"Don't come any closer Merle," Carol warned him but it sounded pathetic even to her.

Merle looked amused.

"Or what Carol? You know girl, you should've taken big Merle's offer while you still could. I can't let you mess up my lil'bro's head. Ya left me no choice here."

They drew the guns at the same time.

"If you shoot me, Rick will kill you," Carol's voice wavered.

"What if I shoot him too?"

"Daryl won't buy it if you come back alone."

Merle smirked: "You really ain't stupid, ya know? Ya are right, there can be only one accident at the time. And today the winner is….you."

Carol felt a drop of sweat running down her back. She cocked the gun and aimed at Merle's head.

"I'll kill you if you move," she warned him again, this time more seriously.

"Really?" he laughed into her face, "do ya think that Daryl would forgive ya that?"

The gun in Carol's hand trembled a little. He hit the spot and he knew it.

She cursed herself for being so stupid. She'd really thought she would help the group if she'd let Merle to earn his place like this. How could she be so naive after everything they had gone through? Glenn was right; there was no good in Merle. Was she so blinded because of Daryl? Because she desperately wanted to believe that they could get used to his brother, if it was what Daryl wanted?

Suddenly they heard a gunshot followed by Rick's shout.

"Run!"

Carol knew that if she didn't want to decide between shooting Merle or letting him to shoot her, she had to act quickly.

Rick's shout disturbed Merle for a split of a second, but it was enough for Carol. She sprinted out of the door. She needed to get to Rick.

When she ran into the garden she froze. The garden was swarming with walkers. The bigger shed was opened and more and more walkers were coming out.

"Rick!" she saw him about fifty yards away on her left. He was taking down the walkers and he was desperately trying to get to the shed's door.

It was too late. They needed to get out of here quickly.

"Rick! Run! I'll meet you by the car! We need to get out of here!"

He heard her. He shot her last hesitating look and started to move backwards towards the gate. Carol couldn't follow him. There was a herd of walkers separating them and she would never manage to get through without being bit or scratched.

She quickly scanned her surroundings. She couldn't get to the gate and she had the house behind her. She could try to run through the house but there was Merle, waiting for her 'accident'. The fencing around the garden looked too high and unstable to climb. Carol's stomach turned, it was bad.

She had to give it a try, she had no other choice. She desperately ran to the fence. She chose the side with just a few walkers; however it was on the opposite end than the gate, Rick and their car. She took two walkers down with her knife. Once she got over the fence, she would run through that small wood and then back to the car.

The fence was made of soft wire mesh and it bowed when she was making her way up. Her hands and fingers were immediately cut by the wire. She knew she had no time to waste, walkers would smell the blood soon. She clenched her teeth and finally reached the top. She was gasping for air and quickly looked into the depth beneath her. The fence was quite high and she carefully threw one leg and then another over the top. She stopped for a second, hanging there like a scared fly in the spider's web.

Suddenly her sore and injured hands betrayed her and she felt her fingers losing the grip on the wire. She shrieked and fell, landing on her back. The blow winded her. Her head and back were on fire and she was desperately trying to catch her breath.

"Hey sugartits! Ya could have just run back into the house, but you are making this show so much fun now!"

She heard Merle's raspy voice and raised her head to look how far away he was. The pain shot up to her neck. Merle was just walking out of the house. She lied still and her breathing finally came to normal. He might not have seen her, but he would, once she got up. She needed to act quickly. The wood was just a few yards away, if she was lucky she would shake him off there. When she got to Rick, she would be safe.

She sprang to her feet and ran to the wood as fast as her legs were carrying her. Her body was protesting with every move. She felt rather then heard Merle running after her.

When she entered the wood, she was surrounded by humid gloom. She was trying to get her bearings. The wood was not huge but she would give Merle a chance to catch up with her if she didn't start heading in the right direction towards Rick.

She ran down small steep hill and hid behind uprooted tree stump. Just then Merle appeared among the trees.

"Hey babe, where are ya? Don't make it hard for yourself!" Merle listened carefully but didn't enter the wood, "bunch of walkers is coming your way lady, I ain't gonna waste the bullet. They can already smell your sweet tasty blood."

Carol looked at her bleeding hands and peeked out. What she saw sent a violent shudder through her aching body. Merle had one walker impaled on the blade attached to the metal cover of his hand and the walkers from the garden were tottering past him, without paying any attention to him. They were after her.

She started running again and heard Merle's laughter far behind her. She had troubles breathing and her head was spinning. Suddenly she tripped over the branch and went tumbling down another hill. She landed in a shallow creek. Sharp rocks at the bottom pierced her skin but cold water was soothing her sore body.

She heard a snarl and started sobbing. This was it then. Somewhere deep in her soul, she felt that she was not going to live for long. She was one of the weakest members of their group. Her nine lives were up and Daryl could not always protect her, no matter how hard he tried.

But she hoped to die surrounded by her friends, by her little family. She wanted to look into his eyes before saying goodbye.