Daryl woke up just as the sun was rising. He laid in the bed for several minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet.
When his bladder started to bother him, he finally got up, went to the bathroom, and then quickly dressed in the clothes he'd worn yesterday.
He made sure to keep quiet as he descended the stairs. Carol usually slept later than him, so he didn't want to wake her.
He'd been quiet for no reason, though. He found her already awake in the living room, sitting on the couch reading a book.
"Good morning," she said, closing the book and turning to face him. He sat down in the recliner.
"Mornin'. Why you up so early?"
She smiled. "Am I not allowed to be up this early?"
He snorted. "No, just thought it was odd. You usually sleep later than me."
She nodded. "I know, I was teasing. Truth is, I"ve hardly slept. I think we have a problem."
Daryl tensed up. So far, he liked having Carol live with him. He had a feeling, though, that she was about to tell him she wanted to move out.
"You movin' out?" he asked, never one to beat around the bush.
Her blue eyes got wide.
"What? No. What on Earth gave you that idea?"
He shrugged. "So, what's the problem?"
Now she was looking at him like he was crazy. She shook her head.
"Last night, before I drifted off, I kept hearing these scratching noises. Sounded like it was coming from the library, maybe? I'm not sure. Anyway, I think we might have mice."
Daryl sighed. "Alright. I'll see 'bout getting some traps, maybe some poison too."
She smiled. "Thanks, I'd appreciate it. I think the little bastards kept me up last night. What are your plans for today?"
"Gonna do some scoutin' with Aaron. You?"
She shrugged.
"I don't have any plans that I know of. I'll probably try to do some cleaning around here, maybe go get us some decent groceries from the pantry."
"Sounds good."
After they had breakfast, strawberry muffins with strawberry jam, Daryl headed out to meet Aaron. Carol followed him, parting ways with him until they made it to the pantry. She sent him off with a wave and told him to be safe.
When he was out of her sight, she raided the pantry, looking for items they would need in their new home. She made sure to check everything off, so no one would think anything had been stolen.
After she was done, she started to make her rounds throughout the neighborhood. For the safety of her group, she had reverted back to the meek, timid housewife she used to be. She didn't want any of the Alexandrians suspecting she was a cold-hearted killer. She still wanted to keep some tricks up her sleeve.
So, she dressed in her stuffy old woman clothes and walked around the neighborhood, checking on people, waving at children, sharing recipes with some of the women. All in a day's work.
At one point, she ran into Michonne and Maggie.
"So, how's the haunted house?" Michonne asked, a smirk on her face.
Carol rolled her eyes. "It's fine. More than fine, actually. It's a beautiful place."
"We're glad. We miss having you around the house," Maggie said.
Carol smiled. "I miss you all too."
"Then why did you move in with Daryl?" Michonne asked. Damn her, that smirk was still on her face.
"He asked me to. Rick thought it would be best if there were two of us in that house instead of one. Just to be sure."
Michonne and Maggie shared a look.
"That the only reason?" Michonne pressed.
Carol gave her a look.
"What are you getting at, Michonne? I didn't really like the idea of him being by himself either. So, when he asked, I said yes."
"C'mon, Carol. Everyone sees how you two are with each other. I think you can admit that you have feelings for him."
Carol was silent a moment. She could feel her cheeks turning red. Did she? Did she have feelings for Daryl?
No, she didn't, she decided. He was her best friend, her rock, her savior. That was it, though. They joked around and even flirted sometimes, but nothing more.
"I do not have feelings for Daryl. We're best friends. End of story."
Michonne rolled her eyes. Maggie smirked.
"Sure took her a long time to reply…" Maggie said.
Carol just laughed and waved.
"And on that note, ladies, I'm leaving. I have a new house to clean."
She could hear their laughter behind her as she retreated back to her house.
Daryl came back from scouting earlier than he normally would have. Storm clouds were rolling in, the first they'd seen in a while.
When he got home, Carol was already starting on dinner. He noticed the house had a clean smell to it. It smelled like bleach and lemons.
"Hey!" She greeted him.
He set down his crossbow in the walkway and headed over to one of the stools surrounding the kitchen island. Carol was standing on the other side of it, chopping potatoes.
"Hey. Whatcha cookin'?"
"Potato soup. That okay for tonight?"
He chewed a fingernail. "Mmmhmm."
"Great. How was scouting?"
"Boring. How was cleaning?"
"Boring. Would've been better if I'd had some music to listen to."
"I bet."
"You find any traps for our houseguests?"
He retreated to the foyer and came back with a Walgreen's sack full of traps and poison.
"I'll go set them up."
Daryl made his way up to the third floor. The sky was getting darker, and he could hear low rumbles of thunder in the distance. The storm was getting closer.
The library was pitch black. He searched for several minutes in the darkness, trying to feel for the light switch on the wall with his hand. The light was brighter than he expecting, forcing him to blink several times. Now he was seeing strange shapes.
When his vision cleared, he began to look for signs of vermin. As far as he could tell, there was nothing. No holes, no shredded paper, no droppings. Maybe Carol had been hearing things.
Still, he set out the mouse traps and the poison.
He had just set up a trap to go by the door when the light suddenly went out.
"Damnit," he cursed.
Now he had to cross the room and find the light switch. That was going to be hard to do with no light to see by.
He made his way slowly, feeling along the wall, praying to find a light switch or at least the doorknob. He must have closed it.
A loud thump sounded in the room. He jumped. Logically, he knew there was no one in the room with him, but it still freaked him out that he couldn't see.
Finally, he found the doorknob. He opened quickly, letting the hall light flood in. It wasn't great, but it was better than total darkness.
Now he could see what made the noise. A book had fallen off one of the shelves.
He picked it up. The Complete Tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
He smirked. He didn't know much about Poe; he thought he vaguely remembered covering him in one of his high school English classes before he dropped out, but he couldn't be sure. He did know that he wrote some creepy ass shit. How ironic that an Edgar Allan Poe book would just suddenly fall from the bookcase.
His eyes roamed around; he half expected one of those alleged ghosts to come flying through a wall at him. Of course, that didn't happen. Nothing happened.
Carol must have gotten that book off the shelf and didn't place it back properly. Damn woman. He slid the book back into its slot and retreated downstairs, stomach growling for potato soup.
Author's Note: Hey! Alright, y'all, I'm just going to go ahead and say it: I don't care for this chapter. I don't feel like it's my best work. However, I've been having some writer's block lately with all my stories, and I was tired of not updating, so this is what I came up with. I hope y'all at least enjoyed it a little. I promise to try to do better next time. Until then, leave me a review and let me know your thoughts! Thanks!