Chapter Eleven
Carol could feel the branches whipping by her face but she didn't care. She held onto Daryl's hand and matched his pace. When they broke through the trees they didn't stop running. Everyone was just getting back from the water and Daryl finally let go of her hand. Rick and Shane spotted them and they ran the rest of the way to meet them.
"What's happened?" Rick asked.
Shane went straight to Carol and grabbed her hands and looked her over. "You alright?" He asked.
Carol pulled her hands out of his and nodded.
Daryl shot Shane a glare and then decided now wasn't the time. "We got a problem Rick." he said as he tried to catch his breath. "I think you two, and maybe T should come with us."
Rick and Shane shared a look. "Daryl, what do you mean? Has somethin' happened?" Rick asked
Daryl shook his head and groaned. "I killed Ed." he said quickly. "He was tryin' to strangle her to death and I found'em and I killed him."
They shared another look and then Shane tipped Carol's head back gently and gave a low whistle. He looked at Rick and nodded. "Take a look."
"Jesus Christ. Looks like he almost snapped her neck." Rick said as he shook his head sadly. He looked back up at Daryl. "Look, you did what you had to do, Daryl. The world ain't what it was. I don't have a problem with you protectin' our women. Our kids. As far as I'm concerned you did a good thing for all of us today."
"Goddamn it! I don't give a shit if you think I did this group a favor. I need you to get T and follow us. Ya'll don't listen worth shit! Come on!"
Rick yelled for T-dog who jogged over. "Daryl has somethin' he thinks we should see." Rick explained.
They made their way through the trees again. They were moving slower on their way back. Shane kept asking her if she was okay and although she appreciated his concern she really just wished he would shut up. She was fine. Daryl had asked her once and then he left her alone.
"When we get back maybe we can find you something for pain. I know that neck of yours has got to be killin' you." Shane said as he walked next to her.
"It isn't really that bad. I've had worse." She said as she slowed down. They were almost there and she was starting to get nervous.
The vinyl had held but the knots at the end were slipping. He would be out soon.
"What is this?" Rick breathed as they walked over to the struggling corpse.
"It's Ed." Carol said and then, without thinking, she twined her fingers through Daryl's and leaned into his side. She glanced up to make sure he was okay with it. He didn't look at her but he gave her fingers a squeeze.
"He's alive?" Shane asked, kneeling down next to it. But then they heard the growls and snarls. Shane jumped back a bit. "He was bit?" He gasped.
"No. that's why I wanted ya'll to see for yourselves." Daryl said.
"This doesn't make any sense." Rick said as he shook his head. "You're sure? He didn't have a mark on him?"
Carol shook her head. "No. Not that I saw."
"We need to put him down. Check the body just to make sure. If he wasn't bit then we're playin' a whole new ballgame." T-dog said as he looked over at Rick.
Daryl let go of her hand and swung his crossbow around. He looked at Rick and gave a nod. T-dog went for the ropes that was securing the tent above the things head. Daryl stepped closer, crossbow raised. When Ed's head broke free he snarled and reached for Daryl. Daryl was quick, placing an arrow in the center of his head and then finally Ed grew still.
Shane had came to Carol's side and put an arm around her shoulders. She didn't pull away from him but she did stay very still, keeping her hands clamped together in front of her. Daryl smirked down at Ed's corpse but it dropped from his face when he glanced over at Carol and Shane.
"Well, let's see what we're dealin' with here." Rick muttered as he took out a knife and cut through the vinyl.
"Jesus, Dixon. The hell's wrong with you?" Shane said as he looked up at Daryl and covered his mouth.
Rick and T-dog looked equally disgusted at the carnage before them.
T-dog shook his head. "Man, you ever heard of overkill? Cause this shit is some overkill."
Daryl just shrugged. "Guess he pissed me off." He glanced back up at Shane.
Rick knelt down in front of the body and Shane reluctantly joined him, giving Carol's shoulders and gentle squeeze as he left her standing there. T-dog stayed back.
They looked over the body quickly, even rolling it over onto it's side to check the back. Other than the wounds to the stomach and two to the side there was nothing.
"What'd you use, Daryl?" Rick asked.
"A tent stake." Daryl answered quickly.
T-dog gave him a grimace. "Couldn't you have just shot him?"
Daryl shrugged. "Didn't think about it at the time."
Rick rubbed his face with his hand and then him and Shane stood up. "No bites. Not even a scratch."
They all stood in silence for a few long minutes and then finally Daryl walked over and started dragging the body towards the hole. T-dog helped him move it to the edge and then Daryl kicked the body in. It made a sickening sound when it hit the bottom.
"Let's head back to camp and figure out what we're suppose to tell the others." Rick said as Daryl picked up the shovel and started filling up the grave.
"Carol, you comin'?" Shane asked.
Carol shook her head. "Just wait for me back at camp. I need to tell Sophia myself."
The men all nodded and walked away.
It didn't take Daryl long to fill in the hole. It wasn't that deep and he worked pretty fast. When he was done he slammed the shovel into the soft earth and leaned against it. He met her eyes and held them for a long moment.
Carol didn't know why he had told them all that he was the one that had killed Ed. She was thankful that he did. She couldn't stand the thought of them knowing that she was the one to do that. He finally grabbed the shovel and walked towards her.
"Thanks." She said as she turned towards camp.
He glanced at her. "For what?"
"For lying for me. And for burying my dead husband for me."
He elbowed her in the arm and smiled. "That's what friends are for. Buryin' bodies and stuff."
"And I'm sorry for what I said earlier. About... stuff."
"Stuff?" He smiled and turned his head, back to the old Daryl. She could see the blush creeping up his neck.
"Yeah. I was just angry. All that came out wrong."
He looked at her briefly and then focused on the trees in front of him. When they got back to camp everyone was gathered around the big fire pit once more. They weren't met by any curious glances. Everyone was quiet. Sophia was sitting with Carl. When she spotted them coming she jumped up and ran towards them.
"Rick said you needed to talk to me about something." Sophia said, looking back and forth between the two of them.
Daryl was about to walk away but Carol caught his hand. She expected him to pull away but he didn't. He looked at her warily. "This ain't my place, Carol." He said quietly.
"Please?" Carol whispered and he took a deep breath and stepped closer, not letting go of her hand.
"What's happened?" Sophia worriedly. "What happened to your neck?"
"Your daddy happened, honey." Carol said gently. "And then..."
Carol lost her voice. She didn't know how to say it. She knew that Sophia was afraid of Ed but when all was said and done, Ed was still her father. This could really hurt her. She glanced up at Daryl, knowing he would be able to read the panic in her face. She wasn't sure what she wanted from him. But he looked at her, bit his bottom lip and then looked at Sophia.
"I had to kill Ed, kid. It was him or your momma. He's dead."
Carol was shocked for a second but she had looked to him for help and this was his way of helping. She should have expected it. She glanced at Sophia, expecting the worst but she was surprised to see Sophia just nod at him.
"Are you okay?" Carol asked.
Sophia's eyes were wide but she didn't look as upset as Carol feared she would. She was looking at Daryl and Daryl was looking at her. "You saved my mom?"
Daryl glanced at Carol and then rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and then nodded.
Sophia nodded. "Thanks, Daryl."
Daryl didn't look as surprised as Carol felt. "Are you sure your okay? Do you want to talk about it or..."
"No. I'm kind of sad that I don't feel as bad as I should. Does that make sense? I wish I had a dad I could love." She shrugged. "But I don't. We're safe now and so I feel okay about that."
Carol was speechless. Her eyes filled with tears as Sophia walked away. "What kind of man does that make him? For his own daughter to feel relieved that he's gone. She thinks you killed her father and she thanked you? And what kind of mom does that make me? To stay with somebody like that?" She wasn't really asking him. She just had to ask the questions out loud.
He didn't give her an answer either. He must have known there really wasn't one to give. She had failed her daughter. She had been weak and even though she had gotten rid of him, it was too late. Sophia was unable to feel any sense of loss. She was appalled at herself for what she had done. The way she had done it. But she was glad Ed was gone. But her daughter? She was just a child.
"Come on." He gestured towards the group that was still sitting around the now blazing fire. The clouds were still heavy and low and it was bringing an unseasonable chill to the air.
He didn't let go of her hand, even when some of them looked up at them. Andrea and Amy smiled. Daryl sat down in the grass since all the chairs were taken and Carol sat with him, he still hadn't let go of her hand. She knew what the others probably thought but she didn't care anymore. She needed that comfort that he was offering and she was going to take it no matter what everyone else thought.
Dale was ushering Sophia and Carl into the R.V.. Rick waited for him to come take his seat with Amy and Andrea before he started talking. He told them about what happened to Ed. Everyone flashed Daryl a look but in every set of eyes him and Carol met there was relief. Not one person would mourn the man. Even as awful as Merle Dixon was, his brother had loved him. That said a lot about Ed.
It wasn't long, though, until fear was the main emotion that was written on the faces of everyone in their group. When Rick swore that Ed didn't have a bite or scratch on him it was like that climactic scene in a horror movie. A collective shock that turned quickly into fear.
Andrea wrapped her arms around Amy like she was just a small child and Amy clung to her, her blue eyes as large and frightened as Andrea's were. "What does this mean?" Andrea asked finally. "Does it mean that when we die then that will happen to us too?"
"We don't know that. We don't know what this means yet." Rick said in a comforting voice. "Let's just think about it for tonight. Set our tents back up and if the weather is any better we can head out to the CDC in the morning. We might find answers there."
They all went their separate ways then. Daryl was getting his tent back out of the back of the truck when Andrea approached her. "You okay?" She asked.
Carol nodded. "I am. I was a little freaked out at first but I'm okay now."
Andrea looked towards the truck and then back to Carol. "Daryl didn't kill Ed, did he?"
Carol didn't answer. She just looked away.
"And he took the blame just in case there would be any trouble." Andrea smiled.
Carol looked up. "I told you. There's a lot more to him than what everyone see's."
Andrea just nodded. "You're right. I'm glad the two of you found a friend in one another."
Carol smiled back. "Me too."
After that the women got together and went down to the water for a bath. They were usually afraid that one of the men would try to sneak down but it never happened. Well, it did but Carol wasn't down there that day. When it was bath day Dale stayed on the R.V. And watched the men. There was one time Shane made his way down, pretending to have not known what they were down there doing but they all knew he was lying.
Carol found herself feeling a little separated from the rest of the women. She didn't have much to say to them even though they all had questions for her about Daryl. Especially Lori.
"Shane said that you were in his tent this morning." Lori pressed. As she toweled herself off.
"I was. It was raining in my tent." Carol said lamely. She was getting tired of this really quick.
"So, did anything happen?" She pressed.
"Yeah. We slept." Carol said as she slipped a tank top over her head.
"Well, you guys seemed pretty cozy earlier today."
Andrea handed Carol her boots and frowned at Lori. "It's not all that uncommon for a man and a woman to be friends, Lori. You should know that."
Lori shot her a dirty look. "I'm just asking."
"And she answered you already." Andrea snapped.
"Do you got somethin' you want to say to me?" Lori asked harshly.
Andrea shoved a bottle of lotion into Carol's hands and then put her hands on her hips. "Actually yeah. I think that she's had a pretty rough day and maybe you should stop with the twenty questions. Or at least ask the one's you're actually curious about."
Carol sniffed the lotion Andrea had handed her. She wasn't sure what it was but it smelled like Heaven in a bottle so she took the liberty of using it since Andrea had handed it to her. She watched the two women square off as she rubbed it into her skin.
"And what question would that be, Andrea?" Lori asked as she glared at the woman.
"Just ask her if she's as interested in Shane as he is her. That's what you want to know, isn't it. You want to know that Carol's taken already."
Carol put the lotion back in Andrea's bag.
"Oh, come on." Lori scoffed. "That's just ridiculous."
Andrea shoved a bottle of body spray into Carols hand next but she never took those angry eyes off of Lori. Carol sniffed the cap and it smelled just like the lotion so she sprayed some on, still silently watching the drama before her.
"Then maybe you should just leave her alone. Like I said she's had a hell of a day and she's already answered your questions."
The other women were coming along now so Andrea and Lori let it drop. If there was one thing Carol hated it was drama. She couldn't wait to get back to camp and away from this. Especially when it certainly had everything to do with her.
