"I'm goin' out to do a supply run. We ain't losing her," Daryl gruffly said to the group. He wouldn't let anyone see how empty he felt without her. Nobody could know. Besides, Rick just lost his wife.
"I'll come with you," he heard someone, possibly Maggie, say.
"No. I'm goin' on my own," he responded bluntly, slinging his crossbow on his back. He crossed the prison yard and made his way to his bike ignoring Axel. Once he was on and the gate was pulled open, he felt his pocket for her scarf. Still there.
The air whipping his face felt good. He needed to cool off.
…
When he returned, Glenn and Maggie were clinging to each other at the front. He grunted and, surprisingly, as they saw him their young faces were lit up.
"What?" he asked, frowning at them.
Glenn grinned and beckoned with a motion of his head. "C'mon."
Daryl hopped off his bike and followed Maggie and Glenn into their block. They both kept glancing back at him with slight smiles on their faces. It was the most he'd seen them smile since they lost T- Dog and… her.
"'S'going on?" he asked suddenly as curiosity swept over him.
Glenn nodded to one of the cells, still smiling. Inside, he thought his eyes had tricked him. Maybe it was the dark but no. Huddled in the middle of Carl, Beth and Hershel was her. It was Carol. Daryl's eyes widened, his mouth slightly open. He glanced at Rick out of the corner of his eyes and the corner of his mouth flicked up in a slight smile before he walked away with the new baby in his arms. Carol looked up and glanced at him. She'd obviously been crying from the state of her puffy red eyes but Daryl pushed through the group and his fingers tightened around her forearm. The realisation that she was actually here was all it took for Daryl to pull her up and drag her back through the block and outside.
"I thought you were dead!" he shouted, shaking her slightly and gripping her by the shoulders.
There was fear in her eyes like when she flinched when he had lost his temper after Sophia… He thought he had failed them both and then he stopped shaking her and felt defeated. Daryl dropped his head so he was leaning his forehead on her boney shoulder. Carol's arms came up around his neck and through his hair, pulling him close.
"Don't ever do that again," he whispered.