Daryl dressed quickly but Carol wasn't far behind. He was shouting something at her about staying inside but she ignored it and followed him right out the door.
The scene outside was utter chaos. There were people screaming, guns going off, bodies scrambling and there were walkers - everywhere.
Before she even had a chance to figure out what to do there was a blinding light in her face. "You stupid slut! I knew I was gonna find you here." Ed's voice was icy and it froze her in place. The light moved from her face to Daryl's. "Did you enjoy fucking my wife?" he snarled. Daryl put up an arm to avoid the flashlight beam. "Too bad it'll be the last time."
The light was back in her eyes again. Everything happened so fast Carol wasn't even sure it was real. Ed lunged at her and Daryl fired. Next thing she knew something warm splattered on her face, the flashlight went flying and Ed crumpled to the ground at her feet. She looked down and saw a bolt through the side of Ed's head and her stomach lurched.
"Oh my God, you killed him," she screamed at Daryl. Carol had no idea why she was angry. She swiped at her face and blood smeared on her hands.
"Hey, calm down," Daryl said, approaching her slowly. He wiped her face with his shirt sleeve then bent and picked up the flashlight. "He was going to hurt you," Daryl said gently.
"But you killed him. He's dead. He's really dead?" Carol sobbed. She wasn't sure if she was stating a fact or asking a question. She wasn't sure if she was crying tears of joy or tears of sadness. She wasn't even sure if she was making any sense.
"Listen we have work to do but first look at this," Daryl directed the beam at Ed's arm. There was a huge chunk of flesh missing and his forearm and hand were covered in blood. "He was already bit." Daryl looked at her and spoke gravely, "where was Sophia? Was she in the tent with him?"
Carol shook her head. "She was with Rick and Lori." She saw the look of relief wash over his face, but at the same time a knot tightened in her stomach. "We have to find her Daryl, please? We have to find my baby."
He placed something hard and cold in her hand. "Stay close to me, but if we get separated or a walker gets close you need to use that." Carol looked at the knife in her hand. "Stab them in the head," he added. Daryl gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "We'll find her," he said. She watched, fighting back a gag as he pulled the bolt from Ed's head and loaded it into his crossbow. "Let's go."
They joined the chaos making their way towards Rick and Lori's campsite in search of Sophia. Carol stuck close to Daryl as he fired bolt after bolt, dropping walkers in every direction.
She clutched the knife, ready to strike if she needed to. Daryl was pulling a bolt from between the eyes of a Walker when she finally had to use the knife. The walker was headed straight for her so Carol lunged and stabbed it through the left temple. The knife went in way easier than she had expected. But pulling it out after the walker fell was a little more difficult. Her hand was smeared with blood by the time she got it out. Carol tried not to gag again as she wiped the blood off her hand onto her pants. It was the first thing she had ever killed in her life.
Daryl recognized her panic and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "It's okay," he said, taking a quick second to look into her eyes. "Refocus. Sophia, we're looking for Sophia."
Daryl looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Rick." Carol spun and saw Rick coming towards them.
"She's okay," he said, recognizing that Carol would be worried sick about Sophia. "She's in Dale's RV with Carl and Lori." Rick fired at a walker, dropping it.
Carol breathed a sigh of relief. "You should there go too," Daryl suggested. "Come on."
With so many of them shooting, stabbing, and hitting walkers with any weapon they could find the numbers had severely diminished. Carol was confident that Rick, Daryl, Shane, and the others could handle the rest, so she agreed and let Daryl lead her off to the RV to be with Sophia.
"Be careful," she said turning to him as they approached the door.
Daryl grinned at her, "always." He planted a quick kiss on her cheek and took off just as Lori opened the door. Even with all the crazy shit that was going on outside the women shared a smile.
Carol entered the RV and Sophia flew into her arms. It was so good to hug her that Carol felt tears stinging her eyes. She needed to tell Sophia about Ed too and figured sooner was better than later. "Hey baby, let's sit down," she said pulling away. Carol led her to a seat and sat down beside her, taking her hands and holding them gently. "Sweetie, daddy was bit by a walker."
Sophia's eyes widened, "is he dead?"
Carol nodded, "yeah he's gone."
A tiny smile appeared on her face, "He can't hurt us anymore mama."
Carol pulled her into a hug, "no he can't, never again." The honesty of a child was something special. Carol realized in that moment how truly lucky they were. Ed could have found her and killed her only a few minutes ago, but instead he was dead, Sophia was safe and happy, and her and Daryl actually had a chance to really be together.
A little while later Sophia and Carl were set up with a game of checkers and Carol sat down to talk to Lori. "I'm worried, do you think they're okay?" she asked, another round of gunshots echoing outside. She could hear Dale's steps on the roof but the gunshot was not his.
Lori smiled, "Rick and Shane are cops and Daryl's a hunter. They're all a great shot. I'm sure they will be back here in no time." Lori nudged her. "I saw that kiss," she whispered.
Carol felt her cheeks go warm. "Yeah..." she replied with a nervous laugh. She looked at Lori and smiled. "I'm happy. Ed's dead and I'm happy." The smile faded, "does that make me a terrible person?"
Lori shook her head, "not at all. He got what was coming to him. And you deserve to be happy." Carol knew that inside but she needed to hear someone say it.
Suddenly the door popped open and Dale stepped inside. He looked tired but it was the extreme sadness on his face that was the most alarming. "It's over, the walkers are gone but Amy," he said softly. "She was bit."
Carol felt a wave of deep sadness for someone she really didn't know all that well. It was way stronger than anything she felt when Ed died. She leaned on Lori, who was obviously feeling the loss as well. "Andrea?" she asked.
"She's with her. Shane and T-Dog are there too, just to make sure when she turns..." Dale's voice trailed off. They all knew what had to happen when Amy turned.
"You should be with her too," Lori suggested, knowing Dale had developed a bond with the sisters.
He nodded. "Listen, it's late, put the kids to sleep in here. You're both welcome to stay as well. It's been a long night."
After Dale left they did as he suggested and put Sophia and Carl to bed. It was very late, or very early depending on how you looked at it and they were both asleep in no time.
Carol started pacing. There was no way she could sleep until she saw Daryl. "Go find him," Lori said with a tired smile, reading her mind. "I'll stay with the kids tonight. Just let Rick know I'm here, okay?"
Carol hugged her quickly and left. She had to walk past Amy and Andrea so she paused to pay her respects. She kissed Andrea on the top of the head before continuing on her way to give them privacy.
Carol found Daryl and Rick making a pile of bodies. "That'll do for tonight," she heard Rick say as she approached.
She stood there for a moment looking at the guys. They were both filthy, covered in blood splatter and dirt. "Lori is with Carl and Sophia in Dale's RV," she said to Rick. "The kids are sleeping."
"Ok," Rick replied. "We should all get some rest. Tomorrow could be a long day." He clapped Daryl on the shoulder, "thanks for your help."
Carol watched the exchange with curiosity, making a mental note to ask Daryl about it later. After Rick had left Merle on the roof in Atlanta she had thought there was no chance of him and Daryl ever developing any sort of friendship. But it looked as though she was wrong and it was interesting to watch.
When Rick left Daryl turned his full attention to her. "You okay? Sophia?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she gave him a tired grin. "Sophia is okay too. She took the news better than I expected."
The stared at each other for a moment. Finally Carol laughed nervously and looked away. She still had such conflicting feelings inside her. She was happy and excited about her relationship with Daryl but she still felt guilty for being happy that her husband was dead. And she felt guilty for being happy when Andrea was about to lose her baby sister forever.
"Stop thinking so hard," Daryl said, interrupting her. "What's done is done. Can't change it." He motioned towards the lake, "gotta wash some of this shit off."
Carol looked at her own hand and realized it was still stained with walker blood. And there was likely still some of Ed's blood smeared on her face.
She followed Daryl to the water and they washed their hands, arms and splashed water on their faces. "How do I look?" Carol asked, standing up and facing him.
Daryl stepped closer and put a warm hand on her cool cheek, "Beautiful." Next thing she knew his lips were on hers creating the perfect distraction. When they parted Carol was not ready for the distraction to end. She took his hand and led him away from the lake, towards his trailer.
Maybe it was selfish, maybe it was wrong but Carol didn't want to think about anything that had happened that night between when she left Daryl's bed to the kiss they just shared. Sophia was safe and comfortable, that was the only thing that mattered to her beyond the man whose rough calloused hand was gripping her own. She wanted one last stolen moment with Daryl. One last time together while it was still a secret from almost everyone. As awful as it sounded in her mind, there was something incredibly exciting and sexy about sneaking around. They really didn't need to anymore, but she just wanted the thrill one more time, before it was gone and undoubtedly replaced by a different kind of passion and excitement.
Carol's heart was pounding as they quietly passed through an area where they could have easily been spotted. She almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of her reaction but when her body reacted with a wave of pleasure she decided to keep pretending in her mind. She looked back at Daryl with a flirty smile and changed her grip on his hand so their fingers were intertwined. By the time they got inside she wanted him to be craving her as much as she craved him.
She knew it had worked when he grabbed her on the steps up into the trailer, before the door was even fully closed behind them. He spun her around and pulled her against him. Their lips met instantly and she could feel that he was already aroused. Carol felt his hands on her ass. Daryl was one step lower and he lifted her off her feet. Carol wrapped her legs around him as she deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth. He effortlessly climbed up the stairs carrying her to the bed.
When he set her down Carol realized the gunk from his clothing was now all over her as well. Oddly, she wasn't the least bit repulsed. She was way too turned on for even walker goo to bother her. She looked down at her shirt, then back up at him, "guess we really should get out of these clothes, huh?"
Carol tried to focus on getting her own clothes off, but Daryl stripping in front of her was too much of a distraction. He was so focussed on hurrying that he was down to his underwear before he even noticed that she had stopped after removing her shirt. When he paused she grinned. "Don't stop now," she said, leaning back to watch. He turned red and she laughed. "Oh come here," she said, sitting up again.
Still sitting on the edge of the bed, with Daryl standing in front of her, she griped the waistband on both sides and pulled his boxers down to the floor. On her way back up she flicked out her tongue and licked his nuts. Daryl jumped with the first contact, but when she licked him again he groaned. She drew her tongue slowly up the length of his shaft, taking the head of his penis into her mouth when she reached the top. Carol teased him mercilessly, toying with the tip before taking him deep.
"Jesus Christ woman," he growled, pulling away from her and pushing her down onto the bed. If she hadn't wanted him so bad she ached, Carol might have tried to escape and continue to torture him. But seeing how much he desired her, as he desperately tugged at her button and yanked off her pants, Carol relinquished control.
Daryl started to pull off her panties. The second she drew one leg out allowing him access he was inside her, her panties dangling off the other ankle as he thrusted. Daryl was still standing and had pulled her to the edge of the bed to meet him. There was nothing slow or cautious this time. No first time jitters, no nervous butterflies. It was pure lust- strong burning passion and hot desire. Each time he moved into her Carol met him, pushing her hips up and taking him as deep as her body would allow. Daryl came first but she was so close all it took was one look at his face etched with pleasure and she came too.
When they finally regained their composure Daryl reached over, pulled her panties off her leg and tossed them with a grin that made her melt. Carol realized she could have fucked him again, immediately, if he could have and wanted to. Daryl crawled over her onto the bed and pulled her against him. "Maybe we can try this cuddling thing now," he said with a yawn.
Carol lay her head on his chest and wriggled her body around until she was situated comfortably. She closed her eyes and sighed with content before speaking, "And maybe I'll stay here, for as long as you want me to."