Ok everyone. Hope you enjoy the interaction of varying characters in this chapter!
I do not own The Walking Dead.
They traveled quickly down the tracks. The full moon gave Daryl and Carol the ability to see pretty far ahead. After about a half an hour of traveling, Daryl stopped, and grabbed Carol's hand to guide her off the train tracks. Carol knew to trust Daryl. She had always been amazed at his instinct and survival skills. In the woods, he was in his element, even at night. Those instincts had saved the group and her many times in the past.
As they stood silently in hiding, she glanced towards the tracks, and saw the shape of Tyreese come into view. His height and build giving him away in the moonlight. Then they saw Michonne. There could be no mistaking the woman in the dreadlocks. For a second, she wondered how Michonne had come to be with Tyreese? Then her joy at seeing Tyreese overcame her curiosity and she found herself jogging towards him.
"Ty?" she called out to him. Daryl slowly walked towards the other group members.
"Carol? Oh my god, I was coming to get you?" Tyreese told her. The big man had been so focused on the path ahead of him, he had taken on a look that was scary and would make anyone afraid to approach him. He instantly relaxed at seeing Carol coming towards him.
Noticing that the kids weren't with him Carol started to panic. Daryl followed behind her.
"Where are the girls? Where's Judith? Are they okay?" Carol asked Tyreese. Tyreese gently placed his hands on her shoulders. Daryl's eyes moved too Tyreese's hands. Daryl's face showed no expression except one for the throbbing of a vein on his forehead.
"They're fine. Rick and Carl are taking care of them." Tyreese told her. His voice hesitant knowing those names would cause her distress.
"Rick and Carl?" She asked. Hearing Rick's name had stung. She was truly glad Rick and Carl were safe. But Rick's rejection still cut her to the core. She hadn't really had time to worry about the possibility of coming face to face with the man. Would he banish her yet again? She didn't think Tyreese would let her go off on her own. She wondered if Daryl would leave her? Daryl and her hadn't had time to discuss what had happened. Carol didn't know if she could handle Daryl outright siding with Rick and rejecting her.
"We ran into them and Michonne. When I knew the kids were safe, I came back for you." With that Tyreese enveloped Carol into a hug. This man was so powerful, yet he held Carol gently in his arms.
"Are you okay?" Tyreese asked Carol pulling her away to look her over from head to toe. Carol smiled up at him.
"Yes, if Daryl hadn't been there though I'm not sure..." Carol let the sentence trail off. She had been had been strong during the ordeal. Doing what she needed to do, but she found herself suddenly getting teary eyed. The stress of everything hitting her all at once. Yet, she did not shed a tear. She reached deep down into herself, and found the strength that had gotten her through all of this. Glancing over at Daryl she saw his eyes on her. Daryl's eyes held an emotion that Carol hadn't seen before and had hard time identifying.
"Thanks man." Tyreese told Daryl and walked over and gave him a slap on the shoulder. Daryl visibly clinched his jaw, and slightly pulled away from Tyreese's touch. Carol noticed Daryl had gone ridgid...angry really. Most may not have picked up on it, but it was Daryl and she had long ago learned his ways. She wasn't sure why he was angry, and so she walked over to him and gently placed her hand against his arm. Daryl seemed to relax a bit. Luckily, Tyreese was oblivious to any anger Daryl had been projecting towards him.
"Thought you might need some help taking out those men?" Michonne told Carol drawing all of their attention.
Carol hadn't really known Michonne all that well. What she did know of her, she had learned through Daryl. And only because Michonne, and he had spent so much time together hunting the Governor.
"Yes. I'd be grateful for the help." Carol told Michonne. Michonne smiled at Carol. The women understood what the motivation was...save other women and children from these men.
Tyreese and Daryl looked surprised.
"We need to get as far away from these guys as possible." Daryl told them. Tyreese was already nodding his head in agreement with Daryl.
"I can't let these men hurt anyone else." Carol told them. Michonne stepped to Carol's side showing her support. In less than five minutes, Michonne had already come to respect Carol. She was brave. She was self-less. She was strong. Michonne was going to have to speak to Rick about what she saw in Carol.
"The two of ya' gonna take on all of them?" Daryl said angrily. He was still angry at seeing Tyreese embrace Carol so familiarly. This wasn't the first time he had seen Tyreese hold Carol. Before it had been at a distance...up close it was worse. It made Daryl want to grab Carol and tell Tyreese that she was his and not to fucking touch her again.
"If we have too. I don't want to have to worry about running into them again down the road. Plus, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night thinking they were going to do what they were to me to other women and...children." Carol choked out the last part.
"Did they...?" Tyreese asked her quietly. Concern on his face.
"No, Ty. Daryl was there." Carol told him while looking over at Daryl with a smile. Daryl just gave a quick nod of acknowledgement towards Carol.
"No changing your mind about this?" Tyreese asked Carol. Carol shook her head.
Tyreese and Daryl looked at one another. They both already knew they weren't going to let Carol and Michonne do this alone.
"Daryl, you know them best. How do you think we should handle this?" Carol asked him.
Daryl thought for a second. He swung his crossbow back on his shoulder. He looked at Carol, Tyreese and Michonne. After a second he spoke...
"This is what we need ta' do." Daryl told them.
The two men in the front followed the path pretty easily. They kept their eyes open and weapons ready. They knew that Daryl was a hunter, so he had skills in the woods. The men behind them were within shouting distance. This made them feel safer. As they walked through, they could hear the moans of the undead in the distance.
"Fuck. I hate being point." one man said. Shaking off a chill.
"Keep your mouth shut. We gotta pay attention." the other man said in a hushed voice. They continued on. They knew they weren't too far from the tracks.
Suddenly, there was a swoosh of something flying in the air. The man who had just spoken stopped in his tracks.
"You okay Bud?" the other man asked. He looked over and saw the end of an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Then Bud collapsed to the ground.
The one man left standing heard the sound of footsteps behind him and turned to look. He heard a slicing sound through the air and saw the glint of something shiny in the air. The last thought that the man had been that he never thought he would die by the hand of a black woman with dreads using a sword as a weapon. Then his head fell from his shoulders.
"Three to go." Daryl whispered to them. He heard a whistle in the distance. Daryl knew that the men used that as a way of communicating, and they were going to wait for a response. Daryl mimicked the whistle back to them.
"Come on, let's catch up to Ty and Carol." Michonne told Daryl. Daryl didn't look happy. The last half of the plan was the riskiest. It meant giving the men a feeling of winning. Rushing forward...with Michonne close behind him...Daryl hurried to meet up with Carol and Tyreese. He was ready to put an end to these evil men, but he wasn't willing to risk Carol anymore than she had forced him too.
To be continued...