It's been awhile since I've added to this series of oneshots. Then this idea came to me and I decided to write it down. It's a reunion fic and some parts are canon, while others aren't so much. There is kind of action scene in this and I suck at those, so I'm sorry if it all seems rushed and unrealistic! Well, anyways, I hope you all enjoy! :)


The night after the prison fell was the coldest night Daryl had ever experienced. Not even the blazing fire in front of him could chase away the chill in his bones. The prison was destroyed, Hershel had been killed and everyone he had come to care about were scattered to who knew where.

For all Daryl knew, he and Beth were the only survivors. He knew he should consider himself lucky that he wasn't alone unlike Carol, who was out there all by herself. If she was even still alive.

There was a stinging pain in his hand and Daryl saw that he had dug his blunt nails into his palms so hard he had pierced the skin. Thinking about why Carol was out there on her own made him angry. Rick could have waited until they had gotten back from the college. They could have worked something out, just as they had with Merle. Merle had done worse things than killing two people suffering from a sickness that was most likely going to kill them, anyways, and he had been allowed to stay.

"Daryl?" Beth's said from where she had been sleeping on the other side of the fire. "Why don't you go to sleep? I'll keep watch."

Daryl just stared over the fire at the youngest Greene girl. He hadn't said one word since their flight from the prison, not even while they had spent most of the day running from walkers. Beth was getting irritated at the lack of communication between the two of them, but smartly had stopped trying after he started to blatantly ignore her. He didn't have time for any idle conversation or want of it. His world had been tipped over. The only home he had ever known had been destroyed and the only woman he had ever loved was...gone.

Carol was gone.

Beth was suffering from the loss of her father and quite possibly her sister and while her way to cope was to talk, she had been stuck with the wrong person. Daryl liked to keep all the painful things locked inside. The only person he had let inside, after the death of his brother, had been Carol and she had been cruelly ripped away from him. While they had been on the roof at the college with hundreds of walkers drooling for their flesh, Daryl had decided that he'd stop being a coward and declare himself to Carol. He had been tiptoeing around her for long enough. Just his luck that she'd be gone before he could make his move. Now, he was left with a shit ton of regrets. He and Carol could have been something. If only he hadn't been chicken shit.

Sighing, Daryl ran a hand through his hair and saw that since Beth was still awake, he'd try to get some sleep. Lying on his side, he put his back to the fire and closed his eyes.


That first night alone, Carol had spent the night curled up in the back of the station wagon Rick had banished her in. The thin cardigan she wore was doing nothing to take away the chill in the air. She had stopped feeling sorry for herself hours prior and now, she was left with a numb feeling inside. She wasn't going to see Mika and Lizzie, again, or Judith...or Daryl. The last one had hurt the most because she knew that once he found out what she had done, he'd be disappointed in her. Probably even hate her.

Thinking back, Carol wished she had never killed Karen and David. It obviously hadn't stopped the spread of the sickness and Judith was still vulnerable. She should have just left them alone. Rick wouldn't have kicked her out and she would have been there to greet Daryl when he got back from his run with Tyreese, Michonne and Bob.

A sob escaped from her mouth before she even knew she was on the verge of tears, again. God, she hated crying. She had done enough of it this past year to last her the rest of her lifetime. With a new determination, she wiped the tears from her face, climbed over the seat and started the car. Rick had no right to kick her out, she had the right to have been put in front of the council at least. Carol was done being told what to do by a man and she was going to stick up for herself. Maybe Daryl wouldn't hate her if she were able to explain herself.

What greeted her the next morning was a scene of destruction and death. The sight nearly crippled her when she saw some people she had walked past the hallways in the cellblock turned into walkers. What had happened here? There were too many walkers for her to check the yard to see who all had turned. The pistol in her belt held only six rounds and she'd be easily surrounded if she used the knife.

There was no way for her to know who was still alive or was...dead. The only thing she could do now was turn the car around and head back down the road.

Unfortunately, a few miles down the road the car ran out of gas and she had no choice but to go out on foot. When she heard the cry of a baby, she started running.


Seeing Rick for the first time in what felt like months had been the best the thing to happen to him in a long time. It meant that at least some of his family was still alive. Beth was gone. He couldn't even keep a young girl safe. When Daryl had come across Joe and his group with a gun to Rick's head, he had been willing to sacrifice himself for them and two of Joe's men started to beat the shit out of him.

Somehow, Rick had been able to get the upper hand and they killed all of Joe's men. Terminus was their next step. However, that had turned out to be a trap and now; they were all trapped in a train car. The only good thing about it was that they were reunited with the rest of their group with the exception of Beth, Carol, Tyreese and the girls. Daryl noticed that Lil' Asskicker wasn't among them and felt a twinge in his heart. That baby had been a sign of hope for all of them and now, she was gone.

They were all probably going to die. These people were crazy and there was no way they were going to make it out alive. Daryl walked to the side of the car and slid to the ground. At least he wouldn't go out alone and with some of his family around him.


Carol focused singularly on getting to Terminus. If she let her mind wander to Mika...and Lizzie. Oh God, she couldn't think about them. Not yet. Maybe, not ever. Tyreese walked slightly ahead of her with Judith dozing off in the pack on his back.

Gunshots echoed through the trees and on instinct, they crouched down low to the ground. Judith was startled by the sudden noise and started to whimper.

"What the hell was that?" Tyreese looked over his shoulder at her.

"I don't know." Carol cautiously stood up and looked around. The gun strapped to her hip was now in her hand.

"Terminus isn't that far ahead." Tyreese walked up to her. "Do you think that...?"

"I don't know, but it'll be worth it to check it out." She started walking off the tracks. "Except we won't be going in the conventional way. If any of our group is there and there are gunshots, they can be in trouble and we'll have to help."

"But there's only two of us and we have a baby to look after," Tyreese protested.

"Then, I'll check it out and you can stay back with Judith." Carol was determined to make sure it wasn't any of her family that was on the other side of those bullets. "Give me your rifle."

"There is no way that you're going alone." Tyreese stepped away from her when she tried to reach for the rifle slung on his arm.

"Come with then." Another burst of gunfire had them running.

"Carol, stop!" Tyreese grabbed her arm and threw her behind a tree. "Look!" He pointed ahead and saw that there were three of four men kneeling by a chain link fence.

Carol was about to say something when the gunshots stopped and they could hear someone talking on a megaphone. "First, the ringleader. Come on, let's go." Tyreese's eyes narrowed in confusion but didn't say anything as the disembodied voice continued to speak. "Next, the archer." Archer? Carol looked at Tyreese.

"Do you thin-?"

Tyreese made a shushing noise and they continued to listen.

"Then, the samurai."

"Michonne!" They both whispered at the same time.

"Last, the kid."

Carol covered her mouth with a hand. They had Carl, too. "We have to go in there, Tyreese. They're in trouble." Daryl's in trouble.

"But, how?"


The mood inside the train car was somber. They had all accepted the fact that none of them were getting out of there soon. Breaking off into little groups inside, they all had someone to cling, too. Except Daryl. He sat by himself in the corner, knees to his chest and teeth gnawing on the skin of his thumb.

When another spurt of gunfire echoed outside, no one moved or even jumped at the noise. However, when they started to hear shouting, Rick and Michonne moved to the door of the car and listened more carefully. Daryl was right behind them.

"What's going?" Glenn stood and joined them.

"Somethin' not good for our friends out there from the sound of it," Daryl snorted.

"What do you think is happening?" A man Daryl didn't know had joined the small group gathered around the door.

"I don't know," Rick said. They all ducked when some of the bullets ricocheted off the car.

"Are they shooting at us?" Sasha cried from where she stood in the back of the car and by Bob's side. The gunshots suddenly stopped and the sound of running feet approached the train car. None of them had any weapon or means to protect themselves.

Rick, Michonne and Daryl jumped back when the door slid open and they were greeted with a beautiful sight.


Carol and Tyreese decided that they had to take down the shooters by the fence before they could get anywhere near Terminus. Carol had taken one of the guns from her pack. Mika's. Crouching down beside Tyreese, she let him know what they could do.

"You get two of them and I'll get the other two, okay?" She handed him another handgun, Lizzie's, even though they still had the riffle. "Stay behind that tree over there and make sure Judith is safe." There was no way another child was going to die on her watch.

"Got it." Tyreese nodded and they quietly went their separate ways. Carol got us close to the men as she could, while Tyreese stayed farther behind. Getting one of the men in her sights, she fired and was satisfied when she got a headshot. The man beside him had seen his comrade fall and turned to see who had shot him. Carol got him, too. Meanwhile, Tyreese had done the same to the other two. They weren't headshots, but the wounds were fatal.

They met at the fence and looked inside to see several train cars just resting on the tracks. A few people milled around them and a few were on the roofs. Holstering her gun, she looked over at Tyreese. "I'm going in."

Tyreese grabbed her shoulder before she could go. "By yourself? Hell no."

"You need to stay with Judith. There is no way I'm going to have you go in there with her." Carol started walking down the fence looking for a way in and when she found one, she moved to duck under the wires.

"You can get killed, Carol!" Tyreese was unrelenting.

"Keep on eye on the men on the roof. Once you have them in your sights, shoot them with the rifle. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Tyreese, please. I have to save them." Daryl is down there. "But at the first sign of trouble, you take Judith and get out of here."

"Carol!" She ignored Tyreese's whispered plea and moved under the fence to run to the nearest car to hide behind. When a man rounded the corner unexpectedly, Carol didn't shoot him, knowing that the sound would attract more, so she used the fighting skills Daryl had taught her and a few others on their flight from the farm. First, she elbowed him in the gut, taking him by surprise and then, grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed his head hard into the train car. The man was out cold.

That had been easy. Too easy. Now, she was hyped up on adrenaline and all she wanted to do was take the man's rifle and shoot the place up, but that was the quickest way to get herself killed and no one would be saved, then.

Gunshots popped from behind her and she looked up to see two men tumble from the roof of the building in front. "Good shooting, Tyreese," she whispered before moving ahead. Now, the men knew someone was shooting at them and were put into a frenzy. Two men ran across her path and she cut them down quickly. Taking a quick look around, she ran to the another train car and threw her back to it. She tried to calm her breathing down and was surprised to her voices coming from the car. People were in these things?

More gunfire came from Tyreese's direction and she could only hope that more men were being put down. Creeping to the edge of the car, she peered around the corner and saw no one. Carol made sure to keep the rifle up and ready to fire, just in case anyone came to surprise. Seeing no one, she went to the front of the car and threw open the door. What met her made tears immediately come to her eyes.


Carol stood there looking like the badass she was. A rifle in one hand, another gun and her knife strapped to her hip. When she saw who was in the car she broke into a big smile and tears came to her eyes. Daryl pushed past Rick, still not believing it was her, and pulled Carol into his arms without a second thought.

"I can't believe it-" Rick was the first to speak, but was stopped when more gunfire sounded from behind them.

"Come on, we gotta get out of here!" Carol pulled out of Daryl's grasp. "Tyreese is getting the people he can, but we need to go." Daryl could see where their weapons still lied where they had to surrender and he took off towards them, Rick and Michonne weren't far behind. There was no way he was leaving his crossbow behind.

Once they grabbed them, Carol led them all to safety.

Three Days Later

They had all been on the run continuously for the next three days. They wanted to get as far away from Terminus as they could. Rick and Carl had been reunited with Judith and tears had been shed. Rick had even approached Carol and hugged her, apologizing for kicking her out and thanking her for keeping his daughter safe. Daryl had been dying to speak with Carol but hadn't had the chance, yet.

Finally on day three, they had come across a house and Rick decided that they were far enough away from Terminus and that they all needed the rest. Carol had spread out the remaining supplies from her pack and stood up to take her meal outside. Daryl followed.

It looked like Carol had been expecting him and moved over from her spot on the stairs of the porch to make room for him. "I missed you." She said once he was settled.

"Missed you, too."

"Do you hate me for wh-" She started right into it, but he had to interrupt.

"No," he immediately cut her off. "Don't hate you, Carol. I don't think I ever could."

"But, Daryl-"

"I know what you did and we'll talk about it later, all right? Now, I have to tell you somethin'. Somethin' I've been meanin' to tell you for a long time." It was now or never. Daryl knew he couldn't waste another second without telling Carol his feelings. He had been given a second chance and there was no way he was going to pass it up.

"What?" She looked up at him with those beautiful blue eyes and his mouth dried up.

"Aw, fuck it!" He growled and crushed his mouth to hers. Carol let out a small gasp of surprise before she desperately clung to him and kissed him back. This was a long time coming.

Pulling away, Daryl leaned his forehead against Carol's and looked right into her eyes. "I ain't goin' to go another night without you by my side, understood?"

Tears filled her eyes and she vigorously nodded. "Understood."

"Good." This time he pulled her into a gentler kiss, which he hoped projected the true extent of his feelings for her.

Passing the screen door on his way to the living room and Maggie, Glenn stopped when he saw Daryl and Carol kissing on the porch. Smiling for the first time since he had been reunited with his wife, he watched the two of them for a moment before going to find Maggie and telling her the good news.

It was about time.


I hope you all liked it! I have read many amazing reunion fics out there and I just wanted to add mine to the list! :)

Thank you for reading!