AN:Thanks to everyone for your awesome reviews. You rock. So, things are about to get very interesting for our favorite couple. Please read on and enjoy.
They walked through the woods for hours, not really speaking but comfortable in the silence. There was surprisingly little movement around them. They had only managed to come across half a dozen squirrels and one pitifully small rabbit. The kills were all stored in the bag that Carol had insisted on carrying. Daryl had fought her at first, but had given up when she snatched it from his hands and slung the strap across her chest, a triumphant look on her face. They also had not come across more than a few biters, the slow, groaning monsters scattered throughout the trees. Daryl had taken them out with no problem and they hadn't seen another one in over an hour. He was just about to suggest they head back when they stumbled onto the pond. He had seen it before, but had never really paid it much mind. There were no fish in it and to him it served no real purpose. But Carol's eyes lit up when she saw the pool of clear, still water, surrounded by grass and wildflowers. She stopped walking and Daryl turned around to come and stand beside her. "Why'd you stop?"
She smiled up at him, already pulling the strap of the bag over her head. "I want to go swimming."
He raised an eyebrow as he watched her begin to kick off her boots. "You ain't wasting no time, are you?" he said in amusement as he watched her clothes drop in a pile next to her boots. She finally unclasped her bra and dropped it with the rest of her things before diving gracefully into the water. When her head popped back up, she was smiling brighter than he had ever seen before.
"Come on Daryl, the water is so nice. It's not even that cold." she said, trying to convince him to join her.
He smiled as he crossed his arms and leaned his back against a tree near the bank. "You go right ahead and enjoy your swim. I'm just fine where I'm at."
She laughed and splashed a little water at him. "Come on, please? What's the matter, don't you know how to swim?" she asked teasingly.
"Of course I know how to. Don't mean I like it."
She swam a little closer to the bank, looking up at him with curiosity. "Why don't you like swimming?"
"When I was a kid, about six or so, Me and Merle were out in the woods one day, just messin around, when we came across this big creek. It looked deep as hell, and I didn't really want to go swimming but Merle started calling me a pussy. I wasn't about to take that shit, so I stripped down to my shorts and jumped right in. My feet never even touched the bottom it was so deep. But I was a pretty strong swimmer, so I didn't really mind. I stayed in the water for awhile, trying to get Merle to come in with me. But he wouldn't do it. Just stood there on the bank with this stupid smirk on his face, watchin' me. So, after a little longer, I finally got out of the water. Merle just started laughing. I thought he'd gone crazy from the way he was cracking up, until I looked down and saw that I had leeches all over me. Turned out, the asshole knew the water was full of the damn things and he didn't tell me. Least he helped me pick the fuckers off. But I ain't really liked water ever since."
"Daryl, Merle was a jerk. But that isn't any reason for you to be scared of water. There isn't anything in here. I don't even think there's any fish. Will you please come in, for me?"
He was about to tell her he wasn't scared of no fucking water, but he bit his tongue. She was looking up at him, her big blue eyes wide with expectation. "Alright." he said begrudgingly, quickly shedding his clothes and stepping cautiously into the water. She hadn't been lying, it wasn't very cold. He stepped out a bit further, feeling his foot go out from under him as he hit a drop off in the water and suddenly found himself submerged. When he came back to the surface, coughing and sputtering from the water he had swallowed, he was surprised to hear Carol laughing. She swam over to him, looking a little concerned, but mostly amused. "Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked, barely holding in her chuckle.
He glared at her for a second, but the look only made her laugh more. "It ain't fuckin funny woman." he said, trying to sound pissed. She just smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her lips to his for a moment, before breaking free and swimming further into the water. She grinned as she spoke.
"I'm sorry Daryl, but that was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time."
He wasn't really mad at her, it probably had been pretty funny from her point of view. But she was openly teasing him now, and no one got away with that, not even her. He took a deep breath and dunked himself under the water, kicking hard as he swam towards her until he could see her legs. He reached out and grabbed her by the ankles, pulling her under for a second before releasing her and coming to the surface himself. She was the one spitting up water now, and it took everything he had not to laugh. But he didn't. Just waited for her to open her eyes and look at him. When she did, she had a strange fire in her eyes that he had never seen before. He was about to say something when her hand shot up out of the water and splashed a huge wave at him. It was on now. They battled in the water, splashing and dunking each other, Daryl even picking her up and throwing her across the pond at one point. But he could see that she was getting tired and he finally surrendered, swimming over to her and wrapping an arm around her waist as they both treaded water. "I'm sorry I pulled you under."
She leaned her head on his shoulder and spoke softly. "I'm sorry I laughed at you when you went under. We even now?"
He kissed her gently on the top of her head. "Yeah, I think we're even. We should probably be heading back now. We need to get our kills back to Beth so she can get them cookin'."
She didn't argue. Daryl climbed out of the water first, reaching back and pulling her up onto the bank behind him. They let the sun dry them for a few minutes before they started to dress. Daryl had his clothes back on in a flash, and watched as Carol pulled on hers. She had just slipped her boots on when she suddenly looked up at him. "Daryl, I'll be right back. I kind of have to take care of something."
He chuckled as he watched her standing there, shifting her weight from leg to leg. "Go on, you ain't got to be so shy about it. Go pee, but hurry up. We really need to be heading back before we lose the light."
She nodded and dashed off into the cover of the trees. He got caught up in his thoughts for a second. She seemed so good today. After the headache she'd had this morning, she had seemed to brighten up. If he didn't know better, he wouldn't have seen anything wrong with her, aside from the fading bruises. A thought entered his brain, and for a split second he wanted to believe that she was wrong. That she wasn't really sick. But he trusted her judgment, and he knew that if she said she was sick then she truly believed that she was. Still, he wanted to hold on to that little thread of hope. He tucked the thought away, into the back of his mind. He glanced at the trees, wondering what was taking her so long. He was just about to call her name when he suddenly heard the sound of a terrified scream. Her scream. He grabbed his bow and raced towards the spot that the sound had come from. He could see her standing there, her small knife clutched in her outstretched hand. He looked up to see that the source of her fear was staring at him, his mouth open as he slowly raised his hands, dropping the baseball bat he carried to the ground. The young man looked terrified as he spoke.
"Please sir, don't shoot me with that thing. I didn't mean to do it, I swear to god I thought she was a geek when I hit her. I'm sorry. Please don't kill me?" he begged.
Daryl never took his aim off of the stranger before him. He glanced at Carol quickly and saw that she had a small trickle of blood running down the side of the face. "Carol, what the fuck happened here?"
"I was standing here and I didn't hear him come up behind me. I'm okay though. He only clipped me with the end of the bat."
Daryl was fuming as he looked down at the man who was now on his knees. "Who the hell are you?"
The man didn't look up but answered. "My name is Eric King. I was traveling with a small group of survivors, but our camp got overrun 5 days ago. My wife was killed. Everyone was killed. I've been running ever since. Ran out of food and ammo. That bat was all I had left. I'm so sorry I hit her. I didn't know. Please? What are you going to do to me?"
Daryl looked at Carol, she had lowered her knife but was still clutching it tightly. "Carol, what do you think we should do with him? Kill him now or take him back to Rick?"
Carol thought about it for a second, and Daryl could see the conflict written on her face. She finally spoke, leaning towards him and whispering. "We need to take him with us. I don't know why but I believe him. I think his group is gone. We need to at least ask Rick what he thinks."
Daryl nodded. He stepped behind Eric and pointed his bow at his back. "Stand up man, it's your lucky day. My woman decided you get to live for now. Don't say a word and stay three steps in front of us. You try anything , and you'll have an arrow through your heart before you can even turn around. You understand?"
Eric nodded and did as he was told, standing up and walking in the direction he was pointed in. He looked up at Carol as he passed by her, his expression grateful. They stopped for a moment, collecting their bag of game and gear from the back of the water before beginning the walk back to the prison.
The stranger had not spoken a single word by the time they approached the prison gates, just as the sun began to set. Daryl whistled a signal to Glenn and the gate was pulled open for them to enter. Glenn was alarmed by the presence of the silent man and pulled Carol aside, leaving Daryl to guard their new friend. "Carol, who is he? And what happened to your head? Are you okay?" Glenn asked quietly.
"We came across him out in the woods. He said his group was killed almost a week ago and he's just been running. He clipped me with a baseball bat. Thought I was a walker. I'm fine though, it looks worse than it is."
"Why did you bring him back here?"
Carol wasn't really sure what had motivated her to decide to spare him. She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I don't really know. He just doesn't seem dangerous. As soon as he realized I wasn't a walker, he dropped his bat and started backing off. If he had really wanted to hurt me he could have. I just thought we could give him a chance. He said he lost his wife. I felt bad for him."
Glenn sighed. "Just don't be surprised if Rick sends him right back out there. You know how he feels about strangers."
Daryl had been listening to them and spoke up. "Don't even know if we're letting him stay yet. Locking him up as soon as we get inside. We'll let Rick decide."
Glenn accepted the answer and wished them luck as he made his way back up into the guard tower. Daryl told Eric to move and the three of them made their way into the prison, finding the common room empty. Daryl shoved Eric into the small holding cell and locked the door. The young man still didn't speak, just looked at them, his expression scared as he sat down on the bench. Daryl told him to stay put, and he and Carol made their way down to the cell block in search of the rest of the group. When they entered, they found Rick, Michonne and Hershel sitting at the small table, playing cards. Rick looked up when they entered, and from the look that came onto his face, Carol knew he was looking at her head. She gave a small smile as she saw him jump up from his chair. "I'm fine Rick, I just hit my head. It's nothing."
Rick stopped short, but his expression didn't change. She saw his eyes scan her and when she looked down she realized why. Her sweater was still in the bag she had slung over her shoulder, her arms were bare and every single bruise that marred her pale skin was visible. She looked at Daryl, and when he saw the fear on her face, he suddenly realized the same thing. They both looked at Rick, who was now blatantly staring at her. He took a few steps forward, and reached out to lightly brush her arm. Carol was expecting him to say something to her, but was surprised when his eyes suddenly turned dark, and his gaze moved from her to Daryl.
After what felt like an eternity, Rick finally spoke, glaring at Daryl as he did. "Daryl, what the hell did you do to her?"
So, a bit of a cliffhanger, but I should have the next chapter up by tomorrow. Thanks for reading and please review.