Hey again! Here's my version of "Internment". Obviously, I can't do much with the latest two episodes, so this 'verse will resume in the mid-season finale episode "Too Far Gone".
I own nothing, kay?
How To Save A Life
It was a new day in the zombie apocalypse. Daryl, Merle and Michonne had returned with the medicine just in time. Things had gotten hectic at the prison while they were gone; the walkers had torn down the rickety fence, and a few faces had been lost to the diseases spreading rampant amongst their people.
Seemingly, things were working out. The able-bodied prison members were out patching everything up, while the convalescing members were focusing on resting up. And then there was Daryl Dixon. He had looked around again and again for Carol, but she was nowhere to be found. At first, he thought that she was in A-Block looking after Lizzie and Mika; however, once he found out that she wasn't there from Hershel, the hunter found himself worrying. The fact that he told him to go talk to Rick made it even worse.
Daryl made his way over to Rick, who was fiddling with peapods in his garden with Carl. Something told the youngest Dixon that his friend was avoiding him like the freakin' plague.
The former deputy saw Daryl come up from the corner of his eye, startling him half to death.
"'ey man, can we talk?" his friend and right-hand-man began. Rick glanced down at Carl and sent him on his way. When both men were left to themselves, there was tension floating in the air.
"Yeah. I—I need to talk to you anyways," Rick glanced down at the ground, putting all of his weight onto his opposite leg. "You go ahead," he nodded, looking back up at the younger Dixon brother.
Daryl's squinted blue eyes scanned over the former leader's lanky frame. "Where's Carol, man? I've been looking for her everywhere? Hershel told me to come talk to ya 'bout it."
Rick sighed, fingers tapping against his leg. "I started looking back at Karen and David's isolation quarters, trying to figure out who could have killed two of our own like that. I—I didn't want to believe it, but Daryl she admitted it to me."
"Wait," the hunter murmured, stepping closer to Rick, "are ya tryin' to tell me that Carol was the one that killed Karen and David?"
The former deputy just nodded. "That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you."
Daryl took a painfully long pause. Rick worried about what was going on in his mind, but he didn't dare elaborate until he was ready to hear more. "She thought it was best for the group. Don't make it right, but ya can't take back the past." The hunter wiped off the bead of sweat accumulating across his brow before continuing.
"Where is she, Rick? Did ya kill 'er or somethin'?"
Rick met with his friend's eyes and told him the truth, "Carol and I went out on a supply run, lookin' for anything that could tide us over before ya'll would make it back. We did some talking about the decisions she made, and it scared me—"
"It scared you? This is Carol we're talkin' 'bout!" Daryl started to raise his voice ever so slightly.
The former deputy held a hand up, shaking his head. "Daryl, if you had heard how she was talking. She's growing unstable. Carol completely shoved her humanity to the side. All she can think about is survival, no matter whoshe has to go through—"
"Where is she?" the hunter seethed through slightly gritted teeth. He had stepped up into Rick's personal space. There were three people in this world that you didn't fuck with: Merle, Carol, and Michonne. Daryl's temper was a ticking time bomb right about now.
"I don't know, honestly. We divvied up our supplies and I helped her pack up a van," Rick cupped a hand over his friend's shoulder, "I couldn't have her here. Not with Judith and Carl. There was no guarantee that ya'll would make it back in time with the meds. And if it had just been me, her and my kids—"
"So it's perfectly fuckin' fine if yer the one makin' hasty decisions, but Carol gets ousted for following her gut?!" Daryl pushed Rick away from him, "she was tryin', Rick!"
"And what about Tyreese, Daryl? What do you think he's gonna do when he finds out that Carol was responsible for his girlfriend's death?" Rick asked. He kept his voice at a whisper, careful not to draw any more attention on them.
Daryl couldn't keep still any longer. He began to pace back and forth, clenching a fist as his temper got the best of him. "Bastard would be a fool to try an' touch my woman. No matter what she did."
"I couldn't take those chances, man. You have to believe me," Rick added sincerely. He just sighed as his right-hand man continued to pace around.
"Un-fucking-believable," the redneck grumbled under his breath. He had to force himself away from the former deputy before he did something that he was going to regret.
Rick watched in horror as Daryl stomped away, carrying his anger right alongside him. "Daryl, where are you going?"
Daryl stomped right back up in Rick's face, sneering, "I'm going to look for my woman, and I'm bringin' her back to the prison. If ya don't like it, then I'm leavin'. My brother an' Michonne will head right out with me."
When the younger Dixon brother walked away this time, Rick didn't try to stop him.
o—o—o
"There ya are, woman!" Merle greeted Michonne with a chaste kiss. She was just finishing piling up the bodies in the trailer to take back into the woods to burn. "Been looking for yer ass."
"I'm on clean up detail; wanna come along?" Michonne asked her boyfriend.
"Why the hell not?" the redneck smacked his woman on her backside as she climbed up in the truck. He took the passenger side and glanced over at her, "'ey, 'chonne, ya see my baby brother around lately?"
"No," Michonne shook her head. "Last time I saw him, he was out in the garden talking to Rick."
"Huh. He's probably with Carol, then. I reckon she's still in the A-block takin' care o' those girls," Merle shrugged. "With Daryl there ain't no telling."
His Nubian Queen drove along in silence, smiling slightly when Merle rubbed her leg affectionately. "What's on your mind, Merle?"
Neither one of them would mention what happened back at the Veterinary College. Merle thought he did right, and Daryl did too. Michonne understood why he did it, but she wasn't agreeing or disagreeing with the decision; she just chose to keep quiet about it.
"Nothin'. I feel pretty damn good. We can finally relax for a little while, ya know? Ain't no Governor sightings, monster flu's clearin' right up. Now all we gotta do is repair the fence," Merle squeezed his woman's knee, "worry 'bout more important things, like gettin' a ring on your finger."
The dark-skinned survivor chuckled to herself. "I'm not in any rush." As she parked the truck, her boyfriend came around to open the door for her. Michonne planted her feet on the ground and was met with an eager kiss. She cupped his face in her hands as she kissed him back.
"I'm beginning to think that this is why you came in the first place…" Michonne murmured against Merle's parted lips.
"And if it is?" the redneck chuckled, "I ain't bashful, ya know."
From where they were standing, everything was quiet, peaceful. If only they had known who was lurking from a short distance away. He was back, and these two were the top two on his hit list.
Well, what did ya'll think?