Chapter 2: Expedition
The extra mattresses were stacked in a storage room and needed to be aired out anyway, before anyone could use them, so she enlisted some extra hands and dragged them out into the sunshine for the afternoon. No one seemed to notice that a few went astray on their way back into the building, nor that the returning pile wound up in a different place from where they'd started. Extra blankets were scarce, but she scavenged several, and a couple of extra pillows. Candles, one even made from real beeswax; some little herb sachets she'd sewn, a prized bottle of sweet almond oil Maggie had found in a health food store. A partial box of power bars (stale, but not too bad for a boost of energy.) Bottles of water, a cashmere scarf, a bag of scrap fabric from her mending. Some art supplies. Creativity of a different sort, here at the end of the world.
She slips Daryl a note with his dinner plate, squeezing his fingers lightly to draw his attention to it. There's no reason why she can't just take him aside and tell him what she has planned, but the idea of covert communication appeals to her. "Thursday, after dinner. Meet me in my cell, we're taking a special vacation." The next time she looks up, his eyes are hooded and smoky. He likes the idea, too.
Once she had everything in place, she could hardly stand to wait for the day to be over. She felt like she would burst from tension and impatience, but she still had a few routine things to take care of before their time away could begin. The night before, she had thought Daryl was about to volunteer to switch watch shifts, ruining all of her and Rick's careful plans, and her heart nearly stopped until she heard Rick himself step in smoothly, offering to swap instead. She pulled Daryl sharply aside and whispered to him, "What part of 'special vacation' did you not understand, Mr. 'I Notice Everything'? Just so you're clear; we both have tomorrow night off, together, and I've gone to quite a bit of effort to make sure we get that time to ourselves, without interruptions. If you volunteer for anything that interferes with that, I will stab you in the ass myself and shove you out the gates. Do not get in my way on this."
Daryl's look of shock was priceless, and as she turned on her heel to return to the kitchen, Carol wished, not for the first time, for a Polaroid camera to document it. His footsteps quickly caught up with her, and he leaned down, murmuring, "sorry. You gotta clue me in on things like this. You know I can be a dumbass."
She nodded, both agreeing and acknowledging her own frustration. "I'm sorry, too. I wanted to keep it completely a secret, so you'd be surprised, but there's no way to do that without - well, without what just almost happened. So now you know - no volunteering until we get back from vacation."
"Got it." He winked at her and said, "Y'know, I kinda like it when you get testy with me."
"Don't push it, Dixon. I'm wired a little tight right now."
"Y' don't say," he observed, and dodged the swipe she took at him.
While she helped with Thursday's dinner cleanup, Daryl hung around the dining hall, pacing and watching her like she was going to sneak out and disappear on him. Finally she'd gotten enough looks from the rest of the crew that she went over to him and said, under her breath, "Shoo, you. You're making everyone nervous. Go pack up your weapons and a change of clothes and wait for me in my cell. I'll be along in just a little bit."
He frowned at her, confused, and growing tense. "I thought you said we wasn't leaving the prison?"
She raised her eyebrows at him and said, "We're not, but since when do you go anywhere without your crossbow? Besides, I did have to tell Rick where to find us, in case there's an emergency, and if there is, I damn sure don't want you to have to run back to your cell to retrieve your weapons. Vacation it may be, but there's no call to be stupid about it." He relaxed a little, gave her a quick one-armed hug, and slipped off to grab his gear.
Eventually she's able to get away and take care of one final detail before she makes her way up to her cell, where he's waiting. Her own bag is already packed, and she takes Daryl's hand, leading him down into the lower level. Rick has organized some sort of games night in the library, and they manage to avoid encountering anyone else along the way. Carol smiles to herself and makes a mental note to find some special way of thanking Rick for his thoughtful foresight.
When they reached the final turn, into the hall that led to the storage room, Carol stopped and put her hand on Daryl's arm. "Trust me?" she asked. He nodded, hesitantly. "If the whole thing couldn't be a surprise, I just want this part to be." She reached into her bag and pulled out the scarf, gesturing for him to turn around, and looped it over his eyes, tying it loosely behind his head. "Take my hand - it's only a few more steps."
She opened the door and led him inside, closing and locking the door behind them. "OK, you can take the blindfold off now."