A/N: 01/12/2015 Man it feels good to be back on this story!

I found this really awesome song a few days ago on iTunes and I just HAD to get it. The lyrics really remind me of this story. Feel free to look it up on YouTube and see if you agree. It's called Female Robbery by The Neighbourhood :)

Also, Michonne will be making a cameo here, so pay attention!

I Love Fanfics: Ahaha 'Darry'. That's funny, glad you kept it in your review rather than fixing it XD And stop chasing down Carol! She's coming back! (even though it's not of her own free will, but still) lol I love how you don't hold back on your feelings for Merle. Hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

wildcow258: Thank you! I'm glad I was able to make you smile (or laugh or chuckle or whatever) :) I actually got the 'when a woman's holding a gun, she might be upset' joke from a humor website, good stuff. Don't worry, Daryl won't be heartbroken much longer. Hope you enjoy this update! :D

gibbymom: Don't worry! Daryl won't be sad for much longer! Thanks for your review! :D

Prettyprincess45: Daww, thanks ^^ Sweet Christmas gifts, clothes are awesome (I wish I woulda got some clothes) and so are headphones and uggs. I got Alien: Isolation for the 360, the Alien film quadrilogy, Nutella, comics, shampoo/conditioner, a gift card, and some other small stuff. I'm pretty happy about it. And oh, okay. So you stopped shipping Bethyl when Beth died. That makes sense. Perfect sense, actually. Strangely enough, I kind of ship them more now that Beth's gone, though my love for the pairing is totally overshadowed and outshined by my undying affection for Caryl X3 Hope you enjoy this update, and even though it's SUPER late, I hope you had a Merry Christmas too! :)

Reading time: 10 mins.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Chapter twelve: Time Apart and Might Fine Coincidences~

The two weeks that followed Carol's absence had been nothing less than hard.

He'd tried staying away from the area where she worked, but that strategy only lasted a mere four days before he found himself at the very gas station he and Merle had robbed that fateful night. He went there every day for a week straight under the ruse that he was buying candy or beer, only to be disappointed each time when she wasn't there. And it took him a few more days still before he worked up the gall to ask the blonde girl (Andrea, if he remembered right) what had happened to her.

He knew he probably didn't have to worry about her recognizing him (half his face had been covered when they'd met and that was over two weeks ago) but there was still that sliver of a chance that he'd say the wrong thing or make the wrong mannerism and she'd be calling the cops on him faster than he could say 'oops'. Still, he braved the risks and asked about Carol's whereabouts, and between her questioning look and his racing heartbeat he got his answer. She'd quit, she said. Started working somewhere else. Couldn't handle working there anymore. He went home that day feeling dejected and hopeless, and it didn't help when he turned on the tv that night.

Carol was on every local news station.

She was the headliner, the 'success story'.

He watched for two short minutes as she was bombarded with questions and microphones and camera flashes as she made her way up the sidewalk and into her house, saying she had 'no comment' on her disappearance or kidnapping, only that she was glad to be back home. He felt a wave of gratefulness and pride as she shut the door to her home and the camera cut back to the anchorman.

She'd told the truth; she wouldn't say anything about him or Merle. She'd kept her promise. He wasn't about to say 'I told you so' and rub it in his brother's face, but he knew he could trust her. She was just that kind of person. And he just...knew.

If only he knew of a way to see her again as well.

Daryl inwardly cursed as he followed his older brother across the parking lot and pulled his bandana over his nose.

Their target was the tiny Knicks and Knacks store, which Merle knew to have money because he'd done a few covert drug deals there. Daryl was in no mood to be robbing places and bumming for cash so soon, but their previous 'savings' had been spent when their shit-car decided to break down, so up until now he'd kept his mouth shut and hadn't complained. Of course, that was before his conscious had decided to get the better of him.

"Man, why we gotta keep doin' this?" he asked, keeping his voice low as they approached the automatic doors. "We don't even got a getaway car if things go wrong! The damn thing's sittin' in a mechanic's shop!"

"S'cuse me?" Merle whispered harshly. "You got any cash? 'Cuz if you do then we can just turn right around and scuttle on outta here right now. Unless of course you don't an' you just wanna spend the next month an' a half sleepin' in a cardboard box. Otherwise just keep yer mouth shut an' this'll go off without a hitch. Now stay focused!"

Daryl wanted to say more, but pursed his lips as they crossed the sliding glass barrier and into the store, gripping the pistol in the pocket of his jacket.

It was nighttime, but inside, the building was even darker.

The entire place was decked out with ultra-violet lights, and anything white glowed with a neon intensity that momentarily messed up his eyes. A lone worker stood behind the counter at the end of the room, a black woman with long, thick dreadlocks and a mean, hard stare. He suddenly got the feeling that this wasn't going to 'go off without a hitch', but he pushed the thought aside and followed his brother as he strolled up to the counter.

"Cold night?" the woman asked, jutting her chin out to gesture to the bandanas over their faces. Her voice reminded him of a panther's, low and predatory. This woman meant business.

"Like you wouldn't believe, sister," Merle grinned, holding up his gun as Daryl did the same.

The woman's expression didn't change, but she held her hands up as instructed.

"Good girl," Merle said, nodding. "Now how's about you turn around and open up that box on that there shelf? We'll make things simple and just take it all."

She glared at him, the whites of her eyes glowing under the violet lights, but obeyed nonetheless.

Daryl swallowed nervously and adjusted his grip on his pistol, shifting on his feet as he gave a sidelong glance at Merle.

He didn't know why, but that feeling that something was about to go wrong fast had returned with the force of a hurricane, and it was so strong that he was having trouble keeping his palms from sweating and his breathing under control.

He told himself he didn't have to worry (he and Merle had done this a thousand times, why should now be any different?) but he could've told himself that a million times and it wouldn't have made any difference.

Something was about to go wrong.

He just knew it; his gut told him so.

And as the woman turned, whirled around with not money but a sword, and swiftly knocked the gun from his brother's hand with the quickness of lightning, he realized that he should have listened.

They ran out of there faster than their feet could carry them.

Daryl hurried to regain his footing as Merle grabbed him by his jacket and made a hard left behind the store, weaving around trash bags and dumpsters as they ran down the nearest alley.

They ran for quite some time, making an inumerable amount of lefts and rights between buildings and across streets before they felt comfortable enough to slow down. They had slowed down to a walk now, both out of breath and unsure of where they were, but luckily for him Merle always had a quick fix for everything.

"Quick, in here!"

Merle grabbed him by his sleeve and shoved him into the backseat of a random unlocked car, checking briefly for cops or witnesses before getting in himself.

"We'll have to wait here 'til the noise dies down," he said quietly, hurriedly pushing him off the seat and onto the floor as a police cruiser whizzed past them, sirens blaring.

"Man, screw you!" Daryl spat, glaring up at him from the floor of the car. "This is all your fault! I ain't waitin' in some stranger's car for somet'n you did!"

Merle looked from the street outside to his little brother, surprised and angry at his outburst.

"Excuse me?" he hissed, lowering his face to glare menacingly at him. "In case you don't remember, you were there right along with me! Don't blame this on me!"

Daryl's face twisted into one of disgust. He was sick of being dragged all over the place and letting himself take the fall for things his brother did. "Man, forget this. I'm outta here."

He moved to get up, but Merle pushed him back down, taking his gun and aiming it in his face as he crouched over him. "Hey! This wasn't just you or me. It was the both of us! So don't go puttin' this shit on me just 'cuz you suddenly got a conscience. You ain't no better'n me. Remember that."

Rage bubbled up inside him, rising through his chest and up his throat, and he was hardly aware of it when he lifted his head and spat the vile emotion in his brother's face.

Merle slowly reached up with his free hand, shocked as he wiped away at the spit that had made its way into his eye.

"Why you little shit..."

He hadn't even had time to widen his eyes as Merle's hands flew around his neck, the gun tossed beneath the driver's seat and all but forgotten as he focused all his energy into throttling his little brother.

Daryl struggled under his weight, twisting and writhing as he tried in vain to loosen the tightening hold on his throat. He reached up and punched Merle in the face, but that only proved to further deplete his own air supply. Strength dwindling, he reached up with both hands and wrapped them around his brother's neck, squeezing as hard as he could.

The two shook each other vehemently, both wanting to knock the other's lights out, and if it weren't for the sudden movement outside they probably would have stubbornly gone on until someone's veins burst and their eyes popped out from the pressure on their neck.

Daryl had been the first to notice, and he let go of Merle completely before the older man realized someone was trying to get into the vehicle they were occupying.

Anger quickly made way for Panic, and Merle flattened himself atop his brother as they both held their breath and stared underneath the driver's seat, just in time to see the opened door and then the small pair of feet that made their way to the gas pedals.

They stayed like that, frozen in suspense as they heard the engine start and felt the car shift forward as the driver made their way down the street.

Suddenly remembering their fight, Daryl reached up and flicked Merle on the back of the head. He may have been the more mature out of the two of them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't seek revenge for his brother's stupidity.

Surprisingly, Merle did little more than glare at him in return.

Instead, he turned his attention to the gun that was sitting innocently under the seat, just waiting for a jerk or sudden stop so it could bump into the person's foot and be discovered. And if that happened, they were both screwed.

Merle slowly reached over with his right hand, easing underneath the seat and towards the gun.

He reached it just as the car came to a slow stop, and Daryl had little to no warning as his brother leapt up from the floor and put the gun to the driver's head.

"Keep your hands on the wheel," he whispered dangerously, and the person gasped.

Daryl watched from the floor as his brother's expression went from apprehensive to smug to humorous.

"Weeeell," he began, grinning from ear to ear. "Ain't this a mighty fine coincidence?"

He moved into a more comfortable position on the bench seat, and, curious, Daryl did the same.

He stared into the rearview mirror and his eyes widened; not from fear or happiness, but from pure shock.

It wasn't the woman from the store, or a cop or one of Merle's drug buddies whose reflection stared back at him.

It was Carol's.

A/N: Ahaha I do that so often. 'Gasp! It was Carol!' Lol but I love it :D The whole time I was writing the Michonne scene, I was thinking of the store they robbed in Fun With Dick And Jane (the Jim Carrey version). Couldn't help myself, I guess.

So yeah, in the next chapter we'll get to see who Carol's 'running' from (if it's been too long and you've forgotten you can go back to the last half of chapter 7 real quick for a refresher). I'm excited. Anyone else excited? Yes? No?

'Til next time!