Blood and Ashes
Set in an AU timeline equivalent to TWD S3B episode "Clear," at the end of October, about a year into the Vampire Apocalypse. If you haven't seen any of the Blade films, NR is in the second (2002), playing "Scud" a scruffy genius hacker/inventor who works for the hero, a human/vampire hybrid who can walk in the daylight. True vamps (biters, blood suckers, or just suckers) can be killed by staking, beheading, sunlight and are poisoned by crosses, silver and holy water.
In this story, Merle is in his early fifties, Daryl is forty-three and Scud is twenty-two, but all of them are very fit and look and act younger.
I own nothing from the Blade or the TWD franchises. If I did, Scud would have been a double-double agent and Caryl would be canon...
"Scud? Like the missile?" Beth asked, her eyes wide with interest, looking at the young man standing on the interior side of the gates of the all over cross patterned electrified wire fencing topped with silver tipped razor wire that protected the compound from the suckers.
"More like Dud than Scud." Carl said sullenly. Ever since the Dixon brothers had shown up, sweeping in to save the day like fucking Underdog, his crush had been batting her big blues at the youngest one, the kid with the crazy hardware and the grunge slacker sex appeal.
"The Scudster understands your jealousy, little man." the new kid said, giving Carl an arrogant tilt of his shaggy head that only made him look cooler, "He has it all and the ladies all wanta piece of it." Scud took a cigarette from behind his ear, popped it in his mouth, lit it and then strutted over to the back of the dirt bike he had arrived on and pulled a small silver sphere out of one of the saddle bags.
"What's that?' Beth asked, ignoring Carl's spitting disdain to follow after Scud, standing next to him.
"UV grenade: pop it and it'll burn a sucker to ash. A gift for the sexy little hottie with the big blue peepers." he said so sweetly it made Carl's teeth hurt, but he saw Beth blush as she took the small metal device from the other boy, holding it carefully.
"She's seventeen." the low gravelly drawl broke over the three young people.
"That true, bro? This sweet sweet thing is still jail bait?" Scud said sadly, holding his hand to his heart, which was covered by several gaudy silver chains and a crucifix, looking over at the eldest of the three newcomers, a burly graying buzz cut military vet with several days of stubble on his jaw.
He was wearing two gun belts crisscrossed over his chest stocked with hardwood shells to fit the massive sawed off shotgun he wore across his back and silver bullets to fit the big Colt pistol at his hip. He was deadly with the guns, the number of biters he had taken out a couple of hours ago during the midnight attack on the prison testimony to that fact.
"Derlina's been chattin' up the merry widow what runs the place and he got the run down on all the pussy 'round here. Fucker called dibs on the silver fox already and brunette's with the Chinaman so I asked about Miss Fancy here. She got her some puppy love goin' on with Donny Osmond over there—ain't neither one of 'em old enough to vote or fuck." the elder brother said, sounding mightily disgusted with the situation.
"Merle!" Scud admonished his big bro, seeing the uneasiness in the girl Beth's eyes and the way she'd backed up and put her arm around Carl protectively.
"Shit, only reason we bothered to come here was to tap some grateful ass after we saved it from the Governor and his tribe o'suck faces." Merle grumbled. "I ain't been laid in so long that damn bitch of Daryl's is startin' to look good."
"You get your poxy dick anywhere close to Daryl's dog you know she'll bite it off." Scud warned with a chuckle, but then he frowned, looking around as if just noticing the dog was missing. "Where is she anyhow?"
"They got a baby in there." Merle said, his voice taking on a tone of resignation. "Head woman Carol's carryin' it around and both Daryl and the dog is sticking to them like they's magnets; you know how they get."
"What does your brother want with Judith?" Carl said, suddenly brave at the possible threat to his little sister. Born by emergency c-section during the last attack at the prison a little over a month ago, her mother Lori's blood had sent the suckers at the fences that night into a frenzy, killing their friend T-Dog and Axel, the last of the original inmates. Lori also hadn't survived the delivery.
"That the vamp bait's name?" Merle asked with a snort. "Honest to Christ you people are the luckiest mother fuckers we've come across. You got a couple a'virgins and a baby—enough blood of the innocent to gorge fuckin' Nosfertu hisself. No wonder the Governor's got a hard on for this place. Blade's gonna shit hisself when he gets here."
"Blade?" Beth said, scoffing. "He's an urban legend—made up by people who think there's some way out of this messed up world."
"Na uh." Scud said, blowing out a couple of smoke rings and grinning, proud of his trick. "He's as real as death... We work for him..."
Merle growled at that characterization of the relationship.
"...with him." Scud amended, "I built slaying gadgets for him and his buddy Whistler...then I found out the vamps had taken our brother Daryl for one a' their blood banks so we grabbed up big brother Merle and went after him. Had to make like I was an acolyte—you know, a familiar?" he turned his lower lip inside out to show them the tattooed mark there, "Got me inside. About that time all hell broke loose. I found out they were taking their plan to the final phase—we're just all cattle to them—Blade helped us get Daryl out, but it's been uphill against the butchers since then."
"They go to ground once they hear B's in town so we roll in first; try to give the local warlord a reason to stay topside: piss 'em off or lure 'em out and keep them interested in the local delicacies." Merle added.
"Is that what Daryl wants with Judith?" Beth asked, furious now, "To use her as bait?"
"Naw—Daryl, he's the sweet one. Got a soft spot for animals and kids." Merle explained, "Literally ran into a burning building to save that mangy critter of his. Trained her up to take down the suckers. Rigged up that rack so she can ride on his bike, takes her everywhere." Merle pointed to the side car on the big Harley that belonged to the middle brother.
"She was pretty awesome." Carl said admiringly. The big German Shepherd mix dog had been deadly in the fight at the fences. Her powerful jaws could literally rip the head off a vamp, killing it as efficiently as a stake through the heart.
"The two of them got this sixth sense about finding and saving helpless or needful things..." Scud nodded, blowing out a big puff of smoke and then he smirked, tilting his head consideringly. "Your friend boss lady Queen Carol doesn't look too helpless..."
If he was into cougars, Scud thought, he might've made a play for the silver haired hottie with the bangin' ass and still perky tits... Still, it was nice to see Daryl take an interest in something besides frying vamps for a change. That shit got monotonous if you didn't have some way to chill periodically. Daryl and Blade could both be tight asses about using their sexy sweaty muscle thing to lure in the babes if it was only him and Merle that benefitted from it...
"Waste of a perfectly good opportunity lettin' him call dibs on her." Merle complained. "He ain't used his dick in the year since we sprung him from that abattoir; gettin' all emotional and shit coz' certain other people got themselves killed."
"They killed her right in front of him, Merle." Scud said, his mood suddenly serious, tossing his cigarette down on the ground and grinding it in with the toe of his boot. "That'd screw with anybody's head."
"Who?" Beth asked, all sympathy now.
"His wife." Scud said bleakly, still staring at the ground, "She was six months pregnant."
Merle made a disgusted noise and spit, the long stream arching out to land almost at Scud's feet.
"Watch that shit!" Scud bitched, dancing back and Merle grunted out a laugh.
"Let me hold her." Daryl asked again, keeping his tone even and patient. The woman—and hell what a woman she was—was still frowning at him, but the child's fussing was threatening to turn into a full blown fit, which could draw more suckers to the compound.
Carol looked skeptically at the hardened warrior in front of her with the big dog sitting so patiently at his side, both of them looking at the baby with concern.
"You can't make her a bottle and keep her quiet at the same time. Everybody else is too busy checking the fences or too chicken shit about babies to help you." Daryl said and then held out his hands, turning his arms to show her how clean they were. "I washed up."
Carol raised an eyebrow, the amazing muscles on display in those tanned arms making her mouth go dry. The man wore a button down shirt with the sleeves torn off and she had a fanciful image of those arms just Hulking out as he flexed them to fire his crossbow like he'd done in the battle only a couple of hours ago. He and his brothers had appeared out of the dark, making the difference that allowed them to survive this latest attempt by the local vamp warlord, known as the Governor, to take over their sanctuary here at the prison.
Rick, Michonne and Andrea were overdue. They should've been back before sundown from their mission to the former sheriff's home town to hopefully find more weapons at his station house. Those three being missing had left them seriously low on man power. Post-battle, Glenn and Maggie were on fence patrol while Hershel was on tower watch; that left Carol and the two teenagers to contend with the Dixon brothers.
"Babies love me." Daryl said, his voice going all soft and gentle, as if he was trying to melt her resistance with its honeyed tones. As Judith's crying ramped up, his dog gave a little whine, staring intently at the baby.
"What's her name?" Carol asked, nodding at the big dog. She was missing part of one of her long pointed ears and had a slashing scar across her muzzle including a chunk taken out of her lip which made her look as if the fangs on the left side of her face were permanently bared. Yet her expressive eyes were liquid brown and her black brows drew together in what looked for all the world like a worried frown on her tan forehead.
"Momma." Daryl said, one side of his mouth curving into a small smile.
Carol couldn't help but smile back at the ridiculousness of the name for so menacing looking a creature. She held her left hand out for the dog to smell, holding Judith against her shoulder with her right. The dog politely sniffed and then gave a brief lick and whine as Judith protested the change in position with the start of a sob.
Daryl gave Carol a hopeful look, holding out his hands for the baby.
"You hurt one hair on her head and I will end you, Mr. Dixon." Carol said, her tone deadly serious.
"Yes ma'am, I surely believe it after seeing you in action." Daryl nodded admiringly. He'd watched this little woman wade into the breach in the fence, armed with a stake and machete, fearlessly defending her home, her toned body balletic and graceful, no wasted movements. Stake, turn, slice, behead, rinse and repeat. She was a survivor.
"And I know you're lethal." Carol said, that wary tone respectful. "I'm just hoping those wings on your leathers aren't just for show. You and your brothers saved our asses tonight like some sort of avenging angels and that earned you some trust, I suppose."
Daryl held his breath as she handed him the little girl she called Judith, hoping his baby whispering abilities hadn't faded with disuse. It had been a long time since he'd even seen an infant this young. To the suckers the blood of the innocent was an aphrodisiac, a sexual stimulant more addictive than crack or meth. He'd been on the trail of a ring of baby snatchers when he'd been captured by the vamp Syndicate who ran the operation and then imprisoned at the blood farm from where his brothers and Blade had rescued him.
"I was a pediatric nurse." Daryl said, cradling the child. "Had been an Army medic in Iraq before that—saw action, got hit—wanted to do something to bring new life into the world." he looked down at Judith, "And then the world fell apart."
He'd been a captive for a month, his high level of fitness and strong will to survive allowing him to last longer than most as his blood was harvested by the Syndicate machines, given barely enough nutrients to stay alive, suspended, sealed in plastic with a hundred other "donors" in a factory out in the middle of nowhere Georgia. Thanks to his little brother's inside contacts they had finally found him, destroying the facility, but in the process learning it was only one of thousands all over the world. In the weeks that followed, the global Vampire Apocalypse was set into motion, causing the collapse of civilization.
The day-walker, Blade, was their only hope. Only he could organize and rally the free humans who remained outside the control of the Syndicate to fight against them. The Dixons had thrown their lot in with him, searching out survivors and teaching them the new rules of the game. Vamps were all connected by bloodlines—if you killed the maker, the sire, all its children died as well. The end goal was to find the Paterfamilias, the First. Take him out, they all went down. As a stop gap, they tried to cut the head off any viper nests they found. Here in West Georgia, that snake was known as the Governor.
Carol watched him expertly hold the little one her best friend had died to bring into the world and felt a tug on an unused part of her heart. Since her daughter's death near the start of this horror show she hadn't let herself really feel that part of herself any more. She didn't need it to get in the way of the hard decisions she had to make every day... but this man... this incongruously rough and gentle man was as dangerous to her heart as any bloodsucker.
"That's right..." Daryl cooed, walking back and forth in front of the small kitchen area with a camp stove where Carol had moved to heat the water for formula.
Judith was staring up at him, seemingly fascinated by his voice. She reached up a chubby hand to tug on his chin whiskers and he chuckled, drawing Carol's eyes to the two of them. His slightly too long fringe of bangs hung into his warm blue eyes, his full on smile lighting up his angular face.
Carol sucked in a breath. That was one seriously attractive man. He looked like he'd stepped off the cover of some damn romance novel, Apocalypse Edition. When was the last time she'd even thought of another person in those terms? They'd all been too busy trying to survive...
Well, she would concede that Glenn and Maggie's epic love story of finding a soul mate at the end of the world had been romantic, but such nonsense was for the young and beautiful. Men like Daryl Dixon looked for women like themselves, strong Amazons like Michonne or Andrea, not efficient little gray haired housewives.
"Okay if I check her over after you feed her? I really am a nurse practitioner."Daryl asked quietly.
"Hershel—Beth and Maggie's father—was a Veterinarian. He's our medical expert; says she's very healthy." Carol told him, mixing the formula with the hot water and shaking the bottle.
"I'm sure he takes good care of her, but there's subtle things with babies, developmental things I could check for you." Daryl said modulating his voice to one a baby would enjoy, slightly higher pitched than his regular one.
Judith leaned over his arm, noticing the big dog standing at Daryl's side, gurgling and reaching for her.
"You wanna say hi to the puppy, huh?" Daryl asked in that same soft tone. He glanced up at Carol who frowned at him. She'd seen Momma in action against the vamps; as lethal as her master.
"She's gentle as a lamb with kids, I swear." Daryl said to Carol and then he made some sort of gesture with his hand and the dog sat immediately.
"The bottle's ready." Carol demurred, testing it on her wrist.
Daryl made another motion with his free hand and the dog lay down, her head pillowed on her front paws. He took two steps towards Carol, holding out his hand for the bottle.
Carol hesitated but then gave it to him, watching as he held it at the correct angle to keep air from entering, cradling Judith back in his strong arm.
"You like that, sweetheart?" Daryl asked the baby, chuckling at how lustily she sucked.
"She's a good eater." Carol smiled. "Sleeps through the night too, most nights til her midnight feeding."
"Looks like her routine got thrown off tonight." Daryl said. It was nearing two thirty in the morning.
"They must have some familiars—acolytes to spy on us during the day. Knew we were short handed when they saw Rick and the others leave this morning." Carol frowned.
"Rick? He your man?" Daryl asked, wondering if he'd been wrong thinking... whatever it was he'd been thinking... what? That he was intrigued by her? Admired her strength and felt an undeniable attraction to her? Was that why he'd told Merle to back off, claiming her like some spoil of war?
"No. He's Judith and Carl's daddy." Carol said, looking amused but sad at the question, "Their mother was a dear friend..."
"She passed in childbirth. You said..." Daryl nodded, feeling awkward as hell.
"They'd been so lucky; all of them making it out of Atlanta alive." Carol said, with sort of a twisted little sad smile, gesturing towards the door, "Not many families are still together these days."
Her expressive face somehow told him that she had lost whoever had been her people, but she was happy for him that he still had his brothers.
Old enough to be Scud's father, Merle was the child of their father Tom's teenage tryst with a married woman, one of his high school teachers. Ten years later at 28 Tom married and had Daryl; twenty years after that he'd knocked up a cocktail waitress at his favorite watering hole and had Tom Jr., who Daryl's mother had taken in and raised after both the waitress and the boys' daddy had been killed in a car accident.
About that time Merle's mother was dying and so had finally told him who his real father was. He'd come looking for Tom Dixon, discovering his half brothers instead. The Dixon genes were strong as shit, and despite the fact that they each had different mothers the brothers looked a lot alike: the same blue eyes, high cheekbones, broad shoulders and lean muscular build.
Despite the differences in their ages, the brothers bonded, Merle and Daryl helping to raise TJ, who at age fourteen announced his name was now 'Scud' after his favorite video game character. Both Merle and Daryl had done stints in the service, but Scud had been a hacker, brilliant enough to get a full ride to MIT. A little too much weed and a chance encounter with two lady vamps who tried to make him a main course had led to his rescue by the mysterious Blade, changing the course of all of their lives.
"This world now... it just consumes you... if the vamps don't get you the grief does... it burns you out from the inside..." Carol said, her cool haunted blue eyes burning into his, searching into his soul to see if he felt the same.
Daryl understood her perfectly. Maybe that was the attraction.
"Hey..." Daryl said gently, moving to stand in front of her, his hands still full of the little one, leaning close, their eyes still locked, "...we ain't ashes."
He felt her hand on his forearm then, a slight squeeze and tiny uplift of her lips acknowledging what he'd said. He stared at them, leaning even closer, drawn in by that moment of shared understanding.
A fussy noise from Judith drew both their eyes down to her. She had finished the bottle and was turning her head from side to side trying to spit out the rubber nipple. Daryl pulled the bottle back and handed it to Carol who set it on the counter behind her while he lifted the baby to his shoulder and started rubbing patting circles all over her back.
After her comically large belch, which made them both grin; Daryl did a quick exam of the sleepy child under Carol's watchful eye, and pronounced her remarkably healthy. They put her in her cradle, a repurposed post office crate, and stood watching her sleep, the big dog acting as sentinel beside the table on which the crate sat.
"Everybody's happy when their belly's full." Daryl said softly, caught by a memory of the phrase on the lips of the love stolen from him, their unborn child torn from her body, his fury baptized in the life draining from her, from them, hot and sticky as she grew cold in his arms...
"Are you hungry? We have soup. I should've asked sooner." Carol said apologetically, putting her hand on Daryl's arm again in an unconscious gesture to get his attention. She was unprepared for the shudder that went through him at her gentle touch. He started to pull back, his head bowed and turned away from her, but she gripped tighter, forcing him to look at her. The tears in his eyes somehow told her everything. He'd lost a child.
Carol carefully reached up and brushed the hair back off his forehead while he stood there, looking miserable and numbed. Standing on her toes she slowly moved both hands to the back of his head, drawing it close enough to press a kiss to his temple and then releasing him. Before she knew what was happening he had her crushed in his arms, his head buried in the nook between her neck and shoulder.
The big Shepherd dog whined softly.
Carol felt his tears hot against her neck and held him tight, giving and taking comfort from the embrace, her fingers gently running through his hair.
After a minute or two Daryl raised his head and started to apologize—he wasn't sure what had come over him; her calm sharing of his pain had let loose something in him that he'd kept buried, walled off since the start of this hell full of blood and ashes.
"Shhh." Carol put her fingers over his lips and stretched taller again, looking at him intently.
"Carol?" Daryl whispered. He felt her hand slide to cup his jaw and then she was kissing him, her soft slightly chapped lips warm against his. With a low groan he deepened the kiss, sure he'd wake up from this dream any second now...
"Carol?" a surprised voice said from the doorway just as Momma started growling, her hackles rising.
Daryl raised his head and they both turned towards the speaker, a frowning man with a graying scruff of a beard and dark hair, followed by a fit looking dread-lock wearing African American woman with a katana in her hand, a concerned blonde woman with a rifle, then Merle, Scud, the two kids and finally, his boss, the Daywalker, all in black, Eurostyle wraparound Wayfarers hiding his eyes, two swords crossed on his back.
"Blade." Daryl said evenly, keeping his hold on a wide eyed Carol.
"Happy Halloween, Daryl." Blade said dryly in his clipped tones, one dark eyebrow rising above the top of his shades.
"I'd say that's definitely more treat than trick..." Scud said thoughtfully, tilting his head at the couple, chewing on a thumbnail and then crossing his arms across his chest.
"About time." Merle drawled, winking at the older blonde, Andrea, who frowned, narrowing her eyes at him.
"You all right, Carol?" Andrea asked, looking Daryl up and down, her hand on the gun she held at her hip.
"I'm fine Andrea," Carol said, drawing herself up, her cheeks pink, but her gaze steady.
Daryl let her pull away, immediately missing the warmth of her.
"This is Daryl. He's a medic." Carol said, keeping her hand on his bicep.
"New way to take your temperature...with his tongue..." Michonne muttered under her breath, sheathing her sword.
Blade's cheek twitched, suppressing a smile.
"He was checking on Judith." Carol explained, causing Rick to rush over to the baby's makeshift bassinet only to be halted by the growl and snap of her new ninety pound guard dog.
Daryl made one of his hand gestures again and the dog backed up and sat down, still watching Rick like a hawk.
"She's fine, Rick—sleeping—and she ate well." Daryl said reassuringly, "You've got a healthy beautiful daughter."
Rick looked at him suspiciously and then motioned to Beth to come get Judith, asking the teen to take her and Carl back and lock themselves in one of the cells down in Solitary.
"Why are you all here?" Rick asked in a low angry voice once the children were safely away.
"Ain't it obvious? To steal all your fine lookin' women." Merle deadpanned, blowing Andrea a kiss, to which she replied with a very rude gesture, making him cackle out a laugh.
"Shut the fuck up, Merle." Daryl growled.
"We heard you have a political problem." Blade said, drawing all eyes to him.
"Calls hisself the Governor." Scud said, snorting, "Must think he's the shit..." and then he added proudly, gesturing with his thumb at his boss, "but he hasn't met B., the Emperor of kick ass."
"You're really him? Blade?" Michonne asked, tilting her head at the man in black who dipped his chin in acknowledgement.
"And you're here to help us." Carol asked them all, "Why?"
"It's what we do." Daryl said and Carol gave him a worried but hopeful look.
"So you really have taken out whole nests before?" Rick asked.
"All up and down the coast." Scud said, counting them off on his fingers, "New York, Atlantic City, Dover—pushed inland at Savannah til we hit Atlanta, then we—"
"What do you want from us?" Rick interrupted; still unwilling to buy that they were here just to help defend the prison. Everyone had an angle these days; hell, they always had.
"Keep breathing." Blade said dismissively.
"What?" Andrea asked.
"Humans in the wild need to last past the day when we finally find and slay the grand daddy of 'em all." Merle said, "Stay alive, stay free and keep makin' more babies like Dick here." he slapped an unsmiling Rick on the back and then moved on to stand in front of Andrea and Michonne.
"We'd be happy to help with that last part too." The eldest Dixon leered. When each of them scowled and reached for their weapons he sidled up to Carol instead. "How about it blue eyes? Why settle when you can have the original Dixon brother?"
Daryl waited to see what she'd do or say. Merle talked a big game, but he'd never hurt a woman.
Carol gave him the same up and down appraisal he'd given her and all the other women. Merle preened, turning all the way around, holding his arms out to the sides and then struck a GQ pose, his thumbs in his belt loops, one hip canted up, staring her down with his best smolder.
"Go to hell, Merle." Carol said sweetly.
"I like her Derle." Merle smiled wide, "I surely do." he added, coming closer to her, licking his lips. "You sure you don't wanna share?"
"Carol, why don't you go relieve Hershel in the tower. I'd like him in on our plans with Blade and the Dixons." Rick ordered, stepping between her and Merle.
Carol nodded, glancing briefly at Daryl before she started walking for the door.
"Wait a minute—ain't she the one in charge here?" Scud asked, sounding perplexed.
"Carol?" Rick asked, a bit incredulous.
"She ran the defenses during the attack—we just followed her lead—she took out at least a half dozen vamps all on her own." Daryl said admiringly. "Then she came in here and made soup for everybody and took care of your kids..." and then his voice went all low and warm, "...before reminding me of a few important things I'd forgotten..."
A dimple creased Carol's cheek, her eyes bright. Most of what she did for the group went unremarked. Clean clothes, warm food, the organization of their space and work details to maintain the fence and ensure clean water, all those logistics of daily life that were just as vital as Andrea's sharp shooting skills or Michonne's prowess with the katana.
Her weapon skills were helped by the dance training she'd had since her early childhood, something she'd been forced to abandon during her marriage until Sophia had been old enough to start hers and then they practiced together. Wielding a machete or a stake was remarkably easy if you had good balance and control of your body. Carol had learned the truth of that too late to save her daughter.
At present though, her body was betraying her every time she got close to Daryl Dixon; he made her feel like she was about to lose control, and all praise the Pointer Sisters, she liked it.
"Yeah." Merle said, his gaze warm with admiration as he gazed at Carol. "Looks like you got a fine stable of fillies here, Dick, all them warrior women and just you, the Chinaman, a one legged old coot and a kid; but this here one's the alpha, the queen bitch, and if you ain't claimed her yet, that's just too damn bad. Looks like my brother caught her eye."
If possible Rick looked even more incredulous.
"I just lost my wife—I'm not looking—this has nothing to do with claiming someone!" Rick blustered. He took a calming breath, "Carol's been under my protection since she lost her husband in Atlanta; her daughter..." he paused, not wanting to cause Carol distress. Losing Sophia in the woods and then finding her turned had been devastating for all of them; he'd had to stake her himself when they'd discovered her feeding on Dale after attacking him when he walked the fence around the farm.
"She can take care of herself, Rick. She saved us all. At the CDC." Andrea reminded him.
"You went there?" Scud asked, his eyes going wide. They'd driven by the crater left when it blew.
"Heard they were working on a cure." Rick nodded.
"And?" Daryl asked, looking over at Blade. That was one of the reasons they'd come to Atlanta in the first place. The researchers at the CDC were supposedly working on a vaccine using the Daywalker's blood as a way to keep the bitten from turning.
"They were all dead—except one—and he was a crazy son of a bitch." Rick sneered.
"There's no cure." Andrea said flatly. "Jenner told us."
Carol gave her a loaded look, remembering that day, how Lori and she had begged for their children's lives, "Let us keep trying!" and "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." While Andrea had chosen to stay, to die in that millisecond it took for the blast to burn the air...
None of them had gotten what they'd wanted. Lori's days of trying were done, Sophia died in agony and blood, becoming a killer, and Andrea still lived, watching the rest of people she cared about die one by one.
"So you took them into a death trap and Carol got you out." Blade said with a measured look at Rick. "Sounds like you have a funny definition of who's the best leader around here."
"I've kept this group alive since we left Atlanta!" Rick said, stalking closer to Blade and tilting his head to the side in seething anger.
"Tell that to Jim, Jacqui, Otis, Sophia, Dale, Patricia, Jimmy, Shane, T-Dog, Axel and Oscar," Andrea said dully, narrowing her eyes. "... to Lori...to Amy."
"Andrea!" Carol protested. "You can't lay all that at Rick's feet."
"How many people did you lose today?" Daryl asked Carol.
"It's not the same." Carol demurred, shaking her head at him.
"How many?" Daryl asked, knowing the answer was none.
"I had help—I had you and your brothers." Carol said, "When they saw you come in they pulled back."
"They did, didn't they?" Daryl said, suddenly looking uneasy. "Damn it!"
"What?" Rick asked.
"You said they been watching this place—they got familiars, scout you in the day? Any of them defected from here?" Daryl wanted to know.
"No. All the prisoners and those we lost in attacks here and back at the farm are dead and ashes." Carol said frowning at him.
"They got any of your people been turned with them?" This Daryl addressed to Rick, "People that know how you think?"
Rick swallowed and looked at the floor.
"Rick?" Michonne asked, coming closer and taking his arm a bit roughly when he didn't respond.
"Shane." Rick said looking sick, "He was my partner on the force, my best friend..."
"You told us he died in the attack on the farm." Andrea said, incredulous, "You lied?"
"He tried to take control of the group... lured me out to kill me the night the suckers attacked...they got him...I had to get Carl and Lori out of there..." Rick said, pleading for understanding.
"So he could be out there—he could be with this Governor?" Carol asked, furious. "How could you keep something like that from us?"
"Too late to care about the past—all we got is now and right now I think we're fucked." Scud said with disgust.
"It's a trap...for Blade or for Rick I'm not sure, but they staged the earlier attack to see who was home or to get us in here." Daryl said with surety.
"Or both." Merle agreed, looking at Rick and spitting onto the floor in disdain. "Shee-it, Officer Friendly."
"We've still got a few hours before dawn." Blade said. "If this Governor's as canny as we've been led to believe and he has inside information, he'll hit us again tonight."
And like summoning the devil, the walkie on the counter went off, Glenn telling them they had movement by Tower Three.
Rick looked broken, guilt and remorse rendering him hardly able to raise his head.
Everyone looked to Carol and Blade.
"You have more of those UV grenades?" Carol asked Scud who nodded. "You and Andrea take a few to Tower Three and back up Maggie and Glenn; but that's probably a diversion—they'll most likely try and come in through the Tombs so even if they get caught out after dawn they can hide underground."
"Where I just sent the kids." Rick swore, sounding sick, looking towards the large barred door.
"Can you handle holy water?" Carol asked Blade who nodded. He'd get a rash, but it wouldn't kill him.
"Use the sprinklers if they get in." Carol told Andrea who nodded in agreement. Hershel had been working on using rosaries to turn the fire suppression system supply into holy water as a measure of last resort.
Andrea headed for the cisterns to turn on the pumps.
"Let's go." Blade said, striding across the room, followed closely by Michonne, Merle and a chastened Rick, grabbing weapons as they went.
"We need to make sure the main gate is secure," Carol looked at Daryl. If the repair to the earlier breach there failed they'd be overrun.
"I'll back you up." Daryl nodded, signaling to his dog to go ahead and scout the hallway and then was stopped in his tracks when Carol grabbed the front of his vest and pulled him in for a quick hard kiss.
"Just remember—stay safe—we've got unfinished business after this." Carol smiled, picked up her red-handled machete, slung her bag of sharpened stakes over her shoulder and led the way.
"I got nine lives, sweetheart and I ain't used up but two of 'em." Daryl grinned and followed her out the door.
AN: This was a lot of fun to write! I adore twitchy little Scud and was terribly bummed at what happened to him in Blade II so enjoyed the chance to rehabilitate him here.
This version of Carol does channel a bit of S4 & S5 Carol, but she was moving towards it with her advice to Andrea about the Governor & her deleted scene with Merle all the way back in S3.
Thanks to Jessa for the advice that brought vampire Shane into the mix to amp up the danger from the imminent attack.
Thanks for reading! Love to hear what you think.