AN: Here we go, another little chapter.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
The group ventured out together, leaving only one man at the house to guard it in case someone were to attempt to take ownership of their jointly claimed property. The house they'd chosen to take refuge in for a few days was one of those almost plantation style homes. It was a place that Daryl had walked around, looking room to room…because there were a good deal of rooms…and marveled at the amount of money that whoever had lived there had spent on the place.
And you could bet now that they were dead as everyone else. And you could bet that when they were alive they were probably the kind of assholes that talked shit about every person that didn't have the kind of money they had…and they gave to charities and shit so they could say they had, even though it was only the most miniscule amount so that they could have bragging rights without ever even depleting in the slightest their unnecessary sum of money.
People like that had always pissed Daryl off on principle, though he'd always bit his tongue about it.
And the people who had lived here…you could bet that for having had a house that gave everyone in their group their own damn room with space to spare…there were probably only two of them that even ever lived there.
But at least now the rich people's overindulgence was providing them with the nicest place they'd stayed since Daryl had met up with the group. And at least they'd been kind enough, before the world had gone to shit, to stock the house with a decent amount of food, water, and alcohol so that for a few days the group had been able to bathe and eat and drink like kings.
But now their stock in the house was running lower than they liked and, since they weren't quite ready to relinquish the roof over their heads or the somewhat plush living arrangements they hadn't gotten all the enjoyment out of that they could, they were going in search of a town to salvage whatever they could and bring it back to their humble abode.
They were back in Georgia…spring was springing all around them, though the cold wasn't entirely gone out of the air yet. Daryl would guess, if he was forced to do so…which he never was…that once upon a time they might have called it March. That kind of shit, though…it didn't really matter anymore.
And Daryl was thankful that they'd found the house with such good stock because, otherwise, his credibility might have dwindled some when he insisted that Georgia wasn't tapped out. They might have expected to move on soon…heading farther north or west…the group was up in the air about which way might be the way to go since obviously directly south of them was a bust…if the house hadn't given them some renewed hope that Daryl wasn't full of shit when he said there was potential there.
Daryl was starting to wonder himself, though, what he was holding out for. They were back in Georgia and he suspected they were somewhere around the place that he'd been trying to get to…but he was beginning to wonder what had him even thinking that he wasn't wasting his life entirely on a secret wild goose chase.
Because even if Carol were alive…at this point he was sure that he'd never just stumble upon her. She'd be long gone from wherever the hell Rick had dumped her ass…and since Daryl didn't know where that was at, he really had no starting point at all…and since he didn't even know where the hell they were really at…it wasn't like he had much now.
They found a town quickly enough, abandoned like most other towns they'd come through since they'd parted ways with the streams of people trying to escape whatever extra hell had exploded down in Florida, and they went together into what looked to be a department store…though time and weather had stripped it of whatever kind of sign it had once had.
The door was broken out, a sure sign that they weren't the first ones to ever go inside, and they crunched across the glass in a somewhat tight bunch until they were fairly certain that if there were Walkers in the space, they weren't there in droves.
They began to split off from one another as they wandered through the department store, but they never let too much distance fall between them…never more than twelve or so feet…just in case there were to arise some kind of situation where one of them needed some sort of backup.
Because even though Daryl wasn't particularly fond of anyone in the group, except maybe Joe who was growing on him like a fungus, the rules of the group was that they had each other's' backs at all times and that was one of the rules that really no one had any interest in breaking for fear of if the time came that they needed someone to back them up.
Daryl fumbled around, looking in his vicinity for anything he might want for himself, but at the moment he couldn't really think of anything in this part of the store that might be of interest to him. It was mostly home things…baby things…a woman's part of a store and nothing that they really needed. They'd scan it quickly enough and move on.
But then he heard the echoing sound of boots.
And it was unmistakeably the sound of running…the clomp and slide of someone trying to escape their presence. They weren't in the building alone and it was confirmed for Daryl when he saw the quick shift in activity of his group as they all went toward the source of the sound. Daryl followed instinctively, lowering his crossbow because he figured that the person running was afraid enough and just the appearance of their group would do enough to probably keep them from attacking.
He heard Joe hum out some words about "what do we have" and he pushed forward in the group to see for himself instead of waiting for Joe's description of the person they'd cornered.
And his mouth spoke even as his chest nearly exploded and his eyes widened at the sight they didn't believe.
"CLAIMED!" Daryl yelled out, his voice startling him as it echoed through the building around them.
But it came out at almost the same time as Jensen's.
Jensen, taking his own word as gold stepped toward her, apparently unafraid of the knife she held out in front of her as a warning…even though her eyes said she was terrified. But she was cornered, and Daryl knew that someone cornered had already prepared to fight, even if it meant death.
Daryl stepped forward, cutting Jensen off and shoved him back, raising his crossbow and pointing it at the man.
"Don't'cha fuckin' touch her…I said claimed," Daryl growled.
Jensen hated him as much as he hated Jensen…it didn't really break Daryl's heart any. But the man chuckled.
"I said it first," Jensen said.
Joe stepped up then, making a gesture to Daryl to lower his weapon, and Daryl only offered to lower it partway…showing he was willing to listen but he was still perfectly fine with shooting Jensen's worthless ass if given the chance…even if it meant they were going to kill him next.
"What we got here, boys…is somethin' needin' a little mediatin'," Joe said. He looked back and forth between the two of them. "I would normally say it might be a coin toss...but…Daryl here, he ain't never claimed no woman before. So if this one trips his trigger…sorry Jensen, she's claimed."
Jensen backed up a little and Daryl glanced over his shoulder at Carol, her knife in her hand but a little more loosely held than before and her eyes still full of terror. But she wasn't speaking at the moment and Daryl was thankful for that. He hadn't had time to sort any of this out at all…but the one thing he did know was that he didn't want them knowing he was personally acquainted with her until he was sure what that might mean to the group.
"Let me go," Carol called out finally. "I don't have anything for you…"
Jensen chuckled from where he stood.
"She wants to be turned loose," Jensen said. "I say that's what we oughta do…turn her loose…just like she wants…"
Daryl stood there, looking back and forth between Carol and Jensen both. She was nodding her head, agreeing with Jensen, but she didn't know what the hell Daryl knew about the fabric of the man. If they turned her loose right now…let her go wherever the hell it was that she thought she was going…Jensen would find a way to get away from the group. And when he caught up to her…there wouldn't be Daryl and Joe nearby to keep him from doing what he wanted to do anyway.
Joe chuckled at Jensen, though, before Daryl could say anything, because Joe knew that Jensen's character could be questionable…though he always managed not to get caught red headed in anything he did…and he always managed to have some kind of explanation that they couldn't prove without witnesses.
"Now…now…" Joe said, looking toward Carol. "Ain't nobody here gonna hurt'cha…we just gon' let Daryl here have a lil' talk with ya about what we're willin' to offer you…don't that sound nice?"
"Daryl?" Carol said, the word coming out caught between question and statement.
Joe nodded his head.
"That's right…this here's Daryl," Joe said, clapping Daryl on the shoulder. Daryl did his best to give her a look that would beg her not to give away the fact that they were previously acquainted and he hoped she understood. "He's gonna talk with ya…that's all…just talk."
Carol lowered her knife the rest of the way, but still held it in her hand, her brow furrowed with concern.
"Back off me," Daryl said after a minute. "I'ma talk to her an' I don't need ya asses breathin' down my neck…go find ya shit…"
Joe laughed. He seemed to be finding the thing as hilarious as he found it when Zane, so long ago, first claimed a woman. It made Joe proud or something…
"Ya heard the man…back up…give him his space," Joe announced. "We got a long list an' not that many hours left 'til we run outta daylight."
The group did disperse slowly and Daryl received another clasp on the shoulder from Joe before he felt like he was able to speak freely…before he felt like he was able to even verify for his senses that the woman standing in front of him was actually the woman that he'd been looking for all this time.
"I need ya ta pretend ya don't know me…" Daryl said, keeping his voice very low.
Carol furrowed her brow and shook her head slightly.
"I don't know you…" she said. "And you don't know me…"
And all at once Daryl knew it was her…and he tried to pretend that he didn't know what the words meant and that they didn't sting.
He nodded his head.
"Listen…" he said. "You gonna go with us…you gonna spend the night. We'll feed you, get you whatever we can that'cha want…you can have a bath…sleep safe. Tomorrow…at dawn…if you wanna go somewhere, I'll take you where you wanna go…we can talk more about it later…but for right now…you just gotta say you goin' with me."
Carol shook her head.
"I've been gone most of the day," she said. "I need…to go now, Daryl. I need to go…and I don't want to go with…your people."
Daryl sucked in a breath.
It would probably only be natural that she was concerned. They didn't like the warmest and most welcoming bunch, but Daryl thought that he could make it so that she was safe. He could make it so that nothing happened to her. And he already figured that wherever it was that he was taking her in the morning…he could probably just stay with her…and the group would never be none the wiser as to what had happened to him.
He shook his head.
"I know you scared," Daryl said. "But I ain't…nothin's gon' happen to ya…ya got my word. You just gotta play along."
Carol shook her head.
"I'm not scared of staying," she said. "I just need to go…I don't want to be gone too long…"
"Tomorrow…sun up…you'll get where the hell ya goin'!" Daryl growled, raising his voice a little bit. She looked at him like she wanted to slap him and he realized that maybe it was true…maybe she didn't know him…and maybe he didn't know her.
He backed up a second, took a breath, and leaned in close enough to her again to be sure that his words weren't travelling.
"If I let'cha go now…Jensen…he's gonna find a way ta catch up with ya…an' when he does…you ain't never gettin' wherever the hell ya goin'," Daryl said. "We can talk about it more later…when we get back ta the house we stayin' in…but for now ya just gonna have ta say you goin' an' ya happy 'bout it if you don't wanna die," Daryl said.
Carol continued to stare at him.
And he frowned because the way that this was going…the way she was looking at him…the things he was having to say right now. They were nothing like what he thought it would be like if he ever found her again.
He softened his voice again.
"I just…need ya ta trust me…" Daryl said.
Carol nodded her head and after a second she straightened up. She put her knife away.
"I trust you…" she said. "I can leave at dawn?"
Daryl nodded.
"With me as an escort," he said.
Carol nodded her head, though her face didn't entirely relax.
"I trust you…Daryl," Carol said again.
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
AN: So to those of you who still want more Cyreese/Careese, etc. I am planning 2 other fics right now…one of which will be complicated, but will have Cyreese/Careese and playing/hinting at some other stuff too…and probably is an end game Caryl story. The other is totally Cyreese/Careese (and similar to a type of "different ending" story to this one…not exactly but I mean in a similar vein/tone).
But as for this story, I warned about what has already happened and said that's all that was going to happen romantically between them, so I'm going forward with this one as I originally had it planned. I don't want to cause too much harm to the Caryl purists reading this story…and I don't want my readers not to trust me when I tell them what they can and can't expect. ;-) I'd hate to be like an AMC writer in that regard…LOL
So here we go…