In the cabin, Tyreese stood near the window as he watched the smoke rising toward the sky and he frowned.
"Was that an explosion?" Beth asked while she limped to him and she held Judith in her arms.
"Sounds like," Tyreese said with a nod of his head.
"Do you think it came from Terminus?"
"Dunno,"
"Should we go look?"
"No. Carol said we're supposed to stay here."
"What if Carol and Daryl are in trouble?" Mika asked and he turned to look at her.
"She's right. What if they are in trouble? We should go look."
Tyreese knew Carol or Daryl would be angry if they went to outside then he sighed, looking down at his feet.
"No. We're staying here," Tyreese said then he went back to looking out of the window.
Terminus
Carol walked in the storage room as she looked at the items on the tables when she saw the selection of watches and she frowned.
"That's Rick's watch," she whispered, picking up the watch. She slid the watch into the pocket of her jeans when she walked to the table with weapons sitting on top. She found Michonne's katana as she picked it up and slid the strap over her head and the scabbard settled against her back.
She looked at the guns, rifles and other weapons when she saw Daryl's crossbow and she tenderly lifted the crossbow off the table.
"Daryl," she whispered as her mind started drifting and she sighed.
The Greene's farm
Carol heard Daryl make a little grunt as she saw Daryl sitting on the step and he was trying to pick up the crossbow. Dale had been able to repair the crossbow after Daryl had fallen down the hill into the stream and she remembered seeing Rick and Shane dragging Daryl to the farmhouse after Andrea had shot him.
"Son of a bitch," Daryl grumble with a sigh and he slid the crossbow to the ground.
"What's wrong?" Carol asked and he looked at her.
"Just tryin' to load this."
"Having trouble?"
"Yeah," Daryl said as he looked at his left side. "Every time I try pickin' it up, my fuckin' side hurts."
She noticed he was surprised when she sat next to him and he shyly looked away.
"Sorry about getting you upset," Carol said and he frowned.
"You mean at the stable?"
"Yeah. I shouldn't have said what I said."
"No," Daryl said with a shake of his head. "You were just lookin' out fer me."
They sat in silence for a few seconds when she reached over and she picked up the crossbow. He watched her looking at the crossbow when she moved a little closer and she was surprised that he didn't move away.
"Wanna show me how to load this?" Carol asked and she smiled when he started explained what to do. After a few tries, she figured out how to load the crossbow and she saw a hint of a smile on his lips.
"Not bad," Daryl grumbled then he tried to stand, but the pain moving up his left side made him sit back down. "Shit."
"Need some help?"
She expected for him to refuse, but he barely nodded his head and she stood up. She carefully helped him to his feet then she picked up the crossbow and she slid the strap over her right shoulder.
"That's mine," Daryl reminded her and she softly laughed.
"Think you can carry it?" Carol asked and he didn't mind when she lightly poked his left side.
"Yeah, I can. Just don't wanna."
"Want to go get some rest?"
"Only if it will stop you from babyin' me."
"What is wrong with someone babying you? You've been through shit."
"Been worse."
"Then let me do it, ok?"
She waited for him to refuse, but he only nodded and he pretended to look at something.
"Want to lean on me?" Carol asked and he snorted a breath of air.
"No…," Darylsaid as he started to walk away then he stopped to turn to look back at her. "Yeah."
She walked to him as she slid her left arm around his waist, being careful of the wound on his back, and he slid his right arm around her shoulders. He leaned closer as they started walking and he glanced at her from time to time. She noticed he was trying to smile, but didn't and she lightly nodded her head.
Smiling, Carol held onto the handle of the crossbow and she left the room. She was careful of the Walkers as she tried to find Rick, Bob, Glenn and Daryl when she opened the door and she walked in the memorial room. She looked around the room as she frowned and she titled her head to one side.
"Put your weapons down," caused her to turn as she watched Mary walking closer and Mary was armed with a rifle.
"Where are they?" Carol asked with a blank look on her face. "Where are my friends?"
Mary snorted a breath of air as Carol slid the crossbow onto the floor and Mary lowered the rifle. Before she could move, Mary gasped as Carol charged her and Carol punched her in the face. Mary shoved Carol onto the floor then she fought with Carol and they nearly knocked down some of the candelabras. Carol reached for the rifle when she kicked Mary off of her then Carol grabbed the rifle and they rose to their feet.
"Where are my friends!?: Carol asked again, pointing the rifle at her.
"They're dead!" Mary snarled as the gunfire and screamed grew louder. "Or they soon will be."
"Why are you doing this?"
"We had to do what was needed to survive," Mary said with a sigh. "This place… It really was a sanctuary. A place where we thought we could live in peace. We were wrong. We should never let strangers in. They captured us. Tortured and raped us. But. We. Survived. We took back what was ours. We were no longer cattle. We became the butchers."
Carol felt the bile building on her throat as she frowned and Mary gave her a sad look.
"Why can't you…? Why can't your friends just give in and join us?"
"Because what you are is sick," Carol said.
Mary growled when she charged at Carol and Carol fired the rifle. Mary screamed as the bullet cut through her right thigh and she landed on the floor. After dropping the rifle and picking up the crossbow, Carol walked closer as Mary looked up at her and Mary breathed hard and fast through her nose.
"You could have been one of us," Mary said. She watched Carol walking to the door when Carol opened the door and the Walkers looked at her. Carol moved back as the Walkers headed for Mary then Carol left the room with Mary's screams echoing in her ears.
The railroad car
The gunfire and screams echoed around them while Rick, Glenn, Bob and Daryl fought their way to the railroad cars and Daryl stayed close to Rick. He noticed how angry and slightly crazy Rick looked and memories of what happened with the Claimers moved through Daryl's mind.
"Move!" Rick said as they headed for the railroad cars when they heard pounding coming from the railroad car next to the one where Carl and the others were and Glenn pointed to the railroad car.
"We gotta let them out," Glenn said.
"No!"
"Rick…," Daryl said and Rick sighed. They moved up the stairs when they got the door to the railroad car open and a man with a long beard and crazed eyes lunged at Rick.
"We are the same!" the man shouted as he pushed by Rick and Daryl and they watched him run off. The man screamed when the Walkers attacked him and Rick and Daryl ran down the stairs.
Rick ran up the stairs when Rick opened the door to the railroad car and he nearly fell backwards after Abe almost gutted him with a makeshift weapon.
"Sorry," Abe grumbled.
"Move!" Rick said as he ran down the stairs then Abe, Carl, Rosita, Sasha, Maggie, Glenn, Michonne and Eugene ran out of the railroad car and they headed for the fence. The screams and gunfire filled the air as they fought the Walkers and Abe saw someone had tossed a mattress over the top of the fence. Rosita, Sasha, Glenn and Maggie piled two crates near the mattress as they climbed up the mattress then they turned to help the others. Daryl and Rick were the last two to get over the fence as they ran for the woods and they stopped near where Rick had buried the tote bag.
"What are you doing?" Abe asked.
"I buried something here."
"What was it?"
"Guns. Weapons. A collapsible crossbow."
Daryl helped Rick dig up the tote bag when Rick pulled the tote bag out of the hole then he stood up.
"We need to get out of there," Glenn said, looking around.
"Not until we get rid of the rest of them."
"They're dead," Maggie said.
"Some of them might have survived."
"No, they're done for," Abe said as he looked toward Terminus.
Daryl waited to see what Rick was going to do when he felt like someone was behind them and Carol walked closer.
She had found a clean cloth to wipe the blood and gunk off her face then she used the opening in the fence to escape and she had seen where Daryl and the others had gone. She watched Daryl turn around when he gave her a heartbreaking look then he ran to her. She gasped from how hard he was hugging her and she dropped the crossbow to the ground. He picked her off the ground as she laughed and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"What the hell?" Rick thought while he watched Daryl lower his head and Carol lightly held his face in her hands then Rick looked at Terminus. "Did she do that?"
"Are you ok?" Carol whispered to Daryl and he barely nodded his head. She watched Rick walking closer as Daryl backed up. She wasn't sure what Rick was going to say or do as he stood in front of her and they locked eyes.
"Did you do that?" Rick asked in a soft voice and she glanced at Terminus. She barely nodded then she was shocked when Rick hugged her. "Thank you."
He moved back while Daryl reached down to pick up the crossbow then Daryl stood next to Carol. She looked at them when she remembered Tyreese, Beth, Mika and Judith and she frowned.
"You have to come with me," Carol said and she reached out for Daryl's hand. Daryl wrapped his right hand around her left hand and they headed into the woods.
None of them noticed Gareth walked out from behind a tree and he nodded to Theresa, Martin, Greg, Albert and Mike. He took one last look at Terminus when he growled and they headed into the woods.
The cabin
Tyreese looked out the window when he saw Carol, Daryl and the others and he turned to look at Beth and the girls.
"They're back," Tyreese said, picking up Judith then he walked to the door. He opened the door as he walked outside and the others stopped.
"Ty?" Sasha whispered and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.
Carol and Daryl watched Rick cautiously walking to Tyreese and Tyreese handed Judith to him. Rick cradled Judith in his arms while Carl walked closer and Rick looked from Tyreese to Carol then back.
"Do you know?" Rick asked after getting the feeling something was wrong.
"Yeah," Tyreese said as he walked by him and Tyreese headed for Sasha.
"Knew you'd be ok," Sasha teased and he laughed, hugging his sister.
Daryl glanced over at Maggie while Mika ran out of the cabin and Mika smiled.
"Carl!" Mika said as she ran to Carl and Carl laughed after she hugged him. She ran to hug everyone else when she stopped to look at Abe, Eugene and Rosita and she frowned. "Who are you?"
"I'm Abe. This is Rosita. That's Eugene," Abe said, kneeling down on his haunches then he smiled. "Who are you?"
"I'm Mika."
"Pleased to meet you, Mika," Abe said and she giggled as they shook hands.
Daryl walked to the cabin when he went inside and he saw Beth standing in the middle of the room. She lightly gasped when he scooped her into his arms then they headed for the door. He was careful to not bump her ankle as they exited the cabin and Maggie and Glenn's eyes widened.
"Hi," Beth said with a grin and they ran to her and Daryl.
"What happened!?" Maggie asked and Beth explained. Daryl lowered Beth to her feet as Maggie took hold of her and they headed for the others.
Rick looked at the others while he held Judith against his shoulder and he sighed.
"Let's go," Rick said, nodding his head toward the path. They started walking down the path when Carl turned and he frowned.
"Dad, where are Carol and Daryl?" Carl asked and Rick stopped walking.
"Hold up."
They stopped walking when Rick handed Judith to Michonne then he went back to the cabin and he slowly headed toward the door. He could just see Daryl and Carol standing in the middle of the room and Daryl looked angry about something.
"For the last time… Go!" Carol said.
"No," Daryl said with a shake of his head.
"Daryl…"
"I ain't goin' anywhere."
"Well, I'm not going with you."
"Carol…"
'No," she said with a shake of her head.
"Why are you bein' so fuckin' stubborn?!"
"Me?! You're the stubborn one! Look, do you really think Rick is going to let me go with you after what I did?"
"You didn't do shit!"
"I killed Karen and David."
"That's bullshit. We know who really killed them."
"What are they talking about?" Rick thought, blinking his eyes a few times.
"And we know that's why I lied!"
"She lied?!"
"Not wantin' to speak ill of the dead, but she was crazy," Daryl said as he started pacing and Rick moved so he didn't see him. "You know it. I know it. Beth knows it. Mika and Tyreese know it. Hell, even Judith knows it! An', yeah, it doesn't excuse what she did, but…"
"She was a little girl," Carol shouted with tears in her eyes.
Rick tilted his head to one side when he realized he hadn't seen Lizzie when Mika ran out of the cabin and he looked back at the path.
"A little girl who was feedin' rats to Walkers like they were her pets. A little girl who cut open a rat an' pinned it to the wall fer fun. A little girl who killed two people so they could turn an' not be sick anymore. A little girl who nearly smothered Judith an' would've killed her after she killed her own sister so they would be Walkers," Daryl said and Rick's eyes widened.
"Shit,": Rick thought. His mind replayed the times he had let Lizzie watch, play with or hold Judith back at the prison and the thought of her killing Judith caused a cold chill to move through him.
"I know that!" Carol shouted, flinging her arms out. She watched Daryl pacing for a few seconds and he glanced at her, shaking his head.
"What were you gonna do with her if me, Tyreese an' Beth left with Mika an' Judith?" Daryl asked.
"I would have gone somewhere and take care of her."
"How?! You couldn't go on runs! You couldn't hunt! You'd have to lock her up or tie her to a bed so she wouldn't kill you in yer sleep! What if she had gotten away from you!? Anyone she ran into would have died! What if you had gotten hurt or died and turned?! Would she be yer first meal?!"
Carol knew he had all right to be angry with her as she moved closer and she placed the palm of her right hand against his chest. His heart was slamming against her palm as he sighed and he lowered his head.
"Sorry. I shouldn't've said that," he said in a soft voice.
"No. It's fine. But you need to understand is it doesn't matter. Now…go. He needs you," Carol said and Daryl made a staggered sigh.
"I need you more," Daryl softly grumbled.
"What?"
"I need you more," Daryl said as he looked up and their eyes locked. "Remember when you told me you liked me first? That ain't true. I liked you first."
Carol was stunned as he held her hand against his chest and she felt the rise and fall of his breathing.
"You liked me first?" Carol asked.
"Yeah."
"When did you first realize you liked me?"
"It was the day you spilled water all over me," Daryl said and she saw the blush moving across his cheeks. "I never was any good when it came to women. I was always doin' somethin'' to ruin it. Merle used to tease me about it all the time. But… But when I met you, I knew there was somethin' special 'bout you. Didn't matter that you were married. I liked you. I really liked you."
Carol heard the honesty in his voice as she moved closer and he swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Is that why you kept helping me out when we back at the camp?" Carol asked and he nodded his head.
"Not sure if I should tell you this, but there were times I wanted to just take you an' Sophia an' run."
"Oh, that would have been fun. You me, Sophia and Merle…"
"No. Merle wouldn't have gone with us."
"Sophia would have loved the idea of us running off with you. She asked me once why you couldn't be her dad instead of Ed."
"She told me that, too."
"When?"
"It was when I was cleanin' some rabbits an' she wanted me to show her what to do. We got to talkin' an' she told me she wanted me to be her dad."
"What did you tell her?"
"I didn't get the chance to say shit. Merle wanted to go do somethin' an' I had to go with him."
"What about…? What about when she got lost? Did you go looking for her because you didn't like seeing me sad or was it because you didn't want to lose the little girl you hoped would be your daughter at some point?"
"Both."
Carol hugged him as he held her close and he placed his chin on the top of her head. She could just hear his heart beating as they stood in silence and she rubbed his back.
She didn't want to let him go.
He had gone from being her friend to someone she couldn't live without, but she also knew he couldn't stay. She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks as he gently rocked her and she moved her head to look up at him.
She wasn't sure why she did it as she lowered his head until their lips met and she was surprised that he didn't move back. She deepened the kiss while he held the back of her head in his left hand and he whispered her name against her lips.
"That tickles," Carol whispered against his lips and he rolled his eyes.
"Stop," Daryl said with a small laugh and she moved her fingers through his hair. His hair felt a little oily, but soft and she felt him pulling her against him. She didn't know he was such a good kisser as he held her face in his hands and her fingers moved along his neck to his shoulders. They moved back as she looked deeply into his eyes and he softly smiled.
"Hey?! Are you going with us or not?!" startled them as they looked at the door and she heard a soft growling coming from Daryl. Carol reached down to pick up the scabbard and the crossbow as she handed the crossbow to Daryl then she slid the strap of the scabbard over her right shoulder. Daryl slid the strap of the crossbow over his right shoulder as he nodded his head to the door and she followed him. They walked to the doorway as she looked outside and Rick was standing a short distance away.
"Was he spying on us?" Carol thought as she looked at Daryl and he looked like he was wondering the same thing.
"I ain't goin' without her," Daryl said.
"I wasn't talking to you," Rick said, looking at Carol. "Now, let's go."
"No offense. But are you letting me back in the group just because I saved your ass?" Carol asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Does it matter?"
"Yeah, it matters," Daryl said.
"Carol…," Rick said then stopped when Daryl moved Carol behind him and Rick saw the protective look in his eyes. Sighing, Rick turned as he started walking away and Daryl looked back at Carol. She nodded her head while he took hold of her right hand and they started following him. They arrived at the railroad tracks when Carol saw Abe was holding Beth in his arms and Beth seemed to be blushing.
"Little Lady was saying her ankle was bothering her," Abe explained and Carol nodded.
Rick looked at them when he nodded his head and they started walking down the railroad tracks. Daryl watched Carol walking to Rick when she removed the watch from the pocket of her jeans and she held the watch out to him. Rick recognized the watch when he realized Sam was the young man they had met in that house where he and Carol went to search for supplies and he took the watch from her.
"Where did you find this?" Rick asked. Carol explained when she walked to Michonne and she handed Michonne the scabbard. Michonne handed Judith to Carl when she slid the strap to the scabbard over her right shoulder and she nodded. Rick watched Carol walking back to Daryl as he saw the defensive look on Daryl's face then Rick sighed, walking faster down the railroad track.
Mika ran to Daryl when he picked her up and she placed the side of her head against his right shoulder. They kept walking down the railroad track when Rick saw a sign for Terminus and he stopped walking. The others walked by him when he reached down for some mud and he smeared the mud over the bottom part of the sign. Above the words "Sanctuary" he wrote "No" then he wiped the mud off on the legs of his jeans and he went to catch up with the others.
