A/N: Another boring, setting stuff up kinda chapter. But you know, Daryl just can't be better straight away, right? :D Enjoy

7.

Hershel had taken Carol aside before she left and told her he'd given Daryl something to keep him sleeping while they travelled.

He knew they'd be nervous and between a reluctant Carl and Judith being taken away, nerves would be frayed. The last thing they'd need would be Daryl waking up and panicking about where he was and what was happening.

Carol paid little attention to Daryl because of this. Carl kept glancing back at him every now and then, making sure he was comfortable. And Judith was snuggled soundly in her brothers arms.

Carol checked quickly that the bus was following behind her okay and continued ahead at a reasonable pace.

"Are you going to be okay driving?" Carl asked her.

"I love driving. I've missed it. Since this whole thing started I don't think I've been behind the wheel once. It's refreshing."

"Except we're running."

"We're not running. We're protecting. When we were at the farm, I couldn't protect my daughter and I couldn't protect myself. At that cost me Sophia's life. It almost cost Daryl his looking for her. So anything I can do to help protect him when he can't do it himself... I have to do it. I owe it to him."

Carl was quiet as he shifted his baby sister around in his arms. "When you were missing, he asked what I wanted to call her," Carl said, still looking down to Judith. "I thought about Sophia. I always wanted Mom to name her Sophia if she had a girl. But then... there was Mom and Andrea and you. I didn't know how I could pick. It'd just make everyone sad if I picked one of those names."

"You're very sweet, you know that?" Carol said, smiling briefly at the boy.

Carl looked up at her, the hat making him have to tilt his head so he could see her. She saw him wrinkle his nose at the compliment and he frowned. "Who need to be sweet to survive?"

"No one needs to be sweet, but there's still room for it. Look at Beth. She's as sweet as anything. Her Daddy too. In fact, I think that whole family got an overdose of kindness. All that they've done for us."

Carl didn't say anything to that and silence fell upon them again. Carol was thinking back to the days on the farm, how idyllic that setting had been to them all. Never to her. She'd lost her daughter there. It was nothing but a bad memory to her.

When Carl spoke, it took her by surprise, she'd been so lost in thought.

"He really was sad when you went missing," Carl said. He was sat with his head down, not looking at Judith, just staring at some spot on the floor of the car and Carol risked a quick glance round to Daryl, like he might just wake because he knew they were talking about him.

"I was pretty sure that I was done for. I didn't even know if anyone had survived at all. When no one came for me, I thought that was it. I thought we were all done. And if we were, I had no desire to ever leave that cell."

"He thought... he thought you were a walker. Trapped in that cell. When we were clearing the place out, and everything was checked except that last cell. So he knew you had to be in it."

Carol smiled sadly. She hated that she'd caused her friends more grief than they were already going through. Daryl especially didn't need more grief in his life. She was pretty sure he'd had enough to last him. The group was all he had now. She pushed the thought away. "I guess Daryl's kinda sweet too, huh?" Carol said, smirking at Carl.

A smile twitched at his lips and he shook his head. "He'd hate it if he knew you said that."

"You gonna tell him?"

Carl shook his head. "He won't hear it from me."

"Is she okay?" Carol asked, nodding down to the baby.

"I think so. But she'll need feeding in an hour or so."

"We can always stop. let everyone stretch their legs. I'd like Tyresse to check over the maps to see where exactly we're heading. And we could all use a bite to eat, a quick drink."

Carl nodded. "Does Daryl have any medicine to take?"

Carol shook her head. "I'll just check his bandages when we stop for the night. Make sure they look okay. I don't want to change them unless we're out of the car. But, if we can't find a good enough place to stop, I'll do what I have too. If he has a lot of pain when he wakes, I've got some strong pills, but he's not keen to take them from what Hershel told me. Antibiotics are a different matter. he has to take those. especially if he tries to get up and about before he should. Which you know he will." She smiled at the very thought of Daryl kicking off about the whole situation.

"Could you pass me some water?" Carol asked, indicating to a bag by Carl's feet.

He quickly fished out a bottle and passed it to Carol. She took several sips before handing him back the bottle.

It slipped from Carol's grip, through her fingers at the same time the windscreen was pierced with a bullet. Carol let out a wail of surprise as she struggled to control the car, it stopping with a jolt when it hit an old road sign, taking the sign down completely as the car rested half way down a grass verge.

Carl felt the water from the bottle trickle onto his leg, as Judith started to cry.

A/N: Oh yeah, my first note was a little lie. Mwahahaha! Fear me! ;)