Chapter 22

"Look, I wasn't sure 'bout it at first, either, but Carol's right. You gotta admit it's a good idea. We get behind walls, we're gonna have a chance to re-build, maybe even plant crops." Daryl and Rick walked the banks of the river they were currently camped next to. After a couple of weeks of driving around, parking along highways to camp, they'd settled by the river to have at least one natural wall of defense for a few days.

"It's a good plan," Rick said with a nod. "Carol's smart. But I gotta tell ya, Shane ain't gonna go along with it, and he's got Andrea on his side."

"Why the hell's it matter? He wants to stay on the road. What's he runnin' from?" Daryl muttered, kicking a clump of dirt and watching dust fly everywhere before settling along the damp grass.

"Shane's never been one to stay in one spot."

"Good for him. But I got a family to look after," Daryl said pointedly. "I mean…we lost Sophia once. We get behind walls, we can stay put."

"You think I haven't thought of that?" Rick balked. "I got my own kids to worry 'bout, but we gotta be on the same page. We gotta stick together, or we're all gonna fall apart." Daryl sighed heavily, his knuckles white around his rifle as they walked.

"Say we just go and take a look? See if there's a place we can get into. If we gotta go in shootin', so be it. We clear it out, we patch up walls, and we see if we can make a go of it."

"It's a good plan. A great plan. We just gotta get everybody on board."

"Everybody's on board with livin' ain't they?" Daryl asked. "You gotta talk to Shane. He ain't said but two things to me since we got here, so I ain't expectin' I'll change his mind. But you can." Daryl turned and headed back toward the camp. "Somebody's gotta take charge, and ya can't have two leaders pullin' the group apart."

Carol was doting on baby Judith as she sat by Rick's tent. Sophia had asked to watch her but had quickly grown bored and run off to help Carl and Maggie gather more wood. She was alright with it, though, because it had been a very long time since she'd had little one to hold and cuddle, and as she sat there rocking her back and forth and humming a lullaby, a shadow blocked her light, and she peered up to see Shane Walsh standing over her, his expression unreadable. She considered him for a moment. To Carol, Shane was wild, unpredictable. She had seen his short fuse temper a couple of times. He'd gotten after Carl for making too much noise when helping collect wood one day. He'd even gotten on Dale for dropping his binoculars on top of the RV during look out. Shane wasn't someone she particularly enjoyed crossing paths with.

"You're good with kids," he murmured. The way his gaze fell on Carol made her a little uncomfortable.

"I don't think I've held a baby since Sophia was this size," she said with a little shrug, kissing the top of Judith's fuzzy head. "You tryin' to be the den mother or somethin'?"

"I'm not trying to be anybody's mother except for Sophia's," Carol pointed out, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I see the way you dote over Judith and Carl, get Rick in your good graces, make him see your point of view." His voice was low, his eyes fixed on hers in a way that made her skin crawl. "He looks at you like the sun shines in your eyes, and you bat your eyes at him. Yeah, you women are all the same."

"I don't know who you think you're talking to, Shane, but I don't appreciate the tone." She stood up and cradled Judith close.

"Yeah. Wonder if Daryl sees the way you flirt with Rick?"

"Flirt?" Carol asked, her jaw set. His accusing tone had her on edge, and she knew Judith could sense her uneasiness in the way the baby began to fuss as she felt Carol's heart beating faster in her chest.

"Wonder if he knows? Yeah, maybe he does. Maybe he asked ya to do it to try and win over the boss. Get him on your side. Get him thinkin' that your ideas might be best for our group. Yeah, maybe that's it."

"Somethin' goin' on?" Daryl stepped out from seemingly out of nowhere, and Shane's gaze didn't leave Carol's. They were locked in on each other, and Daryl didn't quite like the vibe he was picking up on. "Carol?"

"It's fine," she said shortly. Daryl eyed Shane, and Shane drew his gaze up to Daryl's face.

"It's nothin' man. Just a bad judgment call is all." He smirked and walked off, leaving Daryl and Carol together with a fussy Judith.

"The hell was that about?"

"An ass being an ass," Carol muttered, the sting of Shane's words still tingling the red in her cheeks, as if Shane had slapped her hard across the face.

"What'd he say to you?" Daryl asked quietly, stepping toward her, as if creating an heir of privacy for just the two of them. She shook her head.

"It's nothing. I don't like that man."

"Carol? You need a break? I can take Judith for a little bit," Beth offered, peeking out from Dale's RV, where she'd been going over with Andrea exactly how to clean each type of gun.

"You sure? She's getting kind of fussy."

"Sure. I could use some baby time. It's a lot more fun than playing with guns," Beth said with an eye roll. Carol smiled a little and nodded. "Alright. She's due for another bottle soon. I already have one made up in the bag."

"Sure thing," Beth said with a grin, taking Judith in her arms and holding her close. She cooed down at the baby and gently caressed her tiny fingers. Carol gave Beth a knowing grin. Beth never passed on baby time, and as soon as that baby was in her arms, she was totally enamored. Daryl nodded toward the tent and walked off with Carol right behind him.

"What'd he say to you?" The words fell from his lips before they were even inside the tent. When he ducked in, she ducked in after.

"It's not important."

"You looked upset. It's important." His voice was low, his eyes were trained on hers, and he looked like he was ready to jump out of his own skin.

"Daryl…just…"

"Tell me."

"It's going to piss you off. But you have to promise me that you won't do anything about it." Daryl said nothing, and she took a deep breath. "Shane accused me of…flirting with Rick to somehow get on his side." She saw Daryl's fingers twitch as they curled up into a balled fist. "And he thinks it's your idea to get on Rick's good side. I don't know if he's jealous that you have Rick's ear, or if he's upset that we're new and we're sharing ideas, but he's not happy." Daryl stared at her, and he said nothing, so Carol gently reached out and brushed her fingertips over his hand. "Daryl?"

"He ever says that shit to you again, I'll…"

"Stop," Carol urged. "Just…stop. We have a good group here, and Shane's going to have to learn that he can't bully people around. I've seen the way some of them look at him. They're afraid, and they shouldn't be. Rick's a good man, and I don't want to make things difficult for him."

"I don't fuckin' care. He don't have a right to talk to you like that." Daryl huffed and started out of the tent, but Carol gripped his arm and tugged him back.

"Stop. It's what he wants. He wants us to make things difficult. He wants us to cause a scene, because it gives him something to show the rest of the group, to sway them. He wants control. That's obvious. We can't let him have that." Carol's words were soft and assuring, but all Daryl wanted to go do was rip the smug grin off of Shane's face.

"I ain't gonna let him talk to you like that. I catch him disrespectin' you like that, and I'll knock his teeth out." Carol brought her arms around his shoulders, and she held him until she felt him relax a little.

"You're a good man, Daryl. Don't let someone like Shane get to you. He's scared. He's grasping for power that he knows he doesn't have." She stroked the side of his face. "Now come on."
"Come on where?"

"I know a place," she said coyly, standing on her toes to kiss his lips gently. "It's a surprise."

"I gotta bring anything?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. Just yourself," she assured him. She took his hand in hers and led him out of the tent. "You need to cool off." She gave him a small smile before leading him out of the tent, only to have Sophia smack right into her. "Oh!"

"Hi Mom," Sophia giggled, her cheeks pink as she gasped for breath.

"Soph, you ok?" Daryl asked, nudging her in on the shoulder.

"Yeah. Just finished getting the firewood with Carl and Maggie. Mom? Carl and his dad are gonna go fishing. Can I go?"

"Will you stay with Rick and do what he says?"

"Yes," Sophia said impatiently, bouncing on her heels. Carol smiled and gave her daughter a quick hug.

"Go have fun."

"Thanks Mom!" Sophia exclaimed, already halfway across the lot.

"Where'd she get all that energy?" Daryl asked with a chuckle.

"Isn't it obvious? She's got a crush on Carl."

"What?"

"I'm afraid she'll be heartbroken though," Carol said with a wistful shake of the head.

"Why's that?"

"Carl only has eyes for Beth. Didn't you see him toss that frog at her the other day? It's totally love" she said with an eye roll a giggle, sliding her arms around his waist.

"Ah. Kids. Where are we goin'?"

"Mmm," she murmured, kissing him once more, "somewhere close but private, and if you're lucky…" She raised an eyebrow and squeezed his hand.

"Yeah?"

"I might just throw a couple frogs at you myself." Daryl snorted at that and pulled her into another kiss before eagerly following her out of the tent and off for a little privacy to get his mind off of power plays and petty jealousy.