He heard her screams from across the yard and his heart stopped mid stride. Daryl plunged the knife into the Walker that was grasping for him with a fury unlike any other and wrenched the weapon free as he made to run to the source of the sound he could pick out from a thousand other voices with ease.
The yard was littered with Walkers but he left their deaths to Rick and the others as he darted between them, crossing the tarmac quickly and pushing through the wire gate to find Carol.
She was in sight, he spotted her shuddering form on the ground and for a second he thought it was over, she was bitten and she was done for.
She was hunched over another body, one in denim pants and long blonde hair, the golden strands stained with red and Carol clutched at the dead girl, cold hands clasped inside warm ones.
As he got closer, he realised he knew who it was. Beth. Fuck. Sticking out from the side of her forehead, next to one of her glassy, unseeing eyes, was a short handle. Carol's knife.
"I'm so sorry." Carol was muttered to the girl as though she could hear her, her words trembling and choked. She was lost in her own private hell as she shed her tears and before he could even kneel beside her, he had to take out two Walkers that had gotten close.
Daryl wrapped his hand over the curve of her shoulder and the shuddering stopped instantly, she froze under his touch and jerked away, clambering over Beth's prone form. The girl probably died instantly, poor girl, her stomach ripped to shreds and spewing onto the ground.
"It's alright." He soothed, hands outstretched and open. "It's me."
Carol eyed him warily, crouched in a manner that reminded him of a tigress, ready to pounce.
"We gotta out of here, now." He tried to keep the urgency out of his voice, but he needed her to move with him. Grieving could come later, when they had to explain to Hershel what had happened to his youngest daughter, but now, they had to ensure that they didn't die too.
"I-I-" Carol took another heaving breath, glanced down at Beth.
"Now, Carol." Daryl leapt forward and dragged her up by her forearm, marching them towards Rick and Glenn, who had almost entirely finished off the Walkers in the yard.
She cried the whole way down into the cell block. Daryl had been the one to tell Hershel and Maggie as they met them at the side door, Carol only cried harder. He didn't wait for their reaction, couldn't bear to deal with anymore sadness than the woman who he clutched in his vice-like grip. Wasn't so sure he could deal with that either.
As they fell into the dark passageway, Carol began resisting his tugging, freeing herself with a jerk and he heard her knock into the concrete wall with a sob.
A second later, she wretched heartily, vomit splashing the tile.
"Oh God." She moaned into the dark and Daryl fumbled forward, finding her hunched over, hands pressed against the wall. He gripped her by her shoulders, jerking her upwards.
"I killed her, Daryl." She sobbed. "She watched me put that knife in her brain!" Her cries become heartier and he twisted her around to face him, fumbled for her face and found her cheeks were wet with tears.
"You hadta do it. Couldn't let her go out as one of 'em." He told her calmly. Firmly. As steady as his get his voice to go.
"She was so scared!" Carol slumped forward, practically fell into him and he righted his footing to hold them both upright. He let her cry and cry for what felt like hours, until his legs started to go numb.
His shirt got damp from her tears, where her head was buried and in the distance, he could hear wails that he recognised as Maggie's.
Eventually, she cried herself hoarse and he took the opportunity to scoop her up into his arms without her protesting.
They were first into the cell block and he marched them straight into Carol's cell, her own, since they lost Lori.
She was silent as he settled her onto the narrow bunk and she snatched out for his hand as he slumped onto the ground beside her head.
He let her take comfort from his touch and listened to the sounds of their ragged breathing as he waited for the others to come in.
Carol's head tilted to face him and she looked at him with eyes that he could only describe in that moment as dead.
"It's never going to be over, is it? Not until the knife is in our skulls." Her voice was flat, resigned.
He didn't know what to say to that. It was true, wasn't it? Instead he just squeezed her fingers a little bit tighter.