Soldiering On

Merle, Rick, and Jesse were waiting for Daryl in security ops room. Their eyes were zeroed in on the largest screen. It was a wide angle view of the front of the Ark. The unfriendlies had clustered at the gate. The security floodlights had kicked on and Daryl gulped at the sight of how many biters were pushing against the gate. Aaron, Eric, and Glenn joined them.

Morgan came in, "Shawn and James are going to the apartments and escorting the women and children to the safe rooms downstairs. Just as a precaution. Elias and Juan are going watching the basement exits. Theo and Jacqui are on watch upstairs and they are going to transmit what they see into these earphones." He handed one to each man and Daryl listened to Theo, "There are two groups. One at the gate and another pushing against the horse barn. The motion lights are kicking on over there. Better send some rifle fires here or were going to lose the horses."

Rick spoke up, "Andrea can outshoot me. I'll take her and Carl to the watchtower now."

Merle said, "Take James and Shawn with you."

Morgan nodded, "I think the house will stand up to the herd, but we can use the deck out front for a shooting platform. Now understand this. When I say fall back. You get your ass back in the house. We can't leave that door open and chance letting even one in. Shoot for the body mass. They aren't zombies. They'll die like anyone else but be prepared for them to keep coming at you when you think they should lie down and die. This only our first skirmish. We're tying to get intel on how to fight them. Make sure you rifles are ready and get a couple of extra mags. Fall back when I say fall back or risk being left out there. You understand?" Everyone else nodded so Daryl did too but he kept thinking that he was a mechanic not a soldier. How in the hell did I get here?

Daryl saw Carol carrying Dayton and a bag hurrying toward the basement. Michonne had Andre and Christie had Judith. James and Shawn waved to Morgan and went on a run toward the stairs. Good, they are safe downstairs. I'm not going to let anything by me.

They grabbed the rifles and mags and ran toward the front entrance. Hershel was at the front door with a rifle. Theo yelled, "The gate is ready to go." Morgan led them out the door and onto the deck. Daryl got to the railing in time to see the gate swing inward to the Ark and the first wave of unfriendlies began to move toward them. He was unprepared for how quickly they moved. The rifles had been set for automatic fire and he sprayed bullets toward the front of the pack. They kept coming but a few dropped and he sent another round. The sound of rifle fire was everywhere and he put in a new clip. Glenn, Aaron, and Eric were beside him at the railing. The biters were still coming.

Morgan yelled, "Fall back" and Daryl began to back toward the door. Merle yelled, "Fall back" and Daryl turned and ran barely registering that Morgan was stationed at the deck steps shooting at biters. Merle and Jesse were just behind Morgan and Daryl knew that they were holding the line against the biters so that the others could get to safety. His group cleared the door seconds before Merle and Jesse with Morgan right behind them. Merle, Jesse, and Morgan threw themselves against the door to keep it closed while Hershel threw the bolts. He could hear the thuds as the biters threw themselves against the steel door and the steel plates that covered all the windows on the first two floors. The biters screamed their frustration and fury but they were unable to break through.

Merle leaned against the wall, "Shit, did you see how fast they moved?" Merle wiped the sweat off his face. "Damn it, Biters 10, Team Family 0."

Daryl sat down in one of chairs. His legs were trembling and he wanted to puke his guts out. A few minute ago he was holding Dayton and reading him a story. That seemed like a million years ago. Seeing the mass of snarling beasts leaping toward him had scared him. It had scared all of them, but it also clarified his scrambled thoughts about his family. He would do whatever it took to keep the biters from getting near his family. Made him realize that he was in love with Carol even if he didn't remember everything. I just fell in love with her again. I would be in love with her if I just met her when I woke up. I love the way she looks, talks, moves, laughs, and the way I feel when I'm around her. I love our children and our life together. I'll do whatever it takes to keep them safe.

"Daryl and I will go check out the windows at the back of the house to make sure they're holding." Jesse changed the clip on his rifle. "Come on, rookie. Like old times for us. At least you don't have to carry me on the trail."

Daryl had a dim flashback of being out in a dark woods with Jesse. He'd been scared then too. "Let's go."

You could hear a few biters pounding against the steel plates but this part of the house was secure. Jesse asked, "You okay? You get tired or get a headache? Just go on downstairs. We can handle this now. We're not going out until morning. The rifle fire has almost finished from upstairs. Just knocking down a few stragglers."

Merle and Morgan were standing by the door to the nursery when they got back. Merle looked pissed, "Looks like we'll have to reinforce the door to the nursery tomorrow morning."

James and Shawn came back downstairs. "We don't have any movement out there right now," Shawn reported. "Unfriendlies didn't get in the horse barn. Theo counted over a hundred dead. Damn, they moved fast."

Morgan nodded, "They must be newly turned. The first week they are strong and active and then after that they gradually slow down until they can't move. Can still bite until they die which might take another few weeks. If they eat or drink then they might last a little longer. That's a hundred that aren't going to infect anyone else."

"Where are we going to put all those bodies? They'll foul the water." Jesse ran his hand over his close cropped curls. "Let's take them away from the house and barns and burn them in the morning."

In the morning seemed like a long time from now and Daryl wondered how many nights would be spent like this.

Aaron spoke up, "We'll have to check our water supplies all the time. Probably would be a good idea to fill more containers with water. Just as a precaution."

Merle hugged James close, "I'm proud of how you handled yourself tonight, but don't ever go out there by yourself." He loves him like a son, the way I love Dayton.

James hugged him back, "I saw you standing your ground out there, Big Mike. Old man like you should be up in the tower where it's safer." That's why Merle wanted James upstairs. He was trying to keep him safe.

They took turns on watch while the others slept. James and Shawn took the second watch. They were too fired up to sleep anyway. Daryl and Jesse went downstairs to check on their families. The children were asleep. The safe rooms downstairs were heavily insulated and they had been spared most of the sound of the battle.

Carol was sitting with the other women in the basement kitchen area listening to Andrea describe the scene from the rooftop. Rick was there drinking a bottle of water. Carl had wandered off to share his exploits with the other teenagers.

Daryl caught Carol's eye and she rose gracefully and moved toward him. "You feel okay? Need some water?" He nodded and followed her to the water cooler. She filled a water bottle and handed it to him.

He thanked her and added, "Let's go check on the kids."

Sophia was in the media room with the teenagers and young adults. She waved to them but stayed in her chair between Carl and Daniela. They moved on to the room that was the basement nursery. There was a mega sized playpen there and all three toddlers were asleep in it. Carol stepped back, "I don't want to wake them up."

Daryl took her hand, "I want to talk to you."

She gave him a searching glance. "Let's go to the recreation room."

There was exercise equipment, a pool table, and large table with some chairs. Daryl lifted Carol onto the table and he moved to stand in front of her. She put her hand on his face and he held it there a few heartbeats and then kissed it, "I ain't saying that I remember everything, but I know that I'm in love with you. The Daryl Dixon that fell in love with you might never come back all the way, but the man standing in front of you loves you. Will always love you. Daryl Dixon and Mark Reynolds love you. Like that "Groundhog Day" movie where the guy had to relive his day over and over. I just keep falling in love with you over and over."

She put her arms around him and pulled him closer to her and kissed him. Then pushed him back, "Right now we're going to have to concentrate on keeping our family alive, but we might as well get this fight over with. Tonight our home was attacked and it won't be the last. We are going to need every fighter that we have. Women are going to be fighting side by side with men. I'm going to fight with you." Her jaw was set and Daryl remembered enough of their life together to know that she wasn't going to budge.

He leaned forward and kissed her nose, "A simple I love you Daryl would be okay."

Carol grinned at him, "I simply love you Daryl."

His next kiss was less sweet and more demanding, "That door has a lock on it. Let's have some recreation in the rec room."

Someone thumped loudly on the door, "Come on, Romeo. Time to go play soldier." Jesse. The cock blocker.

Daryl released Carol, "Duty calls. I'll see you later."

She nodded and hopped off the table. "Daryl, I would have locked the door."

Shit.

Daryl got a few hours of sleep on a couch in the great room. The smell of bacon and coffee wafting from the kitchen had the entire group up before daybreak. He ate breakfast with Carol, Sophia, and Dayton on one end of a foldout table with Merle, Christie, James, and Jada at the other end. After breakfast cleanup they gathered back in the great room.

Morgan led the discussion but his style of leadership was to lead by consensus. The first order of the day was to clear the area around the house of dead biters and move their bodies to a distant field for burning. Daryl's heart sank when it was decided that women would be involved in every area of defense. No sheltering in the basement when they were under attack.

That morning teams moved bodies while other teams guarded them. He and Carol worked together. He and Jesse carried bodies while Carol and Michonne watched over them. Extra rifles were at the ready because there was always the fear of a swarm of biters coming out of the woods.

The biters looked human again in the morning light and that made them work faster. Last night they were monsters and it had been easy to spray bullets at them. Wagons carried the bodies away and Glenn used the power washers to clean the blood, gore, and vomit away. Almost everyone puked their breakfast up.

By noon they were back up to normal. The little one were permitted to play on the deck. The nursery room had been breached the night before and Daryl and Theo put in more steel around the door. It wouldn't be used again. The gate was rebuilt and all the animal pens were reinforced..

The biters swarmed again that afternoon. Jada, Sophia, and Beth had been on watch and had rang the dinner bell that had been put at the top of the house. That was their new warning signal. The toddlers were taken to the basement by Daniela and her mother. A defensive line was set up on the patio and deck and this time the line held. The bodies were removed and put on the dump site. They didn't bother to burn them. There would be another attack soon.

It came just at dark and that was what saved them. Their work outside was finished for the day, dinner was over, and they were exhausted. James and Carl rang the warning bell as Morgan came out of the security room. "The swarm is too big. We're not going out. Jesse, Andrea, Carol, Michonne, Rick and Daryl go to the tower now." They grabbed the rifles and ran.

The Ark was surrounded by the time they got to the tower. Someone had kicked on the floodlights around the house so that they could see. Last night had been pray and spray but this time Daryl took his time and made every shot count. A few minutes later they were relieved and another team took over. Morgan and Merle wanted everyone to know how to fight so every five minutes a new team moved in.

No one got much sleep that night. The clean up the next day took longer, but that was the way things were now. Their only safety was group safety. They were all in this together.

Daryl and Carol slept on a bunk downstairs. Sophia on the top bunk and Dayton's crib close enough to touch. Daryl could hear Rick snore beside of Andrea in their bunk across the room. Michonne and Jesse were on watch until twelve and he woke up when they crawled into their bunk. He and Carol had four more hours until it was their turn to do watch.

His memories were still hazy but that didn't matter anymore. He was living in the here and now. Happiness had been a foreign concept to him in his past, but Daryl understood it now. Happiness was being teased by Sophia, "You two better not get busy down there or I'm going to be scarred for life." Happiness was reading a book with Dayton in their bunk while Carol slept beside them. Happiness was Carol's smile at him after they survived the latest attack. Those memories were clear and they were enough.

He kissed the nape of Carol's neck and went back to sleep.

AN

I have a difficult time believing that the undead can survive for months and years. The biters in this story are very active when they wake up and then become less and less active. They are dead in less than a month after leaving dormancy. Of course they can infect the living during that time but by most humans are either infected or well protected.

Daryl is in love with Carol. Carol loves Daryl. Don't see why the television show doesn't just let that happen and move on.

Sorry that this chapter wasn't sweetness and light, but I wanted to show that even if they live in a cramped basement with little privacy that they love each other.

Review?