Hi guys! Just one more chapter, which I hope to upload soon, and Home sweet home will be over. It actually doesn't feel as good as I expected and it will be pretty hard to say goodbye to something, I've been thinking of nonstop for couple of weeks now.
However, thank you all so much for your kind reviews and encouragement, it was you who helped to create all this! I wrote the first few chapters just to blow off some steam and had no idea I could take it so far. But it wouldn't be possible without all of you. So please review, I'd love to hear your opinions!
PS: I will do my best not letting you wait for the last chapter for too long!
Daryl gritted his teeth when he swung the crossbow over his shoulder and it accidently bumped into his injured side. Rick didn't miss it and frowned. Daryl refused to raise his head but he felt Rick's stare.
There was no way back. The whole group was waiting only for him and the frustration and fear for their loved ones was building up unbearably.
Rick felt bad for Daryl, he knew his friend hadn't fully recovered from the gunshot wound yet, but he couldn't wait any more. The Governor had kidnapped his children to make him come to Woodbury and meet him in the battle according to his own twisted rules. That was why he hoped he'd still kept them alive. But every day that passed meant greater risk. They couldn't be sure when the psycho would change his mind and kill them for no reason at all. It was a risk he could not take anymore.
Daryl pressed his forehead against cool car window and closed his eyes for a moment. Rick was driving; Daryl was sitting at the passenger seat and Michonne in the back. Glenn with Maggie were in the car behind them. They were all quiet, words seemed redundant and useless. Each of them was getting ready for what might have been waiting for them in Woodbury, preparing to meet their worst fears.
Daryl involuntary clenched his fists. He was surely worried for Carl, Lil'Asskicker, Beth and Andrea. But it was Carol's image, which was haunting him in his sleep. Her big blue eyes, full of sadness and pain, kept him awake in the middle of the night. They were full of regret and disappointment that he let her down again.
He kept rewinding the last memory of her in his head. Again and again he could see her searching for him in the blaze of Governor's attack. He could still feel the paralyzing fear that had jolted through his entire body when he'd spotted the walker behind her and Carl, and the relief when he'd taken him down. Then his world had exploded in the white blinding flash of pain.
He knew who the Governor would turn to if he needed to blow off some steam. Carl and Beth were still kids, not able to provide him the thrill the son of a bitch wanted, Judith was just a helpless baby and he'd already taken what he'd wanted from Andrea.
This left only Carol, and on top of that damn woman didn't know when to keep her sassy mouth shut. If the Governor had wanted to hurt or even kill somebody, it would have been her. Daryl tried to push the thought back and punched a metal door frame in frustration.
Daryl Dixon was anything but a religious man. But for the first time in his life, on this muddy and miserable road to Woodbury, he'd begged God for help.
Rick glanced at Daryl out of the corner of his eye. He knew his worst fears and couldn't help but admit they were justified. He'd met the Governor personally and knew what a sick psychopath the man was.
Rick wasn't quite sure what else was going on between Carol and Daryl apart from genuine friendship and deep respect, but from the way he'd reacted to her loss, he started to be afraid how Daryl would handle things if the worst came to the worst.
Michonne kept her word. She led them the long way around Woodbury barricades and they sneaked in on the furthest dimply lit end, unnoticed by young couple chatting happily on their watch on the top of the wall. They crouched down in the safe distance from the wall and Maggie sighed in relief.
"So far so good," she whispered enthusiastically.
"It's a fuckin' trap," Daryl cooled down her fervor harshly, "the son of a bitch's waitin' for us but it seems he ain't gonna have all the people involved."
Rick's face was serious when he nodded.
"Watch every step you take. Watch out for antipersonnel mines or any other traps. He's an insidious bastard."
Rick turned to Michonne.
"Do you have any idea where he could be holding them?"
Michonne shook her head: "They could be anywhere really, I can show you only the house we were staying in."
"He ain't stupid to hold them in the same room as he did with Glenn and Maggie," Daryl frowned, "let's start from the other end."
"We will check house by house. Glenn, Maggie, you two will go with Daryl, I'll go with Michonne. When you're done searching, we'll wait for each other outside. I don't want to have more than one house between us, OK? If…when you find them, don't do anything stupid, just go get the rest and we'll work out how to get them out of there unnoticed." He highly doubted they would escape unnoticed with the baby, but they would have to deal with it when the time came.
Rick cleared his throat.
"You know what you'll have to do if…," he didn't have to finish, they all knew. If they found them dead or dying, or even worse, if they found them already turned, eager to rip their flesh. Maggie with Glenn nodded, looking at each other and Michonne looked into Rick's eyes, agreeing silently.
"Daryl?" Rick demanded his understanding.
"We all know what we gotta do for fuckin'sake!" Daryl snapped back. He regretted it immediately and dropped his head. Rick had his two kids in there and it could be easily them, not only Carol, he was talking about.
"We gonna do what's gotta be done," he added in softer tone.
"They're here boss," Martinez reported, awaiting the orders.
The Governor nodded contentedly.
"Biters are ready?"
"Thirty of them, as you requested. Guys are ready to let them in."
"Wait for my order. The sheriff, Michonne and the guy with a crossbow are mine. You take care of the rest. And get Merle."
Daryl felt the shirt glued to his sweaty back. He wiped the hands on his trousers, gripping his crossbow tightly. He could hear Glenn and Maggie at the end of the corridor. It had been the fifth house they'd searched but still hadn't found anybody. The knot on his stomach was getting tighter and tighter and he didn't realize he was holding his breath in front of each door he opened.
He had to admit to himself that he didn't know what he would have done if he'd found Carol dying or turned. He doubted he would have been man enough to end it.
He knew it would have been a mercy killing and it wouldn't have been the first one, but Carol…the damn woman had turned his perfectly clear and understandable world upside down and just a thought of losing her made him so nauseous that he had to stop for a while and he leaned against the wall, running a hand over his face.
He wanted to hate her for this, for the shit she'd make him feel, for the fact that nothing in his world made sense anymore and for the blood-freezing fear that gripped his guts each time she'd ran into a danger. And God knew that with her fuckin' death wish he was on the edge of panic 24/7.
He tried to convince himself it couldn't have happened. Not after all the shit he'd been through, they both had, it couldn't have just ended like this. If they made it alive, he promised himself he wasn't going to waste another fuckin' minute and would stop constantly screwing things with her. She deserved the best and although he was miserable in that department, he would try to give it to her. He hoped she would let him. But if she'd had enough patience with him, when he'd been behaving like an idiot, there must have been some left if he tried to behave the way she deserved.
They have searched two more houses with no success. Rick's frustration was slowly climbing to the breaking point. Then they saw it. Smaller warehouse, squeezed between the houses. The small windows were boarded up and two guards were on the watch nearby. Daryl swallowed hard. This was it. Rick motioned the group to stay hidden and together with Daryl started creeping towards the guards. They got behind them and killed them both mercilessly. There was no time to think twice about it. These were the men who'd attacked them in the first place and almost killed him; men who'd participated in the kidnapping their friends, their family. Daryl thought of all this when he sank his knife into the man's skull.
Rick waved and the rest of their team was with them in the second. When they stepped into the warehouse, Daryl's breathing quickened. There had been several doors, several horrible options he had to check one by one before he would find out the truth. They kept the same formation as before and Rick with Michonne moved forward to check the doors on the further end, while Maggie and Glenn stayed with Daryl.
When Glenn opened the first door, all they found was old moldered furniture and two miserable walkers with some of their limbs cut off. They killed them off and moved to the second door. The second room was lit by poor light coming from blinking bulb at the ceiling. It was dim, cold and miserable place, thanks to the broken furniture very similar to the first room.
Daryl was about to leave the room and carry on searching when he caught a sight of negligible movement out of the corner of his eye. He took out his knife, certain it would be just another crippled walker. He motioned to Glenn and Maggie to stay behind him as he silently walked towards an overturned table, where he'd spotted the movement.
A soft moan made him freeze. He would have recognized that voice anywhere. His body switched to autopilot as he hurriedly put the knife into the sheath and tossed the table away. The sight shattered his heart in million pieces and glued it back together in one insane moment.
Carol was shielding her head with her arms, not ready to look up to find out who was coming for her this time. He could see the cuts and bruises all over her arms and he was afraid to find out what those bastards had done to her beautiful face. She was still protecting herself and started shivering. No matter how strong she was, he could she was totally drained. They'd made it just on time; she couldn't possibly take another harsh treating.
"Carol," his voice sounded strange even to himself, thick with emotions and relief.
Her head shot up and when he looked into her bright watery eyes, the relief hit his body with such strength that it almost buckled his knees.
Her mouth opened and closed again and she shook her head. She leaned against the wall and slowly got up. She gave him the sweetest happy smile and reached out for him. Then she collapsed. Daryl's reflexes threw his body towards her lifeless form and he caught her just before she hit the ground, tumbling down with her but somehow managing to protect her from the worst impact.
"What the hell? Carol…what the hell is goin'on?"
He ignored the throbbing pain in his side, desperately searching in her pale face for any reaction, getting none in return.
This must have been a fuckin' nightmare. He'd found her alive, hadn't he? Now they were supposed to get out of this hell and there was no time for this shit.
He was franticly checking her body for any bites or more serious injuries. She'd taken some nasty beatings, which would take some time to heal and she was exhausted to death, but it didn't explain why she would have collapsed like this.
"Daryl…Daryl…do you hear me?" he didn't notice until now than Glenn was talking to him.
He glanced up and blinked, trying to focus on younger man, gripping Carol in his arms.
"Carol thought you were dead…she saw you getting shot…she didn't know you made it," Glenn fell silent and Maggie stepped closer.
"She's in a horrible state and I think when she saw you, she thought she was hallucinating and I think…I think that her mind just shut down…"
Daryl glared at both of them hard.
"Didn't ya think it would be a good idea to tell me before, smartass? Poor woman survives this shit just to die of heart attack cause she thinks I'm a fuckin' ghost?" his voice was shaking with anger and Glenn with Maggie dropped their eyes to their feet in unison.
"Hand me the damn bottle of water," Daryl snapped, still pissed at young couple. He took out a red cloth from his pocket, wet it and started wiping Carol's face gently.
"Come on woman, wake up, we've got no time for this shit, need to get yer ass to safety," he mumbled quietly, patting her cheeks lightly.
Carol stirred and Daryl felt the weight lifting from his shoulders.
"That's it…come on, wake up Carol," he bent down and whispered to her ear, "I'm OK, I made it and came back for ya. Now I need ya to be all right too, so come on."
Her eyelids fluttered and soon he was staring into her blue eyes again. Carol left his words washing over her for another long moment.
He was alright, he was alive, and he was here. Her brain was fighting to accept this new information, but his worried face above her, his arms around her shoulders and his fingers gently stroking her face were strong arguments.
Before she could think of what she was doing, she sprung up and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his neck. It wasn't a dream. She could taste saltiness of his skin and she deeply inhaled his scent. The scent of the woods, the earth, leather and sweat; the scent of life.
Daryl could feel her hot tears on his neck and hugged here tightly, squeezing his eyes shut.
"I ain't never gonna let ya out of my sight again woman," he whispered into her ear, "ya belong with me and ya gotta put up with it."
The warmth spread out all over his body when he heard her chuckle.
Maggie with Glenn stared at the couple slack-jawed. The man who'd given them a piece of his mind just a while ago was now sitting on the floor with Carol in his arms, whispering sweet nonsense in her ear, both totally forgetting where they were.
But when they heard a groan behind them, they all quickly remembered. Glen with Maggie took out their knives and Daryl shot up, pulling Carol up with him.