"Hey, open up," Daryl said, knocking and trying the handle, even though he already knew it was locked.
"Go away," Carol replied sharply from inside.
"It's me, come on… open up," Daryl pleaded. He felt a hand on his shoulder and immediately spun to face Abraham and Rick. "Leave," Daryl insisted. "You've done enough," he growled. He knew they didn't completely deserve his anger, but Daryl was mad that they had obviously been talking a lot about Carol's future and no one, not once, had said a word to him, or to Carol for that matter, about it. On the other hand, they were all still under the assumption she was dying, so why would they? Daryl saw both sides, but he was too pissed off that they'd upset her when she should have been celebrating the fact that she had survived and would live.
When they walked off without a word, signalling for the others to clear the area for a while, Daryl knocked again. "Carol, come on. You know I'll bust the damn door if you don't let me in," he warned. It wouldn't take much more than a kick and he'd be inside. After a few seconds he heard a click and he tried the door again to find it unlocked. Daryl pushed it open and stepped inside. "Wouldn't think you'd want to be stuck in here any longer," he said gently.
"It was the closest place," Carol muttered, plunking down on the edge of the bed. "What do you want?" she hissed at him.
"Hey, easy, I didn't do anything," Daryl shot back. He knew she was mad, but they always held each other accountable and he hadn't done anything to warrant her anger towards him.
"That's the point," she snapped. "You didn't say anything when they were all making grand plans about my future."
"You didn't leave me much time before you stomped off and slammed the door," Daryl said, taking some of the edge out of his voice as he spoke. "I didn't know that was gonna happen. I've been here with you 95% of the time."
"I know... " Carol sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be taking it out on you."
Daryl sat down beside her. "Listen, you know we're always straight up with each other, right?" Carol nodded and looked at him. "I ain't gonna say I'm happy about the way that went down. Felt like an ambush. But..." he could see Carol tense with the last word. "But couldn't you at least talk to Eugene? See what he has to say?" Carol went to protest, but Daryl silenced her. "Ultimately the decision is in your hands, but it ain't gonna hurt to listen is it?"
"Guess not," she replied, looking a bit defeated.
"Talk to me. What're ya thinkin?" Daryl encouraged her.
"It's just too much," Carol said, searching his eyes for understanding. "I went from thinking I was going to die, to realizing I'm going to live, to being the one who is going to save the world… all in a matter of a few days." She paused and massaged her temples as if she had a headache. "I really thought I was going to die. I made peace with it not long after I was bit. And now I'm struggling with the fact that I survived. I survived a bite Daryl… that's not supposed to happen." She shifted and shook her head. "I have to come to terms with that and I don't know how. I don't know how to not believe that all of a sudden, one day, I might just start to change."
"That's not going to happen," Daryl interjected.
"You don't know that. We don't know that. Nothing is for sure," she said passionately. "Everything about my situation is different. And I don't want to be different. I just want to be me and do my part with the group like I always have."
"Carol," he said softly. "You've always been different. And you've always been special." Her eyes snapped back to his. "You're a hero. And… this is no different." She seemed to be waiting for him to say more so Daryl continued. "You've always done whatever needed to be done to protect this group, even at huge risk to yourself. You ain't never asked for anyone's help, any one's permission, you just do it. You might have the chance to save us all, not just for the short term, but for the rest of our lives." She continued to look at him and Daryl felt like she wanted him to keep talking. "What if Eugene can find a way to use your blood or somethin' to make a cure or a vaccine that he can give the rest of us? It's not gonna make the walkers disappear, but it's gonna make it a helluva lot safer for us to deal with them."
Carol sighed again. "Listen, I need some time alone to think. Do you mind?" Daryl nodded and stood. He was pretty sure he gave her some things to think about and he knew she wasn't angry with him, so his mission was accomplished. He started for the door but Carol stopped him, "Hey, one more thing before you go…" Daryl turned to look at her. "When you said the other day… when you said you loved me… I know it's because you thought I was dying…" What the fuck was she talking about? Daryl wondered. "And it's okay… we can just pretend it never happened."
"Oh okay," Daryl heard himself say, while in shock. Numb, he turned and headed out the door. Oh okay? Oh okay? What kind of answer is that? Go back in, tell her she's wrong. Tell her you love her, his mind was screaming. But wait, why did she just let you off like that? Why did she want to pretend it never happened? She doesn't want to be with you? She wanted the chance to take back her own words? There has to be a reason. Go back and find out. Go see what's going on. Don't just walk away.
"Hey, we're going on a quick run. Couple hours tops," Glenn said, interrupting his internal dialogue. "You wanna come?"
"Oh, uh, yeah," Daryl agreed quickly. He needed a distraction. He needed to get out - get away a little while. Part of him felt like maybe he should stay in case Carol needed him. But she said she wanted time to think… Daryl followed Glenn and joined Michonne and Sasha to head out on the run.
It was a pretty simple an uneventful supply run. They needed to restock their drinking water supply. The town had a bottling company so every couple of weeks they would make a trip and bring back several cases of bottled water. Daryl remembered the day they found the warehouse filled with hundreds of cases of water. It was always a worry they would run out of water to drink. There was always the option to filter or boil it, but when they could find water that was already safe it made things so much easier.
He tried to listen to the conversation going on and partake, but his mind kept wandering back to Carol. Why the fuck did she do that? And why the fuck had he let her? Daryl made a silent vow to get to the bottom of it, as soon as she got over all the other things that were bothering her. He didn't want to add any more stress.
When they returned to the fire hall Daryl immediately noticed that Carol had emerged from the room and was sitting with Eugene and Abraham, talking. Her posture looked a bit guarded but her face was relaxed and he even saw her smile. He stood off to the side, a ways away watching the exchange with curiosity. He would talk to her when she was done to find out how it went.
"Hmm, looks like Abe's got a new mission," Tara said with a laugh, leaning on the wall beside him. Daryl gave her a look. "I thought him and Rosita were tight… but the way he's looking at Carol… maybe I will have a shot with her soon."
"What are you talking about?" Daryl grumbled.
"You know I'm a lesbian right?" Tara asked, giving him a strange look.
"Yes, 'course," he replied quickly.
"Just saying that if Abraham starts something with Carol, that'll free up Rosita…" Tara shrugged.
"That ain't what I mean," Daryl snarled. "What makes you think Abe's got a thing for Carol?"
A look of realization crossed her face. "Oh you… and her? You're? I didn't know…" Daryl was about to correct her when Tara continued. "Does she know? Because if she doesn't you might wanna saddle up Cowboy," she punched his arm. "Because the army is moving in."
Tara walked away, leaving Daryl stunned and angry. He turned back to the trio and saw things from a new perspective. Abe was looking at her different than he had before. He kept smiling at her and touching her shoulder in conversation. Daryl felt something seething inside him. And he wished even more than he'd corrected Carol before. Wait, what if she changed her mind because she was interested in Abe too? Daryl thought back to the other night when he'd walked back in the room while Abe was visiting. No, it's not true, he tried to reason with himself. He would get things sorted out. As soon as Carol was finished with Eugene.
Suddenly Abraham stood up. "Can I get everyone's attention," he called out. The group members started to gather round. Daryl didn't move. He could hear perfectly fine from where he was. "I just want to let you know that Carol has agreed to let Eugene do some blood tests and comparisons. Other than that, we're going to carry on pretty much as usual, stay here for now… Until we know more." Daryl was watching Carol and he saw her tense at the last part. It gave him a small jolt of satisfaction that she was obviously annoyed at the indirect hint at Washington once again. "Just like I protected Eugene for many months, I will make it my personal mission to protect Carol now."
Daryl barely noticed the look of shock on Carol's face because he was already stomping towards Abe. "She don't need you to protect her," Daryl snapped. "She can look after herself, and she has me."
"Oh you mean like you protected her when she got bit?" Abe snapped back. "Or the time you lost her in Atlanta?"
Daryl felt the rage boiling inside him and he snapped. He lunged at Abe and felt his fist smash into his face. It hurt like hell but he wasn't done. He went to swing again, but Abe blocked it and delivered a punch of his own, right into Daryl's gut. He grunted and doubled over as it knocked the wind out of him. But he wasn't about to give up. Daryl attacked again and the two of them scuffled until finally he felt someone pulling him away, trying to restrain him. "Enough," Rick yelled. "Both of you, enough." His voice was sharp and commanding and Daryl allowed himself to be pulled away from Abe. It was Tyreese that was holding him, while Rosita laid a calming hand on Abe's shoulder.
"Come on guys," Rick said, looking from one to the other. "This is not the time for this kind of bullshit." Daryl took a deep breath. "Something amazing happened here. Carol survived a bite. She's gonna live. We should be celebrating that, instead of attacking each other." Daryl knew he was right and risked a look at Abe. The way Rosita was touching him and the way he calmed so easily told Daryl that they truly cared for one another. If there was anything going on with how Abe felt about Carol it was because he was so determined to save the world and saw possibility in her. Daryl realized his jealousy had momentarily clouded his judgement, but he'd been wrong. He was sure of it. And he owed Tara a kick in the ass for her part in it.
Abe extended a hand. "Sorry, shouldn't have said what I did," he offered an apology.
Daryl reached out and shook it, "And I overreacted. Won't happen again."
Daryl took a deep breath and looked around for Carol. He needed to talk to her, make sure she was okay, find out what Eugene had told her and then… and then get the rest of it sorted out. He scanned the room and didn't see her. Without a word he checked the room she'd been in. Nothing. "Where is Carol?" he blurted out. Instantly everyone started to look around. "Carol," he yelled, running towards the door. Daryl heard a car engine start up and tires squeal. "No. Fuck. No," he yelled, watching one of their cars take off… with Carol in the driver's seat.