A/N: First off let me just warn everyone that my timeline is different that it was on the show. Two days are compressed into one. Daryl and company get back to the prison earlier. This was a mistake when I wrote the first chapter and instead of trying to change everything I'm just going with it lol. Second, thanks for being patient. I try not to have more than one story going at a time and right now I have three works in progress so updates are coming slow. Hope you like it!

Chapter 2

Carol sat crouched in the bushes and listened to the engine get louder but she still couldn't see anything. Finally after a few more minutes of tense waiting she saw an old rusted GMC truck barreling down the road toward her. Just as it blew past her she saw a man with an eye patch behind the wheel. And he was driving toward the prison. Once the truck was out of site she almost jumped up and ran for the station wagon.

She stopped when she realized he had been alone in the truck. Maybe the others were following him. As much as she wanted to catch up to him, to warn the others, she made herself stay there. She wouldn't do anyone any good if she was caught or killed before she could sound the alarm. She waited what felt like an hour but was probably only fifteen or twenty minutes before running for the car. Throwing her stuff into the passenger seat, she got in and had the car started and moving before she had finished getting the door closed.

Carol followed the road for about ten miles and despite her desire to catch up to the Governor as quickly as possible, her instincts told her to keep a moderate pace. She was glad that she had listened to her instincts when she noticed fresh tire marks in the mud along the side of the road. At first glance, he had seemed to pick a random place to go off road but as she slowed and looked closer she realized there was an overgrown dirt road leading from the main highway to the prison at an angle. Carol drove another two miles ahead and pulled off of the highway onto another dirt road pointed in the opposite direction of the way the Governor had gone.

She sat parked there for a few moments, listening to the stillness in the woods around her. Should she go directly to the prison and warn them? Would Rick even let her in the gate to explain her discovery? With no idea where he might be, going to the prison might just tip the Governor off that he had been seen. This was the closest they had gotten to finding him and she didn't want him to take off again while she was trying to convince Rick to listen to her, especially when she didn't have much information to offer in the first place.

Carol sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel. No. She would go on foot, follow the tracks of the truck and find out where the Governor was. With any luck she might be able to take him out on her own. Having decided on a plan of action, Carol quickly grabbed her bad shoving a couple of water bottles, some energy bars, and extra ammunition. She checked her rifle, making sure it was loaded and ready. Next she checked the revolved she kept tucked into her boot. She had several knives she kept on her person, all hidden except for the one on her belt. Satisfied that she was as prepared as she could be, she tucked the car keys into her pocked, closed up the station wagon and set out to find the Governor.

She had parked the car about a mile and a half away from the highway and she estimated that it took her about fifteen minutes to walk back. As she got closer to the intersection she veered off into the cover of the trees and approached the highway carefully. She waited, crouched, listening for vehicles or people nearby. Hearing nothing she quickly crossed the two lane road and disappeared into the trees on the other side.

The road the Governor had turned onto had appeared to still head in the direction of the prison but at an angle so Carol figured she could continue to walk straight and she would be able to find the road. She had been walking for at least an hour before she abruptly found the road again. She quickly stepped back into the cover of the trees and began moving alongside the badly overgrown path. Carol couldn't help but pick up her pace now that she had a good idea of where the Governor had gone.

She walked for another two or three miles before she began to hear the faint sounds of people talking. Carol stopped to listen. She was still hidden in the trees so no one could see her but that also meant that she couldn't see anyone either. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the voices and drowning out all the other noises in the woods around her. Hershel. Michonne. Despite the circumstances, Carol couldn't help but grin. She continued to creep forward, careful to not make any noise.

The trees began to thin near the road and Carol knelt when she saw the truck from earlier parked off to the side. She scanned the trees around her, looking for any sign of the man in the eye patch but saw no one. Suddenly there was a change in the air around her and Carol froze. She wasn't sure what had changed at first but then realized everything had gone still. Hershel and Michonne had stopped talking. Shit. Carol started to move forward again, worried that she was too late. Before she could walk more than a few steps she had to stop and drop to the ground. She could hear footsteps coming towards her. Double shit. Would he see her? Where was Hershel and Michonne?

Carol risked being seen to lift her head a little, peeking over the tall grass. She saw a flash of dark clothes about twenty feet away from her. He was getting closer. She dropped back down and held her breath. She closed her eyes, wondering if she was going to die here just outside the prison. Would anyone find her body? Would anyone even care if they did? She felt her throat close and fought tears of self-pity. This was not the time to feel sorry for herself. If she was going to die here it had better be worth it.

She lifted her head again and caught sight of Hershel and Michonne walking slowly to the Governor's truck. He was walking behind them, a revolver pointed at their backs in one hand and Michonne's katana in the other. Dammit. She didn't have a clear shot at him and if she missed he might kill them both. What the hell was she going to do?

Carol raised her head again and watched as Philip Blake forced the two into the bed of the truck and she saw her opportunity. He ordered Hershel to bind Michonne at her ankles and wrists. While Philip was distracted with binding Hershel, Carol got her rifle ready to take him out when he stood back up. She lay there in the tall grass and got him in her crosshairs. He straightened and turned towards her and she froze when he seemed to look directly at her. Her finger tightened on the trigger, she wanted to wait until he had climbed down from the truck. After a second of scanning the trees, Philip jumped down from the truck and Carol adjusted her weapon, taking aim. Just as he was opening the driver's side door she aimed directly for his head and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. Frantically, she kept trying to pull the trigger but there was only a click. Cursing, she checked the gun again; safety was off. It had been a misfire. She heard the engine of the truck fire up. Damn it! She ejected the bad casing and loaded another into the chamber. Quickly, she got to her knees and took aim at the window on the driver's side but the truck was already pulling away, tires spinning in the gravel.

Carol could have cried at the missed opportunity to kill the Governor, but even more devastating was knowing that he had Michonne and Hershel and she hadn't been able to stop him.