A/N: hey guys, sorry it's been such a long time since I've posted an update but school has been crazy at the minute and I really haven't had much time to write. But it's here now and I hope you enjoy it. Just to let you know there is some stuff in this chapter that people may find uncomfortable, but it's really not that bad.
I really hope you guys like this chapter and as always review and let me know :)
Disclaimer: don't own the walking dead unfortunately
Carol kept glancing over at Rick. She couldn't understand why, but the ex-sheriff seemed very tense at the moment. They had been driving for around half an hour now and he had still yet to break breath to her. Carol just sighed and rested her forehead against the glass to enable her to look out the window as the world she used to know passed before her eyes. The trees rolled past them at an astonishing rate, never ending rows after row of forest trees. Every now and then a lone walker could be seen, but other than that, there was no sign of life (not that walkers were alive).
An hour had passed and Rick still wasn't talking to her, and his body remained rigid, however the odd time she seen him glance at her as if she was a piece of meat. Carol turned to him and was about to speak, to ask him about it, when the car lurched to a stop. Rick looked as though he had just been slapped with a wet fish, gawking out of the car window. Carol tentatively looked to her side to see what he was staring at, and she swore her heart stopped beating in her chest. Either that or her lungs had just exploded. Carols blood ran cold as she stared at the herd of easily over a thousand walkers. A strangled cry left her mouth and she covered her mouth with her hand, hoping to mute the sound. But it was too late. A group of ten walkers turned and started to shuffle over towards the car. Their movement caught the attention of others, until slowly the whole herd was moving toward them. Rick turned to Carol and spoke quickly.
"Get out of the car, run through the gaps. Don't stop. Go!" As soon as he finished his instructions Rick hopped out of the car and ran to the side. Carol pulled her senses together and bolted out of the car. The herd was close now and she didn't hesitate to sprint off in the same direction Rick had. She had reached the tree line when she had to stab the first walker. Once it was disposed of she continued to run, another one made a sweep for her but she dodged it and didnt even stop to kill it. She just kept running.
Carol hadn't stopped once. She had been running now for a good half hour, constantly scanning for Rick, but to no success. A sickening pit began to form inside of her as the image of Rick getting eaten alive, calling out her name, while she was running away to safety, completely oblivious to his slow and agonising death. She suddenly heard a branch snap and she instantly froze. Carol could have sworn that came from... She turned her head and looked up to the tree she was standing under. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she saw Rick sitting up in the tree, looking like a cat who just got threw into a bucket of water.
"Carol!" Rick sounded utterly delighted to see her. "Come on, I'll give u a hand up." Carol watched as Rick awkwardly climbed lower down the tree before laying down precariously on one of the branches before hanging his arm down for her to grab onto, signalling for her to take it. She didn't hesitate in grasping a firm hold on his forearm, and letting him haul her up. The pair sat on that branch for awhile, catching their breaths. Carol watched as Ricks eyelids became heavy and started to droop down, the recent events taking its toll on his body. Eventually Carol felt rested enough and began to scale higher up the tree, lightly kicking Rick's foot to wake him up. Rick moaned sleepily in protest before, very slowly, following behind her. Around half way up the tree Carol had found a branch which was wide enough for her to lie on, without feeling the need to constantly rebalance herself. The branch down below her seemed to catch Ricks eye, either that or he just gave up, because he plopped himself down on it and rested his back against the tree itself and just watched Carol with an odd glint in his eyes.
"Tired huh?" Carol was trying to make a joke of the situation, wanting to keep a light-hearted feel, and hoping to distract Rich from looking at her like that. Unfortunately Rick didn't feel the same way. "There, was just... So many... I've never seen that many walkers..." Rick takes a very loud and audible gulp before completing his sentence, as though the few words needed a lot of energy to form. "..in one place. Ever. I-I-thought you died." Carol doesn't know how to respond to that sentence, so she just hummed in a sad and silent agreement. For the next hour they sit in silence, watching as the odd walker roams underneath them, pauses under the tree, before slowly moving to continue on its mindless quest to find food. A sudden thought hits Carol.
"Rick, how are we going to survive? I don't have my bag and you don't have yours. Daryl's not here to hunt, plus we can't exactly start a fire." Rick flinches as though the words physically hurt him, when in reality it's more likely to be from the shock that they will most likely be going the next day or two without a meal, and he hadn't even thought about it. Of course this is the point which Carol's stomach chooses to growl loudly at her, telling her the information she already knows.
"I'm not going to lie Carol," An odd huffing noise comes out of Rick, a mix between a laugh and sigh, "I didn't even consider that." Now it's Carols turn to make the strange noise. She stands up on her branch and stretches her head around at all angles, searching for any kind of town or village that they could hold up in. Just as she's about to give up, heaven appears before her eyes. Situated to the left of her, was a small town. Not much, but certainly a better choice than staying in a tree, at least if they took their chances in the town they could scavenge for some food. Carol turns to look down at Rick, smiling like a maniac at him. She notices that he was already looking at her, however his line of vision was directed much lower than the area of her face, which is a fact she attempts to ignore.
"I've found sight of a small town, not far from here. We should be able to clear one of the houses out, scavenge for something to eat." Carol watches as his face lights up with the prospect of food, and a temporary house. He's suddenly up on his feet, slowly descending down the tree, but not before calling over his shoulder to her. "Come on then. What are we waiting for?" Carol just gives a half hearted laugh before following behind the excited man.
The pair had been walking together for a while now, killing a few straggling walkers as they went. Rick had been humming some tunes to himself and Carol couldn't help but smile and keep glancing at Rick affectionately, almost like a sister would. The odd time Rick caught her glancing at him and she would look away, not wanting to seem odd for staring at the man, but when she turned away he would give off a subtle laugh and smirk to himself. After another half an hour of walking they finally reached the edge of the town, where they proceeded to clear out one of the houses and grab a couple of cans of food.
Carol and Rick sat around the small fire which they had started in the fireplace. She had noticed that throughout the day Rick had been discreetly checking her out. Normally she wouldn't mind, as she caught him frequently looking at her around the prison, even after Daryl and she officially became an item. However it started to make her blood turn cold today, because she was alone with him now, no one to hear her or witness what happens. 'No. This is Rick, he wouldn't hurt me. Right?' She nervously glanced over at him from the corner of her eye, hoping he wouldn't notice, but he did. And he smirked devilishly at the fire before gradually turning to look at her, face on.
"So Carol..." The way he purred her name slightly made Carols stomach tie into violent knots. "How's Daryl?" The way he venomously spat Daryl's name made her turn cold to the core, and she shivered slightly. However she learnt the hard way that that was the wrong move, as in one swift movement Rick had Carol pinned on the floor beneath him. With his hands pinning her arms above her head, one leg between her thighs, the other on the outside of her hip.
"Rick. What are you doing?" Carol internally punched herself for sounding so weak and pathetic in this situation, but she couldn't help it. The thought of everything Rick, a man who has had no 'action' in over a year, could do to her, made Carol feel sick. Slowly he leaned his face in close to hers, and she felt the grip on her arms shift. He was now holding her with his forearm pressed firmly over her two wrists, whilst the other hand ran over her waist with a feather like touch. She shivered with fear, which Rick most have processed as pleasure, because his mouth was suddenly forced against hers, with his tongue thrusting itself into her mouth. This is when Carol broke down. She screamed into his mouth as his tongue explored hers. His hands continued to tickle over her sides. Then he was suddenly nearing the top of her jeans... Carol thrust her knees upwards and they caught Rick in between the legs. He roared out in pain as he let go of her.
"Fuck Carol!" Carol was quick, not wanting to miss her opportunity to get away. Whilst he had fallen off her she jumped to her feet and kicked him as hard as she could in the stomach, winding his ass to hell. Rick curled into a ball now. His arms crossed protectively over his stomach, and by the looks of things, he was in a lot of pain.
"What the FUCK Rick!" Carol could feel tears stinging in the backs of her eyes, but she furiously blinked them away. 'How could he do that?' She could practically hear her blood pumping around her body from the adrenaline. Carol glared at him, waiting for him to be able to breathe again, and when he had, she continued to glare at him, very impatiently waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry Carol. It's just- been so long. And with, the way you were- looking at me earlier..." Carol sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. Her small hands balling into fists in sheer rage. "...I thought that's, what you wanted" She was fuming now. How could think this is what she wanted, she had Daryl! She finally had the man she loved, and now Rick was trying to blame her for him throwing himself at her. It was completely, illogical! Taking a deep, calming breath Carol finally replied.
"Rick, I have Daryl. You're a lovely man, but I. Love. Daryl. End of story." Carol thought she saw a faint flash of anger in Rick's eyes, but other than that he remained completely impassive. However she could have sworn he just smirked...
"That's perfectly alright Carol," Ricks eyes looked wild and the way the lob sided grin was sloppily plastered over his face told her that it wasn't, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, and never come back." Carols whole world started to spin. Never come back. Never see Daryl again.
"Why the hell would I do that?" She felt sick, not sure if she could tell what was left and what was right in this moment in time. How could she not come back? What would Daryl do? Surely he would know she wouldn't just leave. Right?
"Well, it's such a shame that the herd of walkers got Carol, and how we'll have nothing left to bury. Just another empty hole dedicated to you." Ricks eyes were wild and deranged, completely crazy from the fact she had rejected him. This is when she started to cry, how could he do this to her? "If you come back, I'll tell everyone how you threw yourself at me." This just made Carol cry harder, because she knew it was true, she knew she would never see Daryl again. "I'm sorry but it has to be this way. Can't have you telling anyone what happened now could I?" Carol didn't even give him a response, just continued to cry as she fled the house into the open street. Never see Daryl again? I just got him, now I'm going to lose him.
"Carol, come back here." She could hear Rick hissing at her, trying to be quiet as to not attract any walkers, but loud enough for her to hear. "And why should I Rick?" Carol hiccuped at the end of the sentence, a result from all her crying. "Come back here, I'll at least give you some food and a car." Ha! What a proper gentleman, she thought sarcastically to herself. "Okey dokey sheriff" Carol started to skip merrily back to the house, completely uncaring if a walker just came out and bit her right now. When she reached the house Rick pulled her in and closed the door, before quickly rushing out and around the house on the hunt for a bag.
He came back 5 minutes later with a campers back-pack, four cans of food, a torch, and a pair of keys. "The keys will be easier to use than trying to hot-wire one of the cars." Carol just numbly nodded her head before grabbing the keys and stuffing everything into her bag before slinging it over her shoulder. She walked out of the door and closed it behind her. Not wanting to see Rick ever again. Carol pressed the button on the keys and watched as the lights on a small Clio flashed, she hopped into the drivers seat and threw the bag on the passenger seat. Shoving the keys into the ignition and turning them she listened as the car turned over once, twice, then the engine roared to life. With no hesitation she drove out of the small town.
After an hour of a numb mind and endless driving a thought hit Carol. What's stopping me going to the prison now, before Rick? How could she have been so stupid? Suddenly more awake and alive inside Carol turned in the direction of the town the prison was set in. She couldn't have been happier. I'm going to see Daryl again, and when he hears what Rick did, he might just get a trophy for his wall after all.
A/N: Sooooo? What did you think? This is me incorporating Rick kicking Carol out of the prison for killing Karen and all, only I made mine so much more exciting :p
I will try to make updates happen every Monday but I really can't make any promises because school and all :)
oh yes I've been reading lots Star Trek fanfictions, and I love Spock, so if you noticed my little Spock word in there 'illogical' then I love you forever 3 I also want to say that is you like Star Trek fanfictions with Spock/Kirk shipping then you should check out SapSarrow because her stories are really good :)
reviews make my day as I'm sure they do for any fanfiction writer, so please let me know what you thought of this chapter :) x
