I'm really ill! But I wanted to write another chapter :)
Rebecca couldn't watch him walk away, not again. She knew he'd choose Merle, he had to, Daryl felt a lot of responsibility towards his brother. Knowing that didn't make it any easier. Maggie squeezed her hand, trying to comfort her. It didn't work but Rebecca appreciated the gesture.
The prison was huge, daunting and awfully grey. It didn't fill her with hope in the same way Woodbury had. It seemed depressing, but it was safe and that was all that mattered.
She saw Carol and Carl open the gates to let them through. Rebecca slid out of the car, still clutching her ribs when Carol enveloped her in a hug.
"He found you." Carol whispered "He made himself sick looking for you, he regretted letting you go." Carol looked around and back at Rebecca, her expression confused and worried.
"He couldn't have regretted it that much, he left with Merle." Rebecca choked out.
Carol's eyes swam with pain, she cared about Daryl too, it hurt Rebecca all the more to see it.
"I'll show Rebecca around." Carol called to the rest of the group, she gripped Rebecca's hand and lead her towards the prison.
"This is... was Daryl's place." Carol informed Rebecca, gesturing towards the empty cell.
"Seems... nice?" Rebecca whispered.
"You can rest here, you look tired." Carol smiled.
Rebecca nodded slowly, she walked towards the worn out bed and lowered herself on to it.
"You've been through a lot." Carol said sitting beside her.
"We all have, it's not important." Rebecca didn't want to talk about this, not to Carol, not yet.
"It's very important. You should talk about it."
"What's there to talk about? You all turned on me, Daryl abandoned me, I found a dog, almost died, got saved, my dog died then everyone I thought I could trust tried to kill me." The words tumbled out before Rebecca could stop them.
"I'm very sorry." Carol soothed, rubbing her back.
"Me too... me too." Rebecca muttered, resting her face in her hands.
"Lie down, have a sleep, I'll bring you some clothes and get Hershel to take a look at your injuries." Carol ordered, pushing herself up from the bed.
"What about showing me around?" Rebecca asked.
"That can wait, you need to rest first."
Carol pulled an old curtain across the entrance to the cell and left Rebecca alone.
The cell was small, but she could tell it had been Daryl's. She pulled the knife out of her make shift belt and laid it on the small table next to the bed. She stood up and untied the belt, throwing the rope to the corner of the room. She managed to peel the dirty dress off her small frame and stepped out of it. She felt disgusting, dirty, all she wanted was a nice hot bath.
She walked over to a pile of clothes on the floor, picking up the first shirt she found she held it to her face. She closed her eyes and inhaled Daryl's scent. He smelled like the forest and dirt.
"Perfect." She mumbled to herself. She pulled the shirt and gingerly climbed in to the uncomfortable bed.
Daryl's smell was all over the bed, it covered her and filled her up. She let her eyes slide closed and fell in to the deepest sleep she'd had since Dixon's death. In her dreams Daryl was whispering in her ear, telling her all the things she wanted to hear. His strong arms surrounded her and she felt happy, truly happy, for the first time in a long time.
Rebecca's eyes shot open upon hearing a slight cough from outside the cell.
"Rebecca?" Hershel called
"Come in." She answered, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"I heard you're injured? There isn't much I can do but I can take a look." He smiled gently at her, she couldn't help but smile back. Hershel reminded her of her own father, warm and kind.
"I think I'm just bruised." Rebecca explained.
"Let's take a look at those ribs."
Rebecca lifted her shirt carefully and Hershel inspected them, poking gently.
"Hmm, I doubt they're broken, probably just bruised like you said. Any other injuries?"
"Just a few cuts and scrapes, nothing to worry about." Rebecca pointed to her face.
"Let me know if they start giving you any bother." Hershel said as he squeezed her hand.
"Thank you."
"Hershel!" Rick yelled making Rebecca jump.
"We better get down there." Hershel smiled, standing up and making his way out of the cell.
Rebecca stood up and found a pair of jeans Carol must have left for her. She pulled them on slowly, careful to not agitate any of the cuts on her legs and limped after Hershel down to the rest of the group.
"We'll be out numbered with Daryl gone and Oscar dead." Carol states, biting her lip nervously.
"We could use some reinforcements." Hershel mentions, tilting his head towards a door.
Rebecca frowned, not knowing who the people in the next room were or why they were being kept separate from the rest of the group.
Rebecca couldn't understand what had changed in Rick, he seemed manic, she could only assume it had something to do with Lori not being there.
"What do you want from me?" Rick screamed, waving his gun in the air, staring at nothing. "I can't help you! Get out!"
She glanced at Tyreese and his group who looked terrified as they backed away from him.
"You need to go outside." Glenn ordered, pointing at Tyreese.
Rebecca edged out of Rick's way as he frantically paced the common room.
She looked around the room for answers but everyone looked as afraid as she felt. Rick was loosing it and the Govorner could turn up any moment.