Maggie and Glenn exchanged raised eyebrows as they drove down the hill to the prison gate. Daryl was definitely trying to make up with Carol. Maggie gave her a discreet glance, but Carol was looking out of the truck's window but she was thinking about Daryl. She hadn't taken him dinner the night before as a peace offering'; she hated for anyone to go hungry. Daryl had been avoiding her for weeks and this morning he was following her around like a lost puppy. Not his style at all. She knew when Daryl said, "Be safe" to her that she was ready to make up. She was over her mad, but she wasn't going to let Daryl put her down again. She had been there and had thrown that t-shirt away. How far would Daryl go to get back in her good graces?
Maggie, Glenn, and Carol rehearsed the plan as they drove. They would be concentrating on checking out the warehouse today. They would get as much as they could haul in the truck and take digital pictures of stuff they couldn't fit in to see if it was worth a return trip. Glenn drove cautiously, but few walkers were about and no other cars. They were there in less than 30 minutes; the area was heavily forested with few houses to be found. The cabin was on a gravel road and the garage was out of sight of the house on around the hill. Glenn parked the truck close to the warehouse door facing downhill. They stood outside the truck for a few minutes listening for any suspicious sounds. The warehouse was actually a large garage with four pull down doors on the front and a door as the entry point. Glenn picked the lock with practiced ease and cautiously opened the door. There was dust on the floor and no footsteps, but they checked the space together with weapons ready. It was a little too quiet.
Glenn was excited to see solar panel kits, gasoline powered generators, and all sorts of electrical supplies. The most exciting find was generators, and Glenn had been working with wood fired generators to produce dependable sources of energy for the group. Soon, they had loaded the truck with generators, wiring, and all sorts of needed parts for the prison.
Carol moved quietly down a corridor in the dusty garage. The truck was almost full and she was just checking to see what they might need on the next trip. She would be back in the relative safety of the prison soon. Safety was all relative she knew, because there was no place of absolute safety. She could hear the muffled voices of Glenn and Maggie at the front of the steel building. Carol was carrying Zak in a sheath on her back. She had learned never to be outside the prison walls without a gun and her sword. Months of strenuous practice with Michonne had given her confidence that she could defend herself. Carol was at the back wall of the warehouse facing the doors when she saw the doors began to creep open. She instinctively crouched down behind a large carton. The silhouettes of two men moved swiftly into the building closing the door behind them. Carol stayed low and moved toward her friends.
Maggie and Glenn were on their knees inspecting a vanadium battery for solar panels. Hearing a rustle behind them and they looked up expecting to see Carol and were surprised to see two men with guns aimed at them. The taller man moved quickly and struck Glenn in the head knocking him unconscious. Maggie was grabbed by the smaller man and pulled roughly up. Glenn's hands were quickly tied with some wire and he was dragged away from Maggie. The two men surveyed their prize. This beautiful woman was now theirs to do with what they wanted and their wants were evident in their eyes. Maggie struggled against the hands that held her, but the man was strong. The two men were in their early 20's, prison tattoos marred their dirty skin and they stank of accumulated filth and body odor. Maggie gagged at their smell and that made them laugh. Her disgust seemed to delight them even more. The taller man took out a coin and he laughed as he called "heads" and he laughed again as the shorter man jubilantly announced that it was "tails". "Tails it is" he answered and he sauntered toward Glenn obviously intending to rape him.
Carol watched all this in horror, knowing that she could only count on herself to make this right. She slipped closer to the taller man and silently slid Zak out. The tall man bent toward Glenn and everything in Carol's universe seemed to move in slow motion. Her body seemed to be moving of its own accord as she squared her body up toward him and Zak moved strong and sure toward the man. She severed his carotid artery and the gush of his lifeblood splashed over Glenn while she whirled toward the other man. He dropped Maggie to face this dervish headed toward him. He turned his gun toward the threat as a sword sliced through his wrist. Carol shifted position again and her sword effortlessly gutted him. Maggie reached into her boot and pulled out a knife and cut his throat. Maggie and Carol shared a brief moment of triumph and then made certain that the newly dead did not become the newly zombified. Maggie untied Glenn who was now conscious but confused. Carol went to the door and checked to make certain that no one else was waiting outside. The parking area was empty except for their truck and she didn't see anyone or any vehicles. Maggie dragged Glenn toward the door but he refused to leave without the solar panels and the vanadium battery. The truck had been pulled close to the door and they used a dolly to load everything quickly. Then they used the dolly to send the dead bodies over the hill and into the woods.
The trip back was uneventful though they did find a truck at the gravel turnoff that hadn't been there before. Maggie drove quickly but everyone kept an eye out to see if they were followed. They were covered with blood and gore but still alive. Glenn held Maggie's hand in his left hand and Carol's in his right.
The prison looked beautiful to Carol as the truck eased its way through the just opened gates. As always everyone came to meet arrivals. Hershel limped out on his peg leg to grab Maggie as she got out of the driver's seat. Beth helped Carol and Glenn out. Hershel demanded that they be taken to the infirmary where it was determined that Glenn had a slight concussion and would be monitored there. Maggie and Carol were not injured. Hershel prescribed a shower and clean clothes. Beth ran to get what they needed and they had a shower and went to get something to drink. Maggie and Carol sat together in the dining hall and shared their story with everyone. Maggie's Irish roots must have made her a good storyteller and the listeners were spellbound by her version of Carol's heroics. Carol said little but praised Maggie's quick use with her knife. Later, Maggie went to see Glenn and Carol thanked Michonne for training her. Michonne was surprisingly gentle in talking to her recognizing that Carol had crossed a new threshold, she had killed a living person.
Carol walked back to her cell and sat down in her favorite chair. She needed a few minutes to process what happened. She wasn't falling apart because she had killed the men. She wasn't sorry that she did it; she would do it again in a heartbeat. That was the part that surprised her; she had looked at their dead bodies and felt not a smidgen of remorse. She felt powerful, strong, and glad to be alive. And God help her, she was horny as hell.