FanFicReader47: I understand where your review is coming from, but don't forget that Glenn and Maggie got married by just exchanging a ring. Not even with each other; Glenn gave Maggie the ring he cut off a walker, at least in the show. Never read the comics. So, I personally don't feel like it was out of left field, especially not after they've been together for at least ten months. I also personally don't feel as if Daryl is the jewelry kind in any fashion. He's the 'it's mine and I've got it' kind to me, so the vest with the wings would be enough to him in my opinion. I do agree that it was out of left field, but that's kind of how I write sometimes; I get a set idea in mind and run with it. And just keep reading. I promise, it ain't getting as dark as I'm making it out to seem, just setting things up. ^_^ Glad you're still reading, though.
Tea felt bad for having freaked out Daryl last week and asked him what if they were. She'd thought logically about it, but Daryl was convinced she was pregnant and had taken to constantly worrying. Daryl was sleeping soundly for once as she watched him. His normally brooding face was relaxed and calm, almost boyish in appearance. His normal scowl was gone, his brows relaxed, and his jaw limp instead of clenched. She could die a happy woman knowing his sleeping face. It had been two weeks at the prison. They had slowly gotten things cleaned up and Tea was happy the process was over. The smell of burning rotten flesh plus PMS, she decided, was her biggest issue right now with her stomach. Daryl was worried about pregnancy, but after a brief period of panic induced by the man himself, she wasn't. The lack of stench in the air gave her a relief this morning from sickness, but she could feel the tightness in her lower stomach that would lead to cramps later on in the day. Besides that, if she counted right, she wasn't even a full week late yet, only three days, well within normal.
She'd tried to tell Daryl that their circumstances were what was making her sick, but the man was one track minded now that he got the idea into his head that she was pregnant. Every time she brought it up, he brought up how she had freaked out too when he'd first brought it up. She'd tried to tell him she'd had a moment of fear because he was freaking out too, but it just wasn't possible when she counted the days. And until they knew for certain, what was there to be afraid of? She either was or she wasn't, and as puking was the only thing they had to go on, she wasn't convinced. She always got nauseous around that time, and the shock to her body from having little food to having full meals made it worse. But could she get that through to Daryl? Hell no.
Sighing heavily, she made to get up out of bed only to be pulled back down by the strong arm around her middle. She chuckled and shook her head, tracing the outline of his face with her finger as he slowly woke up. Having just finished tracing his lips as his eyelashes twitched, she leaned in and kissed him, watching as his eyes groggily opened when she pulled back. A peaceful sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes and pulled her closer into his chest.
"Any furtha and we'll fuse," she warned him laughing.
"Five more minutes," he grumbled, causing her to chuckle again.
"Fine, sleepyhead. Five more minutes."
By the time she managed to pry herself from his grasp, Rick was already waiting in the commons. The field had finally been cleared of all the walkers and the two of them were discussing how to set up the cars and the field when Daryl hazily walked out of their cell. It was obvious the man was barely awake as he tried to keep up with what Rick was telling him. Tea found it adoringly hilarious seeing as how she rarely ever saw this side of him; maybe twice more, once at their hidden camp back at the quarry and once at the storage units. Both times he'd been particularly worn out and slept longer than usual. He was just stressed this time around and Tea felt guilty about putting him under it. If he'd only listen, it wouldn't be so bad, she thought to herself as she watched him.
Together with Rick, Carol, and T-Dog, they left the block and courtyard and went out into the field. Carol maneuvered their supply truck into the field as Rick and Tea planned how to fortify the space. It wouldn't be easy, and the smell would be pretty bad, but Tea had a plan involving walkers along the fence line that Rick wasn't sure about. She'd just shrugged and said they build a wall with walkers or they build one thick enough to keep the damn things out, either way, they needed a wall. The fences would never hold against a large herd.
"Okay, let's get the other car in. Park it in the west entry of the yard," Rick told Carol.
"Good," Daryl said. "Our vehicles camped out there look like a damn vacancy sign."
"Ain' that the truth," Tea agreed, starting to feel the cramps in her lower abdomen. "Afta that, we need ta go lookin' through the rest a the prison we cleared and clear the dead out from there. We got the yard and our block done, now it's time ta clear the prison itself. Hell, maybe we'll find more supplies."
"Where's Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help," Carol asked.
"Up in the guard tower," Daryl said, pointing to the one the two used; theirs was further off and had gone unused since Daryl started freaking out much to Tea's dismay.
"Guard tower?" Rick repeated. "They were just up there last night."
Tea snickered as Daryl called up to them. After a minute of waiting, Glenn appeared out of the guard tower without his shirt and obviously doing up his pants. She was now doing her best and biting her lips to keep from busting out in laughter. Even Carol was smiling and softly chuckling.
"Hey, what's up guys?" Glenn said nervously.
They all shared a laugh as Daryl shouted, "You comin'?"
"What?" was Glenn's response, causing Tea to lose her shit and start laughing boisterously.
"You coming?" Daryl repeated, trying to keep himself from laughing along with Tea and now Carol and T-Dog. They watched as Glenn looked into the tower at Maggie, absolutely confused which did little to help the hyenas behind him. Daryl looked up at the Asian man and told him, "Come on! We could use a hand!"
"Yeah, we'll be right down!" he stuttered as an irritated Maggie came out.
"Nice hair, Mags! Who's ya stylist?!" Tea cackled up at her, finally getting Daryl and Rick to crack into laughter as well.
They stayed laughing for a moment longer before they got to work, Carol swatting at both hers and Daryl's arms for their quips at the couple. Tea couldn't care less as she hadn't laughed that hard since Daryl had been called dramatic. That memory made her laugh some more earning a look from the two older people walking with her. Shrugging her shoulders, she simply pointed at Daryl and said, "Dramatic," before chuckling and walking away. Carol shared a confused look with Daryl who just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, quickening his pace to catch up to Ania.
"Hey Rick," T-Dog said from where he stood rooted to where he had been when they were teasing Maggie and Glenn.
Looking to where he was, the rest of the group watched as the inmates walked out into a courtyard that had been cleared in the days prior. The pair walked out the gate and up near their group. Tea was still fighting Rick about letting them into the fold. While his paranoia was valid, this was the first time he'd even seen the inmates since they'd locked them in the cell block. Tea and T-Dog had gone and visited them a couple of times, Tea having mercy and letting them sleep in the laundry room without Rick's knowledge. She couldn't leave them in the cell block with all the bodies and gore.
"That's close enough," Rick told them. "We had an agreement."
"Please, mister," Axel said, still folded in on himself. "We know that. We made a deal. But you gotta understand, we can't live in that place another minute. You follow me? All the bodies, people we knew. Blood, brains everywhere. There's ghosts."
"Why don't you move the bodies out?" Daryl asked softly.
"You should be burning them," T-Dog said.
"We tried," Axel wailed. "We did!"
"The fence is down on the far side of the prison," Oscar informed them, causing Tea to cuss under her breath; she didn't know that! "Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. Dropping the body and just running back inside."
"Look," Axel said, trying his luck and taking a step towards Rick, "we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew. Nothing! You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro. We'll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Just please, please, don't make us live in that place."
"Rick," Tea said, only to be cut off yet again. It was starting to make her blood boil. So much for promisin' ta listen.
"Our deal is not negotiable," he told the inmates. "You either live in your cell block, or you leave."
"Rick!" Tea yelled. "Now ya gonna listen ta me this time. They're non-violent offendas. Well, Oscar is. Axel's a dumbass. But they ain' deservin' livin' in that place. 'Sides, ain' that what ya were always on 'bout? Rebuildin'? Can' rebuild on our own, and these guys could be major help in keepin' this place safe."
"Not negotiable," was all he had to say.
"I told you this was a waste of time," Oscar told Axel. "He ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys. Do you know how many of our friends corpses we had to drag out the last week? Just threw 'em out like." He stopped and sighed before continuing, "These were good guys. Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint, dudes like Tomas and Andrew. We've all made mistakes to get in here, Chief. And I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me, we've paid our due. Enough that we'd rather hit that road than go back into that shithole."
"Listen ta him, Rick," Tea tried once more, feeling the need to hurry this along. "At least let everyone talk it ova 'fore ya sentence 'em ta death on the road."
Rick considered it as he looked back at Daryl who shook his head. While Tea might trust the guys to be decent, they were both far too cautious after Andrew and Tomas's stunt. Daryl was even more so now that he was worried about Ania's condition. She seemed to be doing better today, but that didn't mean anything in the long run. There was no way in hell he wanted an inmate anywhere near his wife. Wife, he smiled to himself, shaking his head and returning to the group after locking the inmates out in the dog walk. They stood behind the overturned bus discussing the options ahead of them.
"Are you serious?" Rick asked her and T-Dog, who was on her side. "You want them living in a cell next to you? They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?"
"I never stopped," T-Dog said.
"Look," Tea stated, "I know I ain' been the best version a me I can be the last couple a months. That don' mean I can' still do me job as the people-knowa. Unlike ya, I've actually gone and talked ta 'em a couple a times ta get their stories. Axel's a fuckin' idiot. Not even sure the man knows how ta use a gun, ta be honest. Oscar, he's a stand up guy. He might a done somethin' shitty ta get in here, but he ain' the kind ta turn on good folk. They ain' gonna try shite."
"When did you talk to 'em?" Daryl asked, suddenly very tense and thinking about the few times he had left her alone.
"When ya were on watch with Rick the otha day," she told him. "I took T-Dog with me, don' worry 'bout me bein' a dumbass and goin' alone."
"Bring them into the fold," T-Dog picked up the conversation. "If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves."
"I don't know," Glenn sighed. "Axel seems a little unstable."
"I'm a little unstable," Tea countered. "Ya don' send me packin'."
"Yeah, but your kind of unstable we're used to," Glenn joked with a half smile.
Scoffing, she held a hand over her heart, "Ya offend me."
"After all we've been through?" Carol offered, once again getting the conversation back on track. "We fought so hard for all this, what if they decide to take it?"
"They're two guys. I can take Axel with me hands tied. And like I said, Oscar is an extremely loyal man, a man a conviction. Do him right and he'll do right by ya," Tea told her.
"It's just been us for so long," Maggie said. "They're strangers. I don't, I mean, it feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around."
"So we jus' keep it the twelve a us foreva? Neva let anyone inta the fold or give anyone a chance jus' 'cause we're used ta it bein' us?"
"You brought us in," T-Dog told the woman.
"Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms. Didn't give us a choice," she told him.
"They can't even kill walkers," Glenn pointed out.
"Even more a reason ta bring 'em in. We send 'em out, they're dead men walkin'," Tea told him.
"They're convicts, bottom line," Carol said.
"Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do," T-Dog commented. "Definitely less than our resident Lady Death," he said, nudging Tea with a half smile.
"I get guys like this," Daryl suddenly spoke up. "Hell, I grew up with 'em. They're degenerates but they ain't psychos. I could a been in there with them just as easy as I'm out here with you guys."
"So ya with us?" Tea said hopefully.
"Hell no," he shot her down, earning a disappointed glare. "Let 'em take their chances out on the road just like we did."
"What I'm saying, Daryl," T-Dog started.
"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid," Rick said. "Nineteen years old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The blubbered like a baby through the interrogation, during the trial, suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and then two weeks later, he shot another girl."
"Ya got a point in that story, Rick?" Tea asked.
"We've been through too much," he told her. "Our deal with them stands," he said as he walked away.
"Rick, wait!" Tea yelled, making the man stop in his tracks. "It ain' jus' what ya say that goes, rememba? I'm puttin' this choice ta the entire group, and takin' votes. I'll go with the majority, but that don' mean I'm lettin' ya kick them ta the curb jus' 'cause ya too fuckin' scared ta botha tryin' ta let othas join us. We ain' gonna be able ta survive if we don' bring more people in."
"But convicts?" Carol asked.
"One a the best lawyas I knew was a convict. Knew a lot of decent ex-convicts. One bad decision does not a person make, Cars," she said, making Carol smile a bit at the name she had yet to get used to.
Rick looked pissed, but she was right, they had agreed to lead together and they were now at odds. Her putting it to the group was the best way for them to settle the matter fairly without one completely over-powering the other. They had made their leadership work simply because of that; they either agreed or talked it over until they came to either an understanding or a compromise. Right now, she was giving neither, simply utilizing her power to do the same thing he had just done. He'd made the decision to lock them in the dog walk, she to put it to a vote. There was nothing to be done but to see what the people said.
They made their way back into the prison. Tea immediately went to her cell and pulled out a clean pair of pants. She silently thanked the gods that her jeans had been black. Daryl can stop his fuckin' worryin', she thought ruefully. When she'd originally asked him, she'd been faced with a very real fear of being pregnant. It had made her think about what she actually wanted. And she did want a child with Daryl, but here? In the prison? It was still too early to tell if the damn place would even hold long enough to make it through a pregnancy. Heaving a sigh and getting her mind set to the task at hand, she left her cell with a breaking heart and headed to Hershel's.
Hershel was awake and Lori, Carl, and Sophia were standing with him and Beth in his cell. Tea came over and explained the situation with the convicts and what she thought of them. While Lori firmly stated she wouldn't feel comfortable, Hershel accepted the idea, agreeing that they couldn't push everyone away just because of their past. The way she made the men sound, one of them was a pushover and the other was honorable. He didn't see a reason why they should be cast out. Beth wasn't too thrilled, but she voted with her father knowing that Tea wouldn't speak on the men's behalf if she didn't believe in them. Both Carl and Sophia agreed to let the inmates join as well. That brought the total up to six. One more vote and she could bring them in and start introductions.
"Hey, D," she said walking up to him as he cleaned his bolts.
"No," he told her.
"Oh, come on! Ya don' even know what I came ova ta talk 'bout!"
"The convicts."
"Well, yeah, there's that, but it's the otha thing," she said sheepishly.
"The 'other thing'?" he asked curiously.
"I told ya I wasn'," she said simply making him scrutinize her; she was wearing different pants, he noticed, and that was all it took for the world to stop in it's tracks.
She wasn't pregnant. It was just a bad bout of PMS like she'd been trying to convince him. She didn't have to fight for a baby on top of everything else they had going on. She didn't have to worry about running with a swollen belly like Lori. Didn't have to worry about childbirth. The thoughts flooded through his body in waves of relief that only turned to heartbreak. She wasn't pregnant. They'd already talked about it, already agreed it was what they wanted. Hell, he'd been hoping she was and now she wasn't. What did that mean going forward? Did she still want to? Would she still be willing to give him a kid? This one would have just been an accident, but now they could plan for one. Would she want that? He just sat in a daze as she watched him.
"Ya good?" she asked quietly.
Clearing his throat and shifting uncomfortably, he responded, "Yeah, yeah. We're good. What was with all the pukin'?"
"Told ya, it happens sometimes. I think the lack a eatin' all winta and havin' food now with the smell a the burnin' walkas jus' fucked with me tummy. Ya know I get nauseous 'round that time anyway," she said with a shrug, "it was jus' worse this time 'cause a the shock ta me body and mind the changes gave. Now, 'bout the convicts," she changed the subject to save them both from the awkwardness they were feeling.
"No," he restated.
"Come on, D. What if it was Merle? Would ya want someone sendin' 'im away jus' 'cause 'e was a convict?"
"That ain't the same."
"It is the same and ya damn well know it. Hell, it's worse! 'Cause Merle knows how the hell ta take care a himself! Oscar might be able ta make it on 'is own for a bit, but Axel's dead as soon as they find a group. Ya can' say I'm wrong, eitha. D? Don' make me beg," she tried with a coy smile.
"Can't beg right now," he said quietly, thinking of how she normally 'begged' and how she wasn't pregnant.
"Dammit, Daryl," she growled. "There's other times ta try. Ain' the end jus' 'cause it ain' now. Nothin's changed in me wantin' ya kid. Jus', let's see if this place holds first. And for it ta hold, we need people. We need numbas," she reasoned softly, moving to sit in his lap.
"How many others?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her.
"T-Dog, Hershel, Beth, Carl, and Sophia. Carol's thinkin' 'bout it."
Daryl heaved a sigh, "Bunch a kids decidin' for the group?"
"Carl and Sophia have jus' as much right gettin' a vote in this as any a us. If there were more people, hell nah, kids don' get a say 'til sixteen, which means Beth'd have a say in it anyway. But it's jus' the twelve a us now. We should all get a say this time."
"You sure about this?"
"As sure as I was OJ was guilty."
He laughed at that and finally relented to her argument. She had been trying really hard to help him since they had gone clothes hunting. Then again, she'd also been trying to help calm his nerves the last week and a half. Daryl hoped she wouldn't back off again now that they knew. It was harder than he cared to admit, being with her and dealing with all her issues on top of his own needs. She tried her hardest to be accommodating, even when she was having a hard time herself. He felt like he was always falling short in that department; always getting angry when her needs and his collided.
"You know I love you, right?" he asked quietly, not wanting the others to hear him sounding needy.
"I know, I love ya too, D," she said before giving him a kiss on the cheek, standing up, and walking off.
In the end, she managed to convince everyone but Lori and Rick, leaving them to deal with majority rules. They walked back out into the field, Rick telling the others where to move the vehicles so that they could be in the best position if they needed to make a quick escape. Tea had let T-Dog tell the prisoners the good news; the man had been the first one to talk to her about it, not liking how it was just two men left to fend for themselves. Rick looked like he was going through some constipation as he walked next to her, slowing his pace minutely to give them some space. She followed suit until there was a few feet between the two of them and the others.
"I still don't think it's a good idea," Rick said. "They should try their luck on the road."
"Ya think they'd last out there?" she asked.
"It's their choice," he said.
"Nah, Rick, it ain' their choice. It's ya choice ya forcin' on 'em. Live with the dead or die by the dead."
"Whose blood would you rather have on your hands? Maggie's? Carol's? Daryl's? Or theirs?"
"Why choose when there's a betta option?" she asked as she walked away.
Daryl rolled up next to her on his motorcycle a moment later and she climbed on, thankful to be off her feet as all she wanted to do was nap. Axel and Oscar were being talked to now by Rick, no doubt threatening them if they even try to do anything to his family. Back at the cell block, Daryl waited for her to get off the bike before dismounting himself. Telling her to stay at the cells and take a nap until he got back, he walked back down to the dog walk to talk to Rick and Glenn; they were going outside the fence line to set some snares and gather firewood. Carol, Maggie, and T-Dog were positioning the cars according to Tea's direction when she watched Hershel come out of the cell block on crutches. Smiling widely and walking up to the man, she congratulated him on being up and out of bed.
"You cleared all those bodies out?" he asked her.
"Well, ya were out a commission for two weeks," she told him with a smile. "Couldn' very well sit on me ass watchin' ya get ya beauty rest."
"It's starting to look like a place we could really live in," he muttered.
"I know," Tea said joyously. "Could actually make a home."
"Hey, you watch your step," Lori cut in, worried the old man might fall. "Last thing we need is you falling."
They turned to the fence as they heard Glenn holler. Tea laughed at the man's jubilation and continued walking with Hershel, Lori, Beth, Carl, and Sophia. The kids had taken their guard duties very seriously, which was nice. Apparently calling into question their level of maturity had forced the pair to actually mature a bit. While Tea wasn't too thrilled with taking their youth away early, that was the world they lived in. There wasn't time for hide and seek and chase. Hide and seek was for hiding from walkers or bad men and it was rare that you were the chaser and not the chasee. That was the sad truth.
Beth's soft voice pulled her from her reverie, "You're doin' great, daddy."
"Ready to race, Hershel?" Carl joked.
"You give me another day, I'll take you on," he told the boy, earning a chuckle.
They came to a stop by the gate as Maggie, T-Dog, and Carol stood laughing not far away. They were having a great day, all in all. Tea almost thought to herself that nothing could go wrong, but stopped the thought just as it popped up. Nothin' like jinxin' yaself, she thought wryly. And hell if she didn't feel like that's just what she did as she, Carl, and Sophia glanced at each other upon hearing louder than normal growling. Looking behind them, Carl yelled at the rest of the group about the walkers that had filled the courtyard.
Tea had her gun out faster than she could blink her eyes, bringing it up and firing at the walkers with precision. She yelled at the kids to get to their parents as everyone began opening fire on the threat. They could hear Rick yelling at them to get out, but exactly where the hell were they supposed to go? They were going to be cut off if they weren't careful. Tea watched as Hershel and Beth got to safety, but the walkers just kept coming and prevented the rest from going anywhere.
"That gate is open!" T-Dog yelled, making a run for it, Tea covering him.
Carol and Sophia were with them too, the four of them firing on any walker in front of them. As T-dog was chaining the gate back up, the worst happened. She was trying to get Carol and Sophia into a safer spot and hadn't been paying as much attention as she should have to the man. His screams alerted her to the danger he was in, only for her to see a walker taking a chunk from his shoulder as he closed the gate. Carol screamed as Tea pushed the woman into block after her daughter, urging T-Dog to get in there with them. It would lead them down into the tombs, but what choice did they have?
T-Dog was leading the way, Carol crying as she stumbled behind him, Sophia behind her as Tea took up the rear. Both she and T-Dog knew the area well enough to be able to navigate them out of the immediate area, but neither knew if they would be able to due to the walkers. It was even worse now that the alarm was blaring. Tea was focused on the task at hand, keeping Carol and Sophia safe, but her eyes were zoned in on the patch of mangled skin near T-Dog's throat.
"There's a set of double doors that will lead to a corridor, that'll get you back to our cell block," he told the crying woman.
"No, you should stop!" Carol said.
"I'm getting you there!" he told her, pulling her along as Tea and Sophia followed.
"Stop!" Carol yelled again, breaking free.
"Why?" T-Dog asked her. "So I can sit here and wait to die? Uh-uh."
"Carol, let 'im do what 'e needs ta do," Tea said to her. "We ain' gonna let 'im turn, but we ain' stoppin' the man's final actions when they're noble as fuck, eitha."
"This is God's plan," the man agreed, making Tea cringe at that thought. "He'll take care of me. Always has. He's gonna help me lead you outta these tombs."
Tea opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut. Right now wasn't the time to point out the obvious, especially to a man on the verge of death. If this was his god's plan, that meant his god had purposefully given him a slow and agonizing death, or worse. There was nothing good or caring about his god right now, nor any deity, in her eyes.
They'd made it down a few more corridors and through another set of doors. T-Dog was heavily leaning on Carol now as they trailed behind her, Sophia staying between the adults. Tea was leading them now because in the tombs, aside from the occasional flicker of light from lights attached to the alarms, there was no light. Tea could see well enough to get them out and keep them out of trouble, but neither Sophia nor Carol would be able to fight with how dark it was. There was no way T-Dog could fight as his condition deteriorated by the minute. They had rounded another corner only to be met with snarls. Tea grabbed her throwing knife, ready to take the group on, but T-Dog just put a hand on her shoulder.
"We're close," he told her. "Get them out!"
With a yell, he ran at the walkers before she could do anything, Sophia and Carol holding onto her as she made to go after him. They were right to do it, because the man used his football history to tackle and hold the two walkers back against the wall. As they were tearing at him, he yelled for them to get out of there. Just as she got to the door, Tea took aim. It would be her final bullet, and her seventh kill.
~x~
Daryl walked out of the prison gate with Rick and Glenn. There was a walker across the way that Glenn asked about. Unfortunately, their hope of weapons and ammo from the prison were thrashed as it had been picked absolutely clean. Walking off into the woods, he showed both Rick and Glenn how to make snares and set them. Hopefully doing that would mean making less supply runs and more time with his girl.
He was still coming to terms with the fact that she wasn't pregnant. She'd always gotten really nauseous and had puked a couple times before due to PMS, but it had been nothing like what had happened to her this time. It had given him a false hope that he would have his own family, his own baby held tightly in his arms. After the childhood he'd had, that thought had given him a sense of longing he hadn't felt since Ania had left the quarry seemingly a lifetime ago, back when he first laid his claim. She hadn't ripped it away, though. She'd told him it wasn't the time, and that she still wanted his kid. It took the edge off the pain and allowed that bubble of hope to survive.
Still, another, darker part of him, the part with Merle's voice, was telling him that she didn't want his kid. She was just saying that to keep herself safe if shit hit the fan. She knew he would look for her and keep her safe if it ever did, knew he'd die for her. That she didn't love him, was just using him for the safety he provided and a warm bed. He was nothing, never had been, never would be, so why would she want him? It didn't matter if she said it every chance she got. It didn't matter that she was trying to comfort him when he was down or anxious. It didn't matter that she was putting an effort in to meet his needs. It was all just for show, and the shoe was gonna drop sooner rather than later.
He tried hard to push those thoughts down, wishing more than anything Merle were around to smack him upside the head for being such a pussy. Daryl knew he'd been whipped by Ania, but he didn't care. Being around her was like breathing after almost drowning. He hadn't even realized how much he needed her presence until after the farm. Winter on the road had been one of the most harrowing experiences of his life. He'd almost lost her four different times because she was too busy saving one of the others. Well, three of those times were. The fourth had been because she and Rick were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; a run had gone south when a group of bandits had rolled in and tried to take their shit. Tea had shot their leader and his right hand man in the head and gotten a bullet in her calf and a graze on her arm in the process.
They returned to the prison having spent about an hour setting snares. Rick and Glenn's arms were full of wood as Tea had said she wanted to start keeping a stockpile within the cell block for if it rained. Couldn't make a fire with wet wood and they'd spent the winter cold enough. Daryl was holding the gate wide open so the other two could come in without being snagged where they'd cut the cables. He looked back up to the prison, making out the shiny honey color of Ania's hair as she stood next to Hershel.
"Lookie here," he told them, motioning to the prison.
Glenn let out a happy chuckle, "He is one tough son of a bitch." After another chuckle, he yelled out, "Alright Hershel!"
"Keep your cheers down," Daryl shushed him, looking out behind the fence seeing walkers approaching, irritation still seated deep in his heart.
Glenn's face fell as he looked behind them, "Oh man, can we just have one good day?"
As Ania and the kids swung around, Daryl could have sworn his heart had dropped out of his chest and was being stomped on. Behind them, walkers were coming and there was nothing he could do to help. Rick started screaming as the three of them ran as fast as they could towards the gate; Glenn dropped back to seal the gate. They were all running, all of their women were in danger and they were stuck in the dog walk. Rick kept yelling at the group, trying to get them to get into the dog walk. Daryl wasn't the fastest runner; years of smoking had taken it's toll on his lungs as they burned with the need for oxygen. Rick was already at the gate, Glenn fast approaching from behind when he stopped and looked back at the Asian man, who tossed the keys to the locked gate as hard as he could. Daryl caught them and spun on his heal, tossing them to Rick before picking up his bow and running with Glenn to catch up to Rick.
When Rick got the gate opened, Daryl didn't even know why he almost pushed the man out of the way. He didn't have the keys for the next gate, Rick did, but still, the irrational part of him had to get to Ania as quickly as he could. He couldn't see her now, only Hershel and Beth safe in their cage. He practically shoved the inmates out of the way as they came out of the guard tower Tea had them working on reinforcing. He ushered Rick to hurry up as his fear and tension grew. He helped Rick throw the gate open and the five men ran towards the commotion in the courtyard. Reaching the courtyard gate, Rick told Daryl to pull it open as soon as he managed to get the lock undone. They ran into the courtyard and immediately began taking care of the walkers.
"What the hell happened?" Rick yelled up at Hershel.
"The gate was open!" Beth told him.
"Where's Lori? Carl? Maggie? Everyone else?" he asked in quick succession.
"Maggie led Lori and Carl into C block," Hershel told him as Daryl slammed his hunting knife into the skull of a walker.
"T-Dog was bit," Beth told them.
"Anyone else?" Rick asked frantically.
"I couldn't tell," she told him.
"Stay put," he told them, knowing they were safe in their makeshift cage.
Glenn had checked on the gate as Daryl was killing walkers, noticing the chain was broke. Turning around, he violently swung his machete and cut the top of a walker's skull clean off. Rick and Daryl each took out a final walker. He ran back to the two older men, anger and fear written all over his face.
"Those chains didn't break by themselves," he told them. "Someone took an ax or cutters to 'em."
They looked at the inmates who simply held their hands up in surrender. Rick didn't get a chance to ask anything because as soon as he opened his mouth, an alarm started blaring from the speakers high above. The three of them began pacing around even angrier and more concerned as the noise brought walkers out of the woods.
"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Daryl snarled out.
They shot out the speakers before waltzing up to the inmates. Rick's gun was up and ready to kill without a second thought as he shouted at them, "How the hell can this happen?!"
"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" Oscar yelled, his hands held high in surrender. "It has to be the backup generators."
"Well, how do you turn those on?"
"There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison," he explained, keenly aware of Daryl's crossbow pointed between his eyes. "The hacks shut 'em all off when the prison was overrun."
"Can someone open up the main gates electronically with full power?" he asked the man.
"I only worked in there a few days," Oscar said honestly. "I guess it might be possible."
"Come with us!" Rick told the man.
"Let's go!" Glenn yelled at Axel as the man dragged his feet.
They charged into cell block C, Rick taking down a walker and calling for his family. Glenn and Daryl had been in the commons taking down the walkers there. Rick ran up to the perch to see if his family was on the second floor, only to find nothing.
"We took down five of 'em in there," Daryl informed him as they came in, him retrieving a bolt from the head of a walker.
"There were four in here, but no sign of Lori or any of them," he said back.
"They must have been pushed back into the prison," Glenn suggested.
"Somebody is playing games!" Rick shouted.
"Don' gotta tell me that. Where the fuck's our girls?"
"We'll split up and look for the others," Rick said, leaving the cells. "Whoever gets to the generators first, shut 'em down!"
They ran through the corridors, Glenn heading off with Axel in the opposite direction. Daryl was bringing in the rear as Rick lead them. Oscar was between them, neither wanting the man to be the one trailing. Walkers were everywhere and the three of them were simply running, only taking out the walkers that they absolutely had to. As Rick burst through a door, Daryl took down another walker that was hot on their heels.
"Daryl, get the door!" Rick hollered from behind him.
Daryl butted the head of a walker back as he and Oscar got the door shut and leaned against it to keep it shut. They were having a hard time with it as the walkers banged against the opposite side. Rick had gone on ahead to check the actual room out. Daryl was happy they'd been able to find the generators, but his head was full of worry for Ania. They still had no idea where the others were.
"How do you shut these down?!" Rick yelled from inside the room.
"Go help 'im," Daryl told Oscar throwing everything he had into bracing the door. "I got it!"
Daryl could hear a fight broke out behind him. Ania had been right in Rick not killing Andrew it seemed. He struggled hard against the door, worried about his friend, and trying to keep the door closed. Realizing that there was no way he would be able to with that many walkers banging on it, he looked at his crossbow and quickly let go of the door. Grabbing up his crossbow, he took a split second to raise it and aim before dropping it again to take out his knife. Stabbing the next walker that entered the room, he pushed it back out and into the other walkers, slamming the door shut as soon as the task was done.
He wasn't sure what happened while he was struggling. Daryl heard Andrew talking before the sound of a gun shot rang out. He creeped around a shelving unit with his hunting knife raised above his head, other fist at eye level, slightly crouched and ready to grab and stab anything that he had to. He watched as Oscar swung Rick's gun around so that the handle was facing up and hand it back to the man before relaxing.
They left the room and tried to find the others. Turning into another dark corridor, Rick and Daryl brought out their flashlights. They'd only just managed to turn them on when they were crashed into, the two of them tackled to the ground as their lights spun away. A knee on each of their chests as they lay shoulder to shoulder with knives at their throats, Daryl couldn't help the joyous sob that escaped him at seeing Ania.
"Thank the gods!" she cried as she hugged them both around the neck. "Phia, it's safe!" she called behind her. Sophia came out, tears running down her face as the men waited for Carol. It didn't take long for Ania to choke out a sob of her own, "We lost 'er in the tombs. Got separated by a pack a walkas and I couldn', I had Phia, I had ta..."
"Hey, hey," Rick said as he patted her back, thankful she was okay. "You made it back to us. We'll find Carol."
They kept moving, hearing noises up ahead. Backing themselves against the wall and hiding the lights, she watched as Oscar held an ax at the ready. From around another corner Glenn and Axel came out, everyone tense for a moment as they stopped themselves from attacking what they thought had been an imminent threat. As a whole group, keeping Ania and Sophia in the middle at all times, they made it around another few bends. Ania gasped and drew the little girl in closer to them as they all set eyes on the walkers before them. Rick quickly took out the walkers that were eating the man as Ania realized she and Sophia had gone around in a circle. Seeing T-Dog's body half eaten was like a punch to the gut for all of them, but Daryl watched as Ania folded in on herself. The girl could never catch a break from finding something to blame herself for.
Rick and Daryl lead the way out of the tombs and back out the way that Ania had originally entered the prison. Seeing the daylight gave Sophia a bit more pep to her step, but Ania was not doing very well. She was blanched all to hell and Daryl was worried she was going to keel over soon. The stress of the day combined with everything else was taking its toll on her already fatigued body. Poor girl needed a nap 'fore runnin' for her life, now she needs a whole fuckin' day, Daryl thought to himself.
"Hershel!" Rick yelled at the man as they ran out the door.
"You didn't find them?" the man asked.
"We thought maybe they came back out here?" Glenn asked the elderly man.
"What about Tea? Carol?"
"Ania and Phia's fine. The others. They didn't make it," Daryl answered, going to stand next to Ania, pulling her into his side and wrapping an arm around her.
"That doesn't mean the others didn't," Rick said in frustration. "We're going back. Daryl and Glenn, you come with me."
Whatever his next words were going to be were cut off by a sound that wounded both hunters' hearts. They all looked over to the entrance of cell block C to see a bloodied Maggie and Carl looking shell-shocked with a baby in Maggie's arms. Carl had his gun out as Rick and Tea both walked over to them. Tea pulled the boy into a bone crushing hug in which he rightfully broke down. Carl clung to her as he cried, more broken then she ever thought the boy could be.
"Where? Where is she?" she heard Rick as Maggie as she rubbed circles into Carl's back. "Where is she?"
Maggie looked to Tea when Rick started heading towards the cell block to find her. Tea let go of Carl with one arm to stop Rick dead in his tracks, simply shaking her head at him. He broke down then, letting her pull him back as his sobs broke out. He was inconsolable as Glenn walked up to check on Maggie. Tea could only stand there hugging Carl watching as the man she thought of as a brother crumbled to the ground from the weight of his grief.
So, if you haven't figured out, the last chapter was essentially a set up to fix some loopholes and inconsistencies as well as get Tea her own vest, something I'd been wanting to do for a while, but didn't want it to be done over the winter. The inconsistencies in the show don't seem big when you watch it, but when you go back through, it's like huh? Like, Hershel being up the next day? Clearing out over fifty walkers in a day? It just didn't make sense to me, and then Daryl with the baby was a bit out of left field to me as well. Like, why was he so worked up about it and not Glenn? What made it so important to him in particular? So, yeah, had to add a bit to make it right in my head. Also, sorry about it taking a while to get chapters up. Season three is crazy with the different perspectives it goes through and even crazier when you add in an OC that does their own thing. So I've currently got three different documents that I'm shuffling through to write the three (eventually four) different perspectives that I have going. Don't worry about the missing Andrea and Michonne bit; that'll come in probably tomorrow. Thanks for the patience and sticking it out even with my weird antics and melodrama...^_^
Updated 9/8/21