Okay, I'm going to start off by saying that this story isn't going to follow the show. Some parts will happen just like they did in the show, but other things will not(If bringing Ed back wasn't a sign.). Other parts will happen out of order. Hopefully, I didn't lose anyone there lol. Basically I'm just saying that this will not follow the show scene by scene or anything like that.

Well, enough of that and I hope you all enjoy! :)


Part 7

Daryl returned an hour later with a doe dragging behind him. It wasn't a large deer, but it would be enough to feed them for a few meals. The rest of the group's mouths watered at the thought of being able to eat fresh meat again.

Carol met him at the gate while Rick and Merle helped drag the deer back to the prison. Glenn and the rest of the members began to file back into the cellblock when they saw that Daryl had returned unharmed.

After making sure the gate was locked and secure, Daryl pulled her to him and gave her a kiss.

"You didn't run into any trouble out there, did you?" She asked, knowing that walkers weren't the only things he had to look out for now.

"Just a few walkers. Nothin' I couldn't handle." He watched the distance between them and Rick and Merle grow, and then threw an arm around her shoulders. Carol was startled at how public he was being in touching her. Rick or Merle could turn around any minute and see them. Well, Merle had already seen them, but Rick hadn't.

"You didn't go near that prick while I was gone, did you?" He asked as they continued walking towards the cell block. His arm never left her shoulders and she liked the feeling of being so close to him.

"No, I mostly just held Judith and talked with Michonne."

"Sounds interesin'," he smirked. "Didn't take that woman for the talkin' type."

Carol smiled. "It took a little bit of coaxing, but she opened up a little to me. Merle talked to her for a bit, too."

Daryl tensed beside her. His brother was a racist and he could only imagine the things he had said to Michonne. "What did he say?"

"Nothing bad," she reassured him. "In fact, he actually apologized for trying to kill her. I don't know if she accepted it or not, but I think that it was a very grown up move for him."

He snorted. "Well, that's a first."

"He must really like her if he's apologizing. I never saw him as the type to ever say sorry."

"He ain't. Are you implyin' he might have a thing for her?"

Carol chuckled. "I'm definitely not implying anything. I think he has a lot of respect for her, that's all."

Daryl slid his arm off her shoulder and moved to open the door for the both of them. Carol mourned the loss immediately, but was grateful that she was able to spend a few minutes with him so close.

Maggie appeared in front of them with a grim expression on her face. "Rick wants to have that meeting now."

"He's not wastin' anytime, then." Daryl followed the oldest Greene girl and Carol walked close to him.

"This Governor is someone we need to take care of quickly," Carol said, voice low. She hadn't heard much about the man, but she knew that he was someone she never wanted to meet.

"Don't I fuckin' know it. Tried to get me and Merle to kill each other."

Carol gasped. She hadn't known that. She was about to open her mouth and ask what happened, but Daryl stopped her.

"I'll tell you about it later." The look on his face told her that he didn't want to talk about it at all, but he would tell her anyway.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, she stopped him in his tracks. Maggie looked back to see what they were doing and Carol waved her on. This would only take a few minutes and Rick could wait.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to, Daryl." She cupped his cheek. "I'll understand."

He covered her hand with his own. "Naw, I'll tell you. I think it'll be good to talk to someone about it and since we're...together now, you have the right to know."

She pulled his head down and gently kissed him. "Thank you for letting me in."

It was his turn to cup her cheeks. "I don't think I could keep anythin' from you anymore." His cheeks flamed at the sappiness of his words and he quickly moved to change the subject. "Well, I think we should get movin' before Rick starts lookin' for us."


The rest of the group sat at tables and Rick stood in the middle. He gave them a look when they finally walked in. Carol mumbled an apology, while Daryl said nothing and took their seats at the same table as Merle.

"'Bout time you two showed up," Merle hissed. "It ain't exactly the time to be screwin' around."

Carol blushed at his choice of words and refused to look over at Daryl. She was surprised when his knee bumped playfully against hers.

"We weren't screwin' around, Merle. So you can shut the hell up."

Before Merle could reply back, Rick cleared his throat and locked gazes with the Dixon brothers. "Is there something wrong, you two?"

"No," Daryl mumbled feeling like he was back in school. He wanted to kick Merle hard in the shin, but knew that his older brother would make a scene if he did. So he kept his feet to himself and glared half-heartedly at Carol as she stifled her chuckles behind a hand.

"Alright, we need to get down to business," Rick started. "Just yesterday we were attacked by this man, this Governor. It's clear he's a threat to us and we need to decide what to do about him."

"He needs to die." Michonne's soft, but strong voice filled the room.

"Can't exactly march up to Woodbury and put a bullet through his eyes, princess," Merle spoke up.

"You snuck in there once, maybe we can do that again," Glenn said from his spot between Maggie and Hershel.

"Do you really think they're gonna be that careless again?" Merle argued.

The room grew silent as everyone lost themselves in their thoughts. Carol didn't know what they should do about the Governor. Hell, she didn't even know what they should do with her ex-husband.

"Maybe we could leave the prison," Beth's small voice broke the silence. "He can't get us if we leave." Everyone turned and looked at her.

"We worked so hard to protect this place. Do you really want to throw it all away, Beth?" Glenn asked, looking over at his girlfriend's sister.

Carol was proud of the girl for speaking up. If it meant no one got killed, then she would willingly leave the prison behind. She was tired of losing people and everyone in this group meant so much to her.

"I'm not ready to give this place up and we won't," Rick said firmly. "I've already decided that tomorrow morning Carl, Michonne and I are going on a run to get more weapons. We will defend this place."

"Ya'll will be outnumbered. He has tanks and shit. We'd be no match for his fuckin' army, no matter how many weapons we get." Merle once again spoke up.

Rick focused his attention on the older Dixon. "Then, we'll just have to be smart. We'll think of a way to fight him without anyone getting killed."

"You can't guarantee that, Rick." Carol finally used her voice. "There's always a possibility something can go wrong and someone ends up dying. I...I don't want to take that chance."

Rick ran a hand through his hair. "Let's take a vote then. It seems like that will be the only way to decide what to do. Who thinks that we should leave the prison?"

Carol, Beth, Maggie and Hershel all raised their hands. After a moment, Carl raised his hand as well. No one had really paid attention to the boy as he sat with his sister in the back, but he had the right to vote.

"Who thinks we should stay and fight?" Rick raised his hand, along with Glenn and Daryl. Carol watched Daryl raise his hand. Of course, he would stay and fight. That was just who he was and she expected nothing less from him.

"Well, are you two going to vote?" The question was pointed at the two people who hadn't raised their hands. Michonne and Merle.

"Sorry, Officer Friendly, didn't think we was a part of your little group."

"If you're going to stay with us, then you have the right to decide what we do." Rick almost looked like he wanted to take back his words.

"Well then, I guess I'll vote for us to stay and fight. I'd love to get a chance to kill that motherfucker."

"Me too," Michonne said. "I vote we stay and fight, as well."

"That's five and five. What do we do now?" Glenn stood up.

Rick looked weary as he spoke. "We'll have to have this discussion again, I guess. Let us go on that run and see what we get back with. Then we'll vote again." He looked over at Merle. "You know him the best, do you think the Governor will attack between now and then?"

"Shit, I can't write a book about him or nothin', but my best guess is that he's gettin' an army ready. He isn't going to attack right away. I think he'll try and get us when we least expect it."

"Well, until we make our final decision we will always be ready." Everyone seemed satisfied about the decision to postpone their course of action. For now.

"Before we all go our separate ways, we still have another problem to discuss." He eyed Carol before continuing. "Ed Peletier has decided to give us a visit and now he is calling cell block D our home. He's a bastard, but should we keep him locked up?"

"Hell yes!" Daryl nearly shouted. "He don't deserve to walk among us, Rick."

"I agree, but what if we get attacked again? Will we just keep him locked in there and have him get killed?"

"He deserves to die," Daryl said. "After all he done, he doesn't even deserve to be locked in that cell. He needs to be walker chow."

Carol felt her heart swell with love for the man next to her. He was so dead set on protecting and keeping her safe.

"I know that I brought it up here, but it is ultimately Carol's decision on what we should do with him. I only brought it up to see if any of you all had any suggestions."

All eyes were on Carol. She knew it was her decision, but she didn't like being on the spot like this. Ed deserved to die, she knew that, but could she just let him get torn apart by those monsters or have someone put a bullet in his head.

"C-Can I think about it, Rick?" She asked. "I'll have a decision by tonight. I promise."

Rick nodded and then announced that the meeting was over. Daryl turned to look at her and she knew he had something to say, but she was already out of her seat and heading for the door. She needed some fresh air.


Daryl once again found her in the guard tower. His steps were light as he approached and took a spot standing next to her at the railing. She knew he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth closed.

"He deserves to die," she finally said. "I, of all people, know that. Especially after all the things he did to me and the way he started looking at...Sophia." She choked back a sob. "But I don't know if I could just have him be killed in cold blood. What kind of person would that make me?"

"No one would think of you any differently. 'specially me. Hell, I'd help kill him."

"No." She didn't look at him and instead she focused on the yard where walkers still milled aimlessly around. "I think...that if anyone where to kill him, it'd have to be me."

Daryl was silent.

"I don't know if I'm ready to just put a bullet in his head." She looked up at him. "I think we should let him out of his cell block." Daryl moved to protest. "He won't hurt anyone, not with you, Merle and Rick around. The only person he'd try to do anything with will be me."

"I ain't gonna let him near you. No way in hell."

"The thing is, I think you should."

"What are you sayin'?" His eyes narrowed in confusion.

"I think that if he did get near me at one point and tried to hurt me, then I would be able to kill him." She paused. "Does that make sense?"

When he didn't say anything, she knew that it didn't.

"I won't let him hurt me, Daryl. But if he ever tried to lay his hands on me, I know I would get so angry I could kill him."

"I think I'm startin' to understand."

"I can't just go up to him now and shoot him, but if he tried to harm me in anyway way or touch me, I think I could do it. It'd be easy, I think." She rubbed vigorously at her arms. She knew she must sound crazy to him.

"He ain't goin' to hurt you."

"He's not." She turned and faced him. "I won't let him and I know you won't let him, either. This is the only way I can do this."

With a sigh, Daryl finally agreed. "Alright, let's tell Rick." He moved to walk to the watch tower door and expected her to follow. When she didn't, he faced her to see what the hold up was.

Her eyes seemed fixed on something in the yard.

"What is it?" He asked and looked to see if he could see anything.

Suddenly she gasped and pointed. "That's Andrea!"


So, I hope you all like what I'm doing so far. I hope everything about the voting and decision making seemed all right to everyone. Once again, this story is not going to follow canon perfectly. Some parts are going to be the same, like Andrea visiting the prison and stuff, but I'm going to completely change other things. I'm making Merle easier to get along with and I know I haven't even mentioned the animosity between him and Glenn and I don't think I will. I hope that's alright. If this story decides it's going to be a few more chapters, maybe I'll make them come to an understanding and maybe come to respect one another. So far, it's just going to mostly focus on Caryl and Ed right now.

Thanks for reading!