Yeah, I sure did do that thing you've all accused me of. And I'm not even sorry. Things happen. Plus their sappy romance was grating on my nerves.
No to be honest, it was a hard choice. I feel pretty bad, but thems the breaks and that's how the show rolls.
Brazen Hussy, if you've seen the latest episode head over to my profile page for a special message so I don't spoil people here.
Everyone else, just know that they can take our *SPOILER* but they'll never take our fanfiction!
IMPORTANT! READ FIRST! Also, if you've noticed my new cover art, congratulations you are not a robot. That cover art is courtesy of the very talented and beautiful skittletitz. Go to my profile page for the link to her art blog. Because it's worth the time to take a peek at her stuff.
Chapter Fifty-Four: Aller
**Carol**
She was sitting with Judith in the kitchens of the convent, cooing to the baby when the sound of trucks pulling up just outside alerted her to the return of the others.
From where she stood at the counter with Annie, teaching the girl how to properly wash dishes, Grace turned and met Carol's gaze.
The two women stared at each other for a moment, before Carol stood up, holding Judith against her chest.
Quietly, they moved from the kitchens, through the halls of the dorms, heading for the front door. Both women were apprehensive. For some reason all morning Carol felt like the day wasn't going to end well. She had that feeling like somehow something was off.
It may have been because the sun outside was so pleasant and bright, that the sky was bluer than it had been in a long time.
Arriving at the front door, Carol peeked around the edge of the frame, quietly spying the trucks and those emerging from within them, shifting Judith to her shoulder, supporting her with one hand as she balanced herself against the frame.
She smiled a little when Daryl hopped out of a military truck moodily and stepped out of the dorms onto the front stoop. Her smile died and she dropped her free hand when she spied Glenn and no sign of Maggie. The two were inseparable.
Beside her she felt Grace take hold of her hand gently, squeezing it.
Carol's eyes left Glenn, dancing over the heads of those returning looking for the Lieutenant's.
Finally the man emerged from the back of another military truck, he looked grim and wan. Not quite the pissed off Daryl looked, but there was an edge to the man that Carol had never seen. It was a dark, almost malicious look.
Carol wondered if that was his 'game' face for when he went into battle, because it was kind of terrifying.
She scanned the group again for Maggie, already having a sinking feeling she knew what had darkened everyone's moods.
No one looked happy.
Returning the grip on Grace's hand before releasing it, Carol stepped out into the daylight with Judith, moving straight towards Herschel and Beth as they gathered around Glenn.
By the time she was halfway to them, she saw the heartbreak in Herschel's eyes and the hope fade from Beth's.
She stopped in her tracks, watching the three of them with tears already fogging her eyes.
Beside her Grace took Judith quietly, giving Carol both hands as she felt that too familiar sinking sickness that came with the ominous news of another of their group lost to the walkers, her eyes on Herschel, knowing just how it felt to lose a child in this new world.
Throwing her hands to her mouth, Carol sobbed for the Greene family, for Glenn, oh God for Rick!
She searched the sea of faces, looking for Rick who stood apart from them quietly, looking so fragile.
Carol headed for him, moving quickly and quietly.
"Rick," she whispered as she approached him, hands reaching out for him, knowing he needed more comfort than Daryl at the moment. Knowing Daryl he'd be heading off to beat the hell out of a wall and she knew to keep her distance for the time being.
Rick stepped out of her reach, inhaling deeply. "We need to get these trucks unloaded."
"Rick…"
"I'll give everyone an hour…then we should get the trucks unloaded. We'll go to the prison tomorrow and bury Maggie," he went on. "We'll give her a burial with the others."
"Rick…" Carol reached out and touched his upper arm. "It's not your fault."
"We should clean her body, make her look real pretty," he went on. "Herschel and Glenn deserve to see her looking beautiful before we bury her."
"I'll care for her," Carol said softly. "Don't worry about it. Where is she?"
Rick motioned with a tilt of his head in the direction of the military truck where the Lieutenant had been riding in the back of.
"Okay, don't worry about it," Carol stated, running her hand over his back, feeling the tension that knotted the muscle there. "Go see Carl, he'll want to see his daddy."
"Carol," Grace interrupted moving to stand beside them. "Why don't you go and find Daryl, the sisters will take care of Maggie. Don't you worry about a thing we've tended to the bodies of our sisters before and we'll keep doing it for as long as it takes."
"I can take care of Maggie, Grace. It's okay."
"Honey," the woman insisted, "go be with your man. Let us shoulder the burden of caring for the sweet woman for you."
They all stopped talking as Glenn collapsed to the ground sobbing, Herschel struggling to hold the poor young man up.
"Go on, honey," Grace stated.
Carol noticed Rick didn't even glance at Judith and grimaced, this was a huge step back in his progress and she felt so helpless.
"Go on," Grace pushed her in the direction of the storage shed. "We've got things handled here."
"What about the Lieutenant?" Carol asked her.
The two women glanced over to where the Cajun was quietly unloading the contents of a truck with Tyreese and Michonne's help.
"He'll be okay," Grace said. "The man's stronger than anyone gives him credit."
"Are you sure?" Carol asked.
"Of course," Grace returned, turning to Rick, setting her free hand on his back between his shoulder blades. "Let's get you inside and in front of a hot cup of tea, sweetheart. My girl's will take care of Maggie for you all."
Rick absently moved in the direction Grace guided him, looking like he was about to shut down.
Carol watched them until they disappeared into the dorms, spying Annie in the shadows of the building crying on the ground with Boo the dog in her arms. The girl overlooked in the chaos of the moment.
Moving towards them, Carol knelt.
"What's wrong, baby?" She asked.
"Everyone's sad," she sobbed. "I don't know why."
Stroking her hair, Carol forced a smile. "Oh, sweetie, we lost someone today."
"Why?"
Carol hesitated. She had never been one to lie outright to children, she always believed they needed to have things explained to them as they came. But she wasn't sure whether now was the right moment for the conversation on death just yet. Still at Annie's damp eyed, pleading gaze she gave in and eased down onto the grass beside her. "Because the world we live in now isn't easy and sometimes people just go and they don't come back."
"Like my daddy and mama and Sister Gertrude and Sister Mary Monica?" Annie asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because it's just a part of life."
"No! It's not nice!" Annie shrieked. "I want the Lieutenant! I want him! Lieutenant!" The little girl began to scream at the top of her lungs and Carol wrapped her arms around the girl trying to calm her, but Annie kicked and screamed. "Lieutenant! I want him! I want daddy!"
The soldier wandered over, saving Carol from the fit Annie was throwing.
"Keep screaming like that, boo, and a fox'll come out of the sky to steal your voice," he cooed with a small grin.
Annie launched herself at him, attaching herself to his leg.
"Sorry," Carol whispered.
The man smiled at her, it was sad and seemed a little forced. "Aren't we all today?" Picking up the little girl from around his leg, he held her against him as though she weighed nothing. "You want to help unload the truck, little missy?"
Annie sobbed against his chest. "No."
"Mais, you keep making a fuss and I'm going to start to think you're nothing but a squid out of water," he teased.
"I'm not."
"Soft, little squidgy squid," the Cajun went on, tickling Annie's ribs with one hand, the other holding her up. "Getting my shoulder all wet with your little squid tears."
The girl squirmed and kicked in his arms. "No. I'm not a squid!"
The Cajun laughed, poking the girl in the ribs playfully. "Soft, little squidgy squid making frog faces because she's unhappy."
"No." Annie stated, her voice tiring, the fight dying out in the Lieutenant's arms.
"Tired little squid needs to be thrown back."
"Not tired." The girl continued to be cantankerous, despite the fact her tears had abated and she was calmer.
Giving them some time alone, Carol returned to her journey, heading for the shed.
Behind her she heard Annie ask the Lieutenant about why people went away and touched a hand to the wooden rose at her collar, quickening her pace towards the shed.
Inside the shed was a lot calmer than she was expecting. Daryl was sitting on their bed nibbling on his thumbnail.
He looked up as she entered with wounded blue eyes and Carol's heart tore for him.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"We lost Maggie," he said.
"I know. Are you okay?"
"Peachy," he snapped.
"I don't think you are," she pointed out calmly.
He stood up from the bed. "Well, you're not exactly a fucking mind reader, how the hell do you know how I am?" He growled, snatching up his crossbow and his bag of things.
"You're upset," she argued. "I know you. You're taking it to heart."
Dropping his bag, he moved in close to her.
Carol recalled a time when she would have flinched, would have recoiled from him, from any man, but this time she stood her ground, even as he encroached in her personal space.
"I'm not upset, I'm fucking angry!" He snapped. "And you're not helping, coming around being a fucking nun about everything! Calm and shit!"
She eyed him warily. "And you're what? Brushing it off because you're afraid that if you show your feelings to anyone you'll be less of a man?"
Stepping back from her, he moved to the wall and kicked a hole in the thin boards of the shed, slamming his fists against it a few times for good measure, before rolling his head to work out the kinks.
"Are you done?" She asked eyeing the mincemeat he had made of his fists and the hole he made in their wall.
"Yeah," he huffed, grabbing his belongings again. "I'm done. I'm done with everything."
He stormed past her out the door.
Carol turned and followed him. "Where are you going?" She asked.
"Back to the garden shed," he replied, picking up his pace.
"Why?"
"Because fuck this, that's why!" He growled, turning on her. "People are dying and we're what? Trying to have a nice little fucking home here? Got dumb assed glass hanging from the ceiling and stupid fucking curtains on the window like it's a fucking dream house? It's a fucking joke and it's only going to end badly! We're better off alone."
"So you're just done with us, then?" She asked, tears forming her eyes. She refused to cry, but she couldn't help the one tear that escaped.
"You bet your ass I am," he replied, backing off his tone enough. Drawing his mouth back into a half wince, half sneer, Daryl shrugged. "And stop bawling, you're a grown assed woman."
Feeling like Ed had punched her in the stomach, Carol flinched. "Go to hell." She stated, turning away from him, marching back into the shed and slamming the door.
The Cajun Dialect
Aller – To go away, to leave.
