Title: So far from home
Summary: everything is bruised and battered and Carol has no one to turn to; he doesn't care about her anymore, not like he used to.
Chapter 1: Hunting.
Grunting, growling, hissing; whatever it was Carol as well as Daryl were frightened as the herd of walkers passed through the forest, 20, maybe even 30 of them stumbling through, searching for fresh meat. Daryl signalled for Carol to be quiet with a somewhat shaky finger pressed to his lips and she nodded in return. When he had spotted the herd he helped Carol climb the tree before climbing up himself, the branch was rickety, thin and worn, they both silently prayed that if it was going to break it would only after the herd had passed, otherwise they would just be food falling from the sky; cloudy with a chance of fresh meat for the monsters below.
After what felt like hours, the herd finally past through. Daryl jumped down from the tree first, he was as quiet as he could be, looking around for walkers. Carol moved round in a position to jump down when Daryl signalled it was safe but instead her feet slipped from below her and she fell. Luckily, Daryl's reactions were quick and he caught her around her waist before she could tumble to the ground. Carol blushed, she wasn't used to being this close to him, their bodies pressed against one another's, their faces so close she could feel his breath on her cheek, she wasn't used to it; but she liked it.
"Sorry." She mumbled sheepishly, stepping back from him, a pink blush evident on her cheeks.
" 's fine." He mumbled, his eyes searching her face.
She looked down nervously. "We should get moving, before a few of them come back." He nodded in agreement but suddenly he heard a crunch and then a snap and before he could realise what was happening he was pushing Carol away from the danger so that instead the branch they had been sitting on had snapped and fallen onto him instead of her, knocking him to the floor, unconscious.
Carol panicked and kneeled beside him. "Daryl!" She shouted, tapping his cheeks lightly. "Daryl, come on don't do this, not now!" She gripped his jacket and shook him lightly, when he still didn't move she checked his pulse, he was still alive, thank God.
Suddenly from behind her she heard a growling & the familiar sound of dragging feet. Swiftly, she grabbed the knife out of her belt and spun around, but she spun too fast and her vision blurred. The walker flung himself onto her, she let out scream as he pinned her to the floor, causing her to drop her knife. After moments of struggling she managed to kick him off of her enough to reach for her knife and drive it through his skull, she pulled it out and he fell on top of her and as she rolled him off she got an idea. She needed to go for help, there was no way she could fight off any walkers that came by while also dragging Daryl back to the prison. So instead she threaded the knife back through her belt and dragged the walker on top of Daryl, something he had taught her a while back to keep the walkers away when a herd was passing by... Something he had taught too, that terrible day when Sophia first went missing. She shook her head, she had to focus on the task. She held his hand for a moment, "I'll be back soon." She vowed, before getting up and quickly moving toward the direction of the prison; luckily they weren't that far away from it, so Carol wouldn't get lost.
Only moments later, she approached the gate and Carl opened it, Rick came running up to her. "Where's Daryl? Are you alright?"
"A herd passed through so we hid up in a tree but when we got down the branch snapped, it fell on him and he's unconscious." She said panicked. "A walker came at me but I got it, I put it on Daryl incase any of the herd decide to come back. We're about a quarter of a mile North into the forest."
Rick nodded. "Ok, good job. Me and Glenn will go get him, we'll drive a car down to the start of the forest, it'll be quicker and safer to get him back here that way. Tell Hershel and Beth to get a bed ready and some painkillers, he'll need them when he comes round. You and Maggie distract them and pop them through the fence, and if we need covering Carl will be at the gate, I want you two with guns too."
"Ok." Was all Carol said, nodding in approval and understanding before running inside telling everyone what they need to do.
An hour and a half later and Daryl was being rushed into a cell, Hershel giving orders about more things he would need and Carol giving Rick a glare. "I know, I'm sorry! We had to stop to fight off maybe half a dozen walkers, the herd must have split." He explained, understanding the glare. Carol only nodded and chewed on her lip as she watched Hershel stitch Daryl's head up and then bandage it, the only problem was, he still hadn't woken up.
I hope you like it! I take positive critisism with open arms, I dislike when people just say mean things with no point at all, if you don't like it then please give me pointers to help improve it, thank you! :)