Red River Blue
Chapter 54
Rick's feet were slipping, unable to find traction when he was shin deep in the dirty water of the basement food pantry. The walker had its fingers locked into his shirt, its mouth already open and ready for a taste of him. He heard the wet smacking noise before he felt the monster release its grip on him. A small knife was buried in the side of its head, buried at an angle that suggested it had been thrown from above. Then he heard her voice.
"Hey Rick, quit playin' around down there," Harley hollered from the top of the stairs. Rick heard Merle's laughter next, followed by some that he assumed was coming from Glenn. Rick could only shake his head at the girl, pulling her knife from the walker skull where she buried it and wiping it off on his pants before handing it back to her. Sasha and Michonne already had Bob fished back out of the water and other than being wet, everyone appeared to be unharmed.
"Hand that box up 'ere," Merle hollered from the steps, "I ain't coming down into that mucky ass water." MIchonne and Sasha moved to hand the man a giant plastic container of canned goods. He grabbed for it, trying to balance it on his bad arm and grip it with his only hand. The container nearly toppled back down into the water. Harley moved quickly, grabbing the side of the box to steady it. Between them, they hauled the large box up and out of the basement.
With two and a half extra sets of hands, the loading went quickly after that. And soon they were pushing a large cart of food back towards the church. The men pushed the cart. Michonne and Harley stayed back a few paces, watching their backs and having a rather animated discussion about the advantages of using a sword vs a set of throwing knives. Sasha was helping Bob. He was limping on the ankle he twisted while they were loading up the food.
Spirits were high when the small group returned from the run. There was plenty of food to go around. They just escaped certain death. And lots of people had just reunited with loved ones they hadn't been sure they would ever see again. Daryl looked around, smiling a little as he observed the scene in front of him.
Tyreese had Judith in his lap, feeding her tiny bits to eat from a container of jarred peaches. Mika and Wren were crowded in on either side of the large man, giggling at the silly faces the baby was making. Carl was on the other side of Wren, her small hand twined between both of his. Michonne was sitting on a church pew. Harley's long body was stretched out across the bench, her head resting in Michonne's lap as the woman combed through her mass of long blonde curls with her fingers. Eugene was passed out on the bench behind them, snoring softly. Maggie and Glenn had disappeared into the bathroom together some time before. River and Merle were sitting against the wall with Rosita and Abraham. The four of them were laughing at each other and at the game they were making out of trying to flip pennies into a church collection plate. Sasha and Bob were relaxing on one of the benches, their arms around each other, watching the penny game. Rick was having a quiet word with Gabriel a few feet away.
Daryl was suddenly more alert than he had been a moment before. His eyes scanned the room quickly, looking for the one member of their group that he hadn't seen during his casual observation. Carol was missing. He checked again, counting up his people and looking more carefully to see if he missed her. Daryl shoved the panic back down inside him and stood up from the spot he had taken near the wall. Carol was a small woman and it was possible she was just sitting somewhere he couldn't see her. He headed down the aisle of the church, looking to see if she was napping in one of the pews. But she was nowhere to be found.
Daryl stepped outside. He didn't know why but he was certain Carol was out near the car they found earlier. And when he headed in that direction, he saw that he was right. Daryl felt his stomach drop. She had her packed bag with her.
"What in the hell are ya doin'," he asked as he approached Carol, pulling her bag out of her hands. She held onto the bag for a moment like she was thinking about fighting him for possession of it. Daryl yanked harder, pulling the bag from Carol's hands and tossing it on the ground behind him.
Carol stood there staring at him. She racked her brain for a lie. The quickest lie she could think of. Because there was no way she could tell Daryl the truth about why she was outside, ready to leave the group. Because the reason was that she heard him talking to Maggie about Beth. Carol didn't know Daryl and Beth escaped the prison together. Since the girl wasn't there, Carol assumed she died when the prison fell. And then she heard Daryl telling Maggie that Beth was still alive. And that they were going to find her. Carol felt herself die a little in that moment. Not only because she learned that the woman she believed Daryl was in love with was still alive. But also because at that moment Carol wished the girl was dead. And for that Carol felt horrible. Beth was her friend. She was a sweet, caring girl. Carol felt like she must be sick in the head to be wishing for terrible things to happen to her. All over a man that Carol had no chance of ever being with even if Beth did die the horrible death Carol wished on her at that moment. That's why she was leaving.
"I just needed some air," Carol lied.
"Some air?'," Daryl hissed, "...by the car with your fuckin' bag packed?"
Daryl was breathing hard. Carol took a step back, looking to put some space between them. But Daryl followed her movements, stepping forward and putting himself back into her personal space. All she succeeded in doing was pinning herself between his body and the side of the car. He lifted his arm, poking at the center of her chest with his finger.
"What in the hell were ya thinkin' tryin' to take off like that?," he demanded, poking at her again.
His body was pressed almost flush with hers. Carol had to tilt her chin back to look at him. She wasn't trying to think up another lie. Now she was trying to remember why she walked out to this car just a moment ago. What was she doing? All she could think about now was how close Daryl was to her. Their bodies were touching. She could feel his chest moving against hers as his breath came out in heavy pants, his body tense with anger. His crossbow was hanging across his back at an awkward angle, the butt end of it poking her in the ribs.
Carol parted her lips to answer him, still unsure of what she was going to say. And then suddenly Daryl's mouth was pressing down on hers. The hand that he was using to poke at her chest roughly cupping the back of her neck as his teeth briefly clashed against hers. Carol was so shocked it took her mind a moment to react. But her body knew what she needed. Before she even fully realized that Daryl was kissing her, her arms were already around his neck and her tongue was tangling with his inside her mouth. He tasted like smoke and canned peaches.
Just as suddenly as he pressed his lips down on hers, Daryl ripped back. For a moment, Carol was terrified she did something wrong. But it wasn't her. Daryl focus was on the sound of a car quickly speeding by.
"The cross in the window," Daryl hissed, "...those are the people that took Beth!"