AN: Here we go, another chapter.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Carol's first day of "freedom" went much like she thought it would.
With everyone feeling like they had a little more time on their side, it seemed like everyone was coming to breakfast in the mess halls instead of, perhaps, gobbling down whatever they could in their homes before work. Carol and Daryl went to breakfast together and got in line behind everyone else who was waiting their turn. It wasn't long, though, before a guard came out and escorted them to the front of the line. Since there was rarely much of a line, Carol was pleased to discover what she'd never known before—expectant mothers got the VIP treatment at all the meal lines if they wanted it. And Daryl, at her request, was allowed to join her so that she didn't have to dine alone during the somewhat rushed meal before they both had to make it to work.
As Carol had predicted, they were so busy in the clinic that she could barely get the information entered into the computer for one patient before Alice was handing her another set of forms to enter and file for a different patient who had some minor request, complaint, or curiosity. Being busy had its perks, at least, in that it was lunch time before Carol hardly even had the time to realize that the hours were ticking by.
As she normally did, Carol made her way to the Mamet house. Security was amped up for the day and she had to show her permit three times, to three different officers, before she was finally escorted up to the house. Andrea wrapped her in a warm hug the moment that she came through the door and Carol called in their lunch to be delivered. While they ate, they exchanged the same idle chitchat as they normally did, and Carol was careful to let Andrea prattle on about her measurements and what she was thinking about doing with the nursery without reminding her that she'd heard the same things yesterday and were likely to hear them again tomorrow. Those were the only activities and interests that Andrea was allowed to have, and losing herself in them at least made her feel like she was doing something with her time, even if it was only focusing on her job of becoming a mother again.
After lunch, as she always did, Carol reminded Andrea that she'd be back, thanked the guard for letting her out of the house and for keeping everything so safe, and then she returned, unescorted, to the clinic where she sat with Daryl outside during the last few minutes of his lunch break.
Several more hours of work in the clinic, and finally catching up on paperwork enough to be able to assist Alice a little and get some more on-the-job training, and the workday was done. Carol left the clinic as soon as she was "dismissed" by Alice and Daryl met her outside to ask about their dinner. Together they went to the mess hall, seeming to have never stopped overflowing from people since that morning, and they were once again escorted to the front of the line so that they could find a table sooner and enjoy their meal.
It was a perfectly normal day made all the more normal by the fact that Carol wasn't forced to carry a permit with her at all times and she hadn't had to ask a single officer to take her anywhere when she'd run an errand or two for Alice.
Freedom might not be exciting, but it was certainly an improvement.
While they ate, Carol listened to Daryl telling her about the work that they were doing—work that she heard all day long since it was being done to the building in which she worked. She listened as he told her that he already had another job lined up with Grady. As soon as the clinic was done, they were going to begin working on a school. And after the school, they were hoping to have the permits that they would need to truly expand the clinic by starting on another building entirely that would become something like a hospital—a hospital that would ideally bring in many more doctors and set Woodbury up for being a freely functioning and fully accepted community.
But, for the moment, these were just the hopes and dreams of those who were working behind the scenes on Wave Thirty Three. Carol knew, from all her conversations with Alice, that Woodbury would remain a prison-community until the project was done and the government had decided that its citizens were truly ready to be fully incorporated back into society. If that happened, or rather when it happened, since they were choosing to be optimistic, Woodbury would become nothing more than just a walled community that was fully functioning and well-protected from the Dead that still roamed outside—though in smaller numbers than they'd once boasted. The citizens of Woodbury, at that time, would have the choice to either remain there in the place that they had helped to build, or to move on. They wouldn't be restricted any longer. They'd be fully accepted members of society—they would be entirely human.
As they were finishing their meal, standing up to abandon the table so that someone else could sit and gobble down their food before it got cold and unappetizing, Alice approached the table in the company of Samirah. They'd met before, several times, but Samirah met so many people that every time she spoke it was like she was meeting Carol for the first time. This time was no different. She offered a hand out to Carol and introduced herself. Carol took her hand and reintroduced herself before she introduced Daryl and let him shake Samirah's hand.
"Do you have a minute?" Samirah asked. "To just talk? Nothing's wrong." She added the last two words as something of a quick afterthought. It was clear that she didn't want them getting the wrong idea about what was apparently supposed to be just a friendly chat.
"Crowded in here," Daryl said.
"We'll go outside," Samirah said. "Take a walk. We could go back to your house or just—walk around outside."
"It's nice out," Daryl mused.
Carol bit her lip. There was a certain element of being social that was probably now to be expected in Woodbury and it was clear that being social wasn't Daryl's forte. He wasn't as socially awkward as he could be, but he certainly wasn't making any grand effort to extend the amount of time that he spent in the presence of others. Still, he knew who Samirah was and he was trying.
"Let's go outside," Carol said, catching Daryl's arm and pulling it against her in a hug. "Daryl can smoke and we can get a little exercise. Digest dinner a little?"
Samirah smiled and nodded her head.
"Sounds wonderful," she agreed. "Do you mind if Alice joins us?"
Carol glanced at Alice in an attempt to get a read on the woman. She'd spent enough time around Alice now that she could tell when the woman was lying and she could tell when she was uncomfortable. Alice looked perfectly calm and not at all bothered by Samirah's suggestion that they go for a walk. Carol could only surmise that they were simply going to go outside and get reacquainted—though to Samirah it would possibly seem like the first time that they'd met.
Outside, Carol could breathe again. The mess hall was sometimes stifling. The smell of the food and so many bodies could be a little reminiscent of prison. It was always nice to know that she could emerge from the building, enjoy the fresh air of the walk to her home, and then she could enjoy the quiet solitude of time spent with Daryl.
They walked only far enough to escape those still in line and waiting to get inside before Samirah spoke.
"I haven't seen much of you," Samirah said, "since you got here. Things have been busier surrounding the project than I ever imagined."
Carol laughed to herself.
"I thought you didn't remember me," Carol said.
Samirah smiled.
"I remember you," she said. "I have a very good memory. I just assume that people usually don't remember me so it's easier to introduce myself than it is to just—let them stand there and wonder who I am. I haven't had a chance to really tell you, though, how happy I am that things worked out for you. I'm sure that losing a baby in your earlier days here was difficult, but you've adjusted very well to Woodbury. You're really a—a model citizen."
Carol swallowed. Sometimes she forgot that she was meant to be playing the role of a mother who had recently lost an anticipated pregnancy. She assumed, though, that nobody mentioned it because they didn't want to make her uncomfortable and, like Samirah, they probably assumed that her new impending arrivals would take some of the sting out of whatever she might be dealing with in private. She realized that it may be a bit difficult for the mothers there who were suffering from actual loss to see her, but there was no going back now. To tell everyone it had been fake would be to call Alice out and, possibly, to get the woman in a significant amount of trouble. Carol couldn't risk that. She wouldn't.
But she didn't like lying, either, so she went for something that she could be comfortable with. She went for something that was as middle-of-the-road as she felt she could get.
"Losing a child is never easy," Carol said. "It's one of the—hardest things that anyone can ever go through. I don't think it ever leaves you. I think—you just keep going, but it's always there."
"But you've kept going," Samirah said. "And now? You're expecting again and—we've been told it's multiples. Everyone knows it now."
"Twins," Carol said. She rubbed her stomach. Stripped naked, she thought she could tell that she was pregnant—at least a little. Daryl insisted that he could tell, but he'd insisted that since been barely carrying the babies for a week.
"I cannot begin to tell you how excited we were by the news, and the confirmation from Alice that it's true and the pregnancy is thriving," Samirah said. "Milton is thrilled. I'm thrilled. The most recent reports finally made it to the Governor a few days ago and—I believe it was really that information that pushed him to go ahead and pass the declaration of more freedoms for the community. He was so pleased to hear about your babies that he lifted the temporary ban he'd put on it after the incident involving those who tried to escape."
Carol's heart caught a little in her chest. She glanced at Daryl, but he looked unconcerned. He was walking along, head slightly down, smoking his cigarette. She might have even believed that he wasn't listening at all, but she knew him better than to think that he'd let a conversation about the babies take place without him even following along with what was being said.
"I appreciate everyone's support," Carol said. "But I guess I just don't understand what's so exciting about my babies. I mean—I know why Andrea's baby is so important. I understand that she's Milton's...project, and therefore her baby is crucial to the whole thing. But why are my babies so important?"
Samirah shrugged her shoulders and made a face.
"I guess because—because you were pregnant and then you lost the baby, but you didn't let it stop you. It shows true dedication to the project to try again. It shows—you're really dedicated to Wave Thirty Three. It's just—I guess it's just..."
"Patriotic?" Carol asked, trying to swallow back the odd feeling of humor that she felt rising up in her to mix with the strange sensation of concern that was already pooling there.
Samirah laughed.
"Something like that," Samirah said. "And you're having twins. It's exciting. That's—it's simply that. It's exciting. For everyone."
"But why would that make the Governor lift the ban?" Carol asked. "Why would that make him give us the freedom that we'd already been promised if he wasn't going to give it to us anyway?"
"Because happy mommies make happy babies," Alice interjected quickly. "And we all know how much you love to get outside and...get a breath of fresh air. The sooner you can do that without permission, the better off you'll be. And we have to start somewhere to get full-time freedoms for everyone."
Carol looked at Alice and caught a quick wink from the woman. She couldn't be entirely sure if the wink was in regard to the statement or in regard to everything they were discussing—but she had a feeling that she'd eventually find out.
For the moment, Carol decided to accept the explanation and accept Samirah's congratulations. She thanked the woman as warmly as she could and threw in a little extra about how happy she'd been that day with the ability to come and go as she pleased without needing an escort or a permit for everything.
Samirah stopped walking suddenly and Carol realized they were nearly at the road that would take them to their house. Samirah reached out and caught Carol's hands like they were old friends. She squeezed Carol's hands and rubbed her thumbs across the tops of them.
"Listen, if there's anything you need? Anything you want? Don't hesitate to ask," Samirah said. "Even if it's just a special request. I can't promise you that we'll get you everything, but we'll try to see what we can make arrangements for. OK?"
Carol nodded her head. She glanced at Daryl. He'd stopped walking, but he looked no more interested in the conversation than he had when they'd left the mess hall.
"Actually," Carol said, "I can think of something I'd like."
Samirah smiled, apparently quite pleased at having a request so soon that she could work to fill specially for Carol.
"I'll at least try to get it," Samirah said.
"Rocking chairs," Carol said.
"We're already ordering one for the nursery," Samirah said. "They're standard in the options that you'll get."
Carol shook her head.
"Not for the nursery," Carol said. "For the porch. Right now, when we go back to our house, they're going to lock us inside again. But the evening? It's my favorite part of the day. And I'm hoping that our freedoms will be extended soon to allow us to spend that time outside as well. I'd love to have—something to make our porch nice. So it's a place we can really spend some time. Maybe even—socialize with people. A couple of rockers would be perfect."
Carol saw the slightest bit of interest cross Daryl's face before he wiped it away. Maybe he wouldn't be too against spending time with her rocking on their porch. Or, maybe, he thought it was the silliest idea that he'd ever heard. Without a bit more feedback from him, Carol couldn't truly be sure.
"Absolutely," Samirah said. "I'm sure that it can be arranged. Just—let me talk to a few people and I'm sure that we can do that."
"What about the time?" Carol asked.
"What?" Samirah asked.
Carol shook her head gently.
"The rockers won't do me any good if I'm locked inside in the evening and just looking at them from the window," Carol said. "What about the time? How long do you think it would be before it gets extended?"
"I don't know," Samirah said, shaking her head. "I've heard different things. A couple of weeks without incident to—a couple of months. Putting this curfew in place got delayed a few times, so it's really hard to say."
"Could you put in a request that it might be soon?" Carol asked. "It's so relaxing and—the babies are still tiny. I hardly even feel like I'm pregnant. But I know it won't be long before—I could use that relaxation at the end of the day."
Samirah nodded her head gently and glanced at Alice. Alice was nodding her head like she was suggesting to Samirah that she should be doing the same. In response, Samirah nodded with a little more enthusiasm.
"Absolutely," Samirah said. "I have a meeting with Alice now and then—a meeting about the psychological assessments that have already taken place...but...tomorrow? First thing, I'll see if I can't have a talk with the Governor. And I'll see what I can do about getting you rockers and—time to use them."
"And a swing too," Daryl said quickly, his first input. Samirah looked at him and he gestured his head toward Carol. "Heard—or read it somewhere—that the swingin' is good for settling them down when they get all stirred up in there. And there's two of them to get stirred up and...well, not a whole damn lotta room for them to do what they gonna do."
Carol bit the inside of her cheek so that she could look serious, instead of laughing like she wanted to, when she nodded at Samirah and backed up Daryl's quickly created claim.
"I'll see what I can do," Samirah said. "Until then? Take care of yourself and take care of the babies. And if you need anything?"
"I'll know who to ask," Carol assured her. As a gesture, Carol squeezed the woman's hands in her own to reiterate the newfound familiarity between the two of them. And then, when Alice collected Samirah to take her toward the clinic for the meeting, Carol caught Daryl's arm again to walk with him toward their house.
"Settling them down, Daryl?" Carol asked when they were out of earshot.
"You don't know it ain't true," Daryl said with a laugh. "And rocking is just fine, but I'm not opposed to swinging either. Not as long as we're getting some kinda special treatment for all the hard work you're doing."
