Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

Khalil Gibran

Separation

The leaves were beginning to weep off of the trees around the compound and for some reason Daryl found great pleasure of mulching them up with the mower. Falling leaves only served to remind him that he had been here for almost three weeks. Three weeks away from Carol. He hadn't been separated that long from her before.

He had noticed her at the quarry for all the wrong reasons. She had been bending over to pick up some laundry one day as he came back from hunting and he noticed her ass. Then, he noticed her husband noticing that he was checking out his wife. He scowled at her fat asshole of a husband, but he remembered her ass. Just full enough to make him want to grab her and pull her toward him.

Daryl remembered that he began to come up with reasons why not to notice anything about that woman. She was married to a bully who was leaving bruises on her. She was too weak to stand up for herself or to protect her daughter. Her hair was too short and she was scared of her own shadow. She and her little girl would be dead before the end of summer. They didn't even have the right kind of shoes for survival. Not his business either.

She was pretty though, like a wildflower that you might overlook until it peeped out at you from a roadside or along a creek. Blue eyes just a shade icier than chicory petals. She had pretty ways too. Always sweet to her little girl and she always thanked him when he brought game back. Her face lit up when she smiled. She didn't smile much but it was like the sun coming out after a thunderstorm when she did. Made you feel like there was a rainbow somewhere.

Never been this long without her. Saw her every day at the quarry. Not that he was looking but it wasn't that big a place. Asshole husband got beaten up by Shane and then was on the walker buffet that night. She and her daughter almost died before he got back. He had slept close to the rv that night because they were in there.

Why not admit it now? Merle being gone had scared the fuck out of him but there was also an awareness that he was suddenly in charge of his own life. He was free to invent who he wanted to be. He wanted to be a good man, and a good man would protect those who needed protection Carol and Sophia. He hadn't put into words but he began to drift closer to them. Daryl just knew that he felt better when he was close enough to put a bolt into anything that might harm them.

He knew that and yet he had wandered too far away from them on the highway. The walker herd had forced all of them to hunker down until it passed. Only Sophia had gotten scared and ran into the woods. Rick went after her and he hadn't followed Rick. That was on him. He might have saved her but he had trusted Rick too much and not trusted himself enough.

He stayed close to Carol after that. Days turned to weeks and then weeks to months and then it was summer again. He had tired of chasing after the Governor and being away from the prison. Tired of missing Carol.

She had laughed one morning and told him, "Remember I liked you first."

Daryl always came up something to say hours after he needed to be saying it. He had said, "Stop" and he wished he had said the truth, that he had liked her before he even knew her and he loved her now and forever. He wished he had said that. Just so she would have known that when the bad stuff happened.

He wasn't a religious man, but he knew that some Power had brought them back together. He had thanked that Power when he saw her in the woods outside Terminus. Thanked him more for keeping her alive than keeping him alive.

That day he had forgot all about his aversion to touch. He swept her close to him and whirled her around and buried his face in her neck. He claimed her that day and the rest of the group knew it. The only one that didn't know it was Carol. She was too deep in her sorrow to know much of anything. She would have wandered too far from him after that but he kept himself close to her.

Alexandria had given them a place to finally be together. They had both had more than their share of bad sex. Carol hadn't needed to tell him that Ed had been a brute and that sex between them was about humiliating and hurting her. He just knew that. His bad sex was different. He never like to hurt anyone but he never went back for seconds either. Quick impersonal sex. He always used a condom and made no false promises. Joyless.

He had followed Carol up those stairs almost afraid that was all he could give any woman. Quick joyless sex and then an even quicker run for the border. She had smiled at him that day and he had felt joy even before they kissed. Afterwards she had buried her face in his shoulder and wept. He understood and rubbed her back gently.

The second time was better than the first. Better because he trusted himself not to hurt her and because she knew that Ed was fully erased from her life . This time was all about pleasure and not so much in a rush. Afterwards they talked as they held each other. Some part of him wanted to put his pants on and run. The other part wanted to stay and enjoy looking and touching naked Carol. Naked Carol won the round. She cuddled close to him and teased him unmercifully for "Holding out" on her. He had laughed and asked her, "So no more slow burn?"

"I think our slow burn days are over." She kissed him then and straddled him, "I got something else on my bucket list."

Daryl enjoyed the feeling of her wet pussy on his stomach and her boobs were right there to enjoy too. "Wasn't oral sex enough? Got to be on top too?" Damn, if wasn't he was grinning at her. Fearful Carol had vanished and flirty Carol was moving against his junk just a bit. He loved flirty Carol. He tried to focus his sight on her eyes instead of her boobs.

"If you're not up for another round." Damn woman was kissing him and her tongue was playing with his tongue. He just let her have her way with him because he wanted to enjoy Carol taking her pleasure from him. His dick was voting by standing up and he could see a little hesitation in Carol's eyes. He pushed his fingers into her pussy and rubbed her clit. "If you want it, come and get it."

It seemed to take forever to get the rhythm right but it was the first time he had ever laughed when having sex. Carol laughed too. Guess sex doesn't have to be such serious business. Most everything else was serious in this fucked up world. The happiest day of his life.

Daryl finished the lawn and pushed the mower back to the steel framed building that housed all the tools and machines needed to keep the outside of this place looking pre-Turn. There was a treeless space around the building that was only mowed once a month. Just enough to keep the weeds from taking over. He gave a yearning glance at the tree line. His waiting was almost over; tomorrow he would be given an injection that might cure him, kill him, or do nothing at all.

TWD TWD TWD

He and Rick went to dinner together and met Jesse, Elise, and Christie as always. Rick and Elise always set across the table from one another and verbally sparred with one another. Too damn much alike, those two. Rick was pissed off because Elise was in charge. Elise liked to piss Rick off by acting like she was in charge. Daryl figured that they had that unfulfilled sexual tension thing going.

Elise wasn't anything like Lori, or Michonne, or Jessie. She reminded him of Andrea. Both were used to competing with men and not likely to let them win to soothe their wounded pride. Elise would leave the compound with her troops from time to time. Rick was always in a foul mood until she was back.

Elise had been gone for two days and Rick had been quiet at dinner until she showed up. Daryl didn't miss that relieved look that Rick gave Elise. She had unexpectedly smiled back.

Jesse had looked at the Rick and Elise and winked at Daryl. "Everything okay out there?"

Rick stopped eating and waited for Elise to answer. Jesse was giving Rick the start to a conversation with Elise. Jesse had this ability to give people a push to what they wanted. Daryl figured if Jesse had been at the prison then he and Carol would have been worse than Maggie and Glenn.

Elise took a drink of sweet tea, "We've been in the District trying to keep the last remnants of humanity from killing each other. Hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys."

Rick squirmed a bit, "What did you do?"

"Told them that if they didn't play pretty I was bringing in bombers and blow them all to Kingdom Come. We spent two days arguing over the terms for a lasting cease fire. I am trying to relocate all of them to Fort Belvoir for the winter and then next spring moving them into the Shenandoah Valley to become farmers. We have a few farming settlements that close to self-sufficient and they can join existing settlement or start new ones." Elise looked cautiously at the spaghetti and took a small bite.

Rick asked, "Who protects the farming settlements?"

Elise looked up, "They protect themselves. The soldiers find housing developments close to farmland and they build fences around the houses. Steel barns are built close to the houses. They raise crops and animals. Fort Belvoir never fell to the zombies. A group of soldiers maintained control a few buildings. Gradually they cleared it out and built stout fences. They take survivors in survivors and teach them how to survive."

After dinner everyone went back to the library. Jesse brought out a couple of bottles of wine and everyone toasted to tomorrow's vaccine test. Christie had taken a sip of the wine and then disappeared to do rounds.

Jesse and Daryl discussed airplanes. Jesse was a pilot who had owned a charter airplane company in Virginia before the turn. Jesse promised to teach him how to fly. "It's safer than a motorcycle."

Daryl noticed that Rick and Elise had disappeared with one of the bottles of wine. Jesse shook his head, "Elise hasn't got laid since the Turn. She likes Rick even if he is an uptight asshole."

"Rick likes Elise even if she is bossy and overbearing."

The two men gave each other a fist bump and went back to talking planes and flying.

Daryl woke up early the next morning when Rick came into the room. He decided to give him hell, "Ooh, the Walk of Shame."

Rick sat down. "More like the Walk of Weariness. Trust me, Elise is a woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to tell you. Damn, no matter what happens today? I'll have a smile on my face."

"So is this something serious or just I might die tomorrow fuck?"

Rick shook his head, "I have two kids and Alexandria that need me. Elise made it clear that she still has work to do." Rick was being all cool like he got laid every night instead of every couple of years.

Daryl looked at him sternly, "Did you practice safe sex? Do I have to have the sex talk with you?"

Rick looked cornered, "She just had a couple of out of date condoms, Way out of date. So it was probably not real safe, but it was worth it."

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl and Rick were put in a hospital room together and given hospital gowns. Daryl went into the bathroom to change and Rick was already in bed when he came back. Rick positioned a sheet over himself and smirked, "You look ridiculous".

Daryl slid into bed and covered himself, "Carol would be giving me hell if she was here. Let's get this over fast so we can go home."

Christie and Dr. Koch were in the room when they were given the vaccine. They assured them they were going to be monitored carefully every step of the way. Daryl felt like he was the prize pig at the county fair and he really wanted some pajama bottoms.

Christie maneuvered her chair between the two hospital beds. "No one has had a serious reaction so far from this batch of vaccine. We tested your blood yesterday. You still have the active virus. We will continue to take regular blood tests to check for any change." She checked the monitors surrounding them. "Your temperatures are normal. Both of your vitals are fine. You know that you will probably run a fever and might feel ill for a few days."

Jesse came by with a book about old airplanes. Daryl skimmed through the book. Rick went to sleep and Daryl saw by Christie's grin when Rick started snoring that she knew about Rick and Elise.

Eventually Christie went back to her other patients and a male nurse checked them every fifteen minutes.

Daryl hated being in a hospital. He never got sick. He was just taking up room that a sick person might need and he expressed that sentiment to every nurse that happened by. Christie came in and told him to stop harassing the medical staff. He shut up then.

Christie and Jesse came by after dinner. Rick was pouting because Elise hadn't been by to see him, but he cheered up a bit when Christie mentioned that she was going back to the District today.

Daryl was getting a headache. Too many people and no privacy. Christie noticed something on one of the monitors and came over to him and put her cool hand on his forehead, "You're running a fever, Daryl. It's normal, but you may have a bad night."

Daryl woke up the next morning. He had been out of his fucking head last night and he felt like shit today.

Rick was eating breakfast, "Feeling better?"

Daryl gave him the side eye. "I feel terrible. What happened to me?"

Rick buttered his toast, "You were delirious for hours last night. You were also hilarious. Little fever and your mouth goes into overdrive."

Fuck. "What did I say?" Maybe Rick was just torturing him because he had razzed him over Elise.

"You wanted Carol. For lots of reasons and not all because you were sick. I don't know if I'll be able to look her in the face again after last night." Rick chewed his toast. "And I certainly can't look at her ass or her boob either."

Daryl blushed but managed a blustery response, "You don't need to be looking at her ass or her boobs. Get your own woman and look at her."

Rick was quiet for a moment, "I have apologized to Carol for what I did to her. I'm sorry, I know now how much I hurt you when I sent her away. Last night you kept calling for me to help you find her, that you had looked everywhere but you couldn't find her. I promise you that I will never keep her from you again."

"I love her." First time he had told anyone but Carol that he loved her.

The male nurse came back in. "You feeling better? Fever's back to normal and I just need to take a blood test to see if the vaccine is going bye-bye." He took a vial of blood from each man and then paused at the door. "See you later, Pookie".

Daryl groaned and Rick howled.

Christie woke them up in the middle of the night. "Get dressed, we're getting the hell out of town before the big guys come in and take all the vaccine for themselves. Jesse and I are going with you."

Daryl and Rick dressed quickly and then all four of them moved down the silent hallways. Jesse led them downstairs. "Christie has the vaccine and I have some weapons secreted away. There is an emergency tunnel out of here. I found the original blueprints to this place in the library."

The tunnel entrance was concealed behind a storage cabinet and in a matter of minutes they had the door opened taking the time to pull the cabinet back to block the tunnel. The tunnel opened up into a cavern and Christie flicked on a flashlight. "We're on the back side of the compound. No one would see the light."

The road outside was covered with weeds and brush. Christie had a map and a compass and they headed south looking for a vehicle. Daylight found them twenty miles away and they found a place to rest in the woods. Jesse handed out water and food.

Christie leaned against a tree, "Your town needs a doctor and I need a new place to live. Jesse and I are cousins and we have done our part to find a cure. We're just going to make sure that the cure gets out there to everyone. I stayed long enough to learn how to make our own vaccine. It will take a while to make another batch, but once we get started we can give it out to the settlements in Virginia. We can make it available to the other labs too."

Daryl realized that he was part of something bigger than him getting home to Carol. He and Rick were going to help bring the vaccine to a lost and dying world. Rick turned to him and he saw the old Rick, the man who inspired a ragged band of refugees to take a prison filled with walkers. He nodded to Rick and his friend patted his shoulder.

Later that day they found a car with enough gasoline to make it back to Alexandria.

.