I'm really sorry that some of you are really scared right now. You all wanted me to update quick so I am doing that but this is the weirdest chapter of all. The chapter after this one is the one that will let you know part of what is going on. Thanks for sticking through the weirdness. I appreciate you all for reading and letting me know what you think! Much love!

Letting Go

Chapter Four

Carol hadn't been asleep long enough to dream that night. She woke up to someone shaking her hip. She opened her eyes, blinking but it was still pitch black in their cell. It wasn't even daylight yet.

"Carol. It's time." She felt Daryl's lips next to her ear.

"It isn't even morning yet." She said as she raised her head and glanced towards the door. Everything was black.

"I know, but it will be soon. We gotta go." His fingers dug into her hip roughly as a familiar wave of dizziness swept over her.

She rolled over and sat up, the blankets falling from her, causing her to shiver. She was naked. The memories of what they had done nearly knocked the wind out of her. She had felt like she had been about to slip away somehow, but he had kept her grounded. He had kept her there with him. She even remembered promising that she would stay with him. What a strange request, coming from him.

"I have to pack." She whispered, stalling.

"I have everything we're gonna need." She blinked when he lit the lamp. He was sitting on the edge of the bunk, shirtless with his hair mused.

He handed her a stack of clothes. They looked new but also vaguely familiar. The unmistakeable scent of fabric softener filled her nose. She frowned, taking the stack from him. There was a white t-shirt, a dark blue sweater, jeans... it all looked so familiar.

She got dressed as he gathered up a few more things, shoving this and that into his backpack. "Where did you get these clothes?" She asked warily as she shoved her feet into her boots.

He shrugged. "They're yours."

She frowned and watched him. "Where did they come from?"

He turned around, giving her an exasperated look. "What the fuck does it matter?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "It doesn't. But it's a simple question that you should be able to answer. Why won't you answer it?"

"Stop." He said suddenly, desperately, as his eyes went impossibly wide.

She frowned and then the room seemed to dissolve around her.

"No!" She heard him growl before the world became silent.

Sophia was standing next to a bed again. She was looking down into Carol's face. Her eyes intense and as wide as Daryl's had been.

"Mom!" Sophia croaked and then the most beautiful smile she had ever seen split the little girls face.

Carol swallowed hard, her throat so dry that it hurt badly.

"Stop!" She heard Daryl's voice and she squeezed her eyes closed again. A huge part of her wanted to will the voice to go away so she could look at Sophia some more. She looked so happy, but an equally large part wanted the voice to take her back to him. He sounded so broken. She couldn't have them both but both was what she needed.

"Mom?"

"Carol?"

Her eyes snapped open. He was knelt in front of her, hands cupping her face. Their eyes locked and she could have sworn she saw tears in his before he dropped his head into her lap. She stared down at him wide eyed and afraid. He knew. He knew she was losing her mind. That explained why he was acting so strange. That explained why he had opened up to her so completely. He was afraid of losing her to insanity.

She tried to gather her splintered thoughts. Did they all know that this was happening to her? She tried to remember if any of them had said anything to indicate they did but she couldn't remember. Everything was so foggy. The only things that were clear and sharp were her visions of Sophia and the things she had done with Daryl. Those were the only two things that seemed real right now. It almost felt like Daryl and Sophia were silently fighting for her attention.

She stroked his hair. It felt real under her trembling fingers. He was very still, not making a sound. When he raised his head he moved back onto his heels, still kneeling. His eyes were clear now, penetrating her thoughts with a fierce look. When he stood up he grabbed her hand, slung his bow and his backpack onto his shoulders and then pulled her from the cell by her hand.

She was too afraid to speak. They made their way on silent feet, down the stairs, through the common room and then out into a strangely bright silvery light. He walked purposefully towards the gate. She hurried to keep up with his long strides as his grip crushed her fingers. When she glanced over at him his lips were set in a hard line.

When they made their way to the gate she saw movement off to her right. When she focused she saw people walking towards them. Once they were close enough she could make out their faces. Rick, Carl and Glenn stepped out of the darkness first, followed by Maggie, Beth and Hershel.

Rick gave Daryl a hard look. "What are you doing?" He asked in an angry hiss. "Did you really think we wouldn't find out?"

Carol moved closer to Daryl's side and she actually heard a low growl rumbling in his chest.

Hershel moved forward, "Son, this isn't the way. This isn't how it's suppose to be." He spoke gently and then reached out to put a hand on Daryl's shoulder.

Daryl shrank away from the touch, drawing her away a few feet from the small group that was watching them warily.

"I ain't lettin' her go!" He snarled, causing the little group to back up from them a few steps.

Carol stared at him with wide eyes. They knew. They all knew that she was losing her mind.

Rick shook his head. "You have too! You don't understand what you're doing, Daryl."

Maggie and Beth started crying, holding each other close.

Glenn took a step towards them. "This isn't right, Daryl." He muttered quietly.

"What's right?" Daryl roared, causing them all to take another step away from them and causing her to flinch against him. "You tell me what's right. Sendin' her back? Back to him? Tell me that's right. She belongs here!" He was gasping for breath. "she belongs with me!"

Carl stepped forward. "Keep her then." he shrugged. "And every time she thinks about Sophia, you'll know that it's your fault. You remember that. She don't have her anymore because of you." The boy said calmly. "Can you live with that?"

Daryl was panting, emotions raw and painful on his face.

"Don't say that to him." Carol hissed. How could Carl say that? Blame him for Sophia? Why wasn't any of them making any sense? She looked up into Daryl's tortured face, his breath coming in ragged gasps. She squeezed his hand. "I'm ready. Let's go."

Carl wordlessly opened the gate and Daryl looked at the narrow opening for some time before he took in a shuddering breath and pulled her through it. Once she was outside the safety of the fence she realized that they were exposed. They were easy targets for the throngs of Walkers that were always there. Somehow this wasn't something that worried her. What worried her were Carl's words. How could he say that to the man when everyone knew how he blamed himself for Sophia?

They walked towards the trees, the moon was full, brilliant. It seemed too bright to her for some reason, their shadows clear on the tall grass. His hand was no longer crushing hers. He rearranged his grip so now his fingers were laced through hers. He abruptly stopped and turned so he was facing her.

"I'm gonna try, okay. I know you don't understand. I know you don't. But I'm gonna try to keep you. They don't think it's right but I don't care. It's safer here. You understand? I can't protect you out there."

She frowned, her vision growing blurry until she blinked. His words were barely registering in her mind. His voice was clear but his words were not. She didn't understand. But she did know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she trusted him. That was all she knew for sure. His eyes searched hers worriedly.

"I trust you." She whispered. "I'll always trust you."

He seemed to find some solace in her words because he nodded. Touched her face briefly, letting his thumb glide along her bottom lip and then turned and led her into the trees.

Somehow the ultra bright moonlight filtered down through the trees and still bathed everything in that strange silvery glow. She could see just as clearly as if she were strolling through the woods in early morning sunlight. The only sound that she could discern was the hushed sound of her own footfalls on the dead leaves that littered the forest floor and the sound of water from the river nearby. They were walking towards the sound of the water.

Finally her mind put itself together enough to realize that she hadn't even grabbed her jacket. She had nothing on but the clothes that he had handed her but she wasn't cold. The warmth of his hand in hers was about the only thing she could really feel.

"This ain't right, little brother."

They both stopped as a raspy voice came from somewhere to their left and then Merle stepped out into their path.

"Leave it be, Merle. This don't got a thing to do with you." Daryl said quietly.

There were no walkers. Carol realized this with a start and then squeezed Daryl's hand a little tighter. They were everywhere now days. So why had they not ran into one? They were always shambling around the outside of the fence of the prison but in that oddly bright moonlight she had seen nothing. Not one walker.

Daryl started walking once more and she fell into step beside him. She thought it was strange that he hadn't said anything about the walkers, or lack thereof. Merle joined them wordlessly. She looked up and he glanced at her, his face sympathetic.

"Daryl," He said in a hushed tone. "This isn't going to work. There ain't no way you can do this. She's ready."

"Fuck you." Daryl said calmly. "I can do this."

"Everything slips away from you, boy." Merle said with a shake of his head. "The moons too bright. The walkers are gone. You don't feel her slippin' further away? She's leavin' ya boy. She's almost gone."

Daryl dropped her hand and then slipped the bag and Crossbow from his shoulders. She watched in silent amazement as he wordlessly flung himself at his brother. He hit him twice in the face before shoving him off the path. "I can do this." He growled. "Y'all won't give me a chance."

"Cause it ain't right. You're killin' her." Merle took two steps and was in Daryl's face. "You're gonna take her away from that girl and you don't even care."

Carol felt tears sting her eyes. She felt as though she were nothing but a ghost. She felt an emptiness inside her that almost hurt. Daryl's head turned to her sharply, he shook his head as miraculously the narrow path they were standing on widened until they were standing in a clearing.

"What's happening?" She sobbed and then he was right there, her face in his hands.

"You fuckin' promised, Carol." He said, his voice thick, eyes full of pain.

Merle was at her side next, a hard hand on her shoulder. "It's time to go, Carol. You got everything you need. Go home." He whispered before Daryl knocked his hand off of her.

The moon was directly overhead now, a huge ball of light in the sky. She looked away from him and gazed at the moon, tears pouring from her aching eyes. In the center of that white globe there appeared a strange black dot, as though something were hanging in front of it.

"No," Daryl hissed, shaking her shoulders. She felt her head snap back and forth at the force but she couldn't take her eyes from that black dot. It seemed to be growing, blocking out a portion of the moon.

"Daryl, what's happening?" She whispered. That blackness wrapped itself around the moon like a dark cloak but strangely enough the silvery light still surrounded them. She couldn't make any sense of anything that was happening anymore but it was no longer scaring her.

"Just look at me." He said between clenched teeth.

She wanted to listen to him but movement behind him caught her attention and she moved her gaze to the edge of the trees that were now in the distance. Walkers appeared, it looked like hundreds of them and she knew she should cry out. She should warn him as they drew closer, hungry mouths slack and dripping, eyes roving over the large clearing, unseeing. Carol felt nothing but numb. Her emotions were locked away somewhere as the dead made their way towards the trio. Merle, like her, watched them come silently.

Twenty feet away, ten, five. The mass separated and filed past them as though they were nothing more than an obstacle in their way. She watched, fascinated and calm.

Once more she was able to focus on Daryl. He was still as stone. Frozen there with his eyes drilling into hers, willing her fractured mind to make sense of the things going on. When, from the corner of her eye, the last of the herd filed past she realized that not all of them had made their way around them. There was a small group huddled at the edge of the woods, looking towards them.

"You can make them go away. It can be me and you. Nobody else if that's what you want. You just have to want it bad enough." He was pleading.

She touched the side of his face and she was astonished as his eyes filled with tears. She was not numb to this. This was something that cut her to the bone. Flayed her open and filled her with a pain that was nearly as bad as the pain she had felt upon seeing Sophia in that dream. The pain was real. Very real. Nothing else made sense but this did. This was real to her. His pain was hers. She felt it, the realization nearly knocking her to her knees. His pain was real but somehow he wasn't.

"That ain't true." He shook his head, panic clear on his rugged features as he read her thoughts. "I can be."

The group hovering at the edge of her vision started to approach them then.

"Don't look at them." He urged.

When the group stopped a few feet away she looked over. Lori, Andrea, T-dog, Dale, Jim, Jackie, Amy, and Shane stood there, their faces all wearing sad smiles. Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Hershel and Carl joined them.

"You can't keep her here." Merle said as he put a hand on his brothers shoulder.

Daryl didn't take his eyes off hers. He was the only thing that she needed to be real, the others just ghosts but deep inside she was starting to understand that he wasn't. He was a ghost too. He took a deep shuddering breath. Carol could feel the eyes of her group on them but she couldn't look away as suddenly he gave up. She felt him give up. She felt it deep inside. He was going to let her go. She wasn't even sure where she was suppose to be going. But she knew she had to go. She knew, as painful as it was going to be, that she had to leave him. There was something else, something stronger than him that was pulling her away.

Insanity?

He shook his head and placed his hands on the side of her face. His hands didn't feel right. She could feel them there on her skin but the texture was off. "You gotta remember. You gotta remember all of this. It's comin'. Do you hear me? They're comin' and you know that now. You gotta save as many of us as you can. And don't you fuckin' forget how strong you are. Don't you dare forget that." He was crying by the time he was finished.

"I don't want to go." She heard herself whisper, her voice far away to her own ears. Like she was speaking but from a great distance.

"I can't stop it. Just remember. Remember all of this." His voice was fading. "Remember me." He pulled her face towards him then, kissing her. His lips were soft but desperate. She closed her eyes, oblivious now to the strange audience that was watching them. "They're comin', Carol. Don't forget...

She felt the ground shift under her feet and then she felt him pulling away. She kept her eyes closed even when finally his hands were no longer touching the sides of her face. Tears seeped out from between her sealed lids. He was gone now. They were all gone now. She could feel it. She was too afraid to open her eyes. Too afraid that once she did then it would all be confirmed. She would be alone. Her family lost.

She relaxed her tense body, almost able to feel the silvery light on her skin. Her chest hurt. Her throat was on fire. This sadness was so very dense. She would have to go now. He wasn't there to keep her grounded anymore. He had left her.

Her body relaxed further until she could have sworn that she could feel a mattress under her. Exhaustion overtook her and although she wanted to know what waited for her, still she refused to open her eyes. Refused to see the empty space where he had been. She was dozing off. Maybe she would dream of him. That was all she had left.

Don't kill me! I haven't let you guys down yet and I don't plan too. This is a Caryl fic through and through. Keep that in mind!