Chapter Two

The next morning when Carol woke up, she started to prepare some fresh fruits with bread for breakfast. She was so glad that there was actual food they could eat now that they were part of a community. She didn't think she would miss bread that much once it was gone, but when she ate some for the first time in a long time, she groaned and closed her eyes it was so good. They both ate their breakfast fast so they could hit the road. When it was lunch time, they ate in the car so they wouldn't waste time on their journey.

It had now been three days and they hadn't found anything or anyone. Carol was starting to lose faith. The only thing they'd come across was some little packs of walkers, which they'd dealt with fairly quickly. It was getting dark again and they still hadn't found anything yet. Carol really hoped they would actually find people on this mission.

They had to stop for the night and they found what looked like a cheap motel. After their sweep of the rooms, they settled down. They were able to find some clothes, but nothing else. Everything else was already gone. After dinner, neither of them was tired, so they just sat there.

"Well, it was an uneventful couple of days," Carol said with a sigh.

"Yeah, we'll have a lot more of those, so get used to it," Daryl replied.

"And I thought you were the optimistic one between the two of us," she said with a light laugh. Daryl laughed too. It was nice to laugh, but it was also nice to see him laugh. It had been a while for the both of them. They had gone through a lot in the past month, and even before that. They were still coping with their latest losses; they were still dwelling with them. Carol hadn't really said anything when Beth and Tyreese died. Of course she had cried a bit, but she had mostly kept it inside. In some ways, Beth was like a daughter to her. After the farm when she lost Sophia and Beth her mom, they had become really close and she had taken her under her wing. And now she was gone. And Tyreese, as odd as it would seem, after everything she went through with him, even the incident with Karen, they had also become very close. He was the only one who knew what happened to the girls, and now he wasn't there anymore to share this awful secret with her. These two deaths left a hole in her heart, but she couldn't show it. She had to show how strong she was. But when she thought about the other night and how it felt really liberating to let herself go in Daryl's arms, she started to rethink her mourning mechanism. Maybe it wasn't easier to keep it all inside and to try to forget it. She looked at Daryl who looked lost in his thoughts. "Maybe I could tell at least one person," she thought. The only one she felt comfortable enough and trusted enough was Daryl. He always understood her and he never judged her.

She cleared her throat. "Where are you?" she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Daryl looked at her. "I was miles away I guess."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothin'," he started, and then looked at his hands. "Just about how much we've lost lately… Beth… Tyreese… And I was foolish enough to think we were gonna be fine when we got to Alexandria, but then Noah died." He looked at her with such a big sadness in his eyes. "Two Carol... We've lost two kids in the past two months. That's too many." He paused there and after a couple of minutes he started talking again. "I had taken it upon me to keep her safe after Hershel died. Someone had to. She had just lost her dad and we didn't know where Maggie was or if she was even alive. She was completely lost. I tried to help her, but I failed… Again. I failed at keeping a little girl safe again. First Sophia now Beth…"

Carol didn't let him finish "Hey… It's not your fault, okay? Either of them. You did everything you could, what happened to them was awful, but it was not your fault, do you hear me?" She didn't know when she started to cry, but tears were rolling down her cheeks. She approached him and took his hands in hers.

"I didn't know if we were gonna see any of you guys again," he said. He then looked up and stared at her again and spoke in a softer voice. "I didn't know if I was gonna see you again." He was now playing with her fingers.

"It's okay. I'm here. We're both here. We're not dead, remember?" she said with a little smile. She couldn't resist, she put one hand on his cheek and he leaned into her touch, closing his eyes. Daryl then put his forehead against hers. He opened his eyes and looked into her eyes and she looked right back into his. There was a silence then. It was more intimate than they ever had been so far.

"What happened?" Daryl asked her, but Carol wasn't sure what he was talking about. So much had happened lately.

"What happened to you after the prison? With the girls?"

Carol didn't answer, she just closed her eyes and cried some more. She wanted to tell him, she wanted to tell him so bad, but it was just too painful. Daryl took her face in his hands, wiping some of her tears with his thumbs. "You can trust me, you know you can… Look at me." She listened to him "You can trust me… I know you." Telling her the same words she once told him. He then took her in his arms and let her cry.

"I know," she told him after a little while. "I know," she repeated, "but it's just too painful," she admitted.

Daryl gently stroked her back. "Take your time, I'm here for you. I'll always be." Then he broke the hug and put his hand under her chin to make her look up at him. Daryl then leaned forward and put his lips to hers. It was a very quick, yet tender kiss. "I'm here for you," he repeated.

"I know," she replied. It's not how she imagined their first kiss would be, if there ever was going to be one, but it just felt like the perfect kind at the perfect time.

She smiled at him and he smiled back, "I think I'm gonna go to sleep. Do you mind taking the first watch?"

"Course not. Go sleep, I got this," he replied while giving her one last quick kiss and heading towards the window with his crossbow.

…

When Carol woke up the next morning, the sun was already up and Daryl was making breakfast.

"You didn't wake me for the second watch!" she told him angrily.

"You were exhausted and you looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn't have it in me to wake you," Daryl replied with a shrug, while giving her some dry cereal.

Carol took the bowl. "But you didn't sleep!" she almost yelled at him.

"I'm fine. I'm not even tired, I'll be okay." He could be as stubborn as she was sometimes, but she couldn't stay mad at him too long with that damn half smile of his. She was grateful for the extra sleep though, even if he didn't get any. She was indeed exhausted, he was right.

…

They ate fast and hit the road once again. After a couple of hours, Carol pulled over on the side of the road at Daryl's request.

"Where did you see it?"

"Right there," he said while pointing in the woods, "I swear I saw someone."

"You're sure it wasn't just a lone walker?" Carol asked

"No, no. I'm sure it was a breathing human being. He wasn't walking like a walker," he answered.

"Okay. You're the expert. So what do we do now?"

"We walk," he said with a smile. "Grab your gear, some food, some water. We're following him on foot," Daryl looked at her and said, "Oh! And don't forget the radio thingy to listen to him. I've got the binoculars."

They had been following him for about two hours and still no signs of him.

"He must be moving fast if we haven't caught up to him," Daryl said.

After about another hour, Carol heard him swear, "Fuck!" he yelled while kicking a piece of wood, "We lost him! The tracks just stopped." He looked so disappointed, it made her heart hurt.

"Maybe he saw that we were following him?" she suggested.

"Yeah, probably… Dammit!"

"So what now?"

"We head back to the car, it's pointless to try to find him right now anyway. It'll take us at least three hours to head back to the car and the sun is already setting. We don't really have a choice." He spoke more softly, "We'll try to find his tracks tomorrow."

He was so upset, the only thing that Carol found to make him better was to kiss him. It seemed to work, because when she pulled away he was smiling at her.

"We'll find him tomorrow," she told him placing her hand on his cheek.

"We will," he repeated after her.

They started to head back the way they came, without noticing an unknown figure in the tree looking down at them walking away. That figure had long dark hair, with a hat and a rag covering his face.