Here is the next chapter. Hope you are still with me. Don't forget to tell me, what you think.
By the way ... they are still not mine *sigh*
I'm just borrow them fom AMC and Rob Kirkman to have a little fun ;-)
They sat there for a few minutes. Carol leaned hard against his back. Only the rain and the growling disturbed the peace. Daryl wiped his tears away, while his face hardened. She flinched when he suddenly jumped up. He stared down at her and the expression on his face frightened her.
"I'm done losing people," he said harshly.
She didn't know how to react so she just looked at him. Her eyes were sad and tears were still running down her face.
"Ya better stay away from me, woman."
His words broke her heart. He was pulling away from her again, shutting her out. He'd always been a quiet man and only opened up to her recently. She could see the pain and the suffering in his eyes. Carol still didn't react. The slender woman just kneeled in front of him, waiting for him to calm down. But he didn't calm down. He walked away from her, kicking some cans on the ground. Carol waited a few minutes and followed him into the backroom.
"Didn't you hear me? Stay away from me. You better off without me," he hissed.
"No, I'm not leaving," she said shortly in a calm voice.
"What do you want from me? You wanna die? Everyone near me is dying! If you stay near me your chances are good to be next!" he yelled at her.
"You can say or do what ever you want, Daryl but I won't leave you. And you are not going to shut me out again."
"It's not your call to make, woman. You'll be better off with Tyreese or Rick. I'm no good for ya. Not good for anyone. Gonna bring ya back to Rick and then I'm leaving. Better chance for you to survive," he spit angrily.
"First of all, I have a name. Stop calling me woman! You can't push me away anymore. I won't let that happen again. We are going to Charleston and we are going together. You and me, remember? I'm not going without you," she said, getting calmer with every word.
"Don't wanna see you die. Don't wanna put a knife into your head. Don't wanna live without you. Don't ..."
He was interrupted by her action. It took Carol only one big step to stand right in front of him. She grabbed his collar and pressed her lips firmly on his. At first, he wanted to draw back from her but she didn't let him. She held firmly on to his collar and he finally wrapped his arms around her slender waist. He returned the kiss hungrily and demandingly. After a few seconds she pulled away, gasping for air.
"Sorry, you okay?" he asked shyly.
"Don't be sorry, Daryl. You just took me by surprise," she answered still a little bit breathless.
They stared at each other and a sad smile crept over her face. This was not the right place and the right time to act on their feelings. Sasha just died. They both were still in shock and just needed the body contact. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and pressed her to his chest.
"I'm so sorry I scared you. Didn't mean to. Ya know that right? I'm not good at this but I'm trying. I really am and I want this to work," he whispered sadly.
"You didn't scare me, Daryl. But you did hurt me because you wanted to leave me and shut me out again."
Daryl felt uncomfortable and sad. He didn't want to hurt her. At heart, he just didn't want to lose her. Sasha's death had shaken both of them to the core.
"We have to get back to the others. Don't know how to tell Tyreese," Carol sighed, with tears glistening in her eyes.
"I'll do it. I'm going to tell him what happened."
They broke the embrace and went back to the sales room. The sight of Sasha's mangled body caused Carol a wave of violent nausea and she had to fight the urge to throw up. The rain had stopped and the sun had broken through the clouds. The room was bathed in soft light. It was like a bad nightmare but no one would wake up from it. Daryl took his bow into his hands while looking out of the window. In the distance he saw the van approaching the gas station, driving at walking pace along the street. This was their chance to get out alive. There were only a few walkers left in front of the door.
"C'mon! Help me open that damn door," he yelled at Carol, who was still standing at Sasha's side.
She hurried to him and they pulled the shelf aside. Daryl took the door handle in his hand and just nodded. She knew immediately what he had in mind and grabbed her knife from the ground. He opened the door and began shooting. Carol ran out, stabbing a few walkers on her way to the van. Daryl followed closely behind her. Meanwhile, Rick and Michonne jumped out off the van, helping their friends clear the path. When they jumped into the back of the van, Tyreese immediately knew something was wrong.
"Where's Sasha?" Tyreese asked, already knowing the answer.
His eyes grew big when the couple stayed silent. Carol shook her head slowly, barely perceptibly. The big man rested his head in his hands and sobbed uncontrollably. All of them were petrified.
"I'm so sorry," Carol whispered, sitting beside him.
Tyreese closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Carol. Tears were running down his cheeks. The petite woman felt so small in his arms and returned the embrace. After Michonne and Rick had put down all the walkers, they joined the group in the back of the van. Rick closed the door behind him, breathing heavily.
"What happened?" the former cop asked.
"We got overrun. Sasha just took off and I couldn't see her, cause of that fucking rain. We didn't hear them coming. She was already dead when we found her," Daryl said in a broken voice.
"We ran into a herd too. Barely made it back. We have to get out of here. They are all over the city. Damn it! We were able to find a few gallons."
"Let's get outta here," Glenn said tensely.
"I wanna see my sister," Tyreese demanded, still sobbing.
"Not a good idea. She's gone, Tyresse," Daryl whispered.
"We have to bury her decently. I can't leave her here. She's my sister, man."
"Sorry to say that Tyreese but we can't take her with us. No chance to bury her in the city," Rick explained.
Tyreese just nodded and held on to Carol. She stroked his back, trying to calm him down. Rick and Michonne jumped out of the van and got back into the drivers cabin. They had to leave Augusta as fast as possible. No city was safe anymore, that was for sure. Rick started the engine and took off with screeching tires.