Next day was so beautiful that nobody could stand staying in the prison. They made sure that the buildings were shielding them and they were enjoying the sun. It was as close to the normal living as they could get. Glen and Maggie were in the guard tower, Beth was talking to her father and Rick was teaching Carl how to clean the gun. Carol was sitting in the grass, holding sleeping Judith.
She caught a glimpse of Merle, who was checking the fencing with a bored expression on his face. Daryl was nowhere near him. Carol's stomach knotted in fear. These two were inseparable.
She knew she would have to talk to Daryl. She had a plan she had been thinking over and over for couple of days now. She was certain Daryl would turn it down but she wanted him to now before she would reveal it to the rest of the group. It could help the group and nothing was more important than their little community.
Somebody squeezed her shoulder gently and suddenly Daryl was standing next to her. She yelped.
"Payback's a bitch," he grinned at her reminding her how she scared him by sitting in his dark cell, when he woke the first night after his return.
She smiled and shook her head: "Daryl Dixon, if you wake this baby, you're going to take care of her until she's fast asleep again!"
Daryl sat down next to Carol and carefully stroke Judith's dark hair.
"Lil' Asskicker and I have a special bond, she would be fast asleep in a crack," he smiled.
Carol didn't comment on that not to embarrass him but he probably didn't know how close to the truth he was. Judith always calmed down in his arms. There were nights when she spent hours walking with fussy crying baby and she was tempted to wake Daryl up and ask him to soothe her. But the idea of sleepy grumpy Daryl, who doesn't sleep more than couple of hours, always stopped her. He needed more sleep then she did.
Daryl was starring in front of him and tried to think how to start the conversation. He had so much he wanted to say but the words seemed to betray him as always.
Carol looked relaxed and was enjoying Daryl's presence. She really didn't want to ruin this precious moment by suggesting her plan but she knew she had no choice. She didn't know when she would have a chance to talk to Daryl alone again.
"I'm glad you noticed there are other people than Merle," she smiled at him.
He frowned: "I said I will watch him."
"It's not watching, he's basically grounded."
"What do ya people want? Either I don't watch him enough or I watch too much, but it's never all right with you," he snapped.
He realized immediately that he vented his anger on Carol again. He really was a hopeless idiot.
"Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly.
She shook her head: "It's me who should apologize. I know you have been under lot of pressure lately. But stop blaming yourself for everything. Merle's here because the group decided so."
"I guess only ya and Hershel got it."
Carol sighed and touched his arm lightly. She was not even aware she was doing it but it immediately sent shivers down the Daryl's spine.
Carol nodded to the Merle at the fence.
"Things are not going to get better if you are going to isolate him like this and follow his every step. You need to let him act on his own."
Daryl raised his eyebrows: "So you say I should let him kill Glen, try to kill Rick and let him jump at you?"
With his last words he kicked a piece turf in front of him.
Carol ignored him: "You said he was not going to cause troubles because he wanted to stay."
"You never know what's going on in Merle's head," admitted Daryl unhappily.
"I've got a plan," Carol's voice was firm.
Daryl groaned and covered his face. She smiled and poked his ribs, careful not to wake the baby.
She took a deep breath: "I'm going to run to town for supplies with Merle."
Daryl starred at her in shock.
"Forget it," he said sternly and started to get up.
"Don't you dare to walk out on me when I'm talking to you Daryl!" Carol raised her voice but quickly remembered she was holding Judith.
Daryl once again couldn't comprehend the strength she seemed to gather during the months after Sophia death. He shifted his weight indecisively and sat down again.
But before she could speak again, Daryl exploded. Judith started fussing in Carol's arms and Daryl quickly started whispering. It didn't make his words less angry.
"Have ya gone mad woman? Ya think I am watchin' Merle because I have nothing better to do? You have no fuckin' idea what to expect from him!"
Daryl's face was red and Carol saw he was struggling with himself not to grab her and shake her tiny form.
"And ya are not ready to go into the town with all these walkers 'round! It's damn dangerous for more skilled people than ya!"
"But you trained me…," Carol's voice was still unshaken, it was going as bad as she expected.
Daryl couldn't stand it anymore and jumped to his feet again.
"I've trained ya for self-defense, nothing else! What are you gonna do when ya find yourself surrounded by walkers? Shout for me?"
OK, that hurt. Daryl could see that by the way the muscle in her cheek twitched but he didn't care right now. He would do or say anything to stop her from going.
"You ain't ready. You ain't goin'!"
She didn't like sitting when he was standing above her. It made her feel weaker. She stood up with Judith still in her arms and looked straight into his face. She was trying hard to play it as calmly as possible but Daryl was not making it any easier.
"You need to let him do something beneficial for the group. You need to let him decide for himself. It's the only way how we can slowly start to trust him. How long do you think you can follow him for? Sooner or later one of you will loose his temper anyway! On top of that it will be an ordinary run. You do the run every other week!"
No matter what she said, Daryl's expression was absolutely dissenting.
"Ya ain't goin'. I'll go with Merle myself."
Carol sighed: "Have you listened to anything I just said? You need let Merle off of the lead! On top of that we need plenty of women stuff - tampons, underwear, cosmetics, cleaning stuff...are you any good at this?"
"Maggie can go, she always gets this type of shit."
"Merle and Maggie? Good match. She's the only reason why Glen's holding back but when she's alone with Merle, don't you think she'd try to solve it once and for all?"
Carol wouldn't say it was possible but Daryl's face clouded even more.
"I don't give a fuck. You ain't going'."
That was it for Carol's patience. She took another step to Daryl. This time her voice turned into angry whispering.
"I'm not taking orders from you Daryl Dixon! You are not my boss or my bloody husband! It could weld the group together again. If it does, it's worth the risk. And we need the supplies. I've already talked to Rick and he doesn't think it's such a bad idea. He's coming with us."
Daryl desperately wanted to hit something or someone. The rage was pulsing in every fiber of his body and he had no idea how long he would be able to control himself.
"Great, so you have already organized everything. Why the hell did you care to tell me then?"
Carol lowered her voice: "I wanted you to understand and support this decision. I guess I was wrong."
Daryl stared at her in disbelief. Did she really think he would support her insane idea of walking into the town flooded with walkers, side by side with his unpredictable brother?
"You were fuckin' wrong. If you wanna kill yourself, there are easier ways to do that. Don't have to take car and two other people with ya."
His word were hurting her. He didn't see she was doing it for the group, for him. So he could be that old Daryl they all knew and whom she didn't want to lose.
But this discussion was leading nowhere.
"I just wanted to let you know. I'll be all right. I am going. Put up with it," she sighed and turned to go back into the prison.
Daryl couldn't stand the whispering anymore and finally shouted.
"Ya know what? Whatever! Just go and get yourself killed! But when things fuck up, don't expect me to run after you. I'm done with all that! Ya people never listen to what I say anyway!"
His voice was icy and with these word he stormed off, accompanied by Judith's crying.
Carol blinked back the tears. OK, it went worse than she expected. But she'd made a decision and already got the Rick's approval and support. She felt it was worth the risk.
Nobody saw Daryl for the rest of the afternoon. No matter how furious he was, he didn't forget to take Merle with him. When they came back from the woods, Daryl still looked so enraged that nobody dared to talk to him.
On the contrary, Merle was as happy as he could get. The idea of getting out of prison without Daryl chasing after him was absolutely irresistible.
When the morning came, the three of them were getting ready. Carol must have admitted herself that she was a bit nervous. But she would be with Rick and she believed he would look after her if something went wrong.
She didn't see Daryl anywhere around and it made her sad. She wanted to see him and again reassure him she would be all right.
She was just checking the blade of her knife when he appeared behind her all of a sudden.
"Show me your pistol," he asked. His voice and face emotionless.
Oh yeah, he was still pissed as hell but at least he was there. She'd learnt to appreciate small things and this was one of them.
He checked the gun quickly and handed it back to her.
"You've got just one?" he asked, not looking into her face even once.
She nodded.
He reached for the gun behind his belt and gave it to her.
"I'll look like Lara Croft," she tried to lighten up the situation.
"Your tits are too small for that."
He left her there with her mouth hanging open.
I swear you're going to pay for this one Dixon, she promised herself.
Rick was watching their exchange. When Daryl was passing him, he stopped him.
"I'll look after her, you don't have to worry."
Daryl snorted and pulled his arm from Rick's grip: "Like I care."
They all went to see them off. Daryl was the last one. He was watching their car in the distance when everybody else had left.
He'd been a hunter his entire life and his instincts never failed him. He felt something was terribly wrong.