I sit in Hershel's vacated seat with a huff. Daryl appears in front of me and looks down at me with a smirk.
"You comin'?" He asks
"Where?" I ask confused.
"To sweep the lower levels" He says
I nod slowly, is he trying to distract me? I think he is.
"I want to come too" Carl says
I'm hesitant but I promised to treat him like a man so I nod. Andy and Oscar come too. Maggie and Glenn go for the run and Nessa and Beth stay with the baby and Hershel when he gets back.
Weapons out, we walk through the lower levels as quietly as possible. Nothing for a while until Oscar flashes a light over a door that is weakly being pushed.
"Check it out, man. Must have missed it last night." Oscar says, looking ready to attack
"It's probably just one or two of 'em. Don't look they got much fight." Daryl says poking at the door a little "They ain't going nowhere. We'll take care of it on the way back."
Andy and Oscar go back to take one corridor and I wait for Carl and Daryl to take the one we're in. Carl is looking off into space as Daryl approaches him. Daryl lets out a low whistle and says "Come on"
"You know, my mom, she liked her wine. She liked to smoke in bed. Virginia Slims." Daryl starts as he peaks through a door. I look at him confused, what's he getting at?
"I was playing out with the kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. We heard sirens getting louder. They jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know, hoping to see something worth seeing." He peeks through another door
"I ran after them, but I couldn't keep up. I ran around a corner and saw my friends looking at me. Hell, I saw everybody looking at me. Fire trucks everywhere. People from the neighborhood. It was my house they were there for. It was my mom in bed burnt down to nothing." My eyes widen as he speaks
"That was the hard part." Daryl speaks directly to Carl "You know, she was just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her. People said it was better that way. I don't know. Just made it seem like it wasn't real, you know?"
I don't know wither to smile or not, obviously it's a tragic story and this is the first of me hearing it but at the same time, this is Daryl's way of trying to get Carl to open up and that's admirable
"I shot my mom. She was out. Hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real." Carl says. I don't even know what to think "Sorry about your mom." Carl says to Daryl
"I'm sorry about yours." Daryl replies and get grips Carl's shoulder.
This time I do smile a little. That is all I wanted Rick to do. My smile falls off my face, Daryl and I are becoming Carl's and the baby's parents and I don't like it.
Oscar and Andy are behind us now as we continue down the halls. "Oh! That's what I'm talking about!" Oscar says then disappears into a cell.
We follow him and I see him holding a pair of slippers. I'm confused. So is Daryl.
"What the hell do you need slippers for?" Daryl asks
"You know, end of the day, relaxing." Oscar replies.
I let out a little giggle but it is overshadowed by a growl. I spin in fright and everyone fires their weapon on the one sneaky fucker of a walker.
It falls and Daryl lets out a breath "All right."
Daryl flicks his flashlight over the walker and I notice somethings off about it "Must have been in the cell at the end. We checked everywhere else." Oscar says
Daryl pulls out the knife protruding from the walker's neck "That's Carol's knife."
Silence falls over us all. Oh Carol. Was this the walker that got you? I put my hand on Daryl's shoulder "Come on, let's go back."
Daryl grips my hand tightly and nods before standing up. He keeps my hand in a near bone breaking grip all the way back to the cell block. Daryl lets go as we enter the cell block and I head over to Hershel who is holding the baby.
"Everything okay?" I ask him
He looks at me for a moment then shakes his head. "The phone?" I ask
He nods in reply. I sigh and turn to talk to Daryl but he's gone. "Daryl?" I say out loud.
Everyone looks at me confused "He was right behind me" Andy says
I rush out of the cell block and back the way we came, ignoring the calls that follow me. I find Daryl near the door that keeps opening and shutting. He's sitting on the floor, knife in hand and hitting it against the concrete looking miserable as hell.
"Baby?" I say quietly.
He looks up and the look on his face shocks me. I rush over to him and drop between his legs and throw my arms around his neck, holding his head to my chest. His arms wrap around me in a steel grip and he pulls me even harder into him.
I stroke his hair saying "Daryl, you need to talk to me. That's what I'm here for. You feel shit you talk to me. I love you"
His hands ball into fists, gripping the back of my shirt tightly but he says nothing. The door keeps opening and closing over and over and over again. Daryl pushes me back suddenly and jumps to his feet. He pulls the walker that is blocking the door out of the way and flings it open. Knife raised he prepares to pounce when suddenly he drops his hand. Confused I get off the ground and walk over to him. I gasp loudly when I see a weak but very much alive Carol sitting on the floor.
"Oh, Carol!" I mutter and rush around Daryl and kneel in front of her.
She looks at me with relief but she doesn't talk, she's probably too dehydrated to speak.
"Daryl" I say and stand back.
Daryl leans down and picks Carol up and we head back to the cell block. He carries Carol up to the cell block