Well, if this ain't ever your lucky day, son! Merle congratulated him…
You gone and got your shit back off that little son of a bitch and got him good for almost killing your girl…
Daryl was hurling his gear over his shoulder as the thief he had wrestled begged for his life…
There was not a thing that would change his mind on how this was going down as he yelled at the kid about following them…
He knew the score… kid was following them to murder them in their sleep soon as they had enough guns or food…
Maybe even just kill him and keep Carol to himself a while.
Daryl felt his blood fire-up… No. Not in hell was that happening…
Kid had trapped himself good enough beneath the bookcase for the moment, so Daryl handed Carol a weapon and bent to check on their trapped assailant he hit pay-dirt.
Cigarettes…
There was a walker trying it's damnedest to get in the room… only thing stopping it for the time being, was the bookcase and that wouldn't hold forever. Sooner or later, the corpse would get in and chow-down on their would-be assassin…
Unless the kid got free… and even if he did, Daryl was set on taking all the weapons he had stolen from them back…
Could he leave him there?
Know what I'd do…
Daryl smirked… yeah… and the idea seemed a little like justice.
And, for now, Daryl knew exactly what he was going to do.
Probably not the best idea… don't know when you're gonna get your hands on 'em again… best of quittin', son.
Merle had always hated cigarettes, on account of their old man, so never approved of Daryl's indulgence.
And as he peeled back the seductive little wrapper, the kid begged him to be freed.
Look on your girls face says you outta think on him some.
"Nah," Daryl shrugged, enjoying the scent and the feel of a fresh cigarette between his teeth, "I already helped you once. I ain't helping you again."
The zing of his lighter rang through the moment and he breathed in the familiar taste of addiction…
Still; Carol watched him closely as he collected their gear and walked away from the squalling kid and gurgling cadaver.
"Daryl…"
She had got to be kidding! "You almost died because of him," he reminded.
"But I didn't," she countered.
It didn't matter though.
It didn't matter that the kid had stolen their weapons at all.
What mattered was that the kid squealing like a pig on the floor in front of him had almost gotten Carol killed a handful of times…
And that was something Daryl would never forgive.
"Let him be," Daryl concluded, walking away before he could see the look in her eye.
Damn! That is cold.
And while Carol called him once more, he walked on… only turning back in time to see the Walker force its way through the door and land on the bookshelf on top of the kid.
A quick arrow in the skull ended the undead…
Knew you couldn't've done that, little brother.
Shut up.
And I'm glad.
…
Shit.
Carol was already trying to help the kid… so Daryl moved the bookshelf while he scrambled clear, breathlessly and endlessly thanking them…
At the very least, Merle shrugged in his head, you probably scared the shit outta him.
Scared him… Daryl thought, immediately looking over to Carol.
"You ok," he asked, hoping that he hadn't managed to scare her too bad.
But she smiled and melted all his concern.
"I'm still here," she reassured.
And she was… still by his side… still reminding him of what kind-of a man he was and could be. For a moment the whole, stinking, world seemed a little bit brighter.
The feeling was better than the cigarette had been…
How could she just do that?
Jeeze… you are so dumb at times, little brother.
Slowly, reality filtered in and he heard the kid panicking by the window and muttering to himself, "I gotta go… I gotta go… they're coming… they probably heard the shot."
What the…
Kid's panicking way too much there…
"They're going to find me."
"Who?" Daryl asked.
"Them!" The kid limped toward him, "The people at the hospital."
Bingo!
"Wow, wow, wow…" Daryl moved to block the kid and insisted, "just tell us… is there a blonde girl there? You seen a blonde girl?"
"Beth?" Her name was a strangled gasp of shock… or was that Carol? She had turned, eyes wide and fixed on the kid.
"You know her?" The kid asked.
But the conversation wasn't with him anymore as Daryl looked past him; Carols eyes were locked on him. Daryl had never been a romantic… but a whole conversation was had there in that look; a whole world of choices and futures that could have played out.
This was it… they would find Beth and everything would move from there.
A few decisions to be made by you, son…
Daryl knew Carol would follow him into hell and back if he wanted her to… didn't have to ask… didn't need saying. She knew it meant something to save Beth; but what did it mean?
Damn! He had a hard enough time figuring out his feelings at the best of times… but seeing her there, making the decision to be at his side even if it meant losing him from hers in the process…
He saw that doubt in Carols eye… that flicker that dulled and hardened…
She had to know how much she meant to him, didn't she?
Saving Beth was… it was right. It was something he owed the girl. Something that mattered in the world, such as it was.
Didn't mean the end of him and Carol.
Had there been a him and Carol to end?
What was he even thinking anymore?
And as suddenly as all these things exploded in his brain did all of it, every confusing, doubting, questioning, irritating slither of thought got drowned out and there was nothin in the whole stinking block but how Carol was looking at him that moment.
She really thinks you love Beth…
Daryl didn't answer…
You don't love the little blonde… do you, little brother?
"She helped me get out," the kid was saying, seeming to take a little more hope in his look as he explained, "but she's still there."
And before Daryl could ask just how that came to be, the sound of a car cruising outside broke the moment.
But Carol urgently confirmed, "They're coming."
It sent the kid into panic; "We gotta go now, we gotta go, we gotta go…"
And at that point, Daryl couldn't argue…
The kid was limping bad as they entered the foyer… Partly your fault on that score, little brother…
"The building next door has a basement, it's clear. We'll be safe…" and, before Daryl knew it the kid had made a poorly judged break for the door and fell a few feet clear.
Looked like that hurt, Merle hissed through his imaginary teeth.
Not hard enough… Daryl hauled him out of sight, behind a pillar as he called to Carol, "Go! I got him."
And she did…
At least she got a head start.
There was that, as Daryl urged the kid to stand or crawl… anything to get outta there…
Too many things to keep his attention on… those cars the kid was afraid of, the walkers that could hear them and block their escape, the weight of the boy leaning on him as he scrambled in a panic to flee… and Carol…
Carol was ahead of them, crossing to the other building… thank God.
But that moment of relief was short-lived as the screech of breaks tipped the world, such as it was, upside-down.
Instead, Daryl felt his existence tilt as he watched her broken body fly up the bonnet and bounce back to the hard ground.
A twist in his gut felt as bad as being hit by a truck himself.
Bastards meant to do that! Merle yelled as Daryl felt time slow…
He needed to be out there!
She's still breathing… Merle sounded panicked… but Daryl's heart hadn't beat since all that time and he wasn't sure it would beat again… She's breathing? Right, son?
In the distance, he heard the kid screaming, "No!"
God… she wasn't moving out there…
Daryl felt a pull on his jacket, "Wait…"
Listen to the kid, bro. They're out there.
Nothing mattered… Carol was down and Daryl couldn't see anything but her as she moved and appeared to groan…
"Stop!" The kid hauled his whole wait onto Daryl, shifting him off-course… "They can help her!"
What? Help her?
But it slowed Daryl as he explained, "They have medicine, machines, doctors."
Daryl's attention was taken by the cops, in full, god-damned, uniform heading to check on her…
See that! Merle whooped, She's alive!
As the Carol was rolled onto a bright, blue gurney…
Daryl felt himself relax enough to here the kid insist, "We go out there and we'll have to kill them and then she can't get their help…"
Help… they would help her?
She must have taken that hit hard, bro…
"Is that what you want?"
What he wanted?
As the cops carried her away, Daryl found a drag toward her continue to pull against the weight of the kid sprawled as a counter…
"We can get her back," he insisted… sweating and wide-eyed and desperate, "and we can get Beth back."
But Carol was only a few feet away…
Listen to the kid… this ain't an easy pickin' boy! You know these dirty-ass cops got guns… so…
"What's it gonna take?" Daryl asked.
The kid paled, "A lot."
Not what he wanted to hear as the cars engine clicked over…
"They got guns... People."
The car took off…
Daryl grit his teeth… "So do we."