AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
Please note that this whole process will be different from the show, though there will be some things that I borrow.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think.
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None of the women were undiscovered sharpshooters that could be counted on to split a playing card in half at the distance of thirty paces—or anything even remotely similar. Carol and Maggie, though, proved to be the quickest studies, and Daryl was confident that either of them could hit a skull, even if they didn't hit a Walker right between the eyes, at least seven out of ten times.
It wasn't perfect odds, but it was good enough.
Everyone who couldn't shoot was given something to use to stab Walkers, and Hershel was left behind in a vehicle with Sophia for the time being.
"I don't like this," Carol said, keeping her voice low as she stood off to the side with Daryl.
He smiled at her. He couldn't help himself.
"You worried about me?" He asked.
She frowned at him and half rolled her eyes.
"You know I am," she said.
"I kinda like that," Daryl offered. "You worryin' about me. Gettin' all bothered."
"You want me to be worried?" Carol responded.
Daryl shrugged his shoulders.
"Shows you care," Daryl said. "That you like me a lil' bit."
"Asshole," Carol said without even a hint of bite to her tone. "I love you," she said softly.
"You do?" Daryl asked.
"I do," Carol confirmed.
"I know," Daryl said, his heart picking up a few beats per minute. "I love you—too." He added just after he'd let enough silence hang between them that he could see Carol beginning to grow concerned.
"I still don't like it," Carol said.
"You this worried about Glenn?" Daryl asked.
"I don't see why you both have to go in there," Carol said.
"So I can cover his damn ass," Daryl said. "And he don't get into trouble while we're all safe behind some fences."
Carol sighed loudly and deeply because she knew that what he was saying was true. It wasn't fair to open the small gate, shove Glenn through, and wish him luck while he was left entirely on his own to do the hardest and dirtiest part of the initial steps to gain the prison.
"Please be careful?" Carol asked.
Daryl leaned and kissed her. He only meant for it to be a quick kiss, but it ended up lasting a little longer than intended.
"Break it up," T-Dog said as he passed near them. "The sooner we get that first gate closed, the sooner we can start making plans for home sweet home."
Daryl stole one more quick kiss from Carol before he heeded T-Dog's words. Carol caught his hand and he let her have it. He tugged her along with him as they moved toward the fences where everyone was gathering together.
There were relatively few Walkers wandering around outside the prison at the moment. They'd killed the three or four that had shown some interest in them, and they'd piled their bodies up near where they intended to cut the fence into the run that was separated out at the lower part of the yard. The run gate was closed and it was empty. It was safe for them to enter and, without too many Walkers outside the fences looking for a snack, they were able to take their time cutting the wires and easing everyone inside—one at a time.
As soon as they were in, they braided wire through the fence and hooked it shut. They dropped the backpacks that each of them carried—loaded with supplies for taking over the yard, with backup weapons, and with ammunition. They took a moment to hand out weapons and to line people up at good spots along the inside fence.
Carol, T-Dog, Rick, and Maggie would be armed with guns. They would each have a bladed weapon as backup. Everyone else would have only a blade or pointed weapon of their choice. When Lori opened the gate, Glenn would dart through followed by Daryl. Daryl would offer immediate and close backup to Glenn as the young man made his way as quickly as possible to the gate. The others would cover them and pick off, with bullets, the Walkers that got closest to them—the ones that Daryl couldn't get because there were too many to handle at once.
The rest would make noise to draw the Walkers toward the run and would stab them through the fence.
Once the gate was locked and secured, they'd let everyone in from the run and they'd clear the whole section as quickly as possible before they made their way to the main gates, opened them, and allowed Hershel to drive inside with Sophia. Then they'd move their other vehicles inside, rest, and regroup.
Tomorrow they'd take the second section of the prison.
Despite Carol's anxiety, that was exactly how it had happened. They'd traded a few stray bullets and a good bit of sweat, but they'd closed the first gate, took down every Walker in the area, brought their vehicles inside and, then, they'd divided their people into working groups.
As usual—at least in Daryl's opinion—Lori was exhausted and overworked despite the fact that she'd only stabbed a few Walkers through a fence and manned the gate. She was put on the ever-important job of watching the water pots boil and holding Sophia while half of them had dragged bodies outside the fences to burn them, others kept watch for approaching Walkers, and others were responsible for hauling water in buckets from the creek so that everyone could bathe.
Four squirrels didn't make much of a meal, but they added some flavor and nutrition to the stew that Carol concocted from their supplies.
Tents snagged from a camping supply store went up—since this was the first place that was actually safe enough for them to camp and use the tents—and everyone retired to their spaces as the sun went down.
Sophia's pen was too large for the tent that Carol and Daryl were temporarily calling home. Though it would fit, it would leave little room for them to comfortably move. As a result, they'd left it in the truck and they'd simply made her a pallet on the floor near them. During the time before she was ready to commit to sleep, she'd toddled and crawled around—most of the time dressed only in a diaper because she preferred that to wearing her pajamas—and played with her toys.
When she'd finally been tired enough to allow herself to be wrangled into her pajamas, and when she'd nursed until she was full, she'd allowed Daryl to hold her and rock her while her eyelids grew heavier and heavier until, finally, she dropped off to sleep. Daryl held her instead of immediately putting her on her pallet.
Carol reclined near him on the sleeping bags they'd joined together on the tent floor.
"Tomorrow we take the second section," Carol said.
"And the upper part if we aren't too tired," Daryl offered.
"I'd rather sleep in that middle section," Carol said. "No matter how much we take."
"Any particular reason why?" Daryl asked.
"What if there are Walkers in the prison?" Carol asked. "And what if we don't know it, but they get out at night? We won't be able to clear the whole prison tomorrow, too, so I'd rather sleep with the gate in between us for safety."
"I think—if there were Walkers that could get out, they'd get out before we went to sleep. Still—it's all the same to me and I'll set up our tent wherever the hell you want it. I'd rather you sleep good than stay awake to prove some kinda point I ain't really tryin' to make."
"Do you think there will be a lot of Walkers in the prison?" Carol asked.
"I think the place'll be full," Daryl said. "But I'm figurin' that most of the Walkers'll be locked up. Some guards, maybe, to contend with. If they're locked in cells, we can clear 'em out a cell at a time. It ain't like they gettin' out now. Corpses don't pick locks too damn good, and if it was that easy to get out, they'da been out a long time ago."
"It doesn't sound too bad if you think that there's only guards walking around," Carol offered with a yawn.
"I guess it also depends on whatever the hell happened out back. Looks like part of the prison back there is damaged. Like somethin' blew up or some shit—coulda been some kinda explosion with the whole loss of electricity, or maybe even some dumbass tried to opt out with a fuckin' grenade. Whatever it is, we're gonna need to patch up the walls in that one area back there. But there's Walkers could get in from the outside."
"What if that means the prison isn't safe?" Carol asked.
"It's safe," Daryl said. "Might mean we block off that area for a while, but there ain't no shortage of doors and shit to shut off areas in a prison. But you can rest easy—it's gonna be safe. We wouldn't stay there if it turned out to be dangerous."
"We'd have done all this for nothing," Carol said.
Daryl laughed to himself.
"Like we ain't wasted some time already," Daryl offered. "Besides—I know it'll be safe. We might sacrifice some space before we clean up the area or take over other cell blocks, but it'll be safe. We'll be able to close off the damaged part. I promise you that."
"How do you know so much about prisons?" Carol asked.
Daryl laughed to himself again. He shifted just a little to change his position. Sophia slept soundly through the change and he smiled to himself at the look of her with her light-colored little lashes all laced together while she dreamed about all the things that she thought were wonderful about the world around her—practically the only world that she'd ever known.
"Regular prison setup ain't too different than a county jail. Ain't no secret, I'm sure, that Merle done a couple stints in jail," Daryl said. "Never nothin' too serious, and never for too long. Had some friends, too, got locked up." He cleared his throat and swallowed against his own anxiety. He found comfort in the peaceful face of the dozing baby. "I did six months," Daryl said. He flicked his eyes toward Carol.
She was looking at him. Her jaw was set. Her mouth was a straight line and her eyes were no bigger or smaller than they normally were when she was lounging around the space they shared.
She gave nothing away about her reaction to such a statement.
Daryl's stomach tightened uncomfortably.
"You ain't gonna say nothin'?" He breathed out.
"What do you want me to say?" Carol asked.
"You find out you're involved with a man who's been to jail," Daryl said. "Don't you got somethin' to say?"
Carol shrugged her shoulders and studied the stitching on the sleeping bag.
"You think—Ed never went to jail?" Carol asked. Daryl frowned at her.
"Don't like bein' compared to him," Daryl said.
"I wasn't comparing you," Carol said. "I just meant—I've been to the jail a few times. I posted bail for the asshole." She flicked her eyes away from Daryl. "It's you who ought to feel embarrassed to be, as you say, involved with someone who was so damn stupid."
"Not stupid," Daryl said.
"Stupid," Carol said.
"Why'd you post the bail?" Daryl asked.
"What kind of life did I have without him?" Carol asked. "I didn't have any skills. I didn't have any way to live. And I knew, when he got out, he was going to find me. Maybe I thought that—if I was the one who got him out—maybe he'd go easier on me."
Daryl swallowed, his stomach aching.
"Did he?" Daryl asked.
Carol looked at him. Now her eyes seemed bigger. Sadder.
"What do you think?" She asked. Daryl choked back his sadness at the words and focused on the peaceful face of Sophia.
"All that's different now," Daryl said.
"Completely different," Carol said. She reached her hand out and touched his leg. She squeezed his thigh affectionately and his dick stirred a little to try and see if the gesture was leading to something that required more of his involvement. She smiled at him. The smile was worth more than Daryl could say, and his chest ached. "What'd you go to jail for?" Carol asked.
"Mostly bein' stupid," Daryl said. "An' bein' Merle's fuckin' idiot brother."
Carol laughed to herself.
"Really," she said. "What'd you go for?"
Daryl sighed.
"Assault. If you wanna know the truth of it. Though—not the same as what I imagine Ed prob'ly went for."
"I bet not," Carol said softly.
"Merle was always fuckin' with the wrong damn people," Daryl said. "Right or wrong—he was my brother. I was obligated to have his back. It's just that one time I had his back against someone who was able and willin' to prove that the fight was provoked. Did six months over in Athens."
Carol hummed and moved her arm so that she could lie comfortably on her side. She remained quiet for a while with her hand still resting on Daryl's thigh. Daryl let the quiet settle in between them. He listened to the sounds around them—snatched conversations from other tents and the almost constant growl of Walkers and the clanging of chain link being rattled.
"You sorry you with me?" Daryl asked.
"I wouldn't be sorry to be with you if you'd killed a man," Carol said. She laughed to herself. "I can't explain it, but I feel safe with you. I love you. The rest doesn't matter to me. Maybe—it doesn't matter who we are. It's more about…who we're becoming."
Daryl hummed to himself.
"You're safe with me," he assured her. "You and Sophia. Still—I wouldn't have minded killin' a man if it coulda been Ed. Woulda done the time for it, too."
"I'm glad you didn't," Carol said. "Just because—then you'd be in prison and not here. With me. With us."
"I'm here," Daryl offered. His chest ached at the words—and the genuine sound of feeling behind them. "You—really do love me?"
Carol laughed quietly. She shifted around to lie on her back. Even her eyes smiled at him in the flickering light of their camping lamp.
"More every day," she said. "In fact—why don't you put Sophia down? Come on over here and let me prove it to you."