4 Months Later
Daryl looked at the group sitting around him. They had been on a long run and everyone was dirty and tired, but in good spirits after finding a garden full of fresh vegetables someone had managed to grow. They were sitting around a small fire in the middle of a warehouse, feasting on the first fresh food they had in the two weeks they had been on the road. They were smiling and laughing as they told humorous stories of their lives before the turn.
There was six of them, usually there would be eight, but Shiloh and Hank had stayed back to help with repairs around the compound. A run crew had returned with an abundance of building material and Rick had decided it would be smartest to start the repairs immediately, pulling people from the three run groups to help the construction crew to make it quick. Without them the group consisted of Renee, who was Shiloh's girlfriend and had initially started going on the runs to stay close to the young man, but Daryl had quickly learned she was smart and quick on her feet, a good addition to the group. Kristen on the other hand had set her eyes on Daryl from the first day at the compound. She was always bringing him food, water and checking on him constantly. At the beginning he had been annoyed and angry at her. The more she persisted and the more time he spent with her, she started to grow on him and he didn't mind the attention. She was pretty enough and the one time she had caught him by surprise and kissed him, hadn't been as horrible as he would have thought. Now she sat leaning against him with her hand on his leg and he was allowing it. He was still confused with his feelings. Even though, much like Renee she started the runs to be near a man she had become an integral part of the group with her uncanny ability with strategizing. Glenn and Maggie were much like Daryl and preferred runs over staying in the crowded compound for extended periods.
Everyone tensed as a body walked out of the shadows, but immediately relaxed when they saw it was Jace. Jace was the most recent addition to their little club. He was young, but he was the largest of the group. His strength was impressive and he came in handy with heavy objects. He wasn't much for conversation, but in Daryl's mind that wasn't a bad quality. The group had become close after many close calls. Daryl trusted them with his life and he would give his for them.
Daryl was awoken from a dead sleep by a shrill whistle, signaling possible danger. The whole group was on their feet almost immediately. Renee came quietly around the corner motioning the group to be silent, "A group just made it in the door. I saw three."
They were in an old warehouse that had made car parts at one point. They would use the machinery for protection and defense. After a series of hand gestures they were all in a defensive stance, knowing they had the upper hand. Listening to the other group Daryl was surprised at how quiet they were. He was almost impressed.
After a few more minutes Daryl saw the beams of 3 flashlights swinging about. Soon the beams stilled and Daryl heard a male voice say calmly, "We aren't alone." There was a bit of commotion before Daryl heard the tell-tale sound of a gun being cocked. "How many do you see?"
At the question Daryl unconsciously tried to make himself smaller. "I see four from here." Daryl jumped slightly as a voice came from somewhere above them. Some had made it up onto the catwalk above them. Knowing they had lost the upper hand Daryl started to reassess the situation.
"How hard are you going to make this?" the voice asked casually.
Daryl heard the unspoken threat in the man's voice and knew there was only one course of action. Letting out a quiet whistle he got the attention of Jace and Renee, who were hidden in the dark nearby. Just barely able to make out their faces he gave a nod to the door between them. The door led to a small office and Kristen and Renee had come up with the idea of trapping some walkers that had been wandering around the building. The idea was to release them as an element of surprise for any threat they might face. Daryl had hated the idea but had been out voted. They had taken hours to wrangle a dozen walkers into the room. They had placed a desk in front of the door outside the office for added insurance.
With another nod Renee and Jace moved the desk quickly and quietly and opened the door. The group moved to quickly behind shelves and machinery they had placed strategically to protect themselves from the walkers. Almost immediately the walkers burst forward. The sounds of their growls and snapping teeth filling the silence.
The sounds of the walkers were soon joined by the sounds of struggling. There was three shots before Daryl heard the clicking of an empty chamber. Seconds later the room was filled with screams as the other group was overrun. He winced when he heard the screams of a woman. When the sounds of the attack died down and only the sound of the walkers remained, he gave a shrill whistle getting the attention of the others. He motioned for them to move forward. At some point the sun had begun to shine through the sparse windows in the building allowing the group to see the carnage in front of them. There was still walkers feeding the grotesque squelch of skin being torn away from bone filling the air.
Daryl jumped at the sound of gunfire in the air. In quick succession the remaining walkers were all put down. All of his people turned with weapons raised, but were brought up short by the sight of Kristen standing with a bloody knife at her throat. Nobody made any moves. Daryl couldn't help but feel a familiarity at the figure holding Kristen. Their face was hidden by a hood and the shadows of the room. The gray hoodie was saturated with what looked to be walker blood. Daryl knew that stance though.
The tense standoff was broken by a brittle voice "Liam?" The mysterious new comers head immediately snapped to the source. Daryl heard the gasps from Glenn and Maggie as Carol pulled off her hood and rushed to the side of a fallen woman. Carol kneeled next to Robin, taking hold of her hand. Meeting her eyes Robin whispered "Liam?"
Carol looked past Robins shoulder. She could see the small lifeless body laying only feet away. Squeezing Robins hand and plastering on her best smile "He's safe," Carol said, voice breaking with emotion. Robin smiled serenely and slowly faded away.
Daryl watches as Carol brushed the woman's hair once and then put her knife efficiently through her temple. Then she stood quickly and turned cold eyes on the group. Yanking her hooding off and revealing a shirt that was only slightly less disgusting as the one she removed, she wiped off her knife. "Since when do you just kill people," Carol asked still eyeing the group.
"Do you know this woman?" Jace asked incredulously, picking up on the others reaction to the woman.
Silencing Jace with a race hand Carol continued "You killed innocent people," she said gesturing to the woman and the boy.
"Hey!" Kristen spoke now, "We assessed the situation and did what we needed to do."
Carol snorted "You didn't assess anything. If you had you would have known there was a child and…" Carols voice broke and she looked away.
Jace spoke again, defending, "It's not our fault your group was stupid enough to bring a kid in here," he was cut off by an angry glare.
Carol took a step toward the man "He was taken with his mom from out camp two day ago," pausing and gesturing angrily toward the random male bodies on the ground. "Those pricks took them. They killed Debra and took them. I was gathering wood and took off after them when I realized what happened. I was so close," she concluded in a whisper, her shoulder slumping.
"Carol," Maggie said approaching her slowly. Carol took a step back. Maggie paused, "You know there was no way we could have known that was going on. We defended ourselves, that's what we do now," Maggie said softly. As she took another step wanting to comfort the other woman Carol stepped back again, shaking her head, "Not yet." She said simply. Maggie gave a nod and stayed where she was.
Carol stood taking in the group, ignoring the ones she didn't know. They all looked older and more tired, but clean and healthy. She was actually glad about that. Gesturing vaguely toward the strangers "How did this happen?"
While she listened to Glenn and Maggie recount the story Carol could feel Daryl staring at her. She was not letting herself look in his direction, not knowing how she would react upon seeing his face. She had so many conflicting feelings rushing around in her brain she almost couldn't handle it. She was happy to see the familiar faces, but heartbroken over the loss of Robin and Liam. Carols mind wandered to the night before they were taken when Liam had spoken for the first time since she had met him. He had told her how he was happy they had found her.
Becoming aware of the silence she snapped back to the present. The others were giving her mixed expressions, some were sympathetic others were untrusting. Suddenly feeling very weary she asked randomly "Do you have any water?" Maggie was the closest and immediately handed over her canteen. Even though the wanted to guzzle the whole thing she controlled herself and only took a large drink. The water only seemed to make her thirstier. She simply ignored it.
"Can we move away from here please?" Renee asked into the silence. Everyone agreed and moved to the other side of the building, but not before Carol moved to Liam's body and cover his face with her discarded shirt. Having nothing else to do it with.
Carol noticed that she was being kept in the middle of the group, she didn't blame them she wasn't feeling her most mentally stable at the moment. She was trying her best to ignore the serious side eye she was receiving from the strangers in the group. When they were away from the carnage of before Carol sat on the floor against the wall with her head back. "I don't know your plans are, but you should plan on staying here for another day at least. There's a herd nearby. It's not huge but it would be best to just let them pass," her last words were slurred as she slowly slipped into sleep.
Daryl almost couldn't believe that Carol was actually in front of him again. He hadn't been able to looking at her since he realized it was her. She was thinner than he had ever seen her. She was so filthy he couldn't really make out the features of her face. There was a new stillness to her that he could see even as she slept. As if she had read his mind her eyes opened and he was staring into her startlingly blue eyes. She didn't make any movements, simply stared until her eyes closed again. Looking over her again he noticed her knife still clutched in her hands. This wasn't the woman he knew before.
Seeing the others huddled in a group talking quietly he moved toward them. "She doesn't seem stable," Kristen was saying as he approached. When she saw him she changed her tone, "Are you okay?" she asked her voice full of sympathy. Daryl ignored her.
Annoyed now Kristen continued her rant, "In case you forgot she held a knife to my throat and you haven't even bothered taking her weapons."
Before she could say anymore Maggie spoke up, "If she wanted you dead, you would be dead. You can trust her," she explained, even if wasn't completely sure. Looking at the sleeping woman, she could only imagine what she had been through.
"OK. We have more pressing matters here. You heard Carol, there's a herd, we need to figure out what we're going to do," Glenn spoke, always the voice of reason. "Someone needs to go outside check it out and we need to check supplies and regroup."
After assigning duties they split up. After a quick check outside, they knew they would be staying a little longer. They were good on supplies, though they would have to be easy on the water. It was a couple of hours later when they settled down around a small fire. There was two different conversations happening simultaneously as they discussed strategy. Daryl kept throwing glances in Carol's direction. She was still and silent, sleeping against the wall.
There was a lull in conversation with everyone lost in their own thoughts when Carol yelled out and jerked awake, her grip tightening on her knife. Almost instantly her grip loosened and she looked around getting her bearings. "Why is no one watching the door?"
"We're secure," Daryl said gruffly.
Carol actually snorted loudly, her voice dripping with sarcasm she replied, "Like you were secure earlier."
Daryl met her eyes evenly, "We're still alive."
Carol rose to her feet quickly, using the wall to steady herself when her head started spinning. When it stopped she wordlessly walked away. The group sat awkwardly until they heard the door open. Everyone looked to Daryl for direction. "She made her choice," he said, even though he wanted nothing more than to run after her and drag her back and never let her out of his sight.
