Daryl listened to Rick as Rick explained about who really killed Karen and David, but Daryl couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"No! It can't be Carol," Daryl thought while he paced. He knew Karen and David were two of those who had fallen ill, but he couldn't picture Carol killing someone in cold blood.
He was in for a bigger shock when Rick told him he had banished Carol.
"What do you mean you banished her?!" Daryl demanded.
"I couldn't risk it. She was a danger. A danger to me. To my kids. To all of us," Rick said and Daryl snorted a breath of air.
"You don't make the rules no more! We have a council! We should've talked about it!"
"There wasn't time."
"Bullshit!"
"Look, she has a car and supplies. She'll be fine."
"She should be here!" Daryl shouted into Rick's face then Daryl turned and he started walking away.
"Where are you going?!"
"I'm gonna go find her!"
"Daryl!"
Suddenly a loud explosion rocked the prison as they headed for the stairs then they went outside. Rick and Daryl ran to Maggie and Carl as they looked across the yard and they saw the Governor standing on a tank.
"Son of a bitch," Daryl whispered.
He watched Rick walk toward the fence while talking to the Governor and Daryl carefully handed out rifles while keeping his eyes on the Governor's people.
He was shocked to see Hershel and Michonne being taken out of the SUV then placed on their knees and his heart jumped in his chest when the Governor placed the blade of Michonne's katana against Hershel's neck.
"Shit," he whispered as he looked through the scope of the rifle in his hands and Carl glanced at him. Daryl knew he could take out the Governor with one shot, but he waited to see if the Governor would listen to Rick and surrender.
Suddenly, gunfire filled the air after the Governor nearly beheaded Hershel and Daryl could still hear Maggie and Beth's screams.
"Get to the bus!" Daryl shouted as he fired the rifle and he started running. He wasn't sure where the others were as he fired either the rifle or his crossbow then he turned to see a Walker behind him. He swiftly killed the Walker as he used the Walker as a shield and he headed for the tank which had broken through the inner and outer fences. He tossed the Walker aside when he picked up a grenade, pulled the pin, jumped and slammed the grenade down the barrel of the tank.
"Grenade!" come from inside the tank as the hatch opened and he watched the people trying to get out before the grenade went off. He looked at the guy in the army hat as Daryl pointed the rifle at him and the guy sighed. Daryl didn't hesitate as he fired the rifle and the man fell.
Looking around, Daryl realized it was time to run as he headed for the fence and he growled.
"Daryl!" Beth called out as he turned and she ran to him.
"Why ain't you on the bus?!" he demanded.
"I'm looking for Judith and the other kids."
"They're not on the bus?"
"No."
"Damn," Daryl said while the gunfire grew louder and the Walker headed toward them. Growling, he took hold of her right hand and they started running. They headed for the hole in the fence when Daryl and Beth ran and they heard the explosions behind him.
Hours passed as they ran while fighting off Walkers and the sky was turning dark. Daryl knew they had to find shelter or a safe place to stop and they ran faster.
Later that night, Daryl found a safe spot while they sat down on the ground and he made a small fire. He sat looking at the flames when his mind replayed the first time he had talked to Carol and he placed his wrists on his knees.
The quarry
Daryl walked by the others as they glanced at him and he heard the whispers.
He knew no one was happy when he and Merle had shown up at the camp, but he also knew they wouldn't be staying long.
"Once the time is right, we're gonna rob 'em blind," Merle said, but he wasn't sure if they should rob them.
"They barely got shit," Daryl grumbled as he adjusted the strap to the crossbow. He wasn't looking where he was going when he walked into someone and they dumped a bucket of water over his chest, stomach, arms and legs. He slowly looked up when he looked at Carol and she had a frightened look on her face.
"Oh! I am so sorry!" Carol said. He looked deeply into her scared, blue eyes while he shook off the water and he sighed, rolling his eyes.
"It's just water," he grumbled.
"But I got you all wet!"
"I'll dry."
"What the hell?!" Ed Peletier shouted as he walked closer and he looked down at the bucket. "Did you just dump our drinking water?!"
"I'm sorry, Ed. I… I walked into…," Carol said as she pointed to Daryl and Daryl saw the anger in Ed's eyes.
"Stupid bitch!"
Ed slapped Carol's face as rage moved through Daryl and Daryl caught Carol before she fell to the ground.
"Leave her be!" Daryl said with a growl and Ed glared at him.
"Fuck off!"
"You ain't got no right hittin' her!"
"Please…," Carol begged as Daryl looked into her pleading eyes and he nodded, moving away from her. He watched her walk off with Ed as Daryl sighed and Daryl picked up the bucket. He knew where the clean water was as he headed for the quarry and the bucket thumped against his right leg.
After getting the water, he walked by the others when he saw Carol sitting at the table with her daughter, Sophia, and he walked a little faster. He was about to say something when he saw the bruises on Carol's face and a strong sense of rage moved through him.
"Is that for us?" Carol asked and he looked at her to the bucket then he looked at her again.
"Yeah," he said with a nod.
"Thank you…"
"Daryl."
"Thank you, Daryl."
Nodding, he placed the bucket down as he walked away, but he couldn't deny the strong urge to take Carol and her daughter and run as far from the quarry as possible.
"Daryl, are you ok?" Beth asked and he looked at her.
"Yeah. Just thinkin'," Daryl said as he placed some sticks on the fire.
"I think we need to go look for the others."
"No, what we need to do is stay put."
"You stay put. I'm going," she said with a curt tone and she stood. He watched her walking off into the darkness and he frowned. Sighing, he got up, kicked dirt over the flames until the flames went out then he picked up the crossbow and he headed for the trees.
The next morning, Daryl and Beth walked down the path as he scanned the area with his eyes and he sighed. He had found some fresh water and some squirrels for them to eat and he made a small fire to cook the squirrel meat. He listened to the birdsong and the soft sound of the wind in the leaves and he sighed.
"Do you think the others got out?" Beth asked.
"Dunno" Daryl grumbled.
"We can't be the only ones. They had to have gotten away."
"Only if they got on the bus."
They kept walking when he thought he heard something and they stopped. In front of them were the bodies lying on the ground and a man was fighting Walkers. Daryl raised the crossbow then fired and the crossbow bolt hit the Walker in the head. The man screamed as the other Walker bit into him and Daryl reloaded the crossbow. He killed the Walker while the man screamed louder and Beth saw the bloody child's sneaker on the ground. The final Walker pushed the man on the ground as the Walker killed him and Daryl fired the crossbow bolt. The Walker fell to the ground as Daryl walked closer, placed his right foot on top of the Walker's head, pulled the crossbow bolt out then Daryl started walking away. He stopped and turned to see Beth crying and he felt a lump building in his throat.
"Come on," he said and she nodded. He cleaned off the crossbow bolt then placed the crossbow bolt away and she walked to him. Nodding, he started walking and they headed down the road.
Later that night, Daryl found another safe place to make camp as he wondered where the others were and his mind went back to Carol.
The quarry
"Sophia?!" Carol called out as he watched her and he saw how frightened she looked. He didn't want to admit to the feeling of something was wrong as he glanced around with his eyes and the feeling faded after he saw where Sophia was.
"She's over there," he said, pointing a crossbow bolt toward Sophia, Carl and the Morales children standing near the tree line and Carol's face relaxed.
"Thank you," she said with a nod then she walked to the kids.
He wasn't sure why, but he stood as he quickly walked to her and they looked at the children.
"What are they doin'?" he asked.
Carol and Daryl walked to the children when Daryl noticed the children were looking at something lying at the edge of the tree line and he frowned.
"Move," Daryl said and the children moved back. He walked to the tree line when he saw a half-eaten rabbit lying on the ground and he turned to look at Carol. "Go get a shovel."
Carol ran as he looked at the children and he noticed the fearful look on Sophia's face.
"What do you think ate it?" Carl asked.
"Might've been a Chupacabra," Daryl said.
"You mean like in that story you told us?" Eliza Morales asked.
Daryl had told them about the time he saw what he thought was a Chupacabra when he was a kid, but no one believed him.
"Yeah," he said with a nod and Carol returned with a shovel. Daryl noticed it was one of the old shovels as he nodded, dug up enough dirt under the rabbit then he carried the carcass into the forest. He found a ditch when he dumped the carcass then the shovel into the ditch and he kicked some leaves into the ditch. He used his lighter to light a few sticks when he dropped the sticks onto the leave and the leave caught fire. He watched the flames as he made sure the fire wouldn't spread then he walked back to the camp. He looked at the children as he frowned and he crossed his arms over his chest. "None of you touched that, right?"
"No, we didn't touch it," Carl said and Louis Morales, Eliza and Sophia shook their heads.
Nodding, Daryl walked off when he saw Carol walking next to her, but she looked like how Carol looked like now.
"Shit," Daryl said as he shook his head and he wiped the sleep out of his eyes.
"Are you ok?" Beth asked.
"Yeah."
Standing up, he kicked the dirt until the fire went out then he picked up the crossbow and they headed for the trees.
The next morning, Daryl had found some clean water, some berries and a few squirrels for them to eat when he made a small camp, cooked the squirrel meat and he kicked dirt until the fire went out.
They walked along the road as Daryl sighed and he adjusted the strap of the crossbow. He stopped when he thought he had heard the sound of a baby crying and the cry sounded familiar.
"Little Ass Kicker?" he grumbled. He had called Judith Grimes "Little Ass Kicker" since the day she was born and he had gotten good at knowing the sound of her cries. They walked faster when Daryl saw Lizzie and Mika Samuels standing back-to-back and he frowned. "What the hell are they doin'?"
He signaled Beth to stay back as he walked closer when he noticed Lizzie was holding Judith and Judith's cries sounded muffled. He stopped when he saw Lizzie was holding her hand over Judith's nose and mouth and his heart slammed in his chest.
"What the hell?!" he called out as Mika jumped and he stormed to Lizzie. He swatted Lizzie's hand away as he lifted Judith out of her arms and he held the sobbing baby against his chest.
"Daryl!?" Beth called out and he nodded for her to come closer.
"Daryl! Beth!" Mika said with a grin and she ran to them. Daryl wasn't ready for her to hug his waist as he looked down and she smiled up at him. She let go of Daryl when she ran to Beth and Beth hugged her.
"Why ain't you three on the bus?" Daryl asked.
"We were headin' for it, but Tyreese found us and we ran."
"Where is he?" Beth asked.
"He went to find out who was screaming. He told me and Lizzie to stay here."
Daryl looked toward where Mika was pointing as he nodded his head then he looked at Lizzie. She was just staring at him as he sighed and he lightly rocked Judith.
"Move," he said and they started walking. He held Judith against his chest as she started sucking on her fingers and he smiled down at her. He lightly moved her hand away when he saw Mika had the diaper bag and Mika looked at him. "Do you have the pacifier?"
"Yeah," Mika said as she looked through the diaper bag and she handed him the pacifier. He placed the pacifier in Judith's mouth and Judith started sucking on it. Daryl barely smiled when he heard something and he put his right hand up for them to stop. He handed Judith to Beth when he took hold of the crossbow and he pointed the crossbow toward the bushes. Mika hid behind him while Lizzie stood to his left and he saw she had a gun in her right hand.
"When I tell you to run, run," he said and Beth and the girls nodded. He watched the bushes as the leaves moved and he lightly rubbed his right index infer on the trigger. The bushes parted as his eyes slightly widened at the sight of Carol standing there and she smiled at him.
"Hello," Carol said. She had made her way back to the prison, but the devastation she found caused her heart to break.
"Carol!" Lizzie shouted as she ran to her and Carol hugged her. She looked at Beth, Daryl, Mika and Judith, but it was the look in Daryl's eyes which caused a cold chill to move through her.
"He knows," Carol thought.
"Are you happy to see me?" Carol asked.
"Yes!" Beth said as she ran to Carol and they hugged. Moving back, Carol looked at Daryl and he frowned.
"Yeah," Daryl said with a nod of his head.
"What are you doing?"
"We going to go help Tyreese," Lizzie said as she looked down the trail.
"Let's go," Daryl said, picking up the crossbow then he took Judith from Beth. Carol saw the anger in his eyes when he glanced at Lizzie and Carol went to walk next to Daryl. He barely shook his head to tell her not to say anything and she saw his fingers reaching out for her. She took hold of his left hand as they headed down the path and she lightly squeezed his fingers.
A few seconds later, they found Tyreese fighting Walkers, but Carol finished off the last Walker before Daryl could hand Judith to Beth and he listened to Carol explain to Tyreese why she wasn't at the prison.
"Beth! Daryl!" Tyreese said with a grin and Daryl nodded his head. Beth hugged Tyreese then Tyreese looked at Lizzie and Mika when he frowned and he lightly shook his head. "I told you to stay put."
"We had to come help you," Lizzie said. Tyreese did see the look Daryl was giving her as he walked to Daryl and Daryl adjusted his hold on Judith.
"Later," Daryl grumbled and Tyreese nodded.
"Let's go," Carol said and they headed down the railroad tracks. She walked next to Daryl as he held her left hand and he held Judith against her chest. "Are we ever going to get a break?"
"Hope so," Daryl said as he swung her hand back and forth and she sighed.
"Look!" Lizzie said when she walked to the sign and Daryl let go of Carol's hand. He walked to Lizzie while he looked at the sign and he wondered what Terminus was. "Should we go there?"
"Sounds like a good idea," Beth said.
"No," Daryl said with a shake of his head. He wasn't sure, but something told him they should keep walking and Carol walked to him. "We're goin' this way."
"But what if this is where that guy wanted us to go?" Tyreese asked.
"Even if it is, we don't know them an' they don't know us."
"You're being paranoid."
"No, I ain't."
Carol understood why Daryl wasn't very trusting, but she did agree there was something about Terminus she didn't like.
"Daryl's right. We're going that way," Carol said.
"Fine," Tyreese said with a sigh and they headed down the railroad tracks. Daryl saw a side path as he nodded his head toward the path and they walked down the path.
Later that night, Tyreese had found them a small cave as he stood guard at the entrance and the girls and Beth were sleeping next to the small fire. Carol was sitting next to Daryl as he held Judith against his chest and Judith was sleeping. Carol saw how peaceful Daryl looked as he rested the back of his head against the wall of the cave and she bent her knees up.
She was always impressed with how he kept things together, but she also knew how vulnerable he was when things went wrong.
The Interstate
"Sophia wasn't mine!"
"You should've kept a better eye on her!"
Carol had heard the pain in his voice as he stormed off and she followed him.
"Daryl?" she called out when she saw him sitting against the log and he had his head in his hands. She wasn't sure if she should go any closer, but the sniffing sound he was making caused a sharp pain in her chest.
"Go away," Daryl said in a soft voice.
"No," she said as she walked closer and she sat down next to him. He wiped his eyes with the back of his right hand and she saw how red the rims of his eyes were. They sat in silence when she brushed her fingers against the back of his right hand, but he didn't move his hand away. "I don't blame you."
"What?" he asked, looking at her.
"I said I don't blame you for what happened to Sophia. Her getting lost? Being turned into a Walker? Rick having to kill her? It was my fault. It's always my fault."
She remembered the puzzled look on his face while he blinked his eyes a few times then he shook his head.
"Tell me something," she asked and he nodded his head for her to continue. "Why didn't you give up?"
"Why didn't I give up lookin' fer her?"
"Yes."
"I didn't want her thinkin' the same thing I was thinkin' when I got lost," he said then Daryl told her about being lost in the woods.
"Do you…? Do you think she felt like that? That we abandoned her? That I had abandoned her?"
"Dunno. All I know is… Is…"
Carol saw his body was starting to shake while the tears dribbling down his cheeks and he placed his head in his hands. She didn't know why she pulled him closer as she wrapped her arms around him and he stared crying. She gently rocked him as he held onto her and she rubbed the back of his head.
"Do you remember what I told you when you got hurt? About you doing more for my little girl then her daddy ever did?" she whispered and he gulped breathes of air.
"Yeah."
"I wasn't lying. You did everything you could and I am so grateful."
"But…I didn't…do shit."
"Yes, you did."
"I…failed her."
"No, you didn't. I know it, everyone here knows it and I'm sure Sophia knew it."
He moved back as he blinked the tears from his eyes then he saw the tears in hers. She was surprised when he pulled her into a hug and he didn't seem to mind when she started crying.
She wasn't sure how long she had cried as she moved back and he used a clean cloth to wipe her eyes and nose. Then he did something he rarely did.
He smiled.
"Want to know something?" she asked.
"Sure."
"I slapped Rick after her funeral."
"I would've punched him in the nuts," he whispered and she softly laughed. She moved closer when he slid his right arm around her shoulders and they sat in silence, looking up at the night sky.
"Rick was wrong," brought her back to reality as she looked at Daryl and he sighed.
"He was wrong?" Carol whispered.
"About banishin' you."
"Daryl…."
"Look, I ain't sayin' I approve what you did. But what he did was just as wrong. He should have talked to me, Michonne, Hershel, Glenn an' Maggie. We would've figured out some way to tell Tyreese."
"He nearly killed Rick when he found out Karen died."
"Yeah," Daryl said with a nod. "But he still had no right just leavin' you out here on yer own."
"I was doing alright until the car ran out of gas."
"Still wrong," he said while Judith snuggled against him and he looked from her to Lizzie. Carol saw the anger on his face and she titled her hear to one side. "When Beth an' I found her, Mika an' Judith, Lizzie had her hand over Judith's nose an' mouth."
"She what?!"
"It looked like she was just quietin' her, but I could tell Judith couldn't breathe."
"She could have killed her."
"Yeah."
Carol looked at Lizzie then at Judith and she moved closer to Daryl.
"I'll keep an eye on her," Carol said.
Nodding, Daryl closed his eyes and she watched him drift off to sleep. She then looked at Lizzie when Carol frowned and she started to wonder what to do if Lizzie became a problem.
A/N: Hope you don't mind the flashbacks I'm going to use in this story. Just trying to show more about Carol and Daryl's lives and when they started liking each other.
