"There you go Glenn, that should feel a bit better," said Carol as she finished cleaning dried blood from the young man's swollen face. The stained washcloth she used landed with a splash in the pink water of the wash basin on the floor.
Glenn lay uncomfortably on the narrow bed that he shared with Maggie in their cell. No matter how he repositioned himself, he just couldn't get comfortable. Two cracked ribs and a body covered in bruises would have that effect on anyone. He finally settled for gently reclining back against the wall.
Glenn had been practically dragged back to the sanctuary the prison offered. He didn't remember most of the trip; he had slipped in and out of consciousness throughout it. All he did remember was lying down on the back seat of a car with his head in Maggie's lap. Every time he looked at her face then she had been crying.
"Now you tell me if you need anything," Carol's voice brought Glenn back from his vague memories of that trip. The caring woman offered Glenn a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. It was meant to be a reassuring gesture, but he knew her thoughts weren't with his injuries; Carol's thoughts were in Woodbury with Daryl Dixon.
Carol had been filled with sorrow ever since the rescue mission returned three days ago, minus that one key member of their party. She went through the motions of caring for baby Judith and tending to Glenn's wounds, but Carol wasn't really there. Truth be told, Glenn was surprised to actually see her alive when he regained consciousness.
"Carol, we're going to get him back," Glenn promised, leaning forward to touch her hand but stopping short at the sharp pain radiating from his ribs.
Carol signed, looking away from the young man before her. When she met his eyes again, Glenn could see the unshed tears threatening to escape.
"You can't know that," Carol paused and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Now you lay back down and rest. We need you to regain your strength. Maggie needs you to get better. Can you do that for her?"
Glenn grunted his annoyance at hearing Maggie's name but reluctantly leaned back against the wall. He may love that woman, but that didn't keep him from being annoyed with her right now.
He thought he had been hallucinating when the rescue party returned to the prison and the first person he saw as he climbed out of the backseat of the car was a ghost. He had been leaning heavily on Maggie's arm as he laid eyes on Carol Peletier. Carol…alive and well, standing there a smile on her face and Lori's baby in her arms. Before his mind could process that image, Glenn's eyes had rolled up into his head and he passed out cold from exhaustion, his dead weight falling against his screaming girlfriend as he collapsed in her arms.
When he finally woke up two days later, he had looked around, trying to find Maggie's face. His thoughts were of only her. Instead, he was met with the solemn expression of Hershel as he tended to the younger man's wounds. From the look that Hershel gave him, Glenn knew Hershel wasn't happy to be the bearer of bad news.
Hershel explained that his eldest daughter had returned to Woodbury with Rick and the new woman who had helped rescue him and Maggie, Michonne he thought her name was, to locate Daryl. She had waited to make sure Glenn was out of the woods before slipping away. Glenn had been angry when Hershel first broke the news to him. They had just escaped the town and she willingly returned on a reckless mission. Without him. That was what got Glenn the angriest of all; if something happened again he wouldn't be there to protect her.
As angry as he was with her, he also felt a fierce sense of pride that Maggie, his Maggie, was willing to jump back into the fire to save one of their friends. No, not just one of their friends… one of their family.
No one knew why Daryl hadn't followed the group out of Woodbury, but one thing was certain; Daryl hadn't stayed of his own free will. Rick had given Daryl a direct order, and Daryl would not disobey an order from Rick; it would endanger the group to disobey an order. Glenn knew Daryl well enough to know the redneck wouldn't do anything to endanger the group, in particular certain members of their group. Glenn couldn't help but smile slightly as he looked at Carol sitting next to him on the tiny prison mattress. Daryl won't do anything to hurt her.
Glenn's attention was captured by a loud cough coming from the door of the cell. He looked up to see Axel standing there, leaning against the doorway. Trailing the inmate closely was Carl, his sheriff's hat low on his head and his gun tucked into the waistband of his pants.
"Well hello Carol," drawled Axel as he strutted into Glenn's cell, his eyes on the only woman in the room. "I've been trying to find you all morning. You're lookin' pretty today."
Glenn looked up at the inmate standing over his bed. The young Korean man's eyes flicked back to Carol, taking in her grimy appearance and worn-out clothing. Her hands were covered in his own blood from tending to his wounds. Glenn smirked as he caught her rolling her eyes at the obviously unwanted compliment. She turned to face Axel, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Is there something in particular you want Axel? I've got chores to do."
Without waiting for an answer, Carol turned away from Axel and bent to pick up the wash basin from the floor. Glenn watched as Axel's eyes trailed Carol's every movement, the convict's hand unconsciously stroking his moustache as he did so. Glenn could see the man blatantly staring at Carol's ass as she straightened. The Korean man's eyes narrowed as Axel licked his lips, the prisoner still watching Carol's form.
Carol righted herself, oblivious to Axel's actions. The woman turned towards the men in the cell. "I'm going to go get myself cleaned up and feed Judith. You will let me know if you need anything...right Glenn." There was no question in her voice as she addressed the injured man. Carol offered him a small smile that didn't quite touch her eyes. She turned to exit the cell.
"Carol, I could help you with the baby if you like," offered Axel. "Maybe after you've tended to the young'un, we could go someplace and… talk. We could talk about what you said to me the other day. Maybe you'd be interested in that now."
Glenn watched as she shot the inmate an exhausted look. Obviously, she was sick of dealing with a man who was not getting the message.
"I don't want your help. I don't want to go anywhere with you. I'm not interested. You want to do something useful? Stay here and watch Glenn," Carol signed, turning as she did to give Glenn an apologetic smile as she mouthed 'sorry' to him. She affectionately tipped Carl's hat as she walked past the young boy, exiting the cell into the prison hallway beyond.
Glenn watched as Axel followed Carol to the door of the cell. The inmate leaned his body out of the door, following the woman as far as he dared. Axel's head swayed slightly side to side, in a way that Glenn could plainly see was mimicking the delicate sway of Carol's hips as she walked away.
Glenn didn't know what was going on between Carol and Axel, but he could see that whatever Axel thought was happening, Carol wasn't interested. And apparently Axel wasn't getting the message. Glenn didn't like the way Axel stared after Carol. There was a faint glimmer in the inmate's eye; a calculating look.
Glenn wouldn't want Axel to look at Maggie like that. He didn't trust that look. It was a look that generally got someone into prison in the first place.
Suddenly, an idea came to Glenn that was too perfect to pass up. He knew how to get Axel to leave Carol alone and give himself some much needed entertainment in the process. Glenn beckoned to Carl, motioning for him to come further into the cell and sit down. He would need the younger Grimes near him for this to work. Carl walked further into the cell and sat on the foot of the bed, shotting Glenn a questioning look as he did so.
Glenn waited until he was sure Carol was out of earshot before he spoke to Axel.
"Do you have any idea what Daryl will do to you if he catches you making eyes at his girl?" Glenn asked as he leaned forward, ignoring the pain from his torso. He settled into more comfortable position with his arms resting on his knees as he addressed the man still standing at the doorway to the cell.
"What? Whatta ya mean his girl?" Axel asked as he turned to face Glenn, a confused expression overtaking his face.
Glenn hung his head, trying to hide his grin. He snuck a look at Carl, who was wearing as equally confused expression as Axel. The Korean man winked his good eye at the young Grimes. Carl instantly lost the confused expression, took a moment and nodded his head in agreement. Glenn looked up, pausing for a moment to enjoy the baffled look on Axel's face.
"Carol," Glenn pointed out of the cell in the direction the woman had left, "is with Daryl Dixon. When he gets back, he's not going to take too kindly to someone moving in on his turf."
Axel's head swung from Glenn to the direction that Carol had walked away in, down the now empty hallway.
"I thought she was a lesbian. I didn't know she was Daryl's. I mean, I never seen him touch her or nothing." Axel's whined as he spoke.
Glenn chocked back a laugh. Carol…a lesbian? This was going better than he expected. "Do you really want to bring that up to Daryl when he's back? That you haven't seen him get grabby with Carol so you thought you'd hit on her? He's gonna be pissed off enough as it is, and you want to add fuel to that fire?" Glenn shook his head in disbelief as he gently leaned back against the wall, wincing at the motion. "You're a braver man than me, Axel."
"I don't believe it. I still say I haven't seen her with him like that," Axel shook his head in disbelief.
"Haven't you ever noticed that it's always Carol bringing Daryl his food? She does his laundry. No one else pays attention to that redneck like she does. And Daryl's eyes are always on Carol. You saw him after we thought Carol was dead right?" Axel slowly nodded his head in acknowledgment to Glenn. Now that the young man had the inmate's attention Glenn didn't want to lose it. "He tried to hide it from us, but Daryl nearly lost it then. He couldn't deal with the fact she was dead. We all had an understanding that Carol was off-limits to the rest of us. And you, my friend, are hitting on her like there's no tomorrow? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when Daryl gets back and finds out you've tried to make a move on his woman."
"What ya mean by that? What's he gonna do to me? I ain't done nothing; only talked to her is all," Axel moved forward and sat across from Glenn, his attention solely on the injured man in front of him.
Carl sat forward, catching onto Glenn's plan.
"You should really be careful around Daryl. He doesn't even like me going near his bike, and he likes Carol way more than he likes that bike," Carl's face was entirely believable as he spoke to Axel.
"Axel," Glenn started trying not to chuckle at Carl's contribution to the tale, "You've been following Carol around like a shadow. All I'm saying is that I wouldn't piss off the extremely protective guy with a crossbow permanently attached to his arm."
Axel started shaking at Glenn's last words.
"You've seen Daryl with a bow; he's lethal. He never misses." Glenn held Axel's gaze as he said this. He didn't have to make up that part at least. Daryl never missed.
"You think he'll kill me?" Gulped Axel, finally realising how much danger he was potentially in.
"I'm not saying he'd kill you, but I wouldn't piss off the person who would shoot you anywhere," Glenn emphasized as he nodded towards Axels groin. At this gesture, the inmate before him crossed his legs and shrunk down against the cell wall. Glenn was having trouble holding in his laughter. This was more fun than Portal.
"Daryl wouldn't kill you…not straight away at least. He'd make you hurt. Hell… wouldn't even surprise me if he broke your kneecaps and dumped you in a herd of walkers," Glenn took a moment to enjoy the look of horror and pain playing out over Axel's panicked face.
Looking to his left, Glenn could see Carl's head was bowed and shaking lightly with laughter. He elbowed the young boy gently in the ribs. If Carl blew this Axel would never leave Carol alone again. The young boy instantly sat upright with a scared expression fixed on his face. He even went so far as to wipe imaginary tears from his eyes. Turning real laughter into fake crying, damn this kid was good! Drawing a deep and what he hoped was a dramatic breath, Glenn continued.
"But see, Daryl… he's the sane Dixon. Merle, his older brother, now he's the one you've really got to worry about."