DISCLAIMER: I do not own AMC's and Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" or any of its characters/places. There may be a few OCs at a later time and those will be mine. (NO MARY SUES).
WARNINGS: Rated T for language, violence, and gore. There might be comic spoilers later on but you'll be warned about those specifically before they happen.
A/N: Ok, so mild violence and gore warning on this one…and not just on walkers.
"DARYL HELP!" screamed Carl, his voice trembling as he fought to stave off the three walkers that had pressed him into the tree.
Daryl cut across Carol and loaded his crossbow, never taking his eyes off Carl. He quickly assessed the situation and realized even the slightest inaccuracy in his shot could send an arrow through a walker's head and into Carl. The two male walkers were out of the question and he fired on the third, a female, dropping it instantly but embedding the arrow in the tree mere inches from Carl's face. Carl whimpered as he was granted a slight reprieve in the number of hands he was fighting and his fear filled eyes locked on Daryl.
"Nope, not him," thought Daryl, dropping his crossbow. Unhindered by awkwardness of the bow, Daryl sprinted forward while his hands worked to unsheathe Merle's knife. Daryl's heart lurched when he saw Carl raise one of his legs and try to kick the larger of the two walkers back and lost his balance causing him to slip farther down the trunk of the tree. The boy was losing what slim advantage he had and the walkers pressed in on him.
Daryl had only a few feet to go when he was forced to rethink his strategy. The first walker was bearing down on Carl's neck but was being kept away by Carl's left hand as it clenched a knife. The second was snapping at his right arm, its fingers already tearing through the boy's sleeve. Instead of driving his knife into the head of the second, like he initially planned, Daryl grabbed the walker and threw it off Carl, hoping Carol would take care of it. He stabbed the first one in the back of the head so hard the tip of the blade protruded from the walker's eye. Daryl wiggled the knife free and spun at hearing the other walker growling and lunging at him. He swung the knife between the walker's invading hands and into its forehead. Daryl grunted as the thing slumped forward onto him and the smell of rot filled his nostrils. Grimacing, he pushed it off and withdrew the knife as it fell to the forest floor.
"Are you ok?" yelled Carol as she arrived on the scene.
Daryl ignored the woman and knelt down to check on Carl.
"Carl?" questioned Daryl softly. He cupped the boy's chin and raised his head to look him in the eye.
Carl nodded weekly and skimmed his fingers over the holes in his shirt. Daryl grabbed his hand and moved it away. He tore at the fabric and opened it to expose more of the boy's arm and frowned.
Carl's skin was marred with several scratches, some deep enough to draw blood.
"Carol, ya gotta kill the other walkers or keep 'em distracted for a bit," said Daryl quickly.
"We have to get him to the prison," fretted Carol. "He needs to see Hershel."
"Not enough time for that: we're in the middle of a damn herd...Give me yer knife," he said to Carl, his grip on Carl's arm tightening. Both Carol and Carl gasped as the boy tried to squirm away but Daryl didn't budge.
"No, you can't!" cried Carol furiously. "It's just a few scratches!"
"Ya and we don't know what they do!" shot back Daryl. "I'm not gonna risk it."
Carl sensed what was about to transpire and kicked out at Daryl, catching the man in the stomach. Daryl exhaled sharply; his inability to breathe left him temporarily stunned. The boy scrambled to get away but ended up crawling haphazardly to seek shelter behind Carol. When Daryl realized he no longer had control over Carl, he abandoned his own pain and launched himself in the kid's direction. He caught Carl's lower legs and rolled him over.
"Ya wanna live or not?" he growled in Carl's ear.
"Please Daryl…no…"
Daryl stiffed as he felt the tip of someone's knife jab him in the back of his neck.
"He said no, Daryl."
Carol tried to make her voice sure and strong because she knew Daryl would pick up on any sign of weakness and disregard her as being a real danger.
"Get off him—now," she warned.
Daryl sighed deeply and dipped his head. "Thing is…I wasn't really askin'…"
He figured Carol's threat was empty and wrenched Carl's right arm up. The act was met with generous resistance from Carl but he wasn't strong enough to fight Daryl back. Daryl decided to take a page from Rick's book and straddled Carl's stomach in an effort to keep them both from hurting themselves.
Carl's wiggling increased when he felt Daryl pull his knife away and take it in his own hand. "Daryl…no…don't…please..." he sobbed and tried to free himself unsuccessfully.
"I'm not going to let you do this," said Carol, her voice wavering.
"Then stop me," dared Daryl, his eyes piercing into Carol's. The woman froze, the knife in her hand being rendered useless. "C'mon Carl…ya gotta trust me," he said turning back to the boy under him.
Carl bit his lip and closed his eyes. Daryl waited for him to nod then touched the knife to the skin above the bleeding scratches. "Gonna hurt," whispered Daryl, "but ya can take it. I know ya can."
Carl nodded once again and waited for the pain, tears forming at the corners off his eyes.
Daryl pinched the area above the highest scratch and pressed the blade firmly into Carl's skin. He felt Carl tense and withdraw into the ground but kept his arm blessedly still. The tip of the knife poked out the skin on the other side, blood flowing freely from both ends and dripping into the dirt. Carol muttered something from behind Daryl then removed her presence to deal with a walker.
"Yer doin' good," praised Daryl. "This is the hard part then it's over."
Though Daryl was working as quickly and tenderly as he could, it wasn't enough to keep Carl from quivering and biting back a cry. He thought he was doing good but wept aloud when the knife started to slide through the deepest layer of tissue Daryl was comfortable with cutting into. Daryl continued to work the knife down the length of Carl's arm all the way to his elbow where the scratches stopped. He twisted the blade slightly and flicked his wrist to completely sever the skin. He then pulled the skin back at the top of the wound and drew his knife though it.
"Keep yer eyes closed," advised Daryl. "Carol, cut up the bottom of yer shirt. It's probably cleaner than his or mine…"
Carol came running back over and used her own knife to cut the bottom six inches off her shirt and passed it to Daryl. He took it in his bloody hands and bound it securely around Carl's bicep. The light fabric was rapidly soaked and Carol cut off another strip and offered it to Daryl. He fastened the second one over the first then added a piece from his own as a tourniquet above the wound.
"Good job," Daryl commended Carl as he moved off him. "Yer gonna be fineーdon't look at it though," he said when Carl opened his eyes. He continued to shake and Daryl looped his arm around him to get him up and to his feet.
"We have to get back to the prison...there's too many walkers out here. I don't know where this herd came from," said Carol. She ran to retrieve Daryl's crossbow and brushed the dirt from it and presented it to its owner.
Daryl took the crossbow and loaded it without putting thought into it. He surveyed the forest around them and spotted no less than a dozen walkers that he classified as being an imminent threat. They snarled and growled while stumbling closer to the trio, the scent of Carl's blood driving them into a frenzy. The path back to the prison appeared rather populated as well and those too smelled the blood and changed the direction they were going. Daryl spun once and pushed Carl between he and Carol as he took in the faces of the dead that were creeping in from every way he looked.
"We can take them...I have my gun," suggested Carl.
"No. Now's a good time for ya to learn ya can't always shoot yourself outta every situation," replied Daryl with great remorse. Daryl guessed they had two guns between the three of them unless Carol was keeping hers a secret. In case she was indeed unarmed, Daryl pulled his pistol from the waist of his pants and shoved it into Carol's hands. He looked again at Carl and found him much too pale and hoped it wasn't due to blood loss but rather the shock of having a chunk of his skin removed. They were going to have to make a run for it and Carol paired with a weakened Carl were not his ideal partners for getting through a herd.
Daryl checked to his left and saw an opening and pointed. "We're gonna go left and come at the prison from the side. It looks like these things are comin' from the west and there should be fewer that way. Carl, stay between me and Carol no matter what and remember, we've got sixteen bullets and six arrows...gotta make 'em count." As Daryl finished issuing orders, he picked his own knife back up and gripped it tightly. He wasn't going to let them go down without a fight.
Daryl started the group's movement by firing on the first walker in their way. Running by, he yanked his arrow from the walker's head and paused to reload. Carol and Carl swept by him and he heard his gun being shot. He looked up to see Carol dropping a male that could've been killed by knife. "Ya gotta stab 'em if ya can!" yelled Daryl.
Carol didn't respond and continued to pick her way forward with Carl right after her. Daryl raced to catch up and shot one of two walkers that lunged around a tree and tried to grab Carl. Again, Carol shot the second one when a knife would've done.
"Damn it woman!" roared Daryl. "Ya gonna get us killed!"
"My knife is too small," complained Carol. "I don't feel comfortable using it like this! Don't get mad at me."
"I ain't mad at ya," said Daryl calmly. "Take mine, it'll give ya a better reach."
Carol's eyes lit up briefly as Daryl offered his knife in exchange for the gun. He tucked the gun back into his jeans hoping it could stay there. They started running again with Daryl in the lead and Carl sandwiched between he and Carol. They were doing a decent enough job at evading the thickest concentration of walkers and Daryl could see a break in the trees ahead of them. He rushed forward and killed two walkers, one with his crossbow and the other by Carol's smaller knife and beckoned his followers on. "C'mon, c'mon," he urged, "yer almostー"
Daryl didn't hear the approaching walker over the growling of the dozens behind them. He had slowed to let Carol and Carl go ahead of him to put himself between them and the majority of the herd. They had run by when Daryl felt the cold and rotting hands of the dead seize his shoulder and the splitting of fabric as the walker's teeth threatened to pierce his skin.
UPDATED: Ok, so just a few personal notes about the story...Carol is the most difficult character for me to write, mainly because the show does such a lousy time developing her story. I see her as a strong character that can now stand up to anyone, including Daryl, which may cause them to butt heads. She stood up to Daryl, Andrea, and Merle last season alone. In this fic, she was happy Daryl got called dad because she wants to see Daryl become a new man and open up and accept that they do love him. He isnt quite willing to do that yet. Also I know it seems like she isn't the best at killing walkers etc, but once again, she only killed a few in the show and even those were from the safety of the fence. Last chapter Daryl referenced the time Carol said Merle wasn't good for him and I took that from one of the episodes (just incase it sounded too cold to come from her). The next, sorry these responses are a little short, I love all your reviews/favorites/follows.
Surplus Imagination- good call and Carl does need a mentor or he'll become a mini-governor.
mrskaz453- well...I'm sure you love Carol after that one, especially if Daryl gets bit because of her.
Deanandjo4ever1- I never considered Daryl as an uncle but now that you mention it, I do! Wish my uncles were that cool.
Peachuzoid- Carol is freaking me out too. I really don't know what I'm going to do with here haha.
CocoChuba- no mason again! And thank you!
Angela- and I leave you hanging again! Rick flew over the cuckoos nest and hasn't come back yet. We will assess if you are correct about the Daryl thing...
Candra- haha and please don't stab me with a pen.
Guest- tell me how you really feel about Carol ;)
Sierra Ramon- ok, I didn't think you where saying it started off bad but I wasn't sure. I don't personally care for the first few chapters and that was why I was wondering. Glad we got that all cleared up now :) Oh and you better get used to cliffhangers, I like those...a lot
Hell Hath No- now who is getting attacked by walkers? Poor mason...no love.
Lucky713- and Judith may not even be Rick's kid! But he still loves her and would hate to see anyone come between him and one of his children. I really liked what you said about the Shane/Daryl- Rick relationship.
AddictedtoCaffine- carol sucks, or at least for now.
Sorry if I left anyone out...I don't think I did...