When Daryl returned to the House of the Future, he looked around his bedroom. There were taper candles on the wall, behind glass jar-like covers, attached to wooden stands. The curtains were different. Lacy. Carol had changed the covers on the beds, too – some soft fleecy winter blankets or something. At least she hadn't fucked with his antlers.
He leaned his crossbow against the wall, tossed his pack in the closet, and began stripping his gear, tossing it on the writing desk – holstered gun, hunting knife, gutting knife, pocket knife, combat knife….
"I thought you kept that stuff in the drawers of the nightstand," Carol said as she strolled inside through the open doorway.
"Put it away later."
She shut the door behind herself and leaned back against it. "It would probably be easier if you put it away as you were stripping it off."
He turned languidly to her, with narrowed eyes.
She smiled. "Regret letting me move in already?"
"Depends. You gettin' naked later?"
"Why not now?"
He grinned. "Serious?" It wasn't even quite dinner time. That was a break from the routine.
"Well…after you put your gear away in the drawers."
"Ain't fair," he muttered, as he scooped up his gun and a knife in one hand. "You got all these bargaining chips I ain't got." He took three more knives in the other hand, walked over to the nightstand, rolled out the drawer using his knee, and dropped all the gear inside. Then he finished emptying his pockets in there.
"Well, if you think I have all the bargaining chips," Carol said as she sauntered up behind him, "then I suppose I better not tell you've I been horny ever since I heard you say open the gate through the baby monitor."
Daryl slammed the drawer shut, turned, swept her to him by the waist, and murmured huskily in her ear, "Desk is all clear now. Might as well put it to use." He kissed her hard while backing her all the way to the writing desk. He threw the chair out of the way so he could lift her onto the desk by her hips. When she was sitting, he wedged himself between her legs and slid his hand up her shirt to free her breasts from her bra, all the while nipping at her neck.
The sex was quicker and harder and little bit rougher than usual. He stripped her of her pants and underwear but left her top on, and he only managed to get his own pants down to his knees before he was driving into her. But Carol didn't seem to mind his eagerness. She returned it. She came hard when the desk slammed back against the wall and shouted his name. Her cry did him in. Groaning, he spilled hotly into her where he stood with her now naked legs wrapped around his waist.
Daryl stood like that for a while afterward, breathing hard, his head bent against her shoulder. He was just sliding away and pulling up his pants when there was a knock on the door.
"It's dinner time," called Michonne. "Although it sounds like you two already had dessert."
[*]
Over dinner, Daryl concentrated fiercely on his food and avoided Michonne's smirk while Dixon recounted their adventure on the road.
"You realize that Dr. Porter guy is probably going to get his ass handed to him when they find out he was lying?" Andrea asked.
"I didn't really think about it," Dixon admitted. "I just thought they should know."
"I wish you could have taken that CB radio." Michonne picked up the fork Andre had dropped on the floor and handed it to him. "Then we could possibly keep tabs on this Governor."
"It would have been highly suspicious if they'd ripped that out," Rick replied. "He might believe that looters took the guns, but they aren't likely to rip out a CB radio. We want him to think Dixon is dead, not keeping tabs on him. Besides, sometimes my long-range radio will pick up CB traffic if it's close enough. I'll tune into the CB channels regularly to listen."
"No hint of your friend Morgan?" Lori asked.
Rick shook his head.
"Three people alone on the road like that," T-Dog said. "It's dangerous. I wish you could have invited them back."
"Wasn't worth the risk," Daryl told him, finally engaging in the dinner conversation, but still avoiding Michonne's eyes. "And that sergeant didn't seem interested in stayin' in one place."
"We need some kind of protocol if we find other survivors," Rick insisted. "Some measure for vetting them and accepting them into the camp."
"We don't have anymore room in our camp," Lori told him.
"There are other buildings they could stay in," Rick reasoned. "They wouldn't have all the benefits of the House of the Future, but they'd be sheltered and safe behind fences. They'd have access to fresh water in the creek and lake. And we have enough stores."
"For now," Lori said.
"We can't just keep leaving survivors on the road out there."
Dixon shifted uncomfortably in his chair and glanced at Daryl. "Did the right thing," Daryl reassured him. "Couldn't just tell some crazy fucker with an M16 'bout our camp."
"Maybe an interview," Rick continued. "How many walkers have you killed? How many people have you killed? Why?"
"Short interview," Daryl muttered.
Rick set down his water glass. "Those three questions will give us an idea if they have survival skills, what kind of emotional beating they may have taken up to this point – which could speak to mental state - and if they're murders or not."
"'Cause murderers always tell the truth," Daryl replied. "Come on, man! You were a cop!" Daryl dropped his fork. "You know you can't just trust anyone out there. Couldn't before. Sure as shit can't now. Bringing in kids is one thing." He waved at Luke and Mika. "Bringing in a woman with a kid" he nodded to Michonne "is one thing. But we can't just bring in any asshole we happen to cross on the road. That ain't smart."
Rick sighed. "There are still good people in this world, Daryl, and people can be assets."
"People can be threats, too," Lori said. "And they always have mouths to feed. I hate to say I'm with Daryl on this one. But I'm with Daryl on this one."
"Hell you hate to say it for?" Daryl asked.
Lori shrugged. "I just don't usually agree with you."
"What do you think, Carol?" Rick asked.
"I think it's best to play these things by ear. I think whoever is there on the ground at the moment has to make the call as to whether or not to bring a survivor home to Fun Kingdom. It's worked so far."
"I think we need to vote on anyone who comes in this camp before they set foot in this camp," Andrea said. "If anyone is brought here from now on, they should be brought blindfolded and unarmed until we all vote unanimously to accept them."
"I can get behind that," T-Dog said.
"All agreed?" Rick asked.
A show of hands suggested they were. Even the kids raised their hands, with Andre imitating the older ones, even if he didn't quite understand what they were voting on.
Dixon took his napkin from his lap and lay it on the table. "Thank you for dinner, Michonne. It was delicious. I'm going to go finish arranging the library." He pushed back his chair and cleared his plate and glass to the sink as he left.
"I can't believe he's your nephew, Daryl," Michonne said. "He's so charming."
"Daryl can be charming when he wants to be," Carol told her. "What library?"
"Along the hallway out there," Michonne gestured to the open doorway of the dinning room, "by the old museum display room. He brought in extra bookcases from somewhere in the park while you two were…busy." She smirked at Daryl, who looked down at his plate.
November 19
The next morning, Maggie arrived at the gates in the farm truck with Glenn and Patricia in the cab and a cage of hree chickens, a bag of feed, and ten gallons of milk in the bed. T-Dog had heard them calling to open up through the baby monitor and was now at the gate, and so were Carol and Sophia, who were passing by on perimeter check about the same time T-Dog arrived. Sophia hopped off her Segway to go look at the chickens in the bed when Maggie pulled the truck in and eased it to a stop. T-Dog swung shut and latched the gate.
"I'll teach you and Carl how to take care of them," Maggie told Sophia as she stepped out of the truck. "Later. When you and your mom are done with perimeter check."
Glenn and Patricia also climbed out of the truck.
"Good to see you again, Patricia." T-Dog held the truck door open for her while she exited and then closed it behind her. "What brings you to Fun Kingdom?"
"I'm training in firearms with Rick today. I know some basics, because Otis owned a rifle," She tapped the rifle hanging from her shoulder, the one that had once shot Daryl, "but I really need to improve my skills."
"Well, let me show you around," T-Dog volunteered, "show you to the range. And we'll see if we can find Rick along the way."
As T-Dog and Patricia walked off together, Carol looked at the gallons and gallons of milk in the back. "It's a lot, I know," Glenn said. "But since I did the milking this morning…Hershel said I could take as much as I wanted. There were still five gallons for the farm."
"I'll churn the extra into butter," Carol said. "There's that old fashioned churn in the fake village in the Medieval Kingdom." The village had a blacksmith shop, a glassblowing shop, a candlemakers shop, and a carpenter's shop, and people used to dress up and make things while park guests watched.
Glenn and Maggie got back in the truck to bring the milk to the house and the chickens to the petting zoo, and Carol and Sophia continued their perimeter check. A stray walker was wandering in the dirt beyond the fence near one of the roller coasters, probably having stumbled out of the forest. Carol saw it lurching toward the fence line, stopped her Segway, and drew her throwing knife and flicked it open. Sophia stopped her Segway beside her mother's and said, "No, let me! I have to learn."
Sophia was squeamish about killing animals. Daryl had taken her hunting twice in the woods by the train tracks and had reported to Carol that he wasn't sure hunting was going to be one of her better skills and that maybe she should focus on developing others. Given that, Carol wasn't expecting this to go well, but Sophia was right. She'd never killed a walker before, and she had to learn.
"Okay, but I'm right behind you," Carol told her. Sophia drew her waazhuki from the sheath on her back with a rasp. The walker was up to the fence-line now and its jaws were gnashing open and closed between two iron bars, but the opening was too narrow for it to fit its head through. "Keep your limbs away from its mouth," Carol coached her. "When you move toward it, be sure to - "
Sophia marched forward and slashed her sword gracefully between the bars in a single seamless motion of her arm, bringing the sharp blade down hard on the creature's head and splitting it from top to chin, the way she'd done on mannequins several times, and with the same total lack of squeamishness.
"Well okay then," said Carol, stunned.
Sophia yanked her sword – which was now lodged in the creature's neck - out and stepped back as the corpse dropped like a fallen towel in a puddle to the ground.
"That didn't seem to bother you at all," Carol observed. "Daryl said you were awfully squeamish about the squirrels."
"It's just a walker," Sophia said. "It's not a cute little squirrel. Do you have anything I can clean my waazhuki with?"
Feeling incredibly proud, Carol flipped a bandanna from her back pocket and handed it to her daughter.
"I wonder when Dixon is going to be back from hunting," Sophia said as she cleaned the blood and brain off her blade. "I can't wait to tell him I killed my first walker!"
November 20
The next morning, Maggie came on horseback through the woods with Jimmy so the young man could train under Rick. She brought a casserole to share for lunch after lessons, which Beth had made. Carol joined them for lunch, as did Dixon and Glenn.
"Tell Beth it was really good," said Dixon, pointing to his plate with his fork.
"Yeah," Jimmy said. "My girlfriend is a really good cook." He leaned forward on the dining room table and regarded Dixon with narrowed eyes. "Maggie was wrong. We never broke up."
"Well, Beth told me you had," Maggie said.
"She was just emotional. Because of the barn slaughter. She thought I should have told her it was coming. She said I was being too protective. But she knows now it was just because I care about her. Besides, she obviously couldn't handle it."
"Well, she did handle it," Maggie said. "Not well at first, but she came to grips with it."
Dixon made no comment and ate the rest of his lunch in silence.
November 21
Maggie came again on horseback through the woods, this time with Beth to train under Rick.
Dixon lingered nearby the range, "to help retrieve the shell casings for reloading," he claimed.
Daryl went hunting and snagged a wild rabbit. He also brought Carol home a female walker from outside the gates. With the help of a medical book Dixon had looted from the town library, and some scalpels from the park's emergency clinic, she began practicing performing C-sections – just in case.
November 22
Maggie rested her horse, and there was no visit from the Greene Family farm.
Daryl went hunting with Dixon, and the two returned with a black bear that would yield about forty-five pounds of meat. There was an argument about whether they should consume it, since bears were carnivorous, and it might have eaten a walker at some point. Rick was cautious about the possibility.
Dixon insisted, "Animals never get infected, and cooking would kill any infection even if they did."
"But we eat what they eat," Rick said.
"Only if we eat its stomach!" Daryl exclaimed. "Which we ain't plannin' to do."
"Hunting will be very difficult in January and February," Dixon told Rick. "We should store up for the winter."
"Alligators are carnivores, and you ate that and lived to tell the tale," Daryl reminded him.
In the end, the bear was butchered, the hide hung to tan for a bearskin rug, and the meat packed tightly into the freezer, which was now full.
November 23 – November 30
Over the next week, Maggie came to Fun Kingdom on horseback six times. She brought Patricia the first day, Jimmy the second, and Beth the third, so all three could continue to train with Rick at the firearms range.
Maggie rested her horse for a day and then brought Patricia the fifth day, Jimmy the sixth, and Beth the seventh. That seventh day, Dixon volunteered to teach Beth in order to "give Rick a break from all the training."
Each time Maggie came, she brought two gallons of milk, checked on the chickens, and disappeared for an hour or two with Glenn. By the end of the week, a trail had been thoroughly beaten through the woods from the Fun Kingdom parking lot to the farm.
December 1 - 7
The following week, the same pattern repeated, with Maggie coming six times and Dixon volunteering to teach Beth firearms each of the two times she came to train.
The days passed peacefully, with only the occasional walker to slay near the fence line or in the parking lot, or in the woods where Daryl and Dixon had begun to hunt regularly together, both relenting of their determination to only hunt alone.
A second freezer had been plugged in and was half full of venison, while another deer hung aging in the root cellar where the park used to store its flower bulbs.
Due to overcast weather, the House of the Future lost power, and they shut off all the electricity for a day to allow the solar battery to return to half charge. They gutted it out, snuggling beneath heavy blankets during the 47-degree nights, and keeping the refrigerator and freezers closed to avoid spoilage. They agreed to keep thermostat at only 60 degrees, instead of the previous 65, once they turned it on again.
Gradually, the group began to stop worrying about the Governor. Rick's long-range radio caught no CB traffic at all. They figured the man must have found the armored vehicle by now and assumed that Dixon was dead.