Chapter 25

"We need to get back," Daryl urged Aaron as they stood outside by the truck. "We're just, what? Waitin' on this guy to die?"

"We're waiting, because that's what his group needs. If we just leave him to die? You really want to do that?"

"No," Daryl muttered. "Just don't like being out here."

"You mean away from Carol?"

"Shut up."

"Hey, I get it. She's pregnant. You're having a family. That's great for you both. I don't like being away from Eric. But if we can get these people to safety? If we can build our numbers? I think that's worth it, don't you?"

"Sure," Daryl said with a shrug.

"You're good at this, you know?" Aaron asked. "Maybe Michonne should reconsider putting you on watch duty. Maybe you should do this permanently. Recruiting."

"Don't want that," Daryl muttered. "Got a family to look after, and I ain't willin' to be away from 'em anymore'n I have to."

"Understood," Aaron said with a nod. "I can't imagine what the two of you went through with the change and everything. Were you together when it happened? Did you find one another?"

"You always ask this many questions?" Daryl asked.

"What can I say? I'm an inquisitive guy. Sorry. I don't mean to sound nosy."

"S'alright," Daryl nodded.

"You're really not much of a talker, are you?"

"You figured that out?" Daryl snorted. Aaron shrugged.

"You fit in. Just so you know. If you were wondering. You and Carol? Everybody likes you." Daryl shrugged a little, clearly uncomfortable with all the praise.

The barn door opened, and Glenn came walking out, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"How's he doing?" Aaron asked.

"Still has a fever," Glenn murmured somberly. "It didn't take this long with Beth. Took longer with some of the others. It's different with everybody." Glenn eyed them both. "What was that look?"

"What look?" Daryl asked.

"When Rick mentioned his family. You both looked at each other like you knew something." Daryl and Aaron glanced at one another again. "Like that. What the hell is that?"

"Rick's family?"

"It's all he ever talks about. His wife, Lori. They had a son and a baby girl named Judith. All he ever wanted was to find them. When we found him outside of the hospital, some of us helped him. Some of us went to help him look for them, but they were gone."

"Is he awake?" Daryl asked.

"In and out," Glenn offered.

"Do you want me to…" Aaron started.

"Nah, I'll do it." The truth was, Daryl couldn't imagine being in the same situation as Rick. The idea of being separated from Carol for any length of time was horrifying. Being away from her now, he still had her in the back of his mind at all times. If it had been him, he'd have killed every walker from Atlanta to Alexandria trying to find her.

Daryl made his way to the door, pulling it open to find Rick in the stall they'd left him in. Hershel was keeping watch on him while rocking his grandson to sleep in his arms.

"How's he doin'?" Daryl asked.

"Fever's the same," Hershel said with a nod. "No worse though."

"That's good. Mind if I sit with him? Need to talk to him."

"Go on. He'll be needing more antibiotics in an hour. I'll come back then." Daryl just nodded, and he moved to trade places with Hershel, who'd been sitting on an old milking stood. Daryl crouched low, sitting down on it, taking a piece of straw and sticking it in the corner of his mouth, chewing it nervously.

"This town you're from," Rick started weakly, "how many people are there?"

"Ain't from there. Just got there, really," Daryl shrugged. "I'd say maybe forty, fifty. Growin' every day. Got babies on the way."

"So, you what? Go out, grab up survivors and bring 'em in."

"I don't do shit," Daryl muttered. "I ain't even s'posed to be here. Ain't my job. But yeah, I guess that's what they do. They give ya a choice, at least."

"What? Be safe or be eaten?"

"Guess so," Daryl replied.

"Why did you decide to go?"

"'Cause some things are more important than my own fucked up problems."

"You married?

"Not exactly," Daryl replied. "Maybe one day, if she wants. Got a kid on the way."

"Congratulations," Rick said with a cough. "Best feeling in the world, holding that baby in your arms for the first time."

"Rick," Daryl began, "I ain't here to have a heart-to-heart. You gotta know something. I don't know if it makes any difference to you, and I thought about not sayin' anything at all, since you…"

"Since I'm probably gonna die." Daryl nodded. "Whatever it is, seems important enough that you'd wanna come have a sit down chat, so just tell me."

"Your wife? Your kids, Carl and Judith?"

"What about them?" Rick asked, closing his eyes and flinching in pain when he shifted on the hay.

"They're in Alexandria." Rick's eyes snapped open.

"What did you just say?"

"Lori, Carl, Judith, and…Shane. He says he was your partner on the force. They're all in Alexandria. They think you're dead, man." Rick swallowed hard, blinking rapidly a few times as he processed the information.

"They're ok? They're…"

"They're fine, I guess. Live down the block from my house."

"All of them? Together." Daryl shifted uncomfortably now, dreading where the conversation was going. Rick sighed and pounded his fist against the side of the stall. Daryl watched him, watched the realization hit him that his family had survived and moved on without him, with Shane.

He started to sit up, and Daryl moved to stand.

"What are you doin'?" Rick said nothing, but he collapsed to his knees as soon as he stood. Daryl helped him back into the hay, and Rick turned to his side, facing the side of the stall.

"Leave me be."

"You need Hershel?"

"Just get out!" Rick hollered. And Daryl did as he asked. His stomach coiled into knots. He understood. He was pretty sure that if it had been him and Carol, and Carol had given up on him, assumed he was dead, he'd probably want to be dead. The thought of losing her in any way terrified him, and suddenly, all he wanted was to get back to Alexandria. Home. To her.

Carol had just finished her shift with the children, sending them home to each write a paragraph of what Alexandria meant to them and what they wanted to do when they grew up to contribute to the community. Her most eager student was Sam. He seemed to hang on her every word, while some of them barely paid her any attention. After all, she was new, and she was here bossing them around, but if she remembered correctly from her own school days, this was pretty much exactly the way substitute teachers were treated.

She was the teacher, basically. Every other day, Lori was with them, and she was the one that most of them were used to. Carl seemed to enjoy the days Carol worked with them, because at least the kids couldn't tease him that he was the teacher's pet.

She was exhausted, to say the least. Her back ached, and she had a headache. All she wanted was to go home and snuggle up in bed with Daryl, but Daryl wasn't home. He might not be home for a few days, and she hated that. She hated having nothing to do and having enough time on her hands that her mind could wander to all of the awful things that could happen to him while he was out there.

"Miss Carol?" Carol turned just as she was starting up the steps. She turned to face Sam, who apparently had followed her home.

"Hi Sam," she said tiredly.

"Can I ask you a question?" Oh, she was very tired. But she smiled and gave him a little nod before sitting down at the top of the porch steps. She patted the spot beside her, beckoning him to sit next to her, which he did, promptly.

"What is it, Sam?"

"I can't think of anything to write, and I was wondering what Alexandria means to you. I promise I won't steal your answers." Carol smiled at that.

"Honestly? I'm not entirely sure what it means to me yet," she mused. "I know I feel safe here. Safer than I did out there. I don't worry as much."

"What did you worry about out there? Besides the monsters, I mean."

"I worried about a lot of things. Where I would sleep next. My next meal. If Daryl was ok. The baby. Here? Here, I know I'll wake up in my own bed and I won't have to worry about finding something to eat, because I've got food waiting for me downstairs. There are people here. We have walls. We're safe from what's out there."

"So to you, Alexandria is a safe place, then?"

"I suppose so," Carol said with a little shrug. "I still worry about things. I worry when people leave. I worry they won't come back. I worry that someday…" She looked at the boy, seeing all the youth and innocence in his features, and she couldn't crush that. She worried every day that the walls would come down, that somebody would come and want to take what they had by force. It was a real possibility, but she couldn't hurt the boy like that. She couldn't scare him that way.

"Someday?"

"I worry that someday I'll…forget what it's like out there. I don't ever want to do that. I want to be prepared for anything." Sam nodded slowly. "I know Alexandria means something else for you. You didn't see much of the outside, did you?"

"Not really," Sam shrugged. "I've seen the monsters, but I never got close."

"You don't want to get close.," Carol said quietly. "The best thing you can do, Sam, is stay in these walls and never let anybody convince you to go out. It's not worth it. You're safe here." She felt a little guilty, what with her own worries about the walls coming down someday, but this boy was special. She'd bonded with him in some ways, and she knew he had enough to deal with at home. The last thing he needed was any thoughts being put into his head that the outside was a good place to be, a safe place. It wasn't. And the more she thought about it, the more she looked toward the gates, hoping at any moment Daryl would be back, and she wouldn't have to worry anymore.

Carol yawned, pulling a piece of homemade bread out of the bread box and spreading some jam made from the fruits of Alexandria's orchard over it. She took a bite, sighing softly at the taste of it. She still wasn't quite used to such treats as these. She was used to eating squirrel and deer and whatever animal Daryl had managed to find and kill and cook for their suppers.

She was just starting toward the table to sit down and relax before starting her shift with the children when she heard the front door open. The only other person with a key to the house was Daryl, and her heart leapt in her chest. Before she could even get up, he was in the kitchen, his eyes searching frantically for her.

"Daryl? Daryl, what's wrong? Are you ok?" Her heart thundered in her chest as she stood, her eyes on him as he made his way over to her. Her hands were moving up the sleeves of his jacket. "Please tell me you aren't bit. Daryl, oh God." Her eyes flooded with tears.

"I'm ok," he promised. "Just needed to see you." She sighed heavily and gave his arm a shove.

"You scared the hell out of me!"

"I'm sorry," he murmured, pulling her into his arms, hugging her close, kissing the side of her face. "I'm sorry."

"What's wrong? What happened?" she asked, stroking his cheek as he pulled back to look into his eyes.

"We brought them home," he said quietly. "I can't do that again. I can't." Carol searched his face, seeing the way his face seemed to melt from one of stress and fear to one of relief to be home with her.

"What happened out there, Daryl?" His head fell, and he buried his face against her shoulder. She stroked his back, and he clung to her, and she felt her heart beating so hard she knew he could feel it. "Daryl? What happened?" He took a few deep breaths before he pulled back, and he shook his head.

"Promise me you won't give up."

"What?"

"Promise me, if something happens to me, you won't give up. You won't…you'll keep living."

"Daryl? Where's this coming from?"

"If something happens to me, I want you to be ok."

"I…"

"Promise me. I need to know if I'm gone, you'll be ok."

"Daryl, you're ok! You're not going anywhere." She saw the fear in his eyes, and she saw the way his lip trembled. Whatever the hell had happened out there, it had become a part of him, and she was a little worried now.

"Don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'm right here," she promised. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere." She leaned in, kissing his forehead. "If anything happened to you? I…I can't think about that, Daryl. Not right now. Please." He nodded slowly, and Carol sighed, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm just glad you're home."