Warnings: Spoilers from Season 1, 2, 3 (episodes 1, 2, 4). Rated for themes and language.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or the characters.
Special thanks to my lovely BETA - doctorkaitlyn, she is the best.
What Happens In The Guard Tower Stays In The Guard Tower
1.
She sat curled up in the corner of the dusty room, trying to make herself smaller. Her cheeks were damp from tears. The girl put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sobs.
The prison was big, but there was actually no place that a person could have a private moment, not without the threat of stumbling across a walker or being interrupted by someone from the group. Only the old watch tower could provide some resemblance of safe privacy.
She didn't cry out of pain, either physical or emotional. Yes, it was a breakdown, but not like the one she had almost a year ago after the infamous "barn massacre" that resulted in her failed suicide attempt. It has been a long time since she let herself have the luxury of crying, not since they mourned Jimmy and Patricia. This time, it was different. The tears were from relief; Hershel had survived the bite and amputation. She was the only one who had never doubted that. Even after Maggie had lost her hope and was ready to give up on him, she still believed. And in the end she was right: their father would live. That was all that mattered now.
She felt like some huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders; the hours of tension, worry and fear were washed away with her tears.
Beth felt someone's warm hand patting her head. Even without looking up, she knew whose hand it was. She raised her head and met Carol's loving eyes. They'd grown closer over the seven months on the road. One needed a mother, and the other missed her daughter.
"Ever seen someone perform a C-section on a walker?" Carol smiled, but there was a bit of concern in her voice.
Beth wiped her tears away and beamed back to the woman. "No, but I would love to see you perform one."
2.
Well, that was definitely one of the worst poems he had ever read in his life. Worst of all, he'd been the one who'd wrote it in the first place! What a waste of a perfectly fine piece of paper and a pencil!
The boy gave a desperate sigh and looked down from the dirty window of the watch tower. In the prison yard, Carol was practicing a C-section on a rotten corpse. Beth was standing nearby, observing with a mixed expression of interest and disgust on her pretty face. Sunlight was glowing in her beautiful golden locks. With that halo above her head, she resembled an angel from one of the paintings he'd seen in The High Museum of Art when his class had visited it two years ago.
He didn't fool himself; Carl knew that he had no chance with the girl. At least not now. Maybe in a couple of years, things would change. If he was patient enough. If she would wait. If their luck remained. If they survived.
As for the moment, no one needed his bad poem. The boy readjusted the Stetson on his head and tossed the crumpled piece of paper towards the darkest corner of the room. Carl heard his father calling his name. There was no time for silly leisure and childish behavior anymore; just like the adults, he had his own share of responsibilities.
3.
He tried not to think, to forget the faces, to push away that nagging feeling of guilt. It had to be done. He had to protect his people, his group. Their safety was his responsibility, his main priority. Those prisoners had been a threat to his family. They had to be dealt with. Just like Dave and Tony. Like Shane. Lori was right, his conscience was clear. And yet, he still saw their faces every time he closed his eyes. Shane's face. And Lori's terrified and accusing eyes when he told her.
The knock on the door startled him.
"You didn't stay for the dinner." The woman's voice behind him was quiet and soft.
He didn't turn to look at her; instead, he kept observing the fields and the prison perimeter. "You can have my share – the baby needs it more than I do."
"There's enough food for everyone now. You don't have to give away your half to me anymore."
"I'm not hungry."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You did what you had to. For all of us."
"And yet you didn't support me seven months ago, when I needed it most." He regretted his words the minute they came out of his mouth.
Lori felt like her husband had slapped her. "You're right – I failed you as a wife. I'm sorry that I bothered you." The woman headed towards the entrance. Rick's words stopped her when she reached the door.
"You're wrong… about earlier. There's still a lot to talk about us. And we will have this talk one day, maybe sooner than you think. But I'm not ready yet. I'm not giving up on us, though you'll have to wait if you're willing to save this marriage." Rick didn't look back at her and yet his figure didn't express hostility anymore.
She could work with that.
"I will wait as long as it takes." Lori closed the door behind her, "Goodnight, love."
4.
"You need a hand there?" There was definitely a teasing tone to the man's voice.
"Goddammit, Daryl! Are you kidding me?! You can't sneak up on people like that! I'm having a private moment here!" The young man straightened up his clothes while thanking his luck that it was dark and the other man couldn't see his blushing face.
"Where's Maggie? Isn't she with you? You two have a fight or somethin'?"
"It's none of your business, actually. Why are you here anyway? It's too early for your turn to take over watch."
"Couldn't sleep. Have a weird feelin' like somthin' bad is gonna happen. Last time I had these feelin's that freakin' Jenner fella almost killed us all back in the CDC." Daryl came closer and sat on the floor next to Glenn.
Silence filled the room.
"Hmm… "What happens in the CDC stays in the CDC" – your exact words, if I remember it right." There was some bitterness in Glenn's voice.
Daryl was stunned "How? I thought you were…"
"Too drunk? Well, apparently not drunk enough to develop a case of convenient amnesia," the young man chuckled mockingly.
"Why didn't you say somethin'…"
"I have my pride, Daryl. You made it crystal clear back then that it was a onetime thing. And now it's too late. I can't hurt Maggie. And you have Carol."
"Hey, you leave Carol out of this!" Though it was dark, Glenn could feel that the man was glaring at him.
"That's exactly what I mean." Glenn scrambled to his feet. "Guess I can pass the shift to you, since you're here anyway. Goodnight, Daryl."
5.
He'd had a dream the other night. Dale had been in it. It was strange because they were never even that close in the first place. He hadn't thought much about the old man in all the months since his death. But now he remembered Dale's last speech. How he'd fought for that boy, Randall. For their humanity.
Perhaps the old man was right all along; they were losing it every day, bit by bit. Life on the road had made them stronger, tougher. They'd grown closer as a family, but at the same time, they'd all developed some kind of weird joy in their daily killings of walkers. They started to regard all outsiders as an immediate threat to their safety, as enemies. Like in the case with those two prisoners – Oscar and Axel.
He remembered how lost and scared they looked when Rick, Daryl and he himself had left them alone in their cell block of the prison. How upset they'd been when they seen all those corpses of their once friends and inmates. Maybe they should give Axel and Oscar a chance. Let them into their tight little group. They didn't seem dangerous after all.
Then again, it was unlikely that he'd get any support from Rick and the others. Even the women of their group wouldn't feel compassionate towards those prisoners...
T-Dog sighed and looked around the room. Something white caught his eyes in the dark corner. A crumpled piece of paper, a note, as it seemed. The man turned on his flashlight and read it. It was a poem. Not the best one, but the words were heartwarming and sincere as only first love can be.
T-Dog chuckled amusingly. He never thought that the boy could write poems. He sometimes forgot that Carl was still a kid. Young Grimes seemed to be much older than he was in reality. He was a child soldier. And yet, it was his handwriting.
Perhaps there was still hope for those prisoners. For their humanity. And he, Theodore Douglas, would try to fight for them tomorrow. Even if no one would support him, he had to give it a try.
6.
"Should we do this? I mean, we don't have any condoms left. There could be consequences." The young man was fidgeting nervously, trying to distance himself from the girl.
"Stop worrying and kiss me already! We'll be careful!" Maggie grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and gave her boyfriend a passionate kiss.
Glenn gathered all the remaining strength he had and unwillingly broke the kiss. "Are you sure? We might have to face some serious problems afterwards…" he asked hesitantly, with the air of concern.
"I don't care actually; it's been a while since we had a chance to be alone without being constantly interrupted by someone from the group, or even worse – a walker. And by "someone" I mean Daryl. Sometimes, I suspect that he's made it his mission in life to cockblock us whenever he's got the chance."
The young man was glad that his girlfriend was too busy struggling to get out of her clothes (all at the same time) and thus couldn't see his red face. He cleared his throat nervously.
"Don't be silly, that was just an accident and a coincidence. And you didn't answer my question. You know that we're not ready to become parents yet."
"First, I'm not paranoid – those were not accidents, I assure you! Second, we found our safe heaven at last, maybe it's time to settle down and think about the future? We could have cute little kids together. And third, take off those pants already!"
They heard a familiar voice from the prison yard calling for them.
"…You comin'? Come on, we could use a hand."
Maggie looked like she was about to scream. "Oh, for the love of God! Why am I not surprised? Is he making sex-puns now? The man is clearly mocking us!"
"Come on, Maggie they're just joking. There's nothing to get mad at," Glenn smiled at her.
"Don't you start defending him! Daryl is obviously enjoying himself at our expense! I'm going to kill him, when I get down!" The girl felt irritated.
Glenn gave her a peck on the forehead. "Let them have their fun, it's not like we have a lot of occasions for that. Don't ruin the mood. Besides, they need help right now. We could have our private time later. It looks like a start of a beautiful day."
The End.
A/N: Thank you for reading!