A/N: Okay, quick intro for this chapter.

First of all, thank you as always to my reviewers, favouriters etc. You're helping me get this last part of this story done, so you're all legends. :D

We're so close to the end, guys. I'd love to be done by Chapter 40, that'd be awesome. I'm usually not great at predicting these things, but hopefully that will be how it goes down. There is a huge amount of action and emotion and general payoffs to get through in these last chapters, so I've got a lot of work ahead of me to try and bring this fic home. I'm trying not to think about it otherwise I'll freak myself out. LOL

Anyways, this chapter has a pretty big range of emotions going on. I hope it all makes sense and ultimately works together but I guess we'll see.

Let's see what you make of it, hmm?

Chapter Thirty Five

Daryl's lungs were bursting but he refused to stop running. He had no idea of how much of a head start Merle had on him, but every precious second which ticked by and Daryl wasn't back at the prison, felt like another second closer to disaster. Daryl was trying to work out what Merle would do next and the thing which had him most worried was the knowledge that even his brother probably didn't know yet. Merle was opportunistic. He was used to thinking on his feet and taking advantage of whatever situation he came across. That could mean anything when it came to the prison group. The thought made Daryl run faster as he weaved his way through the trees. He'd picked up some of Merle's initial tracks, just enough to tell him he was right in knowing where his older brother was heading. Now he didn't bother with tracking, he just ran, turning his fear into fuel for sprinting. Sweat ran into his eyes, blurring his vision and not giving him enough time to react to what happened next.

The collision knocked Daryl off his feet and tore the crossbow from the sling off his shoulder. He did one complete turn before hitting the ground with a noisy hiss of air leaving his lungs. For a split second Daryl didn't know what had happened and that was enough time for the Walker he'd collided with to stagger to his feet. The thing had just stepped out from behind a tree and Daryl had run smack into him. He didn't even feel the impact, so much adrenalin was coursing through his body. The Walker lumbered over to him, starvation written all over its sunken cheeks and eyes as it lunged at this chance of fresh meat. Daryl was on his back and instinctively brought both of his feet up to plant them against the Walker's chest and throw him off of him. It worked, the Walker stumbled back a few feet, almost losing his footing, but not quite. Daryl's hand went to his belt for his knife but it wasn't there, he'd lost it in the impact. He looked around frantically and saw his knife on the other side of the Walker, out of his reach. The slobbering creature was lurching towards him again and Daryl deftly rolled out of the way, grabbing a sizeable rock as he did. He threw his shoulder against the again charging Walker and this time succeeded in knocking it off his feet. Daryl raised the rock up in one hand and brought it down with as much force as he could muster on the snarling Walker.

There was a satisfying popping sound as the Walker's skull gave way under the violence of Daryl's blow. Daryl knew instantly he'd done enough damage to the thing's brain that their conflict was over but he couldn't stop himself pounding that rock into its head again and again. A sudden rage exploded deep inside and he pulverised the former man's skull into a smashed brain and shattered bone. Blackened blood and chunks of brain spat out at his face and chest as Daryl unleased a frenzied attack on the defunct creature. The angry frustration he'd been trying to hold inside for so long was suddenly unleashed in a blood bath of violent activity. All Merle had to do was choose to be his brother rather than the badass Merle Dixon, just this once and none of this would be happening. Daryl knew that deep down Merle could have found a way to fit in with the others if he'd really tried. Then Daryl would have had it all, his brother and a real family to belong to. But Merle hadn't been able to give him that even now, when the world had ended and there was the chance at a whole new way of life. Things didn't have to be how they always were. There had been a way out, but Merle refused to even consider that chance and expected Daryl to follow his lead, or rather, his inertia.

It was the last straw for Daryl as he made that Walker pay for all the bitter disappoints of his life, all the people who'd claimed to love him, who should have had his back but didn't. He'd never come first with any of them, not Merle, not his Daddy or Mamma, not once. "Why?!" he screamed at the lifeless corpse with its molten face of destroyed tissue. "Why can't I be enough for 'em!" Daryl gave a broken sob as all the strength left his body. He dropped the rock, his muscles shaking from the energy he'd just expounded in caving in the Walker's head. Daryl sucked in another ragged sob as he dropped to his knees, knuckles driven into the ground with his elbows locked as he attempted to keep himself upright in some way. Salty tears mixed in with even saltier sweat as Daryl struggled to get himself back under control, chest heaving painfully. "Damn you, Merle," he rasped raggedly, the raw pain he could hear in his own voice making him wince. "It didn't have to be like this. Why are you makin' me do this?" In that moment he hated his brother for backing him into this corner, a corner where only one of them was likely to walk away from. Truth was, before he'd met the others, Daryl would have just let Merle kill him if push had come to shove. Merle called him soft, but Daryl knew it was because he'd valued Merle's life more than his own for so long. He just hadn't seen himself as worth the fight. But now others had fought for him and Daryl finally started to believe that maybe he was worth more than just letting everyone make decisions for him. Now Daryl had something to live for, a place to belong to, and a woman who smiled every time he walked into a room and it made him not want to give up this life without a fight.

Even if it was Merle he'd have to fight to do just that.

The thought hurt Daryl more than anything else. Merle could have joined him in this new life, made it better, but instead, he was going to have to fight his brother to the death for it. Daryl knew there was no other way now and he squeezed his eyes against the pain that thought caused him. Off in the distance Daryl could hear the growls and grunts of Walkers honing in on the sounds of his scuffle with the oozing Walker beside him. Sheer force of will propelled Daryl to his feet. He stumbled on unsteady legs to scoop up his knife and crossbow before breaking into a run again, eager to be gone before anymore Walkers saw him. He had to get back to the prison and all hell broke loose. For the first time since he was a young child, Daryl prayed, desperately pleading with whoever might care to listen, that he wasn't going to be too late...

oooOOOOooo

Carol gave a light knock on the entrance to Axel's cell and smiled at him. "Hi there, mind if I come in?"

Axel looked up from where he was sitting on his bunk bed and smiled. "Oh, hey, Carol. Yeah, sure, make yourself at home."

Carol stepped into the cell and held out the plate of food to Axel. "We missed you at breakfast this morning."

Axel looked down at the offered food "I weren't hungry." He took the plate. "But I guess I could eat somethin' since you've gone to the trouble of bringin' me room service and all." Axel looked down at the plate of beans. "Thanks, Carol."

Carol took a seat on the bed beside him. "It was no problem. I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were doin' okay. I know you've been missing Oscar."

"I had a bad dream 'bout him last night," confessed Axel unhappily. "Oscar was chasing me down and throwin' his head at me."

Carol wrinkled her nose at the graphic imagery. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," said Axel with a sigh. "He missed most of the time." He pointed at his face. "Oscar didn't have no head, his aim was off."

"I guess it would be," said Carol kindly.

Axel put a spoonful of beans in his mouth and looked Carol over as he chewed. "How 'bout you, you doin' okay?"

Carol nodded. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Daryl's gone," said Axel simply.

She didn't need to be reminded. "I know," she said quietly. Carol had been keeping herself busy, which was easy to do with life at the prison, but she still felt Daryl's absence like she'd lost a huge part of herself. It was though a large piece of her heart had detached itself and walked out those prison gates and Carol didn't know if she'd ever see it again. She tried not to think about it because she'd become paralysed and there was no more place for such indulgences nowadays.

"He left because of you, you know."

Carol looked at him in surprise. "What?" Her shoulders stiffened defensively. "No, he didn't."

"Sure he did, Daryl left to keep you safe, to keep everyone safe, but mainly you."

Carol bit her bottom lip, surprised at Axel's insight. "What makes you say that?"

"Merle ain't right in the head," Axel observed casually. "He was a grenade just lookin' for a reason to go off and Daryl threw himself on top that thing to stop it hurtin' others."

Carol couldn't help but feel that was somewhat of an over simplification of the situation. "Daryl wants to try and do right by Merle. They're brothers and that loyalty runs deep. Daryl loves his brother."

Axel shrugged. "You can love things and they can still try and kill you. Like me and those giant jawbreakers."

Carol knew she shouldn't ask. "A jawbreaker tried to kill you?"

"I sneezed with one of those all day ones in my mouth, it got stuck in my throat and I nearly choked to death." Axel pursed his lips. "The only thing that saved me in the end was bein' hit by that car. Popped that sucker right outta me and I only broke both arms doin' it," he finished off proudly.

Carol didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Axel's ongoing misfortunes which he always managed to somehow find an upside to. "That was lucky," she said, trying not to have any trace of irony in her voice.

His head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, it really was." Axel smiled at her. "You know, you're real sweet, Carol. You reckon if Daryl hadn't been around, you and me mighta made a go of it?"

There was a lot to that sentence which Carol didn't know what to do with. "I like you, Axel, very much, but I don't think so."

"Cause of you and Daryl," said Axel and philosophically.

Carol moved a little uncomfortably. "There is no me and Daryl, Axel, we're not a couple."

Axel looked at her like she'd grown an extra head. "Cause you're a couple. Hell, it was the first thing I noticed when I met y'all."

Carol actually felt herself blush a little and was glad for the dim lighting in the cell. "No, Axel, we're not like that." Was that a bit of wistfulness she heard in her own voice? Carol wished she and Daryl had more time at the end to clarify what those kisses had meant. She knew what they meant to her and thought she had an idea of what they meant to Daryl, but a woman likes to hear those kinds of things from the man herself. Trying to guess at what Daryl might be thinking about her was disrupting her sleep more than Carol would like to confess to. If he was even thinking about her at all.

"Yeah, you are. Daryl looks at you like our Bubba used to look at Nibbles."

Carol arched an eyebrow at him. "Was that sentence supposed to make sense or did I just have a stroke?"

Axel smiled at her teasing. "Bubba was our pig when I was a kid, used to think he was people."

"And Nibbles?"

"My brother's hamster." He leaned forward in a conspiratorial fashion. "They were in love. Bubba wouldn't let Nibbles outta his sight. He'd dote on that little furry bastard and carry it all 'round with him. They even slept together. Bubba would let Nibbles eat his food and he'd try and take your hand off if anyone ever came near that hamster. He was real protective like." Axel absently scratched an old scar on his hand. Carol guessed it was most likely Bubba related. Axel sighed. "To the point of bein' right dangerous 'bout it. He bit my daddy's finger clean off one day when he went to pick Nibbles up." He wiggled his little finger at Carol. "His pinky. Boy howdy, I've never seen my daddy so mad."

Carol assumed there was a point to this story, but she wasn't exactly sure what it was. "I can see how that'd make your daddy unhappy."

Axel nodded. "And then some. In the end there was only one thing we could do."

Carol gave him a sideways look. "Which was?"

"We ate it," said Axel easily.

Carol blinked. "What?"

"The pig I mean, not the hamster," said Axel hastily. "Not worth botherin' with the hamster, no real meat on it and it'd be hell to skin." He was looking at her like she should be feeling better now, but Carol had no idea why.

She wrinkled her nose. "Remind me again, am I the pig or the hamster in that story?" asked Carol hesitantly.

"That don't matter," said Axel dismissively, "but you get my point, right?"

Carol arched an eyebrow. "You had one?" Any correlation Axel was trying to make between her and Daryl that ended up with someone being eaten wasn't one Carol wanted to really think about.

"Sometimes love don't make sense and don't look right from the outside, but that don't mean that it isn't worth fightin' for, even if it's probably not gonna work out in the end like you think." Axel shrugged. "It's still worth it. At least, I reckon that was what Bubba would say, you know, if he wasn't dead." He hesitated. "And a pig, cause pigs don't talk."

Carol's lips were twitching as she attempted to match Axel's serious mood. "Well, thank you for that, Axel. That's given me a lot to think about." Like you probably should have not taken quite as many recreational drugs as you obviously have in the past.

Axel seemed to take her words at face value and it encouraged him to expound more of his philosophies about love. "I reckon love is like bein' punched in the face, you know what I mean?"

"I really don't."

"Sometimes you see it comin' and other times it catches you unawares but one way or the other, you know that it's happened cause it always leaves a mark."

Carol was just staring at him now. "I wonder why Hallmark never made a card saying that exact same thing?" she pondered straight-faced.

Axel shrugged. "Beats me." He gave a lop-sided smile. "I guess I'm just tryin' to say that you and Daryl are lucky with what you got and if things were different, I know I sure would have liked to try and punch you in the face, Carol."

Rick chose that exact moment to be walking by Axel's cell. He stopped abruptly and sent a shocked look at Axel. "What the hell?" Rick's concerned gaze fell on Carol. "You okay, Carol?"

Carol tried not to laugh as she held up a reassuring hand to Rick, shaking her head. "It's okay," she said in amusement. "Believe it or not, Axel was just bein' sweet."

Rick's expression darken as he sent Axel a hard look. "Punchin' a woman in the face ain't sweet," he growled.

"That ain't what I meant," said Axel hastily. "I wouldn't punch a woman. We were talkin' 'bout love."

Rick sent a confused look at Carol for clarification.

Carol just smiled. "I'd explain but I don't really understand either except it involves a hamster and a pig," she said wryly. "But it's okay, Rick, don't worry. We're fine here."

Rick looked hesitant to leave. "Alright," he drawled at last, "but just so you know, I'm gonna be in my cell, a few feet away, if you need me, Carol." With a last pointed look at Axel, Rick kept walking.

Axel sighed. "Now I got Rick on my case." He grimaced. "What's wrong with me? I keep makin' things worse with you."

Carol covered his hand with her own. "You really haven't, Axel. I appreciate everything you said, truly."

"You know Daryl's gonna come back for you, right?" There was so much certainty in his voice that it actually gave Carol hope.

"Maybe," she said quietly.

"No, it's gonna happen. I had a dream 'bout it."

"Another dream?" asked Carol indulgently.

"Aha. You were in a tower and Daryl kicked down the door and killed the Loch Ness monster to get to you. It was real romantic like."

Carol was biting down on her inner lip to try and keep a straight face. "It sounds it."

"Course, I don't know why he was dressed as Dolly Parton," mused Axel thoughtfully. He pulled a face. "I don't mind tellin' you, Daryl don't make a pretty woman." Axel brightened. "But he's got real nice legs." His eyes widened and he looked a little stricken. "Don't tell Daryl I said that when you see him next," Axel said hastily before pausing and looking briefly contemplative. "Lessin' you think that thing 'bout his legs would make him like me more, then you can tell him."

"I will make a judgement call if it ever comes up in conversation," Carol promised him, face actually aching from trying so hard not to laugh. Impulsively she leaned over and gave Axel a kiss on the cheek. "Don't ever change, Axel. The world needs you just as you are."

Axel grinned, obviously pleased at the compliment. "Okay, I won't then."

Carol laughed. "Good." She smiled. "Well, I've got to go and relieve Carl on gate duty. I'll leave you to finish your breakfast in peace."

Axel sent her a warm look. "You can interrupt my peace anytime, Carol."

Carol just smiled and headed out of Axel's cell to collect her rifle. She walked by Beth. "I'm gonna be doin' a long watch on the gate," she informed the younger woman. "You okay to handle lunch today by yourself?"

Beth's sent her a quick smile. "Sure, no problem. I'll bring some lunch out to you."

"Thanks, that'd be great." Carol kept walking until she was out of the cellblock. Once outside, the muggy heat of the day immediately latched onto her, settling a glean of sweat on her skin before she'd even taken half a dozen steps. Carol glanced up at the heavy skies, black and ominous and shook her head at them. "If you're gonna do somethin' then do it," she admonished the storm which had been gathering for a couple of days now. "All this humidity just ain't polite." In the distance there was a rumble of thunder. Mother Nature's way of telling Carol she worked to her own time timetable and wasn't interested in the plight of mere mortals. Carol sighed as the wet heat clung to her. It wasn't going to be a pleasant shift on watch, but it was a necessary evil. They were too small in number and low in ammunition to afford to be caught off-guard.

Carl heard her approaching and turned around to smile at Carol. "Hey."

"Hey," she returned easily, "how's the watch been?"

Carl pushed back the rim of his hat so he could look up at Carol as she came to stand by him. "Borin'."

"Borin' is good."

"I guess."

Carol looked down at the empty plate of food by the watch tower. "You had your breakfast." It was more of a statement of fact, then a question.

"Yeah, Beth brought it out to me." Carl smiled and then looked down at his feet at the mention of the young woman.

Carol hid her own smile. "Your dad has just come back from guard duty on the south fence. He'd getting some sleep. I hope you're plannin' on doin' the same."

"I told Beth I was gonna see if I could find her some mushrooms. I thought I saw some out by the fence that runs along the kitchen block. I want to go back and check."

Carol hesitated. "By yourself?"

Carl's young face hardened at the hint of concern in her voice. "I can take care of myself, Carol."

"I know that."

"And we ain't had no more Walkers in that kitchen area since we cleaned it out on the first day," he argued, even though Carol wasn't saying anything. "It's real safe."

Carol inclined her head, knowing he had a point. Everyone struggled with how much freedom to give Carl. He was so often expected to step up and act like a man that it was easy to forget he was still a boy and needed protecting as well. "Okay, just be careful."

"I know," said Carl in exasperation. "I ain't an idiot."

Carol just smiled. "It's a parent thing. One day, if you have kids of your own, Carl, you'll get that there are just some things a parent has to say," she said gently. "Even if your kid isn't an idiot."

Carl looked a little sheepish. "Sorry," he muttered.

Carol tapped the top of his hat playfully. "It's okay."

Suddenly Carl's attention was off her and he was stepping past her, squinting out at the line of trees behind Carol. She turned around to see what had caught Carl's attention. The usual handful of Walkers were milling around aimlessly. It wasn't only the living who were affected by the stifling humidity. The wet heat seemed to slow the Walkers right down as well. Unless there was the chance of a meal, of course. All bets were off then. Carol scanned the area. "What's wrong? What do you see?"

"I thought I saw someone runnin' through the trees," said Carl slowly, squinting out through the wired fence.

They both stepped closer to the fence to look. Suddenly Merle burst from the tree line, running as though the devil himself was hot on his tail. Carol gasped and immediately looked for Daryl, but she didn't see the younger Dixon brother appearing from the woods at all. Her stomach clenched in fear about what that could mean. A few Walkers caught sight of Merle sprinting across the clearing between the woods and the prison gates. They immediately started to move towards him.

"Open the gate!" Merle yelled at them as he kept running, making a beeline for the entrance to the fence.

Carl and Carol looked at each other, immediately suspicious. Merle with no Daryl could mean anything and Carol couldn't think of any of those things being good. She ran over to the gate, watching as Merle dashed to close the small distance between them.

He slammed against the gate. "Open it!" he screamed at her, just as a Walker came up behind him. Merle swung round and jammed his prosthetic knife up under the Walker's jaw, killing it instantly. He looked back at Carol as more Walkers closed in on him. "Open the gate!" he bellowed at her.

"What's happened?" she asked urgently. "Where's Daryl?"

Merle was busy killing another Walker, slitting its throat and then letting it fall on the ground so he could stomp its head in. "Let me in," he panted, out of breath from running and now fighting. "Daryl needs help."

Carol's stomach curled into a knot. "What happened? Is he alright?"

"Let me in!" shouted Merle as more and more Walkers converged on him. "Daryl is gonna need all of our help! He's in a bad way. I need y'all to help me fetch him back."

Carol's instincts were telling her not to trust Merle, but then this was Daryl at stake. She just couldn't bring herself to take a risk with his life. She looked back over her shoulder at Carl. "Stay back," Carol instructed him and then she was scrambling to undo the lock on the gate to let Merle in. As soon as the gate was unlocked, Merle bolted in as the Walker hordes surged behind him. Carol leant all her weight on the gate to get it closed but it wasn't enough against the five Walkers all struggling to get in. Merle threw himself up against the gate to help close it and then Carl was joining in. The three of them managed to close the gate as Carol hastily redid the lock. "What is it? What's happened? Is Daryl hurt?" she asked anxiously as she turned around and then froze. While she'd been locking the gate, Merle had taken the opportunity to grab Carl and somehow get his gun out of his hand. Merle now had Carl's own gun pressed to the boy's temple, an arm wrapped around his throat to keep him still. Carol's eyes went wide at the betrayal. She snapped her rifle up and aimed it at Merle's head. "You son of a bitch," she bit out. "Let him go!"

"Now, settle down there, sassy mouth," rasped Merle, his breathing still uneven. "We don't want no one to get hurt with you wavin' that thing around, now do we?"

"Shoot him, Carol!" shouted Carl, struggling to break Merle's hold on him but the older man was too big and strong for him. "Shoot him in the head!"

"Well, ain't you the blood thirsty little bastard?" asked Merle, voice tinged with amusement. He caught Carol's eye. "What do you think, Mamma Bear, you willin' to take a chance on your aim and my reflexes to try and blow my brains out?"

Carol tightened her grip on the rifle, eyes narrowing as her finger tightened ever so slightly on the trigger. Merle was just staring her down, confident he had the upper hand.

"Do it!" yelled Carl. "Kill him!"

"You gonna do it, missy?" Merle taunted her. "You gonna put your good friend Rick through what you went through with your little girl? You gonna be able to live with killin' his baby the way he can live with killin' yours?"

The muzzle of Carol's rifle wavered slightly as she fought an internal battle. Merle was clearly intending to cause strife and there was a wild look in his eye which told Carol that he didn't care how he did it. She slowly lowered the rifle as Merle smirked at her.

"Atta, girl, I knew you were a smart one."

"NO!" said Carl in distress.

"I'm not risking your life, Carl," said Carol quietly.

Merle inclined his head. "The rifle, drop it and kick it away from you."

Carol did as she was told, eyes not leaving his. "Now let Carl go."

"Step back."

Carol did as she was told and then Carl was being shoved at her. She caught him as he stumbled but he quickly regained his footing to whirl around and glare at Merle.

"Give me my gun back!" he spat, face flushed so his freckles stood out.

"Where I come from there is a finder's keepers rule," drawled Merle.

"You stole it from me," said Carl bitterly.

"It ain't my fault you can't keep a holda your shit," said Merle unrepentantly. "That's still findin'."

Carl lunged at Merle in a fury and Carol had to react fast to grab at his waistband to stop him from attacking the man who had a permanent knife instead of one hand and a gun in the other. And that was before you counted in Merle being at least twice the size of Carl.

"Lemme go!" he snapped at her in frustration.

"Carl, stop it!" said Carol sharply. "This isn't achieving anythin'."

Carl shook her free but didn't try for Merle again, even though he still looked like he could bite through metal right then.

She looked back at Merle, keeping her voice steady. "Where's Daryl?"

Merle half-smiled. "If I know my little brother, and I do, I'd say he's wakin' up 'bout now and high-tailin' it back here."

"He's alright?" asked Carol, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. "You didn't do anythin' to him?"

"Course he's alright," said Merle in vague annoyance. "I ain't gonna hurt my own brother, now am I?"

"You put a gun to a teenage boy's head," said Carol darkly. "I'd say you're pretty much capable of anythin', Merle."

Merle snorted. "I was just playin' with the boy, he knows that, don't ya, boy?"

Carl just glared death at Merle who seemed to find that pretty funny.

"What are you doin' here, Merle?" asked Carol sharply. "What do you want?"

Merle kept the gun trained on them both as he answered without hesitation. "I tell you what I want, sassy mouth, I want what's mine." He took a step closer, so that the gun was in her face. "And you two are gonna help me make that happen."

Carol instinctively put herself in front of Carl, shielding him with her body as she stared Merle down.

Today wasn't going to be a good day, she could just tell...