Carol stayed in the house and talked to Joan who teased her about having a man cooking for her. They were laughing when there was knock on the door. Joan got up to answer so Carol didn't have to stand up. As soon as the door opened there was a flash running by her.

Carol was surprised when Sam ran into the room sliding to a stop in front of her. He looked at her with a small smile, "I knew you would be back," Carol couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. He seemed down so Carol told him to sit down and they talked for nearly and hour about a little bit of everything. She had tried to be stern and push him away, but she knew he was just a lonely child who needed someone to talk to. Though it was hard for her to let another child in her heart, not matter how little, he needed her. When he got up to leave he gave her a gentle hug and ran out the door.

Her body was starting to stiffen so she decided to go for a walk and get an idea of the preparations they were making in regards to the strangers. The day was beautiful. The sky was blue with sparse clouds and there was a slight breeze. She had only walked a little ways when she heard loud shouting. She could make out Glenn and Daryl's voices, so she rushed over with as much speed as she could. When she approached the group she could see Glenn standing between Daryl and Gabriel. Maggie, Deanna, and Rick stood by tensely, along with several Alexandria residents gathered around to see what was happening.

When Daryl saw her approach he froze, as did the others when they realized she was there, "What's going on here?" No one answered immediately, but Deanna finally stepped forward, but before she even got any words out, Gabriel spat out, "You don't belong here."

Carol was shocked at the hatred in his voice. Looking to the group for answers nobody seemed willing to help her. Again Deanna stepped forward, "It seems that Gabriel has decided he wants to have a vote to get you out."

Carol was completely flabbergasted. Looking to Gabriel she demanded, "What is this about?"

"You don't belong around decent people." Daryl lunged toward him but Glenn and Deanna stopped him.

"He hasn't given his reason yet," Glenn mentioned, slightly out of breath from holding Daryl back.

Everyone looked to Gabriel expectantly, Carol included, "Before we left the church Tyreese told me about what happened." Carol felt faint with dread, she stumbled backwards, "Carol?" Daryl stepped forward and reached for her, but she stepped away not wanting the comfort.

"What happened Carol?" Rick asked moving closer to her.

Carol looked around at the gathered crowd. They all looked at her, she could already feel their judgment. She stood frozen and silent. The secret had been weighing on her since it happened. Deciding time had run out for her to keep it, she was going to tell and she would accept the consequences, whatever they may be. Not really focusing on one person she began, "Me, Tyreese and the girls found an old house. While we were there Lizzie was coming apart, she thought the walkers were still people. She thought they were her friends." She chanced a look around, they were all listening intently. Daryl reached for her again, but like before she stepped away, "Tyreese and I went to hunt and when we came back Lizzy was standing over Mika with a bloody knife. She had killed her." Everyone gasped. Looking at Rick, "She said she was going to do Judith next." Rick's hands shook as he rubbed his face, tears on his cheeks. "She wasn't safe to have around us. We couldn't trust her with Judith and we couldn't sleep with her around," she paused taking a deep breath. "We didn't see any other options. I took her into the field..." her voice broke as tears flowed down her cheeks, she wiped them away. "I... shot her," she finished quietly.

Meeting Daryl's eyes, she expected to see hate or pity, but he didn't look at her any differently. She saw an understanding there, no judgment to be seen. Moving her eyes to Rick she saw no judgment. There was a moment of awkward silence where everyone tried to process what was said.

The silence was broken by a snarled, "You're a monster," Carol turned angrily in his direction. Daryl moved forward, but Carol stopped him by grasping his arm. Moving past Daryl and into Gabriel's personal space Carol couldn't hold back, "You seem to forget about the people you let die while you sat sheltered in your church. You don't get to stand there and judge me. You were a coward, hiding while people you could have helped begged you to let them in," Gabriel looked shocked, never having seen this side of Carol. He averted his eyes knowing there was truth in her words.

"Gabriel I think we need to talk. Carol, I'm sorry you were ambushed like this. I think there are some things we need to talk about soon," Deanna took control of the situation. She gave Carol a look she couldn't quite decipher, but it wasn't hostile. Before anything else could happen shouts and gunfire could be heard from outside the wall. Everyone turned in that direction just in time to see the gates open and men walk in holding guns to the heads of the construction crew. Abraham was covered in blood with a large man holding a knife to his throat. He looked pissed.

Carol recognized John immediately along with Mandy, who was holding a gun to a woman's head. Carol looked toward her house and saw Joan standing on the porch. She made eye contact with Carol, she could see the fear. Daryl and Rick moved toward the threat with weapons raised. Michonne, Maggie and Glenn joined the line of defense.

Carol heard Rick talking as she limped toward the standoff. John's eyes moved toward her and he smirked, "You have something that belongs to us."

Daryl and Rick both turned to where John was looking. Both of their faces hardened when they finally understood what was happening. They both turned back stepping together to block her from his view. John laughed, Carol knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Just give us the bitches and we'll be on our way," John said, his humor gone.

"That ain't gonna happen," Daryl answered gruffly.

There was silence while both groups sized each other up. John's men were restless and snarling. Rick, Daryl and the others were calm and waiting. Carol gripped her gun, and met Mandy's eyes, she saw her eyes flash and then she snarled as she raised her gun. Carol shouted a warning and then fired her own gun at Mandy a second after Mandy fired hers. She felt the bullet graze her arm as all hell broke lose.

Carol saw Abe explode into action as she fired at Mandy who continued to fire at her. Carol was successful on her third shot landing a shot to the head. Carol turned to fire at the others, when she was grabbed from behind. A hand grabbed her under her chin and pulled her back into their body. She felt the steel of a knife against her neck.

Daryl and Rick both turned at the same time and froze. As the others saw what was happening the chaos died down. Carol heard John's cocky laughter as his men moved behind him, "I think it's time to put your weapons down."

Carol saw the fear in Daryl's eyes as he took in the scene.

When they took too long to follow his order John pressed the knife harder against her neck, "I said drop them," he screamed, spitting on Carol in the process.

The group didn't look excited about it, but they dropped their weapons. Daryl never took his eyes off Carols.

Jerking Carols head back again John growled, "I'm gonna take what's mine. You took away my play things," he finished with a bite to her jaw. She saw Daryl start to move forward, but he was stopped by Rick.

John's attention was drawn back to the men, "You're going to go in your little houses and we're going to take this one and the other bitch and we're going to walk out of here."

He had barely gotten the words out when gunshots rang out and the men behind John started to fall. John jerked Carol back and forth as he tried to place where the shots were coming from. Soon the shots stopped and John was the only one from his group left.

Knowing he was outnumbered and his time was running out, he gripped Carol tighter causing her to wince from the pain. He kept the knife at her throat but moved her more in front of himself, using her as a shield.

Carol watched as Rick calmly bent down and picked up his gun, "You know this doesn't end well for you."

John didn't respond, he pressed his head to the back of Carols. She gasped when she felt the knife cut into her flesh as he sliced it across her neck. She heard several people shout and then a gunshot and she was falling. When she hit the ground she was briefly surprised to be alive. She could feel blood against her hands and realized she was holding her neck, she didn't remember reaching up. Her view of the sky was blocked by Daryl's face and she felt his hands on hers. She had never seen him look so scared. He was saying something, but she couldn't hear him. Several more faces came into view, but everything was starting to fade. She tried to say it would be OK, but couldn't get her mind to cooperate. Then there was nothing.


"Oh God. Oh God," Daryl had never been so scared in his life. The world had frozen when he saw the knife slicing across Carol's neck. He had started moving before she even hit the ground. He had seen the blood on Carol's hands and covered them. She seemed strangely calm, but now she was unconscious and he was freaking out. He was only slightly comforted by her chest moving slowly against his forearms.

Rick and Rosita knelt beside him, "I need to see the wound," Rosita spoke softly. It took a few second for Daryl's body to listen, but he finally moved his hands along with Carols. After using a rag to clean away some of the blood, he could see the wound. He could tell immediately that the knife had been dull. The slice wasn't continuous, more like three deep gashes. There was no spurting blood, only oozing blood. He watched it slide down her neck to the ground. He knew she was lucky, but these days even the smallest injury could be fatal.

Covering her neck and instructing Daryl to keep it covered with pressure, Rosita instructed several men to move her to the medical area. Daryl kept his eyes on Carol's face.


Daryl sat for hours by her side as people came and went. He watched as they stopped the bleeding, and stitched the wounds.

He was pulled from his sleep by the feel of a hand in his hair. He looked up quickly to see her bright blue eyes watching him. He sat up and moved to lean over her, "Hey," he said softly. When she tried to talk he stopped her, "Be careful, you have stitches in your neck. Only talk if you really have to. I'll get some paper and a pen. OK?"

He stepped away from the bed briefly and grabbed the items and was back quickly. She took them and quickly wrote,

EVERYONE OK?

"Everyone's fine, we were all worried about you."

HOW BAD IS IT?

"You had three pretty deep gashes. I think his knife was dull so it wasn't a clean cut," she nodded, looking grateful and smiled, but tears fell down her cheeks. He gently ran his hand through her hair and bent to kiss her forehead, "We're Ok."

END