Daryl slammed the trunk shut and crossed his arms, huffing impatiently as he glanced Maggie still saying her goodbyes. She'd gone around hugging the group, kissing Glenn and cradling Judith while Daryl had loaded the supplies into the car. He'd packed enough food for a couple of days and a few extra weapons.
He leant back against the side of the car, scowling at Maggie and Glenn as they started another kiss. Glenn seemed even more reluctant to let Maggie go than usual, his eyes often darting to her abdomen. Glenn finally pulled away, much to Maggie's dismay, and cradled her face in his hands. He whispered something and gave her a light kiss. Maggie gave him a final hug before hugging Hershel and Beth.
Daryl found himself drawn to the figure still hanging from the guard tower, growling hungrily and reaching for the fresh meat below. Rick was fiddling with the belts, trying to pull the walker up into the guard tower. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. He regretted killing Dexter, the boy could have been so much more than a rapist thug. But the world had ruined him and Daryl had killed what little humanity Dexter had left. Now someone just needed to put the boy down.
Once and for all.
Daryl sighed with relief when Maggie finally made her way over to the car, "Finally." Maggie just smiled weakly before climbing in the passenger seat. Daryl frowned slightly but didn't question her lack of enthusiasm.
"Hey, Daryl? If somethin' happens to her..." Glenn called, trailing off, his face creased with worry. Hershel laid a soothing hand on his shoulder.
"You'll kill me," Daryl finished for Glenn, "Nothin' is gonna happen. Maggie's a big girl." He gave Glenn a small nod before climbing in the car and starting the engine. There was a quick rap on the window. Daryl was surprised when he saw Carol standing there, holding a small bag of things. He rolled his window down and cocked his head at Carol, waiting for her to speak.
"I made you guys some sandwiches for the road, uh...there's a tinned tomato and lettuce and a shredded squirrel one. It's not much but...it'll help." Carol murmured, dropping the bag onto Daryl's lap. He nodded at her, avoiding her eyes. Maggie leant over and clutched Carol's hand through the window.
"Thank you. That was very kind of you." Maggie smiled.
"It was no bother. It's just a little extra...a small thank you for what you're doing for the group." Carol smiled as Maggie leant back into her seat, taking the bag of sandwiches with her. Daryl was gripping the steering wheel so tightly he was afraid he might rip it from the console. His knuckles were white. Carol leant in through the window and very tentatively pressed her lips to Daryl's cheek.
His grip on the steering wheel tightened and the wheel juddered. Daryl swallowed. He could feel the heat spreading to his cheeks, he could feel the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He cleared his throat and revved the engine, "We...should gone now."
"Stay safe." Carol whispered in his ear before retracting from the window and waving after them as the car pulled away, going much faster than necessary, only slowing so Michonne could open the gates before speeding away.
Carol watched as the car sped away, leaving nothing but clouds of dust. She smiled to herself and dragged her hand across her sweaty brow. She had seen the way Daryl had blushed, the way his grip on the steering wheel tightened. She knew she was stirring up things in him. Things she'd never seen before. She could see it in his eyes.
Whatever it was made Daryl uncomfortable so he lashed out at her, tried to push her away. But it didn't work. It wouldn't work on her. She knew Daryl could be a mean, volatile bastard but he always did what he thought was best for the group. Even amongst the grief he was experiencing, he never let the group down. Carol sighed and looked up to the guard tower.
Rick had managed to wrestle Dexter over the edge of the railing and dragged him into the guard tower. Carol stared at the belts that still dangled from the railing, swaying back and forth with the slight breeze. Rick emerged from the guard tower, dragging Dexter's corpse, his knife imbedded in the walker's eye socket. Carol could see Rick struggling and hurried over. She grabbed the walker's legs and lifted them up.
Together she and Rick carried the corpse over to the fire pit and placed it down on the charred wood. Carol removed Rick's knife as Rick rummaged in his pockets and found a box of matches. He quickly slid one out and scraped it along the side of the box, igniting the match. He sighed and dropped the match on the rags the walker wore.
Dexter looked like he was sleeping, apart from gaping hole where his right eye should have been. Carol watched solemnly as the flames engulfed the corpse and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Rick was staring at the flames, his eyes wide and unfocused. His mind was obviously elsewhere.
The body they were burning was a kid, a few years older than Carl. Sure he had done bad things, but they all had. This world made sure of it. Rick swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, feeling the sting of tears. His vision swam and he blinked back the tears. He could just as easily be burning Carl, the boy in the flames could be his own son. Carl could die just as easily as Dexter had.
A warm hand slithered into his and gave him a reassuring squeeze. Rick licked his lips and looked up, meeting Carol's grey blue eyes. He blinked and wiped his eyes with his free hand before giving Carol a small smile.
"I'm just bein' silly." Rick muttered, looking embarrassed.
"Why were you cryin'? Everyone has a reason," Carol whispered, cocking her head to the side and giving Rick's hand another squeeze.
"I was just thinkin'...how easily it could be one of us we're burnin'. How it could be Carl. This kid was just a few years older than him. Just followin' orders. And now he's dead." Rick cleared his throat, "Do you know what made Daryl snap?"
Carol shook her head and glanced glumly at the flames, "No. I just know Dexter said he'd do horrible things to Beth if they had caught her. It seemed to tick Daryl off but it was the other day. I can't think of anythin' that happened recently apart from is weird because I didn't think Daryl cared about what happened to her." She felt a strange pang of jealousy shoot through her. A voice was whispering away in the back of her head, muttering conspiracies and spinning a story about Daryl might like someone else.
Rick nodded, "Daryl told me that the kid was a vile piece of work. Like Randall. Moved with a group o'them too. Said the Governor had arrived and kinda taken charge. Apparently they live in a camp in the woods. I know Daryl is capable of a lotta things...I just never thought he'd kill a boy."
"Daryl did what he thought was right. No one can blame him for murder. He was protecting the group, like he always is." Carol stated, trying to keep her anger at bay. Daryl was protecting the group and Rick, out of all people, was annoyed at him for it? Well Carol wasn't going to have it. She was going to defend Daryl, even if he had been rude and cruel to her.
"I know, I'm just...curious as to what was goin' on in his head. And what set him off." Rick murmured calmly, looking slightly confused. Carol frowned and then sighed. She had imagined Rick's attack on Daryl. Rick was simply saying what was going through his mind, he hadn't been slandering Daryl.
"I guess we'll never know." Carol whispered, embarrassed, "Let's go inside, I'll make you some oatmeal."
Daryl could feel Maggie's penetrating gaze on him, her eyes scrutinizing him. He had ignored it for the first few hours but now it was starting to bug him. They hadn't spoken much, only muttering a few stray comments, content to ride in comfortable silence.
But now Daryl was beginning to feel uncomfortable under Maggie's watchful eye. He sighed and rubbed his cheek for the hundredth time, right over the spot Carol had kissed him. The spot burned, like a blush that was going on for hours. Maggie's eyes examined the movement. He scratched his chin and cleared his throat.
"What?" He demanded, annoyed at her.
Maggie looked taken aback by his single utterance. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassement at having been caught out and her eyes suddenly were staring out the window, looking at the blurred trees. She had a hundred things she wanted to say to Daryl but only managed one word.
"Huh?" She coughed and looked at Daryl again, wiping the sweat from her brow.
Daryl scowled at her, "You were starin' at me. It's creepy."
Maggie coughed again and swallowed the lump in her throat, "I was just wonderin'...what's goin' on with you and Carol. One minute you're best of friends, the next she's cryin' in her cell and you're beatin' the shit into some kid."
"We're just friends." Daryl kept his eyes on the road ahead of him, paying much more attention to the road than necessary.
"No you're not. You're more than friends, that much is obvious. Everyone's seen the way she looks at you and the way you look at her. Like a blind man seein' the sun for the first time, y'know? You both kinda just...light up. Well you used to. Lately you've been avoidin' each other like the plague."
"Someone's observant." Daryl commented dryly, remembering the time in the old folk's home before they'd met the Greenes. All the oldies had been killed and everyone had just assumed they had been killed by walkers', even though it was only Andrea that said it a loud. He had called her out, pointed out that all the bodies had a single, neat bullet hole in their foreheads'. Told Andrea to look up the word 'Observant' in the dictionary.
She had been taken back by this and that was the first time the group had glimpsed that he was more than just a dumb redneck. Daryl swallowed, so many had died since then.
Sophia, Andrea, Dale, T-Dog, Lori and Shane.
The next few minutes passed in silence before Maggie finally shattered it, "She loves you, you know?"
"She shouldn't. I'm no good." Daryl kept his eyes glued to the road. What if Maggie was right? What if Carol did love him? Maybe he was wrong about her and Tyreese? Maybe they were just friends?
He sighed and swerved to avoid a lone walker. He righted the car and continued along the road.
"Why did you kill Dexter?"
"You're full of questions, ain't cha?"
"You haven't answered them." Maggie retorted before repeating, "Why did you kill him?"
"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I ain't done. He'd a killed anyone of us given the chance...I just didn't give him the chance." Daryl opened his window and spat before coming to a halt.
They were in an abandoned town, far away from the prison. He rolled up his window and looked at Maggie, his eyebrow cocked, "You ready?"
She nodded and opened her door. Daryl reached into the back seat, grabbed his crossbow and joined Maggie at the trunk. She had equipped herself with a machete and a handgun. She put spare clips in her pocket while Daryl hefted his bag onto his shoulder and made sure he had plenty of crossbow bolts. Maggie shrugged her bag on and closed the trunk.
The pair cautiously pushed into town, eyes darting around, looking for shops or places that might hold supplies. Wrappers flew by their feet, blown by the wind. Maggie spotted a pharmacy and headed towards it. Daryl followed suit, his crossbow primed and ready to go. He kept it trained at the entrance of the pharmacy as Maggie pushed the door open.
A walker growled weakly from within the store. Daryl pushed ahead of Maggie and found the walker, curled up in the far corner, hidden by shelves. It was a scrawny walker, it's ribs jutted out. It clearly hadn't ate anything since it had been changed. It reached weakly for Daryl's foot but he kicked the hand away. The walker growled again and forced itself to its feet.
Daryl didn't kill it immediately because he was curious. The walker showed no bite marks. He spat in contempt as he realised whoever the walker had been, had hid out in the pharmacy, unaware that he carried the gene and had died.
It was a coward.
The walker was on it's feet now. Daryl felt his throat thicken when he realised it was a little boy, or at least used to be a little boy. The walker only reached Daryl's waist, it's legs bent outwards under the weight of the frail body. The walker staggered towards Daryl, slowly and weakly, crashing into the shelves.
Daryl's bolt pierced the milky eyeball of the walker and it fell to the ground. He retrieved his bolt and swept his arm along the shelves, pushing the contents into his bag. He raided the dispensary and killed another walker, this time an elderly pharmacist.
He found Maggie in the femine hygiene section, rummaging frantically through the numerous boxes, unaware of Daryl's presence. She found what she was looking for and turned to box over in her hands.
Daryl had assumed she was getting condoms but wasn't all that shocked when he saw the box. He cleared his throat and Maggie stiffened, dropping the box and picking up another.
"Whatchu gettin'?" He growled, loading a bolt into his crossbow.
Maggie held the box up to show him, "Uh...condoms. Y'know, safe sex and all."
Daryl scoffed, "Whatchu really gettin'?"
Maggie picked up her original box and tossed it towards him. He caught it single-handedly and examined, "Why do you need a pregnancy test?"
"I took one back at the prison and I just wanted to...y'know. Double check." Maggie's eyes began to water.
"Double check what?" Daryl pressed on. He knew where this was going but he wanted to here Maggie say it before he jumped to any conclusions.
"I...I think I might be pregant."
A/N: Finally found the time to update. Phew!
I started back at school this week, so it's been kinda hectic trying to get my homework done, and write chapters. I know I said I'd update a couple of times a week but I'm not sure I'll be able to. I know it sounds like I'm just making excuses by I swear to you guys I'm not.
But I will definitely post a new chapter at least once a week. I promise you guys I will.
Review, comment, praise, suggestions, constructive critism is all accepted. No hate please.
Drop a review below! :)