Thank you for the wonderful reviews for the first chapter in this story, means the world to me to know you are reading and liking what I write. This story will eventually be multiple chapters long and I will try to update as often as possible. I would like to thank my wonderful sister, tillannanstans, for helping me proof-read each chapter before printing. I hope you'll like this story as much as I already do, it's become somewhat of an addiction to come up with what might happen to these characters and how do develop this story. Please tell me what you think with a review, constructive criticism is always welcome. If you are not a Caryl fan then please do not read and leave nasty reviews. This is my first fan fiction of any kind so I'm still trying to find my way around this world.

Disclaimer: I do not own the walking dead or these characters

Chapter 2

After several hours of trying to come up with an escape-plan together with the others Daryl finally felt sleep was near and he closed his eyes to let it take it with him to a world where he wasn't stuck in a cargo space with ten other people. Just as he felt his whole body start to relax, someone put a hand on his knee and shook him a little. He opened one eye to see who it was and to tell them to fuck of and let him sleep. But when he saw the look in Maggie's eyes he stopped himself.

"What?" he tried to sound as if she hadn't disturbed him but after everything that had happened the last few weeks he just couldn't stop the annoyance in his voice.

"Well, there's something I need to tell you as well. I can't sleep until you know..." She began. Daryl just kept looking at her, wondering what it might possibly be that had her so tense.

"I knew about Carol, he told be what he had done and..." when she began sobbing Daryl froze and felt instantly uncomfortable. What was he supposed to do now, tell her it was okay and that he understood? It wasn't and he didn't.
"... and I didn't object to it. I actually think I said it was okay. I was so selfish, and even though I knew she must have had a good reason for it I was so tired of people dying that a small part of me actually agreed with the decision to make her leave the group. And now the prison is gone and she might be dead. Carol might be dead", she continued. But Daryl hadn't heard most of what she'd said, he only heard the part where Carol might be dead. He felt his heart stop for a second. Of course he had given the possibility a thought before, it was part of why he'd lost it when he was with Beth. But hearing the words from someone else's lips made the whole thing much more real. Could it really be true? Could Carol, his best friend and the only one who really understood him and why he was the way he was, be gone now? Maybe she was one of them, the walkers? Would he ever really know what happened to her, dead or alive? He lost himself in thoughts of the fact that he might never see her again, might never hear her laugh as she teased him again. He didn't answer Maggie and when she left him to go back to sleep beside Glenn he found himself thinking that it served her right to feel like shit about what she'd done. But then he remembered everything the girl had gone through the past weeks, with watching her father being beheaded and then finding out her sister was out there alone somewhere, and he instantly felt bad for wishing more evil on her. At least Carol wasn't in this shit-hole with them, and since he couldn't imagine her being undead or even plain dead he assumed that was his gut telling him she wasn't. To not give up on her. She was stronger than anyone gave her credit for, and if anyone could survive in this world he was sure it would be her. She had to survive. He needed her to be alive. Daryl almost flinched at the thought of him needing Carol, and quickly decided to change it into " he would be very sad if she wasn't". He shrugged and nodded to himself at the change of thoughts, that was actually true; He would be very sad if she was dead. He decided to skip the part where he felt his heart rip from his chest at the mere thought of her no longer being in this world with him. He was sure that was just it body responding to all the change of scenery. He really hated this damn cage.

" Messin' with my fuckin' head", he muttered to himself before giving sleep another shot.

§

Carol carefully rocked Tyreese awake, it was just after dawn and they needed to get going if they wanted to reach Terminus within the next few days. She still wasn't sure about the idea about the so-called safe place, it just seemed a bit to good to be true, but Tyreese had insisted that that's where they would most likely find the others and since Carol knew he was probably right she didn't argue about it. She wondered about what they would find when they got there. How would Rick react to her arriving with his daughter? After all he had said, even if she knew he hadn't exactly been himself at the moment, Carol wasn't entirely certain how she felt about seeing him again. She wasn't entirely certain how she felt about seeing any of them again. Then it suddenly hit her, what if they weren't even of this world anymore? What if all the people that she had loved and cared for during these last few years were all gone now? What if she and Tyreese were the only two left standing? She shrugged as if to get to negative thoughts away from her. They couldn't afford to think like that, the others had to be alive. They just had to. She packed the few belongings they had, strapped her knife back on her and put her gun in its place at the back of her jeans. She watched as Tyreese got ready for another day of survival as well.

"So, what did you do before the dead started walking the earth?" Tyreese suddenly asked her curiously. Although she was thankful for his attempt to make conversation and get to know one another Carol wasn't exactly sure what to answer him. She thought back at her life before all this, her life as Ed's wife and Sophia's mother. That was all she had been, a wife and a mother, and she couldn't remember a day when she didn't regret the first one. Thoughtfully she toughed her stomach where a scar from her previous life with Ed was situated, it was from when he had decided he might be into using a knife while raping her. Because with Ed it had almost always been rape, she couldn't remember ever agreeing to lay with him or a time where having sex with him didn't hurt her so bad she wished she could die then and there. At least then, the nightmare that was her life would have been over. But she had Sophia to think of, and that girl had been her light in a world full of darkness and evil, the world her husband had created for her. She then decided that since Ed was a part of her past, and she sure as hell didn't want him do cloud her future, she would tell Tyreese about the things that mattered to her in her past life.
" I had a daughter, her name was Sophia", she began and Tyreese watched her with interest. She realized that Sophia would have loved the man.

" She probably would have loved you, and followed you around everywhere. She was like that when something or someone interested her, my little girl". Carol looked up at him and smiled as she continued to tell him about the amazing girl that was her daughter. She appreciated that he didn't ask her about her husband. She had only told one person about what she'd gone through with Ed, the only other person she knew who had been able to understand what it was to be stuck in a abusive relationship of some kind, the only person who truly understood what it was she had survived. Daryl. She smiled at the thought of him and looked up in the sky to send a prayer to the God he didn't believe in to keep him safe.

§

"Okay, so here's how we do it", Rick began and looked at the group that had gathered around him to hear their plan of escape. He explained how Maggie and Rosita where to ask to go to the bathroom, Daryl understood that Rick also had noticed that the guards only let them go in pairs, and once out of the cargo space and out of site from the snipers they would take out the guard that was going with them. Daryl nodded in agreement, during the three days they had been stuck in this hell hole he had noticed that these people underestimated the women at great length, but he knew that Maggie and Rosita were excellent fighters even without weapons to help them, and since the termites obviously were stupid enough to trust that one guard was enough to handle them both he knew that this part would be piece of cake for the two women. He continued to listen as Rick explained how Daryl and Glenn would be next up, and get out once Maggie had taken the keys and opened the container for them to get out. They would then together take out the other four guards always circulating their container a few meters away, he nodded again and looked over at Glenn and smirked. He was looking forward to finally getting rid of these assholes.

"Hey, guys! Looks like there's someone outside of the fences trying to figure out weather or not it's a good idea to enter", Tara suddenly spoke up from where she'd been on lookout by the small hole in the wall they had found while investigating the cargo space. Sasha was by her side within a few seconds, pressing her head towards the wall to be able to get a glimpse of who it might be out there. Maybe it was someone from their group at the prison? She gasped, and they all instantly stared at her, waiting to hear who it was.

"It's Tyreese", she said with a tear rolling down her cheek at the realization that her brother had made it out of the prison but was now on his way into the same trap they had walked into. Bob pulled her into his side in a comforting hug, telling her that her brother was a smart man and would probably be more careful than they had been.

"He's only a few feet from where we buried our weapons and ammo, I'm sure he'll realize that something's wrong once he discovers we were here but didn't return for our things", Michonne had gone over to the little hole and was watching the big man. Daryl came up with an idea.

"'Chonne, ya think we could get a message to him somehow?" he asked the warrior. She thought for a minute but then shook her head.

"He isn't looking this way", she explained. But Daryl wasn't about to give up that easily, he pulled the lighter from his jeans and thanked whoever had decided a very thorough search wasn't necessary for the Terminus-prisoners that they hadn't discovered. He figured that if he could get Tyreese to understand there were people trapped in these containers he might be able to help them. He walked over to the tiny hole and lit the lighter to get his attention. He sized the hole up and figured someone with small fingers might be able to fit two of them through it. He signed for Carl to come over to him and told him what he needed him to do. He then lit the lighter again to make Carl's finger visible in the dark night. Once he was sure he had Tyreese's attention Carl started of by signing a 'no', so he would understand not to enter. He then pointed at the man and made a circle, as to explain he meant group, followed by a question-mark. Tyreese put two fingers up indication that there was two of them. Daryl immediately tried to figure out who the second one might be but since he didn't really have any time to think about that right now he just told Carl to flip his finger eleven times to indicate that there was eleven of them in here and the other man nodded in acknowledgment of this information. This was getting somewhere. If they had Tyreese to help them maybe they could make it out of here without any causalities, Daryl thought as a small grin spread across his face.

§

As soon as Tyreese saw the small light coming from one of the containers he understood something wasn't right with this place. He instantly focused on the spot where the light had come from and in a few short minutes he'd gotten the information that there was eleven people in that container alone. He felt the hairs on his back rise at the thought of what the animals that had trapped them in that cage was planning to do to them. He needed to help these people out. He whistled for Carol to come to him when she arrived at his side with Judith on her back he told her what was going on and how he would probably need her help to save the people trapped in the container. The finger signed for them to look behind them and Carol took a few steps back to find out what they wanted the two of them to see. He heard her gasp when she found what the finger had pointed them towards. He looked back and discovered she had found a bag full of ammunition and weapons the trapped people must have left there before going in to find out if Terminus's promise of safe-haven had been true or not. The answer to that question was apparently not, he thought as he watched the finger for more information, but it just held up a sign that told them to hold on so they hid amongst a couple of bushes and watched as one of the men that had been standing guard a few meters from the container unlocked it and dragged two of the people outside of it. As they got closer to them he could make out that it was two women, he thought he recognized one of them and was just about to turn to Carol to ask her if she knew who she was when he heard the woman behind him whisper the name.
"Maggie", she said and sounded both relived that she was alive and scared that she had now been trapped by these assholes. He squeezed her arm supportably and when she glanced up at him he told her with as much confidence he could master up:
"We'll get them out of here, I promise". She gave him a weak smile and then stood up to walk away with Judith, who was starting to wake up from the sudden tension in the air and was threatening to give away their position. When he saw the man roughly push the two women in front of him towards the bushes, he gave a silent vow that he would do whatever it took to bring this hell-hole down.

"Ty?", he heard a tiny voice from only a few feet away from him. He knew she couldn't see him in the dark and was thankful for that since that meant neither could the asshole guarding her. He grunted a little in response, to indicate he was there and he had heard her.
"I need you to slide me two knives from that bag over there", she said in a humming voice, to make the guard think she was singing while peeing. He quickly gave passed her two knives which she hid in her shorts, so they wouldn't be spotted.
"Thanks, in about a minute I need you to bring two more knives and jump the fences. Glenn and Daryl will meet you behind the container. But you need to be quick and very quite, if they hear us we're dead", she hummed matter of factly and when he grunted once again she got up from where she had been sitting while pretending to pee. He watched as she and Maggie started to walk off with the guard again only to stop behind the container and slit his troth with quick moves, so he didn't have any time to make a sound. When he then saw them take the man's keys and sneek towards the container-door he grabbed two knives, just as she'd asked, and jumped the fence. As quietly as he possibly could he made his way towards the container, he wished he'd been able to tell Carol about the plan but there was no time for him to go find her right now so he would just hope she understood what was going on.
"God, please let this go the way they planned", he prayed silently as he reached the back of the container.