Chapter 41: Andrea

Carol had been off of her feet for forty-five minutes, and she was already going crazy. Daryl was trying so hard, but he had to ask her about ten different times where she kept this or where she put that, and she felt like she might as well get up and take him to it rather than go through the mental acrobatics to remember and explain exactly where she kept everything.

But, he'd managed to let Dog out, get everybody fed and clean all the dishes before Carol started to feel a little stir crazy. And when lost interest in the book she was reading and got up to find another one, Daryl caught her and folded his arms across his chest.

"You ain't takin' this restin' thing seriously."

"I'm fine, Daryl," she laughed. "Honestly, I think sitting still and doing nothing is doing me more harm than good. I think my blood pressure skyrockets every time you drop a dish in the kitchen."

"Only dropped three. And they didn't break," Daryl insisted. Carol smirked then, and she sat back down on the couch. She looked up at the ceiling and then back to Daryl.

"Have you checked on the kids?"

"Like twenty minutes ago."

"It's awfully quiet."

"Ain't that good?"

"Not when you have two five year olds and a toddler under one roof. I don't smell smoke, so nothing's on fire, but..."

"Moooooommyyyyy!" Luke screeched from upstairs.

"Mommy! Luke won't leave me and Henry alone!" Lydia yelled. Carol sighed and looked at Daryl.

"I got it. I'm on it," he promised. Carol shook her head and sat back on the couch, while Daryl headed upstairs to deal with the kids. And just as Carol was settling in with her new book, a soft knock came to the front door.

"It's open," Carol called, turning to watch Merle step into the house with a Cheshire grin.

"Merle?"

"Afternoon."

"Daryl's upstairs with the kids." Carol motioned toward the stairs.

"Ain't here for Daryl. You're still in charge of new intakes, right? Survivors?"

"Yeah." She put her book aside. "We have someone?"

"Oh yeah, we got someone."

"Well, Merle, as surprising as this might be to you, I trust your judgment. Why don't you take care of it?"

"Oh, I think you're gonna wanna handle this one," he chuckled.

"Why do you look so pleased with yourself?"

"Well, I went out there aimin' to fish, and I wound up with a helluva catch." Carol sighed and stood up.

"Okay, you've beat around the bush enough. What's going on?"

"Come on. Negan's house. I set 'em up there."

"Them?"

"Mmmhmm."

"S'goin' on?" Daryl came down the steps, and Carol raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

"Merle has a new intake for us. I gave him the go ahead to take care of it, but he wants me to do it."

"Baby brother, you're gonna want to be there for this one, too."

"Let me find somebody to watch the kids, and I'll be there."

"I'll take Carol on over. You catch up," Merle answered with a nod. Daryl eyed him. "Don't worry. If it weren't safe, I'd tell ya." Daryl glanced at Carol, and she gave him a little nod before turning to leave with Merle. As they walked, she looked at him, and the whole time he seemed to be on the edge of bursting.

"I've never seen you like this. You're almost…giddy."

"Hey, ain't every day I get to be Santa Clause."

"Santa? Okay, well, you're going to have to fight Jerry for the suit this year." Carol laughed, and Merle snorted.

As they stepped up onto Negan's porch, Merle rapped on the screen door. Denise opened it moments later, and she smiled at Carol.

"Good. I was hoping you'd come. Familiar faces and all that."

"Familiar faces?" Carol asked. "Merle, what's…"

"How they doin', doc?"

"They could use some fattening up and some scrubbing, but a warm shower and a hot meal will be good for both of them. They're both very healthy considering."

"You tell her?" Merle asked.

"No, I didn't want to ruin your fun," Denise grinned.

"What's going on?"

"Hey, I'm gonna get outta here." Denise held her hands up. "Carol, trust me. You're going to like this surprise." Carol looked from Denise to Merle and then back to the doctor.

"Alright. Let's go," Carol huffed. "All these secrets. It's starting to feel like we're in high school." She reached for the screen door, and Merle stopped her.

"Ah! Hold your horses."

"Give me a fucking break, Merle," Carol snapped. "I don't have time to sit around playing guessing games. Just let me in."

"Hey, Blondie! You decent?" Merle hollered in. Getting no response, Merle shrugged and took it as an ok to go on in. He pulled open the screen door and let Carol in first. She stepped into the foyer and looked around for a moment, before she heard soft voices coming from the living room. She looked at Merle briefly before stepping down the hall and turning to peer into the room.

Curled up on the couch was a pale, blonde woman with a little boy curled up right next to her with an apple in his hand. His eyes were wide as he looked around the room, and for a moment, Carol didn't understand why Merle had made such a production of bringing her all the way over. But when the woman looked up, Carol felt like somebody's hit her square in the chest and knocked the wind out of her.

Andrea sat up a little, and a gasp fell from her lips. The only thing Carol could think as Andrea stood up was how the last time she saw her, she was being overrun by walkers. How she survived, Carol would never know, but the flood of emotions hit her like a tidal wave.

"Oh my God," Carol gasped, as she crossed the room and threw her arms around the other woman. Andrea gasped softly and hugged Carol tight.

"You're alive," she breathed. "I thought you were…"

"I thought you were, too," Carol whispered. "That walker fell on you, and I thought…oh God, I'm sorry."

"No, you did what you had to do. Don't be sorry," Andrea choked out. "I don't even know how I survived." Her shoulders trembled when she let out a sigh of relief. Carol gave her another squeeze before pulling out of the hug.

"You've been out there this whole time?" She blinked back tears, and Andrea nodded.

"Pretty much. I had to take shelter in the cellar on Hershel's farm. I was down there about a month before the herd cleared out."

"God, Andrea. We looked everywhere."

"We?" Andrea asked. "Everyone's here?"

"No. No, um.: She shook her head and then looked to the boy. "Who's this?" Andrea motioned for Dylan to get up and come to her. He did, taking another big bite of his apple. "Carol, this is Dylan. My son." Carol's eyes widened, and she looked from Andrea to the boy.

"It's nice to meet you, Dylan."

"Dyl, this is my friend Carol. She's one of the people I was with before you were born."

"Hi," he said shyly.

"Hi," Carol whispered, smiling. "Dylan, you must be…what? Four? Five?"

"Five," the boy said with a nod before looking up at his mom.

"Yeah, five," Andrea sniffled.

"Dylan, a little boy about your age lives here. Henry's staying with me for a while, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing some of his toys. They're upstairs." Dylan looked to his mother. She smiled and nodded.

"You can go." Dylan hurried off toward the stairs, and Andrea rubbed her hands over her face. "This must be Negan's place." At Carol's surprised look, she turned and sat back down on the couch. "We met out there. He told me about this place, and I had to come see for myself." Carol moved to sit down next to her, turning in her seat to face her.

"Dylan. He's yours?"

"He's mine." Andrea's face lit up when she spoke of him, and she smiled. "Twenty-odd hours of labor in a cold little house. All by myself."

"God, I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone. So sorry, Andrea." She sniffled and shook her head.

"By the looks of it, you'll be going through it soon. Though clearly not alone."

"This is number four."

"Four?!" Andrea balked.

"I have a little girl. Lydia. We found her a few months after the farm. And then Luke. I didn't think it would happen, and then it did. And now this one. Never say never, I guess."

"Wow. And you've been behind these walls since that winter?"

"There weren't always walls. Just fences at first. The walls came later. And then Negan and his wife came along, and over time, more people found us, or we found them, and here we are now."

"Here you are."

"Here we are," Carol insisted. "You'll stay, won't you?"

"For the first time in Dylan's entire life, we're both going to be able to sleep soundly tonight. Thanks to Negan. And Merle. And you." She wiped at her eyes. "I'm so happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you. I'm glad you're here. I'm just glad you're ok. I only wish we'd found you. We looked for everyone. For a long time. But we never…"

"God," Andrea whispered.

"They were just gone."

"I can't imagine." Andrea swallowed the lump in her throat, and she shook her head. "I know they say opposites attract, but clearly something changed. Merle was a piece of work when I met him."

"He still is," Carol laughed. Then her eyes went wide. Andrea thought she and Merle were…oh no. "Oh. God, no. No, not Merle. Merle found us."

"Us?"

"Daryl saved my life that night. He helped me get away from the farm, and it was just us."

"You and…Daryl?"

"The one and only," Carol smiled.

"I've missed a lot."

"So have I. I didn't know you were..." Carol cleared her throat. "Did you know you were pregnant at the farm?"

"No. No, I found out later." She could see the question in Carol's eyes. "Shane." Carol nodded slowly, thinking back to the farm, back when she was just finding her voice but staying in the background and observing. She remembered Andrea and Shane and how they gravitated toward one another, two lost individuals trying to find a place. "The others are just gone?"

"We know they stayed at a prison for a while. When Merle found us, he explained he was staying with some people led by a guy who called himself Governor. I guess they got into it with Rick's group, and it ended pretty badly. Hershel's dead. Beth, too. The rest? I don't know."

"I don't know about them," Andrea murmured. "But I know about Terminus. We found out the hard way. Barely made it out alive. We saw what they did to those people, how they hung them up on meat hooks like animals."

"We've heard of them," Carol bit out. "We haven't had a run in with them, but we've heard of them."

"They chased us for a long time, until finally, I had the advantage. They followed us into an old grain elevator one night. I locked them in and set the place on fire." She looked toward the ceiling. "I still feel like there's more of them out there. Sometimes, it feels like they're still watching me." She shook her head. "It's safe here?"

"Safest place since the farm. We had a death recently, but one of ours was bitten and didn't say anything. And because of that, Negan's wife was killed."

"That's awful." She looked down at her hands in her lap. "Where is Daryl?"

"Rounding up a sitter for the kids," Carol grinned.

"Daryl Dixon's a daddy. What's that like?" Carol laughed.

"He might surprise you. You should have seen him with her, Andrea. Lydia. When we brought her home, he was half afraid to hold her. But I think the second he did, he just fell in love with being a dad. He's so good with her."

"Speaking of…I should check on Dylan."

"Yeah. You two are welcome to stay here. I don't know when Negan's coming back, but I get the feeling it may be a while. I know it'll be an adjustment, but I'd love it if you and Dylan would come over for supper tonight. You don't have to. We can do it another night. It just feels so good to see an old friend after so long."

"That would be nice," Andrea murmured. "Thank you, Carol."

"It's the least I can do." She reached over and took Andrea's hand. "Whatever you need, Daryl and I live right across the way. And Merle's not far from us. You need anything at all, we'll see what we can do to help. Take a few days, and then we can start introducing you to everyone."

"Okay," Andrea agreed. "A few days. I might just sleep right through them."

"I wouldn't be surprised. Get some rest. You've earned it." The two women rose and embraced, and Carol breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful for the return of a friend she'd thought lost for so long.