A/N: 01/01/2015 Seemed like there was something I was gonna say here, but I can't remember what it was...ah well :P

gibbymom: Thanks, gibbymom! Glad to hear it! :D

wildcow258: Yeah, he really was cute in that scene. Adorkable, even (and no, that wasn't a typo) XD She does throw him off balance, but I think it's good for him. He really needs to improve his social skills anyway ;)

Prettyprincess45: Hahaha, oh you. Your review made me laugh XD I do that ALL the time! I'll be making funny faces while reading a fic and then someone'll walk in and see me and be like, 'WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?!' lol. Happy new year to you too! :D

Terp4Life: Aww thank you so muuuuch! X3 I hope you're prepared with an arsenal of stress balls, tissues, comforting Caryl feels, and whatever else you might need, because the new chapter is finally here :)

Reading time: 6 mins.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Chapter sixteen: Strong~

The day Carol ceased to exist in his world was a day he never thought would come.

And now, after almost two years of being with them, she wasn't a part of the group. How could she not a part of the group? Just suddenly be cut from the team? She was a core member OF the group! She had seniority over nearly every one of them! It didn't make sense!

It had all started okay - Rick had announced he was taking Carol out on a run - simple enough, right?

Even though in the back of his mind he knew it was odd - they never went on runs together, it just wasn't done - he dismissed it and let it slide. After all, he reasoned, Rick was their leader. He wouldn't let anything happen to Carol. So imagine his surprise when Rick came back - alone - and said he needed to talk to him.

"Man, you couldn't have waited 'til we got back?!" Daryl spat, whirling around to glare angrily at Rick.

"Until Tyreese got back?" Rick countered, having seemingly prepared for this kind of reaction. "The man whose wife she murdered?"

The prison had been overrun with a sickness recently, and apparently Carol had taken it upon herself to rid them all of infection by killing the first two people that had come down with the stuff and taking them outside to burn the bodies.

It wasn't that Daryl approved of her actions. That wasn't why he was angry.

He was angry because Rick had cut her loose without even telling them about it, telling anyone. There had been no trial, no discussion, no vote. He just did it. And that was something he wouldn't take lightly.

"...I coulda handled that," he said, though without as much conviction as he would have liked.

Rick was quick to shoot him down. "Hey, she killed two of our own! She couldn't stay here! I had to let her go!"

Daryl turned his back on him, trying his best to deal with the whirlwind of emotions he was having.

He wanted to punch Rick in the face. He wanted to find the nearest walker and stab the shit out of it. He wanted to cry. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. He wanted to fall to the floor in a heap and die. He wanted to...he didn't know what he wanted.

"She's gonna be alright," Rick said, trying to comfort him. "She has a car, supplies, weapons...she's a survivor-"

"Man, stop sayin' that like you don't believe it!" Daryl snapped, going from angry to livid in a second.

He hated it when people made assumptions about Carol, especially when it came to her ability to survive. Did they think she was weak because she was small and skinny? A girl? Kind? Caring? Motherly? Everything a person was supposed to be in the old world?

Did they think he hadn't taught her well enough or something? Did they want her to die, so when it happened they could look at her and say they saw it coming? So they could feel better about themselves? Were people really that sick?

"Look, she did it," Rick said, stating the facts. "She confessed...She said it was for us. For the greater good. That's how it was in her head. She wasn't sorry for what she did, she didn't take anything back...she's not the same, Daryl."

"Man, that's her, but that ain't her!" he argued, trying to make him see his point.

He turned away from the sheriff, frustrated that he wasn't making as much sense as he wanted to.

It made sense to him - Carol may have done something horrible, but that wasn't her, it wasn't who she was. Didn't that make sense? Of course it did. Just not to the overbearing sheriff standing five feet behind him.

"...What're we s'posed to do about those two girls?" Daryl asked forlornly, still not looking back at him.

Over time, Carol had come to care for two young sisters by the names of Lizzie and Mikah, after their father died from an unfortunate result of the sickness. She had taken them under her wing. And he'd be damned if he didn't admit they were better for it. She was teaching them how to survive, how to live. Just like he'd done with her.

But now Carol was gone, and those two girls would have to handle this life without their self-appointed guardian. How were they supposed to cope with that? Who was going to be the one to tell them that their surrogate mother was no longer going to be there for them? How could someone do that?

"I told her we'd look after them," Rick said after a while. "I...haven't told Tyreese yet. I don't know how he's gonna take it."

Daryl lifted his head and turned to him, a dimmed and controlled fire in his eyes, angry but resolute.

"Let's go find out."

He wanted to leave.

He wanted to go find Carol.

But he knew he couldn't.

Because he was needed here. And he wasn't going to back out on the promise he had made to these people. No matter how much his heart screamed at him to go, his gut screamed even louder to stay. And a Dixon always trusts their gut.

Carol would be fine, his mind told him.

How couldn't she be? She was a survivor. Just like he'd taught her. Just like Rick said.

She would pull through.

And he would do everything in his power to make sure that he saw her again.

He didn't have to worry.

She was strong.

And he didn't need Rick or Glenn to convince him of that.

A/N: Up next: Alive.

Like everyone, I was really disappointed that Daryl didn't go after Carol after he heard about her banishment. But I also think that the reason he didn't was due to a bunch of little reasons that piled up into one big one.

For example, he knew that his place was with the group and he needed to stay and help out. He also knew that Carol knew how to survive, thanks to him, and if this had happened in an earlier season when Carol was still weak I'm sure we would've gotten the reaction out of him that we all wanted. I also think that, in his heart, he knew that he would see her again. Care to share your thoughts?

Also, we're gonna be heading into season 5 territory now, so for anyone that hasn't seen any of those episodes yet I both apologize for MAJOR spoilers and hope that I am accurate enough in my writing for you to understand what's going on :)

See you tomorrow!