Daryl
"That's Carols knife." I starred at it for a few seconds, thinking she may have held it for the last time, before I cleansed it on the walkers' blue prisonuniform. I stood up, trying not to think the worst. She could still be alive. This didn't mean anything. She could've escaped. Still the pictures ran through my head like bees I tried to wave of.
"Oscar, take Carl back to the cellblock," I said without looking at any of them. "I'll go on a lil' longer." We could hear a soft metal sound, coming from a door close by, but no one gave it so much as a glance.
"Daryl…" Oscar looked confused at me. "She's dead. She couldn't have outrun all these walkers. If she'd still been alive, we would've found her by now." Something in his words made sense. At the same time they didn't. Not for me.
"I'll go on." My words landed hard, maybe a little harder than the meaning was. Oscar just nodded. Carl looked strangely at me. He had stood by the wall the hall time, not saying a word. Now he went silently, following Oscar back the way we had come.
When the footsteps grew into a soft echo and I heard a door slam shut, I couldn't hold it in anymore. My back leaned into the cold prisonwall, and I dropped exhausted to the floor. The prison was in total silence, only interrupted by the metaldoor clinking. Again and again. I closed me eyes, and slammed the knife to the ground. Not caring if all the walkers in this goddamn prison heard me.
She was gone. I should have been there. When the walkers came. I should have been there the whole time, protecting her. Watching over her. But I didn't, and know she was gone. Like all the others. Once again I slammed the knife to the floor in anger. I couldn't allow myself to lose it, but I was damn close. My heart beat like a thousand drums. Harder and faster.
I slammed the knife to the wall, and looked around for something I could take the anger out on. The metaldoor was in fact right in front of me. And the door was still clinking; it couldn't be opened because of a walker's body in front of it. I sprung to my feet and kicked the door with all my power, but it only continued. I walked back and forth, breathing hard. Trying to control myself. Then I placed the knife between my teeth, dragged the body away from the door, and grabbed the knife in my right hand, opening the door with my left, ready to strike the walker. Only it wasn't a walker.
My arm became motionless in middle of the movement, in company of the rest of my body. In the dim light, I could make out grey, short hair before her head leaned into the sun. Her blue, heavenlike eyes became bigger as they adapted to the light, and she could make out my face.
"Carol!" I burst out, almost losing my voice. I bend my knees and reached out for her face. She closed her eyes by my touch, and then I knew she was not hurt. She was not a walker, and she was sure as hell not dead. It was relief I saw written on her face.
Her chest moved fast, and her breath sounded heavy. Still she managed to whisper something that will stay with me forever.
"You took your time." I didn't know what to say. Once again her strength and mind amazed me. No one would ever have said that, except Carol. Still after days missing, she would crack of a joke like that. I guess she had grown quite allot since the outbreak. Losing her husband, and then her child.
I moved closer and scooped her up in my arms. She put her hands around my neck, and leaned her head heavily on my shoulder. As she closed her eyes, I made a promise to myself. If I ever lose her again, I will never stop looking for her until I find her. Dead, or a walker. Or alive.