and the bad attitude she had noticed that the very first time she met him. He was also intriguing. He watched the world around him intently, taking things in constantly. Carol had observed him from time to time, pretending not to care about anything or anyone, but she could tell it hurt him not to be included. She could tell that he knew everything that was going on - including the way Ed was treating her.
The strange part was… she could also tell it affected him and she didn't understand it. They weren't friends. They barely knew one another. But when tensions were high between her and Ed and she was doing her best to hide the truth she knew Daryl picked up on it. Eventually everyone figured it out, but Daryl was the first. Carol was also very observant. She knew he was the first to recognize she was being abused.
But why did he care? He didn't seem like the type of person who was just empathetic towards the human race. No, there was a reason Daryl shot daggers at Ed whenever they were within a few feet of one another. But what was it?
Carol sighed angrily, earning her a glare from Daryl. He put his finger to his lips and she gave him an apologetic look. None of the crap going on in her mind even mattered anymore anyway. Ed was gone. The tears picked up again when she came right back to Sophia. In that moment she just couldn't muster any sort of hope. They were all gone. Everyone she knew was gone.
She looked at Daryl again. Was he feeling the same emptiness she was? Or did he even care? What did it matter to him anyway? He'd already lost his brother - these people didn't matter to him. But he had lost his brother, so maybe… maybe he understood how she felt. Maybe he'd cried himself to sleep alone in his camper. The thought of Daryl crying made her want to laugh. It would have been an awkward embarrassing fit of laughter brought on by the shock and devastation of the situation more than the image in her mind of him crying.
Carol ducked her head back down and fought off the giggles. Daryl would have thrown her out the door to the walkers thinking she was completely insane. Maybe I am, Carol thought. Maybe I am insane. Maybe this is all a crazy dream and I'm locked up in some looney bin hallucinating. She couldn't decide which version of reality would have been worse.
They stayed there on the floor a long time. There were moments when the RV was rocking and she wanted to cover her ears to block out the snarling and loud thumping as the creatures tried to claw their way inside. Eventually the sounds faded away and it became really hard to stay put. Especially when she had to pee so badly. Carol was too embarrassed to say anything to Daryl about it so she held it and held it until it hurt and she was sure her bladder was gonna burst. She was still scared to say anything, but it was either that or pee her pants. "I have to pee," she whispered, waiting for the angry, annoyed glare or response.
"Me too," he whispered back. "Stay here while I check outside." Well that was unexpected Carol thought. Her heart rate picked up as she watched him quietly get to his feet and peek out the window. He seemed satisfied with what he saw so Daryl moved to the door and silently opened it, with his weapon ready. He looked outside and then took a step out the door. And he was gone. Carol felt panic seize her body. She was alone. If something happened to him… if he didn't return she would be completely alone. Daryl was the only one left and she was struck with an intense need for him. She needed this stranger to keep her sane. Without him she would be alone, crazy and likely dead in a few days.
Carol fought the urge to get up and follow him. She didn't want Daryl out of her sight, but she also knew he was trying to keep them both safe. She had to stay down like she was told. He returned in a matter of seconds, but it felt like hours. "It's clear," he said, no longer whispering. "But it's bad… we got a lot of work to do."
When Carol stood she was sure she was going to pee her pants. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the RV. Dale's body was even worse than before - almost unrecognizable. "Oh my God, I really have to go," she hissed, looking around. The makeshift bathroom was on the other side of the camp and there were a lot of bodies between them and the facilities.
"Just go behind the RV," Daryl said. "That's where I went."
"It's a little easier for you," she muttered. Carol had tissues in her pocket. Sophia had been having allergy issues and her nose was always running. Sophia. Carol's heart ached. She took a step away from Daryl and stopped.
"What are ya waiting for?" he asked, giving her a strange look.
He was gonna think she was an idiot, but she just didn't want him out of her sight again. "Can you come with me… uh… keep an eye out in case one of them appears while I'm trying to go…" She hoped that explaining it that way would make him come without arguing.
"They're all gone," he replied.
"Just come with me," Carol snapped. She didn't mean to sound so bossy, but she had to pee so bad and she didn't have time to argue with him.
"Fine, whatever," he grumbled, following her around behind the RV. Daryl turned his back to her and leaned against the camper while she did her business. She had to go so much her legs were getting shaky by the time she was through. Carol wiped quickly and tossed the tissues on the ground. Normally she would have made sure to throw them into the garbage bin so they could be burned, but not today. Today those simple things no longer mattered. "Thought you were never gonna finish," he muttered as Carol stepped up beside him.
She ignored him. "What do we do now?" She already knew the answer to her question but she was hoping Daryl had a different solution.
"Gotta gather the bodies… destroy the brain so they don't turn... burn them…"
"Bury them," Carol corrected him. "We bury our dead, burn the rest."
"That's a lot of fucking digging," Daryl gave her a look.
"We can do it," Carol replied confidently. She couldn't bring herself to burn the bodies of her friends and family - even Ed. "We can dig one big grave and put them all in together." She couldn't believe she was being so rational about all of this, but she needed a distraction and even this horrible distraction was better than nothing.
They started to gather bodies and Daryl used a pickaxe to destroy their brains. He seemed unaffected by the fact that he was stabbing the heads of people he knew. Just another day. Carol watched as he put an end to people she cared about one by one…T-Dog, Amy, Rick, Lori… the list went on. She couldn't watch him deal with the children. The first little Morales girl they found dead had Carol sobbing hysterically and throwing up what little food that was in her stomach.
Daryl just kept going, like a machine. He was sweaty, dirty and had to be exhausted but he didn't stop until they dragged the last body to the pile - Ed. "I should do it…" Carol heard herself say. It was like she was hovering over herself, watching. "He was my husband…" Daryl gave her a look of disbelief but handed over the pickaxe.
Carol took it, and with tears burning her eyes she lifted it up high and brought it down through Ed's head. The man who had caused her so much pain… She lifted it and swung again. The man who hurt her… She swung a third time as her body filled with rage. Carol was blind from the tears and her anger. Was she crying for him? Or for herself? She had no idea. She just kept swinging and swinging until there was nothing but a mess of blood and grey matter where his head used to be.
She went to swing again and Daryl caught the pick axe. "We should start digging before it gets dark," was all he said.
Carol swiped away the tears and nodded. She should have felt embarrassed for the way she had acted, but Daryl just continued on like nothing had happened. She refocused on the task at hand and did her best to help Daryl dig. The ground was hard and it took a long time to get a grave wide and deep enough for all the bodies. But they did it. As they dropped them one by one into the ground Carol made a mental note of the bodies that were missing. The list was short. Very short. Sophia. Carl. Glenn. Shane.
Those were the only bodies that weren't in the grave. Those were the only people left that had a chance of being alive. But it was only that - a chance. A very, very slim chance. It took almost an hour to fill in the grave. By the time the bodies were covered it was almost dark. "We should say something, shouldn't we?" Carol looked at Daryl. It didn't feel right to just leave them and not say anything.
Daryl just shrugged. Carol moved beside him and bowed her head. She looked sideways and saw he followed suit. She started to speak, "Dear Lord, we pray for safe passage for all the brave, wonderful people we lost today…" she stopped for a moment as her voice caught with emotion. She felt Daryl's hand brush hers. It may have been an accident or it may have been his way of comforting her, but either way it worked. It was a reminder that there was still at least one person left - she wasn't alone. "Please bless their souls and reunite them all with their loved ones in your kingdom, Amen," she finished. She heard Daryl say something as well, which she assumed was also an ''amen." It surprised her as she didn't take him for the religious type, but she was thankful for his effort.
"We should get inside, it's almost dark," Daryl said, breaking a moment of silence they'd been having.
"Maybe we can go to the water, clean up and change first?" she suggested, hoping she wouldn't offend him. Being dirty and covered in blood didn't seem to bother Daryl like it would the average person. "I can wash these clothes tomorrow," she offered.
"Wouldn't worry about it… got lots of clothes to choose from now," he replied. He was only being truthful and in a way, Carol realized, he was trying to save her the effort of doing laundry. But it was also a reminder that everyone was gone and she had to fight the tears.
They both found clean clothes and headed down to the water. If the day hadn't been such a horrific tragedy Carol would have enjoyed the peaceful calmness and the reflection of the moon on the pond. But she was in too much pain to allow herself any joyful emotions. They turned their backs to one another as they both washed and changed.
By the time Carol was done she felt slightly refreshed but absolutely exhausted. Part of her wanted to head out with flashlights and try to find Sophia in the dark, but she knew it was stupid. She was dead on her feet as it was and it was way too dangerous. She followed Daryl back to the RV in a trance, almost falling a couple of times. Daryl caught her the third time she stumbled and held on to her until she was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Sleep. Tomorrow we head into the woods," Daryl said. Carol knew what that meant without explanation. Tomorrow she could find Sophia… Dead or alive. Or even worse… turned. Carol was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. But she was scared to sleep. She was terrified Daryl would walk out in the middle of the night and never come back. She was petrified of being alone. She laid down and pulled the blanket over her. She was waiting for Daryl to walk away and lay down on the other bed.
When he started to take a step away she spoke. "Daryl," she whispered, battling to keep her eyes open for just a moment longer. "Please don't… please don't leave me…" He gave the slightest of a nod and instead of moving to the other end of the RV to sleep on the second bed he sunk to floor, right beside her bed and laid down like a guard dog.